166. “Just loot everything.”
There are three cities they have to reclaim.
Termora (55th floor), Runestia (56th floor), and Arseon (57th floor).
Each city had demons considered mid-boss level, and of course Baek Jinwoo and Rachel knew their weaknesses inside and out.
The battle itself was not difficult.
“Advance! Cast off your fear and carry out God’s will!”
“We are warriors of light! Purge evil! Charge!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
Tens of thousands of soldiers and thousands of Paladins.
And because there was also the Commander and the Champion leading that overwhelming army.
So what did we have to do?
Once they set the whole stage up in front, all they had to do was crash in and stir everything up as hard as they could.
“Rachel.”
“Yeah.”
“You take the east.”
“Okay.”
They split up.
The Commander and the Champion would hammer at the main gate.
‘And we would each break through the east gate and west gate.’
‘So I’m taking the west gate...’
Those demon bastards guarding it were really unlucky.
‘To run into me of all people.’
Heh heh.
She’d been resting and doing nothing but training all this time, and it had been stifling.
This was her chance to really let loose.
Baek Jinwoo’s team also prepared to move.
On Jaggeo’s shoulders, Dampir, HunGyo, and Aso climbed up one after another.
—Kirururururu.....!
On the Wyvern sat Baek Jinwoo, with Ancient Explosive Dragon in front of him and Lamba perched on his shoulder.
Rund and the rest of the miscellaneous summons were stationed in the rear.
Alright.
Let’s go.
“You have arrived!”
When they got to the west gate, a Paladin who looked to be the Commander greeted them.
The battle was already in full swing.
Kwa-gagagagang!
Massive siege weapons were operating, and the demons lined up on the walls were pouring down arrows and magic as they resisted.
Kudududud...!
The siege towers advanced.
And behind them, the Paladins blazed with light, deflecting the demons’ magic.
But—
“Aaargh!”
“Keugh!”
Several Paladins collapsed, coughing up blood.
The demons were definitely no joke either.
Powerful curses pierced through divine power.
Some burned alive, while others melted all over and turned into lumps of earth.
“Please help us! Their resistance is formidable!”
“Understood.”
As Baek Jinwoo nodded, the summons quickly formed up.
Whiwhiwhiwhiwhiwhi!
Lamba began stacking.
Explosive Dragon Art, Secret technique - Transformation (Division).
Hwarurururuk!
The flames breathed out by Ancient Explosive Dragon transformed into a massive dragon, sweeping across the wall as it roared.
And then—
“Our Jaggeo.”
This time, you should earn your keep for swallowing that guardian stone, shouldn’t you?
Baek Jinwoo approached the Commander.
“If possible.”
“Y-Yes, sir! Please speak!”
The Commander was one of the Royal Guardians.
He had already gotten thoroughly beaten by Baek Jinwoo before, so he was extremely respectful.
And even aside from that—
Hwarurururuk!
Seeing Ancient Explosive Dragon’s flames sweeping across the monsters over there, anyone would have no choice but to become polite.
“Could you load this onto that catapult over there?”
“If by this, you mean......”
“This Golem here.”
Baek Jinwoo pointed at Jaggeo.
“T-the Golem?”
“You’d better hurry. The later it gets, the more casualties there will be.”
“A-all right! You there!”
Once the Commander gave the order—
Clack, clack!
Everything was done exactly as Baek Jinwoo wanted.
—Gwuh?
Jaggeo climbed onto the throwing arm of the catapult.
Dampir was riding on top of him too.
“You just need to launch him straight onto the wall.”
“Yes!”
An expert made minute adjustments to the direction of the catapult. It was to place Jaggeo exactly on top of the wall.
Then—
“Fire!”
Clack!
The trigger released.
Whiriririk!
The counterweight hanging above began to fall under gravity.
Ssshaaaaaak!
As a result, the tip of the throwing arm accelerated, and Jaggeo shot up into the sky.
—Gwuooooooooh!
Clearly understanding his role, Jaggeo raised his fist high.
And the moment he reached the edge of the wall—
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!
He drove his fist into the wall.
The tremendous weight and force behind it struck home, and an enormous blast rang out.
Kiek!
Kiaaaak!
The demons on top of the wall freaked out and rushed at him, but—
—Gwuh?
Jaggeo tilted his head as he pulled himself onto the wall with brute force.
What are you doing right now?
Scratching me?
He endured it easily and started throwing punches.
The damage he dealt wasn’t devastating, but from the enemies’ perspective, it was an enormous problem that his absurd tanking power nullified their attacks themselves.
“Waaah!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
On the other hand, the forces of the Holy Kingdom had their morale boil over.
“It is God’s messenger!”
“The hero is helping us!”
“As expected, incredible!”
Seeing the majesty of the Golem, they cheered with all their might.
The endless rain of arrows, oil, and magic stopped.
All focus shifted to Jaggeo.
Which meant?
Now was the chance to climb up!
“Pull the siege tower!”
“We must push now!”
“God is helping us! Victory is ours!”
“Waaaaaaaaah!”
The troops began climbing, and Baek Jinwoo did not remain still either.
—Kirururu!
He rode the Wyvern up and landed below the wall, right beneath Jaggeo.
Anyway, until all the summons were forcibly unsummoned, the player was invincible.
Even if the boss Asmodeus came, he would not be able to break that barrier.
That was why securing vision was the most important thing!
Taat!
The instant he hit the ground—
“HunGyo, Aso. Roll in.”
After him, the three summons carrying swords and scythes climbed up in the same way.
“Wipe them out.”
—Yes, my lord!
—Got it!
—Krrrk...
From that point on, the slaughter began.
Yeah.
‘What had been so frustrating on the 54th floor because I had to hold back—’
He was going to let all of it out here.
* * *
In the middle of the battlefield.
There was one fat man trembling as he watched the battlefield from afar.
The Holy King, Arkelion.
The one called God’s representative.
“Your Holiness.”
The Champion, Aila, spoke.
“Please step inside for a moment.”
Since all forces had gone out to fight, the Holy King had come along as well.
Because this place was safer than over there.
But—
If he showed the troops that terrified look of his, it would only drag down morale for no reason.
‘It’s not as if I can scold God’s representative.’
In the end, Aila chose to cover for the Holy King.
“Please wait just a little longer. I will go out and reclaim the castle myself.”
“If you go...!”
The Holy King blanched in shock.
“Then what about me?!”
Crack.
A vein bulged slightly on Aila’s forehead, but...
Her opponent was still the Holy King. So she maintained the utmost courtesy.
“Fifty of the Ten Guardians are stationed around Your Holiness. There should be no major problem. If I do not go now... even more casualties will appear.”
Creak.
Aila, clad in brilliant white armor, gripped her spear tightly.
Then—
“Champion!”
A Royal Guardian came rushing in from outside.
“What is it?”
“T-they say the castle has been reclaimed!”
“What?”
Aila’s eyes widened.
The main gate was still in a standoff, and they had not even broken through the gate yet.
So what did he mean, the castle had been reclaimed?!
“Do you not know the meaning of reclaim?”
Reclaim.
It means taking back what was lost.
And that means?
It does not end with merely seizing the gate.
You have to enter the palace yourself and take the enemy commander’s head for that to count.
And—
The demon occupying Termora was Akredis (S-rank).
An assassin-type demon who handled shadows and was one of Asmodeus’ closest aides.
“T-that really is true. The west gate was broken first, and as the troops concentrated over there, the east gate was also broken through easily.”
“......?”
The west gate and east gate were breached?
“Uhahahat, is that really true?”
As if he had been listening from behind, the Holy King, who had been hiding, hurriedly came out.
“So it really was a messenger sent down by God! A messenger indeed!”
“Yes. The man called HunGyo brought back Akredis’ head.”
“Hup.”
Aila was genuinely shocked.
‘It was this easy?’
“According to the soldiers’ testimony... they truly were monsters. The way the demons looked at them... it was as if they were looking at another demon......”
“First.”
Aila hurriedly pulled back the tent curtain.
“Let’s go out.”
Let’s go see what happened.
Let’s assess the situation.
* * *
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“Uwaaaaaaaaah!”
Outside was already filled with cheers.
Kkiiik, kkiiiik!
The main gate was opening.
And through it, allied troops were walking out. It was a truly strange sight.
A place that had been full of demons and monsters just moments ago—why were allied troops coming out from there?
And on top of that—
—Scream your heaaaarts ouuuut!
A fairy named Lamba was even whipping up the crowd’s response by waving her staff through the air.
“Hah.”
Aila let out a hollow laugh.
She knew they were strong. But she had not realized they were this strong.
‘Perhaps they really are...’
Could they be the ones who might save the continent standing on the brink of destruction?
Creak.
She clenched her fist.
They were heroes who had achieved the tremendous feat of defeating demons.
She intended to receive them with the utmost respect.
* * *
Thunk.
Baek Jinwoo threw something down in front of the Holy King.
The enemy commander’s severed head.
No, it was Akredis’ head.
Ordinarily, both the Commander and the Champion would have taken issue with how rude that act was.
But now, they could not do that.
They had proven it. That they were the Holy Kingdom’s only hope.
“Your Holiness.”
Baek Jinwoo smiled slyly.
Rachel was standing behind him as well.
“As promised, we conquered the city and even brought back this demon’s head... so is there perhaps anything more you could give us?”
“H-Hahaha.”
The Holy King laughed.
Give them something?
Even if he had nothing, this was a situation where he had to come up with something.
“Aila.”
“Yes, Your Holiness.”
“Is there anything we can give them?”
“......?”
Aila made an odd expression.
Why are you asking me that?
“I do not know what you mean. I have nothing to give.”
“Haha, is that so?”
Whip!
The Holy King turned his head back toward Baek Jinwoo.
“I am truly grateful for the merit you have earned, but the two guardian stones I gave before were the end of it...... Is there perhaps something else you want? I will absolutely grant it!”
“Is that so?”
The corners of Baek Jinwoo’s mouth rose.
‘That bastard.’
He was definitely lying right now.
In the game, it had clearly gone: I wish to give you a gift, so choose one of the two.
And then he had laid out a blue-looking stone and a scroll.
Trying to feed me that nonsense?
“Do you not have that scroll engraved with blue patterns? Give me one of those.”
“......A scroll with blue patterns?”
The Holy King trailed off slightly.
He tried to hide it, but his face clearly showed panic.
‘How does he know about that?’
Scattered all across the continent were traces left behind by the apostles of ancient times.
The Ten Apostles who served God.
There were scrolls that contained the traces of those apostles imbued with divine power...
Those absolutely could not be handed over.
The guardian stones had already been looted, and if those were taken too—there would be nothing left in the kingdom.
“Haha, I have no idea what that could be.”
The Holy King played dumb.
“Is that so?”
But Baek Jinwoo’s smile did not disappear.
“Then swear it.”
“Swear?”
“Yes, swear to God that what you said is true.”
“......W-what are you saying?”
Now—was he being told to commit blasphemy?
But Baek Jinwoo pushed even harder.
“Surely you are not saying you cannot even make such a simple oath? I am feeling quite offended. In that case, our agreement to conquer the remaining two cities can be considered void......”
“Hooo... Fine. Fine! I will hand it over! But there is only one sheet!”
Well, well.
He is pulling this again?
This time, I had better make sure once and for all.
“Then swear to God. I need to verify how many of those scrolls there are, and whether the guardian stones you gave back then really were only two.”
Now.
Hurry!
Swear it, to God!
“……!”
At Baek Jinwoo’s blazing gaze, the Holy King squeezed his eyes shut.
No matter how greedy he was, he could not stake God’s name on it.
Ha.
There was no other way now.
Just let them loot everything!
Everything!
No comments yet. Be the first to leave a review!