Chapter 58: The End of the Third Floor, The Heartless Army (4)
The door located on the northern side of the temple emanated a powerful magical aura. It wasn’t an attack force from a major guild since he had firmly declared during the meeting that he would handle this alone.
Woooom!
A nauseating energy clung to Jinhyuk’s skin. His eyes narrowed – there was no doubt about it. A Necromancer, most likely from the Magin Association, was here.
‘So they really won’t give up.’
To disentangle the complicated schedule of the Magin Association, Cedric had come here personally, leading his subordinates. This was where things would get interesting.
“I’ll turn on the broadcast again later if I can,” Jinhyuk spoke to the air.
-dead998: What are you saying? I’m not impotent… And suddenly ending the broadcast so abruptly!
-Baeksu Above Ttsu: Bro, don’t you see the number of viewers skyrocketing? You gotta row when the water comes in.
-Pizza Tangsuyuk Jjommatteng: Seriously. The angle for a million-view streamer is set.
-Veteran Detector: Is there such a thing as ending a broadcast at this crucial timing?
-Young Words of Life: At least tell us what time you’ll turn it back on.
The viewers were just starting to enjoy the broadcast and get used to Jinhyuk’s concept, naturally they reacted strongly.
“I don’t know what time I’ll resume, so come back at your discretion.”
-dead998: So, this is how you’re pushing us to enable subscription notifications?
-Pizza Tangsuyuk Jjommatteng: Going hardcore with the prickly concept but making sure to take care of business.
-Young Words of Life: I like the selfish attitude. A true veteran should be like this. LOL.
-Veteran Detector: I’ll bite this time. Looking forward to the boss raid.
With those messages, the broadcast ended.
[The broadcast has ended.]
And so ended his first broadcast.
The rapidly ascending chat suddenly stopped.
“This is more exhausting than I expected,” Jinhyuk scratched his head.
He had thought he was fairly used to broadcasting after doing it for a while, but managing a few dozen people was very different from thousands of viewers causing chaos.
He figured he’d get used to it over time. After all, nobody famous started out that way.
Now that he was unobserved, it was time to seriously deal with Cedric.
‘I hope he’s prepared his spine to work very hard.’
Maybe it was because of his slightly twisted personality, but it felt so much fun to tear down the painstakingly built tower of others, especially if they were scumbags.
***
The North Gate of the temple, ‘Taehwamun (太和門).’
Dozens of Necromancers were straining their efforts to reach the fourth floor of the stone pagoda where the key to the inner chambers was kept. They had been pushing for nearly an hour, but the path showed no sign of opening due to the thick defensive walls of stone statues.
“Concentrate the troops! We need to break through at one point!” Cedric barked, his veins bulging with frustration.
“We understand!”
“Put the Dullahan at the front! We need high-defense ones to draw aggro!”
“Cast curses and all available debuffs!”
[Cedric activates Lv5 ‘Night of the Dead!’]
[Johan activates Lv3 ‘Weaken!’]
[Setsuna activates Lv2 ‘Fatigue!’]
“Keeek!”
“Kiiii!”
The undead army roared ferociously.
‘Honestly, this is quite the sight to see.’ Chuckling to himself, Jinhyuk took out popcorn and a cola that he’d been keeping in his spatial inventory. It was rare to see such a grand scale of collision, especially a group battle led by Necromancers specialized in commanding the multitudes.
Then, at that moment, the frontline collided.
“Kaaaah!”
“Gooooh!”
Bone dust and rock fragments crumbled everywhere. Two distinct armies, both with the same goal of obliterating the other, engaged in a fierce and indistinguishable battle. After a few minutes, the balance began to slightly tip. ‘Hmm, are they actually going to break through?’ Unexpectedly, the Necromancers and the undead were putting up a good fight, as if they were fighting a last stand filled with determination.
‘Well, that’s a bit problematic.’
It wouldn’t be good for Cedric to get his hands on the key here. Of course, just getting one wouldn’t impact the overall situation greatly, but…
‘The spotlight for this raid should be on me alone.’
The best strategy is to eliminate competitors early on.
Stealthily, Jinhyuk stood up. As long as neither side was overwhelmingly strong, even a slight intervention could instantly break the delicate balance.
‘I should target their weakest spot first.’
He had already pinpointed where to strike a blow that would make them cry tears of blood.
Woooom!
Jinhyuk gathered his mana, and at that moment, a new variable entered the battlefield.
“What the?”
A Necromancer, who had been busily casting dark magic, gasped in shock for two reasons. First, a human had suddenly appeared at their flank, and second, that human’s sword radiated an eye-blinding aura.
‘I need to deploy a shield.’
Only then might there be a 1% chance of survival.
Immediately, a dark barrier enveloped the Necromancer as he activated his best defensive skill. But such a fragile veil…
Swish!
A clean slice, and a fountain of blood spurted from the cleanly severed neck. The now headless man stumbled a few steps before falling dead. It was a few seconds after the Necromancers noticed Jinhyuk’s presence, and just when he had retracted his sword aura to conserve his mana – like fate playing a cruel joke. To the Necromancers, he appeared to be just a moth holding a mere dagger.
“It’s an ambush!”
“Is it a player? How many are there?”
“It’s just one. There’s no one else around!”
“To think he’d dare alone against such numbers.”
At most, a single bothersome insect. Dispose of him and return to the battle.
“Kill him!”
Annoyed, the Skeleton Archers aimed their bows at Jinhyuk. The bowstrings were drawn taut. Poison, frost, and flame – three types of magic arrows charged with different elements were fired simultaneously. Yet, just before they could hit their mark…
Shhhh!
[Lv2 ‘Ice Sculpture’ activated!]
[‘Blessing of the Stars’ activated!]
A magical power of another caliber burst forth as snowflake-patterned ice pillars shattered the incoming arrows. Fine powdered ice floated in the air.
“Argh.”
“What kind of frost is this…”
The Necromancers bit their teeth and staggered back, chilled to the bone. Furthermore, several higher-ranked undead had broken free from their control due to the sacred light from above.
“Kaaaah!”
The Dullahans began to swing their axes wildly, crushing everything in sight.
“Arrrgh! Why are you attacking us, you insane bastards?”
“Regain control with your mental commands. They’ve lost their minds because of the holy power!”
“Save me!”
In an instant, order and control on the battlefield were shattered. This was a bold declaration of war from Jinhyuk to Cedric.
‘It’s like ringing the doorbell loudly. Let’s see how our host prefers to welcome this guest.’
***
From the rear, directing all of his forces, Cedric felt as if he had been sent from heaven to hell.
“Does that damned guy always have to show up at the worst possible time?” The momentum was already within his grasp. If he pushed just a bit more, the key hidden within the fourth-floor stone pagoda would be his. All it took was one step towards the goal. But now, thanks to that masked player, all his plans had sunk into the mud.
“Cedric, sir. The third outpost has been smashed.”
“He must be aiming for the outposts on purpose. At this rate…”
“We can’t stop him with mere Skeletons or Dullahans.”
The four outposts had been strategically placed to maintain the undead monsters efficiently, serving as a critical supply of makeshift mana. One by one, these essential hubs were collapsing.
“Aaaaah!” Cedric screamed in fury. It wasn’t just because he had been struck in a vulnerable spot. Right here, he had placed an enormous investment in creating three Death Knights – secret weapons intended to handle both the player with the sword aura and the boss monster.
The problem was that the opposing player was aware of this fact and taking advantage of it. After wreaking havoc on the outposts, Jinhyuk then approached the statues themselves, calling forth the strongest among them – the ‘Moai Statues.’
“Your slowness won’t let you catch me,” Jinhyuk taunted before plunging into the heart of the undead crowd.
“Woooah!”
“Haaah!”
The face-only giant statue soared high, casting a massive shadow over the undead monsters and Necromancers.
“Aaaah! Why come this way, you lunatic!”
“Get away! We’ll die instantly if we’re crushed!”
In the midst of screams and shouts, the Moai Statue plummeted.
Boom!
The ground bore a crater akin to a meteorite’s impact. The fate of the undead monsters and Necromancers crushed beneath it goes without saying.
Naturally, the perpetrator of this event, Jinhyuk, was still perfectly unharmed.
“Huh, that’s gonna hurt. No matter how tough your bones are, you can’t withstand this. It’s beyond a calcium overdose.”
Skeletons’ bones crumbled to dust as if they all had severe osteoporosis.
Plain undead won’t do. To resist a Moai Statue, deploying a Death Knight is the only option, and Cedric found himself in a dilemma.
‘I’m damned if I focus on him since my entire force could collapse, and if I let him be, he could slowly pick us off this way.’
There was no bright future for Cedric no matter what he chose.
In the end, unable to bear it any longer, Cedric shouted at Jinhyuk.
“You… what kind of grudge do you have against us to sabotage a done deal like this?”
“Huh?”
“We haven’t harmed you at all. Yet why do you keep throwing a wrench in our plans?”
Ah, that old story?
Jinhyuk shrugged as if to say it was obvious.
“This is a place I’ve already marked with my saliva.”
Then you guys come along, trying to swallow the candy I’ve marked, so of course, I have to sprinkle some chili powder on it.
“Plus, what are these Magin guys babbling about with rites and such?”
Do you want to say, ‘Ha ha, I reserved this spot first.’, ‘Oh, I didn’t know. Can I reserve a spot once you’re done hunting?’ Is that it?
Does such a thing exist here?
Whoever gets it first keeps it, and anyone can stab you in the back at any time – that’s the nature of this world.
The powerless die and are buried in the ground; the powerful live and climb the tower.
That’s the only rule allowed by the Tower of Trials.
“Stop whining and if you have a complaint, speak with strength.”
Jinhyuk flicked his finger at Cedric.
