A Hopeless Charge
Cain shouted, his heart burning with anxiety. If Tae-hyun wasn't here right now, who on earth would lead the defense?
"Hey! You're not that kind of guy! Get back here, you bastard!"
"Excuse me, Cain. Isn't that a bit harsh?"
"There are things you should say, and things you shouldn't."
"?!"
When the players standing nearby glared at him with dead serious expressions, Cain panicked. Wait, why?!
"N-No, I mean... we usually talk to each other like this..."
"Kim Tae-hyun went in there to save people, and yet you're just standing back here..."
"Wow, Cain. I didn't think you were that kind of person, but you're actually awful."
"..."
Fidgeting anxiously, Cain looked around, utterly bewildered by the sudden shift in public opinion.
-Help me!
-Help you how?
Choi Sang-yun averted his gaze.
-I don't really know either...
Jeong Su-hyeok was no different!
Cain clenched his fists. Since things had come to this, there was only one way out.
"Kim Tae-hyun! I'm coming too!"
"!"
"I knew it...!"
"See? I told you Cain wasn't that kind of guy!"
As Cain dashed forward, the whispering crowd fell silent. He might talk tough, but he's running to help the moment Kim Tae-hyun is in danger!
You are attempting a Hopeless Charge!
Your Strength stat increases!
Your Terror stat increases!
"..."
Cain wanted to burst into tears. Just how dangerous was it out there for these system messages to pop up before he even arrived?
You have entered Nevuchadnezzar's Domain. The penalty worsens the deeper you venture inside.
HP is continuously decreasing...
Physical Defense is decreasing...
Magic Defense is decreasing...
Movement Speed is decreasing...
Your high Holy stat blocks Nevuchadnezzar's energy!
Nevuchadnezzar floated high in the air, looking down with supreme arrogance without descending. He didn't spare a single glance for the countless players gathered below!
Deploying a domain centered on himself, using it to buff his undead...
This was the standard tactic of Liches and other Necromancers. Summon undead, deploy a personal domain on the ground to strengthen them, and defend.
But when someone of Nevuchadnezzar's caliber did it, the power transcended imagination. Approaching within a certain distance of Nevuchadnezzar was flat-out impossible!
Carbanog. How do we take that thing down?
Carbanog says you must keep hitting him.
No scratches yet. I don't even know where to hit.
For the first time in a very long while, Tae-hyun felt completely at a loss. A massive black sphere enveloped Nevuchadnezzar!
Even though the priests and mages were frantically casting spells and the Archisus Artillery was firing shells indiscriminately, not a single scratch appeared. The defensive power of that barrier was clearly out of this world.
At this rate, even basic attacks won't reach him...
Besides, trying to half-heartedly curse an archmage like Nevuchadnezzar was an incredibly reckless gamble.
Carbanog suggests holding out and waiting for now!
Do we just have to hold out somehow?
If they dragged out the fight, Nevuchadnezzar's mana would eventually hit its limit. Fortunately, Nevuchadnezzar wasn't moving or fighting directly. Whether out of sheer arrogance or some other reason, he simply kept summoning undead.
-Archisus's Divine Territory!
◈ Archisus's Divine Territory is unfolding!
◈ Your Holy stat is extremely high. Receiving an additional bonus.
◈ The Archisus Church is widely spread across the continent. Receiving an additional bonus.
◈ Pantheon's Fortress was built in the name of the Archisus Church! Borrowing the power of other churches.
◈ The other churches are highly displeased!
"?"
"?"
It was an unexpected turn of events for both Tae-hyun and Carbanog, but in their current predicament, they had to borrow whatever power they could get.
"Gah!"
"We're free!"
The assassin players, who had been on the verge of death while bound and dragged down by the descending undead, fled in sheer terror.
"Fall back!"
Tae-hyun shouted, and the players scrambled away instantly.
"We're already running!"
"Thank you so, so much! Sob!"
"I always believed in you!"
"Believed in what? You were the one shouting that we were all dead a second ago!"
While the assassins fled, Tae-hyun swung his sword at the approaching enemies. He explosively boosted his damage with various buff skills before delivering a single strike!
-Archisus's First Strike!
Archisus's First Strike
[Luck is consumed.]
He targeted the sphere's weak point and thrust his blade in like a madman. Yet, not a single scratch appeared.
Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit! Critical Hit!...
Just how much damage do I need to deal to pierce this?
Tae-hyun was starting to get an ominous feeling. If this kept up, they were in real trouble...
Yong-yong, who was flying with Tae-hyun on his back, let out a shriek.
-Master! We need to pull back!
Death Knights with glowing eyes were relentlessly pursuing Tae-hyun through the sky.
"Retreat!"
-Do you think you can flee after rejecting my Master's command, mortal?
"Hmm."
-Aaaargh!
Tae-hyun executed a swift, tight turn on Yong-yong's back and pierced the vital spot of the leading Death Knight. All his accumulated critical stacks exploded at once! As a result, the Death Knight plummeted in a single blow.
You have defeated a Legendary Death Knight in a single blow!
You have won a 1v1 aerial duel!
Reputation increases...
The viewers watching the broadcast were dumbfounded by the aerial battle. It was amazing enough that he had freed the captured players and charged at Nevuchadnezzar alone, but to slice down a Legendary-grade Death Knight in a single strike?
"Kim Tae-hyun! I've come to help!"
And only then did Cain finally arrive.
"What kind of bullshit is that? Run!"
"...R-Right!"
Cain instantly spun around.
The chaotic broadcast chat fell dead silent at the pathetic display.
Although the first assault on Nevuchadnezzar had failed, the expedition force's morale remained sky-high. The fortress was sturdy, and the players inside were still full of energy.
They couldn't deal any damage to Nevuchadnezzar right now, but they could definitely take him down in a war of attrition! Wasn't that how all boss monster raids went anyway?
Tae-hyun's party, which usually obliterated bosses in an instant, was the anomaly. Normally, high-level boss monsters took a long time to defeat. Some parties had fought for over a week without eating or resting just to clear one.
"The undead are coming! Block them!"
"Just try us!"
Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!
A torrential downpour of arrows, thick enough to blot out the sky, rained down from the fortress. It was a barrage unleashed by countless players, paladins, and soldiers.
Since the arrows were silver-plated and imbued with the blessings of various churches, any ordinary undead would die instantly from a single hit! Had they not been the elites summoned directly by Nevuchadnezzar, the entire horde might have melted away under that single volley.
-Aaargh! You cowards!
-This filthy holy power!
-Sadiq, you despicable bastard, how dare you set my body ablaze!
The flying Death Knights retreated after taking concentrated fire.
"...This is bad," Lee Se-yeon muttered.
She had noticed that as soon as the retreating Death Knights entered Nevuchadnezzar's domain, they immediately began to regenerate. It was an absurdly broken skill!
Watching this, Tae-hyun also muttered, "Hmm. Maybe I should have accepted his offer."
Thinking about it now, he felt like he could have adapted to being an undead. Working as a middle manager under Nevuchadnezzar didn't sound too bad once he got used to it.
"Hey!"
"I'm just kidding. For now, we'll buy time and hold out. We have our own tricks up our sleeves."
"Tae-hyun?"
"?"
Tae-hyun turned his head as Lee Da-bi called out to him from behind.
"Is something wrong? Are we running low on arrows or bombs?"
"No, we have plenty of those... Uh, well..."
"???"
"A quest just popped up for me."
"What kind of quest?"
Death's Golden Merchant
The Death's Golden Merchants were a merchant guild that once served and supported Nevuchadnezzar. Although the surviving merchants erased their records and changed their faith after his demise, the oath sworn in the past has not faded.
The time has come to fulfill the oath bound to your name!
Join Nevuchadnezzar's side and spread death across the continent!
"..."
"..."
"S-Spy!" Cain pointed at Lee Da-bi and shouted, only to get smacked.
Smack!
"Shut up."
"N-No, but... she really is a spy..."
No wonder her skills were a bit unusual.
Her skills were quite peculiar for a merchant. Even though they were non-combat skills, they belonged to an extremely rare category!
Lee Da-bi said with a tearful face, "I've accumulated so many contribution points with the Midas Church..."
The Church of Midas, the God of Wealth. It was a standard church that most merchant players followed. While it had virtually zero combat capabilities, it was incredibly lucrative for merchants, so everyone believed in it!
"Calm down, Lee Da-bi. You can just ignore it."
"Is it really okay to do that?"
"Why not? If it bothers you that much, I'll help you change your class to an Archisus-related one once this is over."
"Ugh..."
Lee Da-bi hesitated, looking conflicted. It was such a waste of all the skills she had leveled up so far.
"I guess I have no choice..."
"Just in case, go wait in the back. If anything happens, tell me immediately."
Tae-hyun sent Lee Da-bi deeper into the fortress. Even without her combat capabilities, her absence wouldn't affect the outcome of the battle.
Carbanog says this is a good thing.
Are you crazy? No offerings for you.
N-No! Carbanog protests that it didn't mean it like that!
Tae-hyun stared at Carbanog in disbelief. Lee Da-bi's hard-earned class was on the verge of being ruined, and this rabbit was losing its mind...
It says it didn't mean it that way. If you defeat Nevuchadnezzar and seize even one of his authorities, you can build a temple of Nevuchadnezzar within the Archisus Church...
"...Huh?!"
In that case, Carbanog says a class like hers could easily play the role of Archbishop.
"...Huh?"
Tae-hyun was momentarily speechless. Was that even possible? Actually, it sounded plausible. Wait, really?
Carbanog says, "See? I told you so," and demands an apology.
Could Lee Da-bi really get a free ride like this?
If there was no one left in the church, someone had to revive it. A class like Lee Da-bi's was more than qualified. After all, she was a direct descendant of a lineage dating back to the Ancient Empire!
-Rooooaaaar!
While Tae-hyun was lost in thought, a massive army of undead rising from the ground approached the fortress. Nevuchadnezzar had launched an assault from both land and sky.
"Wipe them out!"
"The Death Knights are the commanders! Target the commanders first!"
The players in the fortress shouted with excitement. Because they were hunting monsters of a level they normally couldn't even touch, their experience and skill points were skyrocketing.
Even a Legendary-grade Death Knight wasn't that terrifying as long as they didn't have to clash with them directly. After all, multiple layers of fortress walls and moats stood in their way!
Even the mechanical engineering blacksmiths, who were usually terrifying to be around, were incredibly reassuring at a time like this.
"Throw them!"
With every toss, dozens, even hundreds of skeleton warriors were blown to smithereens.
After about an hour of thrilling combat, the players realized that the composition of the attacking undead army had changed.
"Wait, those are..."
"Black Ghouls? And... they're Legendary-grade!"
Legendary-grade Black Ghouls packed the ranks behind the skeleton warriors. A force several times stronger than the skeletons was filling the rear in similar, overwhelming numbers.
Furthermore, giant undead monsters were starting to appear among the ghouls. As Death Knights commanded the ghouls from atop these massive beasts, the horde moved in perfect unison.
Gulp.
"I-Is this going to be okay?" someone muttered under their breath.