Ch.151Ah, I see. So that’s how it is.

151. 5-1

Screams echoing from everywhere. The ruins of numerous buildings that were in the process of being rebuilt.

Although Magikant wasn’t a city filled with memories like Edenguard or Ajord, it was still a city we had saved.

It had been barely two weeks since we risked our lives to defeat the demon.

They had just barely survived.

If it were an invasion from another faction or a monster attack, I could understand.

But why are they fighting each other?

My raid members seemed to share my sentiments as they stared blankly ahead.

[Magikant is in crisis. Resolve the current situation.]

It wasn’t asking us to hunt monsters or demons, nor to break through a dungeon or labyrinth.

What is this?

Even though I’m a former game guide writer, I can’t immediately devise strategies for situations I’ve never experienced before.

But we had already entered floor 5-1, and the mission was given. We had to solve it somehow, and we had the confidence that we could overcome whatever came our way.

So situation assessment. Let’s start with assessing the situation.

“Arang. Danya.”

“Yes. I’ll go find out.”

“Meow!”

[Leave it to me!]

The two immediately understood my intention just by calling their names and disappeared in an instant. As soon as my order was given, the other raid members quickly gathered their spirits and came to me.

“Yuri and Subin, move as a team. Yuri, listen to Subin.”

“Okie.”

Yuri and Subin left too. Excluding me, only Seyeon, Sister Soyu, and Sister Yehyun remained, but I didn’t deploy any more reconnaissance teams. The four of us, except for Seyeon, weren’t suited for solo actions.

“What kind of mess is this? This wasn’t in the original game story. It’s true that the Magic Tower got greedy for power and caused trouble, which led to Iseratio’s appearance, but once Iseratio was defeated, that was supposed to be the end of it.”

“Could it be that its earlier-than-expected appearance caused some kind of snowball effect?”

“Hmm…”

But we couldn’t just sit around doing nothing.

We started to speculate about the current situation.

“If the original story was about hidden conflicts within the city that had been festering for a long time suddenly exploding with the demon’s manifestation, and defeating the demon resolved everything at once, then maybe now, since we caught it before it fully festered, the conflict structure hasn’t completely disappeared?”

“Oh? Go on.”

“Even in this state, Magikant can’t abandon the Magic Tower, right? The city prospered this much because of the Magic Tower and its mages. That was true in the game and probably here too. But back then, almost everyone involved with demon summoning died, whereas now, we haven’t confirmed that.”

“So those remaining forces are causing this mess?”

“Probably? The lord wouldn’t have made his city like this. He probably doesn’t have the power to drive out those forces, which is why things ended up this way.”

Listening to Sister Soyu’s speculation, it made sense. In the game, as we progressed through Magikant’s story, defeated the demon, and cleaned up afterward, the demon summoning faction was completely wiped out.

I had naturally assumed things would flow the same way here since I was focused on the demon, but was that not the case?

“Or… could it be because we ignored that quest?”

“What? The lord’s invitation quest?”

“Yes. Building on what Soyu said, seeing this situation unfold, maybe the lord really did need protection when he invited us.”

“Ah.”

“O-of course, that’s just my speculation, nothing certain!”

The snowball effect of Iseratio’s unexpectedly early appearance led to a quest that wasn’t in the original game, and our refusal due to suspicion and inconvenience might have caused another snowball effect leading to this situation.

It was giving me a headache.

‘I thought things would follow the game…’

I was reflecting on the past when, with perfect timing, our reconnaissance teams returned almost simultaneously.

And the information they gathered added certainty to the two sisters’ speculations.

“It’s almost evenly matched. But how should I put it, the mages are powerful but seem to be going overboard, whether that’s their original nature or they’ve been corrupted by the demon.”

“And the church, which had been cautiously observing, is now fully cooperating with the lord to somehow hold out.”

“Also, with this incident, the Magic Tower is being treated as a complete den of evil, so mages who were neutral, neither for summoning nor against it, have either joined the lord’s side or deserted.”

Plus additional information.

We quickly shared information and began to devise solutions.

“So. Which side do we take?”

“Huh? What do you mean which side? Of course we should side with the lord—”

“It said to resolve the current situation, not necessarily to take the lord’s side.”

“…Huh?”

Sister Yehyun looked dumbfounded at my words.

“A-are you saying that we, who fought against the demon, should side with those who summoned it and fight against the lord?”

“No. I’m saying we should consider all possibilities. Obviously, the orthodox approach would be to side with the lord and defeat those rotten mages. But the most important thing is us, right?”

“I… guess?”

“You’re saying we could aim for a double-cross if necessary.”

Subin cut in instead of Sister Yehyun.

“That’s right.”

“I understand what you’re saying, but would the system consider that as resolving the current crisis?”

“We don’t know. We don’t know the criteria. But still.”

If there are S-rank and A-rank, there should also be B-rank, and probably C or D-rank too.

Since this is structured as a tower, ideally we’d receive good rewards as we climb each floor.

But we’ve been consistently getting good rewards and advancing smoothly, so even if we get a D-rank, although the reward would be disappointing, we’d still pass, so it might be okay occasionally. That’s what I was thinking.

“Alright. Let’s put that aside for now and focus on how to deal with those crazy mages first.”

I clapped my hands to change the subject. As the raid leader, there was no need to further reveal that I was considering all possibilities.

“We defeated a demon, so how is dealing with crazy mages the next floor’s mission? There must be something annoying about it. Something.”

“Given that they’re evenly matched with the lord’s forces despite being in an irrational state, they must be quite strong. Or the lord’s forces might be weak… But the fact that this situation came up as a mission suggests that if left alone, the crazy mages are likely to win. So we should rule out just watching and waiting for a long time?”

“I guess so.”

“Um, like how we dealt with the Albs on the third floor… is there a way to handle them on a large scale?”

At Sister Yehyun’s words, everyone fell silent for a moment. Perhaps because it came from Sister Yehyun, who could be considered the most delicate and pure among us, her words had more impact.

“W-well, they’re really bad people corrupted by the demon anyway, and if we’re going to eliminate them, wouldn’t it be better to do it with minimal casualties… Did I say something wrong?”

“No. Thank you for your input. But the conditions don’t quite match, so it might be difficult. Back then, the terrain was advantageous for us, and we had the help of the trees. But here we’re in a city, and we can’t just burn everything down. There are not just enemies here.”

“I see…”

“But thanks to you, I’ve thought of something.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Everyone, listen. I’ll explain quickly.”

How convenient would it be if we could set a fire that would only kill the enemies? But Subin wasn’t that level of archmage yet, and there were many allies and civilians here. On the other hand, picking them off one by one would obviously take too long.

‘With our strength, we probably wouldn’t lose, but individual combat always carries the risk of being isolated and defeated.’

How do you clean up scattered trash all at once?

Gather it and burn it.

“Let’s gather them.”

“How?”

“They might be driven mad by the demon, but wouldn’t this catch their attention?”

And we had a very appetizing bait: “Eden’s Fragment.”

“Like how we lured the Hyeomseongs on the third floor?”

“Exactly. But it’ll be a bit more troublesome than back then. The Hyeomseongs were already gathered together, so we just had to guide them well, but that’s not the case here.”

Just as the S and N poles of a magnet attract each other, those who follow demons would inevitably be drawn to the fragment of the holy sword.

“For this, we need a preparation team, a bait team, and an incitement team.”

“The preparation team would be the main force, but what about the bait and incitement teams?”

“The bait team, as the name suggests, will hold Eden’s Fragment to attract their attention and lure them. The incitement team will provoke them by saying things like ‘We’re the adventurers who defeated the demon, and those demon summoners are so pathetic that the demon died before it could even use its full power’ – that kind of provocation to help with the luring. The preparation team will prepare to wipe them out at once and support the other two teams if the situation turns bad.”

Hey, you suck at this.

For someone with strong pride who has experienced failure or defeat, what better provocation could there be?

Memes aside, it was a strategy with a long tradition.

These guys from the “Magic Tower” who summoned a demon would surely not be able to resist provocations that touched on both “demons” and their “skills,” no matter how obvious the bait was.

And what if the person making those provocations was casually walking around with a “fragment of the holy sword”?

“Ah, they won’t be able to resist this.”

“Look at Sunghyun’s expression…”

“As always.”

“Oppa! I want to be on the incitement team!”

Operation “You Suck At This (Season 2)” – 10 minutes before commencement.