As soon as flames erupted from the tank’s main gun, an ear-splitting roar followed.
125mm smoothbore cannon.
The moment the steel beast, weighing several dozen tons, spat out its shell, Kahal Magdu didn’t hesitate—he flung Count Nam backward.
Even for a dragon, there was no way to withstand a tank shell at point-blank range.
BOOOOM!
With a thunderous explosion, the skeleton was shattered into countless pieces, and chunks of concrete from the surrounding walls and ceiling were blown apart.
"Kugh!"
Count Nam barely managed to roll out of the explosion’s range, tumbling across the hallway floor.
As he swallowed down his shock and tried to stand, his vision was filled with the sight of the tank’s cannon swiveling toward him.
[Hahaha! Die, bastard!]
A cheerful voice rang out from within the tank.
Suppressing the urge to curse, Count Nam hastily erected multiple protective barriers.
The first shot had only worked because it was an ambush.
If a proper mage focused on defense, stopping a tank’s main gun wasn’t difficult.
The real problem was—
The tank wasn’t their only enemy.
Between the gaps in his barriers, ice spikes fired by Yeomyeong streaked toward him.
Their trajectory was obvious—aimed directly at his throat and vital organs.
If he blocked the spikes, he’d be hit by the next tank shell.
If he focused on stopping the cannon, the spikes would kill him.
A vicious dilemma.
Just as he was frozen in indecision—
A voice, dry and rattling with amusement, echoed from the floor.
—A tank? How utterly lacking in romance.
A chilling, twisted mana swept through the hallway.
The shattered bone fragments of Kahal Magdu rose into the air—
And intercepted the ice spikes one by one.
"Even after taking a tank shell head-on... he’s still standing?"
"That’s not ordinary bone."
Yeomyeong grimaced and slashed apart the closest bone shards.
But the rest of them were expanding and contorting—
Whatever magic it was, it was clear that leaving it alone was a bad idea.
[Oh no, you don’t!]
Apparently thinking the same, Neti fired the tank’s main gun again.
BOOM!
Some of the bone shards were obliterated—but more than half of them survived.
And then—
—I am legion, for I am without number.
The eerie chant reverberated through the air.
One by one, the floating bone shards reshaped into fully formed skeletons.
[...They’re multiplying? Like zombies, but with skeletons?!]
Neti’s incredulous voice rang out from inside the tank.
A horde of dozens of skeletons landed in the hallway.
Each one flickering with blue flames—
Each one a copy of Kahal Magdu.
—These are my Dragonfang Soldiers. A pitiful display if I couldn’t do at least this much.
The chorus of dozens of skeletal mouths speaking at once filled the corridor.
—Now, shall we begin again?
Like hell we will.
Yeomyeong ignored the growing swarm behind him—
And jumped onto the tank.
Knocking on the turret hatch, he barked out a command.
"Neti. Run them all over."
[What?]
"Crush them."
[But the magic—]
"Just drive. I’ll handle the spells."
There was no need for further explanation.
The moment Yeomyeong raised his sword, the tank’s engine roared to life.
The armory corridor was just wide enough for the tank to barely squeeze through.
Seeing the steel behemoth barreling forward, Count Nam shouted.
"Are you insane?!"
He fired invisible force magic at the tank’s treads, aiming to destroy the wheels and stop it.
But Yeomyeong cleaved the spell in half with his blade.
"Undying Dragon! What are you waiting for?! Stop that tank at once!"
The Court Lord’s panicked scream was met with a synchronized response.
Kahal Magdu’s dozens of skeletons wove spells in unison.
A storm of magic erupted at once.
And at that moment—
Yeomyeong unleashed the golden feathers of the Black Wing Style.
A fireball hurtling toward the driver’s seat? Intercepted with an ice spike.
Ice spears forming to freeze the floor? Redirected with telekinesis.
And finally—the bolt of lightning aimed at the tank’s tracks.
Yeomyeong fired a lightning spell of his own.
CRACKLE—!
His golden lightning clashed with Kahal Magdu’s crimson bolt, nullifying both.
—Lightning magic? You were hiding it this whole time...? No, you learned it that fast?
Kahal Magdu sounded impressed—
But Yeomyeong didn’t care.
He kept countering the endless spells.
Blood vessels burst from the sheer strain of mana overload, the taste of iron filling his mouth.
But he didn’t stop.
And then—
CRUNCH!
The tank ran over the Dragonfang Soldiers, shattering them beneath its treads.
Bone fragments flew in all directions as the 40-ton steel beast rolled forward.
"Night of Hilaria, song of the deep tower! Respond to my call and—ah, damn it!"
Count Nam frantically tried to prepare a grand spell—
But the moment he began chanting, the tank ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) fired again.
If it were an open battlefield, it might have been a different story.
But in this tight corridor, there was no way to counter the tank’s firepower without protective barriers.
—Hahaha! What a masterpiece! A true masterpiece!
Even as he was being driven back, Kahal Magdu laughed in delight.
In contrast, Count Nam’s face was on the verge of tears.
And so—
After crushing dozens of Dragonfang Soldiers, the tank finally came to a halt at the entrance of another storage room.
With no space left to retreat, Count Nam and Kahal Magdu barely managed to throw themselves inside before the tank swerved—
And slammed itself against the entrance, sealing them inside.
THUD!
To be precise, Yeomyeong slammed the tank into the entrance.
If Count Nam and Kahal Magdu wanted to open that iron door again, they’d have to struggle for it.
Of course, this was nothing more than a stalling tactic.
Yeomyeong knocked on the turret hatch.
"Both of you, get out. We’re retreating."
With a clunk, the hatch swung open, and Neti was the first to poke her head out.
She was grinning like someone who had just achieved a lifelong dream, yet her entire body was soaked in sweat.
"...Are you alright?"
"Me? Of course! It was a bit of a struggle running a three-person job with just the two of us, but thanks to the autoloader, I only had to focus on steering with telekinesis, and—"
Just as she was about to start rambling, Seti climbed out behind her and cut in.
"Neti, that’s enough."
She shook her head, looking like she was fighting off motion sickness—
And then, spotting the blood trickling from Yeomyeong’s lips, she made a pained expression.
Before she could say anything, Yeomyeong spoke first.
"Let’s go. We need to get out before they push the tank aside."
Seti let out a sigh.
"...And the armory? You said you had business there."
The nuclear weapon slumbering beneath the armory.
Unless the enemy had the launch code, they wouldn’t be able to do anything with it for now.
Especially since one of Kahal Magdu’s allies still hadn’t shown up yet.
Yeomyeong shook his head.
"They can’t touch it anyway. Right now, regrouping is the priority."
Seti nodded and leapt off the tank after him.
As the group made their way toward the armory entrance, Kahal Magdu’s voice rang out from behind the tank.
—Yeomyeong, wash your neck and wait. I’ll make sure to kill you properly next time.
He sounded as casual as if he were making plans with a friend.
In response, Yeomyeong used telekinesis to shake the tank against the wall.
With Kahal Magdu’s laughter as their background music, Yeomyeong and his group left the armory.
****
They passed through the storage rooms full of tanks,
Through the entryway piled with Shepherd corpses,
And reached the staircase leading to the sewers.
Just as Yeomyeong was about to climb up, someone called out to him.
"I wouldn’t go into the sewers if I were you."
Turning around—
A familiar figure sat on the steps.
A one-armed elf, drenched in so much blood that the floor beneath him was sticky with it.
"...Pinel? Did you come looking for me?"
Pinel silently nodded.
Yeomyeong didn’t bother asking how he had found him.
In this city, the only ones connected to the World Tree’s mana were Yeomyeong and the Crystal—
So tracking him down wouldn’t have been difficult.
The elf hesitated for a moment, then took a deep breath before speaking.
"The situation outside... isn’t good. The sewers are overflowing with the Rat Beastmen army. At this rate, they’ll take over the entire city."
The artificial soldiers mass-produced using the World Tree Crystal.
Yet another disaster waiting ahead.
Yeomyeong glanced between the staircase and Pinel before asking—
"The one who stole the World Tree Crystal... did you find out who it was?"
"The Eastern Court Lord."
A direct answer.
Yeomyeong let out a bitter chuckle.
So the East, West, and South Court Lords were all in on the same conspiracy.
The Southern Court Lord and the skeletal dragon below.
The Eastern Court Lord and the Rat Beastmen army above.
"...What a fucking mess."
"Yeah, it’s a fucking mess."
As soon as he said that, Pinel coughed up blood.
His weakened mana, his shallow breathing—Yeomyeong could feel that he was dying.
Seti must have noticed it too, because she glanced at Yeomyeong for permission, then pulled a healing potion from her bag.
"...I wasn’t planning to accept help."
Despite saying that, the elf didn’t refuse.
He downed the potion in one go, his expression slightly improving.
And then, he spoke.
"I know this is sudden, but... Yeomyeong, I have a request."
"...A request?"
As soon as Yeomyeong repeated his words, Pinel pulled out something that glowed faintly.
A World Tree Crystal—
Slightly smaller than the one he had seen in his dream,
But still larger than his fist.
"I stole this from the Eastern Court Lord. I’d like to ask you to return it to our forest, but... given the situation, that would be impossible."
"..."
"Take it."
Yeomyeong caught the World Tree Crystal as Pinel tossed it to him.
For a moment, he waited—
Wondering if the Crystal would speak to him.
But it remained silent.
"Why are you giving this to me? What if I decide to consume it?"
"...Is that your choice? Then eat it."
"What?"
Pinel let out a slow exhale, then stood up.
"I saw the World Tree speak to you. Since the Tree has intervened, it’s no longer my place to question whatever you choose to do."
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"..."
Yeomyeong said nothing.
He simply alternated between looking at Pinel and the Crystal.
Neti, who had been listening to their conversation, opened her mouth to ask something—
But Seti clamped a hand over it before she could speak.
A brief silence.
A brief moment of thought.
And then—
Yeomyeong, as if coming to a decision, tucked the Crystal into his coat.
"Pinel, let’s head to our base camp first."
"Base camp? I appreciate the offer, but... I wouldn’t make it in this condition."
Pinel shrugged his remaining shoulder.
Thanks to the potion, he was no longer dying, but he wasn’t in fighting shape either.
"A burden? You don’t need to worry about that. There won’t be a fight."
"Yeomyeong, I’ll say it again—the Rat Beastmen have already taken over the city.
His sentence never finished.
Because right before his eyes, Yeomyeong’s face morphed—
Into the face of a Rat Beastman.
Bloody Tears’ illusion magic.
Yeomyeong, now wearing the visage of a Rat Beastman, spoke.
"This should be enough, right?"