* * *

War breaks out.

The guild Space King launches a massive surprise attack on the northern region of the Defronta Empire with their colossal NPC army.

Space King’s ambush.

Full Minak quickly responds to the unexpected dawn attack.

“Commence attack!”

Space King’s NPC army charges into the canyon, crashing into Full Minak’s defensive wall.

The frontline clashes.

Boom— Bang—!!!

NPC armies are units cultivated in the territories that various guilds have conquered through siege battles.

The NPCs fought desperately on the front lines.

Chaos erupts as mid- and long-range skills are unleashed by NPC heroes from both sides.

Whoosh, Boom—!!

Boom, boom, boom—!!

Mid- and long-range attacks tear through the air, while NPC soldiers engage in fierce hand-to-hand combat at the forefront of the shield wall.

Players supporting the NPCs from the rear are frantic.

“Heal on 1! Heal on 9!!”

“Mass casualties at 18!”

“Frontline at 21 is collapsing! We need reinforcements!”

“Emergency shield on sector 9—!!”

Boom!

A powerful area-of-effect skill from Space King’s side shakes Full Minak’s formation.

The frontline is marked with glowing numbers from 1 to 30 to coordinate support.

Full Minak’s players spread across the front and rear assess the battle situation, showering heals and buffs on their NPC allies.

Full Minak guild members grumble.

[Damn, this surprise attack is insane. I’ve been sick of just supporting NPCs from the back for ages.]

[We need to hold out until war mode is active.]

This war has to be fought solely with prepared NPC armies.

In other words, it’s a military engagement.

The official siege system, “war mode,” hasn’t been activated for players yet.

Killing now would accumulate a massive amount of karma, which poses a significant risk in official sieges.

Of course, the guilds have cleared their karma in preparation for upcoming sieges.

So, too much killing now would be for nothing.

Also, players who die before war mode are locked out of the game for a full 24 hours.

Thus, players are forced to be cautious.

Enker spoke over voice chat.

[Look at the size of the NPC army Space King has been building up. They had to launch a surprise attack eventually. Is that an army or a swarm of ants?]

They could wipe out both Gold Bunker and Full Minak.

If NPC training in their territories had been neglected, they’d be getting crushed here.

This time, Mino spoke.

[Wow, we’re lucky our frontline is a military empire and we’ve gathered all our forces before the siege.]

Fortunately, Full Minak has a strong NPC army.

The NPC soldiers are drafted from the numerous territories and countries controlled by the guilds.

NPCs were continuously arriving from distant territories.

Full Minak and allied guild members kept logging in.

Everyone searched for the Guildmaster upon logging in.

[Where’s the Guildmaster?]

[Carly just went to contact him.]

[What a nightmare at dawn.]

Current time, 3 AM.

As one of Full Minak’s main members, Mino was commanding the scene and suddenly looked up at the sky.

“!”

Eerie screeches filled the air as dark dragons cast shadows on the ground. Riding them were Space King’s guild members.

[Dragons unleash Fear.]

Whoosh. Whoosh.

Their intimidating wing beats created strong winds, and the ground was engulfed in shadows.

[NPCs are gripped with fear.]

Full Minak guild member Mino shouted loudly.

[Focus on the front!]

NPCs, who had been looking up in fear, snapped their heads back to attention.

[Blessing of Wrenthia]

[NPC-exclusive skill lv99]

[Reduces NPCs’ fear.]

[Increases NPCs’ morale.]

Mino activated voice chat.

“Enker, do something about those dragons! Even with buffs, NPC morale is plummeting!”

Enker, fighting near Full Minak’s headquarters [Red Airship], responded.

“Hey! I’m busy here too!”

Above the battlefield, players engaged in a strategic power struggle.

They made small, threatening attacks without killing, to avoid accumulating karma.

The official siege starts today at 7 PM.

It’s 3 AM now.

It was a crazy ambush.

Attacking before the siege, despite the inconvenience of using only NPCs, benefits the attacking guild.

Space King has many NPC soldiers, but they also have an overwhelming number of hero NPCs.

So, they ambushed.

[Dragons unleash Fear.]

As dragon fear scattered again, causing the soldiers to panic, Mino exploded.

[Enker, do something!]

“Alright, alright!”

He’s definitely pissed because I put him in a headlock earlier.

Enker grumbled internally.

Enker, involved in the aerial battle, glanced towards Full Minak’s fleet.

A renowned figure with the second-highest rank in the guild, leaning against the ship’s wall, was watching the intense battle.

Enker couldn’t hold back.

“Hey, you’re here at the surprise attack. As a guild member, maybe you should help.”

“Kaisha isn’t here yet, so why should I?”

“Ah, okay.”

“You’re giving me that look.”

“Got it.”

“…”

Annoyed by Enker’s sarcasm, Abyss’s eyebrows twitched.

After a moment of contemplation.

“It doesn’t matter if my karma increases, right?”

“What? No, that’s not—”

That’s not okay, you lunatic.

Abyss, having summoned his weapon, leapt forward. He promptly sliced through a passing dragon with a swift motion.

Shraaak—

Thud, thud, thud!

As the dragon’s blood spilled onto the deck, Enker froze with his hand still outstretched.

“…….”

Sir, you mustn’t cross that river.

[!WARNING!]

[The official war mode is not active yet. Killing will rapidly increase your karma.]

[High karma levels will be a disadvantage in war mode.]

[[Full Minak Karma Levels]

Bad Karma: 600000

Good Karma: 6318000]

Abyss, known for his speed, began slaughtering the dragons and Space King’s users at a breakneck pace.

Screeech, screeech—!!

The screams of dragons echoed through the air.

“!!”

The guild members of Space King and Full Minak looked at Abyss in shock.

Voice chat became chaotic.

[W-what? Why did Abyss suddenly go berserk?]

[Is the Guildmaster here?]

[Not yet?!]

[Killing is causing a surge in karma levels!]

Enker’s mind went blank.

‘We’ve done it now.’

The bad karma was rapidly approaching a million.

What were we thinking, provoking a top-ranked madman who can’t be controlled without the Guildmaster?

There was no way Space King would sit back and watch Abyss’s rampage.

Shiva arrived.

[Name] Shiva (lv99)

—10th in the Korean server rankings

Affiliation: Space King

Position: 1st Corps

[[View Details]]

Boom!!

The explosive Shiva of Space King collided in mid-air with Full Minak’s nuclear bomb, Abyss.

As Abyss unleashed his relentless skills, the canyon walls that Full Minak’s guild members had painstakingly maintained trembled violently.

Bang! Thud—

Someone used a telekinetic skill to catch the stone walls just before they collapsed on Full Minak’s NPC army.

“…….”

The guild members shouted with their expressions.

An own goal?!

While the users were at a loss, Shiva and Abyss continued their fierce battle.

They were busy trying to keep their skills from falling into the various ground factions.

In short, a major nuisance.

Gulp.

With trembling hands, Enker calmly opened the chat window.

[Enker: Aaah!! Guildmaster, we have a big problem!! Please come quickly ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ]

There was no focus in his eyes.

There was no response from someone who hadn’t even logged in yet.

Kali frowned and approached Enker.

“What kind of damn scenario is this? No one even touched that nuclear bomb, so why did it explode on its own?”

Enker hastily closed the chat window he had been furiously typing into and replied.

“W-wow! Exactly!”

The one who caused Abyss to go berserk feigned ignorance. Then, hiding his urgent feelings, he asked Kali.

“When is the Guildmaster arriving?”

“I just woke him up, so he should log in soon.”

Enker’s expression became anxious.

Rank 2 in the list.

Abyss, known for cutting down anyone who dared to talk to him, only listened to the Guildmaster’s words.

“He needs to come quickly….”

With the dragons, brought in to scare Full Minak’s NPC army, slaughtered, Space King’s forces were greatly disrupted.

Abyss and Shiva clashed.

The red warship, Full Minak’s headquarters, was here.

As the guild members who had heard the news of the war in the early morning logged in, Full Minak’s home base had an overwhelming number of users.

Space King’s guild members were at a loss and panicking.

Kali laughed at the sight.

“Looks like Space King’s strategy is wrecked.”

As Abyss wreaked havoc in the aerial battle, the war situation quickly turned in favor of Full Minak.

Kali looked down at the ground.

Full Minak’s army, commanded by Mino, also seemed visibly relaxed.

Under the endless buffs from users and the heroic acts of the NPC heroes, the attack and defense were very stable.

After watching the war situation for a while, Kali acknowledged Abyss’s usefulness.

“It doesn’t seem too bad.”

“R-right?”

Enker quickly agreed, hiding his anxious thoughts.

Shiva had almost no chance of defeating Abyss, but that didn’t mean the proud Shiva would back down easily.

Full Minak’s current strategy was to delay. Delay at all costs.

Anything that dragged out time was good.

Bang! Bang! Boom!

Before they knew it, the mass aerial battle had turned into a one-on-one fight between Abyss and Shiva.

Kali murmured.

“As long as he controls his skills, this should be fine.”

“My heart’s pounding. If one skill lands wrong, the NPC army will be wiped out.”

The damage from Abyss’s skills wasn’t ordinary.

The karma that would accumulate from killing NPCs was also a concern, but avoiding an own goal was more important.

Currently, the NPC soldiers and heroes in Space King’s camp were too numerous.

Thus, Full Minak and Gold Bunker, attacked before war mode, found the lives of their NPC soldiers extremely valuable.

At that moment, Shiva’s movements suddenly stopped.

“?”

A look of confusion appeared on Abyss’s face as he fought Shiva, followed by a strange moment of silence.

A tense calm.

Hyunwoo, the Guildmaster of Gentle Knights, Full Minak’s allied guild, suddenly appeared on the fleet’s deck.

[Name] Hyunwoo (lv99)

—3rd in the Korean server rankings

Affiliation: Gentle Knights (Full Minak)

Position: Guildmaster

[[View Details]]

Gentle Knights is Full Minak’s allied guild and participates in sieges as part of Full Minak.

Hyunwoo spoke.

“Seeing Shiva stop, it seems he has called a higher-ranked player.”

“What? A higher-ranked player?”

Enker asked in surprise.

***

Though Full Minak and Gold Bunker are impressive, it’s the elite of Space King’s siege warfare that are almost exclusively high-ranking individuals.

Shiva suddenly stopped moving.

Considering the ferocious and foul-tempered Shiva would willingly stop in front of the Abyss, it must be a top-ranked individual.

Enker’s pupils trembled.

“Could it be… that person?”

Carly frowned.

“That person? Who are you talking about? Surely you don’t mean that damn Darts bastard?”

“Yes, that’s who I mean.”

The moment Enker answered.

Boom! Boom, boom—

The virtual graphics created a tumultuous scene, heralding the arrival of the notorious god of the north.

* * *