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Chapter 17
Two hours earlier.
After all the defensive measures were in place, while I was arranging the roles of Choi Yoon-ah and the villagers for the upcoming battle with the lich, Lee Jin-yoon came looking for me.
“Hyung-nim, is there… nothing I can do?”
“You? …Hmm. Well.”
Honestly, I just wished he wouldn’t get in the way.
The best he could do was hole up somewhere and stay put.
After all, in this stage, Choi Yoon-ah was the one who had the most important role.
Of course, I couldn’t say that straight to his face.
‘Anyway, he’s someone I’ll definitely need after the raid.’
Right now he was useless, but that didn’t mean I should treat him badly.
On the contrary, because of that very reason, I had to keep Lee Jin-yoon as safe as possible.
If he recklessly rushed in and died, I’d be losing one of my cash cows.
“…I know. You don’t trust me, do you?”
It seemed he was well aware of how people saw him.
“To be honest, I don’t really know what you’re capable of.”
“T-then how about I show you my Authority once?”
What I meant was “you can’t do anything.”
But he took it as “I don’t know what kind of power you have.”
“…Fine. Show me.”
So I decided to at least take a look.
I figured he’d project an Armament into the sword at his hip.
With a Legendary-ranked Guardian Spirit, its power and performance had to be formidable—but in the end, it would still be in Jin-yoon’s hands.
No matter how great the weapon, it was meaningless in the grip of someone hopeless at combat.
Clang.
But instead of a sword, he pulled out the shield strapped to his back.
Then he infused it with mana and projected his Armament.
Bzzz.
The shield began to glow blue, then split into hundreds of tiny fragments that floated around him.
Vwoom. Vwoom.
The fragments lined up in intervals, resonating together.
In moments, a massive hemispherical barrier, at least ten meters wide, formed.
‘A defensive projected Armament?’
“This is my ability!” Jin-yoon said proudly, as if showing off.
“I haven’t had it long, so I’m not used to it yet… but the defense is amazing!”
‘Of course it is.’
It was a Legendary Guardian Spirit’s defensive Armament. Of course the performance would be top-tier.
I hadn’t expected anything, but now I felt a flicker of interest.
‘So that’s how this coward managed to survive the first stage…’
If his main weapon wasn’t a sword but a defensive tool, it changed things.
Even a coward could hide behind a shield without fear.
And this wasn’t just a shield—it was a full 360-degree barrier.
If he could freely deploy and retract it at will, it would have all the strengths of a shield without any of the weaknesses.
“Then… how about you take on the role of protecting people with that?”
I immediately gave him a task.
As it happened, we needed that exact ability in a certain spot.
“Of course! I’m confident in guarding people!”
“There.”
I pointed to the western wall of the village.
“Wait there. If you see a dangerous attack coming, use your barrier to protect the villagers.”
That side was cluttered with rocks and trees, a real headache for Yoon-ah who had to snipe from the tower.
I’d been struggling with how to defend that area, but Jin-yoon appeared just in time.
Even if Yoon-ah missed a shot, Jin-yoon’s shield could reduce the damage at least once.
“Understood! I’ll head there right away!”
Like a fresh recruit, he sprinted off toward the west wall—though the boss fight was still far off.
Later, amid the ruins of the collapsed defense tower, I saw Jin-yoon protecting the villagers with his barrier.
‘Well… he did manage something, at least.’
His response wasn’t perfect.
If he had deployed the barrier when the thundercloud first formed, the lich’s fireball would have struck his shield instead of the tower.
The tower wouldn’t have collapsed.
‘But that’s too much to expect.’
The barrier cut off inside from outside completely.
That meant allies inside couldn’t attack outward either.
So, to avoid hindering defense, he had to wait, drop the barrier, then deploy it at the right timing.
No way a coward like him could pull that off.
Most likely, he just hid in the tower until panicked villagers rushed in—then threw up his shield.
Still, he had saved valuable villagers—worth precious Raid Points. That was enough.
“Lee Jin-yoon!”
“Yes, sir!”
“Move into that tower over there!”
“Ah, yes, understood!”
I ordered him into another tower connected to the western wall.
Not only the villagers’ lives, but his own, were valuable.
Then I cleared the nearby orcs and hurried back north.
In my mind, I reviewed my next task.
[The Orc Warlord appears from the north. Time of appearance uncertain.]
‘Not yet, probably.’
I glanced toward Yoon-ah as I ran.
Bang! Bang!
She was still relentlessly sniping at the lich, faster than before.
Finally, I reached the northern front.
[The Warlord must be eliminated first. Never allow the lich to possess its body.]
The intel note’s warning echoed in my head.
The Warlord’s powerful physique plus the lich’s magic—deadly.
Absolutely not a combination to allow.
“Graaaagh!”
Boom!
Right on cue, the Warlord appeared before me.
Its massive frame and roar commanded everyone’s attention.
‘Mana Potion. Sphere of Infernal Flame.’
I downed a potion and summoned the black fireball into my hand.
Then I glanced toward Yoon-ah again.
She was staring at the Warlord.
I raised my other hand, crossed my arms into an X, then gestured away.
‘Don’t focus on the Warlord. Kill the lich elsewhere.’
Though confused, she obeyed.
Bang!
Her bullet pierced another lich, killing it.
Its soul’s next destination was clear.
‘The Warlord.’
The strongest body on the field.
I just stood there, watching it happen.
That was exactly what I wanted.
The intel note had warned against it—but I was deliberately doing the opposite.
{The lich possesses the Orc Warlord’s body, bringing all its power into the mortal realm.}
{A minion of Naberius descends.}
To summon a demon.
“Hyah!”
I charged the demon, black flames coiling around my fist.
One blow—if it landed, it would be over.
-
Ha! To allow me to descend, you are truly a fool…
“Shut up and take this.”
I ignored its voice in my head.
The three-headed demon loomed.
Whoosh!
I drove my flaming fist forward, the talons of fire surging like a dragon’s claw.
BOOM!
-
Ghhk! T-this…!
As expected, the demon showed extreme weakness to the Sphere’s hellfire.
‘So demons can be killed instantly with this…’
I recalled the words of Baphomet’s minion.
“That one’s flame.”
It had implied knowledge of my power’s origin.
Considering all that had happened recently, perhaps Azidahaka—the source of this Authority—was a high-ranking existence even among hell’s demons.
An existence strong enough to devour lesser demons without resistance.
That was why I used the same method again.
To fulfill the command: “Harvest more demons.”
-
Kuaaaaah!
The black flames surged, devouring Naberius’ minion.
It hadn’t even managed to resist before vanishing to ash.
The final boss of Stage 3 disappeared so pathetically, without a fight.
{<Basic Martial Arts> proficiency has increased. 100/100}
{<Basic Martial Arts> upgraded to <Intermediate Martial Arts>.}
Alongside the boss kill, my martial arts skill advanced.
And then—
{You have devoured Naberius’ Minion.}
{Error detected!}
{Stage 3 has suffered a critical fault.}
{For smoother raid progression, Stage 3 will proceed without a boss battle.}
{As compensation, rewards for Stage 3 will be reduced.}
After clearing Stage 3, the city’s mood was grim.
“Damn it! What the hell is this?”
“What’s going on here?”
“I’ve never seen anything like this before…”
The error message that appeared after I killed Naberius wasn’t just for me.
Everyone in the raid saw it.
“This makes it totally unfair for later parties! What the hell!”
The meaning was clear.
The Stage 3 boss—the lich, Naberius’ minion—was gone.
So from now on, Stage 3 would have no boss for other players.
Therefore, their rewards—gold and raid points—were cut.
And by how much?
“Down to one-tenth! Are you kidding me?!”
A 90% cut.
I’d received 50 raid points just from Stage 3’s clear reward, not counting bonuses.
But now, others were only getting 5.
Even bonus points had been reduced since the difficulty was deemed “lower.”
In short—I’d just kicked away the ladder for everyone else.
<Raid Point Rankings>
1st: 165 pts (Me)
2nd: 122 pts
3rd: 119 pts
…
37th: 101 pts
38th: 56 pts
38th: 56 pts
40th: 55 pts
…
The gap between early entrants and later entrants had exploded.
Anyone ranked 38th or below now had almost zero chance of catching up to the top 37.
For skilled players who had planned to farm gold and catch up later—it was a death blow.
‘Well, works out great for me.’
The fight for 1st place didn’t matter—I was unshakably in the lead.
But I had eliminated potential hidden threats.
Fewer variables. More advantages.
‘Anyway, more importantly…’
Right now, something mattered more than raid points.
My Authority list.
<Authority List>
…
-
Gae Bolg
The stolen Authority that had vanished—had reappeared.
