Raid Preparation (1)

The moment the TS Knights' summon was canceled, the battlefield—packed with over two hundred players—seemed like time itself had frozen for a brief instant. No, it was no different from time actually stopping. Everyone just stared blankly as the holy knight emerged from the titan, activated an invincible skill, and retreated...

I hadn't told anyone about buying the bracelet, so even my Burning Star guildmates were swept up in the shock. The Dantelio Bracelet. It didn't eliminate skill cooldowns entirely but reduced them by a factor of ten, which meant powerful skills—usually with cooldowns over ten minutes—still couldn't be spammed. But thieves? They relied on minor job skills with low MP costs and short cooldowns anyway. Plus, my whole concept was a "mana shield thief" that dealt damage mostly with auto-attacks rather than skills, so even with MP consumption increased tenfold, it was more manageable than expected. With all my stats dumped into mana, my MP pool was ridiculously huge to begin with! It was practically an item tailor-made for me. When Merlin first got it, I was just a lowbie thief, so it was too late for Illusion to nerf or remove it now.

Four titans remained on the battlefield, but I still had my Luitus card up my sleeve. Meanwhile, Dainess had wasted time trying to kill me instead of wiping out Phoenix guild members, so the siege's momentum had effectively swung in our favor.

The evenly matched battle... had tipped!

But mistakes weren't tolerable. With about thirty seconds left on the Skill Acceleration effect, I used Shadow Step again.

Pew!

Reappearing behind the spearman titan, I leaped onto its back and jammed my sword in.

"Kim Ji-seung! Ignore Sandro and attack the regular users! I'll clean up here too! Even if Phoenix gets wiped, the siege is ours if we hold! Griffon squad, pick them off one by one!"

"Yes, my lord!"

"Yes, my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠lord!"

They'd been hiding that titan ambitiously, but now it was unsummoned without much fanfare, forcing them to scramble. In my eyes, though, it was the worst possible move.

'My lord,' huh... Those guys really pick the cringiest shit to do.'

Bam!

Dainess's swinging sword was persistently blocked by Hyunjung's Levendus shield...

Whoosh!

The TS Knights' spear swing missed the Phoenix squad entirely, slicing only empty air. Unlike Lord or Knight grades, this Soldier-grade titan had no special attack skills, making it tough to catch determined regular users who were purely evading. But my auto-attacks kept landing relentlessly on its back.

Since I was hitting from behind, I didn't even need Weak Point Strike. Alternating these two skills alone would out-DPS dozens of regular users piling on, no doubt.

Maybe they hadn't anticipated this level of damage, because the titan suddenly spun around and bolted toward the Taesung lines.

'Huh? Don't tell me...?'

It was obvious. Bolting like this right before unsummoning meant, unlike other titan riders, this one probably wasn't a holy knight.

"Someone prep a bind on this guy!"

"Argh! My lord! Help me!"

A desperate plea burst from the titan at my shout, and the moment it ended, it was unsummoned.

Then, hearing the call, Dainess—who'd been tussling with Levendus—cast Despair's Echo toward me and leaped.

A trail of dust trailed its massive body like a tail. The sight crawled into view again, as if in slow motion.

'I could dodge with Shadow Step, but then I couldn't catch that warrior titan rider.'

But tanking Dainess's skill and the follow-ups? With so much fighting left, no way.

As that calculation flashed through my mind, a brilliant idea hit.

What if... Leaf Attack required being on the ground? Could I dodge if I wasn't?

"Summon Ferari!"

I threw myself onto Ferari as it burst from the magic circle like a spring. Crossing paths with the descending Dainess, I soared upward.

"Argh! You rat bastard!"

How many times had he called me a "rat" today? But my ascent was brief—I immediately banked toward the ground.

Target: that "warrior" who'd bailed from the titan!

I still had ten seconds of Skill Acceleration, and my baby dragon Ferari had one handy skill.

The fleeing warrior got knocked back by Ferari's sudden skill and tumbled. I Shadow Stepped right at him.

Stab, Continuous Slash! Stab, Stealthy Strike! Stab, Continuous Slash!

Three skill chains interspersed with auto-attacks, flowing seamlessly. My MP bar dropped a third in an instant, but it was worth it. The tanky warrior couldn't even pop a potion during the knockback combo and dropped dead.

I thrust my hand toward his corpse faster than my eyes could follow.

"Gasp!!"

I'd hoped, but even I was stunned, letting out an exclamation.

"W-what? No way... you...?"

"Ha, haha! What do we do? I aimed for it on instinct, but I never dreamed it'd actually drop!"

The titan essence—probably the first ever player-crafted one in Taitonic. Labeled TS Knights, and I'd just looted it.

"Impossible! You're no murderer, and in the middle of a siege? It drops that? You're tricking us again!"

Darius was supposed to have Taitonic's best luck, but clearly not. No matter how I thought about it, the luckiest player was me—the one constantly stealing his fortune.

"Sorry, no time for chit-chat! Summon Luitus!"

They lagged a beat behind my quick moves, but ranged attacks poured in again. Tanking them, I merged with the summoned Luitus.

I immediately raised Radiant Shield and charged into the heart of the Taesung forces with Judgment Advance, ignoring Dainess right beside me!

I targeted the healers and buffers Hellfire's Reverse Knights had been wreaking havoc on alone. Knocking them back on approach and unleashing an AoE skill vaporized six or seven into ash instantly. Their HP, already worn from fighting Hellfire, couldn't withstand my combo.

Bam!

Dainess's sword slammed into my back from behind, but I ignored it.

"Sword of Repose!"

Bam, bam, bam!

Its signature triple strike hammered my back relentlessly, but I ignored it. Luitus's full HP was 980,000. No way Dainess could chew through that much in short order.

Meanwhile, I chipped away at Taesung numbers by adding hits to targets Hellfire and Phoenix were attacking.

Truth be told, Darius had made the wrong call summoning Dainess from the start. He should've delayed it as long as possible—or at least prioritized it over me. Or abandoned catching me early and focused on thinning Phoenix numbers.

'You knew how to make titans but didn't study how to use them strategically? In other words, you were already losing the numbers game—not just to me, but to Hellfire too!'

All because of poor research on titan tactics in sieges. A lucky strategy that might never work again, but I didn't care. I'd already snatched one of their titans, and Phoenix would claim Gewell Castle soon enough!

Thud.

Dainess's sword, which had been pounding me furiously, suddenly stabbed into the ground. It had realized attacking me was futile and given up.

"Sandro, you... At first, I thought you were just another lucky scrub. But after seeing this much, I have to admit it. You're a real obstacle—to me, and to all of Taesung! No one's ever been this much of a thorn. As of today, I acknowledge you have the qualifications."

"Qualifications? What qualifications all of a sudden?"

He'd curse, go casual, then switch back to formal. Whatever. I couldn't keep swinging at Taesung with that attitude. I halted my sword and turned Luitus to face him.

"The qualifications to be a worthy opponent worth our full effort. You've shown more than enough skill to prove it."

"Ha? Skill? You haven't changed a bit. Who died and made you judge? Do you even have that 'skill' you're so proud of to evaluate others? Hiding in a stolen titan, flapping your gums—is that not your reality?"

Why I avoided talking to this prick. Even our few exchanges before had made it hard to suppress the rage boiling deep inside. Last time he lied about never losing; now he deigns to "acknowledge" my skill. Who the hell are you? What gives you the right to be this arrogant?

"Haha! Say what you want now. You'll die once and that's it for you. Might as well make some memories of your cockiness. Anyway, time to go. Phoenix alone wouldn't have been an issue, but with your guild joining, it was always uphill."

"Haha! So your 'never lost a fight' record is built on pathetic excuses like that, Darius? And... who said you could leave? Why would I let someone whose summon is about to end go? Judgment Advance!"

His class was knight—no invincible holy knight skills, no 8-star stealth like mine. Without the titan, he'd have zero survival in this clusterfuck. He should've delayed summoning, but he'd done it early and was about to unsummon soon. In short, the Darius kill I'd dreamed of was right there.

"Despair's Echo!"

But as I Judgment Advanced to crash into Dainess, it leaped skyward.

Its go-to Leap Attack. But reversed this time—not evasion, but escape.

As it peaked at twenty meters, Darius unsummoned Dainess. Someone perfectly timed scooping his airborne body onto ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their pet—Taesung's pride, the Griffon King, ridden by Schumacher.

'Damn! ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Chase? Or let it go?'

I had to decide fast. Caught off-guard by the titan skill as an escape? Sure. But on speedy Ferari, maybe I could catch up.

Except twenty other griffons could block like with Hidden Card, and by then, he'd probably use a return scroll. Worse, riding Ferari meant unsummoning fresh Luitus, risking Taesung reinforcements reaching Gewell Castle before we claimed the obelisk.

In the end, I could only watch him vanish into the sky.

With all Taesung titans gone, the battlefield eased up, and guild chat lit up.

To them, I typed a bluff laced with sincerity.

A little more growth... a few more achievements and items! This encounter left me convinced I could definitely kill him then.