One-Man Castle Lord (4)

[Radiant Shield!] [Glory Sword!]

The moment it touched down on the ground, Luitus immediately threw up an Anti-Magic Shield. Then it unleashed attack skills on the defending players nearby.

"Argh! It's Magnum! Magnum's shown up at Kaljen Castle!"

"Damn it all! Why'd that bastard have to pick this timing?!"

The Obelisk didn't have as much health as a field boss, but if there were defending guildmates around, it could sacrifice their HP to recover its own. That was why the standard siege defense formation stuck healers and buffers right next to the Obelisk, barricaded by one-handers and tank-DPS upfront.

But flip that thinking around, and it meant there were no beefy defending characters right in front of the Obelisk! One wide-area skill from me wiped out a bunch of Taeseong players who'd been barely hanging on with sliver health bars after the intense fighting.

And it wasn't just Taeseong—Atlantis got hit too.

"Wh-what the hell? Whose side is that titan even on? Why're we getting hit too?!"

'Sorry, but it came alone!'

The chaos snowballed in the confusion. No one could've missed the titan crashing down from the sky with all that noise, so a whisper popped up right away from Hidden Card.

I had no reason to reply, and no time for it anyway. Besides, they'd figure out why I was here soon enough.

For now, I didn't go straight for the Obelisk. Instead, I prioritized sniping Taeseong's healers.

[Judgment Advance!]

A short burst, just 20 meters. But straight into a clustered pack of enemies? It was basically a wide-area knockback.

One shot sent over 30 Taeseong healers and buffers sprawling. I swung wide with the sword, feeding them steady multi-hit normal attacks that tagged four or five at a time.

"Aaaagh! That fucking Magnum!"

Taeseong players oxidizing left and right, gray ash scattering in the wind. By then, everyone had snapped out of it enough to start peppering me with arrows and spells from range.

Bang!Boom boom!

Radiant Shield blocked all the magic damage, but arrows were chipping away at HP bit by bit.

'Good thing I thinned their numbers early—bow damage is negligible now. That many healers and buffers down? Mission accomplished.'

The goal was just to thin them enough that the defenders couldn't keep the Obelisk healed up. I turned Luitus toward the Obelisk and swung.

The Obelisk's health bar plummeted fast. Taeseong ranged attacks kept coming, but Atlantis was still holding fire. My ploy had worked.

"What? Magnum's on our side?"

"He's got the Phoenix mark and only hitting Taeseong? Should we even be attacking him?"

The Phoenix guild mark floating over the name "Light of Annihilation Luitus." It wasn't intentional, but it sowed confusion in Atlantis just like I'd hoped.

Thanks to that, for a brief window, I only took heat from Taeseong and could focus purely on pounding the Obelisk.

Obelisks didn't have building-tier health anyway. Committing fully to the attack, the bar vanished in seconds.

"Elder! Isn't that bastard about to snag top contributor?!"

"No way... Shit! Magnum's not here to help—he's here to steal the castle!"

"Att-attack! Get on that Obelisk NOW!!"

No matter how hard you fought to breach the inner gates, the castle went to the guild that dealt the most damage to the Obelisk. Even with thousands involved, if I topped the damage? The system would crown me lord.

'Possible in theory... but no one's ever solo'd a castle before. That's why it took them so ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠long to catch on!'

Atlantis finally clocked my game and rushed the Obelisk. But in their panic, they'd forgotten how Taeseong had melted moments ago.

That balance-breaking AoE hitting everything in a 10-meter cone for 350% attack power. 15-second cooldown meant spammable—and I'd held it back just once for this moment. A gift for the Obelisk-clingers!

[Glory Sword!]

BOOM!

I paused the Obelisk beatdown to spin the sword like a propeller into the defenseless Atlantis tank-DPS swarm.

Whoosh, whoosh whoosh!

Over half oxidized on the spot—minus the pure tanks. Mostly melee DPS with full HP but paper defenses.

I ignored the survivors and turned back to the Obelisk. Tanks would get healed quick, and normal-attacking them without skills would take forever. Tanks couldn't dent the Obelisk much anyway—better to max my damage.

"He's insane... How the hell do we stop that?!"

"Ignore the titan! Focus-fire the Obelisk! All firepower on it!!"

Once what sounded like an Atlantis exec barked that, their ranged fire finally shifted to the Obelisk.

'As if!'

I pivoted Luitus to tank with its back, nullifying shots. Non-targeting game let me improvise like this. Radiant Shield drained fast and shattered, damage leaking through—but cooldown was up, so I recast.

Meanwhile, I whistled down Ferari, circling overhead. Target: Atlantis archer squad 50 meters back, locked and loaded.

Kieeeek!WHOOSH!

Ferari obeyed, blasting Fireball Breath then slamming Wing Gust on landing. Taming Master achievement halved its cooldowns—huge help.

"Argh! What's this now?!"

Wing Gust knocked dozens flying. A normal attack later, one archer dropped. Pet nerf halved its stats, but field-boss pedigree shone—four or five times stronger than standard tames. Archers couldn't tank focused fire from it.

"Watch out! What kinda pet hits harder than a top spirit?!"

"Magnum, you sneaky fuck. That's why you went dark—taming this?!"

"Makes no sense! Why'd a thief even learn Taming?!"

The red drake's intrusion scattered the archers, loosening their barrage. Titans weren't invincible—finite HP, no heals. Minimize damage buildup to outlast the summon timer.

I blocked for the Obelisk while managing HP, chipping away relentlessly.

Thankfully, the Obelisk crumbled faster than Luitus's HP dropped. Unexpected variable: other guilds jumping in.

Atlantis led the Kaljen siege, but small fry guilds hoping for scraps had joined too. They'd settled in and were dumping serious ranged DPS on the Obelisk.

I let those non-Atlantis guild-marked attacks through. Top contributor would be me or Atlantis anyway—their scattered fire just sped things up for me.

"No! We'll lose the castle! Stick to the Obelisk no matter what! Heal it up first!"

"Burn every skill! Atlantis claims Kaljen Castle!!"

Shouts ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠from both sides. And amid it all, one titan silently swinging its blade.

In the chaos, the massive Obelisk finally toppled—under two minutes since summon.

That instant, every player around me, every summon, even mid-flight arrows and spells—poof. Gone like smoke.

Ping ping ping!

Just me on Luitus and Ferari left in the inner square. Everyone else banished in a flash.

System logs flooded in. The "HomeSweetHome" one even popped as a server-wide alert.

"I... I did it. I actually fucking took it!!"

Charging in sword-out among enemies? A plan backed by conviction. But pulling it off for real? Surreal.

A thief. A solo guild. Castle lord? Unprecedented. Literally one-of-a-kind, never to be repeated.

The monumental feat of becoming a "one-man castle lord"!

I could reply to the others later, but Hidden Card—as Phoenix vice-gm—deserved a response.

He struck first—why's he mad over this? Hellfire, maybe. But this punk? Not a chance.

"Alright, let's see what's inside!"

Mere minutes ago, the square rang with clashes, effects, and screams. Now? Dead silent.

I savored the quiet, then stepped forward. My first home in 28 years of life.

Into Kaljen Castle!