[The enraged War God Ares has manifested.]
[The defense battle has begun!]
Oath: Units up to 1st Division, 5th Party will wait in the east.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Units up to 1st Division, 5th Party, hold position at the east gate. (Link) (Link)
[The eastern sanctuary has been destroyed.]
[The barrier surrounding the War God’s treasury is weakening.]
Oath: Units up to 1st Division, 11th Party will wait in the west.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Units up to 1st Division, 11th Party, hold position at the west gate. (Link) (Link) (Link)
Following the same procedure, the southern and northern gates were also assigned positions. As soon as the placements were finalized, red waves began surging toward the center from all directions on the minimap displayed at the lower-right corner of the screen.
[The western sanctuary has been destroyed.]
[The southern sanctuary has been destroyed.]
[The barrier surrounding the War God’s treasury is weakening.]
Was this how Columbus felt when he discovered the New World? Or like the shock of tasting an orange for the first time? Overwhelmed by a similar sense of astonishment, Sa-yoon let out a quiet sigh. Now that he had a point of comparison, he realized just how haphazard Noize’s command had been up until now.
The initial phase of the defense battle began with a monster wave. Once all four sanctuaries located on the islands surrounding the central island were destroyed, the protective barrier over the central island would vanish, unleashing monsters through each of the castle gates.
[The northern sanctuary has been destroyed.]
[The barrier surrounding the War God’s treasury has disappeared.]
And at last, as the final sanctuary fell, the barrier vanished. Through the open castle gates, Ares’ forces surged in like a tidal wave.
[You have gained 1,183 points from the Enraged Nymph.]
[You have gained 1,207 points from the Enraged Fire Spirit.]
[You have gained 1,621 points from the Enraged Nymph.]
The flood of monsters was matched by a steady rise in points.
The monster wave consisted of a total of three phases. After finishing the second wave, there was a brief lull, allowing Sa-yoon to check each of the gates. Not a single one of the defensive lines had collapsed.
[Server] HoneyGgul: Damn, things are running smooth today.
[Server] FestivalFrenzy: Yo, you too?
[Server] CacaoNibs: The monsters are dying crazy fast today. Did they do a stealth patch or something?
[Server] BlueRoof: Yeah, it’s been pretty brutal lately. For real.
[Server] HotelCalifornia: Were there always this many nymphs at the south gate? First time noticing this.
[Server] AClusterofGrapes: East gate’s full of those damn bird brains, lol.
[Server] syrup: Big-ass sharpshooter just popped up at the east gate~
Sa-yoon hadn’t realized before that the monster distribution varied by gate. At first, it seemed like a mix of different types, but on closer inspection, the spawn ratio of certain monsters was noticeably higher.
That’s when he finally understood Oath’s strategy. Unlike Noize, who simply let players go to whichever gate they preferred, Oath had deliberately divided and assigned parties with precision.
At the south gate, where there were more high-damage but low-health dealer-type monsters, Oath had placed a higher ratio of tanks. Meanwhile, at the east gate, where the monsters had high health but slightly lower attack power, they had positioned more damage dealers.
It was only natural that everything was being handled much faster than before.
But still, the difference was staggering. In the past, all the gates would get overrun in the first wave, and the monsters would push all the way to the center. He had always assumed it was just because they were on a small, low-population server, and there weren’t enough players to hold the line. But now, he realized—it had never been a manpower issue. It had always been about strategy.
Oath: Final wave incoming. Once it’s over, the War God will appear and use a stun immediately, so be ready.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: 3rd wave
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Prepare for stun as soon as the War God appears.
As Sa-yoon brooded over the situation, the operation continued seamlessly.
He had expected to get carried, but he hadn’t anticipated it would be on a first-class luxury express. If you’re getting a free ride, you better pay the fare. Watching the sea of red enemies approach from the distance, Sa-yoon activated his buffs.
[The Enraged War God Ares has manifested.]
Oath: Prepare to stun.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Get ready to stun.
As the last of the third-wave monsters were wiped out, a massive pillar of light crashed into the center of the grand plaza. When the light faded, Ares emerged, driving his spear straight into the ground.
Thanks to Oath’s precise command, most of the players had already prepared in advance. Aside from a few who missed the timing, the majority immediately launched their attacks—including Oath himself.
Oath: I’ve got aggro. Healers, support with heals.
[Server] Limoncello: Damn, is he really a newbie? His command is clean as hell.
[Server] Alsatang: You don’t check the forums?
[Server] hera: Yeah, a veteran from the main server plays on a different level.
Exactly. No matter the battle, there were always people who found time to chat. Glancing at the rapidly scrolling server messages, Sa-yoon gave a small nod. After experiencing the last siege battle, it made sense why Oath had such a low opinion of Noize.
[So you’re the one who dares to plunder my treasury!]
Oath: Chasa, you’ve got aggro.
Oath: Aggro is shifting. Healers, support the commander with heals.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Heal support for the commander.
At Oath’s warning, Sa-yoon hurriedly pounded on his keyboard.
[Guild] Chasa: Oath, the previous statue handler left earlier, so I reassigned someone else to it.
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Got it.
As Ares’ health dropped to 98%, he turned his head. This was the start of the commander aggro phase. Sa-yoon calmly activated one of the commander-exclusive skills displayed at the bottom of his screen.
[Combat] Commander-exclusive skill – Shield activated. Incoming attacks are nullified for 10 seconds.
The moment the blue protective barrier enveloped Chasa, a massive spear came crashing down. Simultaneously, radiant light flared near each of the four gates—statues had appeared to reinforce the War God Ares.
These statues increased in number as the phases progressed: 4 in the first phase, 8 in the second, and 16 in the third. By the final fourth phase, 32 statues would spawn, meaning the four designated statue fighters had to each handle eight.
Oath had assigned furple, GegulGegulFrog, and Shokrates as the designated statue fighters.
“Huh?”
Now that he thought about it, Shokrates had said he’d show up when the battle started—but he was nowhere to be seen. Sa-yoon quickly typed into the chat.
[Guild] Chasa: Oath, where’s Shokrates?
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Over there, haha…
[Guild] Shokrates: The protagonist has arrived~~
[Guild] Oath’s Vow: Just do your damn DPS. 🙂
[Guild] Shokrates: Yep!
Looking toward the west gate, Sa-yoon spotted a head of white hair, marked with the insignia designating him as a statue fighter. It was Shokrates.
When did he even log in? There should’ve been a notification in the guild chat, but Sa-yoon had completely missed it. He had no idea why Shokrates hadn’t joined the main unit, but at least he’d made it in time.
[The eastern statue has been destroyed. The Enraged War God Ares has weakened.]
Oath: Chasa, incoming attack.
At Oath’s warning, Sa-yoon quickly activated another commander-exclusive skill.
After enduring two attacks, Ares’ health dropped to 97%, and he turned his attention back to Oath. Sa-yoon exhaled in relief and refocused on his offense—at least until the next message popped up.
[The northern statue activates its blessing. The Enraged War God Ares’ attack power increases by 10%.]
“Huh?”
What’s the best way to completely screw over a group project? Going AFK? That’s easy—you just don’t show up. But the worst kind of bastard is the one who pretends they’re handling their part, only to disappear right before the deadline, leaving the whole thing in shambles.
[Server] Limoncello: What the hell ♡♡
[Server] BlackBeanNoodles: Someone’s hitting the statue?
[Server] SuperPowerEssence: Is this a sabotage attempt?
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: ?
And just like that, Sa-yoon had come face to face with the worst kind of group project villain.
“Hold on a second.”
[Whisper] Chasa: What are you doing?
[Whisper] Chasa: Aren’t you supposed to be destroying the statue?
[Whisper] Chasa: Dolgaeng-iGuk?
Sa-yoon quickly used the /target command.
[Guild] Chasa: /target Dolgaeng-iGuk
The system locked onto Dolgaeng-iGuk, positioned near the statue. The sharpshooter stood frozen, his bow lowered. When Sa-yoon clicked on the statue, its HP was already down to two-thirds. It had just finished serving its purpose and was now crumbling on its own.
[Whisper] Chasa: Hey.
[Whisper] Dolgaeng-iGuk: S-sorry, I got a call from my grandmother in the hospital for a moment. My bad; I sincerely apologize.
A call from his grandmother? That was understandable. If it had been Sa-yoon, he would have finished the defense battle first and called back afterward, but everyone had their own circumstances.
[Guild] Chasa: He made a mistake because of a phone call.
A faint clicking of a tongue could be heard through the headset.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Stay focused.
The real issue came when the second wave of statues spawned—the same thing happened again.
Oath: North statue. Attack the statue.
[Unit] Vice Commander – Oath’s Vow: Statue, statue, statue, statue!
[The eastern statue has been destroyed. The Enraged War God Ares has weakened.]
[The southern statue has been destroyed. The Enraged War God Ares has weakened.]
[The western statue has been destroyed. The Enraged War God Ares has weakened.]
Looking toward the north, Sa-yoon saw that one of the four statues remained, cracked but still standing.
“Take out the statue.”
Oath: Attack the statue.
Oath: Dolgaeng-iGuk.
