The Vanguard Sets Off

He had harbored doubts, but a single prayer had actually granted him a bonus equivalent to gaining several levels. The deeply moved player had no idea. Though this bonus seemed incredible, it was actually far weaker than what Cain had received! Of course, he didn't have to suffer any cosmetic penalties... If Cain had seen this, he would have protested, "Why couldn't you give me something like that instead of going to such extremes?!" But it couldn't be helped. Cain was Archisus's beloved slave! With all his bonuses and luck stacking up, there was no way he could receive the same rewards as an ordinary player.

"...Friend!!"

Whoosh! The player threw his arms around Archisusman. What was friendship anyway? If a friend gave bonuses like this, he could even be friends with Su Ning!

Deeply moved, Archisusman hugged the player back tightly.

It was already well known that players would come to the Valley to strike it rich by opening random loot boxes or crafting. Although the odds were low, it was still a viable strategy. A few desperate souls with no future blew their entire fortunes opening boxes, but they were the exception. Players with half a brain did the math and only spent what they could afford. After all, it was just a matter of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠opening boxes or crafting in the Valley instead of doing it outside. As long as one maintained self-control, the Valley was actually quite helpful. Not everyone in the Valley was crazy. But... no matter how they looked at it, this was simply unbelievable! The Pandemonium Online forums—especially the board for Valley players—were always lively, but this time, they were absolutely boiling.

An unexpected wave of infinite distrust! But this was nothing new. Every single Valley player had fallen victim to this kind of trick at least once or twice.

But when they rushed over, Kim Tae-hyun was nowhere to be found, and some shameless stranger was standing in the spot they had just vacated in the queue. In the Valley, where conspiracies ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and underhanded tactics ran rampant, the naive stood no chance of survival. Thanks to this environment, even when someone spoke the truth, people doubted them first. Still, there were always those who couldn't resist checking. Curious players began to hike up the mountain... and the rumor slowly spread by word of mouth. Ironically, it was the high-level rankers who caught wind of it first.

Rankers treasured every single stat point. If given the chance to raise even one stat, they were the type of people who would gladly drink lava! Honestly, the idea of stats increasing just from a hug sounded like a blatant lie, but if it actually worked, it was well worth the investment.

As time passed, reports of victims—no, valuable data—began to accumulate rapidly on the forums. Even within large guilds, reports of victims—no, firsthand accounts—were pouring in!

"Looks like the preparations are almost complete. Hmm... First, let's move all the artworks to the Valley... But do people actually look at these?"

It was a truly shocking fact, but the Valley's culture rating was a whopping B+. For a territory, this was incredibly high! Although Tae-hyun had invested absolutely nothing in culture, there was a very good reason for this rating. Artworks brought from the Auston Kingdom, artworks from the Erangs Kingdom, artworks from the Asbian Empire, and so on... He was practically a continental art collector! He had lined them up neatly inside the temple, but surprisingly, the number of visitors was low. In any other territory, visiting the temple to receive various buffs before going on a hunt would be an absolute necessity. However, in the Valley, there were far more players who didn't hunt than those who did.

"P-People look at them. Lots of people," Lee Da-bi stammered.

"Lee Da-bi... why are you avoiding my gaze?" Tae-hyun asked bitterly.

Then again, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠it would be weirder if the Valley players actually hunted diligently...

"But still, Tae-hyun! A lot of rankers have entered our territory recently. They've even joined the Archisus Church..."

"...???"

Tae-hyun tilted his head in confusion.

"Lee Da-bi."

"Yes?"

"They are definitely spies."

"..."

A brief silence fell between them.

"No, just because they joined doesn't mean they're spies..."

"If they're rankers, they have nothing to lose, and they've probably already chosen a religion and accumulated tons of contribution points. Why would someone like that suddenly join the Archisus Church?"

In reality, the only rankers who had joined the Archisus Church so far were either those who had crossed paths with Tae-hyun and ended up with a ring through their noses, or crafting rankers who had staked their lives on production. Otherwise, there was absolutely no reason to join a newly established religion!

"No... we checked them all."

"Really? As expected, they were rankers from the Guild Alliance or the Midas Guild, right?"

"No... they were all from various different backgrounds."

"They must have d-disguised—"

"Who would go that far?!"

Wouldn't the Power Warrior guild members do exactly that? Cain thought to himself as he stood nearby. Those crazy bastards would definitely go that far...

"So they actually joined for real?"

"Yes. It seems so."

"Why? Have they lost their minds?!"

Such was his thoroughness—he didn't trust the players who joined his church even a single bit!

"Isn't it because of the newly built temple?"

At those words, everyone's gaze shifted to Cain.

What's so good about that?

"...What's with those looks?" Cain's voice echoed slightly. It was because he was completely covered in full plate armor from head to toe.

"Haha. It's nothing. That armor looks really cool, you know?"

"Wow, I am so jealous!"

"Put some actual emotion into it! You insincere bastards!"

Meanwhile, Lee Da-bi brought up the next matter.

"The blacksmiths are asking for mining equipment and guild support to enter a mine. What should we do?"

"That's not hard, but... which mine are they going to? Isn't it quite far?"

"Right?"

Since there were no decent mines near their territory, they had to travel quite a distance. The mechanical engineering blacksmiths were the type of people who usually lived by the motto, 'Why waste time mining when we can just sell bombs to buy materials, or threaten people with bombs to extort them?' What on earth had possessed them to go to a mine?

"Hmm... is something wrong with my eyes?" Tae-hyun asked, scanning the 4th Prince's knights and soldiers. "Why is the head count exactly the same?"

When he had first seen them, the numbers were so pitifully low that he had assumed, 'Ah, they must not all be here yet.' But even now, it hadn't changed!

"...My older brothers said this would be more than enough since we're just the vanguard..."

"Are you kidding me? You should have begged, borrowed, or stolen more! Do you not have a single close noble friend?!"

Tae-hyun grabbed the 4th Prince by the shoulders and shook him back and forth. The knights and soldiers, who had already been thoroughly intimidated by Tae-hyun's Speech and Threaten skills, whistled and pretended not to notice.

"The weather is lovely today, isn't it?"

"Indeed, Sir Knight. That bird flying in the distance is truly..."

"Y-You bastards...! Do you call yourselves knights?!"

"The chirping of the birds is so..."

"Cain! Why aren't you helping me?!"

The 4th Prince had no one to rely on but Cain. Of course, from Cain's perspective, this was completely absurd.

"You do realize my class is 'Avatar of Archisus's Slave', right?"

Does this guy not know what a slave is?

"But you're still my knight!"

"...K-Kim Tae-hyun. Maybe you should stop..."

"Fine, whatever."

Shaking the 4th Prince wasn't going to magically conjure up non-existent troops anyway.

The notification windows popped up before Cain's eyes! Tae-hyun did the intimidating, and Cain reaped the rewards—they made a magnificent duo. Of course, they hadn't planned it this way...

"Hmm... we'll have to leave the demons from the Archisus Artillery behind... but that drastically cuts down our firepower."

"We can just catch new demons!" Yu Ji-soo said, clenching her fist.

Tae-hyun looked at her in admiration. "That's brilliant."

The Demon Realm was vast, and there were plenty of demons to catch! Most of the dwarf gunners in the Archisus Artillery were currently extracting and utilizing hellish mana from captured demons. It was simply too convenient—the raw, potent mana radiating from the caged demons! However, even Tae-hyun was hesitant about bringing captured demons back into the Demon Realm. There was no telling what might happen. Especially since the demons they had captured were all quite formidable...

"In the Demon Realm, it's probably safer to rely on holy power rather than demon-infused cannons."

Holy Cannons infused with divine power. It was a bizarre siege weapon that only Tae-hyun could craft. Tae-hyun forged various cannons and imbued them with holy power. Furthermore, he finished imbuing all kinds of consumables with holy attributes as well.

"Wait, aren't these the same items we used during the raid against Nevuchadnezzar?"

"Shh. Keep it down."

Usually, holy items effective against the undead were also highly effective against the demons of the Demon Realm. Tae-hyun, ever the thrifty one, embezzled... cough, salvaged the leftover items and prepared them for the raid. Since their numbers were small, they had to resort to such tactics!

It's not bad. The Archisus Artillery was already near its peak form. They were subordinates composed of talents Tae-hyun had gathered from all corners of the continent! Exceptional dwarf gunners, the Akisus Tribe Warriors guarding them, and the newly added giants. Giants are incredibly versatile. They could wield siege weapons with their bare hands, and in an emergency, they could simply hurl massive bombs. Add to that the small but elite force of knights and soldiers, and they had more than enough power for a vanguard. The only problem was... Tae-hyun's Infamy! Sigh, I just hope the demons don't swarm us the moment we arrive... The die was cast. Tae-hyun stopped worrying. It was time to set off. "Preparations are complete! We set off for the Demon Realm!"

...This is starting to feel even worse.

It was his first time feeling an ominous dread despite looking at a reward notification window.