Chapter 29 - Fortress Defense 1 (1/2)

Isaac proclaimed as he activated the Guard Tower near the Temple.

It was their second one now. Although the road here had been harder than expected, they had been able to pull through because he had his Frost Sword Ranghilt.

Sir Colton will take charge in my stead, while I return to the Fortress to handle some matters.

“Yes, Prince”

A middle aged man in plate armor bowed his head politely.

Isaac placed his hand on his shoulder.

“I told you not to call me that over here, just Master will do.”

Isaac didn’t want others to know that he was British royalty. It would be fine if it were Brits that found out, but there group had people from all nationalities, so he didn’t want any conflicts.

Their numbers kept decreasing, so he had to maintain his image as a leader to keep up morale.

‘Maybe I can become a legend like King Arthur.’

No dream was unachievable so long as he had Ranghilt with him, a Magic Sword that grew along with its user.

It was so powerful that it was likely a match for Excalibur, and its appearance was quite mysterious, making it good to attract followers.

‘I was chosen by this sword.’

Upon arriving on Paradise Lost, they had taken a short break. Suddenly the sword had risen to the surface. After ruthless internal fight over it, he had been the one to claim ownership.

As he imagined himself sitting at a round table, surrounded by his knights, Issac pulled out a Teleport Scroll.

He wanted to check the map to see what region had been occupied.

‘No big changes as of yet.’

The color of the Guard Towers were updated in real time, marking which team had captured what.

Blue represented meant that they had been occupied by the Blue Faction, while Red was for their side. If it was grey, that meant Neutral.

The Guard Towers had been designated as indestructible by the system, so it had to be one of those colors.

‘I should push Samuel a bit more.’

All of their paths had secured two Guard Towers, whereas his side had only done one.

They still had the advantage since the enemy camp so far had only activated two along the middle path. Still he felt it was necessary to push Samuel a bit, just as a means to exert his dominance.

After placing the Teleport Scroll back in his pouch, Isaac reappeared back in the Fortress using a Return Stone.

Upon his return, several leaders came up to greet him.

“Mr. Isaac, you are back.”

“We’ve been waiting for you.”

Every day it was Isaac that was in charge of distributing the supplies, so the other leaders would constantly suck up to him.

The de facto Commander in Chief. With the leadership he had shown over the past few days, his position was more or less secure.

As Isaac looked around, he stopped at one person with a surprised expression. Someone he hadn’t been expecting was among them.

‘Chun Woohyuk, so you’re still alive.’

Since the first day, he hadn’t once seen him. Up until a few hours ago he had thought him dead.

‘How did he manage to score First Blood?’

He couldn’t believe that he had achieved that with only 10 subordinates. There must be some secret behind this.

Isaac decided to first hear his story.

“Mr Chun Woohyuk, we’ve all been very worried about you. So you’ve made contact with the Blue faction recently, did you suffer many casualties?”

“None.”

A clear and concise answer.

Isaac’s face turned into a frown.

‘Did he really not take any casualties?’

Even from his own group, thirteen people had lost their lives despite him being the one leading them.

Being tricked by Dopplegangers, the Swamp terrain, killed by Lizardmen….

At every twist and turn they had encountered countless difficulties, so he couldn’t help but think Woohyuk was lying.

“Accurate information is necessary for us to plan properly in the future, so please tell us the truth. I understand that it might be hard, but all of us have suffered.”

“It’s the truth.”

Woohyuk’s confirmation caused a commotion among the leaders. Obviously none of them were convinced.

They could believe that he got the First Blood, but how could all of his party members have survived.

“Where are your subordinates right now? We’d like to check on them if possible….”

“Sure, I’ll bring them over here.”

Woohyuk took his time, as he casually sent Lee Jaesung a message.

[Get ready to come over.]

[Sure thing Boss]

Seeing Lee Jaesung and the others appear next to the fountain, Isaac’s eyes widened in surprise.

‘Unbelievable…’

It wasn’t like he had convinced others to join his group to make up the numbers. The leaders gathered here were the same as always.

Isaac let out an awkward cough as he continued speaking.

“Ahem, so it was really the case, sorry for doubting you. Anyways, I think we’d all like to officially hear how it is you encountered the enemy.”

Isaac put an emphasis on the word ‘officially’, as a way of reminding everyone of his position.

However Woohyuk replied very simply.

“I just encountered a Blue Faction Scout in the mountainous area near Fantasy Swamp, so I killed him.”

He didn’t want to reveal that he had made it all the way to the enemy camp, as it would only lead to more annoying questions.

As expected, they didn’t doubt his words, not even considering the alternative as a possibility.

“So it was a scout… how bold of them. How many people were there?”

“Eleven”

“...Maybe they decided to assign more people to the middle path.”

It might have been the case that they had attempted a rush strategy. Sending an elite squad forward, deliberately choosing not to activate all the Guard Towers along the way.

Isaac didn’t question it much since it was a likely scenario.

“We need to secure our borders as well as patrol the mountain ranges where the enemy might be hidden.”

He had been planning to explore those mountain ranges anyways.

The three paths were separated by mountain ranges. It seemed that Woohyuk had encountered some scouts while adventuring through there.

‘There must be some useful information that he isn’t sharing.’

Issac had seen a lot of that type at the base camp. People who just like Woohyuk were blinded by worldly desires. Keeping these secrets for themselves, they didn’t think of the bigger picture..

They were like cancerous cells, especially in these trying times when they had to band together in order to survive.

‘I’ll have to keep an eye on this Chun Woohyuk.’

Although he felt that he was rather smart and good at fighting, he wasn’t a true leader like he was.

The same thing went for his girlfriend. It was unusual to sleep during the day and hunt at night, and there were dark rumors flying around about witches.

As he recognized the need to suppress the pair, Isaac officially began the meeting.

In order to prepare for eventual raids from the Blue Faction, the following issues had been agreed upon at the meeting.

1. Each Guard Tower had to be manned around the clock and by someone with a Teleport Scroll.