Chapter 86: A Fleeting Ten Seconds of Madness

The brief madness lasted only about ten seconds before vanishing the instant the light went out.

Gerard's warning tone rang out immediately.

"Hm? Four whole hours?"

"Please examine the gun closely once."

At Gerard's words, Taejeong looked down at the laser cannon mounted on his right hand. It was glowing red-hot, its form slumped and distorted far from its original shape when he'd first seen it.

"No way... is this thing melted?"

"You could say that. But it can be resummoned after four hours."

"A four-hour cooldown, huh. Does that make it boss-only? Well, even this is something."

There was the constraint of a maximum ten seconds, but if it connected, it was undoubtedly a one-shot kill skill. Something that could slice clean through rock would turn most foes into rags with a mere graze.

"So, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠what's left now? No need to bother with maze exploration... this must be it."

"Hm. This one's tricky to use casually. A seven-day reuse time. Summoning it once to check shouldn't be a problem, right?"

Deciding to see what it looked like first, he immediately activated the skill.

No change occurred—just a single notification sound.

At the same time, his head snapped back at a right angle.

And there, in view, was an unidentified black object. It looked like a flattened boomerang.

"That's the B6-1? At this distance, that size means it's pretty damn big. What are the specs?"

"The B6-1 Unmanned Bomber is a miniaturized version of the 20th-century propeller king, the B-2. Its specs make it larger than a fully armed full-size aircraft."

"So it's huge. How do you even use that thing?"

"Tell me the designated coordinates, and the bomber will move to that location. Then set the drop radius and issue the bombing command to begin deployment."

"Fully automated system. What's the range?"

"It varies by weather conditions, but a maximum of over 100km."

"100km!? What the hell—that means from our guild, we could hit parts of Seoul?"

"Affirmative."

"What kind of insane skill is this..."

Taejeong thought this was the pinnacle of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠skills. A 100km range meant launching from central Seoul would cover the entire capital area. Plus, a payload of 100 bombs with damage five times that of Cheonryong-1. Anything caught in it would be obliterated.

"If used right, this could be a game-changer."

* * *

Jenix Guild.

Shortly after Taejeong headed out for afternoon hunting, a piece of intel arrived at Jenix.

The reason Gold Lion and Invincible were wreaking such havoc—it had finally been uncovered.

Yang Taesik urgently summoned the executives and, once gathered in the conference room, displayed the agenda on the screen, soliciting opinions.

"What should we do about this? Speak up if you have good ideas."

The first to respond was the guild's third-in-command in martial strength, the overall raid leader.

"No need to even think. All new ventures are already canceled anyway, and we're fine with what we have. No reason to fall for their schemes. Plus, pulling this crap over something like that? How pathetic. Dragging him in could lead to who-knows-what."

It was the answer Yang Taesik had hoped for. Nodding with a satisfied smile, he turned to the others.

Then, the personnel advisor, who had worn a grave expression from start to finish, cautiously spoke up.

"I see it a bit differently."

"Differently?"

"I agree with the raid leader in part. But that's only viable for maintaining the status quo. If they push further, guild operations could get strained. Dirty and underhanded as it is, negotiating might be more beneficial long-term."

"That's out of the question."

The planning division head cut off the personnel advisor.

"Think about it. They went this far over two mid-sized ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠castles that didn't even affect rankings. Taking our regional commander into that den—what happens then? We can't guarantee his safety."

"So we just keep taking this endless bullshit?"

"Let's just go ourselves and settle it."

"Who wouldn't want to? I'd do it a hundred times if possible. But their condition is no negotiations without bringing the regional commander."

As they bickered, the operations advisor asked the guild master.

"Have they confirmed the regional commander's identity? With his power, a mid-sized castle would vanish in the blink of an eye. If not, maybe pick someone suitable as a body double..."

"They say they've confirmed it, so cheap tricks won't work."

"Hm. In that case, how about requesting protection from Hansan-do?"

"I've considered that. They wouldn't touch him if we request safety assurances. The issue is his pride. He elevated our guild to specialist status in this territory war. It's no exaggeration to say he earned the biggest merit. Dragging him to the table over something trivial? They'll demand an apology for sure."

"True, but given his personality..."

"He'd go—strong sense of responsibility. But wouldn't that make us the bad guys? Merits aside, he's Hidden. No guild sends a Hidden to bow their head at a negotiation table. It'd be humiliating for him."

"Tricky."

"I'll reach out to them once more first. And keep this quiet, everyone. No good if he finds out."

"Understood."

* * *

Kaboom! Boom!

"Perfect. Even the item drop is clean."

Having slain Syllarion, the Blue 12th-grade boss, Taejeong checked the item in his inventory.

A fist-sized stone glowing with blue light. It was Memorize of Oblivion, the lowest-grade artifact that dropped from Syllarion at 100% probability.

He already knew how to use it from Gerard.

"In the name of Syllarion, I command: Memorize. Cassandra's Sky Tower, Sirius, Black Dragon, Festival of Blood, 20th Season. Memorizing complete. Did it work?"

"Memorizing complete. From now on, unless you are 100% conscious, that information will never leave your lips."

"Good. One less worry."

Following Black Dragon Aragon's advice, he'd sought out Memorize of Oblivion first. He had no intention of spilling to anyone, but humans were unpredictable. Sleep-talking or drunken slips could happen.

He couldn't afford to lose all his power over one mistake—this was essential.

"It's getting late anyway. Time to head back."

Night had fallen, the outside pitch black.

Using his Blaster, he landed lightly on the lodging building's rooftop before heading home.

"You're back?"

"Just now."

"No issues?"

"None. Shower first?"

"Yeah. Mmm, smells good."

"Flower crabs. Picked some up at the mart—hope they're tasty, not being peak season."

"No need for false modesty. Anything you make is delicious."

"Go shower. I'll set the table."

After a refreshing shower, Taejeong devoured Park Se-ah's crab stew with relish.

"Coffee?"

"Nah, skip it. What about that thing I asked you to look into?"

"Oh, right. One sec."

At his words, Park Se-ah opened her briefcase and pulled out a file.

"This it?"

"Yes. The address was so old, hardly any records left."

"Figured. Hm... huh?"

Taejeong's expression twisted oddly as he flipped through the file. As if he'd seen something he shouldn't have. Frowning, he flipped between front and back pages before turning to Park Se-ah.

"This the right address?"

"Yes. Only one match when I plugged it in."

"Hrm. Unexpected. What are the odds?"

The file Park Se-ah had brought listed Gold Lion Guild's headquarters.

Of all places, Gold Lion—and their main HQ, no less.

This spelled trouble for progressing the quest.

"Why check this place? Because of the dispute...?"

"No, just... You rest. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠I gotta work."

Once in his room, Taejeong's face was deadly serious.

Why of all places their HQ? It was as good as a "don't even try" sign.

Even if relations were good, it'd be iffy; at this near-enemy stage, no way they'd cooperate.

One obvious solution: infiltrate and steal it.

But near impossible.

First, unknown exact location. Scouring their vast HQ for a cube-shaped magic stone? Like finding a needle in a sand desert.

Second, security. Even with Cloaking, no guarantee of going undetected—assassins with similar skills proved that. If it were perfect like Invincible's invisibility, big guilds' secrets would've leaked everywhere.

Third, tied to second: no structural intel on a guild like that. Zero base intel made it suicide.

"Thought non-dungeon meant doable, but this quest's tougher than hunting. Gerard."

"Yes, Master."

"You said Cloaking is similar to assassin-line Hide or Invisible? So same vulnerability to alarms or detection magic?"

"Varies by type, but detection level 3 or higher catches it 100%."

"Level 3 or above. Gotta check what that means, but a top-tier guild like them? No way they skimp on that. Even knowing layout wouldn't help much. Ah, right."

As he muttered, an idea sparked.

"Gerard, any way I can tap into the B6-1's view?"

"Possible via auxiliary display, but reception range is about 5km."

"5km's too narrow. Circling their HQ from outside needs at least 30km. Any other ideas?"

"It's attack-oriented to begin with, so this is already a workaround."

"Still, there has to be something..."