Siege of Jenix Headquarters
With the main force having departed, Jenix Guild headquarters was left under the command of Operations Chief Lee Tae-ho and roughly a thousand hunters. Most of them had stayed behind to defend the unexpectedly acquired fortress, buzzing with excitement over the World War Survival they would participate in before their promotions kicked in.
A massive national siege war limited to each country's top 50 ranked specialists. Just qualifying brought boundless glory and hefty rewards, making World War Survival every hunter's dream and ultimate fantasy.
"Think we'll really make it this time?"
"Of course. With the guild's strongest elites all gathered, hitting top 50 is a given."
"I did well joining this guild. Can't believe we're becoming specialists now. They must've arrived by now, right? Are they fighting already?"
"It's been about two hours, so yeah, probably inside by now."
"They have to succeed. I wanna join the national war this time too."
"Quit worrying. The higher-ups have it all figured out..."
The burly man's confident words trailed off abruptly. The blond man he'd been chatting with patted his back.
"What? You break down or something?"
"Hey."
"Yeah?"
"Over there... that."
The blond man's gaze followed his pointing finger toward the world outside the castle walls.
"What? Gotta say it if you want me to—"
His words died as the same stunned expression crossed his face. What they saw was an enormous army kicking up clouds of dust as it charged toward them—an army that hadn't been there moments before.
The first man snapped out of it. "Hey! Quick, tell the chief!"
"Enemies, right? Gotta be enemies?"
"Can't you see? Get down there, man!"
"Got it."
As the pair scrambled into action, an emergency trumpet blared first, echoing across the fortress. All the officers who had spotted the foes rushed to the ramparts behind Lee Tae-ho.
"Archer Unit 1, prepare to fire!"
"Ready!"
"Now! Loose!"
At Lee Tae-ho's command, the first archer unit—composed entirely of Archers—stepped forward and unleashed a volley skyward. Dozens of silver arrows arced through the air, striking the front ranks of the enemy and toppling them like dominoes.
Lee Tae-ho's tense expression eased slightly at the sight. They're not that high-leveled.
The archers in the unit were all level 500 or below. For their attacks to land effectively meant the enemies were around the same level or a notch lower. The real problem was the sheer numbers—at least two thousand hunters strong. A mere hundred archers couldn't hold them off for long.
"Keep firing! Don't let a single one climb these walls. Fire at will!"
As Lee Tae-ho bellowed, one of the officers sprinted up from below.
"Magic unit ready!"
"Primary skills only. Hold back on anything bigger until I say."
"Understood. Everyone, to your positions!"
Mage-class hunters slotted in among the archers, their hands glowing with a rainbow of spells—from icy blue frost magic to the elemental pinnacle of flame and lightning strikes.
The commander's order rang out. "Fire!"
The spells erupted in unison toward the enemy. Pop! Boom! Kaboom! They detonated on impact like fireworks, sweeping away swathes of foes in the blasts.
The melee hunters waiting in reserve cheered wildly, the tense atmosphere shattering in an instant. The enemy had numbers, but their quality was laughably poor.
Everyone but Lee Tae-ho, that is. His tension had eased outwardly, but his face had grown even grimmer than before. Something's off. They have to know this is our HQ. Why attack with such trash forces?
No guild in the area was unaware that this was Jenix's main fortress—at least none that he knew of. Launching such a reckless assault bordered on suicide.
"Hey, what do you make of them? Which group?"
His adjutant answered immediately. "One of the three alliances, sir."
"Ever seen idiots this stupid? One alliance getting wrecked in the first wave? Do you have a brain or not?"
"S-sorry, sir. I'm from logistics originally. Got thrown in here today..."
"Forget it. Go contact the recon captain now—find out what's happening over there. Don't mention our situation. Got it? This is real, so snap to it."
"Y-yes, sir!"
Tsking at the adjutant's frantic descent, Lee Tae-ho fixed his gaze forward again. Around then, cooldowns hit the archers and mages.
"Cooldowns are up. Send the secondaries?"
"Hold."
"They're getting too close."
"Still hold. We don't know what else they've got. Burning secondaries now leaves us defenseless. Status on the raid teams?"
"Standing by."
"Form secondary defense lines. Who's at the gate?"
"Deputy Commander Han Min-ho."
"Good. That's it for now. Let's watch and see."
He'd just started reassessing when someone shouted his name.
"Chief! Look over there!"
"I'm not 'chief' today."
"Sorry, but look!"
Lee Tae-ho's eyes followed the urgently raised hand. His face darkened instantly. At the tip of the finger, some two hundred airborne hunters had materialized in the sky, their hands aglow with multicolored lights.
"When did they— Everyone! Shields up, secondaries prepped for bombardment!"
Paladin-class hunters threw up barriers around the group. The rest huddled behind them as mages began channeling their second-tier spells.
But trouble brewed elsewhere too.
"G-golems!"
Lee Tae-ho whipped his gaze forward. Far off, a line of massive shapes lumbered into view—siege golems, the flowers of assault warfare. Fiery monsters wreathed in flames, and worst of all, fire golems capable of ranged attacks. Their maws gaped wide, massive fireballs forming outside.
Imminent strike. The commanders turned to him desperately.
"Orders? Secondaries are one-shot. Chief! Chief!"
"They're dropping soon!"
Despite their pleas, Lee Tae-ho hesitated. Every front mattered. But they only had one volley to give—something had to give.
Finally, he decided. "Abandon the skies."
"What!? They'll keep coming."
"Golems at the walls ends us. Shields to buy time till cooldowns—prioritize golems. Fire now."
"R-roger!"
The inner keep lay in ruins, scattered debris everywhere. Two groups faced off—one Hallasan force that had breached the walls, the other Orix Alliance survivors who had failed to hold.
The alliance leader, Kim Byung-tae, far outnumbered, snarled in fury.
"What's your damn problem with us?"
Lee Hyuk, demoted to this siege's overseer, smirked coldly. "Playing dumb?"
"We had nothing to do with what happened there."
"How do we believe that?"
"We confirmed it."
"Our guys will report back soon anyway."
"Tormenting us without proof isn't like Hallasan. You throwing away all the rep you've built here?"
"Rep doesn't pay the bills."
"What about all the magistones we've supplied from outside? Gonna pretend that didn't happen?"
"That's why you've lasted this long. But hey, you've had a good run—time to go."
Kim Byung-tae bit his lip at Lee Hyuk's brazenness. He'd thought their tribute built some rapport, but this guy was a dog thief through and through.
"Fine. We get your stance. But we can't just roll over and die."
"You idiots are just ash waiting to scatter. Rebel all you want—you're candles in the wind."
"Maybe here. But outside?"
"You declaring war on us?"
"Don't lump us with you. Starting now, we're cutting all resources to your operations. Myeongdo Hotel, Yongsan Market, Hanam Refinery, all your subsidiaries. No more dealings."
"Unilateral contract termination, huh? Fine by us. You'll just hurt yourselves. Now, if you're done—time to die. We've wasted enough time."
With their final card failing, the Orix Alliance faces fell. Just then, a Hallasan hunter on comms whispered to Lee Hyuk.
"Captain."
"What?"
"Contact from the Myeongdo Mountains recon base."
"And?"
"The guild that took the castle... it's Jenix Guild."
"What? Jenix?"
"Yeah. Looks like we got it wrong."
"Hm."
Stunned by the unexpected news, he paused—then bolted forward like lightning. His sword flashed, leaving dozens of afterimages that erased the Orix officers on the spot.
"Arrogant trash, subcontractors threatening us? Clean these rats out."
As the one-sided massacre began, the reporting officer approached hesitantly.
"Didn't the guild master say to resolve misunderstandings amicably? If they're innocent—"
"You think I should've backed down like, 'Oops, my bad, sorry 'bout that'?"
"No, but... if they really cut our supplies? We rely on them heavily."
"Plenty of fish. Worst case, we take it by force. Anyway, Jenix—that backwater guild stuck in the southeast, right?"
"Yes. Not exactly, but they've been holed up there forever."
"So why push this far? They lose their minds?"
Central District 112,90: Medium castle owned by Jenix Guild has been occupied by Invincible.
Central District 112,101: Medium castle owned by Jenix Guild has been occupied by Gold Lion.
"What the hell? Jenix? Who's Jenix?"