Territory War (2) — The Thieves' Demise
Anyway, you’re looking forward to later, right?
“Kkiik! First off, let’s figure out exactly how we’re gonna use their guild house!”
“Krrreek. We’re tearing those bastards apart, you little shits.”
The Black Skull guild just stopped by for a quick visit and left. They’d only thrown out some trash talk with their mouths—no heated body clashes mixed with real emotion.
“Sob… Those bastards… They killed my parents and…”
“Fren, don’t cry. Right now we just focus on one thing—how we win.”
Ally walked into the waiting room with a completely drained expression. Fren followed right behind her, the same ones who’d been mocking me and giggling like idiots just moments ago. The tension had completely collapsed.
[System: Tension has dropped dramatically. Black Skull’s combat power confirmed as significantly lower than expected.]
‘Tsk… I don’t think we’re going to lose this one…’
After facing Black Skull, I could already tell the conclusion.
Black Skull’s members weren’t that strong. To be precise, I was stronger than I’d expected.
I sat down on the sofa. The magic-engineering screen in the waiting room already showed the players in the middle of the Territory War.
— Block the 3rd zone! The moment they take it, the comeback is over!
— No way! They’re coming back from behind, 1st zone! Even 1st zone!
— Destroy the core. The next after 1st is 3rd. We push through! Just taking that one is enough. Isolating 2nd zone is a piece of cake!
Territory War was a duel between guilds where they bet on what they wanted.
“Fren, calm your emotions. The more you fall apart, the more those bastards have you in the palm of their hand. Emotions only make you weaker than you already are.”
“I know. I know. How can they do that? Just looking at them makes me furious. They kill my parents and still act so arrogantly…”
Ally grabbed Fren’s shoulder and tried to steady his mind.
Fren had completely broken from just one taunt.
“How do you even keep your cool, Ally?”
“I…”
Ally slowly opened her mouth.
“I just think about the absolute worst case. Nothing surprises me anymore.”
Ally’s expression stayed calm. She didn’t even flinch at Black Skull’s taunts.
“Even thinking about my dead parents hurts my chest. Remembering the days they smiled and talked with me… my heart feels like it’s drying up from the inside.”
“But how…”
“Thinking about the absolute worst makes me stronger. It lets me do anything. Losing the guild my parents left behind—the ‘Red-Haired Mercenary Legion’—and watching their house become those bastards’ nest.”
Fren’s face grew harder and harder. His eyes sharpened with determination.
“Fren, you hate that too, right?”
“Yeah.”
“So calm your heart. Only think about winning. Pick the thing Black Skull hates most.”
“Yeah.”
The trembling Fren finally steadied himself. He started gripping the dagger he’d pulled from his inventory, steeling his will.
“Ooh…”
They looked like they were having a serious conversation. I just listened quietly from the side.
— Aaaaaah! Help me!
— Want to live? Then surrender!
— Th-that’s…! Kkkkkk!
Screams rang out from the screen. Fren jolted and stared at the display. For nymphs who couldn’t choose surrender, those screams were truly terrifying.
“So what do you do in a Territory War?”
“You…”
Ally said she wasn’t counting on me. She and Fren would figure it out themselves. But that was ridiculous.
Looking at Black Skull, there was no way those two nymphs could win. ‘Their combo was already a loss… what?’
Two warriors and a shaman. It was the ideal lineup. Compared to us—two nymphs and one human. And those nymphs probably weren’t full warriors.
‘That must be why they said they could do it.’
The hidden card was just Ally’s magic. Since she was a decent mage, she’d been relying on it. If I’d been a normal human, we’d have lost for sure. Those nymph twins would’ve died in the Territory War.
‘Tsk…’
I had no choice but to step in directly. The moment I realized how Ally and Fren had ended up, it became tricky.
‘Ah, screw it.’
Thinking too deeply wasn’t my style. Today I was going to show the fantasy world some real trash talk in the Territory War.
“I have no requests for you. I don’t expect outsiders. This is our guild’s problem, so we’ll handle it ourselves.”
“Ah, it means we’re screwed, huh?”
“…Ugh… Even one human can’t have that big an impact. Black Skull knew that and came all the way here just to confirm my face.”
It was taunting, but their real goal was to see my face up close.
“If we break it down, you just need to protect the zone you already hold. Did you look up the Territory War rules?”
“No way.”
“I didn’t expect you would. I’ll explain briefly. Listen up.”
Territory War arenas had five zones. The competition ground was shaped like a diamond with zones 1 through 4 at the corners and zone 5 in the center. Each zone had a path leading to the central one, and the terrain was rough so moving around wasn’t easy.
“Holding three zones for two hours or knocking three opponents unconscious wins.”
“…Do zones even matter?”
I asked anyway, knowing the answer.
“Holding a zone turns it into your guild’s headquarters. You get buffs and debuffs, and defenders can repel invaders. Once you hold it and defend, the second rule becomes useless.”
If you controlled a zone, you could force a siege battle or take the lead in total annihilation. Choices multiplied.
“At the start each guild holds one zone. From that moment you have to decide.”
There were many strategies. Two main ones. Either three players gang up on one spot or spread out and attack two spots.
“If both guilds make the same choice, it becomes a 1v1. We’d be at a huge disadvantage.”
Because of the nymphs, they only had one option.
“All three of us go together to zone 5.”
After taking zone 5, we’d pick one of the four zones to attack, leaving Ally and Fren in charge. We’d use zone 5 as our base and slowly expand.
“Not bad.”
The problem was none of us were the only ones thinking that.
“What else can we do? Even though we look like we’re playing with Black Skull’s hand, there’s no other way…”
Ally’s shoulders slumped. Probably because of those huge breasts. My dick instantly stood at attention.
That was when the broadcast went off.
— Please gather at the arena for the second Territory War between Black Skull and Red-Haired Mercenary Legion.
— This is a repeat announcement. Please gather at the arena for the second Territory War between Black Skull and Red-Haired Mercenary Legion.
The time was already 11 o’clock. Ally and Fren took deep breaths. Their faces showed clear tension.
We left the waiting room and walked down the corridor. Players who’d already fought returned with gloomy faces. Losers lost everything. Winners gained power, but the instant you lost you fell into the abyss.
‘Close to gambling.’
Like duels, you only did Territory Wars if you had a reason to. These nymphs had no choice, so they were fighting even though they were at a disadvantage.
As we got closer to the arena, the cheers grew louder. Most of it was Black Skull supporters.
“Cut off the nymphs’ heads!”
“If you’re gonna do it, show us some humiliation! I wanna see those breasts! No need for the rest. Just kill the men!”
“We wanna see a man’s dick too! So strip them for us!”
“Kiieeeeee!”
We passed through the passage and entered the arena. The weather was perfect—strong sunlight. At the same time, mocking jeers poured down.
“This is crazy, total crazy.”
I took out my mask and put it on. I hadn’t planned to wear one, but the noise from all sides was getting on my nerves.
The arena looked like a normal fighting coliseum. The only odd thing was the giant screen in the center—no real difference.
‘Probably some spatial dimension thing.’
The actual Colosseum might be elsewhere. For players who’d become superhuman through the System, this place felt too small for Territory Wars.
— Gather in the center.
The announcer at the Colosseum center called us over. He was dressed in a crisp suit. Probably human. The weakest race, but in appearance he was the default for all species. When big events happened, humans were usually the ones used.
Black Skull members approached from the center. The lineup hadn’t changed from what I’d seen earlier—orc shaman, dark elf knight, lion beastkin. Two nymphs and one human. We faced each other.
— Welcome. The announcer gave a simple explanation of the rules. Formal stuff, so I didn’t listen much. He also talked about betting.
It was guild versus guild, not individual duels. Territory Wars had bets too.
Because the System intervened, low-level tricks like match-fixing would just shorten your lifespan.
> [TERRITORY WAR ANNOUNCEMENT]
> [Black Skull vs Red-Haired Mercenary Legion]
> [Black Skull Players: Sarosh, Kobun, Iroki]
> [Red-Haired Mercenary Legion Players: Ally, Fren, Kim Jinwu]
> [Betting window open. Odds favoring Black Skull: 1.24]
The System message popped up. Kim Jinwu’s name was clearly displayed.
‘I should’ve hidden my name.’
I should’ve used a fake name when applying. That way I could hide my identity perfectly.
‘I was stupid.’
It was already done. Couldn’t be undone. Right now my face was covered by the mask anyway. I’d just cause some chaos and leave.
— In a Territory War, the losing guild must hand over whatever they bet on that day to the opposing guild. No matter what the reward is.
Do you understand?
“Yes.”
Everyone already knew. Winners kept everything. Losers lost everything—coins, honor, even life.
— Then let’s begin. Please take your positions.
“Eh?”
Ally and Fren took two steps back. Black Skull players also spread out.
“Hahahaha! That stupid human! What are you staring at?”
“Did you not hear ‘take your position’? Hard of hearing?”
“Stand next to the nymphs quickly! Don’t waste time!”
Curse words flew from every direction. I quickly moved to Ally’s side.
Ally and Fren paid me no attention. Their eyes were locked only on Black Skull.
“Kukukuk, you think you can beat us with that human?”
“Lame. You should’ve just surrendered quietly.”
“You want to see some blood, huh? We’ll kill them during the Territory War exactly how they want.”
Black Skull laughed and sneered at me. The way the orc and lion beastkin smiled wasn’t pleasant.
Once I took my actual position, the announcer continued in a booming voice.
— Today’s second Territory War—who will win? The infamous Black Skull or the pitiful nymphs’ desperate struggle?
— Wait and see! Battles more intense than any other Territory War are about to begin!
The atmosphere at the Colosseum was boiling.
├─ Tier 1:Black Skull (1.24) vs Red-Haired Mercenary Legion (16.0) ✓
├─ Tier 2:Odds heavily favor Black Skull ✓
└─ Tier 3:Jinwu’s Chaos Mode ACTIVATED ★
The odds were already predicting our loss. Piiing!
— 5!
— 4!
— 3!
The screen changed. It showed the five zones.
🏛 Type: Territory War Arena
⚔ Difficulty: High
📍 Status: All zones contested
— 2!
Each zone was still unclaimed. Gray light covered them.
— 1!
Black Skull players had red armbands, Red-Haired Mercenary Legion players had blue ones. Worn on the left arm. They couldn’t be taken off or removed.
— 0!
As soon as the announcer’s countdown ended, we were all dumped somewhere in a forest. The gray flags turned blue.
Zone control updated
Effect:Red-Haired Mercenary Legion holding 1st zone (Blue Flag)
Duration:Active
[1st zone has been claimed.]
The Territory War had begun.