Quick Judgment
This time it was the blue team.
The castle's size and appearance were identical. The only differences were the color of the flag at the top of the keep and the nameplate reading Blue Team.
Our opponents were semi-rankers hovering just inside the top 1,000. They weren't top-100 rankers, but they were seasoned veterans who had long since learned to fight in sync — more than enough as practice partners.
Vlack, just as before, dispatched the soldier NPCs. The troops splashed diligently across the river before vanishing into the forest.
I glanced around the map and asked, "Are you working out a strategy?"
"Hmm, normally I'd watch the first match and decide how to play, but that one ended before I could..." Vlack shook his head. The game had wrapped up the moment he'd leveled and bought a couple of buffs. With single-digit rankers all gathered on one side, the outcome was predictable — but it had been far faster than even he expected.
"This time, let's go by the book instead of gambling. I'll hold the defense like before, and the three of you should move freely. Focus on growing rather than rushing the boss or charging in recklessly."
"Got it." / "Understood." / "Sounds good."
We all nodded. Slinging his greatsword back over his shoulder, Vlack fixed his gaze on the purple team's side of the map.
"Fair warning — the purple team is the one you really don't want to underestimate."
"Are they strong?"
"They are. Their vice guildmaster is there, and the rest of the squad is made up of heavy hitters too. Best to be careful."
"...Duly noted."
"Lily-nim is here, I'm telling you..."
Lily. Lily is here, you see.
The rising new deity, the hottest star of the moment — a devastating beauty with a lovely voice, flawless skills, just perfect in every way—
"You're not having weird thoughts, are you?"
"...What's that supposed to mean?"
"The guildmaster told us to stop daydreaming and take this seriously."
As if I'd ever approach her privately.
Dual Ranger — one of Black Moon's elites, ranked 589th in the ranked duels — snickered, and Vice Guildmaster Taebaek coughed awkwardly into his fist.
"Ahem. Don't talk nonsense, you brat. You think I'm insane?"
"You tried to seduce a new guild member and got the boot for it. The guildmaster was absolutely livid."
"...That was a matter of circumstances. Not my fault. Besides, we had feelings for each—"
"Feelings so strong she blocked you and filed a report?"
He flinched.
".....Shut up. Thinking about that time just gives me a headache."
Taebaek sat glumly on the throne of his castle. His eyes drifted to the soldiers diligently hauling in resources. Looking closer, it wasn't just soldiers — strange creatures were ferrying supplies with equal fervor.
Dual Ranger swiftly converted the gathered resources into buffs. Several times faster than the other teams' resource income. Their levels might be lacking, but when it came to buffs, they held the advantage.
"Anyway, leave Lily-nim alone. Last time you only got cursed out. This time your head might actually come off."
"I said I won't! Why do you keep making a fuss?"
"Because it's never just once with you. If you weren't a founding member, you'd have been cut ages ago—"
"Get out!"
WHOOSH!
Thus Dual Ranger was ejected by Taebaek's authority. At the far end of the map, the furious vice guildmaster glared after him for a moment before sweeping back into his castle.
"Good grief, that temper. And they wonder why he can't progress the continent quest."
Someone with ranking and specs like his failing to advance the quest was a problem in itself. No matter how impressive your stats, if your affinity drops below a certain floor, the quest simply won't progress. Sure, you could manage if you'd only alienated one faction — but when your affinity is in the gutter everywhere, that's a different story entirely.
"Is he going to cause an incident one of these days?"
Worrying. Genuinely worrying.
"Kraagh!"
"Gruhak!"
The green spearhead punched through another orc's throat. They were dying one after another, each a single-strike kill. Compared to Raizaka — where I'd had to empty everything I had — this was a genuinely effortless hunt.
Level increased. (Level 4 → 5)
Ally purchased Attack Buff 1. (Attack 2 → 3)
Ally purchased Swiftness Buff 1. (Swiftness 3 → 4)
"Going smoothly."
My level and buffs kept climbing, and I could feel strength gradually seeping back into my weakened body. A little more of this, and I could probably take down Raizaka without much strain. But—
No need to show off a second time.
I'd already made my statement. If it had been a one-time thing, fine, but killing it every match would just get tiresome. Siege Warfare isn't a game about slaying the boss — it's about breaking the Core.
"Let's head out soon."
"I'm not hunting the dragon."
I checked the map. Ten minutes into the match, and with nothing special happening yet, my teammates were each going about their business in their assigned zones. The last match had been the anomaly — this was how it normally went.
I left the forest and reached the open plain. Straight ahead lay Raizaka's nest, but I curved my path sideways toward the forest where the purple team's castle stood. Vlack had told me to watch out for the purple team.
Which means the purple team is exactly who I should be hitting.
A guild? Now that I thought about it, though I'd forgotten lately, plenty of people had been pushing me to join one. Yena, Raphael, and countless others had all floated guild invitations. According to Apple Flavor, my editor-slash-manager, I was still getting thirty offer inquiries a day—
I have no real intention of joining anyone.
Placing yourself under someone's banner could bring stability and benefits, but I'd seen it curdle into pure harm more times than I could count. I'd lived through a few of those instances myself. If it ever became truly necessary, I'd consider it — but right now wasn't the time for that decision.
"So this is the purple team's formation... There's a resource tower nearby."
Each team's forest held two resource towers in total. Resources spawned every three minutes, up to five at a time, and since they were communal, anyone could claim them.
I moved toward the nearest tower. Soldiers were busily ferrying resources back and forth. Beside them, a figure sat on a boulder, honing a razor-edged longsword — a swordsman in martial robes.
Not a Grand General, I judged. A General.
I coiled the spear. An opponent sitting there doing nothing, wide open — the perfect moment to strike. They say the first blow wins the fight.
GRRRRIND!!
An earthquake?
Something was moving beneath the earth. In the next instant it burst out of the ground right beneath me, sweeping a set of sharp claws at my head.
CLANG!
I whipped the spearhead — meant for the swordsman — around in time to block the claws. Harder than I'd expected. But I wasn't about to lose a contest of strength.
The brown shape let out a disappointed tch— and flipped once through the air before landing on the ground. A puppy-like face with stubby, pointed ears. Both feet— no, both hands bore long, gleaming silver claws, while a skimpy outfit and patches of brown fur covered the essentials. It looked for all the world like a dog... or a mole? A beastkin.
"Myeongwol! I almost got ambushed!"
"...I knew."
"Is that your excuses voice?! You were looking at something else again!"
"...A beastkin?"
Even so, I hadn't expected a beastkin of all things.
"Tch. My timing was actually perfect that time!"
"Let's work. Finish quickly — I have anime to watch."
"Could you PLEASE not say stuff like that in that deep, dignified voice of yours?"
"It's entertaining. What can I say."
Ugh! The Mole Beastkin heaved a sigh and raised her claws, sharpening them further still. Light shimmered along the silver edges.
"Big sis, I know she's strong, so we can do a two-on-one, right?"
"If I say we fight one-on-one, will you fight one-on-one?"
"No!"
Then why did you even ask?
SHING!
The robed swordsman drew the longsword he'd been honing all this while. A certain tension hung over the field. The Mole Beastkin made the first move — some kind of speed skill, maybe, because she was in front of me in a blink, claws crashing down.
The claws caught against my spearhead. But as if she'd planned for it, she drove them deeper, fusing claw and weapon together, then stretched out her long legs and swept a kick at my midsection.
Tying down my spear, huh.
Not a bad idea, honestly. That trick works on anyone who can't actually handle a spear—
"Whoa?!"
Rather than fight the bind, I heaved the joined weapons up in one huge arc to slam her into the ground—
"Il-jeol — All-Severance."
SHFF!
The silver blade sheared clean through the beastkin's arm in an instant. She barely tumbled free, rolling across the dirt a heartbeat before my spear could come down.
Quick judgment.
Most people wouldn't think to cut through their own ally's body.
One hand short, the beastkin lifted her head and roared, "Hey! You cut MY ARM?! The spearhead was right there, cut THAT!"
"It was the best option available."
"Why you—!"
"Here she comes. Dodge."
"What—"