Chapter 188
Chapter 188
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 188
Chapter Title: Interception (1)
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Flutter, flutter.
With each contract piling up one sheet at a time, Rokan's lips curled higher and higher.
Some had tried to give up buying skillbooks on credit, claiming it was beyond their means, but when Rokan declared he would recover the combination methods along with them, the story changed. Everyone had no choice but to sign the contracts tearfully, swallowing their bitterness.
They could have memorized it, but pulling such a stunt on someone who had generously shared such a secret would leave them with no room to complain about whatever retaliation came their way.
'Now, at least the minimum preparations are in place.'
Confirming that they had all switched to master skills, Rokan felt a little more at ease.
They still lagged behind other races in both troop numbers and quality, but now they could hold out and scrap it out somehow.
No—if played right, they might even spot gaps and strike enemy camps.
With such a high proportion of knights, laying siege would be a headache, but once they scaled the walls, they had a force worth betting on. To prepare for that, he'd already passed on master skills with area effects to a few of them.
"The enemy... is moving."
As he assessed his allied forces, the tense voice of Delas, who had been staring at the magic screen, reached him.
A change appeared on the magic screen, which could detect when a certain number of enemies began moving.
"Trolls?"
As expected, it was the troll encampment.
They were still quite a distance away, so it would take them a good while to arrive, but the enemies weren't to be taken lightly, so complacency was off the table.
"More... movement."
They weren't the only ones. The orcs, farthest away, had begun moving too, and the golden lion forces were responding in kind.
The most belligerent dwarven legions were marching out to meet them.
The other races weren't venturing outside their walls either, but they were clearly concentrating their forces—it showed up plainly.
The dots representing legions grew larger and darker, with flickering clusters forming and dispersing like tremors.
"What are your orders?"
"Hold position."
Rokan stared at the magic screen for a while longer without lowering his guard, then ordered them to stand by.
He commanded the high masters and masters to recover, reorganized deployments around Kazantia, and took one more measure.
[Surrounding Cleanup][Quest]
Before the war begins, clear out the monsters around Kazantia.
-Rewards scaled by number of monsters hunted.
[Defense Preparation][Quest]
Before the war begins, assist with defense preparations.
-Rewards scaled by workload for wall reinforcements, siege weapon production, trap installation, and other defense tasks.
It was the activation of quests.
This was to make full use of the steady influx of users drawn to Kazantia ever since Rokan had triggered increased EXP and drop rates in the region.
"Ah, I see."
Delas immediately grasped the intent. They needed the labor for defenses, but the users themselves would form a information network.
The enemies would have to pass through their hunting grounds or gathering spots to reach here.
Just tracking when they respawned and were forcibly returned to Kazantia would reveal advance speeds, and as a bonus, it would slow the enemies down.
"Shall we get to work too?"
While they bought time, Rokan started his own preparations. He manipulated the territory management window to bolster defenses further and made use of the masters appointed by his two high masters.
First, the barrier sorcerer.
Money could boost wall durability, but not resistance. In sieges, that made magic the biggest threat.
Not petty fireballs, but siege-scale grand magic. To counter that, he needed the barrier sorcerer.
Using his power, Rokan inscribed grand magic barriers directly onto the walls and infused them with mana.
He didn't stop there.
Whenever mana allowed and skill cooldowns reset, he layered them on repeatedly.
The magic materials for inscribing grand barriers weren't cheap, but the territory taxes he controlled covered it with plenty to spare—no need to dip into personal funds.
The real money sink was the reinforcement sorcerer.
"Whew, what a mana-guzzling beast."
The reinforcement sorcerer could do plenty. He could reach +3 reinforcement with just mana, no stones needed, and beyond that, boost durability, attack power, or defense with stones.
He could make a fortune just using this guy, but to Rokan, that was pocket change right now.
"Reinforce, reinforce, reinforce."
What he reinforced were the 'materials.'
Siege weapon materials. Enhancing finished weapons worked, but reinforcing each component before assembly yielded even greater effects.
Mana consumption was insane, burning through fortunes in mana potions, but the results were undeniable.
"Traps?"
"Almost done."
Then the thief master. He had laid traps all around the walls.
Infused with skills, they were vicious enough that even masters couldn't just bulldoze through.
That would serve as the first line of defense, buying time, while the elementalist master and spellcasting users unleashed powerful magic to inflict damage and kick off the real fight.
"Just make sure we're covered against snipers."
As long as they weren't picked off by longer-range foes than their mages.
To that end, Rokan had set most of his conscripted soldiers as shieldbearers, solidifying the defense.
That wrapped up siege defense prep for now.
"And the enemies?"
"Orcs and dwarves have clashed. Still just probing—no major battles yet. They're building up forces with reinforcements. No support from neighboring races. Trolls are still advancing, headed this way. But given their position, they could veer off elsewhere."
Thankfully, no massive enemy pushes in the meantime.
Some races had openly declared war, but since the war had just started, they seemed to be sneaking troops forward bit by bit.
"It'll start soon."
But Rokan—or anyone—could tell. Local skirmishes or full war were imminent.
"Whoa, troll forces just crossed the border. Definitely heading our way, not the half-elves."
And moments later, the troll horde passed a certain point.
From their path, the only destinations were human Kazantia or half-elf Elham, but they'd bypassed the road to Elham.
No choice now—they had to prepare to fight.
"Then no need to wait for them."
The moment battle was certain, Rokan's eyes gleamed coldly.
No point picking fights unnecessarily before, but now things were different.
Rokan immediately rallied the knights and moved out.
[Troll Army Interception][Quest]
Intercept the troll army advancing on Kazantia.
-50 silver per troll soldier killed
-2 gold per troll expert killed
-100 gold per troll master killed
-1,000 gold per troll high master killed
-On troll army retreat: +1 level for all, rare item gifted, massive EXP, large fame gain.
He explained the plan while tossing bait to the users.
The troll army interception quest.
Rewards for soldiers and experts weren't huge, but master-level bounties were hefty. Though not insane considering the difficulty.
The real prize was the retreat rewards.
Auto +1 level and a rare item? No better deal existed.
'Only if we win, though.'
Honestly, it was bait assuming failure, so he could afford even bigger rewards.
With no master-level users besides himself yet, beating back a troll horde? No chance.
Their job: draw eyes, induce carelessness.
Confirming users banding together and slipping out of the castle, Rokan led the high masters and masters on a separate path.
"This is Alpha. Enemy positions confirmed."
"This is Beta. Confirmed here too."
But they didn't clump up.
Assuming the enemy had magic screens too, they split into groups of two or three, keeping distance.
Communication orbs weren't pricey, so no issues there.
Once reasonably close to the troll army, he used the 'Eye of Scouting' item. It shared vision like a familiar without moving himself.
Through it, Rokan checked their positions and safely surveyed the battlefield.
'No contest, as expected.'
Battle was already raging. Users, anxious to block them before reaching Kazantia, had struck first.
"Kraaak!"
"Damn! They're too strong!"
But fat chance. Roughly 5,000 trolls there, including two high masters and nearly thirty masters.
Counting expert-class peers was impossible.
That alone matched Kazantia's main force, but it wasn't their full strength—defense still needed back home.
It highlighted the gap between humans and trolls.
Beating that with a mere few hundred users? Even with various races flocking for EXP and drops, unimaginable.
"Run! No winning in one go anyway!"
Some were smart.
Straight fights lost on quality or quantity, so they guerrilla-hit with combo ranged attacks then fled.
Even that struggled against tracker-heavy trolls, but it was best for gold-per-kill.
'Suckers falling for it again.'
The clueless ones charging in just bled out. Lucky kills of two or three still netted EXP loss on death, so caution made sense—but gold or that +1 level lure on retreat had many diving headfirst barehanded.
They must've been thinking of trolls from other dispute zones.
'Those were scrubs compared to these elites.'
But these were different. Frontline guardians of endless wars—even same levels meant superior combat sense, combos, master skills.
Border NPCs mostly low-to-mid skills; frontlines mid+.
Some even had random mid-high or high-grade skills.
Charge in assuming same, and even triple-kill capable groups might not land a hit.
"This is Beta. Battle in lull. Wrapping up soon."
Watching the guerrilla pokes and one-sided slaughters, Rokan and the NPCs held back.
No reason to botch things for respawning users.
"Trail them slowly."
After the first clash ended, they kept distance.
Maintaining the scouting eye, they shadowed toward Kazantia.
They spectated users' mini-plans and assaults, waiting for that one gap across five fights.
"This is Alpha. All units, prepare."
As the fifth battle wound down, Rokan grabbed the comm orb and sent the message.
Targeting the regrouping trolls, he rose to move.