A Diversified Investment

"Yohas."

"Yes?"

"Hmm. If your boss is too much of a pain, you can always come work for me."

A blatant scouting offer! However, Yohas simply laughed out loud, clearly thinking it was a joke.

"Hahaha. Your Majesty, you do love your jokes... The Lord Phytos I serve is generous and..."

"...broad-minded..."

I get it, so stop swearing already.

It was absolute torture listening to an invisible voice constantly spewing curses.

"...and he loves and cherishes his believers, so why would I have any complaints?"

"R-right. If you say so, then it must be..."

Tae-hyun was starting to worry about the aftermath. He had originally thought that if Yohas met the Phytos Church NPCs later, he could shock him and pull him over to his side...

He's not going to commit suicide or something, is he?

That's fine. As long as they don't find out I was behind it. If we get caught, we'll just blame it on the demons' schemes.

Demon summoning is the Guild Alliance's doing, and Yohas's corruption is the demons' doing. This is what you call true diversification of investment!

"- Master. I have returned."

A somewhat gaunt-looking Death Knight emerged as a dark portal opened.

"Your tone seems a bit arrogant, doesn't it?"

"- It must be Master's imagination."

"You're not sulking because I made you self-destruct, are you?"

"- Absolutely not."

Tae-hyun had forced Golgol-i to self-destruct along with the Archbishop during the fight against the Salavian Order! Such a grudge did not fade easily.

"A Death Knight who knows honor would never do that, of course."

"......"

Golgol-i flinched.

"Right? You're an honorable Death Knight. On a completely different level from those trivial undead."

"- Th-that is true."

"You must be upset for some other reason. Ah, what a shame. I was preparing all sorts of things to feed you once you returned... This is really good for a Death Knight, but I have no way to describe it."

Golgol-i flinched repeatedly.

"- Master! I believe I was temporarily confused due to the aftereffects of the reverse-summoning!"

"Is that so?"

Tae-hyun gently patted Golgol-i's shoulder. Golgol-i nodded with a deeply moved expression—even though he was nothing but bones.

"- But Master, you seem to be preparing something in the capital. What is it?"

"Oh. I'm going to summon Demon Duke Mosrak and kill him."

"- ...Pardon?"

Golgol-i doubted his own ears.

"You're the vanguard. Honorable, right?"

"- ......"

Golgol-i deeply regretted recovering his strength so quickly.

"Have you confirmed it?"

"Yes. The summoning preparations seem to be real."

"Ugh... Kim Tae-hyun. What a terrifying bastard!"

"But why a rabbit statue?"

It was a cute statue rather than a scary one! Sadiq's avatar was actually a terrifying fire giant. But a rabbit like that wouldn't seem very scary even if it appeared massive.

It actually looks kind of cute?

"Is that what's important right now?! Everyone, get ready. We must attack the moment the order drops, so pinpoint the exact location."

The guild members analyzed the capital's weaknesses using the report.

"If we go down this alley, we can scale the wall."

"The inner gate here hasn't finished repairs yet, so it's weak?"

"The garrison patrols here, here, and here?"

"This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is an incredibly well-made report. I don't know who wrote it, but they must be an amazing spy. Did we have someone like this in our guild?"

Zhang Shan felt his ears itch.

Phew. Thank goodness.

The Guild Alliance was so impressed by Zhang Shan's espionage that they excluded him from this operation. They told him to stay behind and keep extracting information!

Wait, these bastards praise me but don't give me any gold?

He thought they would give him gold since they praised him so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠much, but that was it. It was pure passion pay!

Actually, Su Ning had an excuse. The information about the rabbit statue was so shocking that he forgot to tell them to give some gold to the reporter.

Of course, from Zhang Shan's perspective, he was just pissed off.

Just you wait. You Guild Alliance bastards who failed to recognize my true worth...!

"It's done."

? What did that last part say?

"Alright, alright."

Tae-hyun ignored Carbanog hopping around next to him and glanced around. Among the crowd of onlookers, he spotted several blatantly suspicious figures.

Hmm. Time to get started.

"Ahem. I should head into the inner castle to prepare 'that ritual.' Now that this is finished. Alright, shall we go?"

"Yay~ How exciting~ A ritual~"

"I love rituals so much~"

"......"

Tae-hyun was appalled by his companions' terrible acting. Realizing this, Cain and Yu Ji-soo avoided his gaze.

I did my best!

I did my best too...

Fortunately, the Guild Alliance didn't seem to notice anything strange. They were frantically sending whispers everywhere.

As Tae-hyun's group disappeared into the inner castle, the Guild Alliance members began to gather in a flurry.

"Everyone gather here! We're going in right now."

Gladiator Mike and Battle Shaman Kawahara. They were the Guild Alliance rankers leading this raid. Both were professional players belonging to esports teams, skilled and fearless enough to feel a sense of rivalry toward Tae-hyun!

"- O great Carbanog! We offer this sacrifice..."

Inside, a loud voice echoed. Hearing this, the rankers and squad leaders nodded.

"- Initiate the attack. Initiate the attack."

"Initiate the attack!"

"Charge!"

"Waaaaaaah!"

"?!?!"

The ordinary players in the city were startled by the sudden battle cries erupting from all directions. What on earth was happening in the middle of the safest capital city?

The guild members quickly scaled the walls using ladders, grappling hooks, or flight skills.

"Kim Tae-hyun! In the name of the Guild Alliance, we attack you!"

The guild members shouted as they leaped over the inner castle walls and landed inside. But something was off.

"...?"

For a ritual quest, it was far too quiet! Instead, they were greeted by soldiers with dark, sinister expressions. For some reason, these soldiers were massive and looked demonic!

Behind them, the Tyrum Hunters were aiming their bows with smirks on their faces.

Tae-hyun also smiled and waved his hand.

"Hello?"

"H-hello?" a guild member answered reflexively.

"Right. Ready!"

"?!?!"

"Fire!"

The first casualties of the Second Capital Defense Battle came in droves from the Guild Alliance's side. It was a volley from the Tyrum Hunters, who had been waiting with all kinds of buffs! The guild members and the expensive mercenary NPCs they had brought along were instantly blown away.

The news spread rapidly, along with the fact that the Guild Alliance had struck first! The Power Warrior Guild members went wild with excitement.

This reaction was expected by the Guild Alliance. Naturally, the one who broke the peace first would get cursed out. The important thing was to achieve a result more valuable than the insults they received!

However, the reports coming in right now...

The guild chat was in absolute chaos, making communication impossible. The Guild Alliance rankers and squad leaders desperately tried to salvage the situation.

"Don't panic! Even if they laid a trap, we have the advantage in numbers!"

"Don't be intimidated by the guards or soldiers! The siege ended not long ago! How many could they have replenished in that time? Their training level won't be high, so their levels must be low!"

"Don't fear Kim Tae-hyun! He's preparing the ritual right now, so he won't be able to come out!"

Amusingly, all three assumptions were completely wrong.

"Uh... excuse me, Squad Leader? Isn't that Kim Tae-hyun over there?"

Tae-hyun appeared from the other side of the street, leading demonic soldiers! The guild members froze at the sight.

You said he couldn't come out because of the ritual!

Tae-hyun checked their numbers. "Fifteen... I should clean them up quickly and move on. Let's go, boys!"

"- Kraaaah!"

It was a bizarre howl for kingdom soldiers! But the guild members didn't even have time to wonder. Tae-hyun, with all kinds of buff skills active, plunged into their ranks.

Slaaash!

Every time the Dae-man-bul-gang-geom swung, their HP plummeted. Those who failed to activate defensive skills or missed a single block were instantly laid low.

"67! 68!"

"...!"

At first, they wondered what numbers Tae-hyun was shouting, but the guild members realized too late.

He's counting how many of us he's killed!

Crazy bast...!

Crunch!

Tae-hyun cleanly wiped out an entire party.

Excellent.

The situation wasn't any better elsewhere, because there were fake Tae-hyuns running around.

"I am Kim Tae-hyun!"

A fake Tae-hyun appeared and shouted, causing everyone to scream in terror.

"Aaaah! Aaah!"

"Huh? His face looks different from Kim Tae-hyun's, though?" a guild member noticed.

"I changed my face with an item! You bastard! Look at this sword! It shines brilliantly!"

"Aaaah! Aaah!"

"Kuhahaha!"

Before starting this quest, Tae-hyun had selected a few Power Warrior Guild members. He had crafted cheap, fake gear that looked similar to his own.

"- Whoa. Can we keep using this later?"

"- No."

"- Aw..."

Making fake gear that only looked plausible on the outside was Tae-hyun's specialty! With news of traps and attacks coming from all directions, very few guild members were brave enough to face Tae-hyun. Their priority was to run away!

"Retreat for now! Retreat!"

"Where do we retreat to?"

"Just run first and think later! According to the map, there's a shortcut here... Huh? It's not here? Let's take another path!"

But they didn't realize that all of them were being herded into a single location!

Tae-hyun sent whispers while hunting down the guild members.

The final destination was the central plaza. He planned to wipe out all the cornered guild members ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠there and immediately summon Mosrak.

Boom!

Cain was startled by a sudden ambush. Everyone else was running away, so who was this crazy guy attacking alone?

"Fight me, Cain! I will avenge my past grudge!"

Gladiator Mike glared at Cain and shouted. Cain was momentarily taken aback.

"P-past grudge? Who even are you?"

"...You son of a bitch!!"

Cain was truly becoming more like Tae-hyun by the day!