The Specter of Black Magic
The Woodstock Guild wasn't the only one to make a decision. The Choigang Jizon Mussang Guild moved just as quickly.
"Right now! It's time! Let's go to their territory, burn it, kill them, and plunder everything!"
"..."
The guild members stared at Kim Tae-san with slightly terrified eyes. Hearing such words from a mountain-like Orc player with a ferocious glint in his eyes was genuinely terrifying!
'Brother. Didn't you say you were trying to manage your public image?'
'As if that would ever work. Just leave him be. Leave him be.'
The Orc uncles looked at Kim Tae-san with warm, understanding eyes. Kim Tae-san was undoubtedly trying his best to manage his image. It was just that his efforts were completely meaningless!
Seeing the newly joined guild members trembling, Kim Tae-san nodded with a proud expression.
'As expected. They're trembling with joy at the thought of going to PVP and looting. There really is no other guild leader like me. Where else would you find a leader who lets everyone plunder and share the spoils so equally?'
They were looking at completely different realities.
"But Guild Leader, won't it be dangerous if we act now?"
Currently, the Guild Alliance and the Choigang Jizon Mussang Guild were keeping each other in check, but they hadn't engaged in full-scale warfare yet. Under these circumstances, Kim Tae-san launching a preemptive strike was practically a declaration of war.
"Of course, we'll wear disguises."
"Huh? Disguises?"
"And then we'll shout this: 'Long live Kim Tae-hyun!'"
"..."
"..."
The Orc uncles stared at Kim Tae-san with dead, cold eyes. They realized exactly what he was aiming for. Since Tae-hyun was currently causing absolute chaos, Tae-san intended to pin their own rampage on his son!
"Brother—no, Guild Leader... that's a bit..."
"Why not?! Do you know how much that brat Tae-hyun has ripped me off?! Can't I get a little payback?!"
"Even so, doing that to your own son is..."
"Shut up, you lot! Who's the guild leader here?!"
Two villages, three fortresses, one city, and two castles. That was the tally of the territories destroyed by Tae-hyun's group.
Tae-hyun moved with wicked, exquisite precision. If someone were to write a book titled How to Pull Off Hit-and-Run Tactics Against Giant Guilds, his actions would serve as the perfect textbook.
When the enemy moved to encircle them from behind, he abandoned the captured territory without a shred of regret and moved to the next. If the enemy guild members moved in small numbers to stall him, he didn't miss the opportunity to quickly pounce and crush them. Yet, if they tried to gather in massive numbers to attack, he slipped away in the blink of an eye.
He darted across the Auston Kingdom, repeating his hit-and-run tactics over and over! Then, whenever he spotted a territory that looked like an easy target, he unleashed his full power upon it.
The lords of these territories weren't fools, so they focused entirely on defense, but the offensive power of Tae-hyun's party far exceeded their wildest expectations. The Black Mage army was formidable enough, but once the horde of undead rabbits Tae-hyun commanded ran wild inside, a standard defense force couldn't hope to contain them. The very infrastructure of the territories collapsed!
As they piled attack upon attack, Tae-hyun's group grew exponentially stronger. Such was the terror of an undead army!
The undead controlled by Black Mage Junal have reached their limit.
The undead controlled by Black Mage Beshu have reached their limit.
"Cancel the summons on the low-grade skeletons, and upgrade everyone else as much as possible," Tae-hyun ordered.
"Yes, Master!"
• The power of the undead army has increased.
• The combat power of the undead army increases.
• Intermediate Ghoul Warriors have been promoted to Advanced Ghoul Warriors.
• Advanced Skeleton Archers have been promoted to Elite Advanced Skeleton Archers.
• The Death Knights crave the next battle.
• The Giant Rotting Flesh Golems crave the next battle.
• Morale is at its peak.
• Magic skill level has increased.
• Infamy has increased.
A truly terrifying force! It was incomparable to the small group they had started with.
Capture a city, summon undead there, capture another territory, summon more undead, upgrade them...
Once things reached this point, the Guild Alliance had no choice but to admit they had miscalculated. They had assumed that even if a few players ran amok, there would be a limit to what they could achieve if the alliance prepared beforehand. But they were dead wrong.
When Tae-hyun's sheer talent for causing chaos combined with high-level NPC Black Mages, the result was nothing short of a nightmare.
The Specter of Black Magic
A specter is haunting the Auston Kingdom—the specter of Black Mages. These Black Mages are burning down territories, raising the undead, and plunging the Auston Kingdom into a pit of chaos. Brave and righteous heroes, gather and take up arms! If we do not defeat them, there is no hope for the future of the Auston Kingdom!
🎁 Reward: [?], [???], [???]
Slay the Leader of Chaos, Kim Tae-hyun
The leader of the Black Mages currently burning down the Auston Kingdom is the wicked adventurer, Kim Tae-hyun. If you can slay Kim Tae-hyun, the Black Mages will lose their focal point and weaken. However, be cautious! This adventurer's strength is extraordinary; a single misstep could lead to your own demise.
🎁 Reward: [?], [???], [???]
Quests were already popping up for the players of the Auston Kingdom. And these weren't even issued by the Guild Alliance!
In the end, the Guild Alliance had no choice but to revise their plans and respond with absolute gravity.
Arene City. It was currently the de facto headquarters of the Guild Alliance. Though it was still early, it was practically their capital.
Its forces, facilities, and symbolic value were immense. If it were to be attacked, the Guild Alliance would become a laughingstock forever. To think that such a massive coalition of players could be toyed with by a single man, Kim Tae-hyun!
Yet, Tae-hyun had already captured Odan Castle, the stronghold right on Arene City's doorstep. The Guild Alliance had no choice but to panic.
Eventually, even the players who had merely been spectating began to mobilize. They realized that if they didn't act, things would truly spiral out of control.
As a result, an army of a completely different caliber gathered on the field. Even Tae-hyun, who had been sweeping through the Auston Kingdom without a care, realized the shift.
'Whoa, if we clash head-on, we're going to get crushed.'
From the forces pursuing them from behind to the guild members converging from all directions, the sheer scale of the enemy was no joke. A massive host of hostile forces stretched across the horizon, surrounding the field in every direction!
"What are your orders, Count?"
"For now, we retreat to Odan Castle. They moved faster than I expected. I thought they'd drag their feet a bit more."
"...You burned and smashed so many territories, how could they possibly drag their feet any longer..."
While they had completely destroyed the other territories before moving on, they had left Odan Castle, their final conquest, intact. Tae-hyun had left it alone just in case, having heard rumors of the Guild Alliance mobilizing a massive force, and that caution had paid off.
Tae-hyun's group retreated into Odan Castle, leading their undead army.
Having suffered so many bitter defeats at the hands of Tae-hyun's party, the Guild Alliance didn't dare attack during the retreat. Instead, they followed slowly from behind, eventually surrounding Odan Castle from all sides.
Inside the besieged Odan Castle.
Outside, the formidable rankers of the Guild Alliance and a massive army had established a suffocating perimeter. Yet, Tae-hyun's party showed no signs of fear or despair.
Why? Because Tae-hyun was with them!
'Since Kim Tae-hyun brought us all the way here, he must have a plan.'
'Tae-hyun-nim must have a plan.'
'A man of Kim Tae-hyun's caliber wouldn't do something like this without a plan. There must be a way.'
Unshakeable faith! Everyone was staring at Tae-hyun with eyes full of expectation.
"...?"
Tae-hyun tilted his head. What was with those looks?
"Ahem. Tae-hyun-ssi," Baha cleared his throat and spoke up.
"...?"
"So, how are we going to escape from here?"
"Ah, that is..."
"It must be an incredibly amazing method, Father!" Baher chimed in.
"That's right, Ahjussi! Just like all the quests Kim Tae-hyun has done before, it'll be some bizarre, mind-blowing method to backstab those guys outside and get us out!"
Seeing the unwavering trust shining in the eyes of Baher and his friends, Tae-hyun froze.
"Uh..."
In truth, Tae-hyun didn't have any brilliant escape plan for the group.
Then why had he been so calm and confident?
Well...
'I was confident I could escape by myself.'
Tae-hyun was absolutely certain he could slip away alone. His plan was to let the massive armies clash, and then, amidst the chaos, use his disguises and evasion skills to break through. No matter how many rankers were out there, he was confident he could escape.
That was why he had rampaged deeper and deeper into enemy territory without a single thought for the aftermath!
The problem was...
'I definitely can't say that right now.'
With everyone looking at him with such trusting eyes, if Tae-hyun said, "Oh, actually, I only planned for my own escape," he might literally get stabbed. It was one thing for players, but for the NPCs, their morale would plummet drastically, regardless of his Advanced Rhetoric skill!
"...Of course I have a plan!"
"As expected of Tae-hyun-nim!"
"As expected of Tae-hyun-nim!"
"...?"
Lee Da-bi caught the subtle shift in Tae-hyun's expression and shot him a suspicious look.
Oblivious to Tae-hyun's true thoughts, the others continued to chant his name in unison.
"Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun! Kim Tae-hyun!"
"Hmm... what to do?"
'Master, you can just abandon them!' Heuk-heuk suggested.
"You really... are just like Sadiq."
'Pardon?'
"Nothing."
Heuk-heuk's scales practically gleamed with a healthy luster. The one who had benefited the most from this raid on the Auston Kingdom was Heuk-heuk, followed closely by the Power Warrior Guild.
"What level are you now?"
'I am Level 265!'
"..."
Tae-hyun's face contorted. How on earth did he level up so fast?
"Ha, haha... I guess Black Dragons grow fast."
'Pardon? No, Master. It's not because I'm a dragon, but because you accumulated such an astronomical amount of Infamy during this raid...'
"Shut up."
'...'
Putting aside Tae-hyun's sour mood, Heuk-heuk reaching Level 265 was actually great news. Despite being summoned much later, he was already at a similar level to Yong-yong! It was a testament to just how massive the scale of this chaos had been.
'No matter how I look at it, Heuk-heuk, with his evil alignment, seems to fit my playstyle much better than the good-aligned Yong-yong...'
Tae-hyun stared at Heuk-heuk with mixed feelings. Even though his class was a holy Pope, he somehow felt a much deeper compatibility with Sadiq's divine beast.