Divine-Grade Shield (3)
“Guardian's Light! Light of Vitality!”
The moment they heard my shout, Chuk Bing hyung—his confusion effect finally over—laid down his buffs, while Hyunjung switched his perennial defensive Aura of Endurance to Aura of Struggle.
The titan's normal attacks had sped up to the point where dodging them visually was impossible, so to cut down on DPS loss, I started taking hits on purpose while counterattacking.
[Mana Shield absorbs 5,662 physical damage.]
[Mana Shield absorbs 6,115 physical damage.]
…………………
The situation's totally different from when I'm solo! With all these buffs stacking, the mana absorption is just about keeping up with the incoming damage!
Surprisingly, it was manageable. Sure, no heals coming my way, but the buffs had slashed the damage while maxing out my attack power. Add in the holy sword's elemental bonus damage, and even though it only absorbed 6% of attack power in mana, the sheer volume being sucked up was insane.
Which meant I was—unbelievably—solo-tanking the titan's single-target focus in the late phase.
“Chuk-gul! You too—pop Heavenly Shield and get in here on DPS!”
“Got it! Heavenly Shield!”
Hyunjung, who'd been hanging back in case confusion made it target the nearest me, now dove in with his 10-second invincibility off cooldown.
His weapon was Legendary, and as a holy knight with a few self-buffs in the holy line, he went all-out on damage and piled on a solid chunk.
25%, 20%, 15%! The HP bar over its head was draining several times faster than the early phase.
Then it unveiled a new pattern, spewing the black aura rippling across its body in every direction.
“Final phase! Don't panic—keep the burst DPS going!”
Hyunjung's Heavenly Shield duration ticked out, and he couldn't tank the titan's AoE normals plus the black aura targeting—down to near-death.
Ra Chan and Chuk Bol noona, sniping arrows and spells from afar, ate a few black aura hits and dropped dead soon after.
Even Chuk Bing hyung, hanging on with self-heals, flubbed the recast confusion and got zapped by the black aura—dead.
The targeting jumped from one to the next, and no one could hold it—whole party wiped.
Just me left, the only survivor in the party, still relentlessly DPSing.
Die. You're gonna die. You're fucking dead.
If I went down here, forget retry—we'd have to restart the instance from scratch. And Taeseong Guild would swoop back in and snatch first clear.
This was my personal gamble, with the massive titan prize on the line.
[Mana Shield absorbs 2,220 magic damage.]
[Mana Shield absorbs 1,992 magic damage.]
…………………
The black aura was homing—guaranteed hits. But as magic damage, it didn't chew through MP dramatically.
Plus, my focus was laser-sharp for once; the titan's fast normals even looked slow now, and I was dodging about half on a razor's edge.
“I'm gonna win, you piece of shit!!”
And so... I burned nearly all my MP, but I pulled it off.
A feat impossible without the holy sword—its natural counter.
“To think you'd keep me from returning to the demon realm... and make me vanish here!”
'Titan Destroyer' achievement acquired.
'Liberation of the Cursed Titan (one-time quest)' cleared.
Reward: Ownership of Titan 'Levendas' (first clear reward) granted to your party.
With the evil spirit's death cry, the massive titan dissolved into nothing, system logs flooding my alert window.
And in its place...
A large rectangular shield lay demurely on the ground.
“We did it! First clear success!”
The whole party erupted in cheers through guild chat.
“Oh crap! Everyone's in near-death! Sorry—reviving you all right now!”
I zipped around, resurrecting each scattered corpse. They popped back up buzzing with excitement, all chattering nonstop.
“Whoa! No matter how I slice it, our Dro's on another level. Where you been hiding all this time?”
“Snagging something they built to be uncatchable in one shot... We could've sold footage for bank.”
“Who had time to record? And money's pocket change now—we just bagged a titan!”
Right. A titan-summoning item sat on the floor before us.
In instance party hunts, drops needed full party consent before looting. Even if I'd soloed the finish, I couldn't just take it.
But every one urged me to grab it, like it was obvious.
“Dro, you called us here. Without you, we wouldn't have cleared. It's yours.”
“Yeah. We couldn't even use it right. Two titans? Way safer, way better mileage.”
“True. This was basically your one-man show. Take it—I pass!”
One by one, they forfeited loot rights, leaving it all to me.
“You guys aren't even hearing me out? I said upfront—for fighting Taeseong, everyone needs their own titan, remember?”
“Pfft, whatever. We'll gear up slow. You take this. More bombs in plane games = harder to die, right?”
“Your metaphors are such boomer shit, hyung. Who shoots games anymore? Lol.”
“You get it fine but always 'boomer' this, that asshole.”
No arguing with them. I finally picked up the rectangular shield.
They'd seen the loot window spin, but this was straight-up Divine-grade.
The third Divine gear in Tayen.
Heart pounding, I inspected its specs.
Attack: 920
Defense: 1220
Magic Defense: 610
Strength +150, Vitality +150
All elemental resistances +15%
Shield-related skill levels +1
Shield skill cooldown -50%
5% chance on hit to trigger 'Damage Reflection'
Summons Titan 'Levendas(!)'
This item is absolutely unique.
The national treasure of the ancient magitech kingdom Perarus, housing the power core of Titan 'Levendas'.
"The kingdom needed a titan to counter the sudden demon lord invasion, pouring all its might into creation. Levendas was the era's demand, our magic tower's sacred duty. In the end, we birthed the kingdom's guardian god ourselves."
— 3rd Magic Tower Lord of Perarus, Heizel Bejas —
Insane. Absolutely busted stats and options.
Even against the strongest shield so far, this was at least twice better.
Still... something feels a tad lacking.
Same Divine grade, but miles behind the 7 Divine Weapons. Stats and skill boosts were conditional, no divine blessing for upgrades—not even worth trying.
And its summon? Knight-grade.
The pope said only the 7 Divine Weapons summoned Lord-grade, but seeing Knight-grade on another Divine item felt weird.
Then it hit me—our whole debate was pointless.
The "Summon Levendas" option was blacked out, marked unusable.
I tapped it.
[Player can summon only 1 titan.]
Having summoned Luitus plenty, I got it—as long as I owned Luitus, this shield was usable, but no Levendas for me.
“Haha! Knew it—Illusion wouldn't half-ass. Can't summon two titans. So who wants it?”
If I had a spare titan like Levendas, it'd save my ass in a pinch. Selfish thought, sure—and that's why they all passed, landing it on me by default.
But the key titan? Useless to me.
Plus, Divine or not, wielding this properly meant speccing into shield mastery and more skills—waste for me.
Sell it for upgrade funds? Even sans Taeseong, it'd fetch tens of billions easy.
No greed? Lie.
But the impossible happened—no desire for Levendas at all. Not a speck.
We're not old pals. And I'm not one to open up easy.
Yet watching them casually forfeit loot rights? Unlocked something in me.
Old me in their shoes? Contribution or not, I'd never pass on this value.
Months ago, nickel-and-diming gold—now cheering a multibillion handover.
“Damn... so someone has to take it?”
Unlike the holy sword, Levendas traded between players. Only the 7 Divine Weapons had trade locks—Tayen prized player freedom.
So I dropped it back.
“Pass. Mage on a titan? Maybe shoulder perch for backline DPS. Ooh, saying it out loud—solid idea?”
“Me too! Archer, lowest level—no way I tote that without Taeseong confiscating.”
“Pass. Healers heal—no titan time. Shield plus warhammer titan... suits someone here perfect.”
Huh? Thought tank-healer ex-GM Chuk Bing hyung would snag it—priests draw aggro, shields boost survivability.
But consensus swung elsewhere.
“Me? You really want me with a titan?”
“Yeah, Chuk-gul. You're the tankiest here. Divine drops on death—your invinc makes you safest bet.”
“Duh. Who else for a shield drop? Equip it—lemme see titan specs!”
“Dro... this okay for me...?”
“Was 'fight Taeseong' just talk? Gear up first, basics.”
His dazed face twisted harder.
Made sense—not blindly swallowing like my holy sword grab. This deliberate choice? Tough.
Game or not, equipping flipped his life 180.
“Uh... take it? For real?”
“Quit stalling and loot, dude! You a man or what?”
“Haha! Give it and he can't even take—kekeke!”
“Argh! Screw it—taking it!”
After hemming and hawing, Hyunjung looted. Equipped instantly—his shield morphed into the massive rectangle.
Silver metal frame, red metal cross overlay, golden gem at center. Divine-grade screamed luxury at a glance.
“Hey, serious favor—don't change the look. Cool?”
“Mine now, my call. Butt out, Dro.”
Grinning at his joy and the party's cheers, I checked my achievement.
Awarded to the top contributor in titan destruction.
(All stats +3)
Achievement effect: More efficient titan attacks.
(+25% all damage vs titans)
Promised Yeon Woo a titan, came here for that—got little personally.
But stopped Taeseong grabbing a Knight-grade titan.
And my future Darius-kill ally powered up—same as me getting stronger.
Would've felt shortchanged, but this achievement was mine alone.
25% extra damage every titan hit? Busted.
Lots would get it eventually.
Didn't matter. Titans scarce—holders rare for months.
For now, only me...
Another weapon to smash Darius's titan.