The Empire's Assault (3)
“What are you all doing! There are still so many achievement points up for grabs!”
“Ah! Right! We're in the middle of a war!”
Our goal wasn't the titans—it was to take down the imperial soldiers and commanders, racking up as many achievement points as possible. Which meant we couldn't afford to space out like this.
The inner gates of Rozentas Castle had already been breached, and imperial troops were pouring forward relentlessly.
“What was the 7th Legion called again? The Unstoppable Charge or something? Well, let's charge without stopping ourselves!!”
“Yeah! Everyone, follow Hyunjung!”
With about a minute left on Levendas's summon, I climbed back onto Hyunjung's shoulder and charged toward the imperial forces with massive strides.
Seizing the brief moment, I checked the achievement I'd just earned again.
Granted for slaying a noble NPC in Titan Chronicle.
Effect: Attack Power +6%
Some NPCs may attack you on sight due to this achievement.
Killing more nobles will upgrade this achievement with even greater effects.
“Whoa! It's grown! Just 1%, but definitely up!”
“Huh? What is?”
Hyunjung, hearing my exclamation, turned to ask.
“You snagged an achievement from that officer on the titan earlier, right? Yours upgraded!”
“Huh? Let me see... Nope? Mine's still at 5% from the start.”
“Oh, yeah? Probably 'cause I took down more officers. Anyway, this thing's a gem. Never even thought about it, but we scored a legit achievement for free.”
It came with a penalty, sure, but right now, that was negligible. The boost rivaled my top-tier achievements—no slouch there. It wasn't at that level yet, and there was probably a growth cap, but it looked like it'd hit 10% easy.
First, let's sweep up all the officers and commanders here!
Thanks to Levendas's huge strides, even after tangling with titans for a few minutes, we quickly caught up to the imperial main force.
The four titans that hadn't drawn aggro had advanced all the way to the inner gates of Rozentas in the meantime. Meanwhile, the rear guard—over 1,200 strong—was tangled in a massive user brawl, a total dogfight.
“Hyunjung, you see the guild chat? It's the commander. Our guess was spot on!”
“What now? Keep charging?”
“Hell yeah! You wanna stop? Charge! We've still got Luitus!”
Levendas trampled imperial soldiers as it bounded forward. As its time ran out and it vanished, I summoned Luitus like passing a baton.
“Nice catch!”
I grabbed Hyunjung mid-fall, hoisted him onto my shoulder, and kept charging.
After hundreds of meters nonstop, a glaring red name popped into sharper view.
Empire 7th Legion Commander Count Kar Temitt
The big boss of this assault event—the main course we'd been hunting.
Unlike the chainmail-clad grunts, he was surrounded by elite knights in full plate.
But that meant nothing.
Judgment Advance
Judgment Advance—the top-tier dash that could knock back even titans—cleared a straight path, scattering the knight squad without exception right to the commander.
Glory Sword
I slammed down an AoE skill laced with basic attacks. But the commander, taking the full knockback and follow-up, shockingly stood right up and attacked Luitus.
“Whoa! Named boss toughness, huh?”
Unlike the officers who'd lasted a bit longer than average high-level mobs, this guy was a different breed. As legion commander and event boss, the illusions had clearly tuned him up.
But he was still a humanoid monster. Unless he was a broken character like me, facing a titan—let alone a Lord-grade one—was near impossible.
“Receive the empire's punishment!”
“Before the empire's blade, there is only glory!”
“The empire's banner shall crush all barbaric fringes!”
Cringe lines echoed nonstop across the battlefield. He yapped every time he got hit, but I ignored it and smashed down my sword.
Golden-plated elite knights swung at us from all sides. Arrows rained from archers endlessly.
But I focused solely on landing one more hit on the commander.
“I shall remind you how the empire has endured for a thousand years!”
Soon enough, true to humanoid form, his HP bottomed out, and he went into his final frenzy: titan summon.
Ziiing!
Enhanced Gaira Knights
Soldier-grade, shy of Knight. But "enhanced" meant thicker outer armor and a magic-etched special shield.
Didn't matter. On a titan or not, to me he was just a high-HP mob. His slowed attacks even dealt less damage than before—barely worth noticing.
Glory Sword
I fired AoE skills on cooldown, mowing down surrounding imperials.
Eliminated Imperial Elite Knight. Guild achievement points +480.
Eliminated Imperial Elite Knight. Guild achievement points +480.
Eliminated Imperial Soldier. Guild achievement points +120.
……
Flash!
The battlefield lit up bright as day mid-titan ride from the sudden level-up.
Humanoids usually pack skills for solid EXP relative to level, and these 400-ish high-levels delivered big on both achievements and EXP. We'd already culled thousands in short order—equivalent to two or three high-end dungeons.
Only possible 'cause every Burning Star member, me included, rocked server-top gear and ranker stats.
Regular users here just for achievements struggled against the masses.
Proof? Battle raged on, imperial momentum unbroken, user numbers visibly thinning despite thinned imperial ranks—many users dead and out.
That's why we gotta kill the commander first! Once he's down, the imperials change somehow. Why else have a commander?
Endless imperial attacks whittled even Luitus's absurd HP below 10%.
Undeterred, I smashed solely at the commander's titan.
By now, I had the titan mechanics down cold. Lucky timing with no titans around let me snag a top-grade one for rampage, but titans weren't all-purpose beatsticks. Strong basics, but lacking attack skills—and they blocked each other.
They shone in big fights for breaking lines and tanking for users.
Perfect: Luitus ate all aggro while Burning Star poured safe DPS on the commander.
Boom!
The commander's defense-heavy titan—tougher than regulars—shattered anyway. Not being a player, it couldn't parry Luitus's basics well.
“To think scum like you lurks in these fringes!”
The count popped out, still yapping. But unlike officers, breaking his titan ended the raid—logs flooded my system despite him standing.
Routed Empire 7th Legion Commander. Guild achievement points +240,000.
Acquired Shattered Titan Essence Fragment (6).
Empire commander defeated. All imperial troops' attack and defense reduced.
“Huh? What? We got him? He's still alive though?”
Hyunjung, attacking beside me, gaped at the anomaly.
But the mystery cleared quick: a shimmering blue portal spawned right in front of the commander.
“We retreat for now, but we shall not forgive you!”
What? Commanders don't die easy?
The thought flashed, but I had zero intention of letting him slip.
Judgment Advance
Cooldown up, I reflex-fired it. He tumbled just shy of the portal—split-second timing.
I confirmed the knockdown, hit Glory Sword on the surroundings, then unsummoned Luitus on the spot.
HP near zero anyway—no attachment. Time to bet on a new play.
Perfect—no users around! Ideal spot to test if the skill works in combat!
Before he recovered, I Shadow Stepped behind him from midair and clashed wrists.
Clang!
The sharp chime of Dantario bracelets signaled my new ace was ready to shine.
“Dude! You nuts? Why dive in there!”
“Bro? Bro! Danger!”
Guildmates freaked as I plunged titan-less into the enemy heart.
Couldn't make out words. Focus at peak—time crawled again, sharper than any fight so far.
“Cover me, guys! Let's see if this bastard lives or dies—testing now!”