Part 8. Ted's Siege (3)
The carriage carrying Ted and nine other NPCs entered the
Whether because the plains were new to them, the NPCs constantly surveyed the terrain.
"I was born in the Count’s Domain and have lived forty years, yet this is my first time setting foot on these plains."
The Warlock of Destructive Bombardment, Baronet Ryunghen, stroked his grizzled beard and laughed heartily.
*And the game has been out for ten years.*
Ted suddenly felt a sense of novelty.
It was said that free-willed NPCs possessed intellect rivaling that of humans. And it was said that each NPC had their own history. A society within the game, woven and intertwined from such things.
Face Chronicle.
This game was a single, vast world.
"We have arrived."
At the coachman’s words, the hunting party disembarked into Zone 4.
"Is that it? The trap those Pateuk bastards prepared?"
"What the hell, it’s literally just a cloud?"
Stretching their stiff bodies, they looked up at the sky. Then they began using their own detection skills on the ominous cloud.
*Huh? It’s gotten much closer than before.*
Ted observed the cloud as well. Thanks to item farming and the like, his eyesight stat had risen considerably compared to before.
Before long, he saw the warlock with black skin and a frame as thin as a skeleton that he had spotted previously. But unlike a skeleton, its eyes glowed red.
However, now that his stats were higher, he could see its true form, which had remained hidden before....
*It doesn’t have a body?*
There was no body. The frame visible below the neck had scattered like dust at some point; below its stomach, nothing could be seen.
"This...!"
"Insane. It’s the Lord of the Undead!"
By the time Ted finished observing, the NPCs, who were of even higher level than he was, had finished their own observations as well. They were shocked to see the enemy hidden within the cloud.
Among them, Baronet Ryunghen, who had peered deeper than the rest thanks to his detection magic, wore the gravest expression.
"Hunting party! Be on guard. It is Archlich, the Lord of the Undying. It has recognized us and is preparing to attack, so we shall strike first!"
Soon, Baronet Ryunghen finished a brief incantation and created a fireball. But it was not just one. A total of seven fireballs were conjured in succession. The seven fireballs merged into one at Ryunghen’s fingertips. The resulting massive lump of flame, nearly 2 meters across, blazed with such intense heat that even Ted, standing at a distance, felt its scorching warmth.
"
Fwwoosh—! BOOM!!
The massive fireball struck the cloud in the sky dead on. A massive explosion erupted, sending debris flying in all directions.
At the sight, Heketan gave a thumbs-up.
"As expected of Elder Ryunghen. The strongest among the Siege Warlocks!"
"No... I put considerable force into that, yet it didn’t even make a dent."
"Huh? Ah!"
Heketan’s expression twisted as he looked up. The cloud remained completely untouched.
"The cloud is moving!"
Soon, a change occurred in the cloud. The cloud, which had until now floated motionless in the sky, began slowly descending toward the ground. As if it recognized those harboring hostility. As it did, it gradually turned black, changing the body of the once-fluffy cloud. The cloud, which had begun to condense as it descended, shrank to the size of merely a few buildings by the time it touched the ground.
The NPCs did not act hastily. They stood tense, confronting the cloud.
Gwooooo—!
Kakakak....
Kwaaah!
From within the cloud came the horrifying screams of the undead. Soon, they revealed themselves. From level 200
Their numbers reached into the hundreds.
"Begin combat!"
At Baronet Ryunghen’s command, everyone drew their weapons and charged.
*This is an opportunity for me.*
Ted raised Black and White and took aim at the enemies.
Six tanks were engaged in frontal warfare. Two warlocks. And two damage dealers.
"
Buzz... squeak squeak!
"Mosquitoes, stand by near me. Goblins, only shoot the monsters that are far from people. Let’s go."
Having summoned the goblins and mosquitoes, Ted began firing his musket like a madman.
Undead possessed high vitality and did not take critical damage. Even if their heads were blown off, they kept moving as long as their bodies remained attached. However, the bullets Ted fired into the center of their bodies were different. The spin on the projectiles was so powerful that parts of their bodies exploded and flew clean off.
The indiscriminate attacks by the goblins and Ted translated into explosive experience.
Whether shooting the head or the body, it was one shot, one kill!
He had risen two levels in an instant.
"Huh. Easier than I thought, right?"
One NPC aide said so. He likely did not know. That the number of undead all the NPCs were hunting was roughly equal to the number one man was hunting alone.
*What the hell... that aide of Raiden’s.*
*Was it really true that he’s stronger than Raiden?*
*How many is he taking down alone? How is he killing the undead so cleanly and easily? And what are those goblins!*
But the 3rd-tier NPCs thought differently. They were capable of observing the situation calmly even in this sudden battle. That was precisely why they were even more shocked. Not only did he not possess 3-stars like them, but Ted, who had just achieved 2-stars, was hunting an absurd number of undead.
*Yes, the experience is exploding.*
Ignoring the NPCs’ gazes, Ted fired his musket.
*Awesome. Leveled up again.*
Since he was targeting only level 300+ undead, more than 100 levels above him, his level rose rapidly. Ted managed to gain three levels in just ten minutes.
Bang bang bang—!
Bang bang bang—!
But a few minutes later, a question arose in Ted’s mind.
*What the hell. Why won’t they end no matter how many I kill?*
The number of undead pouring from the cloud was abnormally high.
By then, Ted and the goblins had killed roughly a thousand undead! Overall, more than two thousand undead had been slain. They were emerging at a rate of nearly two hundred per minute.
"Gah... aren’t these bastards too numerous?"
"There are too many!"
It had only been ten minutes, but continuously exerting oneself in battle was no easy feat. The NPCs were beginning to feel fatigue. Of course, they could likely fight several times longer than they already had, but it no longer felt easy.
*Even if there’s a boss monster in that cloud, how much mana does it have to summon undead infinitely like this?*
Ted felt puzzled. He couldn’t understand the principles behind what Pateuk had prepared. But on the other hand, he didn’t hate this situation.
*Heh heh. Summon more. More. More.*
Because this was a leveling opportunity he hadn’t seen in days!
"At this rate we’ll just exhaust ourselves for nothing! Those Pateuk bastards... they planted one nasty seed. I’ll shatter that cloud!"
Just then, Heketan, the Warrior Academy Master who had grown irritated with hunting undead, began charging through them. Ted frowned.
*Hey. Do you really have to go?*
That was interfering with his leveling opportunity!
*Sigh.*
Ted briefly considered shooting him in the heel, but realizing that resolving the situation took priority, he sniped the nearby undead to clear a path for him to run.
"Uwooooo!
Heketan, still running, soared straight into the sky. Nine ripples soon formed in his wake. He was the Wave Knight. A 3rd-tier NPC who annihilated enemies with powerful waves. The waves roared, announcing their presence in all directions, before converging at the tip of Heketan’s sword.
BAAAAANG—!!!
The moment Heketan’s attack struck the solid cloud, something unexpected happened. In the space distorted by the ripple explosion, Heketan began floundering.
"Hey, Heketan!"
"Master!"
The panicked NPCs tried to rush over, but the undead desperately formed a wall with their bodies to block them.
*What the hell is that?*
Ted strained his eyes to look at Heketan. He saw arm-like things extending from the blackened cloud. Purple arms that seized Heketan’s limbs and coiled around his entire body. Soon, the arms pulled Heketan in. And together with his body, he was dragged entirely into the black cloud.
"Heketan—!"
"Hey! You bastard!"
Raiden hurriedly used every movement skill he had, hurling his body into the air. To pull Heketan out. Even though Heketan had insulted his academy and master, this was wartime. Not letting personal feelings cloud his judgment was exactly what made
But Raiden, stuck to the black cloud, could do nothing. Because the cloud had hardened completely.
"It’s dangerous, Raiden! Come back before you get caught too!"
The leader of the hunting party, Ryunghen, shouted. Raiden hurriedly pulled back. Ted also watched the situation unfold nervously. No matter how important leveling was, it couldn’t be more important than the hunting party’s safety.
The hardened black cloud soon began to shrink into a smaller form. With a sound like shattering glass, the thing—larger than a decent-sized villa—soon became a black crystal two meters tall. During this process, countless undead burst forth as if being summoned.
But those who looked closely at the black crystal turned ashen.
Because inside it was Heketan’s body.
"Heketan!"
"What on earth is that thing...?"
Heketan’s body began to spread into the black crystal like ink dissolving in water. Inside his scalp, which was slowly melting away, his skull was faintly revealed. But below the skull, where the eyes should be, a red light flickered.
*What is that thing?*
—Quest Chain—
Quest Difficulty: A
The cloud in Zone 4 of the Sauron Plains is constructing a powerful body for Archlich Paragon using NPC Heketan as a host. Therefore, annihilate Archlich Paragon.
*It’s a quest chain?*
In Face Chronicle, quests often escalated in scale, linking one after another. When that happened, the difficulty usually rose. That was exactly the situation now. A quest that had suddenly risen to A-rank difficulty! That meant only one thing. The monster called
*How is this possible?*
Ted frowned at a sight he had never witnessed despite playing the game for ten years. A monster growing stronger by using an NPC as a host? It was unheard of.
The surrounding NPCs also began to grow extremely tense.
*Dangerous.*
*Damn... Heketan has already fallen!*
*Roughly 10 minutes remain before its transformation. Then we must eliminate it before it’s complete.*
Although they were NPCs, those gathered there were individuals with abundant battlefield experience. Having confirmed information about the black crystal with their skills, they forcefully broke through the swarming undead. Then they began unleashing their attacks on the black crystal.
"
"Destroy the enemy with a sharp wick,
"Hiyah!
Kwa-kwa-kwang—! Poof-pung—!
Numerous skills struck the black crystal in succession. But soon, bewilderment spread across their faces. Because the black crystal had only suffered minor scratches.
"How can this be! Gah!"
Having forcefully broken through the undead to fire their skills, they were hopelessly isolated by the undead. Of course, to them, who were in the level 500s, level 200–300 undead were not strong opponents at all. But the problem was numbers. The countless undead that had burst forth as the cloud transformed into a crystal! Their numbers were in the thousands. For nine people, that was by no means a small number.
"What should we do! Baronet Ryunghen! Please give us orders!"
"We cannot break that crystal with our strength."
The NPCs hoped for orders, but Ryunghen had no sharp solution either.
"Gah... must we watch the birth of the Archlich without even being able to save Heketan...?"
He gritted his teeth and closed his eyes.
*If the outer fortress falls before the siege even begins, the Count’s Domain is finished! What to do. What to do...*
Those gathered here were undoubtedly the elite of the Count’s Domain. However, the black crystal boasted such hardness that even those elites could not break it. That thing could never be broken.
*A decision must be made.*
Ryunghen recalled his position. A commander must always make a decision, no matter how desperate the situation. Even if it were a lesser evil filled with nothing but despair.
"Relay to all personnel! From this moment, retreat—"
But then.
Pazzzzt—!
A massive bolt of lightning exploded between the NPCs and surged forth. A streak of powerful lightning shot forth, incinerating over a hundred undead as it passed. It was a blinding flash of lightning that erupted in an instant. The lightning, despite having killed numerous undead, struck the black crystal dead-on without losing any momentum.
Kka-kang-kang—!!
Part of the crystal shattered and broke away. At that moment, every hunter flinched and turned their eyes to the situation.
*This...!*
Ryunghen’s eyes widened as he watched. In that fleeting instant, he traced the source of the lightning. The man standing at the starting point of the trail that zigzagged and killed countless undead....
The man in the absurd bear mascot head—Ted, Raiden’s aide—was down on one knee, lowering his smoking gun barrel to the ground.
In that moment, Ryunghen made his decision.
"Relay to all personnel!"
He did not understand it. He simply accepted the situation.
"Protect the person of he who came as Raiden’s aide!"
Ryunghen, who had been contemplating a lesser evil just moments ago.
"So that he... can fire without interruption!"
He had just made the best possible decision.