The Dragon's Wrath and the Shameless Pope

"I-If you drain too much power in a single day, the demon might collapse."

"Oh dear. I suppose that makes sense."

"If you look at the gauge on the side..."

The dwarves and Kim Tae-hyun huddled their heads together, whispering in hushed tones. Looking at them now, it was impossible to imagine that they had been trying to kill each other just moments ago! Tae-hyun was, by nature, a player destined to be loved by dwarves and goblins alike.

"But is it really okay to use a demon?"

"Archisus is a god who accepts even demons."

"What a benevolent god!"

Tae-hyun listened carefully to the instruction manual.

"As you can see from the gauge on the side, green is fine, but when it turns red, you must stop draining its power. You have to feed the demon five meals a day, and what they like is..."

It sounded exactly like a manual for a highly complex home appliance.

"If we have this demon, can we use the cannon too?"

"Theoretically, yes."

"Theoretically?"

"Unless they are dwarves like us, no ordinary person would be able to handle this cannon."

The demon-worshipping dwarf tribe spoke with voices brimming with pride. And they were absolutely right. How many undead had blown themselves up trying to fire the Red Scorpion Dwarves' cannons?

"Then you guys can just come along."

"Wh-what?"

"Grab the cannon and follow me."

"..."

Just because of one wrong word, the dwarves found themselves dragged out into the open world.

"Grrr. Human! Do not ignore me!"

"Ignore that demon. He's just a chatterbox."

"Don't worry. I'm already ignoring him."

Normally, any player would wonder who this demon was and why he was trapped here. In Pandemonium Online, the demon race was a rare and majestic sight, commanding awe by their mere existence. But to Tae-hyun, a demon was no different from a pebble rolling on the side of the road. He had already met a Demon Duke who ruled an entire layer of the Demon Realm, and the lesser demons working under him were currently rolling around in the dirt back in his territory. At this point, he had zero curiosity about the identity of some random demon trapped in the corner of a mine. It was bound to be a nobody anyway!

"Grrr!! Human! Human!!!"

"What do we have to give him to shut him up? Can I just spray holy water?"

Splash!

Tae-hyun casually splashed the holy water he carried around. The demon shrieked in agony.

"Aaargh!"

"Ah! It'll break! I said it'll break!"

The dwarves panicked, desperately trying to hold Tae-hyun back.

"No taxes! Dungeon entry is completely free!"

"Woooah!"

"Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san!"

Cheers erupted from all directions. Touke Castle of the Auston Kingdom had fallen. It was the single greatest achievement of this war!

Kim Tae-san, his guild members, and the massive crowd of players who had followed him danced with joy. Although the core forces of the Guild Alliance remained intact, they already felt as if they had won the entire war.

"Everyone! Tell the people around you to rise up! Tell them to come to the Auston Kingdom and grab a piece of the pie!"

The guild members actively encouraged other players to flock to the Auston Kingdom. The Guild Alliance possessed an overwhelming advantage in sheer numbers. To prevent them from consolidating that power, they had to stir up chaos and run wild in every corner of the kingdom.

"Wait, is that Kim Tae-hyun over there?"

Players whispered among themselves, staring at Tae-hyun.

"I heard Kim Tae-hyun went to the Asbian Empire?"

"Oh? Did he come back already?"

"Look! Kim Tae-hyun is waving at us!"

The clone waved its hand in a slow, mechanical motion. Thin, nearly invisible threads were tied to its arms.

"Hey, wave it properly!"

"This clone is just so slow..."

While everyone else was celebrating and throwing a festival, Kim Tae-san and his older guild members remained cold and analytical. They were veterans who had crossed countless lifelines since their old-school MMORPG days. They weren't greenhorns who would lose their heads over a single victory.

"Where should we attack next?"

"Noel Fortress? We got a tip that there are plenty of supplies stored there. Even if we can't capture it, let's sneak in and burn it to the ground."

"Where are the main forces of the Guild Alliance? Still near the capital?"

"Yes. They are prioritizing the capital and its surrounding territories."

"Hmm..."

Kim Tae-san ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠felt a lingering sense of unease. He couldn't decipher the Guild Alliance's ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠intentions.

Of course, he understood their situation perfectly—after all, he was the one who had engineered it. Right now, the entire Auston Kingdom was practically in a state of open rebellion! With public security at rock bottom, the Orc army invading, and bandit players running wild everywhere, even a slight push was enough to trigger rebellion quests instantly. Except for the capital, barely any region remained intact.

In that light, prioritizing the defense of the capital made sense. It was the last remaining pillar of the Auston Kingdom. If even the capital fell, the Guild Alliance executives might literally have to hold hands and jump into the Han River... no, the Yangtze River.

Still, they are being far too passive...

Even with rebellions breaking out everywhere, the Guild Alliance's total member count was astronomical. If they dispatched even a fraction of those forces, they could easily disrupt or delay the rebel players.

Could it be that their guild members are refusing to follow orders?

It was a scenario Kim Tae-san could hardly comprehend.

In truth, Kim Tae-san's guess was only half right. The reason they weren't using that strategy was indeed because the guild members were refusing to listen.

But that wasn't the only reason. They had another card up their sleeve.

The Guild Alliance executives had endured all the defeats, mockery, insults, and public humiliation. The forums were flooded with comments like "What is the Guild Alliance even doing? Just go commit suicide!" and sponsors were calling constantly, demanding, "What on earth are you doing? If you received our investment, you should be showing us a grand performance, so why are you getting utterly destroyed?"

Yet, Su Ning endured. It was an incredible display of patience, to the point where even the other guild executives were deeply impressed.

Has Su Ning always possessed this much patience?

He is truly magnificent!

Having been thoroughly tempered through his repeated clashes with Tae-hyun, Su Ning had grown immensely without even realizing it.

"We have finished persuading Hakkarias!"

"Finally!"

Thud!

Su Ning stomped his foot and roared. Every member of the Guild Alliance who possessed a high Speech skill or had some affinity with dragons had been dispatched to the Black Gravestone Mountain Range to persuade the Black Dragon, Hakkarias. And now, the fruits of their labor were finally being revealed.

"Tell him to burn it all! Every single bit!"

Wait, wasn't that originally our territory?

Suddenly, the sky turned pitch black. The players stationed at Touke Castle looked up at the heavens, their faces freezing in sheer terror.

"A... a... a dragon!!"

Hakkarias began his grand entrance by inflicting a barrage of debuffs on everyone present. Every player on the field instinctively realized one thing: this was not a boss monster meant to be hunted!

"Insolent invaders who dare set foot in the Auston Kingdom. Taste the wrath of Hakkarias!"

"Boss!!"

"Everyone evacuate! Get to the castle basement!"

Kim Tae-san immediately barked out orders. If this was what the Guild Alliance had been holding out for, then fighting the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Black Dragon right now would be the height of stupidity. Fortunately, this castle possessed extensive underground passages.

"Evacuate! Evacuate!"

"Take cover underground!"

"Guild Master! Aren't we going to fight?"

"How are we supposed to fight that! Stop talking nonsense and run!"

The moment Tae-san's command echoed through the guild chat, his members abandoned the castle walls in unison and fled underground. However, several unaffiliated players did not follow suit.

"It's a dragon! Shoot it!"

"Let's try to grab just one scale!"

The players gathered here weren't just Tae-san's guild members. There were all kinds of players who had come to make a quick buck, and naturally, some of them were completely fearless.

"Impudent... fools!"

Whoosh!

Black flames erupted from the dragon's maw, raining down indiscriminately upon the fortress.

These messages popped up continuously before the eyes of the current lord, Kim Tae-san. For any ordinary lord, seeing his territory systematically dismantled would have caused him to weep tears of blood, but Kim Tae-san remained entirely unfazed.

We only captured it a few hours ago anyway...

It was someone else's land to begin with! Honestly, he felt like spraying plague bombs and leaving.

"Record it! Record it!"

"This is the end of those who dare resist the Guild Alliance!"

Far away on a distant hill, Guild Alliance members were filming Hakkarias's majestic display. They planned to edit the footage and spread it all over the forums until everyone was sick of it. They would completely reverse the Guild Alliance's image of being a laughingstock!

"But isn't Hakkarias burning a bit too much?"

"He has to do at least this much to scare them!"

"No, it looks like they all ran away, shouldn't he stop now..."

"Roaaar! Roaaar!"

"Wait, if he destroys the castle walls too..."

Hakkarias, thoroughly enjoying himself, grabbed the tower on the wall with his massive claws, collapsing it instantly, and kicked the wall down.

"It's fine, it's fine. It looks majestic and great."

Is it really fine?

The guild members looked at the castle with deeply worried eyes. Even if they reclaimed it later, it felt like not a single blade of grass would remain.

Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon traveled around the mine, persuading or fighting the local tribes to convert them. And along the way, if they happened to have anything valuable, Tae-hyun shamelessly confiscated it. As a result...

"Don't you have any penalties?" Se-yeon asked, her eyes wide with amazement.

Behind Tae-hyun followed a bizarre, mismatched crowd: Akisus Tribe warriors, demon-worshipping dwarf blacksmiths, and the Red Scorpion Dwarf warriors he had picked up on his way back. Normally, leading such a massive and diverse crowd of NPCs would incur heavy penalties. But not for Tae-hyun.

He possessed the Highest-grade Tactical Skill!

"I have Highest-grade Tactics, so I'm fine."

"Wh-what?! Tactics?"

Se-yeon stared at him with a gaze that clearly said, Why on earth did this guy level up a skill like that to the highest grade?

"It's not like I wanted to level it up..."

"No, save the excuses. It's not like you did anything wrong, why are you making excuses? Anyway, if you got it to the highest grade, there shouldn't be any penalties."

It was still amazing to see. Se-yeon marveled at the massive crowd following him. She had played Pandemonium Online for a long time, but Tae-hyun was the only player who would drag around such a diverse group of NPCs.

"By the way, where did Smith go?"

"He might be wandering around to avoid us... or he might ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠have already left."

"Knowing Smith's personality, he wouldn't have left."

Se-yeon didn't think Smith would give up so easily. Rankers were stubborn and didn't know how to quit. If you abandoned a quest just because of some interference, you didn't deserve to be a ranker. Smith must be plotting something.

Rumble!

A heavy, ominous sound echoed in the ears of the party exploring the mine.

"????"