Chapter 110: Forging the Tide of Battle

“One hundred, two hundred! Three hundred! Oh, it’s over five hundred now!”

“What’s going on all of a sudden?”

Monsters pouring out from the Fortress of the Dead.

Seeing the monsters relentlessly streaming out, every member of the Vulcanus Guild couldn’t help but panic.

Usually, even a mob of monsters from a Gate would number only in the tens.

It was nearly unheard of for several hundred to swarm out all at once like this.

Is this what an rank 8 Gate is like?

While everyone was losing their composure, the 10th Team Leader coolly analyzed the situation.

“It seems the boss monster judged the trebuchet’s attacks as a serious threat. That towering wall is proof of that.”

“That makes sense.”

“Even the boss monster can’t maintain that wall forever. So they must’ve sent them out to take down the trebuchets before their magic runs out.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Okay, we understand the situation.

But still—

‘What are we supposed to do about those guys?’

How are we supposed to fight an army of over five hundred?

Other large guilds might be accustomed to rank 8 Gates and have higher combat power, but for Vulcanus Guild, this is our first rank 8 Gate raid.

Honestly, our military strength is lacking compared to an rank 8 Gate.

And in this situation, we have to face five hundred rank 8 monsters head-on?

In a place with no cover or terrain that could help us hide or gain an advantage?

‘Wait… terrain?’

My eyes fell on the siege tower I’d just finished, the battering ram, and the second siege tower still in progress.

If there’s no terrain, then we create one, right?

As soon as the thought crossed my mind—

“Dismantle!”

I used one of the basic blacksmith skills I hadn’t employed in a long time: Dismantle.

[‘Vulcanus Battering Ram’ has been dismantled.]

[‘Vulcanus Siege Tower’ has been dismantled.]

[‘Vulcanus Siege Tower (2)’ has been dismantled.]

“Master! What are you doing…?”

“I’m setting up a stronghold! Everyone, delay the monsters’ advance as much as possible! Use the trebuchets actively too!”

“Understood!”

“And pour all the Dark Knight bones we collected along the way here! We’ll use them as materials!”

“Crash.”

The battering ram and siege towers turned back into basic materials.

The guild members, following my order, dumped the Dark Knight bones and charged toward the enemy.

Immediately, with all the materials piled before me, I began setting up the ‘stronghold.’

Though calling it a stronghold might be a stretch.

It was more like building a wall.

To avoid being surrounded by the army of five hundred, I aimed to build a wall that would force the enemy to enter from one direction.

[Using Crafting Skill.]

[Please select the form of the item to craft.]

“Wall!”

Time was critical.

But I couldn’t sacrifice durability either.

If it was made hastily, it wouldn’t withstand an rank 8 monster’s assault.

[Crafting completed.]

[‘Wall’ acquired.]

As soon as the walls were made, I installed them around us.

The crafting skill seemed integrated with construction, allowing me to receive system support while erecting the walls.

After putting all my effort into raising them, I had surrounded our rear and flanks with walls.

Not perfect, but enough to avoid being completely encircled by the rank 8 monster horde.

Then I used up the remaining materials to install structures in front of us, designed to impede the monsters’ advance.

Looking up at the battlefield, I saw the Vulcanus Guild being pushed back by the monsters.

‘We’re losing ground.’

It was inevitable.

Until now, we’d won by sheer numbers against the Dark Knight Division, but how could we suppress the enemy while outnumbered against rank 8 monsters?

Even buying time like this was difficult.

Just as I was about to order a retreat since the stronghold was set up, ‘No.’

A new idea sparked in my mind.

Even if the guild members returned now, it wouldn’t give us a significant advantage.

Right now, the Vulcanus Guild is slowing down the undead horde’s advance.

We need to leverage this situation to our fullest advantage.

My eyes landed on the three trebuchets.

‘This is it.’

The trebuchet.

This is the answer.

The only way to turn the situation around.

[Using Crafting Skill.]

[Please select the form of the item to craft.]

“Projectile!”

[Please select the detailed form of the projectile.]

“Spherical!”

I immediately grabbed my hammer and activated the crafting skill.

What I was making was special ammunition for the trebuchets.

For the materials—

[Please select the material of the projectile.]

“Firestone!”

I took out rare materials I’d brought along just in case, including firestone.

Firestone was quite common in Zone1.

It was the ore I often used to make crossbow bolts, so I crafted the projectile from it.

The process wasn’t difficult.

I simply shaped the ore into spheres, forming the projectiles.

In reality, processing would involve several steps to maximize the firestone’s power, but the skill and system handled all that automatically.

[Crafting completed.]

[‘Firestone Projectile’ acquired.]

As soon as the projectile was made, I didn’t even have time to check the item info before loading it onto the trebuchet’s launcher.

The guild member operating the trebuchet caught my eye, nodded, and pulled the trigger.

“Thwomp!”

The projectile flew through the air like a falling comet, tailing fire, landing right in the center of the enemy forces.

At that moment—

“Flare!”

A fierce blaze erupted where the projectile landed.

The undead’s greatest weakness was Holy attribute, but fire was nearly as effective.

Though they were undead—creatures that didn’t even flinch when their skin was burned black—the damage was real.

“Good!”

This is it.

This method lets us efficiently handle the enemy.

The Dark Knight Division attacked us with active tactics and strategies, but the advancing monsters showed no such behavior.

So—

[Crafting completed.]

[‘Firestone Projectile’ acquired.]

I kept making the new projectiles.

The problem was the limited materials.

Besides firestone, I had a few other materials to make special projectiles, but after making a handful, they ran out quickly.

I hadn’t anticipated this kind of situation from the start.

No matter how big my pocket of space was, materials are always limited.

Eventually, I ran out.

Although we inflicted heavy damage on the undead horde, the enemy numbers were still high.

This wasn’t nearly enough.

I thought maybe I should call in guild members from outside, regroup at the stronghold, and hold the line the usual way.

But a new idea flashed in my mind.

“Anyone with materials!”

“Yes?”

I’m not the only one with items, right?

A hundred guild members were fighting the undead with me.

They might have items useful for crafting.

With a hundred people, surely someone would have one or two materials to make projectiles?

Of course, just demanding items might seem like I was forcibly taking them as Guild Master.

“I’ll pay double the market price! This is for the Gate raid, so please bring A-rank or higher materials!”

It’s better to buy than force.

They had their reasons for keeping the materials, but it couldn’t be helped.

First, we had to get through this crisis.

I worried maybe none of the hundred would have any materials, but fortunately—

“Guild Master, I have some!”

Someone with materials appeared.

It was Team 9 Leader Jeon Ji-min.

She was fighting ahead to delay the undead horde’s advance.

As soon as she heard my voice, she wrapped the materials she was holding with her whip and threw it over.

The first material I received was—

[King Dire Wolf’s Fang]

Material from the rank 8 boss monster, King Dire Wolf.

I didn’t know if I could make special projectiles from a material without any specific attributes, but I had no choice.

[Using Crafting Skill.]

I swung my hammer and shaped the fang into a projectile.

No, this was harder than I thought.

Trying to preserve its properties, the sharp tooth kept jutting out, so I gave up on a spherical shape and kept the fang’s form.

The finished projectile was—

[Crafting completed.]

[‘Wolf Fang Projectile’ acquired.]

It was a projectile with giant fangs protruding jaggedly.

I doubted if this could really be a trebuchet projectile, but there was no time to hesitate; I loaded it onto the launcher.

“Thwack!”

The projectile flew out.

Because of its jagged shape, it didn’t fly perfectly straight and missed the target slightly, but that didn’t matter much.

“Boom!”

Before the projectile hit the ground, it exploded above the enemy.

“Phshhhk!”

“Grrrrr—!”

The sharp fangs pierced through all the monsters around.

The power was far stronger than I had expected.

Seeing this, guild members who understood why I’d asked for materials began searching their pockets in earnest.

“I have some too!”

“Me too!”

“Ah, I’d been saving this to make an accessory!”

“Guild Master, I don’t need money! Please make me a proper item later!”

The Vulcanus Guild had been raiding rank 7 Gates recently.

They had quite a number of A-rank materials.

As soon as I received the materials, I turned them into projectiles.

[Using Crafting Skill.]

I didn’t even have time to think if the material suited a projectile.

First, make it, then think.

As soon as I received the materials, I hammered quickly—

[Crafting completed.]

[‘Iron Golem Projectile’ acquired.]

I crafted projectiles from the cores of Iron Golems.

When fired, they rolled like huge iron balls, “Clatter, crash!”

“Grrrrr—.”

The projectile grew several times larger mid-air and swept through the undead horde.

[Thornvine Projectile]

“Crunch, crack!”

The next projectile caused thornvines to sprout from the ground like seeds, entangling nearby monsters.

The thorns on the vines pierced and tore the monsters’ bodies.

[Rot Scorpion Venom Projectile]

“Ssssht sssht sssht—”

The next projectile flew overhead, spraying thick venom like rain onto the monsters.

Normal poison wouldn’t affect undead monsters, but the rot scorpion venom decomposed everything it touched—their skin, muscles, bones, nerves.

How many special projectiles had I fired?

“Grrraaargh—!”

Unable to hold back the undead horde any longer, the Vulcanus Guild was pushed back to the stronghold.

The silver lining was that the special projectiles had reduced the undead army by over half.

No, even more than that.

“Fight!”

“The numbers have dropped! We can fight now!”

Seeing the reduced undead horde, the Vulcanus Guild members regained confidence.

Not only had the numbers decreased, but the remaining undead were in poor condition from the special projectiles.

Flesh Golems, Armed Zombies, Brutal Ghouls—

The powerful monsters typical of an rank 8 Gate’s undead.

“Crack! Crunch!”

“Swoosh—”

“Rumbleee!”

They started falling under the pressure of the Vulcanus Guild’s rising morale.