The Demolition of Marden Castle
The vampires had no idea that Tae-hyun was planning to blow up the entire ancient castle.
— Senior! Senior!
— What is it?
— I found the weapon imbued with divine authority!
— What? Really?
Tae-hyun was surprised. He had expected it to take a bit longer. This fast?
— Good job. Then there's no reason to hesitate. Grab it and get out!
— Yes, sir!
If they had found the weapon with divine authority, there was no reason to waste any more time in this castle. Tae-hyun resolved to blow up Marden Castle as quickly as possible and return to Anong Castle.
"Why isn't he coming?"
The vampire warriors had retreated to the labyrinth on the third basement floor, holding their breath.
The traps here were so vicious that "vile" was an understatement. The enemy's numbers weren't that large. If they relied on this terrain to hit and run, the intruders would surely face a massive headache.
— We hold out until Marquis Marden returns!
"Wait... do you hear a strange sound?"
"...?"
The vampires' hearing was far superior to that of humans. They perked up their ears and looked around.
A low, rumbling sound was growing louder and louder.
"What on earth is—?"
RUUUUUUUUMBLE—BOOOOOOOOM!
• You have triggered a massive chain explosion by linking multiple bombs! Your Engineering skill has increased significantly.
• Your Beginner Bomb Crafting skill has evolved into Intermediate Bomb Crafting!
• You can now craft far more powerful bombs and design highly devastating explosions.
• Your Beginner Gunpowder Crafting skill has evolved into Intermediate Gunpowder Crafting!
• The explosive power of your basic gunpowder has been significantly enhanced.
• You have completely demolished Marden Castle with explosives. Your Reputation and Infamy have risen significantly!
System messages popped up in a dizzying flurry!
Tae-hyun laughed out loud as he watched the ancient Marden Castle collapse into rubble.
"Bwahahaha!"
To any onlooker, he looked like a complete villain. But Tae-hyun didn't care. The messages popping up right now made it all worth it.
It was well worth using up all the materials in the Anong Castle warehouse to craft those bombs. He had completely leveled Marden Castle.
Since he had blown up an entire castle, the experience points for his engineering-related skills were astronomical.
A magnificent feat—jumping straight to intermediate rank for all related skills in one go!
I should blow up more castles in the future!
Tae-hyun harbored a truly terrifying thought.
Marquis Marden's hostility has reached its absolute maximum.
Reconciliation is completely impossible.
I had no intention of making peace anyway.
"Explosions destroy many things. However, those who blow up an entire castle with a single blast are rare indeed. Your legendary feat of leveling a castle will serve as an inspiration to all engineers."
• Affinity Increase: Significantly increases affinity when interacting with engineering-related NPCs.
• Racial Affinity: Increases affinity when interacting with Dwarves and Goblins.
• Castle Lord Reaction: May trigger unique, specific reactions when interacting with Castle Lord NPCs.
• Explosive Bonus: Grants additional bonuses when crafting and using bomb items.
• Design Bonus: Grants additional bonuses to explosion designs.
Tae-hyun was pleased with the level-up, but the title was just as satisfying. It was a title any engineer would covet!
"Right. Where is the weapon with the divine authority?"
"Here it is, Senior."
Jeong Su-hyeok excitedly pulled out a staff and handed it over.
"Did Ed-an find it?"
"Actually, I found it!"
"As expected, Ed-an is pretty useless."
Tae-hyun's sharp words pierced right through him. Ed-an wept tears of frustration inwardly.
Tae-hyun checked the item.
"...?"
An Archisus Church Mage.
That part wasn't too strange. Even now, looking at other gods, there were several church-related classes.
The problem was the state of this staff!
Tae-hyun inspected the staff. Thanks to his Intermediate Blacksmithing Skill, he could see the item's details.
[Broken State]
Repair is currently impossible due to missing fragments.
"It says here that it's broken and currently unusable. Where are the other fragments?"
"Uh..."
"Oh..."
Ed-an and Jeong Su-hyeok stared at each other.
Tae-hyun's heart sank. Don't tell me...
Did these idiots just stand there while he blew up the castle, knowing the other fragments might still be inside?
"The other fragments are probably held by Marquis Marden," Evangeline said.
"What?"
Tae-hyun turned his head at Evangeline's words. At the same time, he let out a sigh of relief. There was no worse nightmare than the remaining fragments being buried under the rubble of the collapsed castle!
"I heard the reason Marquis Marden couldn't easily recover and fell into a deep slumber was because a fragment of the weapon with divine authority was embedded in his body."
"...!"
What a relief! Tae-hyun inwardly breathed a sigh of relief.
Of course, to retrieve the rest, he would have to defeat Marquis Marden, extract the fragment from his body, and then repair it...
But it was still better than it being lost forever! Tae-hyun decided to look on the bright side.
Of course, Marquis Marden, upon hearing the news, would absolutely not be looking on any bright side.
A vampire determined to flee was incredibly difficult to catch.
Vampiric Drain, hiding in shadows, transforming into bats... Vampires were among the races with the most escape-specialized skills.
While Tae-hyun's party was wreaking havoc in Marden Castle like heroes invading a Demon King's castle, a few swift vampire warriors quickly slipped away and headed toward Marquis Marden's military camp.
— Master! The ancient castle is under attack!
— What?!
Marquis Marden was caught completely off guard!
However, he was not an easy opponent.
— If they bypassed my eyes to head to the castle, their numbers cannot be large. Leave them be!
Even if they temporarily occupied the castle, it meant nothing. Marquis Marden believed that once he conquered Anong Castle, he could easily reclaim Marden Castle. The underground was filled with passages and traps of his own making, and no one knew Marden Castle better than he did.
But a few hours later, another report arrived!
— Master! *Sob!* Marden Castle... has been completely demolished!
— ??!?!?!
Tae-hyun's goal was destruction, not occupation!
Since occupying it was useless and maintaining it was impossible, he had simply blown it up.
Furthermore, his Engineering skill was specialized in destroying stationary targets from the inside!
Marquis Marden fell into an extreme rage.
— I will slaughter those insects!
Though he wanted to turn back and tear them apart immediately, Marquis Marden did not lose his reason even in his extreme rage.
If he turned back now with Anong Castle standing strong right before him, he would only expose his rear to an attack! He had to conquer this castle first.
"Attack with everything you have!!!!!!!"
With Marquis Marden's roar, the vampire army's assault began.
Clop, clop, clop—
Spurring their horses to full speed, Tae-hyun and his companions were rushing back to Anong Castle.
"Ah, Senior."
"What?"
"I changed my class to a Rare Class."
"?!"
Tae-hyun was startled. When on earth?!
"When?!"
"Just a moment ago. I thought a Normal Class would be fine, but you insisted that I absolutely must change classes, Senior..."
"To what?!"
"I became an Archisus Church Mage! It is an honor to follow in your footsteps, Senior!"
"..."
Tae-hyun was dumbfounded for the first time in a long while.
An Archisus Church Mage.
Of course, it was a good class. It was just that it tended to be extremely volatile in many ways. If it had those traits, someone lacking gaming sense like Jeong Su-hyeok might find it incredibly difficult to handle.
But what was done was done! It wasn't Tae-hyun's problem anyway.
Tae-hyun quickly recovered from the shock. Since it had happened, he could only hope it was a good class.
"What skills did you get?"
"Uh... let's see..."
Calls upon divine power through unwavering faith in the god. Your mana recovery speed increases in direct proportion to the divine power of the Avatar of Archisus.
Erects a protective barrier imbued with the power of Archisus around the designated area.
That's actually amazing!
A skill like Divine Faith was worth its weight in gold to someone like Tae-hyun, who was always struggling with mana shortages.
Wait, why does the follower get such a great skill while I, the Avatar, don't have anything like that...
Of course, in terms of sheer brokenness, Tae-hyun's skills were overwhelmingly superior, but human emotions are rarely consistent! Besides, Tae-hyun hadn't chosen his class because he wanted to, so there was nothing he could do.
Jeong Su-hyeok displayed his skills one by one.
"Hold on."
"Yes?"
"What is this?"
Grants an additional random effect whenever magic is cast. The nature of this effect is heavily influenced by the user's Holy stat and the overall influence of the Archisus Cult.
Tae-hyun had thought it was just a passive skill to strengthen magic, but he suddenly became curious about what this "additional random effect" actually was.
For some reason, the description felt ominous!
Don't tell me...
Even if Archisus was the God of Luck, every time he cast an important spell...
No way. Surely not!
"The siege has started! Right now... Argh?!"
A player who had been recklessly talking from atop the castle wall was hit by a flying vampire spell and died instantly.
His ambitious plan to live-stream the siege on his personal channel had failed miserably.
Not many players were gutsy enough to stream from the top of the castle walls, but there were still quite a few broadcasting this siege from within Anong Castle.
Although it wasn't a quest involving major guilds or top rankers, a siege was always a rare spectacle! Even those who weren't participating watched with bated breath from behind their screens, or calculated how this quest would turn out as they spectated.
Swoooooosh—
Despite his fury, Marquis Marden attempted a textbook siege.
He ordered his mercenaries and undead soldiers to rain fire down upon the castle walls, while simultaneously sending massive undead monsters forward.
A textbook assault to suppress the high ground and clear a path!
"Do not let them approach!" Count Anong bellowed in a booming voice.
As he shouted, holding a heavy sword with his massive frame, the surrounding players couldn't help but feel intimidated.
"Whoa. Is he even human?"
Regardless, the players and the soldiers of Anong Castle moved swiftly.
Archer players and NPC archers hid behind the battlements and fired arrows. At the same time, mages prepared their spells!
The battle began like a probing skirmish, with neither side fully committing their entire strength yet.
Meanwhile, Tae-hyun's party had almost arrived at Anong Castle.
— Tae-hyun-ssi. Tae-hyun-ssi!
— ?
Tae-hyun tilted his head as a whisper came from Bae Jang-wook.
— You know, the special broadcast.
— ...Was that really the title?
— Haha. I came up with it myself.
Maybe it's better to leave the title-making to someone else?
Tae-hyun thought so, but he didn't say it out loud. It was his last remaining shred of conscience.
— Anyway, we need to match your schedule, Tae-hyun-ssi, so I logged in to ask you again. When are you free?
— Well, I'm always busy... let's just do it now.
Tae-hyun replied to Bae Jang-wook as he quickly entered Anong Castle with his companions. He immediately headed up to the castle walls.
— Huh? Is now really okay?
— Well, it's not like we're doing anything complicated. It's just a Q&A, right? Let's just do it now. Is that not allowed?
Who would dare say no to him? Bae Jang-wook already understood Tae-hyun's personality. He was a complete contrarian!
— I-In that case... understood! One hour! Let's start in one hour!
— Sounds good.