The Second Divine Weapon (3)

Having surpassed level 300, Luitus's summon duration now exceeded five minutes. Normally, I'd summon it with five minutes left on the siege timer, so whether we took the castle or not, it wouldn't be reverse-summoned before we got booted back to the village. But even in the short time it took to breach the inner gate, I'd already burned through more than 20% of my HP. As I closed in on the obelisk, a barrage of focused fire was sure to rain down on me—it was obvious. At this rate, I wouldn't even last the full summon before getting reverse-summoned.

But the more tanking I did, the higher the Phoenix forces' survival rate would climb, boosting our chances of success proportionally.

'Even if I get reverse-summoned, Phoenix wouldn't backstab me... right?'

The one lingering worry was what happened when the tanking titan's HP hit zero—would Phoenix turn on me instead of the obelisk? But even that was within my calculations. I was confident I could survive it, which was why I'd joined this siege solo with the Phoenix crew. Hidden Card, who'd been hiding his greed all this time... no matter what, he wouldn't make the dumb choice to betray me here. He'd watched me long enough to know exactly what kind of guy I was!

"They're coming! Hold the line no matter what! Reinforcements are on the way!"

"Just three minutes—hold for three minutes and we win!"

"Shields up!!"

The moment the inner gate fell, they'd called for reinforcements—Taesung knights raising their shields in desperate resolve.

Three minutes to siege end. Instead of charging straight at the front line of ten knights behind the barricade, I veered to the edge near the corner. From there, I angled Judgment Advance obliquely toward the far side of the barricade.

Boomf!

The shields Taesung mages had cast on their knights shattered with a deafening roar. Along with that, the thirty or forty tanks spread across the advance path were knocked flying, tumbling head over heels.

"Fireball!"

"Multi-shot!"

The instant my advance halted, Phoenix damage dealers piled on follow-up attacks. Their tanks charged in too, stunning the rising Taesung tanks with linked stuns. Shouts, shield bursts, heals, and AoE spell effects turned the plaza into instant pandemonium.

Meanwhile, damage dealers atop the main keep unleashed focused fire on my titan, shattering the freshly cast Radiant Shield in no time. My massive size and the standout performance crumbling their barricade formation had drawn the expected sniper fire, just as planned. At the same time, tanks who'd self-buffed and recovered HP at my feet lunged, swinging swords.

Among them, a familiar face made me pause mid-swing for a split second.

'Patrick! And Lanford!'

Guys who'd been crying "My lord!" to me just this morning. My former subordinates were now swinging desperately at me. After a month of life-and-death together, they didn't recognize me? Well, they were NPCs, so it made sense... but it still stung a bit.

'Ungrateful bastards. I even thanked them for all their hard work... Fine, if they can't recognize their master, I don't need 'em either!'

I kicked the two traitors blocking my way with full force, sending them flying. Right after, I leaped into the midst of the healer squad frantically spamming heals from behind the tanks and unleashed Glory Sword.

"Argh! Heal!"

"Do something about that titan!"

In PKs or wars, healers were always the first priority. Especially on a battlefield like this—ignore the tanks and hit the backline healers suddenly, and panicked healers waste heals on themselves, destabilizing tank HP management. Heals that could've gone to high-defense tanks wasted on squishy healers meant lost efficiency! Once even one healer dropped, the party or squad crumbled fast—that was the nature of these brawls.

"You try it! How the hell do you block a titan standing still?!"

As always, Taesung tanks started retiring one by one as their healers fell. Since I'd handled both tanking and formation-breaking, Phoenix just calmly focused fire on the tanks—and it paid off.

Two minutes to end. In just one minute of clash, most barricade tanks and healers were gone. Surviving damage dealers fired from behind the obelisk and along the walls. But Phoenix and I ignored them, pouring all DPS into the obelisk.

35%, 30%, 25%! With my huge body shielding the obelisk's front and Phoenix protecting me, Luitus's HP plummeted steadily. Even a titan had limits enduring stationary focused fire.

'At this rate, Luitus gets reverse-summoned before the obelisk breaks!'

I quickly simulated the situation in my head. Conclusion: Even if I pulled out now and some Phoenix tanks died, their damage dealers could still destroy the obelisk.

Decision made, I immediately backpedaled, putting the obelisk behind me as I dashed toward the wall.

"The titan's bouncing! Grab it!"

"That crazy Sandro bastard! He's finally out of HP!"

"Too late to save the obelisk anyway! At least snag Sandro!"

Unexpectedly, ranged attacks en route to the obelisk switched targets to me. Whoosh!Boom! Roughly a hundred damage dealers focusing me. But my speed meant less than half hit. Remaining HP dipped to 10%—but I was almost at the wall.

A party I'd never seen in this siege rushed from the flank at high speed. The odd part? They were all semi-transparent—thieves with Stealth active!

'What the hell? Taesung's assassin squad made to catch me?'

But I wore the priest's headpiece. To maximize it, I'd sunk two skill points from leveling into Perception, maxing it at 5 stars. They wouldn't know that! So I pretended ignorance, charging until we collided—then preemptively blasted Glory Sword.

Shockingly, all eight thieves dodged perfectly just from my skill's wind-up—using mobility skills without a single miss.

'What?! They predicted my attack from that and all evaded? Insane reaction speed.'

Thud thud thud!

They flanked behind me instantly, mixing normal attacks with skills. These guys were leagues above the users I'd faced before. And among them, a familiar ID: Hong Gil Dong.

"Whoa! That noob from back then turned into a big shot! Impressive!"

"How'd he spot stealth first?"

"Doesn't matter! He's low on HP now—basically dead. Focus fire!"

The thieves chimed in casually. Using 5-star Weak Point Detection and agile movements, my remaining HP drained fast. Ranged attacks got blocked by Radiant Shield or dodged half the time, but 100% accurate melee? No real counter—I just had to eat them.

Unlike the lower-damage tanks, these eight self-buffed thieves hit hard with every strike.

But I wasn't gonna tank until reverse-summon. I unleashed my held Judgment Advance, shaking them off and slamming into the wall—then canceled Luitus summon. Before my form appeared through ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the vanishing titan, I Shadow Stepped into the air. Target: an archer user firing arrows from the wall.

Whoosh!

The skill effortlessly put me atop the wall, putting over 50 meters between me and the thief pack in seconds. Ignoring the startled archer, I Agile Movement'd toward the tall turret connected to the wall.

"Gotcha! Titan's down! Just finish him!"

"Even if we lose the castle, killing Sandro is jackpot! All-out attack!"

Stealth now? My 8-star stealth wasn't bad, but it'd slow me and likely shatter from AoE shrapnel. Instead, I sprinted full tilt to the turret, shattering expectations by wall-running up its side.

Perpendicular to the ground!

"Huh? What? He's wall-running?!"

"Great Thief Boots! But no biggie! Nothing up there's a sitting duck! Keep DPSing—we'll nab him before the obelisk falls!"

Hong Gil Dong's shout from below carried up. Nothing on the turret?

'They really gunning for me? Their intel on me's this thin?'

Kieeeek!

The moment I full-speed wall-ran to the turret roof, Ferari—gliding overhead the whole siege—swept perfectly in front. I jumped, landing smoothly on my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠drake's back.

Swoosh!Whoosh, whoosh!

Regretful arrows grazed Ferari's tail, but none hit our high-speed ascent. Ferari and I shot straight up into the sky.

My final jab pushed him over—he blocked me. And right then, server-wide alerts popped up in sequence.

Fifteen seconds to siege end. Right on plan, Phoenix barely captured Kaljen Castle's obelisk.