Chapter 56 : Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Back to the Main Story (3)

It was unknown who had instigated this.

But what they were trying to do was clear. It was an act that would bring great danger to Kelta Castle.

‘Whose plan could this be?’

Artier continued to ponder.

‘Is this another one of the Hellmorphs’ tricks?’

The first suspicion that came to mind was naturally that.

But for that to be the case, it was too clumsy a method.

In the first place, if the Hellmorphs could have intervened, it would have been easier and more efficient to control their minds and open the castle gate.

“Who are the people who assigned you this task?”

Artier asked while aiming his sword.

Under that pressure, the village chief and Kai seemed to have difficulty maintaining their composure.

“B-Boker……”

“Boker?”

A name I didn't know at all. Artier did not lower his sword.

“Who is Boker?”

“A t-tax collector! He’s in the eastern part of this castle!”

Only then could Artier confirm his destination.

Putting his sword back, Artier turned his back and left the place, saying,

“Anyway, if you heard what I said, stop. It's a path where you will die, and everyone will die.”

His steps led straight to the center of Kelta Castle.

The tax collectors would be gathered in the central shelter.

Artier, where are you? The gate should be opening soon.

Just then, Jeina's communication came through.

‘Even for Jeina, the restroom excuse was a bit much.’

I was conflicted. Should I just make an excuse and continue searching, or should I fight the battle and then move again?

I'll be there soon.

But just because I went to the shelter didn't mean I could find the tax collector right away.

In the end, Artier turned his steps and headed back towards the north gate.

As soon as he arrived, the gate opened as if it had been waiting, and a man who appeared to be the leader of the assault troopers raised his sword and shouted.

“Let's buy some time! Chaaarge!”

“Waaaah!”

Hundreds, thousands of warriors simultaneously used the Sprinter magic and rushed outside.

The Sprinter magic, where a faint wind enveloped the body and quickened the feet.

With thousands of soldiers using the magic together, the gentle wind had turned into the flow of a great typhoon.

[Sprinter is stacked, and the effect increases by 100%.]

Artier could feel his body shooting out like a bullet.

Before long, he was able to face the monsters with their grotesque forms.

[Lv.15 Hell Messenger (Low-Grade)]

The ones that survived the bombardment and rain of arrows were missing a limb or were bleeding profusely.

“Kaaak!”

As the assault troopers approached, the creatures shrieked and charged.

Some fired strange vomit, while others plunged their hands into the ground to make thorns sprout.

“Kill them all!”

But it was only to buy time.

They were exhausted from the battle just now, while this side had been resting inside the castle gate.

There were a few who were injured, but most of the assault troopers dodged the sprouting thorns and began to tear the Hellmorphs apart.

‘I can probably just leave this place to them.’

Artier took care of a few of them appropriately and surveyed his surroundings.

His eyes, scanning the battlefield, were searching for something.

‘Found it.’

Swish!

The moment he found his target, his sword was already flying towards it.

Where the sword was headed, there were creatures larger than the other Hellmorphs.

“Kyaaaa……!”

“Shut up.”

The creature shrieked upon spotting Artier, but Artier was already at its feet.

[Flame Cleave is activated!]

The scream was cut off the moment its throat was sliced.

Artier immediately moved to another location.

‘This is sweet!’

Special types provided a large amount of experience points compared to normal monsters.

Artier used the Sprinter magic whenever the cooldown was up and cut down all the special types that appeared nearby.

Thanks to this, things like thorns, spiderwebs, or ooze were never sprayed over the heads of the assault troopers.

“Kieek!”

But the Hellmorphs didn't just stand by and watch Artier run wild.

As soon as the screams of the special types were heard, all the Hellmorphs in the vicinity rushed at Artier.

“Whoa, be careful over there!”

A few assault troopers who spotted the scene shouted.

But with their own allies behind them and the Hellmorphs rushing from the front,

unintentionally, all of them had surrounded Artier.

“Ah……”

Artier, who had grasped the situation, wore a troubled expression.

If this were a game, he could have just pushed them away with a skill, but if he did that now, his allies would be cut down by his own sword.

‘Should I give it a try while I'm at it?’

Artier stopped and extended his left hand.

And then, he pictured something in his mind.

[Using a skill.]

Soul Share (Lv.1): Shares skills between the summoner and the summon. The mana cost of the borrowed skill increases by 150%, and the effect is halved by 50%.

“Ice Wall.”

Kwa-deu-deuk!

For a moment, with a dizzying feeling, a sharp, blue ice pillar rose in front of Artier.

“Wh-whoa?!”

The surrounding allies couldn't come to their senses at the suddenly cast magic.

The magic troopers were supposed to be resting, yet a large-scale spell had been manifested.

And even more surprised than the allies were the Hellmorphs that were charging.

Kwoong!

“Kek!”

“Gek!”

They tried to brake suddenly at the unexpected obstacle, but the ground was soft soil that had been finely tilled for planting wheat.

In the end, many of them crashed into the wall, and the Hellmorph mob's assault was halted.

‘The effect is good, but the mana cost is a bit burdensome.’

Artier withdrew his hand with a satisfied expression, but he had to regain his balance from the dizzying sensation.

If the Ice Wall Collie created reached 30m, the wall Artier created was only 15m.

Of course, that much was enough to do its job, but the problem was the mana.

As a warrior, it was difficult for Artier to handle the mana cost of a mage's skill.

‘Still, this is a jackpot. To be able to use each other's skills.’

Artier put away his tightly clenched hand and rushed forward once more.

And he cut, and cut, and cut again.

Bwooooo!

How much time had passed? The sound of a horn signaling retreat rang out, and the assault troopers, just like before, used Sprinter as a group and retreated inside the castle walls in an instant.

When Artier checked, his mana, which had been so plentiful, had dropped to the bottom.

“If I use this wrong, the tail will wag the dog……”

Being greedy and casting a regeneration spell once was what caused the problem.

If the retreat had been declared even a little later, Artier might have collapsed from mana depletion.

“Artier, are you okay?”

“A little.”

“If you're tired, big sis will carry you!”

Jeina's strong hand roughly slapped his back.

With each slap, it felt like all the air was being forced out of his body.

Master, did you overdo it?

Collie's voice was heard in my head.

You knew?

I can roughly tell the state of your body. Besides, if you borrow my skill, I can tell too. It feels something like this.

[Collie copies and uses a skill.]

Wild Protection (Lv.1): Grants a buff with a random effect to oneself or another.

As soon as Collie's thought ended, Artier felt his head go blank for a very brief moment.

Startled, I looked at my hands, but there was no change in his body.

It was a strange state where he felt the sensation of consuming mana without actually consuming any.

That's amazing…….

Master, why do you have a skill like this? My useless strength just increased, you know.

Wild Protection was a skill Artier didn't use often either. As the level went up, he would be able to choose the type of buff, but when on earth would he raise it?

Clearing his throat and ending the communication, Artier looked around. Jeina and the other assault troopers were all sprawled out, resting.

‘Am I okay?’

He was short on mana, but thanks to the regeneration magic, his health was sufficient.

After checking his condition to some extent, Artier quietly slipped away so no one would see and began to move towards the center of the castle.

‘Well, nothing will happen, right?’

The situation of the siege itself was good.

Although the reason was to gain experience points, thanks to Artier's rampage, the losses of the assault troopers were also small.

And now, if he could just take care of the one thing he needed to check, there would be nothing to interfere with the siege.

……Or so I thought.

Walking down the street, Artier discovered the magic bombs installed in the alley.

The bombs, connected by a blue line, were placed precisely on top of the graffiti he had discovered.

“Why is this here?”

He had clearly warned them.

The moment this place was destroyed, the enemies would crawl inside the castle.

And yet, they had gone ahead and planted the bombs?

Why?

I couldn't understand.

Tat-tat-tat.

He ran on the empty road.

Bombs had already been planted in most of the places he had seen.

‘Unless they resumed planting them right after I disappeared.’

My lips were getting dry.

Was my action not a sufficient warning?

Should I have used more force to give them a greater sense of intimidation?

Maybe instead of knocking everyone out, I should have made an example of one or two of them.

“Stop!”

Finally, after arriving at the last location, Artier was able to meet the twelve people who were planting the bombs again.

As soon as they spotted Artier, they dropped the bombs as if they had seen a ghost and frantically began to flee in the opposite direction.

“Scatter! We'll meet again later!”

“Ice Wall!”

Kwang!

As Artier extended his hand, the space they were trying to escape to was blocked by a wall of ice.

“Haa……”

Trying to create an ice wall by scraping together what little mana he had left felt like he was about to faint at any moment.

But he couldn't collapse.

Because he was angry.

Thud!

Artier stabbed his sword into the ground and pointed at the bomb installed on the wall.

“Did you think I was joking?”

“……”

“If you detonate this, everyone will die.”

Bwoong.

The sword that had been stuck in the ground was swung.

In the path of the swung sword's energy, there was a blue line.

Kwajik!

The light of the bomb, which had lost its fuse, died down.

“Stop it right now.”

Artier gave one last warning. But their reaction was not very good.

They were hesitating about something. Was there a reason they couldn't speak of?

‘What is it?’

The moment Artier was puzzled, the mouth of the village chief, who had been standing still, opened.

“I can't do that.”

“Why not?”

“I can't tell you.”

The village chief took out a grimoire from his bosom.

“We have to do this. Even if we all die.”

As soon as the village chief's words ended, the people around him raised their weapons.

“……!”

This, unlike the first time, was quite threatening.

Because Artier had almost no mana right now.

“So don't interfere with us!”

As the village chief placed his hand on the grimoire, attacks began to pour in from all directions.

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