Chapter 174. Loot
***
Seo-woon returned to Dal-ryungji Castle, where Juriell was staying, and went to Juriell, who was in charge of the castle's administration. "Seo-woon!"
Seeing Juriell greet him warmly, Seo-woon spoke up. "The castle has changed quite a bit in just half a day."
"We've collected quite a few defensive items." Seo-woon nodded, looking at the newly built watchtowers and the wooden boards installed on the outer walls.
"Not bad. This should be enough to hold them off for a while."
"Troop production is going well. If we keep this up, we'll soon be able to fill all three castles with soldiers."
"Filling them all up… that's about 30,000 soldiers." "Yeah. That should be enough to attack the next castle."
"So let's focus on troop production for three days. After that, we can split back into siege and defense teams."
"Three days… At this rate, we can collect over 20,000 soldiers."
"And save this for now. I'll leave Dalingji to Juriell." As he spoke, he handed her the giant cannon he'd obtained from the buff monster, and Juriell nodded after checking the item.
"This buff is more useful than the existing ones. We don't need to rush before the buff is finished, and we can use it properly when needed." Seeing her thinking the same thing, Seo-woon smiled and went outside the castle to recruit soldiers.
Three days passed in the blink of an eye. As a result of their complete focus on soldier production, they were able to amass a total of 22,100 soldiers by combining the three castles they'd built. This was a result of the entire team focusing solely on soldier production, without any interference from the other squads. Having gathered 4,500 cavalry at the rendezvous point, Seo-woon glanced at his team members.
The new siege team consisted of four members: Seo-woon, Ki-chan, Byeong-hoo, and Ri-min. With the number of castles increasing, downsizing the siege team was inevitable, as each castle needed at least two players for defense.
"It definitely feels more impressive when you're dealing with thousands of soldiers," Ki-chan said, looking at the 4,500 cavalrymen. The 4,500 steel cavalrymen, formed by pouring all the items they'd collected into cavalry reinforcement stones, looked incredibly reliable.
"Fighting that many alone would be torture."
Even after seeing the 4,500 cavalrymen, Byeong-hoo used the word "torture." Ri-min shook her head in disgust at his confident tone, suggesting he believed he could defeat them all. Byeong-hoo glared at Ri-min like a monster, then quickly looked away, afraid to meet his eyes.
"Let's go. Our target is the nearest Hulingji. We should capture it in half a day."
With that, Seo-woon started running, his squad members and cavalrymen following behind, raising clouds of dust. The rear outpost was a fortress two hours ahead of the front outpost, which had been occupied by someone since the beginning and hadn't changed hands yet.
—The castles leading to the center of the rear outpost hadn't changed hands either. Perhaps they all belonged to the same squad.
Seo-woon nodded, agreeing with Ki-chan's concern. "Don't worry. This siege is a plundering attack. There's no need for defense, so we'll strike quickly and retreat. We'll target the military supplies and soldiers, then retreat."
Ki-chan nodded in agreement with Seo-woon's words. The plan wasn't bad. The closest castle to Huryungji was Paryeongji. The next closest castles were at least four hours away. If they could capture the castle and retreat within four hours, they wouldn't suffer any losses.
After traveling at cavalry speed for almost two hours, they spotted a small castle in the distance at Huryungji. It was slightly larger than the castle in Goyozhi, which Seo-woon's squad had first captured. It was a castle that probably couldn't hold more than 2,000 soldiers at most.
"Let's destroy it in one blow!" The moment the enemy came into sight, Seo-woon shouted with all his might, and the soldiers roared in response, their morale rising.
"Hoo!"
When they got within 500 meters of the enemy, they could clearly see that the outer gate was made of wood. "I'll break through, you follow me!"
Seo-woon gave the order and charged forward, keeping his distance from the soldiers. The moment he came within range, a rain of arrows rained down from the castle walls. However, the arrows weren't enough to stop him.
Seo-woon blocked the rain of arrows with his barrier and shield, and blue flames spewed from his fists. With the infernal power in his hands, he closed the distance to the gate in a single leap and swung his fist with all his might.
—Bang!
Pouring all his strength into the gate, he slammed his fist into the gate. At the same time, a loud sound resounded, and cracks spread across the gate's surface like a spiderweb. The blue flames spread across the wooden gate, quickly engulfing it in flames.
—Ding! The siege of Horyeongji has begun. * Enter the inner keep and capture the flag atop the inner keep, or win the siege by killing the castle lord.
—Bang! Bang! Bang! As he pounded on the burning door repeatedly, he sensed movement within the castle walls.
—Crack! Finally, a crack appeared in the middle of the door and soon shattered, leaving it wide open. The door was instantly engulfed in flames, making it impossible for Seo-woon to continue his attack.
—Shush-shush!
The moment the door broke, over a hundred arrows sprayed out from inside, all aimed at Seo-woon.
— Whaaah!
Thud-tut-tut.
The arrows that had been raining down were sent flying like withered leaves by a single punch from Seo-woon, falling to the ground.
—Suk! As he spent a moment blocking the arrows, a thick wall rose from the ground, replacing the collapsed door and blocking his path.
Seo-woon looked back. Seeing his teammates and soldiers now within arm's reach, Seo-woon poured all his strength into his fists and mentally counted to three. At that moment, the wall temporarily blocking the door shattered.
—Whzz! With a chilling sound of flames, blue flames rose from Seo-woon's fists to his arms and shoulders, transforming into twelve figures and stepping into the castle.
Twelve Seo-woons instantly incinerated the archers defending the outer walls, and cavalry poured in from behind them. "Byeong-hoo! Aim for the walls!"
At Seo-woon's command, Byeong-hoo drew his sword and charged at the enemies, then thrust his sword through the inner walls. A unique cold energy emanated, instantly ripping a deep hole in the inner wall, freezing it solid.
—Brother! There are two mapo at the top of the inner wall!
Hearing Ki-chan's briefing, Seo-woon without hesitation summoned Shin-yo and Shin-geum from the gap between the worlds.
"Bang! Bang!"
Before the two Jeon-Cheon Daeseongs could be summoned, two mapo were fired. "Take cover!" In an instant, the cavalry that had poured in through the narrow gate was swept away, and about 200 cavalrymen vanished before they could even swing their swords.
The moment a new surge of mana was felt around the magic arrows, Seo-woon shouted, "Stop them from firing those magic arrows!"
"They're really pushing their limits."
"They'll drain them dry." Grumbling, Shin-yo and Shin-geum scaled the inner walls as soon as the order was given. The gap created by the cavalry, who had momentarily entered the castle, quickly closed, and they began pouring back in like a tidal wave.
Seeing them, Seo-woon dashed toward the castle walls, frozen solid by Byeong-hoo. Seo-woon killed several players blocking his path in a split second and surged forward, shattering the inner walls with a single blow. Instead of attempting to break through the castle gate, reinforced with three layers of steel bars, his strategy, pre-planned according to the conditions of captured castles, was to break through the old, worn, and less durable inner walls.
This wasn't a difficult task, especially with a warrior like Byeong-hoo by his side. The less than 1,000 infantry and archers blocking the entrance were instantly overwhelmed by the cavalry and their teammates, unable to even buy time. "Inside!"
When they entered the inner wall, about 300 cavalrymen and 40 players were waiting for Seo-woon. Their expressions were stern as they stared at Seo-woon, their faces frozen in anger.
Just as the magic players were about to unleash their spells on Seo-woon, a flash of white light flashed.
—Bang! Bang! Two magic cannons whirled around and fired at the players on the inner walls.
Except for about 20 people who reacted quickly, the magicians and alchemists were swept away in an instant, unable to resist, and vanished without a trace. When they looked up, Shin-yo and Shin-geum were clinging to the magic barriers. Seeing the players lying around them, the two Jeon-Cheon Daeseongs smiled eerily.
"We surrender! We surrender!"
—Kill them all. With Ki-chan's chain lightning spell, Byeong-hoo and Ri-min's swords flew towards players, who had dropped their weapons and raised their hands. Meanwhile, Seo-woon jumped over the inner wall and slashed at the enemy flag.
—The lord of Gojoji Castle, Squad Seo-woon, captured Horyoji Castle from the Teor Squad.
With the notification, Seo-woon checked the castle's supplies.
—Soldier: 328/1900
—Food: 3900/7000
There were also newly constructed facilities such as watchtowers, troop training areas, and training centers, But Seo-woon ruthlessly dismissed any items he couldn't take with him. After retrieving all the military supplies and the remaining soldiers, Seo-woon looked at his team and asked, "Did you find anything?"
"I found 100 steel cavalrymen and two soldier enhancement stones."
"I got about 9,000 supplies."
"I found about 100 clay infantrymen." Seo-woon listened to all three of them and then jumped from the top of the inner wall in front of his teammates and said, "Give it all to me. Save all the soldiers here except the steel cavalrymen and send them to the castle where Juriell is."
"Except for some supplies and player items, that's practically all we found. The amount of supplies we've used up in one day is enormous..."
"That's enough. The teammates might arrive soon. Even if we can't lay siege one day, they might try to siege us, so we have to quickly move on to the next objective." With that said, Seo-woon moved on to the next castle as quickly as possible.
Seo-woon's team had sacked seven castles in eight days. Four castles had been retaken during this time, and three castles hadn't even been attempted. The castles near the three castles defended by Seo-woon's team, in particular, were treated as if they were abandoned, as no one had any intention of attacking. It was clear that no one wanted to go there and engage in a siege war with Seo-woon's team.
While Seo-woon was attacking south, Gwang-gun's team was rapidly expanding its territory. As expected, they completely seized the center and never relinquished a castle after capturing it.
Additionally, the Side Guild was consolidating its base in the north. Between the Yan Guild and Gwang-gun, and between Gwang-gun and Seo-woon, only a few castles remained, acting as a buffer zone. If even these castles fell to one of the three squads, a three-way war between three strongest squads would undoubtedly ensue.
"This siege is over. We need to retreat and reorganize our forces."
At Seo-woon's command, the team members who hadn't even rested for an hour during siege smiled. Except for Byeong-hoo.
"It's just getting started, do you want to retreat already? If we can hold out a little longer, we'll be able to fight Gwang-gun's squad."
"That's why I don't want to. We're not ready to fight him yet. He has more castles than us. He probably has a lot more squads than us."
"If you say so, I'll follow you, but since we have to fight, maybe it's better to do it sooner rather than later."
Seo-woon nodded at Byeong-hoo's words and looked at his outfit. Seeing him wear so many new accessories after just over a week reminded him of how much battles he'd fought.
—Lord of Goyozhi Castle Seo-woon Squad captured Hoo-ryongji Castle from Teor Squad.
As Seo-woon and his team were about to leave the castle they'd plundered as usual, they saw about 80 players waiting for them not far away. "Reinforcements already? They must have figured out our route."
The team randomly selected nearby targets. He frowned. If so many players had brought soldiers with them, it could have delayed them significantly. Seo-woon's group was raiding enemy territory and trying to escape, so if enemies swarmed them, they might have to abandon their soldiers and flee.
"We only attacked a small castle. The enemy isn't stupid, they'll notice," Seo-woon said, and Ri-min asked as she put on the bracelet she'd just obtained. "Are we going to fight?" "Let's skirmish for a bit first. If it gets annoying, we'll just abandon soldiers and run. We've already looted enough supplies and soldiers." With this plan, they charged towards the enemy, but a prominent figure among approximately 80 enemies waved a white flag and shouted, "We surrender! Please Jin Seo-woon, let us join your squad!"
Seo-woon, who had been preparing to fight with the intention of fleeing if necessary, was surprised by the sudden surrender and opened his mouth. "Survivors." 2731/5000
"Is that all already?" Hearing Seo-woon's words, Ki-chan also checked the survivors' list and nodded. "I didn't expect that we'd suffer so many losses in less than 30 days. I thought this game would last longer because of the rules."
"I think the rule that allows you to switch squads whenever you want gives people space to think about other things, which probably led to a lot of conflicts."
Seo-woon nodded in agreement with Ri-min's words and looked at the players who had surrendered.