Level Up Machine

Chapter 68 The Siege of Talion Fortress (3)

“Commence bombardment!”

A woman with wavy, blue hair stood at the center of the wall, raising one hand. She was Park Si-a, the guild leader of the Leviathan Guild, bearing the title of the mythical monster, ‘Leviathan.’

Her voice, brimming with magical power, spread across the entire wall.

The summoners swallowed hard at the powerful magic they felt from her voice. Just hearing it made their whole bodies feel like they were freezing from the cold force.

Rumble!

Following her command, the summoners capable of long-range attacks simultaneously unleashed their magic and skills. From palm-sized flames to massive three-meter-long lightning spears.

Brilliantly shining magic and arrows were shot at the monster troops.

Boom!

Rumble!

-Screech!

The intense impact reached the walls and shook the plains. The monsters caught in the massive explosion twisted their bodies and let out agonizing screams.

“Push them harder!”

Park Si-a, who was calmly observing the battlefield, shouted. The power in her voice raised the morale of the summoners. Her buff skill, ‘Blessing of the Water God,’ had been activated.

“Ice Spear!”

“Triple Shot.”

The members of the Salvator Guild on the right wall also launched long-range attacks under Park Si-a’s command. Magic gathered at the end of Ara’s staff, forming a massive spear that targeted the monsters.

Following Ara, Hwang-hyeon, who had loaded three arrows into his longbow, muttered the skill name in a low voice. The three arrows shot accurately into the monsters’ foreheads.

“Grasp of Curse.”

A boy with a somewhat arrogant impression, Han Tae-yeong, uttered the name of a sinister skill. Dark crimson claws extended from his left arm and grabbed an ogre’s neck.

-Screech!

The ogre, its neck gripped by the dark crimson claws, began to cry out in pain with bloodshot eyes.

Han Tae-yeong possessed the hidden class ‘Corrupted Priest,’ which allowed him to use both protective barriers and curse-related skills. Unlike typical healer classes, he couldn’t use healing skills except for barrier-related ones, so Chae-rin teased him by calling him a “half-baked healer.”

However, his curse skills were so powerful that they could be compared to those of a debuff-specialized dark mage class, so calling him a “half-baked healer” wasn’t quite accurate.

“Please don’t use your skills with full power. We might lack mana in critical moments later.”

Tiria softly spoke to those launching long-range attacks.

Ara, Hwang-hyeon, and Tae-yeong nodded, drinking mana recovery potions intermittently while continuing their attacks.

Yeong-sik squinted his eyes as he observed the monster troops.

‘As I thought, they’re not here.’

The ominous feeling he had when he saw the monster troops earlier made him even more tense. The Dragonians, which could be considered the core strength of the monster troops, were mostly absent except for a few.

‘Are they planning to use Breath?’

The main reason the first northern boundary was breached so easily was because of the Dragonians’ breath attacks. However, the subjugation force was not foolish enough to be caught off guard by the same attack method twice.

The subjugation force had layered several powerful magic barriers on the wall. While these barriers couldn’t completely block the Dragonian’s breath, it would take at least twenty Dragonians simultaneously using their breath to break through them.

The subjugation force actually hoped the Dragonians would use their breath recklessly.

This was because they had formed an assassination squad to be dispatched immediately after the Dragonians used their breath, exploiting the fact that the Dragonians would be severely exhausted.

Centered around Kang Ha-rin of the White Sword Guild and Warlock Park Sang-jun, this assassination squad was ready to charge at the Dragonians the moment their breath was unleashed.

‘If it’s not breath, why aren’t they showing up in the siege battle?’

It was said that the Dragonians’ intelligence was on par with or even surpassed that of humans. Monsters with such intelligence couldn’t possibly be unaware of the advantages of defending in a siege battle.

Yeong-sik turned his head to look at the monster troops.

There were as many as a thousand high-level monsters. Moreover, they were mostly elite monsters, with a large number of giant-type monsters among them.

It took a tremendous amount of effort to deal with just one ogre, to the point where the expression “a hell of a struggle” was apt. Yet, the monster troops included many minotaurs and cyclopes, which were known to be even stronger than ogres.

‘They are definitely a powerful force…

Yeong-sik watched the summoners on the wall casting spells at the monsters. The number of summoners participating in the subjugation was about five thousand.

Most of them were low-level summoners around level 30 to 40, but with this many gathered, their attacks couldn’t be ignored.

In a situation where they already had the numerical advantage and the benefit of defending, it was natural for the battle to tilt in favor of the summoners.

‘There’s no way they didn’t foresee this outcome.’

Yeong-sik thought sharply, his eyes glinting.

The Dragonians weren’t lacking in intelligence, and they surely knew that this would happen if they didn’t participate in the siege.

“Is something wrong, Yeong-sik?”

Yu-na, who had nothing particular to do because she was a close-combat warrior, asked Yeong-sik. With a deeply sunken gaze, Yeong-sik responded to her question.

“Something feels off.”

“What? Aren’t we at a great advantage right now?”

Yu-na tilted her head with a puzzled expression. Yeong-sik was about to explain to her about the absence of the Dragonians when it happened.

– Boom!

“Ugh!”

The monsters, having broken through the long-range bombardment, began pounding on the wall with brute strength. The 20-meter-high wall of Talion Fortress shook violently.

“Is it finally our turn?”

Yu-na, sounding frustrated from just watching, cheerfully drew her twin swords. Yeong-sik also temporarily set aside his doubts and turned his attention to the monsters.

– Boom! Boom! Boom!

“The monsters are climbing the wall!”

“Warrior-type summoners, defend the wall!”

The ogres, minotaurs, and cyclopes, proving they were not called giant monsters for nothing, began climbing the wall in a brute-force manner.

Warrior-class summoners each drew their weapons and stepped forward.

Fwoosh!

“Time to stretch a bit!”

Yu-na, who had hardly fought in the previous royal castle attack incident, smiled widely and slashed her twin swords at the head of a minotaur climbing the wall.

Intense flames burst from her swords, setting the minotaur’s body ablaze. The minotaur, struck by her attack, screamed and began to fall to the ground.

“Focus your attacks to prevent the monsters from climbing up the wall!”

At Tiria’s shout, the Salvator Guild members moved into action.

Park Cheol-tae swung his ridiculously huge greatsword, striking the heads of the monsters climbing the wall. The monsters couldn’t withstand his powerful attacks and fell to the ground.

If they were fighting on flat ground, even a high-level summoner like Park Cheol-tae wouldn’t have been able to handle the monsters so easily. But by utilizing the geographical advantage, the monsters had no choice but to fall victim to his attacks.

-Grrr!

The warrior-class summoners desperately blocked the monsters from climbing the wall. However, they couldn’t stop all the monsters climbing up with tremendous momentum.

A cyclops that had climbed the wall let out a rough roar and swung its massive arms.

“Blade.”

Click.

At Yeong-sik’s low voice, a 30-centimeter-long blade extended from the back of his left hand. The cyclops on the wall started charging toward Ara and Hwang-hyeon.

“Mister!”

“Got it!”

Yeong-sik called out to Gil-soo. Gil-soo thrust his radiant shield forward, unleashing a shockwave.

Boom!

-Grrr

The cyclops turned its gaze toward Gil-soo. Its eye, as big as a basketball, gleamed with madness.

“Ugh…”

Gil-soo’s body stiffened under the cyclops’ gaze. At level 45, the cyclops was too powerful an enemy for him to handle.

-Swooosh!

A burst of light flared from Yeong-sik’s feet. His body shot forward like a missile.

“Sword Draw.”

Slash!

-Graaaa!

Yeong-sik, who had approached the cyclops, spun half a turn and slashed down with his blade. The blade extended momentarily to a meter in length, slicing through the cyclops’ body.

-Grrr!

The cyclops turned its gaze to Yeong-sik. It swung its fist, larger than a human torso, toward Yeong-sik.

A giant, mace-like fist aimed at Yeong-sik.

“Blessing of the Holy Spirit! Divine Shield!”

Han-seong’s magic was directed at Yeong-sik.

A translucent shield formed around Yeong-sik, increasing his speed and strength.

The buff skill of the Cleric class had been activated.

Boom!

With Han-seong’s buff, Yeong-sik slightly twisted his body, dodging the Cyclops’s attack. The massive fist struck the fortress wall, scattering stone fragments like bullets.

HPing ping ping!

The stone fragments, scattered like bullets, bounced off the shield enveloping Yeong-sik’s body. A significant gap appeared in the Cyclops’s defense after its failed attack.

Yeong-sik’s eyes gleamed sharply.

“Shotgun.”

-Click.

As his right hand moved down, two gun barrels appeared. Yeong-sik aimed the shotgun at the Cyclops’s huge eye.

Bang!

-Kraaah!

The Cyclops’s eyeball burst from the shotgun blast. The Cyclops let out a terrible scream, shaking its body wildly. Its massive arms swept around the surroundings.

However, Yeong-sik, with agility higher than that of 90-level warrior-class summoners, easily avoided the blind Cyclops’s frantic attacks.

Yeong-sik dodged the Cyclops’s attacks with a relaxed expression.

“Rift.”

Yoo Jin, who had been watching, used magic aimed at the Cyclops’s neck. With a distortion of space, the Cyclops’s neck fell to the ground.

“Be careful! More monsters are climbing up the wall!”

Yu-na, who was fighting an Ogre alone on the wall, shouted. Yeong-sik nodded and charged at another monster climbing the wall.

“Light of Heaven.”

At that moment, a beautiful voice flowed into Yeong-sik’s ears.

It was the familiar voice of Tiria. Yeong-sik turned his head towards her direction.

-Wooong.

A brilliant light rose from Tiria’s right arm. Tiria slowly extended her arm, which was emitting a dazzling light.

Fwoosh!

-Kraaah!

The bodies of three Ogres touched by her light instantly turned to ashes. Yeong-sik was awestruck by her power, which wiped out three level 70 elite monsters in a single strike.

‘Is that the power of Tiria using the Archangel’s Blessing?’

He had heard that Tiria, using the angel’s power, was strong enough that even top rankers couldn’t easily face her, but seeing it with his own eyes gave him chills.

‘If it continues like this, we can easily handle the monsters.’

Although he couldn’t be sure about other areas, the right wall where the Salvator Guild was stationed was almost perfectly defending against the monsters’ assault.

‘Then, should I start targeting a Dragonian?’

As planned, Yeong-sik looked around to spot a Dragonian.

Then it happened.

Boom boom boom boom boom!

With a massive explosion, a fearsome red light emitting tremendous magic was fired. It was the Dragonian’s breath attack.

“Wait!”

Yeong-sik’s expression hardened.

“Why is the breath attack coming from there…”

The Dragonian’s breath was not being fired from outside the fortress inward. It was being fired from ‘inside’ the fortress city of Talion, which they were defending.