A Symphony of Cannons and Curses

Kim Tae-hyun planned to melt the skeletons away with a barrage of artillery fire. While the wide-range spells of mages and priests were formidable, the artillery's bombardment was easily just as devastating. The greatest advantage of artillery was that, once properly set up, it could grind the surrounding area to dust with almost zero MP consumption! Of course, there was a slight chance that the stubborn paladins from the other churches might get caught in the crossfire, but that would simply be an unfortunate, unavoidable accident.

Lee Se-yeon's guild members, who had tagged along to assist her, asked in a panic, "Uh... even if those church NPCs are ignoring orders and acting on their own, isn't attacking them a bit too risky?"

"Indeed."

"Right? I knew you'd agree." The rankers sighed in relief, seeing that Tae-hyun understood. Of course he did—this was Kim Tae-hyun they were talking about. There was no way he didn't grasp the gravity of the situation.

"Fire."

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of heavy, earth-shaking thunders, the artillery cannons spat fire. Cannons of various sizes and calibers unleashed their shells simultaneously, their distinct roars blending together like a chaotic, destructive choir. The chimeras and barbarians of the Archisus Cult rapidly deployed portable mortars across the field, shoving shells into the tubes as fast as their hands could move. The giants, carrying heavy cannons custom-made for their massive frames on their shoulders, fired heavy, devastating shots at any enemies that dared to draw near.

Thump, thump, thump—

And then there were the dwarfs, the core of the artillery unit. They had connected their signature giant cannons directly to the demon cages to siphon and charge them with raw energy.

—Aaaargh! Screeech!

The agonized shrieks of the demons served as the firing signal.

Kaaaa-boom!

The moment the massive cannons unleashed their fury, the approaching skeletons were instantly vaporized. It was an overwhelming display of damage, completely overshadowing the efforts of the various church paladins.

Are they insane? Lee Se-yeon marveled inwardly. When she had first seen them, she thought they were just a bizarre, ragtag group of mercenaries. But they grew exponentially stronger every time she saw them, to the point where they could now put the Magic Tower's elite mage divisions to shame.

Thousands of skeletons, spearheaded by skeleton warhorses and skeleton knights, charged forward only to be utterly obliterated in an instant. And, as expected, the paladins got caught in the blast.

—Aaaargh! The ground is flipping upside down!

—Heavenly Dawn's Protection!!

Fortunately, thanks to the paladins' natural resilience and the immediate support of the priests, none of them died. However, they protested furiously.

—Your Holiness! What is the meaning of this!

—How could you attack us as well?!

"My bad. But that's why you should listen to orders. When we use dark magic, don't get in our way."

—"..."

...These guys are seriously annoying to deal with. If they saw dark magic, his infamy rose. If they didn't stop dark magic, their infamy rose. Even in the middle of a life-or-death battle, they kept trying to suppress the Necromancers... As if reading Tae-hyun's mind, Lee Se-yeon whispered to him, "The churches are a pain, aren't they? Why don't you ditch them and join the free world of dark magic?"

"Not all churches are like this. Paladins of the churches!! Assemble on the right flank!!" Tae-hyun bellowed, his voice booming across the battlefield as he activated his eloquence skill. He planned to herd all the church forces onto the right flank. That way, even if the players here used dark magic, keeping them separated would minimize any friction.

"Fire! Aim right over there!"

They've taken their positions. Tae-hyun let out a sigh of relief. There had been some initial chaos, but the Expedition finally seemed to have established a proper formation. The previous expeditions that had attempted to conquer this dungeon were small in number and completely unprepared for a situation like this. In contrast, Tae-hyun's Expedition boasted such a spectacular lineup that they had the raw power to stand their ground and face a tidal wave of tens of thousands of undead head-on without flinching.

"Keep them back! Don't let them get close! If the enemy reaches the artillery, our damage output will drop!"

"Understood!"

The players prioritized defending the perimeter of the artillery unit. Although the paladins and priests formed an incredibly sturdy wall that seemed impenetrable, the skeletons were also evolving. Despite vaporizing thousands of them at a time, their numbers continued to swell. Where only one or two skeleton wyverns had appeared earlier, they were now swarming in droves, and even skeleton dragons were beginning to emerge.

The system messages scrolled by at a dizzying speed—a clear sign that named skeleton monsters were spawning in dozens of locations. To make matters worse, the skills of these named entities were incredibly troublesome.

—*Dark Dimensional Shift!*

"They're bypassing our lines!!"

Even with the paladins and priests drawing aggro and forming a solid wall, skeletons were still warping in from behind and dropping from above!

Jackal grit his teeth and sprinted forward. He had only recently changed his class to an Archisus Secret Assassin, but he had practiced like a madman before coming here, giving him a solid grasp of his skill combos. I have to do something!

*Thud-thud-thud-thud!*

Jackal threw his body directly into the path of the incoming attacks. For a fragile assassin who was anything but a tank, doing something like this was incredibly reckless... Yet, this desperate move produced an unexpected result. The skeletons' aggro completely locked onto Jackal.

—*Archisus's Secret Evasion! Archisus's Illusion Dance! Archisus's Swaying Wind!*

Jackal activated every evasion skill he had in rapid succession before chaining them into his escape skills. When pushed into a corner, humans were capable of tapping into hidden reserves of strength.

"Aaaaaargh!"

With his evasion rate boosted to the absolute limit and Jackal squeezing out every ounce of his mechanical skill, a miraculous phenomenon occurred: every single attack from the skeletons missed.

"Who... who is that guy?!"

"A DPS is tanking?!"

Lee Se-yeon's guild members gasped in shock. For a damage dealer to tank relying solely on their raw mechanical control was a feat only the absolute elite of the elite could pull off. It was a high-risk gamble where a single mistake meant instant death. It was the kind of stunt only a lunatic like Kim Tae-hyun pulled on a regular basis, not something normal players would ever attempt...

"That's a ranker named Jackal. Apparently, Kim Tae-hyun personally recruited him."

"What?! Is this Jackal guy really that good? Kim Tae-hyun brought him along because he was impressed?"

"I heard Kim Tae-hyun said Jackal's skills are on par with his own!"

Rumors always had a way of snowballing. By the time Jackal barely managed to escape the fray, the surrounding players were already staring at him with eyes full of awe and astonishment.

"Whoa... you're seriously incredible, Jackal."

"How could a ranker with this level of skill be so unknown until now?"

"Is this what they mean by 'the boughs that bear most hang lowest'? Amazing. To hide your strength like that... I'm really looking forward to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠seeing more from you."

"...?????"

Jackal stared blankly at the guild members, who had finished the entire conversation among themselves before he could even utter a word. What the hell are these crazy bastards talking about?

"No, that was just a fluke, and I got incredibly lucky—"

"Hey, stop being so modest."

"The way he's humble about things like this is just like Kim Tae-hyun. I guess that's why he recruited him."

"Yeah, truly skilled people always have that quiet, heavy presence. Indeed."

"...Ugh."

Jackal felt a sudden wave of nausea. The... the pressure was going to kill him!

—*We have a major problem!*

"?"

—*The demons ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠trapped in the cages have collapsed from exhaustion!*

"Oh, no!"

Tae-hyun was horrified. The demons responsible for powering the massive cannons that the dwarfs were firing had collapsed.

"Did you feed them the blood?"

—*They're so exhausted that they won't even swallow it!*

"I'm on my way!"

Tae-hyun dashed over. He had been busy slicing through named skeletons, but a situation like this required a true professional. When he arrived, he saw the demons slumped limply inside their cages.

—*You bastards! We brought you blood, so why won't you drink it! Why!*

The dwarfs banged on the cages, shedding tears the size of chicken droppings, but the demons simply pretended to be unconscious, ignoring them.

"Step aside. I prepared some food just for an occasion like this."

Before entering the Labyrinth of Hungry Chaos, Tae-hyun had made thorough preparations. Among those preparations was a dish specifically designed to revive collapsed demons. A stamina-boosting Weird Food dish!

—*But Your Holiness! These bastards refuse to eat!*

"I have my ways."

Tae-hyun held holy water in one hand and a whip in the other. Then, he began splashing and whipping simultaneously.

—*Argh! Ow! Aaaargh!*

"Eat! I'll keep whipping you until you eat!"

Forget the carrot and the whip—this was the whip and the whip! This was the true Archisus way. For Tae-hyun, who needed to revive the demons as quickly as possible to get the cannons firing again, there was no room for mercy or hesitation.

"Eat! Unless you want another lashing!"

—"..."

—"..."

The priests from the other churches fighting in the distance clicked their tongues in disbelief at the sight.

—*So the rumors that the Archisus Cult actually keeps demons caged were true!*

—*Well, whatever their methods, isn't keeping demons under control a good thing?*

—*Are you mad? Demons must be exorcised! If they keep them locked up like that and they somehow escape...*

It was a shocking sight, enough to divide opinions even among the holy orders.

"Keep pushing them back!! Maintain the formation and pour on the damage!"

Artillery shells detonated like thunderclaps over the mountains of bones. With every explosion, pillars of fire erupted, sending shockwaves rippling through the air. Tae-hyun fearlessly navigated the chaos, focusing his attacks solely on the named skeletons.

After sweeping the surrounding area with his Madness Explosion Sword Style, Tae-hyun immediately chained it into his next skill.

—*Archisus's Second Attack!*

A path cleared by his successive wide-range attacks lay open before him. Tae-hyun used Explosion Leap to rocket into the air, landing squarely on top of the skeleton dragon.

—*Critical Explosion!*

—*Screeech!*

Unleashing the accumulated critical stacks in a massive burst, the attack blasted the Skeleton Great Warrior off the skeleton dragon's back.

I have to keep the momentum going! Because the enemy numbers were so overwhelming, he couldn't afford to hesitate or waste time on a single target. He had to eliminate them instantly and move on! Tae-hyun triggered a latent skill embedded in his equipment.

—*Chaos Explosion!!*

! Receiving an unexpected bonus, Tae-hyun completely swept away the surrounding enemies.

[The Skeleton High Priest begins casting a wicked spell!]

—*Archisus's Advanced Magic Dispel! Archisus's Advanced Magic Absorption! Archisus's Advanced Wide-Range Barrier!*

Tae-hyun activated the skills of his Adamantium Armor in rapid succession. Normally, he would have analyzed the enemy's spell first before deciding on a countermeasure, but the sheer volume of enemies made that luxury impossible. He had to nip the threat in the bud, even if it meant burning through his item skills.

Damn it. Even though my skills are weird, they're usually highly cost-effective, so I rarely run low on MP... Despite stacking multiple pieces of MP-recovery gear and focusing on low-cost skills, he was still struggling with MP depletion. That was a testament to just how many enemies he was constantly fighting.

—*Blessing of True Greatness!*

Oh! Tae-hyun's face lit up. This was exactly why he had brought the church NPCs along. The buffs provided by the priests were insanely powerful! Which church cast that? Was it Demer? Tae-hyun glanced back, but he couldn't see any of the orthodox churches nearby. They were all too busy fighting on their own fronts.

"...?"

Instead, the one waving at him was Persmes, the successor to the Bishop of the Idergo Cult. He had run all the way from the opposite side of the battlefield just to assist Tae-hyun.