The players quickly realized that Gi-Gyu had summoned these skeletons. Choi Chang-Yong and the Blue Dragon Guild players stared at the bony soldiers in shock. They were so dumbfounded that they forgot they were about to participate in the most challenging battle of their lives.
“There is no end to them,” one player whispered in awe. Indeed, the skeleton soldiers were like water from an open faucet. Their bones rattled loudly as they each dragged a large sword and a shield. Even from a glance, one could tell that the skeletons’ number was now dominating their enemies’ number.
And still, the skeletons didn’t stop coming.
“Just where are they coming from?” Choi Chang-Yong wondered aloud, but no one could answer him.
“Kirrrk!”
“Kirrrk!”
Before the players’ shock could even subside, they noticed something was covering the sky—griffins.
“They weren’t just a few dozen?” one Blue Dragon Guild player murmured. The griffins covering the sky looked similar to the ones they rode here. And now, there was no doubt that these monster armies belonged to Gi-Gyu.
The once arrogant Choi Chang-Yong had no choice but to admit that he was wrong. He mumbled, “I guess he’s more powerful than I thought.”
Now, even he was in awe of Gi-Gyu’s legion and understood why President Oh Tae-Gu favored him.
“It’s incredible. These may be low-level monsters, but their number will help us a lot,” muttered Choi Chang-Yong, both in annoyance and relief. These skeletons and the griffins were stronger than those found in their natural habitats, but they were still only low-level monsters. They were certainly going to help, but Choi Chang-Yong decided not to have too high expectations of them.
In addition, he suspected that Gi-Gyu was a weak player. After all, the Tower was fair. If it gave Gi-Gyu such an impressive unique ability, something else, like his physical attributes, had to be lacking.
“And the easiest way to defeat summoned bearings is to eliminate the summoner,” Choi Chang-Yong whispered. All he could see, and wanted to see, was Gi-Gyu’s weaknesses. Many monsters living inside various gates were talented summoners. A good example was the liches, who could lead undead armies with decent attributes. However, players from the assassin category were their bane.
Choi Chang-Yong ordered his men, “Now! We can’t let these monsters get all the glory! We need to fight ourselves!”
He told himself that although he could see Gi-Gyu's weaknesses, having a talented summoner in their midst was a good thing. They now had a better chance to win this battle. While Gi-Gyu’s monsters bought them time, his men would fight the boss monster.
Dun.
Dun dun,
Dun dun dun.
Choi Chang-Yong’s eyes wavered with uncertainty. The other players’ reactions were about the same as the next set of monsters arrived, resulting in the ground shaking loudly.
“Death knights!” one player yelled in shock.
“This is ridiculous! Death knights? Seriously?!” another Blue Dragon Guild member exclaimed. The skeletons stepped aside to create a path for the death knights. The death knight leading the way wore a pitch-black helmet and had laser-like red beams shooting from its eyes.
Choi Chang-Yong whispered, “Is that a… demon?”
Oppressive magic, sticky and unpleasant aura, and red eyes: This death knight didn’t seem like a high-level demon lord, but it was still an impressive demon.
Suddenly, Choi Chang-Yong began laughing and then put on a calm expression. He mumbled, “Hahaha, of course. I must’ve forgotten because I’m a little nervous about the battle.”
Since only demons could participate in a territory war, how did Gi-Gyu declare one? The only obvious answer was that he had a demon under him. Choi Chang-Yong had made this guess earlier, but the dire situation made him forget it.
The death knights rode their skeleton horses and passed by Choi Chang-Yong, who stated, “Haha! I suppose Kim Gi-Gyu is more talented than I thought. I guess—”
“Kirrrrrrrrrrk!” A loud piercing shriek interrupted him as a griffin larger than any Choi Chang-Yong had ever seen flew toward him. The giant griffin’s fur shone brightly and on top of it…
“Grandmaster! I shall destroy all of your enemies!” Hart, riding the griffin king, roared.
“Fuck!” one of the players swore. Although Choi Chang-Yong didn’t say anything, this was also exactly how he felt. The death knights alone were impressive enough, yet a lich riding a griffin king? How was this possible?
Choi Chang-Yong whispered, “I-I guess it’s possible. Kim Gi-Gyu… I better remember his name.”
He now had no choice but to admit that Kim Gi-Gyu wasn’t “just” a rookie player.
Choi Chang-Yong closed his eyes tightly. ‘Obviously… this is a dream. This can’t be happening. I just have to wake up.’
“A goddess!” one of the Blue Dragon Guild members whispered.
When Choi Chang-Yong opened his eyes, he saw a beautiful goddess with 12 wings staring down at the enemies from the sky. It wasn’t Michael because he was nearby in the sky, flapping his wings. He was using his light beams to stop enemy monsters from reaching the players. Also, the goddess was very different from Michael, as just her divine elegance was otherworldly.
“A goddess has arrived from heaven,” a player whispered dreamily.
“S-she couldn’t have been summoned by him too, could she?” Choi Chang-Yong stammered while the rest of the group gaped.
***
A few minutes ago, when the territory war began, and the Blue Dragon Guild rushed toward their enemies, Gi-Gyu opened his gate. His monsters stormed out, but Gi-Gyu couldn’t be certain of the victory yet.
‘Michael is strong, but it’s not enough,’ Gi-Gyu thought in concern. Michael fought the enemies from the sky with an aura more powerful than even Lucifer, but his combat ability was a different matter.
‘For the longest time, I haven’t been able to figure something out.’ When Gi-Gyu battled Michael briefly in America, he thought he could defeat Micheal despite Micheal’s overwhelming magic. Why? Because Micheal’s combat ability lacked in comparison. What did this mean?
-It’s simple.
Lou smirked and continued,
-Either Michael just has incredible magic potential and nothing more, or…
Lou paused before adding,
-You haven’t seen the full extent of the magic that wench, I mean Lucifer, holds. Just who is she to use the name of a demon as her nickname?! Such hubris! Anyway, I think you only know a part of Lucifer’s true power.
Gi-Gyu contemplated for a moment, but he quickly shook his head since now wasn’t the time to wonder about other things.
“For now, I gotta focus,” he murmured, reminding himself that he needed to destroy the enemies before his eyes. This was an S-Class or higher gate, yet he felt comfortable inside. Even his anxiety was gone for some reason. Was this normal?
-It might be because of the demonic energy or your shell. But who cares? Stop getting distracted and just start already.
When Lou said in annoyance, Gi-Gyu nodded and answered, “All right.”
-I’m ready, Master.
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El announced, making Gi-Gyu smile. That single smile held a volley of emotions. “El, you can go ahead.”
Once she got permission, the ring slowly turned into light dust; soon, a young girl appeared in the air. Then, three angels exited the gate and announced, “We’re so grateful for your command, Grandmaster.”
When Gi-Gyu nodded, the angels stood behind El quickly.
Schwing!
Two of the three angels transformed into their holy sword form, and Hamiel held them both.
“Ugh! I can never get used to watching this part,” Gi-Gyu muttered with a frown. Since Hamiel and the other angels were originally swords, he wasn’t bothered by the transformation. What did bother him was the process that awakened a part of El’s potential by using these swords.
El gave Gi-Gyu a small smile and reassured him, “Master, I’m okay.”
Stab!
With a gruesome flesh-cleaving sound, Hamiel plunged the two swords into the young girl’s chest. Since the holy swords were essentially an amalgamation of holy spirits, they couldn’t harm anyone without intent. If no harm was the intent, the one being stabbed wouldn’t actually be harmed. However, that didn’t mean Gi-Gyu was happy seeing El get stabbed. She had explained to him before that this was necessary to create the strongest connection possible between her and the holy swords.
Fwooosh!
The two swords in El’s chest and Hamiel slowly turned into light particles and were absorbed by El. This scene reminded Gi-Gyu of…
“It looks just like how Lou absorbs monster’s blood,” whispered Gi-Gyu. The light particles swirled wildly, shining all around El before she absorbed them.
Michael’s eyes widened as he stared; a mysterious expression appeared on Tao Chen’s face. They were both standing far away from the Blue Dragon Guild, and inside the barrier Hart placed around them. This scene remained invisible to the Blue Dragon Guild members thanks to the barrier.
Lou grumbled,
-This is very unpleasant.
Tao Chen murmured, “How divine. I don’t believe in god, but I guess… Someone does exist.”
The bright light began to disappear, and an adult form of El stood proudly in its place. Her silver hair danced around her as Gi-Gyu called her, “El.”
“Master,” El replied elegantly.
There wasn’t much time to chat, so Gi-Gyu kept it short and murmured, “Good luck.”
“Any enemies that stand in your way”—El smiled brightly—“I shall destroy them all.”
Her smile was warm and holy, strong enough to purify the demonic energy surrounding them.
As Gi-Gyu and El looked at each other, time seemingly stopped. Everything seemed much slower, as if in slow motion. Suddenly, El vanished. She was so fast that even Gi-Gyu’s eyes or senses couldn’t detect her movement. Compared to the El on the 40th floor, she was much faster.
Gi-Gyu heard Lou smirk.
-You think that’s an angel?
Gi-Gyu couldn’t respond since he was worried for El. She hadn’t evolved yet, so she was essentially borrowing her future potential.
-There is no other way. She must forcefully utilize the power she isn’t allowed to use before her evolution. It will be hard on her, but we need this.
Lou explained.
This was the different version of evolution El discussed with Gi-Gyu. Since he had Life and used it to create three angels, El, the Empress of Holy Swords, could combine them to draw and amplify the power of Life.
Gi-Gyu murmured, “The problem is whether El can last.”
Because she hadn’t evolved yet, El was borrowing the other angels’ powers to amplify her own. This meant it would be hard on both El and the other angels. She could maintain this form only for a limited time, and if she went beyond it, her physical body might break.
El told Gi-Gyu that she thought of this idea when she met Michael, but Gi-Gyu still couldn’t understand what this meant.
Gi-Gyu announced, “We better get going too.”
Twirl.
When Gi-Gyu rotated his wrist, a blood-red sword appeared in his hand.
‘Hey, Lou.’ Feeling Lou’s familiar texture, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed with his other empty hand.
Tao Chen, looking surprised, asked, “You will be participating in the battle in person?”
Tao Chen had seemingly forgotten that the battle had already begun. “Hmm. I thought you had shown us all of your power, but… A summoner who fights alongside his summoned beings…”
Tao Chen’s eyes wavered a little. Was he trying to hide his shock?
“I suppose you’re a beast after all.” When Tao Chen whispered, Gi-Gyu smiled. Slowly, Gi-Gyu’s expression began to change, and a pleasant smile appeared on his face. Before the battle began, he carried a small innocent smile, but now he had a happy smile despite the bloody massacre about to occur.
Tao Chen shivered and mumbled, “It has been a long time since someone made me tremble like this.”
Step.
Gi-Gyu took a step forward and announced, “Beautiful Beard. We’ll chat later. The battle has already begun.”
***
The goddess floating in the air raised her hand, and light particles began gathering on her palm. As those particles turned into a sword, everyone, even the enemies, stared at the silver-haired goddess in the sky. However, she was uncaring as she swung her sword.
Whoosh!
Sand flew everywhere as monster blood painted the horizon. A corps commander, one that looked like a giant red mantis, shrieked, “Kwraaaak!”
Meanwhile, hundreds of smaller mantises around it turned into dust. Even the right arm of the corp commander disintegrated.
Meanwhile, Gi-Gyu stood before the Blue Dragon Guild, his skeletons, and his death knight’s order and its leader Hal. In a husky voice, he roared, “Kill everything!”
It was a war.