An Army in an Instant
The greatest advantage of a Necromancer was their ability to conjure something out of absolutely nothing in the blink of an eye! Even when traveling completely solo, a high-level Necromancer could summon a massive army on a whim if things went south. And if that Necromancer happened to be a Lich, the sheer scale of it was beyond words.
Chese-do took full advantage of this. While the Guild Alliance was locked in a fierce, chaotic struggle, he stood at the rear, summoning undead left and right before ordering them to charge. It was a classic pincer attack!
"Death to the living! Death to the living!"
The empowered Skeleton Archers loosed bone arrows in a frenzied storm, while the Skeleton Cavalry scaled the hills, crashing directly into the defensive walls of the outpost. Though most of them were shattered to pieces in a single blow, Chese-do's true objective lay elsewhere.
"Undead Explosion!"
Boom! Boom! Crash!
Chese-do detonated the undead forces he had just sent forward!
"I learned this trick from Count Kim Tae-hyun! Mwahaha!"
Of all things, Chese-do had picked up the protagonist's most wicked tactic! As he ruthlessly sent his undead minions to their explosive demises, gaping holes began to tear open across the outpost's defenses.
"Charge! Charge! Embrace your demise! Dark Grasp! Energy Drain! Negative Energy Arrow!"
Leaping straight into the outpost alongside his forces, Chese-do began spamming spells indiscriminately. Under the Lich's relentless onslaught, guild members and soldiers screamed as they were blown off their feet.
A massive wave of chaos erupted from the rear!
Witnessing this, Kim Tae-san clenched his fists and roared, "Now's our chance! Deploy all the siege weapons we received!"
These were the siege weapons they had managed to squeeze out of Tae-hyun and the blacksmiths in his fief. Had they deployed them earlier, they likely would have been sniped and destroyed immediately by the enemy's rankers, mages, and archers. But in the midst of this utter chaos, it was a completely different story!
"Giants, to the left! Demonic beasts of Sadiq, to the right! Elite Orc warriors, advance! Launch the all-out assault!"
This was the absolute cream of the crop that Kim Tae-san had painstakingly nurtured. Mobilizing his core guild members, players, and elite warriors, he pushed forward with everything they had. Kim Tae-san was placing his final, decisive bet on this battle.
Whoosh— Boom! Crash!
Massive boulders and explosive shells soared from the siege engines, completely upending the battlefield. For the Guild Alliance, who had felt relatively safe from long-range attacks, this was a terrifyingly sudden ambush!
However, as if to prove that they truly were an elite force, the Guild Alliance reacted with remarkable speed.
"How dare they pull a stunt like this...!"
Gritting their teeth, the Alliance leadership quickly ordered their Paladin and Priest rankers to the rear.
"All Paladin and Priest rankers, fall back to the rear! Everyone else, push forward!"
"We have an overwhelming number of rankers! We can afford to split our forces!"
"Charge! Charge! Crush their momentum so they can't even think of climbing up! No matter how many of them there are, barely any of them are high-level players!"
By sending all the Paladins and Priests—the direct counters to a Lich—to the rear, they decided to hold off Kim Tae-san's frontal onslaught using only their remaining rankers. It was a bold strategy, but highly effective.
"!!!"
"Do you think you lot are Kim Tae-hyun?! Bring it on!"
"We're only afraid of Kim Tae-hyun, not you nobodies!"
The Guild Alliance rankers gnashed their teeth as they lunged forward. They had been tormented by Tae-hyun, compared to Tae-hyun... Their pent-up resentment had reached its absolute boiling point!
"Focus the siege weapons! Destroy the siege weapons first!"
"Break through their lines!"
"Hold them back!!"
Having thrown down his gauntlet, Kim Tae-san could not afford to retreat either. They had to stop the rankers and break through the hilltop at all costs!
They're much stronger than I anticipated...! Did I underestimate the Guild Alliance?
As the commotion Chese-do was causing in the rear began to gradually subside, Kim Tae-san's heart sank.
The Guild Alliance only seemed weak because they were constantly getting beaten to a pulp by Tae-hyun in all sorts of bizarre and creative ways; in reality, they were incredibly powerful. They hadn't earned the title of the largest guild coalition in Pandemonium Online for nothing. Now that they had gathered their elites for a straightforward, head-on clash, the sheer disparity in power was painfully obvious.
Kim Tae-san's side was fighting valiantly, but if things continued like this...
"L..."
"L?"
"It's Lee Se-yeon!!!"
A top-tier ranker could shift the entire tide of a battlefield just by showing up. Just as it was with Tae-hyun, the same held true for Lee Se-yeon.
A Bone Dragon materialized in the sky! And riding atop it was none other than Lee Se-yeon!
The moment both sides laid eyes on her, they instinctively knew: the odds of the Guild Alliance losing this battle had just skyrocketed.
Thud! Squelch! Stab!
"Wow! There are so many places to stab!"
Carbanog agrees with your assessment.
"Argh! Argh! Stop it, you bastard!"
Tae-hyun began to perform a literal dance of blades as he slid down Hakkaras's throat.
• Your Swordsmanship skill has increased significantly!
• You have successfully landed consecutive attacks on a Dragon! Your Swordsmanship skill increases even more rapidly!
• A new skill under Archisus Swordsmanship has been unlocked!
Expose Weakness
Consumes Luck stats to deliver a devastating blow. The struck area permanently becomes a new weak point.
Tae-hyun believed in testing out a newly acquired skill immediately! He activated it without a moment's hesitation.
Squelch!
A new weak point has been created on Hakkaras!
What's my Swordsmanship skill level right now?
Now that he had successfully made his way inside, he could afford to breathe a little easier. In moments like this, it was crucial to keep a cool head and calculate his gains. He needed to raise every single skill he possibly could!
Advanced Swordsmanship: Level 8 (85.0%)
Whoa!
Unlike usual, the skill was leveling up at an absolutely staggering pace! Dragons truly were the ultimate punching bags for skill grinding.
I should install a dragon-shaped training dummy in my territory!
Tae-hyun thought in admiration as he continued to slash away. He was going to push his Swordsmanship skill all the way to Master rank today!
Naturally, with every strike, Hakkaras let out an agonizing shriek.
"Aaargh! Screeech!"
But Hakkaras wasn't just taking it lying down. He tried various countermeasures.
Highly corrosive acid is flooding Hakkaras's internal organs!
"This isn't a curse, right? As long as it's not a curse, I'm fine. I can tank this!"
Tae-hyun gritted his teeth and endured.
Now that Tae-hyun was inside his body, Hakkaras realized all over again just how incredibly obnoxious the Avatar of Archisus was to deal with. Most standard attacks were completely bypassed or mitigated due to Tae-hyun's absurd Luck stat, leaving curses as the only viable option... but the most damaging fire-based curses were completely nullified by the Authority of Sadiq.
And it wasn't as if Tae-hyun was just letting himself get hit by the other curses either.
"Curse of Petrification!"
"Hmph! Mist Form!"
"How many Authorities does this bastard even have?!"
Hakkaras was thoroughly sick and tired of Tae-hyun, who simply transformed into mist to dodge the petrification curse he had so carefully aimed. No matter what kind of curse he threw, Tae-hyun dodged it, blocked it, tanked it with an Authority, or even countered with Word Magic.
Who on earth taught this son of a bitch Word Magic?!
The culprit was, of course, the ancient Sea Dragon Okenoas! But there was no way for Hakkaras to know that.
Eventually, Hakkaras swallowed his pride and spoke.
"Avatar of Archisus... Avatar of Archisus! Let us negotiate!"
Carbanog is utterly flabbergasted by this development.
It was only natural for Carbanog to be shocked. To think that a dragon, a creature of supreme pride, would actually bow its head and sue for peace first!
• Your Speech skill has increased significantly!
• Your Reputation has increased significantly!
• You have acquired the title: One Who Subdued a Dragon!
His Swordsmanship, magic, Speech, and various other skills were soaring, and even his Reputation was climbing. Tae-hyun was absolutely delighted. This dragon was truly the gift that kept on giving!
"Sure! Let's negotiate!"
Carbanog warns you not to easily trust a cunning Black Dragon—
Slash! Stab! Squelch!
His words and actions were in complete opposition! There was no need for Carbanog to even warn him. Tae-hyun had never had any intention of negotiating with Hakkaras in the first place.
Hakkaras had to be taken down here and now, no matter what. Esla's demonic army would eventually vanish when the summon duration expired, and Hakkaras now knew all of Tae-hyun's various Authorities and skills. What would happen if they fought again under those conditions?
Besides, Tae-hyun had far too much to lose. If Hakkaras ever flew over to the Atali Kingdom and unleashed his Breath...
The Guild Alliance would be so thrilled they'd probably erect a statue of Hakkaras!
"You bastard! Are you even listening to me?!"
"Oh! Yes, yes! I'm listening! Sure! Keep talking!"
Stab! Slash!
"Aaaaaargh!"
Hakkaras thrashed and rolled on the ground in agony. Seeing this, the demons grew even more excited and intensified their onslaught.
"The beast is weakening!"
"As expected of the Avatar of Archisus! Truly magnificent!"
"To think he would crawl inside the dragon's belly to attack it!"
"Avatar of Archisus! Avatar of Archisus!"
"You are worthy of becoming a Demon Archduke!"
The demons' cheers echoed as they rained down attacks. Amazingly, even in this state, Hakkaras wasn't taking much damage from the outside. Most of the demons' attacks were deflected by his impenetrable scales.
What was actually causing Hakkaras to writhe in pure agony was Tae-hyun's relentless stabbing from within!
"Avatar of Archisus...! Listen to me! Your attacks alone cannot kill me! It would be wise of you to negotiate!"
Hakkaras endured the pain and tried to threaten Tae-hyun. In truth, even though Tae-hyun was slashing away like a madman, Hakkaras's HP was still hovering around the 50% mark.
"I can easily regenerate these wounds!"
Highest-grade Eloquence Skill
You have detected that Hakkaras is lying.
Whew. Thank goodness.
Tae-hyun had been slightly worried about Hakkaras regenerating his HP, but it seemed that even an ancient dragon couldn't easily recover from this level of internal damage. Without even realizing it, Hakkaras was feeding Tae-hyun vital information.
"Listen to me, Avatar of Archisus! Those demons won't be able to stay here forever! Once they return to their realm, you will be trapped in here!"
"Then I'll just live here."
Tae-hyun replied coolly. Once he got used to it, it was actually quite cozy inside. And I can level up my skills like crazy!
Hakkaras was utterly dumbfounded. Just what kind of lunatic was this?
"What is it that you want? Name your price!"
Tae-hyun couldn't exactly say, "I want your head," so he racked his brain. How could he trick this dragon and exploit his weakness?
Looking at the situation, simply slashing with his sword from the inside wasn't going to be enough to finish him off. He had hit a damage ceiling. Even though very few players in Pandemonium Online could match Tae-hyun's burst damage, it still felt like chipping away at a mountain. It was a stark reminder of just how monstrously powerful dragons were.
And to think he had set out to hunt one at his current level...
"Lee Se-yeon—!"
The executives of the Guild Alliance shrieked, gnashing their teeth.
"Lee Se-yeon! If you back off right now, we will overlook today's incident!"
"My, you must be incredibly desperate."
Lee Se-yeon scoffed, completely ignoring their plea. She was not someone to be swayed by such cheap words. In the first place, the Guild Alliance had grown far too bloated; they needed to be taken down a peg. She was only glad that this perfect opportunity had presented itself!
One of the executives spat out a curse at her response.
"That... that bitch! Look at her foul mouth, she really is Kim Tae-hyun's girlfriend!"
"...Unleash Breath!"
Bone Dragon Breath!
Kaaaa-boooom!
The spot where the executive had been standing just a second ago was completely vaporized.
"Are you dating Tae-hyun?" Kim Tae-san, standing behind her, asked in a fluster. Was the news actually true? Tae-hyun had denied it, but thinking about it now...
"Of course not!"
"Ah. I see."
Lee Se-yeon turned her head away. No matter how she looked at it, the source of this ridiculous rumor was definitely those Guild Alliance bastards!
"Wipe them all out!"
Chese-do had been getting battered by the Priests and Paladins, but with Lee Se-yeon joining the fray, the battle was no longer something the enemy could hope to contain.
It was a literal waterfall of undead!
With a horde of newly summoned Orcs charging from the front and dozens of layers of buffed undead rampaging from the rear, the Guild Alliance could no longer hold their ground.
"Retreat! Retreat!"
Finally, the order to fall back was issued. The Guild Alliance rankers grit their teeth and began to carve out an escape route.
Of course, Lee Se-yeon had no intention of letting them off easy.
"Where do you think you're going, Lin Yao? You're not running away, are you? This is all being broadcast live, you know! If you run now, this footage will follow you until the day you quit Pandemonium Online."
"......"
A barrage of provocations rained down on the backs of the fleeing rankers! And she didn't stop at just words.
The moment the pride-wounded rankers hesitated for even a fraction of a second, Lee Se-yeon immediately slapped them with curses to bind their feet.
"They're trapped! Get them!"
In an instant, Lee Se-yeon's guild members pounced on their prey!
"!!!!"
The other rankers watched in absolute horror. Lee Se-yeon... she truly was terrifying!
"Run, run!"
"Don't make eye contact!"
With their morale completely shattered, the rankers fled, never once looking back.