Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: How the Rank 1 Hero Protects the World
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Flames erupted from the tip of Lee Woo-yeon's sword, devouring the land as screams echoed from all directions.
Watching the scene, Lee Seon thought to himself.
“That’s totally on fire.”
Lee Seon clicked his tongue as he watched Lee Woo-yeon swing his sword. He was really into it. Just as expected, charging out like a madman.
The sight of the blue flames turning lives to ash felt less like magic and more like a natural disaster.
Jang Hye-won glanced at him cautiously from the side and asked.
“Th-that’s not a regular spell, right?”
“No, it’s a True Word.”
Jang Hye-won stared at the devastation before her, her face a mix of awe and horror.
That was understandable. Even among mages of the same class, the power gap between standard spells granted by the System based on level and the True Words that individual mages comprehended was enormous.
In the past five years in Korea, the number of mages who had awakened a True Word could be counted on one hand.
“Captain!”
Kang Soo-hyun called out to Lee Seon.
They had decided to use “Captain” instead of the usual “Hunter” title to avoid unnecessary suspicion from those around them. They had autonomy guaranteed by the castle lord’s orders, but they couldn’t afford to dismiss the locals now.
“The enemies are approaching!”
Just as he said, the enemy forces were drawing near.
From a broad view, the enemies Lee Woo-yeon had taken out were still just a fraction, so the remaining troops, trembling in fear, began advancing toward the walls.
This was going to be a grueling fight.
As the enemy forces, shielded by logs, closed in, the soldiers waiting on the walls nocked their arrows.
“Fire!”
The vice-captain raised his hand and shouted. With that signal, a volley of arrows rained down on the enemies trying to bridge the moat.
Kang Soo-hyun’s face was visibly tense.
He was a Hunter personally interviewed and selected by Lee Seon himself, still only in his mid-twenties. His lips were pale, his tension plain.
It was only natural.
Up until now, they had faced true “monsters,” but what swarmed before them now were humans.
Even knowing intellectually that these were no different from monsters—ghosts, really—the revulsion from their human appearance would be immense.
Very few people could ignore visual cues like that. Lee Seon knew it well.
Lee Seon averted his eyes from the young man massacring humans at his feet below and gave Kang Soo-hyun a curt order.
“Don’t look down.”
“Y-Yes? Pardon?”
“If it’s too hard, just stare at the sky and maintain your shield.”
In the heart of the enemy lines, catapults were being prepared.
Lee Seon didn’t tell the rookie Hunters to charge and stab the enemies right in front of them. Instead, he instructed them only to prepare for attacks that would fly through the sky and crumble these walls.
He had anticipated the rookies might struggle to fight directly, so Hunters who weren’t mages were assigned to mana support roles.
“N-No, I can do it.”
Kang Soo-hyun shook his head, his face ashen. Blue veins bulged on the hand gripping his wand.
“We have to survive.”
His voice trembled, his complexion pallid, but he showed no intent to flee.
Lee Seon reassured him.
“Tension isn’t a bad thing. Hunters always fight with their lives on the line.”
His mission was to protect these Korean Hunters thrust into this desperate situation.
Lee Seon raised his own wand and gazed down at the base of the walls, where arrows poured relentlessly.
The enemies were now crossing the moat, shields raised high, willing to take arrow hits.
“Throw the stones!”
At the knight’s command, residents carrying pouches of stones stepped forward in place of the archers.
They hurled the stones down onto the shields with all their might.
Thud!
Each impact dented shields and staggered formations. Moreover, the moat was filled with filth and poison. Even those who crossed would be disoriented for a time.
“Huh, their advance is slower than I thought. Must be the deep moat.”
Choi Seok-won remarked as he prepared shields against the catapults.
As the mage with the highest mana reserves in the dungeon, government assessments rated him A-rank, with potential to reach S-rank based on experience.
Lee Seon nodded.
“Still, no room for complacency. We’re outnumbered, unavoidably.”
However, the castle side’s ammunition was limited. Arrows and even stones scavenged from demolished homes were running low.
On top of that, they had to hold for two more days. The longer it dragged on, the more inevitable defeat became.
Lee Seon coldly calculated their odds.
‘Worst-case scenario.’
If the chances of holding the castle plummeted, he planned to reposition the Hunters and ensure their escape, even by force.
Of course, failing to clear the dungeon would trigger a Dungeon Break. But if failure was certain anyway, better to evacuate these future assets quickly.
Lee Woo-yeon had mentioned that saturation levels were rising outside too, prompting the deployment of troops and preparations.
That would minimize external damage.
Plus, inside here were three rankers including himself—precious human resources Korea, with three S-grade dungeons in Seoul alone, could not afford to lose.
One was Lee Woo-yeon, but among them was the unidentified Rank 1, seemingly a rare physical damage type with anti-magic properties to boot.
Better to suppress a Dungeon Break than lose such rankers at this juncture. From Korea’s perspective, it would be catastrophic.
Lee Seon clenched his fist.
The fire in his chest was less a sense of justice and more the responsibility of a public servant—and the eldest here.
No one would die in this dungeon.
The enemies now clambered over corpses in the moat, inching toward the walls.
Overwhelming numbers piercing through stones and arrows.
And the first siege ladder hooked onto the wall.
“Push the ladders away!”
The moment Lee Seon heard the vice-captain in command issue the order, he swung his wand.
Coincidentally, the wand equipped today was made from lightning-struck jujube wood.
The staff, said to repel evil spirits, ignited the ladder the instant it reacted to his mana.
The flames reached the hands of enemies climbing it in a flash.
“Arghhh!”
“Fire! It’s fire!”
“Anyone on fire, jump into the moat! Don’t approach others!”
But the blaze wasn’t so easily contained. As burning soldiers writhed in agony, the flames spread to others at an unnatural speed.
Lee Seon, watching, felt a gaze and turned. His eyes met the vice-captain leading this castle’s knights.
Spotting the brief flicker of suspicion in those eyes, the vice-captain asked precisely what mattered.
“How many times can you do that spell?”
What he’d just used was the basic spell, Fireball.
But extending that basic spell beyond a single burst—delicately channeling mana to spread it to others—was solely Lee Seon’s skill.
Normally, a single-target attack spell like that could be cast dozens more times at his level.
But Lee Seon answered differently.
“Not many times. From now on, I’ll focus on catapult defense as planned.”
“Understood. So a few more times possible. Cover us until the catapults are ready.”
The vice-captain nodded without disappointment. Lee Seon had intended as much and agreed. Keeping enemies off the walls was crucial.
However, in this battlefield, he had to protect all the Hunters, maintain shields, and jump in if Lee Woo-yeon seemed endangered.
Above all, if failure loomed, he’d take full responsibility and evacuate everyone outside.
The castle’s plight wasn’t unsympathetic.
But this was ultimately just a dungeon to clear. He never confused what he must protect.
He had thought it countless times while watching Hunters slumbering as if dead in Ghost Castle.
The line was clear.
Gripping his wand tightly, Lee Seon surveyed his battlefield.
The grueling battle had begun.
* * *
“Ugh!”
Five hours later.
The sun had fully set.
Night had fully arrived.
Lee Seon slapped his own cheeks repeatedly to fight his blurring vision.
The ground was slick with blood, and his clothes—excluding gear—were in tatters.
As expected, but far tougher than anticipated. The enemies showed no sign of retreat without significant gains.
Arrows fired nonstop from the walls, stones battered down, boiling oil poured—yet the enemy numbers were overwhelming.
The once-deep moat was now choked with corpses, allowing them to cross without swimming.
No different from solid ground.
“Bring more stones!”
“Anything heavy!”
Fortunately, thanks to the soldiers’ and residents’ fierce defense, few enemies scaled the walls. Those who did were mostly cut down by knights and Hunters.
“Where do you think you’re climbing!”
Lee Seon spotted Jang Hye-won, briefly resting to recover mana, stabbing a longsword into an enemy who’d fully climbed a ladder, then kicking him tumbling down.
Mage or not, everyone’s eyes were starting to glaze over. These were foes in human form, nothing more.
“H-Hun— I mean, Captain! Incoming again!”
The skies were trouble too.
Even magic shields didn’t fully resist physical attacks. On average, they held after 15 hits before shattering.
And the enemies weren’t fools.
Catapults hurled not just stones. Filth and corpses slid over the transparent shields. A gruesome sight visually as well.
The only silver lining: the enemies’ catapult ammo seemed depleted, slowing their assaults.
But their mana was insufficient too.
They had rotated shifts for brief rests to maintain shields, but limits were approaching.
“Gah!”
As expected, Song Ji-hyun, the Hunter with the weakest mana, collapsed first. She spat blood on the ground, limbs trembling.
“Fall back!”
“N-No! I can do it!”
“Stop talking and go!”
The enemy catapult was prepping another strike. But the shield they needed to hold one more time was already fading without Song Ji-hyun.
“Next shift ready!”
Choi Seok-won shouted. A brief gap before the catapult reloaded.
Lee Seon scanned the battlefield.
A field packed with enemies.
In its center, bizarrely, a straight empty path. Every charge by the figure at its heart created gaps in enemy lines.
‘That crazy bastard!’
In these five hours, Lee Woo-yeon hadn’t returned to the castle once. Flying with wings overhead, sweeping humans with AoE magic—that lasted barely over an hour.
Afterward, mana depleted, he’d landed and swung his sword for three hours straight.
Lee Seon had supported with wide-area attacks when possible, but focused on defense, it had been over an hour since his last.
Yet now, enemies dodged Lee Woo-yeon’s sword swings, disrupting their own frontlines.
An astonishing stand.
Lee Seon worried for Lee Woo-yeon but understood why, feeling only regret.
Even fighting like that, enemies remained plentiful.
“30,000 kills needed?”
The minimum to slay the boss monster.
A terrifying number, feeling even more insurmountable on the field.
“U-ugh…….”
“Captain, I-I can’t…….”
The Hunters behind him had all hit their limits, and even Jang Hye-won, who’d briefly wielded a sword, was exhausted.
Lee Seon swallowed the blood pooling in his mouth, forcing it down his raw throat.
A bitter taste lingered.
“Everyone, fall back and rest a moment. I can hold alone briefly.”
Mana gathered in his wand.
A massive stone loaded on the catapult was visible. Failing to block it would crumble the walls.
- Choi Seok-won Hunter, listen up.
Casting shield, Lee Seon used telepathy on Choi Seok-won. He was the only rookie with the Telepathy skill.
Choi Seok-won startled, staring at him.
“Y-Yes?”
Not cut out for infiltration.
Should’ve pre-written the eval. Lee Seon quickly conveyed what was needed.
- If the walls fall and I die, immediately lead the other Hunters, switch to siege offense formation, and escape the dungeon.
“What?!”
- Reply via telepathy!
“O-Oh, got it!”
- What do you mean got it……!
- Stop replying. It’s distracting. Understood? Take care.
Shields began forming in the air.
The problem: even Lee Seon couldn’t guarantee how long he’d last.
No—this castle.
Lee Seon glanced at Lee Woo-yeon on the field. Their eyes didn’t meet.
But Lee Seon trusted him.
The guy who valued his own life, pursuing utmost efficiency in dungeon clears. If he deemed it impossible, he’d grab Kang Ye-na and bail immediately.
Time to fold.
Damn, guess this is my grave.
The first stone detached from the catapult, flying in. Simultaneously, enemies finally crested ladders onto the walls.
Lee Seon gritted his teeth, raising his wand. Plan: maintain shield while casting True Word.
Using regular magic and True Word simultaneously demanded extreme mana drain.
With no one to cover him, casting True Word now was suicidal. But if dying anyway, better save one more life.
For that alone, Lee Seon opened his mouth.
“This domain…… Ugh!”
That’s when it happened.
“Don’t!”
A desperate voice hit, followed by a blow to his back.
Ambush?
Whirling in shock, clumps like dirt rained to the ground.
“Move!”
Far off, along the path to the castle, a gust whipped up.
Lee Seon rubbed his eyes in disbelief.
But before confirming, a figure leaped to the walls, tapping his shoulder.
Then kicked off again, soaring into the air.
Everyone followed the motion, heads tilting skyward.
The ground was a brutal crossroads of life and death, but the dark sky held only a faint, noble moon.
A sword aglow with light overpowering that moon floated midair.
Lee Seon finally trusted his eyes.
“Kang Ye……!”
“Captain!”
The vice-captain, blood-soaked and haggard, cried out first in anguish.
Only her back visible here.
Face unseen, but Lee Seon felt her respond to the call.
The radiant sword swung.
Before its blade: the massive stone hurtling toward the castle.
Impossible, he thought—but reality always outstrips imagination.
The stone split in half, plummeting harmlessly. The woman kicked off it mid-fall for momentum.
Tap.
Landing gracefully on the walls after a spin, she turned briefly, scanning the field.
Her face came into sharp focus for Lee Seon, whose vision had normalized.
He’d thought her young at first sight, but amid this scream-filled battlefield, she looked even younger.
The kind of face you’d prioritize protecting first in such a life-and-death fray.
Yet her scanning gaze held veteran sharpness, her lips stubborn resolve, her sword hand unyielding decisiveness.
“Elisa May!”
The vice-captain snapped to the hoarsely commanding voice, rousing from the astonishing sight.
“Yes, Captain!”
“What are you doing? Get it together! And, mages!”
Realizing it addressed him, Lee Seon replied a beat late.
Right—couldn’t call him Hunter Lee Seon here.
“Yes?”
“Focus on shields. Don’t pull stunts that shorten your lifespan!”
Ah, she’d clocked his double-cast attack plan. Still dazed, Lee Seon nodded.
Choi Seok-won, behind him, murmured blankly.
“So cool…….”
……Yeah.
Lee Seon agreed.