◈ Chapter 53. The Illusions Will Be Free (1)
[Quest: Recapture Frost].
Frost has fallen into the hands of the devil.
Recapture the Frost.
Your bravery will be rewarded.
─Current Contribution : 0 points
……Quest!
Reclaiming the Frost began with Ho Yeol’s magic manifestation.
At the same time.
A quest appeared to the players gathered in Frost.
It was enough to wake up the panicked players.
“What kind of quest is this?”
“Will we be rewarded based on our contribution?”
“Let’s go for it.”
“Get ready, we’re about to attack.”
The guild, of course, immediately went into siege mode.
“Brothers, we can’t just stand by and watch this, can we?”
And even NetTubers who came to Frost to stream.
For those who once enjoyed Arcana.
This was a quest they couldn’t pass up.
“I tried to hold it, but I can’t stand this, me too!”
Wasn’t that Frost, who had a lot of influence?
Marlon was the mascot of Frost.
He and other Frost residents had their heads on the wall.
The quest was fueled by barely suppressed emotions.
The player community was flooded with posts.
-I can’t wait for the quest… I’m in.
-The original siege was all about quantity.
-It doesn’t matter what level you are, just collect them all.
-If we capture it, we’ll have bragging rights, right?
Yes, for different reasons.
The mood had changed in an instant.
“You’re so arrogant.”
Without a moment’s hesitation.
Thanks to Ho-yeol, who manifested magic at the gate!
But why?
The players around Ho Yeol were puzzled.
It was inevitable.
The magic that extended out from Ho-yeol’s hand was…….
“……What is that?”
The shape was completely unexpected.
The gates of Frost were made of thick steel.
To break it down.
It would take a lot of high-level magic.
But Ho Yeol’s manifested magic, no matter how you look at it…….
Round and round.
“… … Hey, isn’t that [Light]?”
A basic skill among basics.
Its effect is simply to illuminate the darkness.
Isn’t that a [Light], a simple sphere of magic power?
“……What, did he press the wrong hotkey?”
“‘Are you crazy? There are no shortcuts in the real world.”
“No, I’m kidding, it’s too weird to be a joke, all of a sudden.”
Bang.
It wasn’t even one or two.
The gates, a sphere of magic flying toward the walls, a light.
” ……How much magic is that, for real.”
There seemed to be a hundred of them.
He actually had that much magic to waste in this situation?
Just as the players were about to sink into bewilderment.
Light, a sphere of magic stuck to the gates and walls.
“……?”
And that was it.
Bam!
“……What, what?!”
Digging─!
“Is it changing shape, huh?!”
Whirling-!
“Now, wait, what is it?! That skill?!”
Marcelo, the chief wizard of the tower.
Even he was impressed.
The magic of an extremely high level of power had begun to reveal itself.
So much so that the eye could not follow it.
An agile process of seek, interference, and manifestation.
Of course, as they say, you only know what you see.
” What level are you, Lee Ho-yeol……!”
Seek, interfere, manifest.
The players didn’t even know the basics of the magic, did they?
All they could do was sit back and admire.
“Indeed, Lord Ho-Yeol……!”
It was no different for Harkon and the Lionheart Knights.
Regardless, they were still knights.
He could recognize their level of excellence, but nothing more.
“…… This is crazy.”
But from a position of knowledge.
I mean, there’s no crazier sight than that……!
Shadow Mercenaries.
Seat 7, Alkari.
He wrinkled his nose.
“……!”
A wisp of magic from the air.
It was enough to send a chill down Alkari’s curved spine.
Alkari let out a bitter laugh.
Rocky, the steed beside him, twitched.
“What, you’re laughing in a bad way and being a dick, Inspiration?”
“Kluckle. I think I know why you followed me.”
“What? You think you know why he was bothering you, what is it?”
Alkari looked at Kichi, the leader.
Damn, he looked thoughtful.
Alkari spoke up.
“Well. At the very least, it would be better not to take part in this quest. No, it’s not just this mission, at least not while the noble lord has his eye on me. It would be in your best interest to kill some of that eccentricity, Rocky.”
……Are you senile, this inspiration?
Rocky looked puzzled.
But Kichi’s thoughts were no different than Alkari’s.
No, maybe even worse.
Because he’d been watching, and he knew.
” …… I don’t know. I told him we’d never see each other again. Why?
It’s one thing to manifest such a high level of magic.
The fact that it even deals with swordsmanship.
And then there’s his terrifying growth rate.
Kichi’s face was bound to be complicated.
“I can’t even bite my tongue about that now……!
And then there was his personality, which always seemed to be the last thing on his mind.
His intuition was telling him.
This is a bad idea, no matter how you look at it.
*
[Quest: Reclaim Frost]
A quest I had no reason to resist.
Well, it felt like a bonus quest.
It’s like something that comes naturally when you do class quests.
“Is this a contribution system?
─Current contribution: 0 points
Bravery is rewarded.
It means that you will be rewarded according to your contribution.
Naturally, I want to be the number one contributor.
I didn’t set such an unrealistic goal.
“It’s just a big word.”
Look at the number of players here.
Besides, they weren’t a guild.
No wonder they’re so good at one-on-one combat.
Sure, I had the Knights of the Lionheart and the Shadow Mercenaries.
Their exploits weren’t credited to me.
“If they were, I wouldn’t have told you.”
So the conclusion I came to after scoping out the topic was simple.
“Let’s get one thing right.
With that in mind, my first priority was to investigate the Frost.
I thought to myself as I interfered with and manifested the magic sphere.
“Good thing I practiced.
I almost set fire to the magic tower and the lab, but anyway.
It was worth it to think of the possibilities.
Fire, Wind, Electricity, Water…….
Light, the fundamental magic of pure magic.
Magic of various attributes manifested from that sphere of light.
I wonder if it’s because it manifests various attribute magic at the same time.
‘I can feel my magic draining.
Newly unlocked stat.
I suppressed the activation of [Aesthetics] as much as possible.
I didn’t need its effects right now.
But it was worth the cost of precious mana.
A scene of manifestation where various attribute magic interacted.
” …… I found it.”
I had found the most effective combination of attributes to attack the gate.
On second thought, I’m still stuck, really……!
‘I can’t help it, this is my best.
A desperate struggle.
What I have, what I don’t have.
I have no choice but to take it all and use it in my own way……!
Fire, ice.
Frost’s gates were weak to the combination of those two elemental magics.
How or why?
I have no idea. If only I knew.
If I did, I wouldn’t be draining my magic like I am.
But I don’t need to know anymore.
It’s like, “Guess it or shoot it.”
It’s the same thing if you get the right answer.
All that was left was to focus my firepower.
I immediately manifested fire and ice.
One after another.
A barrage of magic at the gates.
Sure enough, it was worth it to hit it.
Boom, boom, boom!
The gates began to crumble.
There were shouts from all around.
The players were stunned.
“…… You broke through the gate so fast?”
“What the hell is that skill? It’s destructive!”
“……Is this a real thing?”
I thought to myself.
I wanted to correct them.
“I’m not going to be around to see what they do without me…….
I had to fight my way through the gates.
To mistake that for mere power……!
But this noble pride.
It cannot be deterred by such petty considerations.
“As long as my Lord is with me. I was not even concerned.”
Of course, there was no need.
The crumbling walls.
The terrifying momentum flowing from beyond.
A clang!
The harkon who spoke to me immediately donned his helmet.
“Lord Ho-Yeol. We will lead the way from now on.”
Thwack!
The moment Harkon and the Lionheart Knights draw their swords.
Kukugung─!
The city walls have completely collapsed.
At that moment, the quest window flashed.
──────
─Current Contribution: 5,000p
──────
My contribution has risen because I destroyed the gate?
“Five thousand points.”
I didn’t know if that was high or low since I had nothing to compare it to, but it didn’t matter right now. It was a bonus quest and all, so I took off…….
At the fallen gates.
Soon enough, the demons of Frost revealed themselves.
Indeed, it was enough to call them the Demon Legion.
How they lined up.
The level of equipment they wore.
The way they seemed to expect the walls to fall.
The swiftness of their movements.
A demon legion.
Yes, crimson skin.
If it weren’t for the horns that sprouted from their heads.
They could have been a human legion, and they were well armed.
The sight of them could not help but dampen the players’ spirits.
“……This is bad.”
“I think we shouldn’t approach them.”
“Keep your distance.”
They were so different from the demons he’d seen before.
They were organized.
The demon’s voice echoed.
“Kill them all! Never let them in!”
Some on offense.
Some on the defensive.
Some even seemed to have a specific plan.
But.
So what was I supposed to do?
I smoothed out my wind-blown hair.
As nonchalantly as I could.
“It’s funny.”
To me, to Grandfell.
All demons, no matter what they are, are the same scum.
And this legion of demons is nothing more than a collection of similar things.
Just a bunch of garbage that had been sorted.
Furthermore.
” Yessica, Enoch.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Stay with me and break their ranks up front.”
“Aye, sir.”
Systematically, they’re not losing.
“As well as the Lionheart Knights, of course.
I turned my head.
Our eyes locked, and Kichi spoke up.
“We’re going to …… assist the Knights of the Lionheart as much as we can, just like we’ve been doing, but to each his own. Is that clear? Here we go.”
A shadowy mercenary organization with a solid foundation of armor.
So this was confidence for a reason.
I followed them out, declaring.
“No time to waste.”
Another one.
A class quest.
The end goal of which was to slay a demon.
“Get out of the way. Scum.”
* https://pindangscans.com
Frost has a total of 10 gates.
As a large city, it was natural that the number of gates was also large.
That is, until the quest came up.
This was good news for the big guilds, who had nothing good to gain from competing with each other.
Especially the first and second ranked guilds.
Shining and Heavenly Unity.
The two guilds were definitely going to be separated.
“This is what we specialize in, isn’t it, Rox?”
The days of Arcana.
The Shining, the guild that owned the land.
The Shining had a lot of siege experience.
The only other guild with the experience of the Shining was the Heavenly Unity.
And when it came to sieges, the Shining had a clear advantage.
“We’ll never have a better chance.”
It was the overwhelming number of guild members.
Master Liu Zhunqun’s player ranking was only 14th.
However, the true strength of Heavenly Unity lay in the number of guild members and their average level.
“Charge!”
Heavenly Unity unleashed a tactic that capitalized on its numbers.
Their attacks poured into the gates.
Pouring out mana in one fell swoop, then rotating with the back row.
After recovering their mana and health, they shifted again.
“Hoo hoo.”
Liu Zunqun smiled.
”Yes, even if it’s called Shining.
They won’t be able to match them in this siege.
Liu Zunqun’s quest window glowed.
“Much depends on this contribution.
The current situation in Frost was not normal.
It was unknown if the lord was even alive.
Liu Zunqun’s anticipation was growing.
“…… What if the lord is dead?”
Depending on his contribution, there was a good chance that he could become the new lord of Frost.
Lord of Frost, a large city.
That was back when Arcana was just a game.
It had an immeasurable value.
‘I can become the overwhelming number one!’
Not just to the world, but to himself.
Liu Zunqun saw the rising contribution in real time.
“Rocks, this is a contribution you can’t even dream of.
As a Guild Master, Liu Zhunqun was receiving a lot of [Command] contributions.
But the Shining wouldn’t be able to do that.
You only have to look at Jesse Hynes to see that.
Rox didn’t have the same commanding power as him.
As he thought about it, motivation boiled up in his chest.
“Hahahahaha!!!”
──────
─Current contribution: 120p
──────
Same time.
Ho Yeol’s contribution had surpassed 5,000 points.
There was no way Liu Zunqun could have known.
He burst into laughter.
“I’ll show you what my overwhelming contribution is, Rocks!”
Yes, sometimes ignorance is the medicine…….