At the appointed time, Hanul Guild’s raid party, including Jeong Hyeon-su, entered the Gate.
FLASH!
When the curtain-like brilliance covering their vision faded, a fortress wall reminiscent of medieval Europe appeared before their eyes.
[You are entering Cologne Gorge, the fortress of Count Durait, who guards the border of the Kingdom of Akirana.]
[Defend the gorge against the offensive of the Ogre Kingdom, which has invaded the nation’s territory!]
It was a mission-type Gate that assigned them an objective.
‘A defense game?’
Just as there were ordinary clearing-type Gates like Palbongsan Gate, which he had previously entered, there were also Gates that gave mission-type defense objectives like this.
Defending a castle against the Greenskin Clan was, in a sense, a cliché in a fantasy setting.
And there were two ways to clear this.
The first was to faithfully follow the orthodox strategy and complete the defense game.
‘The other is to repel the attacking army in reverse.’
Naturally, the reward for the latter was much better.
Jeong Hyeon-su knew that because he had done it himself.
“You stupid bastards! What are you planning to do by standing around here in a daze?”
A brown-haired Westerner wearing leather armor approached the raid party led by Jeong Hyeon-su.
A distinctive stench, a mixture of the rancid odor of sweat and the reek of blood, stabbed into their noses.
A man who smelled of a battlefield steeped in a long, drawn-out war kicked over a wooden chair beside him and spoke.
“Are you not going up onto the walls this instant? No matter how urgent things are, what are the higher-ups thinking, sending even brats like these here?”
“Is there anything we can do about it? The capital is too busy fighting over its own rice bowls to care what is happening here. Hey, recruits! You lot go that way! I do not ask anything else of you. Just hold your positions! Wait a moment!”
Unlike the sharp-tempered brown-haired man, another man who had been answering in a more easygoing manner suddenly tilted his head.
“Hm? Might you be mages?”
The commander asked while looking at Im Hyeon-min.
“…That is correct.”
At that, the commander’s expression brightened.
“Nukella, heavens! It seems we are not fated to die yet! Then the others around you as well?”
“Yes. They are all trained Combat Mages.”
Cheers erupted from the surroundings at those words.
“A Mage Corps! We are saved!”
“We are counting on you, honored mages!”
It was the moment when the special nature of the Gate manifested.
That highly alien special nature was that the Gate’s perception adjusted itself to the abilities of those entering it.
It was a moment when the status held by mages was laid bare.
Especially because, in a battle between groups like this, few things possessed as much destructive power as wide-area magic fired in volleys by mages.
“I will escort you this way. I am James, a knight in the service of His Excellency Count Durait. Haha! The Margrave will be delighted to hear this as well. O Nukella! Thank you!”
The excited knight James was just about to guide them.
“Ah.”
Raid Captain Im Hyeon-min briefly stopped walking.
“Hm? Is there a problem?”
“It is not exactly a problem, but what must be made known should be made known. Among those here, this man.”
His finger pointed at Jeong Hyeon-su.
“He is not a mage.”
“Ah, I can tell that much at a glance. Is he perhaps a guard knight who came to escort the Mage Corps?”
“He is similar to that.”
James stared intently at Jeong Hyeon-su.
“I can sense considerable strength from him. It is clear that he is no ordinary combatant. If he can exert great power on the battlefield, that would be splendid. It feels as though Nukella may bless him as well. What is your opinion, sir knight?”
[James, a knight of Margrave Durait, requests that you distinguish yourself on the front line.]
[Will you accept?]
It was a laughable trick.
If he followed the System’s words, it seemed a rather tempting reward would come, but Jeong Hyeon-su had already decided to repel the invading army in his own way. He had no intention of wearing such a shackle.
“I refuse.”
James’s expression turned bitter.
“Hmph! You seem to have no knightly honor. Do you mean to stay in the rear and merely protect the mages?”
“Is the Mage Corps not an important force? A knight may well be necessary in case close combat breaks out.”
“There is no such thing as the rear in my chivalry!”
Despite the accusing voice and the gazes of Hanul’s mages, which seemed to say they had expected as much, Jeong Hyeon-su did not show the slightest reaction.
‘The Kingdom of Akirana… I am certain there was a record I read in the library on the fifth floor.’
The book in which the Orc Warlord he was pursuing had been recorded was none other than the Saga of the Kingdom of Akirana.
And the Kingdom of Akirana was a world that had been destroyed. The library on the fifth floor contained fragments of the apocalypse of worlds that the Tower itself had destroyed.
Of course, it was not an important central record, but rather something closer to a crude Easter egg, with various clues scattered in advance so that Hunters would not complain later.
‘And whoever picks it up is the owner.’
This place was a destroyed world.
And the battlefield into which they had been thrown was inevitably bound to meet one outcome.
‘Defeat.’
That was why the Tower had created Gates and scattered them throughout the world. He had heard that almost all Gates were like this.
They were made by gathering fragments of destroyed worlds and restructuring them to suit the Tower’s tastes before placing them on a trial stage.
He did not know why it did such a thing.
However, if one knew the predetermined ending, Jeong Hyeon-su also knew very well just how great the reward would be for overturning that ending.
Ignoring the prickling stares, Jeong Hyeon-su followed James.
“This is the place. Originally, this was the area where the mages took position.”
“…If you say it was the area?”
“They could not endure the mana rampage caused by the endless fighting.”
The atmosphere grew solemn.
As if honoring the mages who must have fulfilled their duties as mages until the moment they died, Hanul’s mages observed a brief silence.
Of course, only Jeong Hyeon-su stood there blankly, staring across to the other side.
Ji Min-jeong looked at him and asked.
“Why did you say you wanted to come here?”
“A personal quest.”
It was an answer that left her with nothing to say. The sight of Jeong Hyeon-su standing there without even looking at Ji Min-jeong felt truly unfamiliar.
Gone entirely was the man who, whenever he stood in front of her, used to do burdensome or absurd things just to draw her attention. In his place was an attitude that had become endlessly cynical.
He was her peer, a man who had crawled along the bottom at Cradle, only for his abilities to suddenly begin writing a new history in the Hunter world.
The scene of him crushing Ling Wehao to death on his debut day was still vivid before her eyes.
Because she had personally crossed hands with him and knew how strong he was, it felt even more unreal to Ji Min-jeong.
“How did you become so strong so suddenly?”
“I was lucky. And aside from what was truly necessary, I focused solely on becoming stronger.”
“…If you do not want to talk about it, just say you do not want to.”
“Fine, I do not want to.”
Why did he talk like that when he was not even an old man?
Ji Min-jeong looked at Jeong Hyeon-su with dissatisfied eyes.
“They are coming. Get ready.”
“…What?”
“Since this is a Greenskin army, in the early stage, they will use meat shields centered around Goblin-type individuals to induce a war of attrition. There is no need to waste mental strength and mana by using magic to deal with them directly.”
“…?”
“From what I have seen, you seem to have fairly good concentration and senses, so it would not be bad for you to use this chance to practice aiming precisely.”
Just as Ji Min-jeong frowned as though asking what nonsense he was talking about…
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
A grand yet ominous drumbeat rang out.
“Those damned Ogres. They have finally come again. Everyone! Prepare for battle!”
The commanders each climbed onto the walls.
“Recruits! You lot are here! Follow me. I am Rohan, a knight of His Excellency Margrave Durait!”
Under the guidance of the knight Rohan, the raid party also entered its designated defense zone.
The smell of rot filled the air.
Many corpses were piled up even atop the fortress wall, and below it was even worse.
The bodies created by the unending battle were gradually rotting, producing a terrible stench.
“…A great many have come.”
There was no trace of hope on the soldiers’ faces. They merely gripped their spears with dead eyes.
“Soldiers of Durait! Heroes who defend the kingdom! Listen! If we fall today, your families will be the ones to bear the full brunt of the damage. Remember that one thing. Will you watch your wives and sisters be violated by those Ogres? Think of your young children being trampled and torn apart, and endure. Let us protect them. Let us protect them even in death, just as our fathers and brothers did!”
Along with the voice of a knight amplified by mana, the commander’s orders rang out.
“Archers! Nock your arrows!”
At the same time, Hanul’s Im Hyeon-min used the spell Eagle Eye.
At the same time, he analyzed the forces surging toward them from the other side.
“The Goblins are charging at the front. Instead of using magic, the Mage Corps will throw the mana mines we prepared to raise the morale of the soldiers here.”
It was not a bad judgment, even to Jeong Hyeon-su’s ears.
If they simply stood by and did nothing, the battlefield atmosphere could become chaotic. So, without directly wasting their own strength, they would throw mana mines backed by the capital of a major corporation and leave a powerful impression.
THUD THUD THUD THUD!
Like a river overflowing from a flood, Goblins poured down from beyond the mountain range and swarmed beneath the fortress wall in an instant.
It was the moment when the Goblins gathered together and created a bottleneck.
BOOM! BANG! BOOM!
In an instant, the mana mines exploded.
Pillars of fire surged upward as though lava had erupted from underground, swallowing the Goblins in a flash.
CRACKLE!
Not only that, the sparks ignited again the moment they touched the Goblins and began devouring them.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The flames spread. Screams echoed in every direction as if the surging horde of Goblins had all gone up in flames, and above the sobs of death, cheers erupted in contrast.
“Waaaaaah!”
For the first time, vitality appeared in the eyes of the soldiers, who were inspired by the overwhelming firepower shown by the mages.
It was the power created by the mages’ realistic support, more effective than the pleasant rhetoric of the knights or any speech meant to motivate them.
“Die, you Goblin bastards!”
Holding the advantageous position atop the fortress wall, they stabbed the burning Goblins climbing up with spears and killed them.
They cut them down with swords. They smashed them down with shields.
The momentum created by simple mana mines and the chain flames contained in that magic was making the battle overwhelmingly favorable.
If things continued this way, it seemed easy enough to pass through the wave with great stability.
BOOM! BOOM!
As Hanul’s mages kept the Goblin archers positioned in the rear in check with simple explosion magic, the siege was truly proceeding without any worry about incoming arrows.
Then, at that moment…
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
The thicket on the far side moved.
It shook as if the forest itself were moving, and an enormous hand stretched out from within.
CRUNCH!
The owner of the hand picked up a Goblin from the rear.
KIEEEEK! KIEEEK!
When the Goblin thrashed wildly, another large green monster beside it grabbed its upper body and pulled.
RIIIIP!
Its upper and lower body separated, and its entrails spilled out as green blood poured down like a waterfall.
The monsters put the split Goblin into their mouths and chewed. Then, with weapons larger than most humans slung over their shoulders, they began walking toward the fortress wall.
“Ogres…!”
Each Ogre was an individual said to be equal to a knight.
When those Ogres appeared as a single army, everyone froze.