CH 242

[Siege Warfare – Minis – Byeolcho Special force mission-1]

Description: The Byeolcho guild needs to destroy the enemies’ defensive barrier’s keystone. However, if it is too early, the enemy forces will notice, and if it is too late, the casualties will increase. You have to destroy it 2 days before the siege forces arrive. It will take at least 3 days for the keystone to be restored again.’

The commander-in-chief, Fibiel’s Pillar, Granville devised a plan to end the war at once. He wants to destroy his long-time rival, the Fox of the Prairie, Ewin, as soon as possible.

Content: Destroy ‘Castle Van Cowl’s’ keystone 2 days after the command has been given.

Reward: Contribution points according to contribution on destroying the keystone, War contribution +500.

Conditions for Failure: Keystone remains intact after the siege begins, Keystone restoration before the siege ends.

Penalty for failure:  War Contribution  -3,000.

– Would you like to accept?

“Keystone…”

“Right. Find the brick with the magic circle on it and destroy it. If this special operation fails, the siege of our allies will be severely disrupted.”

Leeha nodded.

The penalty, which can be seen as the worst exchange rate ever, caught his eye.

‘It said that you could get even more contribution points based on activity but…. Minus three thousand is a bit harsh for only one failure.’

The members of the Byeolcho special force were also looking at the quest window. There were some who had already turned pale. 

“Could you give us some time to think about it?”

“As much time as you need. It would be nice to hear from the guild master of Hwahong.” 

Granville nodded. With the indirect signal for getting Ram Hwayeon to persuade Leeha,  as she approached him.

Leeha asked in a low voice.

“What happened? Is this is it?”

“Yes, our analysis is fine.”

“No, wait a minute. This is Middle Earth. There’s no way this operation will actually succeed, right? Minis army could be encircling us in the opposite direction”

“The Minis army will not come easily.”

“What? Why?”

Ram Hwayeon laughed at Leeha’s question. Her expression was full of confidence.

“Do you remember the other invasions?”

“The Sentinel mountainside and the riverside?”

“Yes. Pei Wu, Hwangryong, and someone you know very well are coming along the Sentinel Mountain invasion route.”

“Who?”

“Well? They say you could tell by looking at their huge gun?” (ed: Oh no…)

A person came to Leeha’s mind after hearing the phrase “huge gun”. He was not looking at his friend’s list. Leeha, who opened the Three Musketeers window, immediately knew where Kidd was located.

“Yes. The world’s fastest gunman and an even faster sleeper, [The Rapid fire] Kidd. Even Pei Wu praises his skills.”



“Hwangryong- Lai Lai!”

Hwangryong- Lai Lai!

“It’s Pei Wu! Support! Support us!”

“They couldn’t send support- This and that, they’re all Fibiel! No, they are the members of the Hwangryong Guild!”

The color yellow speckled the desolate scene on the Sentinel Mountains.

At first glance, one would think that the fluttering yellow embroidery was the autumn leaves of a ginkgo tree, however, it was the uniform attire of the Hwangryong guild members.

Hwangryong is a guild where fighting with large numbers was a part of their tactics. It goes without saying that aside from Pei Wu, wh owas the strongest among them, there were also a lot of other martial arts experts.

“Stand back! Stand back! Looking at Hwangryong Guild alone, they have more NPCs than Minis!”

“Retreat! Retreat! Stop  the  Hwangryong guild while retreating! They are all martial artists, so if we don’t let them-!”

“Ascend, Flying Dragon!”

Booom-!

Before the Minis soldier could finish his orders, his jaws dropped. At the end of Pei Wu’s fist, there was a violent blue energy.

“Die you bunch of crazy dogs, aaaahh-!”

In that gap, while he was landing after blowing them away, the Minis user’s tried to stab his sword

“Adamantine!”

Clang-!

“Huh?”

It was just then that his sword bent. The only reward for his hasty attack was death.

“Eighteenth Golden Dragon Palms!”

He extended his palm several times and what came out from it was a golden dragon. All of the mid-level Minis users were swept away by Pei Wu.

“Run- run away!!”

“As expected, step back! Run away from Hwangryong!”

The Minis users started to run away in a hurry. The path to escape from those crossing the entire mountain range was very narrow.

A person’s shadow suddenly appeared in front of the people running in the narrow mountain path where three people could not move together at the same time.

“And where do you think you’re going?”

The eyes of the man who hopped down from a tree gleamed under the brim of his hat.

“W-what? Go!”

“What are you doing? Run quickly! Pei Wu is chasing us from behind!!”

The Minis users who suddenly stopped running had started to shout. However, the user at the front could not move forward. Despite the fact that the strongest person in the Sentinel Mountain at the moment, Pei Wu, was clearly behind them.

‘What the hell is up with this guy?’

Who was this person that oozed ‘strength’ as if there was a haze around his body!

“D-die! Thrust Dash-!”

A Minis user held his lance with both hands.

He stabbed by adding his acceleration to the rotation of his lance. It was the perfect skill for not only destroying an enemy’s formation, but for also breaking through what is in front of them!

However, Kidd, who had jumped down from the tree, did not hurry even after seeing the skill. He slowly put his hands on the hem of his coat and muttered quietly.

“[Weapon Transformation: Revolver]”



As light leaked from his coat, Two revolvers appeared in Kidd’s hands.

Gunshot’s rang out like machine gun.

It was rather fortunate that the Minis’ army was not able to hear the gunshots.

“Now that’s……. Someone who knows where to fight.”

Kidd’s main weapon was a revolver. Although the range is short, the gun was light, making it easy to aim while moving quickly. In places where the visibility is limited due to the rough and rugged terrain like the Sentinel Mountains, where there were many trees, Kidd’s Crimson Geckos could exert power better than Leeha’s Black Bass could.

“They will arrive. —

By the time we start the siege, they will be moving through Minis.”

“Minis would be preoccupied with other armies that are invading from both sides-”

“They wouldn’t even know that the capital……is already ‘fucked’.” (ed: Watch your profanity)

“D-don’t say that-”

“Why? We either get the lands or castles. Isn’t that what this is?”

Ram Hwayeon, who said it, shrugged her shoulders, saying it was natural, but Leeha’s face heated up. It’s not that she was wrong, but…….

‘If that is true.’

They have a high chance.

There were only 7 castles on the way to Minis’ capital. When the forces from the Sentinel Mountains begin to invade Minis, they would not be able to move easily as they could now.

“But it’s not without variables.”

Leeha carefully said. This time the penalty was too severe. Even if it was 100% certain, he could not accept it so easily.

“What?”

“Alexander.”

The most important thing is that there was no news about the no.1 in the rankings.

“I was worried about that too. Because I didn’t know when Alexander would appear…. 

However, it will be fine.”

“How are you so sure?”

“It’s a situation of a Korean national level, didn’t you know? Lee Jiwon is grinding his teeth and chasing him.”

“Ah! I-I knew that-”

“I don’t know the details but Lee Jiwon is confidently announcing it. He said that he would win in a 1 on 1 match against Alexander.”

At Ram Hwayeon’s words, Leeha’s eyes widened. Leeha knew ‘why’ he was so confident!

‘He did it!’

It meant that Lee Jiwon succeeded in acquiring a soulmate.

He gained the soul link skill using Leeha’s advice. Considering the time so far, he may have helped his soul mate grow and increased the proficiency of the soul link skill.

While Leeha prepared for the war after meeting Fernand by getting one-shot achievements, Lee Jiwon trained his hidden skills to the point where we was confident talking about fighting the ‘Dragon Knight’.

‘Indeed. If Lee Jiwon were to beat Alexander, who would be the remaining rankers over there? The Assassin Petyr, the Dancer, and the Necromancer, Faust.’

There was also no news about them as well.

Are they preparing to defend now? Perhaps a person like Petyr, who had a strong personal inclination, may not participate in the war. (ed: No clue what Leeha’s on about, he did it last time at the castle and he’ll do it again.)

What if the Pei Wu-Kidd combination, who detoured toward the Sentinel Moutains, arrived earlier? No, what if they joined the team that is trying to breakthrough a single point in the shortest time possible with a siege?

“Uh hyung……?  Aren’t we running out of time?”

Kijeong came closer to Leeha and spoke.

The answer for the quest was not something that could be left alone for a long time. There was no time to use the ‘Bargaining’ skill because of his conversation with Ram Hwayeon, but it didn’t matter.

Because he had already decided that this quest was worth a shot.

“Let’s go, Kijeong-ah.”

“Okay.”

Kijeong nodded his head immediately. Instead, his quick response stunned Leeha for a second.

“Huh? Good? Why aren’t you asking me if it’s dangerous?”

“If hyung wants to do it with such a confident expression, of course, there’s nothing we could do about it. Now is there? Our guild members have already finished talking. All members of Byeolcho-”

Kijeong gripped his shield’s handle strongly.

“-Protect Ha Leeha by any means necessary!.”

Clang!

The will of the Templar certainly reached Leeha’s heart. There was also an escort platoon that protected snipers. The strategic operation was fully understandable.

Well, I guess there was no reason to refuse.

“Commander-in-chief-nim, the Byeolcho special force will carry out this mission.”

“Your strength is important. Improve your skills in the plains for the time being. I will give orders immediately according to the movements of the Minis army.”

“Understood sir.”

Even at this moment, the movements of Fibiel and Minis could be seen on the holographic map. Rather than 30 days, Minis’ army will disappear from the Marching plain in 15 days.

All members of the Byeolcho special force accepted the quest and came out of the tent. And Ram Hwayeon followed behind them.

“Where’s Ram Hwajeong-ssi?”

“Tsk, isn’t it weird that you only use ‘ssi’ for Ram Hwajeong? Anyway. She was dispatched to the Dike Coast campaign. The Kraven bastards must have been annoying.”

“Hmm. I see.”

There was also another reason why the following could not go directly to confirm it.

That is because, in the friend window, the position of other people aside from those who were in the Marching Plains was currently hidden.

“I can’t even whisper.”

“What?”

“Are you looking at the friend’s window right now?”

“Y-yes. Are you a psychic?”

Ram Hwa-yeon understood his thoughts so well that he wondered if she could read his mind. It also meant that she was constantly ‘observing’ Leeha, but Leeha wasn’t able to think that far.

“I see. Is it limited to the same field, Ram Hwayeon-nim?”

“Tale-nim is right. During a war, locations and whispers are limited to one campaign. If you’re in the capital, you would only hear some information here and there…. It is impossible to whisper to someone who is in another region. It’s like blocking the information with the enemy’s mana.”

“Indeed. That’s why I can’t even see Jacheong.”

“Yes. Jacheong is with Hwajeong.”

However, if there was some good news, it was the location of the Three Musketeers. At least Leeha could still see the location of Kidd and Luger. It meant that the power of the ‘Three Musketeers’ is stronger than the information-blocking mana.

‘Is Luger not interested in the war? He’s in a place with absolutely nothing to do with the war.’

Is he really hunting even at a time like this?

War would be better if enemy soldiers were treated as monsters. Luger was wandering somewhere in a neutral area called the ‘Land of the Dead’.

“Okay, I’m gonna go now.”

“You’re going?”

“I have no reason to stay on the battlefield. I should come back after the battle in the Marching Plains is over”

Ram Hwayeon shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, aren’t you a greedy little pig for contribution points?”

(To be continued…)