Level Up Machine

Chapter 40: The Power of the Black Cube (3)

In the northern part of the Elnote Kingdom, bordering the Ixis Kingdom, lay the fortress city of Talion.

Located not far from the northern frontier where summoners and the kingdom’s army were fiercely battling monsters, this city was robust enough to be called a natural fortress.

There, summoners, who were active in guilds or party units on the northern front lines, gathered, forming a large commercial district, and the headquarters of several large guilds were established.

Among these guilds, the headquarters of the Light Shield Guild, one of the six strongest guilds, was also located in the fortress city of Talion.

A massive mansion towering four stories high.

A dazzling white shield embroidered with luxurious golden patterns hung in front of the mansion. The Light Shield Guild’s headquarters was situated in the outskirts of the city, away from the bustling center and in a less frequented area.

There was only one reason why the guild, despite being one of the six strongest, had set up their headquarters in such a secluded area.

The reason was that the activities carried out by the Light Shield Guild behind the scenes were so exceedingly vile that they could tarnish the reputation of any other guild.

Human trafficking, kidnapping, operating illegal gambling dens, and managing brothels—they were involved in almost every illegal activity that a powerful group could partake in.

In the Elnore continent, where the concept of human rights was weak to begin with, there weren’t many entities capable of stopping them, and their business thrived day by day.

Inside the headquarters of such a Light Shield Guild, men with serious expressions sat around a table.

“Where on earth is Brother Cheol-ho!”

A man, thin as a skeleton, slammed the table and shouted.

The man’s name was Yoo Seok-woo, the second-in-command of the Light Shield Guild.

“After he took the elite forces and went with Branch Manager Hong Seung-gal, we haven’t been able to contact him.”

Another man sitting at the table replied in a cautious voice to Yoo Seok-woo’s words.

“Damn it.”

Yoo Seok-woo grabbed his head as if he had a headache.

The current situation of the Light Shield Guild was dire enough that the word “despair” was not an exaggeration.

It was only natural that such a desperate situation had occurred since the guild leader, who was responsible for the guild along with the high-level guild members, had all disappeared.

The reason they had not been checked by other guilds despite their numerous illegal activities was because they possessed the powerful strength of being one of the six strongest guilds.

In such a situation, with the core force of the guild having almost evaporated, there was no way the guild could operate properly.

Since Han Cheol-ho had gone out of contact, minor incidents had been occurring continuously in the businesses they managed.

It was easy to predict that if time passed like this, even more horrific situations would arise.

“Where on earth are you.”

Han Cheol-ho had left without saying where or why he was going, taking the forces with him.

They knew that he had received some information from Hong Seung-gal, so they could find out why Han Cheol-ho had suddenly taken the forces and left if they dug into the information related to Hong Seung-gal. But for now, they were too short on time just to quell the chaos within the guild.

“Haah, under these circumstances, we must quickly find out what Hong Seung-gal used to lure him…”

_ Bang!

“Bro, Brother!”

Before Yoo Seok-woo’s mumbling even finished, the door burst open roughly and a man entered. Yoo Seok-woo frowned and looked at him.

“What is it?”

“Intr, intruders!”

“…What did you say?”

At his urgent voice, Yoo Seok-woo’s expression twisted severely.

* * *

– Kwang!

A rough explosion reverberated. The guild house door blew open as if it had exploded, and a large figure covered in full plate armor appeared.

“What, what the hell is that guy?!”

“Stop him!”

The Light Shield Guild members who had been on standby in the guild house fell into chaos due to the sudden attack. They grabbed their weapons and charged at the intruder.

The large figure raised a massive greatsword, almost the size of a person, and muttered in a deep voice.

“Wild Wind Slash.”

“Ahhh!”

With his low mutter, the enormous greatsword swept around. The powerful wind emitted from the sword flung the Light Shield Guild members backward.

“Woo… I’m sorry.”

Jeong So-rim, who was standing behind the assailant Park Cheol-tae, stepped forward with a spear.

She bowed to the men who were rolling on the ground after being struck by Cheol-tae’s attack. Then, her body turned into a stream of wind and shot forward.

– Thud! Thud!

“Urk!”

In an instant, two thrusts pierced through two men’s necks. Dark red blood flowed from their wounds. As she saw the blood, Jeong So-rim’s expression started to change abruptly.

“Hehe. What’s this, only idiots left here?”

The timid look on her face was no longer there. So-rim’s lips curled into a crazed smile as she roughly thrust her spear.

“Stop her!”

Hearing the commotion, more Light Shield Guild members rushed toward Jeong So-rim.

“Hahahaha! Yes! Come at me like that!”

Jeong So-rim laughed maniacally and stomped her foot fiercely.

“Thousand Needles!”

At her shout, the tip of her spear split into dozens, unleashing a terrifying storm of spears upon the Light Shield Guild members.

“Urk!”

“Aaagh!”

A one-sided massacre began. The summoners who were not even elite guild members but mere underlings could not withstand Jeong So-rim and Park Cheol-tae.

“Damn it!”

“Quick, get the higher-ups!”

With their urgent cries, other summoners rushed down from upstairs. These were the higher-ranking officials within the Light Shield Guild.

“Wait a minute, those guys are…”

“Park Cheol-tae and Jeong So-rim from the Salvator Guild? Why are they here all of a sudden…?”

As experienced as they were, the higher-ups recognized Park Cheol-tae and Jeong So-rim immediately. But knowing who they were didn’t change the situation. Park Cheol-tae and Jeong So-rim continued their relentless assault on the Light Shield Guild members.

“Dammit!”

“How dare they!”

The higher-ups’ faces contorted with rage at the thought that just two people were attacking their guild.

“Kill them!”

“I’ll give 1,000 gold to whoever brings me their heads!”

The frantic shouts of the higher-ups changed the terrified expressions of the guild members. 1,000 gold—a thrilling amount even to think about—sparked their greed.

“Uwaaah!”

“There are only two of them anyway!”

They charged with rough cries.

That was when it happened.

“Arrow Shower.”

-Thud thud thud thud!

“Argh!”

Over ten arrows rained down on them simultaneously. The Light Shield Guild members quickly turned their heads.

They saw an old man with a bow and a young boy with black hair standing some distance from the guild house.

“Damn it! They’re all alive?!”

One of the higher-ups recognized them and grimaced. The four-member party led by Park Cheol-tae was renowned for its strength even within the Salvator Guild.

“There are only four of them! Kill them!”

The battle raged on. In terms of combat, it was almost a one-sided slaughter, but with over a hundred members residing in the guild house, the fight did not end quickly.

“Damn it!”

Yoo Seok-woo, who was being briefed on the combat situation, grimaced. There were only four intruders, but each one of them was so strong that they couldn’t be subdued easily.

‘I need to escape.’

Yoo Seok-woo thought anxiously. Continuing to fight them in this situation was foolish.

He took his personal guards and sneaked out through the back door of the guild house.

“I knew you’d try to sneak out like a rat.”

As Yoo Seok-woo emerged outside, a woman with red short hair smirked. Beside her stood a cold-looking young man and a girl with brown twin tails.

Yoo Seok-woo’s expression twisted upon seeing them.

“Choi Yu-na, Lee Chae-rin, Yoo Jin…”

He swallowed hard. These were all summoners who had made names for themselves in the Salvator Guild in the past.

“Why on earth are you here…?”

“Don’t give me that pathetic look. You were the ones who attacked first.”

Choi Yu-na spoke sharply, drawing her twin swords from her waist. Her swords blazed as if to drive away the deep darkness. Seeing this, Yoo Seok-woo’s face filled with despair.

—

“…It’s one-sided.”

Yeong-sik, who was watching the situation unfold outside the guild house, muttered in a disheartened voice. At his words, Bae Han-seong chuckled.

“The remaining forces are nothing but a ragtag bunch.”

“Even so, it’s surprising to see such a huge difference in numbers being overwhelmed like this.”

Yeong-sik looked down at the battle, impressed. Han-seong gave him a look of disbelief.

“This coming from the guy who single-handedly wiped out the elite forces of the Light Shield Guild. Compared to that, this is nothing.”

“Ugh…”

Yeong-sik swallowed hard at Han-seong’s pointed remark. Indeed, what Yeong-sik had done before was incomparable to what was happening now.

“But at this level, wouldn’t it have been okay to attack even before Cheol-tae arrived?”

Seo Ara, standing next to Yeong-sik, asked Han-seong. Shaking his head, Han-seong replied.

“Even if we could have won somehow, we wouldn’t have been able to catch the fleeing forces.”

“Huh?”

“We can’t leave any summoner who knows our identity alive.”

With that, Han-seong stood up.

“Shall we go, then?”

He started walking, and Yeong-sik and the others nodded and followed him. They infiltrated the Light Shield Guild, where fierce fighting was ongoing.

Han-seong and Yeong-sik’s group headed to Han Cheol-ho’s room on the fourth floor. The room felt barren, with nothing in it.

“Didn’t they say he collected items?”

Han-seong looked around at the room, which contained nothing but simple office supplies, and swallowed hard. Ara also searched the area, turning her head this way and that, but found nothing.

“Wait a moment.”

Yeong-sik, watching them, said this and used his ‘Scan’ ability.

*Beep*

[Scanning the surrounding area.]

[Scan successful. Displaying visual data.]

With those words, a blueprint of the guild house appeared in Yeong-sik’s mind. He smiled broadly at what he saw.

“Here it is.”

Yeong-sik said, pushing Han Cheol-ho’s desk aside.

He turned to Han-seong and spoke again.

“Here it is.”

“Here…?”

Han-seong looked at Yeong-sik as if he were speaking nonsense. Yeong-sik extended his hand and spoke.

“Give me the key we found on Han Cheol-ho’s body.”

“Oh, yes. Here it is.”

Han-seong handed him the silver key.

However, there was no visible hole to insert the key under the desk. Yeong-sik placed the key in a fine crack on the floor beneath the desk.

Click.

A clear sound resonated from what seemed like a mere split in the wooden floor, revealing a staircase leading to the third floor. Han Cheol-ho had designed a room on the third floor with no entrance, accessible only through a hidden door on the fourth floor.

Yeong-sik’s group and Han-seong descended the stairs.

“What is this?”

“Amazing.”

Gil-soo and Ara exclaimed as they saw Han Cheol-ho’s vault. The floor was filled with sparkling gold coins, and the organized shelves displayed various rare items.

“So this is the storage where Han Cheol-ho kept his collection.”

Han-seong looked around in admiration.

Yeong-sik passed by Han-seong and headed to a corner. There, seemingly worthless items with peculiar shapes were piled up.

Yeong-sik began searching through the pile of oddities.

“Found it.”

Yeong-sik’s lips curled into a broad smile as he rummaged through the heap of junk and found what he was looking for.