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chapter 37
I was trapped.
The only portal that could take me back to the real world wasn’t working.
“Damn it… you want me to die here?”
To make matters worse, the system was openly showing hostility toward me.
That ominous red sky.
I had a strong feeling that something disastrous was bound to happen.
“I absolutely can’t let that happen. No way.”
At this point, the best course of action I could take was clear.
Occupy the castle as originally planned.
The moment I became the lord of the castle and gained control, I would acquire the authority to exert significant influence within this dungeon.
Even if inexplicable phenomena occurred, I would gain multiple options to resolve them.
With that thought, I returned to the castle.
There were no guards at the entrance.
Instead, armed soldiers were gathering in the town.
“To those who threw stones at my soldiers yesterday! And those who infiltrated the inner castle! Step forward and kneel before me!”
A knight shouted toward the people.
At first, no one stepped forward.
“There’s no choice then. I’ll have to ask God directly!”
Swish!
“The innocent will survive even if stabbed by this sword, and the guilty will die!”
As the atmosphere grew tense, people gradually began to step forward.
Of course, no one truly knew who the real culprits were.
There were likely innocent citizens willing to take the blame to protect their families, following the insane law of “survive the stabbing and you’re innocent, die and you’re guilty.”
But there was no reason to pity those falsely accused.
This was all part of the expected flow.
“The quest is functioning properly.”
Fortunately, despite the red sky, the quest was progressing exactly as outlined in the patch notes.
“Here, defeat Baron Marcus and the knights individually and occupy the inner castle.”
This was a predicted opportunity.
The enemy forces were currently divided between the inner castle’s defenders and the baron’s knights who had come to capture the culprit.
If I had started a siege recklessly, I would have had to fight all of them at once, facing both the defensive advantage and their concentrated forces.
But if I fought now, the enemy was split and vulnerable to being defeated individually.
It was the most favorable situation for the attacker.
“Plus, it’s a chance to eliminate high-level troops that don’t respawn.”
Especially since Marcus himself had gathered all the castle knights with him.
If these knights were protected by endlessly respawning nameless NPCs, they would have been a nightmare to deal with.
But in this open city without escorts, they could be easily eliminated.
“All that remains is to secure troops for the siege.”
Even that wasn’t a worry.
If I simply waited quietly here, “my soldiers” would naturally appear.
Tat-tat-tat!
Ching!
“What?!”
Someone among the people ran out and swung a sword at Marcus, who was mounted on his horse.
Unfortunately, the strike was blocked by his defense.
But the attacker immediately drove the blade into the neck of a nearby knight.
“Ugh!”
“Treason!”
The one who jumped in was the one-armed swordswoman, Adel.
Gripping her remaining right hand’s sword in reverse, she fought the masterful knights with animal-like instincts.
Clang! Ching! Swish!
Adel fought desperately against multiple knights alone.
Her agile movements dodged incoming blades while counterattacking—a near-supernatural martial skill.
“Is… is that Adel?”
“Did she have that kind of talent?”
The onlooking residents whispered in astonishment as they watched her fight.
Thwack!
“Ugh!”
“Got you! Die!”
Of course, even Adel couldn’t overcome the numerical disadvantage forever.
A knight’s blade grazed her shoulder, causing her to stagger briefly.
I clenched my fists.
Should I intervene here?
I felt compelled to protect her.
But stepping in now would ruin everything.
To ensure the quest proceeded normally, I had to stay back and watch what unfolded ahead.
“Adel won’t die here.”
Despite the missing arm from an unexpected factor last night, she fought skillfully.
As long as the flow of the world proceeded correctly, nothing would kill her.
If a problem arose, I could intervene.
Ching! Thwack!
“Ugh!”
At last, she blocked all the incoming blades and successfully cut down another knight.
This scene inspired all the people present.
“Let’s help her!”
“Kill the baron!”
“Uoooooh!”
The townspeople, who had been obedient slaves, transformed into a revolutionary army in an instant.
They all charged the knights in the center with their bare hands.
{<Devin> has joined the clan.}
{<Grant> has joined the clan.}
{<Rami> has joined the clan.}
{<Mark> has…}
Simultaneously, messages popped up in front of me: so many NPCs had joined my clan.
Adel was the NPC master of my clan.
The moment they decided to join her, they became members of my clan.
With that, the troop recruitment was complete.
Now it was my turn to intervene.
NPCs in a clan can be easily managed by the clan leader via the system.
They can be equipped with weapons, trained to enhance stats, and more.
Although they are limited compared to an Awakened one who can use powers, having an army entirely obedient to commands is an enormous advantage.
“Distribute quest equipment automatically.”
{Do you want to distribute the quest equipment in your inventory to clan members?}
“Yes.”
Using this management feature, I immediately armed all the NPC clan members present.
The weapons and gear I had accumulated, stolen from the armory last night, were now in the hands of the crowd.
“These guys! …Huh?”
“Yaaaah!”
The NPC clan members wielded the weapons as if they had belonged to them all along, bewildering the baron’s knights.
The civilians who had charged barehanded in shabby clothing moments ago were now equipped like soldiers.
Naturally, this caused confusion.
Clang! Boom! Thwack!
The tide of battle flipped instantly.
The fight where Adel struggled alone became an encirclement massacre thanks to the armed townspeople.
Overwhelming numbers surrounded the baron and his knights, who numbered only a few dozen.
“You scoundrels…! Fine, today you all die!”
Baron Marcus raised his sword.
A blue aura began to emanate from its blade.
“So that’s the sword energy.”
He wasn’t just a talkative noble; he was a martial aristocrat with formidable power.
While Awakened could easily infuse weapons with mana using Weapon Projection, NPCs had to use other techniques.
One such technique was this sword energy.
An NPC using it meant they had quite advanced combat ability.
“You’ll die first!”
Marcus turned to charge at Adel.
She had no way to block the attack.
Clang!
I stepped in.
With my Dragon Claw, I blocked Marcus’s mana-infused blade.
“Hero…?”
“Cheh! Who are you?”
Marcus’s charge was interrupted, and his horse passed right by me.
Clatter… clatter…
He turned and charged again.
“Adel, fall back behind me. Everyone else, move to my rear as well.”
“…Yes!”
She obeyed without hesitation, taking the residents with her to the rear.
Now, in the broad semicircle ahead of me, there was not a single ally.
Flare.
My right hand glowed red.
It wasn’t the black flames of the Flame of Retribution—it was the pure scarlet flames of the sun.
A variation of the Projection Weapon, the Solar Sword Galatine.
Slash Wave Accumulator.
Fire Claw Slash (Kajo-Zan) Galatine.
The moment the power activated, a long fiery claw grew from the dragon-like forepaw of my right hand.
Nearly ten meters long, like a massive blade.
“No? Stop! S-Stop!”
Baron Marcus, charging head-on, tried to rein in his horse at the sight.
But it was too late.
He couldn’t escape my attack range.
Whoosh!
Stepping forward with my right foot, I swung my hand in a horizontal slash from left to right.
Not a hook or swing—just a slash.
The semicircular strike covered the entire area in front of me, cleaving every knight in its path in half.
“Aaaargh!”
Marcus, still mounted, had both legs cut off along with his horse.
He had tried to jump off before impact, but was too late.
“Damn… damn it!”
That ended it.
The remaining knights couldn’t stand against the armed civilians swarming from all sides.
Their leader, the baron, was incapacitated and rolling on the ground.
“Die.”
I said softly to the baron.
The oppressor’s end came at the hands of the oppressed, not a hero.
“The baron has fallen! Kill him!”
“Uwaaaah!”
The residents of Alford Castle, now my clan members, gathered around the fallen Marcus.
Marcus was brutally killed by the citizens who resented his tyranny.
The castle’s final boss was defeated.
I had merely followed the quest, yet easily removed the greatest obstacle.
The enemy level here wasn’t particularly high, and using NPCs made the conquest almost effortless.
The reward? A powerful weapon called an Aether Weapon.
This excellent cost-to-benefit ratio was why I had chosen this place first among the patch notes.
“Move faster, faster.”
Of course, that didn’t mean it was safe yet.
The sky remained an eerie red.
Who knew when another abnormal situation might occur?
I had to quickly occupy the castle and prepare in advance.
Until I could escape the dungeon, I needed every precaution.
“Ughhh!”
“Don’t scatter! Push them back together!”
“Die!”
I led the clan members into the inner castle, defeating remaining forces and starting the occupation process.
“We’ll split here. Adel, take half the troops and occupy the two outer barracks. I’ll handle the main keep.”
“Yes! Understood!”
There were four occupation points in the inner castle: two barracks and the baron’s keep.
All points had to be occupied simultaneously to claim the castle.
“Just a little more… a little…”
And that moment was near.
The weak defenders ahead were easily defeated by the NPC clan members without my intervention.
Finally…
“Found it!”
I located the last occupation point.
Now I just had to send forces to occupy it and the point I discovered earlier…
Crunch… crunch…
“Huh? What’s that?”
“What’s wrong with him?”
A chilling sensation came from behind me.
The clan NPCs shivered.
Turning around, I saw one of the approaching defenders’ bodies twist grotesquely.
A beast fusion, like yesterday.
It had appeared.
Crunch… crack… crack…
Snap…
“Damn it…”
The fusion began crawling out from the bodies of the endlessly respawning defenders.
