Time Attack on the Ogre Fortress

I approached Oh Jangwoo.

“The numbers have increased, I see?”

“We have to show our guild’s true sincerity.”

Huh.

They were not even trying to hide their competitive intentions anymore.

Were they really that shocked by the performance I showed yesterday?

“This is the internal layout of the Ogre Fortress that we have identified so far.”

“Why are you giving this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to us?”

“Since both guilds are mobilizing their full strength, clearing it without any conditions would be too dull, wouldn’t it?”

“So you’re suggesting we split our formations.”

“It will also help divert the attention of the ogres near the fortress.”

It sounded nice when phrased as a distraction, but this was clearly a proposal for a time attack on the gate clear.

The reason for doubling their personnel was so obvious that I could not even laugh.

“Sounds good.”

I spun on my heel and returned to my party.

“Master, is the Hwarang Guild putting on some kind of show of force?”

“Something like that. They are not fighting us, so pay it no mind.”

“They did the same thing in the Dunhuang Desert.”

“The situation is different from back then.”

If the Hwarang Guild had known the truth behind the bloody battle in the Dunhuang Desert, they would never have suggested a joint raid from the beginning.

There was no point in setting a trap now.

“Analyst, could you gather everyone?”

“Understood.”

A short while later, the guild members had assembled before me.

“From now on, we will be conducting a gate clear time attack against the Hwarang Guild.”

“One of the developments I anticipated. Junior.”

“How high would you estimate the chance that they have other motives?”

At Hong Yunsu’s question, Thomas Miller opened his mouth.

“The possibility of traps inside the gate is not high.”

During yesterday’s gate raid, Thomas Miller had not been idle.

Thomas’s unique ability was specialized in analysis.

He had spread his senses throughout the gate to check whether the Hwarang Guild had planted any traps.

“You used it well, Enrique.”

“Uncle Thomas. If there is even a scratch, I am billing you.”

Enrique grumbled as he tucked the Cambiya Artifact back into his pocket.

After the first battle, I had asked Thomas to lend me the holy relic for a short time.

The Cambiya Artifact was not a holy relic specialized solely in attack.

It shared vision with the user and was an opart with exceptional reconnaissance capabilities.

Since Analyst Thomas was not a mechanic ability user, he could not split it into dozens like Enrique.

Even so.

“It feels good to have an elevated field of vision.”

He had swept the great forest by utilizing his unique ability to its fullest.

“Are there any discrepancies in the map?”

“I could not confirm the deeper sections, but it matches what I observed.”

“Since Hwarang is challenging us head-on, there is no reason to avoid it.”

“I agree. This is a good opportunity to put Oh Jangwoo in his place.”

Hong Yunsu smiled, baring his teeth.

* * *

As always, I entrusted overall command to Brother Youngsu.

“With the Guild Master present, for me to take charge…”

“Do not suddenly act weak, Brother. I am entrusting it to you because you are the most qualified.”

“Understood.”

“Analyst, please handle reconnaissance.”

“Hoo, this is my first time participating in a Yeokcheon Guild gate raid.”

Thomas nodded with a tense expression.

I had no hobby of leaving an analysis user idle just to tease them.

Although Thomas had nearly zero combat ability, considering the rarity of the Analysis ability, I needed to raise his level somehow.

I would think slowly about ways to awaken our analyst’s abilities.

Before the gate raid began, Oh Jangwoo unfolded the map once more.

“The area we cleared yesterday is here, so we should split left and right from that point.”

“You are giving us the first choice?”

“As your senior, isn’t that the least I should do?”

Senior, my ass.

The inferiority complex flickering in his eyes was so obvious it was almost blinding. As if I could trust him.

I pointed to the right.

“That path leads to the fortress main gate.”

“Since we are going to fight them anyway, is there any need to fear it?”

“A sound argument. Then I wish you good fortune.”

Oh Jangwoo bit his lip hard and headed toward the Hwarang Guild.

The reinforced personnel.

Nearly a hundred Hwarang players glared at me.

It was quite unexpected.

Oh Jangwoo was someone who treasured his position as Korea’s number one more than his own life.

He was not outstanding enough that I absolutely had to keep him as an ally like William Rockefeller, so I had planned to sort out the hierarchy, but.

Considering Oh Jangwoo’s actions before my regression, it would not have been strange if he tried some underhanded tricks.

—So he is not the type to come at it with proper methods.

“Yeah, but it is strange since there is no trap.”

—The future you know is not necessarily identical.

“Why are you saying that?”

—The one called Oh Jangwoo has an inferiority complex but does not harbor wicked emotions.

That was true.

People could change.

There were cases like Zhang Wufei who pulled the trigger of destruction much sooner, but.

On the other hand, there were people like Ping Lei whose hearts were turned through persuasion (physical conversation).

Thanks to me changing the future, Hong Yunsu was also living an ordinary life instead of a path soaked in blood, wasn’t he?

“As long as they do not cross the line first, there is no need to be too heavy-handed.”

I smiled lightly.

The party advanced quickly through the dense forest.

Thanks to having cleared the ogres in advance, there was almost no hindrance.

“Kuooh!”

Occasionally ogre groups attempted ambushes, but.

“Guild Master. Four o’clock, 1.5 kilometers out—thirteen ogres ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠approaching.”

“Seven o’clock. 2.1 kilometers……”

They could not escape Analyst Thomas Miller’s eyes.

Though it was not a dignified sight being carried on Ping Lei’s back, he did not miss any enemy movements.

“Everyone, focus only on advancing.”

Whenever an ogre group appeared, I broke away from the party.

If I responded to every sporadic attack individually, my feet would get tied down.

This was a gate clear time attack.

As the one with the most freedom of movement, I had no choice but to do the extra legwork.

“Both of you, come out.”

“Kyaooooo!”

『The scent of death fills the air.』

“Stop talking about the smell and just clean those guys up.”

『As Master commands.』

The secret weapons I had not brought out yesterday because I was conscious of the Hwarang Guild’s gaze.

I unleashed Ark and Lexy onto the battlefield.

“Kyao!”

Even though the ogres were monsters above Platinum rank, they were no match for Lexy, who stood at the pinnacle of primitive species.

Sharp fangs tore through thick muscle like paper.

The fallen ogre corpses regenerated into Hell Knights.

The Hell Knights were beings subordinate to Ark.

If I reverse-summoned and summoned them ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠again with Void Projection, all the previously created Hell Knights would be destroyed.

It would be nice if power could be preserved, but… expecting too much would only make me sound like a thief, wouldn’t it?

I rejoined the party with our increased forces.

With the Hell Knights now increased, there was no longer any need to worry much about the ogres’ ambushes.

“You handle it.”

『Thank you for granting me the opportunity to serve Master.』

I assigned the sporadic ambushes entirely to Ark.

After increasing the Hell Knights to fifty, I devoured the remaining corpses.

It was a skill that spread shockwaves equal to the user’s strength stat.

It would be effective when dealing with multiple enemies.

Among close-combat skills, I had lacked a proper area-of-effect technique, so this was welcome.

After several more hours of advancing.

A massive wooden palisade built by layering trees appeared before us.

A primitive wooden fortress.

The only problem was.

“It is incredibly tall. Will we be able to get over that?”

Jiyoung grumbled briefly.

The palisade stood over thirty meters high.

Yes, the wooden wall was far too large.

It was not quite at the level of the fortress we had defended during the 52nd floor mission, but it was still a structure that would be difficult to assault recklessly.

As we approached the fortress, a rain of boulders poured down as if they had been waiting.

Each boulder was roughly the size of a one-ton truck.

The layered defensive power easily deflected the ogres’ throws.

Immediately afterward, a gale surged forth.

The storm Hong Yunsu raised hurled the boulders in every direction.

“Analyst, how far has the Hwarang Guild come?”

“Approximately one hour behind.”

“They came that fast?”

“Casualties occurred during movement, but they are sprinting at full speed.”

The ogres’ ambushes.

Our side could respond easily because I was an exceptional player.

In Hwarang, there were almost no individuals capable of handling ogre groups of ten to twenty alone.

Oh Jangwoo or the other Hwarang rankers might manage it.

The problem was that their stamina and mana were not nearly infinite like mine.

The option of cutting off the ogres’ ambushes in advance had never really existed.

Yet the fact that they were barely falling behind our party meant.

“They must have pushed themselves quite hard.”

“Yes. They have already consumed roughly thirty percent of their combat strength.”

When Thomas Miller spoke of combat strength, it included consumables like potions and numerical values like mana.

—They are truly struggling. All for nothing.

“You can say that again.”

I smiled lightly and activated Demonic Power.

One hour.

This was no time to be relaxed.

As soon as I converted all my stats into magic power, my mind grew clear.

In large-scale battles, there was still nothing better than going all-in on magic power.

“Are you using that again?”

“Yes. Make sure no rocks get through.”

My defense stat had become pathetically low.

At this point, even a single leaf hitting me wrong could send me straight to the express train to the afterlife.

I asked the guild members to handle defense and began rearranging my mana.

The mana that swelled to fullness.

Haze rose during the rearrangement process.

I collided the two magics I had grown familiar with using, then activated Eclipse at the same time.

The repulsive force created by the clash of cold and heat was maximized, and an intense light bleached one side of the fortress white.

Whiiiiiiiiiir!

The defensive magic wrapped around the palisade distorted before the light of destruction.

After the light faded, not even a trace of the letter remained at the explosion’s epicenter.

“The power is still lacking compared to the force used.”

Thomas muttered in a stunned voice.

I had used Demonic Power and raised the repulsive force of two 4-star magics to their maximum.

There was no player in the entire world who could block this level of destructive power.

I could state that with certainty.

—Didn’t you say ogres have no talent for magic?

“A few of them do.”

Twin Head Ogre.

The only monster capable of placing defensive magic on the fortress was that one.

I had easily identified the boss monster of this gate.

“Junior, you still opened a path large enough for us to infiltrate the fortress.”

“We still have plenty of time left. Please wait just a little longer.”

The mana rearrangement speed had become far faster thanks to the effect of the Ruler of Magic.

Thanks to multi-casting, simultaneous deployment was also possible.

“I can use it six more times.”

Could the ogres withstand all those barrages and still remain safe?

I rapidly rearranged my mana without pause.