The crafting of items to complete the combat team continued without pause.
A greatsword warrior inspired by the Berserker.
A swordsman wielding a dao, modeled after the Sword King.
An assassin who silences presence and swings daggers, taking after the Shadow King.
Just thinking about the people around me, ideas flowed endlessly, allowing me to create new subordinates without any obstacles.
Among them, what excited me the most was—
[Crafting complete.]
[‘Remains of the Spear Statue’s Crossbow’ acquired.]
“Done!”
A crossbow made with SS-rank materials, using Necroplasm’s Tendon.
In other words, it was my primary weapon.
Even though I’m not a combat specialist, as the owner, shouldn’t I have at least one proper legendary weapon?
With a heart full of anticipation, I checked its details.
[Remains of the Spear Statue’s Crossbow]
Type: Crossbow
Grade: L (Legendary)
Restriction: Level 225 or higher, Descendant of Vulcanus
Description: A crossbow crafted by a Descendant of Vulcanus using Necroplasm’s Tendon as the bowstring.
Attack Power: 4,200
Abilities:
1. Parasite Tracking Arrow – The arrow chases its target, increasing hit rate but cannot pierce through enemies, instead embedding deeper.
2. Regeneration – The bowstring rapidly regenerates, boosting the speed and attack power of fired arrows.
3. Splitting – Arrows have a chance to split upon firing.
4. Growth – The abilities of fired arrows are amplified.
5. Tumor – The struck area gradually swells, losing function, and its defense decreases.
The Remains of the Spear Statue’s Crossbow.
I liked all of its abilities, but the ones I favored most were ‘Splitting’ and ‘Growth’.
Since I’m not an archer, I can’t rely solely on skills; I have to depend on the power of the excellent arrows I personally crafted.
If the arrows split by ‘Splitting,’ they can deal double damage, and with ‘Growth’ on top of that, the damage would be even greater.
“Phew.”
There wasn’t much left to complete the combat team now.
I wanted to cancel all outside schedules and devote myself entirely to crafting the combat team, but—
“We have to go on the raid.”
Today was the day to take on a rank 8 Gate.
In truth, the guild members’ skills had improved so much that I didn’t have to participate anymore, but today, I definitely wanted to join.
I wanted to test the power of the newly made weapon, the Remains of the Spear Statue’s Crossbow, and the arrows I prepared for the Tower climb.
“Nam Bora, is everyone ready?”
— “Yes, the vehicle transfer is complete.”
“I’m heading there now.”
After sending the crafted items, I immediately got into Guild master Vehicle No. 1.
Having done this several times already, I naturally got up, opened the rear door of the vehicle, and stepped out.
“Master, you’re here!”
The first to greet me was Team 1 Leader.
Behind him, the members of the Vulcanus Guild were lined up in formation.
This would actually be the last time we tackled an rank 8 Gate as a full group.
Now that everyone’s skills had improved, we decided to split rank 8 Gate raids into halves going forward.
Seeing how far they had come filled me with nothing but pride as their Guild Master.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
Once again, I led the charge into the Gate.
The rank 8 Gate we were assaulting today was called the Broken Citadel.
True to its name, the moment we entered, the sight of a ruined citadel greeted us.
Collapsed walls and broken spires—everything around us was in ruins.
Seeing this made me recall the Statue’s words about the ‘Era of Destruction’ flickering through my mind for no good reason.
The Gate was said to have originated from the Tower, so these ruins must have come from the Tower as well.
They said the places where the Tower emerged were always places of ruin; perhaps this was just a remnant of destruction caused by the Tower.
As I pondered such meaningless speculations, a sound like wind blowing through a cave echoed.
“Grrrrr…”
Turning my head, I saw the statues perched atop the Broken Citadel spread their wings.
‘Gargoyles.’
Gargoyles used to be just stone statues of demons.
But now, in a world full of monsters, they mean flying creatures made of living stone.
“Drip, drip, drip.”
Shaking off stone dust, the gargoyles flapped their wings.
It was hard to believe that such a heavy stone body could be lifted by just a few wingbeats.
Yet the gargoyles mocked such common sense and gracefully took flight.
“Commence combat!”
“Commence combat!”
The battle began immediately.
Though the enemies were rank 8 Monsters, every member of Vulcanus Guild had grown accustomed to fighting rank 8 Monsters by now.
Levels had risen considerably, new skills were acquired, and equipment was upgraded accordingly.
Although the gargoyles were tricky opponents, there was no sign of us being overwhelmed.
‘Gargoyles, huh? Kind of tricky.’
I loaded an arrow into the newly crafted crossbow.
Despite the good item, I worried whether my arrows, lacking any crossbow-related skills, would even pierce the stone bodies of the gargoyles.
Still, trusting the crossbow’s ability—Parasite Tracking, which sacrifices piercing power but embeds arrows deeper into the target—I let the arrow fly.
“Thwack!”
Contrary to my worry, the arrow sank deeply into the gargoyle’s body with ease.
Thanks to the hit rate boost from the parasite tracking, aiming was easier, and the arrow lodged deeply.
Moreover, the arrow I fired was an explosive arrow—not my usual one, but a reinforced explosive arrow I crafted specifically for Tower climbing.
“Boom!”
The arrow embedded in the gargoyle’s body detonated.
“Thud-thud—”
The remains of the rank 8 Monster gargoyle fell above our heads.
***
Vulcanus Guild.
Once a fledgling guild created by a blacksmith, it was now considered one of the three great guilds of Korea alongside Changcheon Guild and Mir Guild.
Although many new members had joined recently, the core remained the original members from Teams 1 through 10.
With help from Vulcanus, their Guild Leader, and his equipment, they were able to challenge rank 8 Gates at early levels.
Now, they were on the verge of graduating from the 100-person raid on rank 8 Gates.
That alone was proof of how much the Vulcanus guild members had grown.
“Start the attack! Focus on the wings first! Bring them down to the ground!”
The team leaders issued orders.
Though we were accustomed to rank 8 Gates, it didn’t mean facing rank 8 Monsters was easy.
Rank 8 Monsters remained formidable.
Only now, the Vulcanus members had adapted and grown stronger.
“Ugh! These stone lumps, flying type yet so tough!”
“They probably don’t have any special abilities!”
Gargoyles were tough.
They lacked special abilities, but their entire bodies were made of stone, capable of deflecting most attacks.
Plus, being flying monsters, they had the advantage of aerial mobility.
Even with a balanced team, most hunters were melee types due to the hunter ratio, making gargoyles a particularly difficult foe.
Recently, the attacks from Team 12, deployed for experience, couldn’t penetrate the gargoyles’ bodies and just bounced off—except for the shots fired by their team leader, Lee Chaehyun, wielding a magical rifle.
In such a tough situation, one gargoyle’s body exploded.
“Boom!”
Stone debris fell, scattering dust.
Who had landed that hit?
They looked up to see Vulcanus, the Guild master, loading another arrow.
‘No way.’
Their Guild Leader, Vulcanus.
He was powerful.
A blacksmith who wielded a crossbow of his own making, firing arrows with elemental attributes tailored to the situation, he could easily suppress most monsters.
It was hard to believe such combat power came from a blacksmith, not a combat specialist.
However, as the guild members grew, Vulcanus’s relative ceiling lowered.
No, it was more that while Vulcanus’s peak performance with items had limits, the guild members’ peaks kept rising.
But what about now?
“Bang!”
Every time Vulcanus fired an arrow, a gargoyle plummeted lifelessly.
Even combat hunters of higher levels struggled with gargoyles, but Vulcanus was hunting them with ease unlike anyone else.
‘How on earth?’
The guild members’ gazes naturally fixed on Vulcanus’s weapon.
The black, glossy crossbow was clearly different from the one seen before.
Arrows fired from that crossbow flew so fast they were hard to track visually.
Not only that.
The arrows expanded like cell division as they flew.
“Thwump!”
They embedded deeply into the tough stone bodies of the gargoyles.
“Boom!!”
And exploded.
Who would look at Vulcanus and dismiss him as just a blacksmith?
No one here matched his outstanding performance.
“Item power?”
These weren’t bought items—he made them himself as a blacksmith.
If that’s not skill, then what is?
The fallen Royal Guild was once accused of relying on item power, but Vulcanus must never hear such accusations.
Every item he used was crafted by his own hands.
“Boom!”
“Thank you!”
“We’ll handle the cleanup!”
Vulcanus brought down the gargoyles.
Guild members swiftly finished off the critically injured gargoyles that were falling.
That was the order of the battle.
The difficult gargoyle hunt suddenly became so easy the moment Vulcanus joined in.
Is that just a trick that works on normal monsters?
No way.
“Grrrrrrrr!”
“Thwump—”
“Boom!!”
Even a Boss Monster couldn’t withstand Vulcanus’s attacks.
Arrows buried deeply into the body of a massive demonic statue boss monster.
The explosion cracked its body wide open.
A freezing arrow followed, sealing the cracks with ice.
“Boom!!”
Another explosive arrow detonated, splitting the cracks wider.
“Crack—crack—”
The giant fissures shattered the boss’s body.
That alone was powerful enough, but every guild member here knew this was not Vulcanus’s limit.
The arrows were made from SS-rank monster materials used in his first rank Gate 8 challenge.
If Vulcanus set his mind to crafting such weapons, he could rival any ranker even in rank 9 Gates.
Just as the guild members’ respect for Vulcanus swelled even further in their minds, the giant demonic statue crumbled, signaling the end of the rank 8 Gate raid.
“Good work, everyone.”