A Flaw in the Master Plan
Evangeline stared at Cain, her expression filled with utter bewilderment. "I said, let's hurry! What are you doing?"
"I'm coming! Mumble, mumble... And here I thought we were in the same boat of misfortune..."
"?!"
With Cain's suspicious grumbling echoing behind her, their raid on the royal palace interior officially began.
The power of the ritual grows stronger.
The crimson energy drains your HP.
Ah, this is seriously annoying. Cain checked his HP bar as he moved.
His class, Avatar of Archisus's Slave, came with incredibly potent skills. Combined with the various artifact-grade items he had acquired while tagging along with Tae-hyun, he was barely holding on. Had it not been for those two saving graces, his HP would have plummeted to zero in no time, given the sheer speed of the drain.
There was one crucial detail Tae-hyun had overlooked: the ritual had progressed significantly further than when Tae-hyun himself had first arrived! As a result, Cain was the only one suffering a slow, agonizing death.
But why is she so calm? Cain wondered, glancing at his companion. Evangeline's HP should be draining rapidly too... Could it be that her level was vastly superior to his, or did she possess far better skills and gear?
Cain felt a pang of bitter resentment. He had always been the undisputed number-one tank in Tae-hyun's party! To think he was being outshone by a newcomer like Evangeline.
Ugh. I should have practiced harder. I should have leveled up my skills at least one more time when Kim Tae-hyun told me to... Naturally, his resentment quickly gave way to deep self-reflection.
"Are you okay?" Evangeline asked.
"O-of course I am! I'm perfectly fine! Haha! I could stand here like this for days!"
"Really? My class is a descendant of the ancient Vampires, so I don't suffer any penalties here. Since you don't have that, I figured you'd be struggling, but I guess you're tougher than you look."
"W-what?" Cain stared at her, his face a mask of pure shock. Immunity to the penalty because of her class?!
"What is it?"
"You... you traitor! Go in by yourself!"
"?!"
Before she could reply, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from the corridor ahead. "Stop the intruders!" "Blood Golem!"
A massive golem, seemingly constructed from coagulated blood, loomed before them. It was a summon frequently utilized by vampire mages. Recognizing it instantly, Evangeline shouted, "Watch out!"
"Hmph. I've dealt with golems like this plenty of times, you know? Have you ever faced a mechanical engineering golem? Let me tell you, I—urk!"
• [Warning] You are blown back by the monstrous strength!
• [Status] You have entered a state of Shock due to the monstrous strength.
• [Success] Your passive skill successfully resists the effect.
• [Skill Up] Taking a powerful blow has increased your skill level.
Cain, who had raised his guard and let his guard down, was sent flying backward by the Blood Golem's strike. Thud!
"W-what the hell?!"
"The golems in here are on a completely different level than the ones outside!"
"You should have told me that beforehand!"
"I was trying to, but you just charged ahead!"
Cain had absolutely no excuse. Evangeline, meanwhile, was starting to get suspicious. Why is this guy so incredibly dumb? He definitely wasn't like this during the tournament...
During the Arena Tournament, Cain had been absolutely brilliant as the vanguard tank for Tae-hyun's team. He had executed his role flawlessly, demonstrating an inspiring willingness to sacrifice himself for the team. Tanks from other teams had openly marveled at him, whispering that the title of "World's Greatest Tank" truly belonged to Cain.
Yet the man standing before her now looked like he was missing a screw or two.
"Mwahahaha! At last, the complete power of Lord Salabian is mine! Tremble, you worthless insects! I shall tear you apart with my own hands and drink every last drop of your blood!"
"..."
"..."
Cain and Evangeline slowly turned to look at each other. Their thoughts aligned in perfect, terrifying harmony: We're screwed!
Right at that moment, a whisper from Tae-hyun, who was waiting outside, chimed in.
"...This is your fault!"
"No, it's your fault!!"
Carbanog thinks sending those two in was a mistake.
"Sigh... No, Cain and Evangeline must have done their best. We were just too late in realizing the ritual was taking place."
Slash! Boom! Sizzle! Tae-hyun spoke calmly as he swept away the swarming vampires with a flurry of sword strikes, bombs, and poison.
"Under the circumstances, they made the best choices they could... It's not their fault. The responsibility lies with me."
Hearing Tae-hyun's defense, Lee Da-bi thought to herself, Did those two actually do a good job, though?
Crash! Although they had failed to stop the ritual, there was still one major achievement. While Tae-hyun's group had been causing a massive ruckus in the palace courtyard, drawing the attention of the cultists, the inner castle's gates and walls had finally been breached.
Rumble—
"Oooooh... Oooooh!" The junior mechanical engineering blacksmiths, who were only now following in the footsteps Tae-hyun had forged, cheered in unison.
"The Castle Destroyer title popped up!"
"We're finally respectable mechanical engineering blacksmiths!"
No one dared to approach the blacksmiths. They formed a literal circle of madness, radiating an overwhelming, unhinged presence. Leaving the ecstatic blacksmiths to their wild celebrations, the other players began discussing more practical matters.
"Can we go in now?"
"The walls and gates are down, so we should be able to cross, right? We just need to lay a bridge over the moat."
"Lord Tae-hyun! Can we enter now?!"
The inquiries from the Expedition players reached Tae-hyun immediately. Naturally, he refused.
The ritual is complete. If average players rush in now, they'll just end up as walking blood bags for the enemy...
Given the nature of the Salavian Church, bringing in a massive crowd of under-leveled players would likely do more harm than good.
"It's too dangerous! For now, only the Knights shall enter!"
Even in this chaotic situation, Tae-hyun's relentless determination to send the NPCs in first shone through!
"Wait, why us..."
"We've already contributed plenty to this battle..."
The two remaining counts grumbled. They were already feeling uneasy after witnessing Count Osong's "heroic" death in the heat of battle.
Seeing this, Pelmas cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Ahem, cough. Our Count Kim Tae-hyun is graciously offering you the chance to be the very first to enter the inner castle and claim the royal palace, even though he could easily take all the glory for himself... Cough, cough. Well, if you don't want it..."
"!"
"!!"
"To kick away the opportunity to sit on the throne first is truly foolish... Cough, cough."
"Charge! Charge!"
"We enter immediately!"
Completely blinded by greed, the two counts charged forward, utterly disregarding their remaining forces! Behind them, Pelmas snickered with a sly, cunning grin.
"Tae-hyun said not to enter? Then we wait."
"If Kim Tae-hyun says don't go in, there's a damn good reason."
The vast majority of the Expedition players halted the moment Tae-hyun's order was given. It was an extraordinary display of absolute trust!
In other guilds' siege battles, even if the executives screamed "Stop!", the regular members rarely listened.
Those greedy executives are just trying to hog all the loot for themselves! Let's go! If we're late, we won't get anything!
Yet the Expedition led by Tae-hyun stopped dead in its tracks. That was how immense their faith in him was.
"Wait, isn't Kim Tae-hyun just trying to monopolize everything?"
"He probably wants to raid the palace treasures alone..."
However, not everyone was so compliant. A few players who were confident in their skills, highly greedy, and naturally suspicious refused to sit still.
I want to go in and see for myself!
No player had ever successfully raided the treasures of the capital's royal palace before. The security had always been that tight.
"Hey. Kim Tae-hyun might be tricking us."
"What the hell are you talking about?! Who are you? What's your deal?!"
"You bastard, are you a spy?! You're a spy from the Guild Alliance, aren't you?!"
"?!"
The suspicious player had felt too self-conscious to go in alone, so he had tried to subtly instigate the crowd... only to receive an incredibly hostile reaction!
"N-no, who's a spy?!"
"Are you from the PaladinIsKing guild?!"
"I said no!"
"Then why are you talking like that?!"
"I was just..."
Nearby, an actual spy from the Guild Alliance, who had been quietly observing the siege, felt his heart skip a beat.
Why did that idiot suddenly badmouth Kim Tae-hyun and cause this mess?
In the end, the greedy players gave up on trying to instigate a mutiny. Instead, they quietly exchanged glances.
Let's just go by ourselves!
Finding even a few treasures would be a jackpot. If they could get a piece of the boss raid action, it would be an even bigger jackpot. No matter what, they only saw dollar signs.
A handful of players began to stealthily scale the collapsed castle walls.
"Count Kim Tae-hyun! We have come to aid you!"
"I arrived first! Surely, speed of reinforcement is what matters most!"
Knowing that Dominic—who had just completed the ritual—was about to make his grand entrance, Tae-hyun offered a warm, gentle smile to the two counts rushing in.
Easy marks like these always brought a genuine smile to his face.
"I knew I could count on you, gentlemen."
"Indeed, indeed... Wait, what is that ominous, blood-red energy?"
"Well, the Salavian Church has always been like that, hasn't it?"
Crash! Cain and Evangeline burst through the palace entrance, their faces pale with terror.
"W-we're sorry! We couldn't stop the ritual..."
"It's fine. I'm sure you both did your best."
"..."
"..."
"...Why aren't you saying anything? Don't tell me you two..."
"N-no! We absolutely did our best!"
"That's right! We gave it our all!"
Tae-hyun narrowed his eyes, studying them with deep suspicion. Something was definitely off.
Before he could press further, the ceiling of the palace collapsed, and a massive pillar of blood-red light shot straight into the sky. A split second later, an ear-splitting laugh echoed across the courtyard.
"Insignificant fools... Realize that everything you have done is utterly meaningless! Before the true power of Lord Salabian, your pathetic little army is nothing!"
Man, this guy is really making me nervous. Tae-hyun smacked his lips.
Still, if there was one thing he was confident in... it was his ability to escape!
Tae-hyun was a jack-of-all-trades to the extreme, having mastered countless class skills and even stolen various divine Authorities. He had kept those powerful Authorities in reserve. If he unleashed them, saving his own skin would be a walk in the park.
In the absolute worst-case scenario, Tae-hyun was fully prepared to abandon the siege and retreat.
Let's see just how strong he is. Is he an Incarnation of Salabian? That would be pretty terrifying, but...
Flash! A blinding red light flared, and Dominic, alongside the High Priest of the Salavian Church, materialized in the palace courtyard. Though they stood alone without a single guard, the sheer pressure they exuded was immense.
Gulp. Someone audibly swallowed their spit.
"Hehehe... This feels incredible." Dominic reached out with an arrogant smirk toward a blood-red sphere floating in the air.
"Do you know what this is?"
"?"
"This is the legacy containing the very soul of Lord Salabian! The ultimate secret of the Salavian Church! Sealing a fragment of the soul left behind by Lord Salabian into an artifact!"
A fragment of Salabian's soul. The blood and mana required to awaken it. And finally, a vessel capable of containing that awakened soul!
"All three have fallen into my hands. And now, the ritual is complete!"
Normally, Tae-hyun would have mocked him for talking too much, but this time he held back. He needed information!
"Truly astonishing! The Salavian Church is incredible!"
Carbanog stares at you with utter disdain.
"It is far too late for flattery, Count Kim Tae-hyun. I shall ensure you die the most gruesome death imaginable. Now, behold! This is..."
Whoosh! Everyone present watched with bated breath. Just how powerful was this artifact? How devastating could it be to warrant such supreme confidence?
What Dominic held in his hands was a pair of blood-red, writhing prosthetic arms.
"T-that is...!"
"Is that the legendary Prosthetic of Salabian?!"
"Evangeline, have you ever heard of that?"
"I've never heard of it either! It must be a weapon completely absent from any known lore!"
While everyone else was paralyzed with shock and terror, Dominic—the very man who had summoned the prosthetic arms—began to stammer in sheer confusion.
"W-what is... this?"