Chapter 56
Chapter 56
Chapter 56 Faith.
Of course, the battlefield wasn't limited to just this place.
If it had been, the extreme ratio of 25:75 wouldn't have appeared when I first arrived here.
Even after killing or driving away all the dwarfs who were in front of the elf castle, the power difference remained.
[Current Power Status: Elves 40 : Dwarfs 60]
'WOW. These guys are pretty smart too.'
Now that I had some breathing room, I looked back at the battlefield I had just fought on, and all the equipment the dwarfs had been wearing had turned into junk.
Just like when I made artifacts for Earthlings and put binding effects on them, their equipment was also made so that it couldn't perform properly unless you were a dwarf.
They had prepared for the possibility of their own death, making it so that enemies couldn't farm their equipment to become stronger.
On the flip side, dwarfs could pick up this equipment and use it as is, reducing power losses.
There was a reason the elves had been helplessly pushed back.
Even if the same number died, the elves would suffer greater losses.
It was a better strategy than the individual binding I had done.
They had put in effects specialized for only a specific race.
'Of course, it's an impossible method for me.'
Restrictions like ‘only usable by Earthlings’ were impossible, and if I were to do it, I'd have to put in restrictions like ‘only usable by humans,’ but there were many humans who weren't Earthlings.
It would be a meaningless restriction, so it was much better to put other abilities in that slot to enhance performance further or add personal binding functions.
"Move the equipment that these dead dwarfs were wearing to inside the castle."
Then the elves who were recovering their comrades' remains spoke with puzzled expressions.
"Hero-nim, these equipment pieces can only be used by the dwarf bastards.We've done extensive research too, but unless we melt them down and remake them..."
The elves weren't fools either, so they had apparently already tried to utilize the dwarfs' equipment.
From what I heard, it seemed like they had all failed though.
"I know.
Still, move them over.
I have uses for them all."
"Understood."
When I said I knew, the elves obediently began moving the equipment inside the castle.
Honestly, after seeing how one person like me could turn the tide of battle, it would have been stranger if they didn't do as I asked.
After moving the equipment and recovering all the remains, I began analyzing the elves' forces.
"There aren't many specialized in close combat, I see."
Most of the forces were either Spirit Archers or pure Spirit Mages.
They were specialized in intercepting from long range.
"Yes. Most of the elf swordsmen and assassins died during the war, so aside from the archers and Spirit Mages who remained to defend the castle, there are almost no remaining forces."
In other words, they had hammers but no anvil.
For ranged dealers to be active, they naturally needed close-range dealers or tanks to draw aggro from the front, but the elves lacked that element.
"Well, the undead can serve as tanks, so it doesn't matter.
Have the remaining elf swordsmen and assassins guard the main base."
"Understood."
Of course, as long as I, Han Yeong-min, was here, there was no need to worry about tanking.
Rather, having so many ranged dealers remaining made the situation much better.
If there had been many close-range dealers, the undead wouldn't have been able to rampage properly due to unnecessary concerns, and I'd have to think twice when using area attacks too.
"The undead don't matter if they die, so pour out the strongest firepower regardless of ally or enemy.
Keep attacking with the mindset that killing one dwarf is profitable even if several undead die."
"We'll do that."
I had roughly explained the core strategy, and I immediately began crafting equipment.
Since I usually carried a simple crafting table in my inventory, I took it out right away.
[Han Yeong-min's Simple Crafting Table (Unique)]
Since I couldn't always craft in a workshop, I made this for urgent situations when I needed to make equipment.
I used Hellfire for the flame, and after a long time, I brought out the Demon God Lotus Armor and had it transform into the hammer I used frequently.
[One of the Demon Kings of Pandemonium feels familiarity with your equipment.]
'As expected, the Demon Mother recognizes it...'
The fact that this item was made with her avatar.
It was fortunate that I didn't know what process was used to make it since it was something from the first round.
If I had known, she might have been a little angry when we met.
I began melting down the equipment the dwarfs had used and making equipment for the elves.
Since the elves would only be bombarding from long range anyway, they wouldn't need defense-related abilities, so I removed all of that and crafted equipment packed only with attack-related abilities.
"I can't... see your hands?"
"Was Hero-nim a craftsman rather than a dragon...?
How can you handle different fields simultaneously..."
The elves were all shocked.
The guy who had just been mass-slaughtering with Black Magic and breath attacks was now making equipment with the dwarfs' materials.
Even though it wasn't a tremendous effort invested, just mass-producing standardized equipment, the quality was coming out at least Rare grade to Heroic grade.
"Take them one by one.
They'll definitely help."
Iraniel, who had been watching this scene, also nodded and muttered quietly to herself, but I heard it all.
"As expected, I must bring that person to Elvenhiem, even with my own body..."
'Please don't do that. Please.'
I'm already receiving attention from so many people that it's hard to handle, and I don't want to add elves to that.
[Gods related to love among the gods of Pantheon are cheering for Iraniel.]
Those guys should naturally be cheering for me, yet they're sitting there cheering for some strange elf.
[Superior All-Mastery level increases.]
After making all the equipment, the blacksmithing proficiency alone raised All-Mastery's level.
With the armed elves, I headed to the dwarfs' first line of defense.
It was a place that had been taken from the elves in the past.
They seemed to have further improved the castle the elves had originally used with the dwarfs' crafting abilities.
"How dare they do that to our castle...!"
"The trees are screaming...!"
The elves looked furious to the tips of their hair because of this.
If they had been close-range dealers, I would have told them to calm their excitement, but since they were ranged dealers, I decided to just leave them alone.
If it made their firepower stronger this way, it would be more helpful.
I charged the undead straight ahead, but the dwarfs' equipment was quite different from before.
The undead that had stubbornly endured even after being struck several times before now collapsed with a single hammer blow from a dwarf.
"These filthy undead bastards!
Now they're finally worth dealing with!"
"Did you think we were easy!
Filthy necromancer bastard!"
[The Demon Kings of Pandemonium burst into laughter at the dwarfs' remarks.]
'Whose side are you guys on anyway?'
Their beloved player was being insulted, yet they were laughing.
But more than their reaction, I was more concerned about the equipment the dwarfs were wearing.
"They definitely know how to use their heads."
In that short time, the dwarfs had made and equipped specialized anti-Black Magic equipment.
Since they knew that all the elves capable of close combat were dead, they had armed themselves only with equipment specialized in blocking Spirit Arts and Black Magic.
They had embedded resistance to Black Magic in their armor and resistance to Spirit Arts in their shields, allowing them to fight very effectively.
'I need to learn from that, don't I? I should make some and feed them to the Demon God Lotus Armor.'
Although I had been restraining the use of the Demon God Lotus Armor as much as possible to enjoy the trials more properly, I would eventually use it actively after passing through the Testing Floors.
It seemed like it would be very useful to feed the Demon God Lotus Armor various equipment sets that would help in each battle - anti-martial artist equipment, anti-magic equipment, anti-Holy Arts equipment, anti-Black Magic equipment, etc. - and switch between them as needed.
I had criticized them earlier for not training resistance, but they had come up with their own answer.
If resistance was lacking, they could make up for it with equipment.
Indeed, curses and debuffs no longer worked well.
'Right. I heard your answer loud and clear.'
But if there was something they overlooked, it was that there was someone here who could threaten them besides those who used Black Magic or Spirit Arts.
"I'll break through directly, so don't stop attacking.
I don't mind getting hit."
"Excuse me...?"
Without waiting for the elves' answer, I leaped straight toward the dwarfs.
"That crazy necromancer is charging in barehanded - he must have really lost his mind!
Die!"
When I jumped in, they swung their hammers excitedly as if asking what gift this was.
Since it was common knowledge that necromancers were weak in close combat.
If necromancers, who were already nearly omnipotent with debuffs, curses, necromancy, buffs, etc., were also strong in close combat, wouldn't everyone in the world have changed their profession to necromancer regardless of public opinion?
Their reaction was natural and understandable.
But the problem was that I wasn't an ordinary necromancer.
One of my fingers stopped the falling hammer.
And then I pierced through and shattered the hammer just like that.
"Uh...?"
Only then did the dwarfs realize that the situation was flowing strangely, but it was already too late.
My hands and feet broke the dwarfs' hammers and shields, and through the gaps, the elves' Spirit Arts and arrows reached them.
Since Spirit Arts were mostly area attacks, some reached me, but it didn't matter.
Because their tier was lower than mine, the effect of Uniquely Exalted Status activated to reduce damage, and with resistance and regeneration added, I recovered immediately after getting hurt.
The elves also had no more hesitation the moment they confirmed that my body remained fine even after being swept up in the bombardment.
I broke the dwarfs' weapons and shields, and the elves finished off the dwarf bastards who had lost their means to block Spirit Arts with area attacks.
As the corpses piled up, the number of undead also increased, so even without me tanking, there was now enough opportunity to keep pouring Spirit Arts until the shield was broken.
"Hero-nim is proficient in Black Magic and blacksmithing, and... you're even good at martial arts?
Just where is that person's limit..."
"He's already beyond what we can judge.
We should just be grateful that he doesn't antagonize the elves."
"So Her Majesty's words that he was an existence of the same tier as the World Tree were true..."
I could hear the elves' excessive praise from afar.
It seemed I had become an incomprehensible existence among them.
And their worship changed something within me.
A feeling like breaking through the suppressor that had been blocking me all this time in one go.
I had definitely felt this sensation once before.
And that was... in the first round.
[The total amount of faith you have received surpasses a certain threshold.]
[There is no transcendent being you are currently serving.]
[The path you have walked thus far proves you.]
[You acquire the qualification for the second Transcendence.]
[The limitation of lifespan disappears.]
[The limit of Limit-Breaking Skills increases.]
'Suddenly...? Why on earth...?'
Since when had the faith directed toward me accumulated to the point of obtaining the qualification for second Transcendence?
[All beings of Pantheon and Pandemonium are shocked.]
'No. You guys shouldn't be surprised, should you?'
How can you not know?
You're the transcendent beings.