Level Up Machine

Chapter 138 Siege of Leopold (3)

People living on the Elnote Continent, whether they were summoners or natives, each had an ‘inventory’.

At level 1, they could only use a space small enough to barely fit a head, but as their levels increased, so did the size of their inventory and the allowable weight it could hold.

The inventory could only contain inanimate objects, and the concept of ‘weathering’ applied.

In other words, if they put meat in it, it would rot over time.

This characteristic of the inventory, which everyone had and allowed them to carry items freely anytime and anywhere, had long been utilized in warfare strategies.

Strategies such as putting a magic scroll in the inventory and suddenly taking it out to attack, or throwing explosive magic tools, had been common.

However, these strategies mostly did not have a significant effect.

No matter how they attacked, the basis of their power was magic, so they were not very effective against strong magical barriers.

But then.

“[Commence firing. Eliminate the targets.]”

-Click.

The eyes of the androids that emerged from the inventory glowed red.

They simultaneously took out their guns and aimed at the soldiers on the walls.

“What, what is that black stick?”

“Is it a staff used by wizards……?”

The soldiers of the Ixis Kingdom and the Elnote Kingdom stared at the guns with bewildered expressions, seeing the weapons for the first time.

“What is that……? Could it be a gun?”

“No, why are guns here?!”

Members of the Abaddon Guild, who knew about guns, shouted in urgency.

-Ratatatatata!

“Aaahhh!”

“What, what is this?!”

The androids began their shooting.

Bullets rained down on the kingdom soldiers who were looking at the strange objects with curiosity from atop the walls.

Amid fountains of blood, horrific screams echoed all around.

“They’re real guns!”

“No, why are guns in this world?!”

The Abaddon Guild members hurriedly shouted and quickly cast defensive spells.

Their average level was much higher than that of the kingdom soldiers, so they did not suffer significant damage despite the sudden gunfire.

“Aaahhh!”

“Raise your shields and block it!”

But the kingdom soldiers, who were natives, were different.

They were helplessly swept away by the barrage of bullets.

From the start, guns were fundamentally different from swords or spears.

While it was extremely difficult for one person to face ten with a sword, with a gun, one could easily face twenty or thirty alone.

With a rate of fire incomparable to magic that requires casting and a speed on a different level from arrows shot by archers, the gun was an infinitely powerful weapon against the weak.

The androids’ bullets began to massacre the kingdom soldiers.

“Guild Master!”

In a situation beyond imagination, Lee Doo-young urgently called out to Kim Jae-hyun.

Kim Jae-hyun looked at the androids with a grim expression.

“What on earth is happening…”

He trailed off, unable to comprehend the situation.

“Guild Master! The damage is increasing rapidly!”

“Alright, alright.”

Kim Jae-hyun replied indifferently, as if annoyed, and continued speaking.

-Buuuuung!

“Tell the natives to retreat from the walls. Only summoners over level 50 should move forward.”

“Understood!”

Summoners over level 50 had at least one or two defensive skills that could block the gunfire.

“Kingdom soldiers, fall back! Summoners with defensive skills, move forward!”

“Eeeeek!”

As soon as Lee Doo-young gave the order, the terrified kingdom soldiers quickly retreated.

The summoners moved forward and began to deploy their defensive skills.

The androids’ bullets bounced off the summoners’ defensive skills without penetrating.

A standoff ensued between the summoners trying to block the bullets and the androids trying to pierce through.

A bit of calm returned to the tense battlefield.

“Where did those things come from?”

Kim Jae-hyun squinted at the thousands of androids.

At first, he suspected they were unusual golems, but since he couldn’t sense any magic, it seemed they were purely mechanical androids.

‘Could it be the same guy who made that refrigerator and air conditioner?’

Recently, he had heard rumors that a summoner capable of creating modern artifacts had appeared in the Goldrun Guild.

‘No way.’

Refrigerators and air conditioners were on a completely different level from androids.

The androids before him were something that even Earth’s technology couldn’t create, like something out of a science fiction movie.

“…I guess I’ll have to visit the Goldrun Guild later.”

He muttered as he stretched out his hands.

The swarm of locusts attacking the Eastern Alliance turned toward the androids.

“You seem to have prepared an interesting toy, but that’s all it is.”

If he had encountered these androids when he was an ordinary person with no abilities, he would have fled in terror, but now the situation was different.

Having already surpassed human limits by far, guns were nothing but trivial weapons to him.

“Devour them.”

-Buuuuung!

At his command, the eyes of the locusts turned red.

The locusts, made of magic, began to devour the androids.

Although the androids had bodies made of solid steel, they were meaningless in front of Kim Jae-hyun’s summoned creatures.

Like a cloud, the locusts swarmed over the androids.

“Now!”

Bae Yeong-hoon’s shout echoed across the battlefield.

At his signal, about twenty summoners opened their inventories and released androids.

Unlike the other androids, these twenty or so androids appeared to be armored. As soon as they emerged, they extended their arms toward the walls.

“Ha, do you think adding a mere twenty scrap metal pieces will change anything?”

Kim Jae-hyun smirked coldly and raised his hand. It was at that moment.

-Click.

The chests of the androids opened.

Dozens of missiles poured out from their open chests.

Hundreds of missiles rained down on the walls of Leopold.

-Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

With a series of massive explosions, the walls of Leopold, protected by a powerful magical barrier, were shaken.

“Cast your spells!”

Following the plan, the wizards, who had paused their casting when the android army appeared, began to unleash their magic all at once.

The initial impact of the missiles started to break the walls.

“Mega Explosion-!”

Chae-rin, who had been hiding behind Gil-soo’s shield, seized the opportunity and stepped forward.

She fired three oxygen bullets from her staff simultaneously and cast her spell at the walls.

This use was completely different from the original intention Yeong-sik had when he first made the oxygen bullet staff.

Instead of weakening and dividing the explosions, she poured out the oxygen bullets to maximize the destructive power in a single strike.

It was the most typical use of magic by Chae-rin.

As Gil-soo picked up the mana-exhausted Chae-rin, he looked up at the walls.

-Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

“Aaaaargh!”

The summoners standing on top fell below.

Horrific screams echoed throughout the battlefield.

“Ugh?! Why!”

Lee Doo-young, who had lightly landed on the ground after a 20-meter fall using a roll, looked at the androids in disbelief.

Though it had been a powerful explosion, it shouldn’t have been enough to penetrate the magical barrier instantly.

The walls of Leopold should have withstood at least three such explosions.

“Could it be?!”

At that moment, a thought flashed through Lee Doo-young’s mind.

The magical barrier was specialized in blocking attacks imbued with magic.

That meant it was surprisingly weak against pure physical force that contained no magic.

“Where on earth did those come from…?”

Missile barrages in a world where even cannons had not been developed felt like a bad joke.

“Advance the entire army!”

Taking advantage of the confusion within the Abaddon Alliance, Bae Yeong-hoon and Bae Seong-hoon shouted simultaneously.

The Eastern Alliance, which had been cautiously advancing with a focus on defense, suddenly lowered their shields and began to charge forward with all their might.

The Eastern Alliance rushed in with terrifying speed.

“Damn it! Hold the line! Warrior classes to the front! Ranged classes, keep attacking!”

Lee Doo-young shouted in a rough voice towards the confused guild members and kingdom soldiers.

The kingdom soldiers retreated before the walls collapsed, and since the summoners wouldn’t die from the shock of the collapsing walls, the actual loss of strength wasn’t significant.

The problem was the resulting horrific chaos.

The Eastern Alliance charged towards them in their confusion.

“Power Smash!”

“Hahaha! Come on, let’s have some fun, you bastards!”

Leading the vanguard of the alliance was the Salvator Guild.

Park Cheol-tae and Jeong So-rim leaped over the collapsed walls and attacked the confused members of the Abaddon Guild.

“Block them! Don’t run, block those bastards!”

Lee Doo-young shouted desperately as he watched the alliance descend into uncontrollable chaos.

Kim Jae-hyun, observing the scene, frowned as if displeased.

The damage caused by what he thought were mere amusing toys was too severe.

‘I have no other choice.’

Kim Jae-hyun clicked his tongue and turned away.

At this point, he had no choice but to use Lucia as originally planned.

Without saying a word to Lee Doo-young or the guild members, he began walking towards the royal castle.

He could have fought alongside his guild members, but doing so would have likely led to being surrounded by the Eastern Alliance.

Although being surrounded wouldn’t be dangerous with the solid insurance of Lucia, the problem was that the commanders might flee after witnessing her astonishing power.

‘The primary target is Park Si-a, that bitch.’

If he didn’t kill Park Si-a here, it would be a huge obstacle in taking control of the entire East.

It wasn’t about whether she was strong or weak.

Park Si-a had the widest network of connections in the East.

If numerous small and medium guilds in the East rallied around her, things would get troublesome again.

‘And it’s still too early to reveal Lucia, that bitch.’

The trump card exerts greater power when it is hidden.

To seize control of not just the East but also the South and West, he needed to conceal some of her power.

Although the Abaddon Alliance, already in a disadvantageous situation, would surely collapse without their focal point once he abruptly left, it didn’t matter much to him.

‘Such expendable resources can always be replenished.’

A devilish smile appeared on his lips.

Turning his back on the guild members fighting desperately, he entered the royal castle.

As soon as Kim Jae-hyun vacated his position, a group from the Eastern Alliance broke away and pursued him.

“Aaaahhh!”

“Don’t retreat! Fight to the death! There are only a few thousand of them!”

Lee Doo-young shouted in a ferocious voice, beheading a soldier who tried to flee.

Despite the confusion from the surprise attack, the Abaddon Alliance still had a tremendous number of troops left.

‘We can hold out if we push them with sheer numbers!’

Thinking this, Lee Doo-young turned to find Kim Jae-hyun.

If Kim Jae-hyun lent his strength in this situation, they could ignite the spark of a counterattack.

“Guild Master?”

But Kim Jae-hyun was nowhere to be seen on the battlefield.

Lee Doo-young stared blankly at the spot where he had vanished, looking as if he had been struck on the back of the head with a hammer.

It was at that moment.

-Shoooom!

Something descended from the sky. Even in the midst of the fierce battle, people’s gazes turned toward it.

[Announcing the master’s command to annihilate the enemies.]

“…What is that?”

Lee Doo-young couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

The ‘thing’ descending from the sky resembled the robots from the cartoons he used to enjoy watching.

Guns.

Missiles.

Androids.

And now this.

“No, what on earth is this…?

Is this a dream?”