Level Up Machine

Chapter 67 The Siege of Talion Fortress (2)

The plains where hundreds of monster troops had gathered.

A being mounted on a gigantic lion with a red mane was staring at the enormous fortress wall.

Fiery red scales. Two horns protruding from the forehead. Despite a small body not much different from a human’s, it exuded a powerful aura capable of trampling even a giant.

It was a Dragonian, a creature said to inherit the power of dragons.

“Lord Lekras. The human forces have gathered at the fortress.”

A Dragonian approached Lekras, who was perched atop the enormous lion.

Upon hearing his subordinate’s report, Lekras directed his fierce, yellow eyes, gleaming with savage madness, towards the city-fortress Talion.

The massive walls, built alongside a canyon,

even withstood a Dragonian’s breath, exuding an impression of unbreakable strength.

“This won’t be easy.”

Lekras muttered in a low voice. If the goal was simply to destroy the walls, it wouldn’t be that difficult.

The walls were fundamentally equipped with a powerful magical barrier.

However, if the thirty or so Dragonians here simultaneously unleashed their breath, no matter how strong the magical barrier, it would turn to ashes.

The problem wasn’t breaching the magical barrier and breaking the walls.

Even when a dragon directly used its breath, it was an attack that caused extreme exhaustion and mana depletion.

Although the breath used by Dragonians couldn’t be compared to that of a dragon, the extreme physical and mana depletion was the same.

If they used their breath to destroy the wall’s magical barrier, they wouldn’t be able to deal with the humans that would follow.

“Are the humans gathered in the fortress summoners? Or are they from the kingdom?”

“The humans currently gathered at the fortress are all summoners. There were no humans that appeared to be from the kingdom’s forces.”

“Hmm.”

At his subordinate’s words, Lekras tilted his head.

“Not a single soldier from the Elnote Kingdom?”

“Yes. It seems something happened, and they all withdrew.”

“Ha. They dared to withdraw their troops in my presence?”

Lekras twisted his expression savagely and clenched his fist. An intense flame ignited in his hand.

He didn’t know what had happened, but the fact that they dared to ignore him and withdraw their army felt extremely unpleasant.

‘I’ll make them regret not stopping me this time.’

Lekras’s eyes gleamed as he envisioned Leopold, the capital of the Elnote Kingdom, beyond the enormous fortress.

His goal was to destroy the capital of the Elnote Kingdom and annihilate every living human.

Although it was extremely unpleasant that the Elnote Kingdom’s army had ignored him and headed elsewhere, it was not necessarily bad news from a purely strategic perspective. In fact, it was rather welcome news.

“Is there any other information about the humans gathered at the fortress?”

“When the northern border was briefly overrun last time, the Leviathan Guild, which had been away, abandoned their dungeon exploration and joined the subjugation force.”

“The Leviathan Guild…”

Lekras narrowed his eyes. He had heard of the Leviathan Guild’s reputation. It was said to be a group of individuals among humans with exceptionally strong powers.

“Indeed, they can’t be underestimated.”

Lekras muttered coldly, his eyes gleaming. Though he had never fought against members of the Leviathan Guild, rumors of their immense strength had already spread among the monsters.

“Gather all Dragonians except for the minimum number needed to lead the monsters.”

“A-all Dragonians, sir?”

The Dragonian reporting to Lekras looked surprised.

Gathering all thirty Dragonians? No matter how powerful the Leviathan Guild was, this seemed like an excessive response. Besides, there was a more critical issue beyond just being an overreaction.

“If we do that, the force attacking the fortress will be too weak.”

The subordinate speaking to Lekras had a stiff expression.

Dragonians were the core strength of the monster forces right now.

Without them, there would be no way to assault the fortress.

Ignoring his subordinate’s gaze, Lekras stood up. A fiery curtain of flames surrounded his body.

“Attacking head-on is foolish anyway.”

“In that case…?”

Lekras’s eyes gleamed with ferocity.

“We will target the enemy’s rear.”

? * ?

The Salvator Guild, registered under the name ‘Eclozon Guild,’ was assigned to Team C, defending the right outskirts of the fortress wall.

Originally, the Salvator Guild wasn’t weak enough to be placed on the outskirts. Despite having only 12 members, the guild boasted powerful summoners like Yoo Jin, Yu-na, and Park Cheol-tae.

Moreover, Tiria, who possessed the ‘Archangel’s Blessing,’ was powerful enough to be classified among the strongest rankers, known to have surpassed human limits.

While it was true that even the strongest individuals couldn’t overcome sheer numbers, the Salvator Guild had the power to stand against even the top six guilds.

“Fortunately, it seems no one has noticed our true identities.”

Atop the right wall of the fortress, Yeong-sik, who was out scouting with Tiria, spoke.

“Everyone is busy preparing for the monster subjugation. And we are disguised, after all.”

Yeong-sik and Gil-soo, along with Ara, whose faces were not widely known, didn’t need to disguise themselves, but other guild members who were famous among summoners had to use simple magic to change their appearance.

In Tiria’s case, her golden hair, which looked like melted gold, was turned brown, and her facial features were slightly altered.

“Tiria, are we proceeding with the plan we discussed earlier for this subjugation?”

“Yes. We’ll leave the main boss monster subjugation to the Leviathan Guild and focus on clearing out as many surrounding monsters as possible.”

“If possible, I’d like to capture at least one of the regular Dragonians leading the monster troops. If we don’t achieve that, we might have issues later with the rewards.”

Yeong-sik rubbed his chin and spoke in a low voice. What he was aiming for this time was the Black Cube that came from the S-class boss monster.

The Black Cube was a junk item that only he could utilize.

However, no matter how much of a junk item it was, since it came from a boss monster, they needed to achieve some results to propose taking the Black Cube as a reward.

“Hmm. Do we really need to worry about that? The Leviathan Guild doesn’t even bother to collect the Black Cubes from the bosses they defeat.”

“That’s true.”

Yeong-sik nodded, recalling how Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword Guild had ignored the Black Cube from a boss monster in the past.

“But doing so would also help us get other rewards and assist in the subjugation itself.”

“Haha, yes. I’ll do as you say, Yeong-sik.”

Tiria answered with a look full of trust. Since the incident of the royal palace attack, she had shown a remarkably pure trust in Yeong-sik.

Yeong-sik looked down from the wall, deep in thought.

‘There’s no need to reveal our full strength and draw attention during this subjugation.’

The monster subjugation operation led by the Leviathan Guild included an enormous number of summoners.

From small guilds with just over ten members to massive guilds with hundreds, and summoners acting in parties or individually.

The number of summoners gathered at Talion was so large that it was hard to believe that so many existed in the Elnote Kingdom. All were eager to secure substantial rewards from this subjugation.

There was no tension of battle visible on the faces of the summoners preparing for the subjugation. It was almost unreasonable not to feel any tension when facing the monster troops that had crushed the northern border, but they had their reasons for confidence.

The Leviathan Guild. The presence of this massive guild, operating on a different level from others, was part of the reason.

Moreover, this subjugation was a defensive operation rather than an offensive one.

Considering how advantageous it was to defend in a siege, it was natural that they didn’t feel much tension.

Ding, ding, ding!

At that moment, a loud bell rang out from the walls of Talion Fortress.

“Confirmed monster troops appearing at the front!”

“Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Shouts from the summoners mixed with the loud bell. Yeong-sik and Tiria’s eyes met.

“It’s starting.”

“Let’s return to where the guild members are.”

Yeong-sik and Tiria moved towards the wall where the Salvator Guild members were gathered.

“Hwang-hyeon, what’s the size of the enemy force?”

Arriving at the wall, Tiria asked in a low voice. Hwang-hyeon, peering over the wall, muttered softly.

“Eagle Sight.”

His eyes glowed blue. Staring intently at the approaching monster troops raising a cloud of dust, Hwang-hyeon spoke.

“There are about a thousand of them. Ogres, Minotaurs, and Cyclopes are the main forces.”

“…Certainly, that’s a terrifying force.”

Hearing Hwang-hyeon’s report, Tiria’s expression hardened. They were all high-level monsters, each over level 70. Moreover, giant-type monsters like Ogres were often elite monsters.

A thousand elite monsters. It was a force powerful enough to be dizzying.

“Guild Master, Yoo Tae-sik, Kim Chan-hyung, and Park Eun-young have sent word. They have been assigned to the central part of the wall with the Leviathan Guild.”

“Please tell them to participate in the subjugation autonomously until further notice.”

“Yes.”

Han-seong nodded and picked up the crystal ball.

Tiria stepped forward and continued speaking.

“First, there will be long-range bombardment instructions from the Leviathan Guild. At that time, Hwang-hyeon, Ara, and Tae-young, please support with long-range attacks.”

“Huh? What about me?”

“Since it takes a long time for you to reuse your magic after casting it once, Chae-rin, wait and observe the situation before using your magic.”

“Got it, Tiria unnie!”

Chae-rin shouted brightly, raising one hand.

“Ho.”

Yeong-sik chuckled as he watched Tiria calmly giving orders to the guild members.

‘Now she looks like a proper guild master.’

After the royal palace attack incident, she seemed to have made a resolution, now giving sharp and composed commands unlike before.

Watching her speak in a manner that seemed to mimic his own, Yeong-sik smiled gently. It was like seeing a disciple grow, a master’s feeling.

“Cheol-tae, Yoo Jin, and Yu-na, wait until the monsters break through the long-range attacks and approach the wall. And…”

Listening to her instructions,

Yeong-sik turned his gaze beyond the dusty plains.

Whirr.

The sound of a camera lens rotating was heard from his eyes as his vision expanded.

“Hmm…?”

Yeong-sik’s expression twisted as he looked at the monster troops advancing towards them.

“What is this?”