[Entering the Mortal Realm shortly.]
The same message reached everyone.
Sinhyeok immediately shouted to the residents waiting on standby.
“To your positions!”
Everyone moved quickly.
Sinhyeok looked down at Ichan, who was still sprawled out.
“Ichan. You’re really late.”
Jegal Seun had approached before he knew it and was looking at Ichan.
“At this rate, this could become serious.”
“You’re right.”
Sinhyeok turned back to check on Namgung Jincheon’s condition.
His complexion was pale.
“Lady Jegal Seyun. Could I ask you to look after Lord Namgung Jincheon?”
Jegal Seyun looked at him and spoke quietly.
“Will you be all right? Their numbers will be monstrous.”
“We’ve prepared thoroughly, so it should be fine.”
“Understood.”
He left his place, and Namgung Jincheon, Sohye, and Arin headed into the fortress.
“Hmm? Master Malakai, you’re coming out too?”
“Hoho, shouldn’t I? I must show you how an enchanter fights. Last time, I merely watched, but not today.”
At his confidence, Sinhyeok wondered what the reason behind it was.
Seeing the curiosity filling his eyes, Malakai smiled.
“Curious?”
“Yes!”
Sinhyeok immediately stuck close.
Malakai opened wide the pouch hanging at his side.
“They are Magic Stones. The simplest form of artifact.”
“Ah.”
Seeing them made Sinhyeok think of someone.
‘Lucia Ferrel.’
This was what that old man had been researching.
Of course, he had been researching a way that did not consume mana stones.
‘Did it go well?’
He was curious about many things.
“We have plenty of mana stones at the moment, so I brought some along.”
“What do you call these?”
“Simply Magic Stones. They’re good for war. Simple, but effective. All you have to do is quickly engrave a magic circle and it’s done. There’s no need for flashy magic in war, is there?”
That was certainly true.
Most of the spells engraved were only at the 2nd or 3rd Circle.
‘A lower version of my Magic Alchemy, huh. No, maybe it’s better than mine?’
The core of the Magic Alchemy Sinhyeok used was the material.
He used magic with the materials that existed around him.
However, he could use magic even without materials.
It just took an absurd amount of mana instead.
[1 minute remaining until entry into the Mortal Realm.]
“Ah, Master Malakai, I’ll head to the top!”
“Go, go! Hurry!”
Sinhyeok headed toward the modified Mana Cannon he had prepared in advance.
He quickly climbed the fortress and arrived at the top, where there was a cannon modified like a Gatling gun.
[Gatling Mana Cannon][Heroic][Lightning][Artifact]
=======================
A form created by bundling 10 Mana Cannons together, allowing rapid fire, and it can switch to charge mode to temporarily produce the power of the 7th Circle.
In rapid-fire mode, it can fire Mana Bullets with the power of the 6th Circle.
In charge mode, it can fire Mana Bullets with the power of the 7th Circle.
=======================
[Warning]
Excessive use may cause the artifact to malfunction.
=======================
Sinhyeok smiled with satisfaction.
“Come on, you zombie bastards! I’ll sweep you all away.”
After filling the fortress walls, he had mined more mithril and made this equipment.
He temporarily adjusted the magic circle a little to increase its power even further.
“You’re dead!”
[Entering the Mortal Realm.]
The familiar monsters’ howls rang out.
Graaaaaaagh!
“That’s right! Ichan!”
Sinhyeok had completely forgotten.
He hurriedly stood at the railing and looked in front of the fortress wall.
“Damn it! Someone wake him up!”
He shouted urgently.
“I’ll go!”
The old knight quickly stepped onto the railing.
Just as he was about to jump down, Ichan twitched.
“……Huh?”
Sinhyeok saw it as well.
“Ichan! Get up, hurry!”
Ichan let out a long yawn and rubbed his eyes.
“Haaam, Mister Lich was really persistent.”
‘That’s my line! Would it kill you to just give up already?’
“I can’t do that.”
The Yamyohonsik planted in the ground smoothly extended its stem and wrapped around Ichan’s arm.
“Hey! In front! In front!”
At the sound of someone calling him, Ichan turned around.
Sinhyeok, standing at the top of the fortress, was glaring at him with his eyes wide open.
“Ah, hyung, why are you being so loud?”
“Look in front of you!”
He looked ahead, in front of the fortress wall.
“Ah……”
In front of him, an endless procession of undead, caught in the Ghost Gate Formation, was surging forward.
“If you’ve come to your senses, get to work!”
Ichan immediately went on guard.
“Good, let’s test it. Mister Lich!”
‘To think I must serve a half-grown brat like this.’
“Stop grumbling!”
‘I’m going. I’m going!’
[The necromantic spirit of Yamyohonsik, Shadow Reaper, is being summoned.]
The Yamyohonsik, rooted in Ichan’s arm, was enveloped in a murky light.
Soon, a single flower bloomed.
Sssst.
A shadow stretched long, then tore itself away.
The shadow that dropped to the ground took the form of a lich wearing a robe.
“Go!”
‘I’ll go on my own, so shut your mouth!’
The lich strode forward.
He raised his skeletal hand and pointed at the undead.
‘Come here.’
Hundreds of undead stopped moving at once.
It was a bizarre sight.
Soon, they began walking obediently toward the tunnel.
“Awesome.”
Sinhyeok watched the entire scene from above.
“What the hell did I make?”
All the residents atop the fortress wall simply stood and watched.
A resident scratched his chin and asked the old knight,
“At this rate, won’t there be nothing for us to do?”
“Hohoho.”
However, that laughter did not last long.
On the opposite side, where there was no tunnel, the undead began piling up.
“Of course it wouldn’t be that easy.”
All the cannons on the other side were firing nonstop.
Kwa-kwa-kwang!
Listening to the continuous explosions of artillery fire, Sinhyeok kept thinking about improvements.
‘We’re at a disadvantage. Since they’re swarming in from all sides, the numbers are bound to pile up somewhere.’
What they needed in the current situation was to dig a moat around the fortress.
‘But I don’t know how long that would work either. Tsk.’
Sinhyeok continued thinking as he fired the Gatling Mana Cannon.
“Hup. Hyung! I’m running out of mana!”
Ichan’s urgent shout pierced through the sound of artillery fire.
Sinhyeok immediately aimed the barrel straight ahead.
The lagging undead had gathered in front of the entrance.
“Go.”
Shoooong.
Kwaaaaaang!
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
The cannons fired all at once.
Once the numbers were relieved by the cannons, Ichan ran to the World Tree.
“Hgyagyagyagak! Potion!”
Drinking a dark mana potion, he hurriedly caught his breath beside the World Tree.
“Ichan! Take it slow! We’re fine right now!”
Sinhyeok shouted as he watched the situation.
“Huh? Okay!”
Because he had installed so many cannons, the undead were actually being pushed back.
“Good. Die, all of you!”
Sinhyeok enjoyed himself, letting out a crazed laugh.
‘This is just like a hacked defense game!’
Their firepower did not drop.
It was only possible because he had made plenty of spare cannons in advance and stockpiled an insane amount of mana stones.
Six hours had passed since the battle began.
Everyone was visibly starting to look tired.
“Switch! Squad Two, move in!”
Gray Wayne continued the battle with veteran skill, rotating the residents.
“Whew.”
Sinhyeok kept checking the battle situation without resting.
‘It feels like their numbers have gone down a lot.’
He immediately summoned Opsir.
“Go check their numbers. It looks like they’ve decreased quite a bit.”
‘Yes.’
Opsir darted away.
Before long, he returned.
“That was fast?”
‘Master! Their current number is estimated to be one million!’
“Nice!”
Their numbers were decreasing quickly.
He wanted to spread this happy news far and wide.
“One million undead left!”
At Sinhyeok’s booming shout, all the residents cheered.
“One million!”
“One million!”
“Kill them all!”
“Sweep them away!”
The residents’ morale flared up.
“Good! Let’s send off every last one of these damned things!”
Everyone’s expressions brightened.
Certain of victory, they did not stop even as their hands split, their skin cracked, and blood flowed.
“Let’s protect this place!”
“Protect it!”
Their thunderous cries echoed across the battlefield.
Five hours passed as the cannons tirelessly stuffed the undead into the tunnels.
Sinhyeok stopped firing.
Only after eleven hours had passed could the cannons rest.
As proof of the fierce battle, there were quite a few cracks all over the barrels.
[Partial Alchemy – Synthesis.]
“You’ve worked hard.”
He filled in the cracks and looked over the battlefield.
“There are almost none left.”
The undead had definitely dried up.
The long and numerous procession was coming to an end.
“Everyone really is incredible.”
The old knight Gray Wayne stopped the cannon and climbed atop the fortress wall to look ahead.
“None left.”
Only a few undead remained.
There was no longer any point in operating the cannons.
He turned around and waited for the commander’s declaration of victory.
Seeing the old knight’s expectant gaze, Sinhyeok shouted with all his strength.
“We! Have won!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
Everyone cheered.
Sinhyeok patted the hard-working cannon and slowly descended the fortress.
“Mister!”
Namgung Sohye sprang out.
“Did we win?!”
“Yeah.”
At his indifferent answer, Sohye jumped in delight.
“Wooooow! We won!”
Excited as well, she ran outside.
Sinhyeok came outside and looked at the battlefield filled with rotting corpses.
“We won’t have to worry about these guys for a while.”
Beside him, Ichan lay sprawled on the ground, groaning.
“N-no more.”
“You worked hard.”
As Sinhyeok looked around the battlefield, he felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Why are they so shriveled up?”
The condition of the undead was a little strange.
‘They’re way too dried out.’
When he stepped on a corpse, it crumbled apart.
Looking at them up close, there was a clear difference from last time.
“Opsir.”
‘Yes.’
“Go check again. This time, can you confirm how many we killed, including the last battle?”
‘It is possible.’
Opsir immediately flew into the air.
Sinhyeok also used Mapping as he carefully checked the battle situation again.
[Using Mapping.]
Ten search orbs flew in all directions.
‘Emergency!’
“Hmm?”
‘A considerably dangerous bo—’
[One golem has been damaged and rendered inoperable.]
“Everyone! Combat stance!”
Sinhyeok grabbed Ichan, hauled him up, and slung him over his shoulder.
“Urk!?”
Ichan, forcibly suspended, asked in a hurry.
“Why?!”
“The golem sent out for scouting got blown away.”
“Opsir?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn.”
Opsir’s stealth was usually hard to detect.
Unless it was a truly powerful boss-class entity, he could barely be seen.
“What is it?!”
The startled old knight hurriedly looked down and asked Sinhyeok.
“There’s something out there! Absolutely do not let your guard down!”
Sinhyeok moved Ichan behind him and warned him.
“You don’t go forward.”
“Huh? O-okay!”
Ichan was strong against numbers, but weak against single entities.
“Where is it?”
Among the information flooding in from all directions, one target stood out.
‘There!’
[One search orb has been destroyed.]
He grasped the direction.
“Three o’clock!”
At the quickly relayed direction, everyone turned the barrels of their cannons.
In the distance, a single black orc could be seen approaching as it stepped over rotting corpses.
“Hrrrm.”
Heuseukak found the humans and fortress visible in the distance strange.
“This feels familiar.”
The land and terrain felt familiar.
When he saw the man standing at the top of the fortress, he realized immediately.
“I found you! You!”
The moment he pointed at the top with his finger, an intense welcome came flying at him.
“Hahahaha!”
Heuseukak laughed fiercely, lifted his foot with all his might, and stomped down.
Thud.
The earth trembled, and an earthen wall shot up.
“You bastard! I am the Demon King of Earth! Heuseukak……”
The earthen wall shattered.
And blue lights gathered along every fortress wall.
“Hrrm?”
“Die!”
At the old knight’s thunderous shout, Heuseukak was flustered.
“Hey? Hey, hey! Hey, chwiiik!?”
Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwang!
Without even time to prepare, Heuseukak was pummeled by artillery fire.
Sinhyeok opened his eyes wide and stared at the orc in the distance.
“Did it die?”
Perhaps everyone’s skill had improved quite a bit, because they had accurately focused their fire on the orc.
“……Crazy! It’s alive!”
He could see the orc writhing.
“Second volley! No, keep firing until we run out of mana stones!”
Sinhyeok hurriedly activated the Gatling as well.
“Charge mode!”
Wooooong.
Mana gathered and compressed.
“Go!”
Shoooong.
When Heuseukak barely managed to turn his head, he witnessed a mass of mana like an ultra-miniature Breath.
It was far too close to dodge.
“……Damn it.”
Just before the direct hit, Heuseukak hurriedly called upon his master.
“I offer everything that I, Heuseukak, possess! Great Archdemon Paimon! Hgyak!?”
Kwaaaaaang!!