Fire Solves Everything

Fire erupted all across the mountainside, and when a stray fireball flew in and struck the entrance of the fortress, the flames connected and surged in intensity.

Even Sadiq's true successor probably couldn't have wielded Sadiq's Flame this masterfully. Ever since he set fire to Freid's forest, Tae-hyun had truly awakened to the sheer joy of arson. Fire solved almost every problem!

Fire always knows the answer! If someone blocks your path? Set it on fire! If enemies invade? Set them on fire! If you're bored? Set something on fire!

The combined inferno was terrifying—so intense that even the Salavian Order couldn't extinguish it no matter how hard they tried. But Tae-hyun didn't stop there; he took it a step further.

"Summon Wind of Fortune!"

Carbanog had a very good reason to stop him. Even now, the mountain was highly flammable and burning furiously. Honestly, this was already plenty! If they just waited a bit longer, the Salavian Order wouldn't be able to endure it and would come rushing out. No matter how strong vampires were, how could they possibly withstand Sadiq's Flame? Furthermore, once the Wind of Fortune was summoned, Tae-hyun had absolutely no control over it. If his luck turned sour, it could easily backfire!

Yet, Tae-hyun was brimming with confidence. I'm still hungry! His fire magic skill and Infamy stat were climbing rapidly. On top of that, as the entire mountain burned, the Salavian Order's warriors and monsters hiding outside the fortress were collapsing, granting him bonus experience and Reputation. If he burned it on an even grander scale, who knew what massive rewards awaited him!

Whoooosh!

"??" Out of nowhere, a legendary item from the Sadique Order had dropped, but Tae-hyun didn't have the luxury of checking its stats right now. Whoooosh! A massive tornado was beginning to form right in front of the mountain.

"Th-that..."

"I-isn't this a bit too much?!"

His companions watched in sheer horror. Surely, that tornado wasn't heading their way, was it? As the tornado collided with the surrounding flames, it transformed into a raging fire tornado.

Rumbleeee! The blazing tornado surged toward the sky. Everyone swallowed hard, staring at the spectacle. Even Tae-hyun, who had summoned it, felt a cold sweat break out. Crash! "...!" The soaring tornado finally veered off in a new direction—straight toward the Salavian Order's fortress!

"It worked!"

"We're saved!"

"Sob!"

Tae-hyun's party rejoiced as if they had just escaped death. They had long forgotten who had actually created the terrifying tornado in the first place! As Sadiq's Fire Tornado swept toward the Salavian Order, a deafening roar echoed through the air—a destructive force capable of shattering and melting solid rock!

-Is... isn't that a Dragon Breath? Yong-yong cried out in shock.

The sheer destructive power was remarkably similar to the Fire Breath, the ultimate move of Red Dragons. No, it actually felt even more powerful. It was a breath infused with Sadiq's divine power and amplified by the duration of the Wind of Fortune!

Ruuuumble! Sadiq's Fire Tornado slammed directly into the cave entrance and surged wildly inside, causing his system notification window to ring frantically.

It hit perfectly! Tae-hyun clenched his fist. It had been a gamble, but it paid off spectacularly. No matter how resilient and sturdy the Salavian Order was, there was no way they could survive a fire tornado sweeping directly into their cave!

"Get ready! They won't be able to hold out much longer and will come rushing out any second!" At Tae-hyun's shout, the Erangs Kingdom guards scrambled into action.

-Wait, if we're dealing with dangerous bastards like the Salavian Order, shouldn't the Royal Knights be here?

-I know, right...

The soldiers grumbled. Come to think of it, this didn't feel like their job at all. They were doing work meant for the knights... Still, the only saving grace was that Tae-hyun had made various preparations to keep them alive.

"Set up the obstacles! Drive the stakes into the ground!"

Tae-hyun's tactical skill was powerful enough to command even a hastily assembled group of soldiers with absolute order. Moving in perfect unison, the soldiers began erecting obstacles near the artillery units. Tae-hyun supervised them with a hawk-like gaze.

"Hey, you! That's off by five centimeters! Align it properly!"

"And you! That silver is worth more than your entire life! Install it correctly!"

-...

-...

Seriously, over something like this? Tae-hyun felt deeply wronged. He was only commanding them strictly so they would survive! Frankly speaking, building a temporary camp here was for the soldiers' benefit, not his. Still, thanks to his meticulous directions, the defensive obstacles were set up in record time.

A deep trench was dug in the front, packed with silver-tipped spears. The moment any vampire touched them, they would suffer massive damage! Furthermore, melted silver was coated over the wooden barricades, and a vast quantity of arrows were tipped with silver. They even went as far as replacing the shrapnel inside their bombs with silver shards! It was an absurdly extravagant waste of money, but Tae-hyun invested without a single shred of hesitation. After all, it wasn't his silver!

-"How dare you skimp on silver when we're subjugating the Salavian Order! Do you call yourself a noble?! Hand over the silver! If you don't, I'll Akisus you!"

-"P-please, anything but getting Akisused! I have a foxy collection of treasures and rabbit-like gold coins at home!"

With Tae-hyun's Reputation, noble title, and a perfectly righteous cause, the neighboring nobles had no choice but to tearfully surrender their silver. His Infamy and notorious rumors spread far and wide, but that was a small price to pay. He had managed to extort dozens of crates of silver!

Still, it is a bit of a waste. Tae-hyun smacked his lips. Using so much silver so lavishly felt a bit extravagant. But it couldn't be helped. The Salavian Order was no pushover. While they might be cornered inside for now, once they were pushed to the brink and came rushing out, they would unleash every desperate trick up their sleeves.

In particular, they had to watch out for the Archbishop of the Salavian Order! Just as he had managed to escape alone during the previous siege of the capital, his abilities were formidable. As a high-ranking vampire priest who wielded the various authorities of the Salavian Order, he was bound to unleash far more troublesome and diverse attacks than any pure mage or warrior.

Only their elites must be left, so I need to prepare at least this much. Only fools skimped on preparations just to save a bit of money. Better safe than sorry! No, tap the stone bridge to check its safety, and then fly across it on Yong-yong's back! Only with that level of meticulous caution could someone survive as well as Tae-hyun did despite making enemies everywhere he went.

Come at me, Salavian Order! I'm fully prepared to fight! With his preparations complete, Tae-hyun glared at the mountainside with a confident smirk. Any moment now, a fierce boss raid would begin—

"...????"

"?????"

-*????*

Tae-hyun and his companions stared at one another in utter bewilderment. What on earth just happened?

-"The fire is rushing in!"

-"Hold your ground! Extinguish the flames with the power of Lord Salabian!"

-"The fire is too intense!"

Sadiq's Flame was infused with divine power, making it incredibly difficult to put out. Moreover, since the entire mountain was ablaze, the fire kept surging back no matter how much they tried to douse it.

-"Archbishop, we should break through instead! The enemies might have their guard down!"

-"Nonsense! Hold your ground! This fire has an end, but Lord Salabian's life is eternal!"

The Archbishop bellowed resolutely. If nothing else, as an ancient vampire, his sheer stubbornness to endure was unmatched. It was that very tenacity that had allowed him to lead the Salavian Order from the shadows for so long!

-"Once the mountain burns down completely, the fire will die out. Then, they will have no choice but to give up!"

-"I... I see! But it's too hot!"

-"Endure it with Mist Form!"

-"My Mist Form is dispersing!"

-"Transform into demonic beasts and endure!"

The Archbishop believed. His strategy of outlasting his opponents had never failed him before. If you just endure, the enemy will eventually grow weak! When that moment came, all they had to do was sink their fangs into their throats. However, the Archbishop failed to realize one crucial fact: sometimes, if you try to endure until the end, you might actually end up dead!

An inferno resembling a Red Dragon's breath swept into the cave. The vampires shrieked in horror at the sheer, unprecedented scale of destruction.

-"Archbishop! What do we do about that?!"

-"Ev... Everyone, transform! Transform into Stone Beasts!"

They planned to block the flames by turning into demonic beasts highly resistant to fire. The Archbishop also attempted to halt the oncoming firestorm using various defensive spells and summons. Kaa-booom! But such attempts were utterly futile in the face of a literal natural disaster. To make matters worse, the narrow cave amplified the fire tornado's power several times over, leaving them with absolutely nowhere to run.

-"Aaaaargh! Sadiq! Sadiiiq! I curse you!"

"..." An awkward silence fell over the group. Tae-hyun stared blankly at Choi Sang-yun and Evangeline. The meaning behind his gaze was crystal clear: You guys couldn't handle such an easy opponent on your own, so you had to call me?

Tae-hyun actually respected Choi Sang-yun and Evangeline's skills. That was why, when the two of them cried, "Help! We can't do this on our own!" he had thought, Ah, it must be really tough! and rushed over to help.

"Guys?"

"H-hey, this isn't our fault!" Choi Sang-yun protested, feeling deeply wronged. Honestly, who could have predicted it would end this easily?! In fact, the guards behind them were already whispering among themselves.

"Wait, they're all dead?"

"Do we not have to fight?"

"Then what about all this silver? What a waste..."

"I'm telling you, even the knights came here and got wiped out!"

"Are you sure they were actually knights? You didn't mistake some third-rate mercenary group for them, did you?" Tae-hyun shot them a highly skeptical look. Surely, the Knights of the Erangs Kingdom should have been able to clear this?

Suddenly painted as incompetent players, Choi Sang-yun and Evangeline immediately went on the counteroffensive.

"It's because you set the fire way too hard!"

"Yeah! You burned down the entire mountain, how could they possibly survive?!"

"Usually, boss monsters can easily survive that much, you know? What kind of boss can't even handle that?!" Having fought nothing but absurdly over-leveled boss monsters, Tae-hyun's standards had been warped to an insane degree. Isn't it normal for a boss to stubbornly endure even if you set the entire mountain on fire and pour attacks on them? The Archbishop of the Salavian Order was undoubtedly a formidable NPC, but he was far from strong enough to survive a literal natural disaster.

Crackle... While they bickered, the flames that had engulfed the entire mountain began to die down. Having consumed everything on the mountain, the fire slowly subsided as it ran out of fuel. Just then, a sinister, toxic energy began to seethe and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠surge from deep within the cave. "...!"

"The Vampire's Last Curse?!" Evangeline gasped in horror. Seeing her reaction, Tae-hyun thought, I don't know what that is, but it must be a really nasty skill! He quickly braced himself. If the curse flew their way, he would just use Cain as a shield!