The Legendary Moonlight Sculptor

Arkhim: The battle continues to rage at Shantytown. That location is too disadvantageous.

Slater: We must stay put. It’s a hilly terrain which isn’t good for a fight.

Lamifter: It’s better to wait even if we lose all of them. One rash rescue will cost us our entire plan.

The Hermes Guild decided to abandon them.

“Merciless Counter!”

Lancelot saw the message and charged straight at Kaybern.

It was a skill that retaliated more powerfully the stronger the opponent’s attack.

“My name is Lancelot!”

Lancelot deflected Kaybern’s flinging tail and followed up closely.

He slashed and stabbed with twin swords and inflicted wounds on the dragon.

You have met the most dreadful presence unimaginable.

Merciless Counter is at 3200% attack damage.

Lancelot braced for death.

To escape Kaybern, he had to abandon his team and he did not even expect the Hermes Guild to come to their rescue.

‘I will not die in vain.’

As a commander of the Hermes Guild, he chose to display his strength until his final moment.

Oberon: Merciless Counter. That is originally a warrior skill. Through a special quest, swordsmen can also acquire it. However, even warriors cannot sustain it for long.

As Oberon explained on the regional chat, Merciless Counter was draining Lancelot’s stamina and health points severely.

“Remember my name, Lancelot. You lizard!”

Kaybern stepped back after the intense rush but soon became enraged.

From the chains of anguish, bind to eternal curse.

12 different curses swept over Lancelot.

Pain, Poison, Weakness, Feebleness, Confusion, Paralysis, Rot and more…

Kaybern opened its mouth wide and chomped on Lancelot who rampaged until his last breath.

***

Weed, under Sculptural Transformation, was waiting with the other dwarf warriors.

“We must defeat the dragon for the future of our kind!”

“You got that right. Let’s show him what our long suppressed dwarven fury looks like.”

The dwarven warriors inspected their weapons and spoke loudly and confidently.

‘Morale is high. I raised their gear specs too, so they should be able to fight well.’

Weed was on standby with the other dwarves at a building near Bingryong Square.

Barbarian Knatul, Fairy Knight Malin, and Half-elf Vishur.

The heroes of three races were positioned in the assault squad.

The dwarves were inflated with their dwarven pride and were not on good terms with either the high elves nor the barbarians.

“It’s a breath!”

When Kaybern spewed Dragon Breath, Weed laid flat on the ground with the dwarves.

Fortunately, the breath destroyed the giant sculpture and its surroundings.

“Whew, that was a close call.”

Weed’s heart jolted.

If a Great Landmark was destroyed, the damage would have been catastrophic even before the actual war.

“It’s better off to lose the goddess statue or the Light Tower than the landmarks. Now that I have become a sculpting master, I can just recreate them.”

The dwarves that were tenacious and brave just a second ago were unable to lift their faces.

The dwarves wrapped their hands around their head and shivered in fear.

“Are we still alive?”

“Ah, the ground is shaking. The power of a dragon…”

“It’s too scary. My heart won’t stop racing.”

“I’m sure Kaybern is furious with us.”

“Without a doubt. I heard from my grandfather long ago about his encounter with a dragon.”

“What did he say?”

“He felt like he was going to be swallowed alive in an instant. He was so afraid that he wanted to carve out his own heart.”

“Mmm. It’s going to sever our arms and legs and feast on us.”

The dwarven warriors had been reduced to cowards!

There was one thing in the world that instilled fear in these courageous dwarves, and that had to be the dragon.

‘Boosting their morale will come later…’

Weed kept to his spot.

The absolute sun rose high in the sky and Lancelot’s unit had begun the engagement, but he had to bide his time. The battle strategy was to lure the dragon to the townsquare and commit to an all-out attack.

The plan was shaky because there was no way to tell where in Morata the dragon was going to land, but this was as meticulous of a plan as possible given the circumstances.

‘Against a dragon, we have to fight on our turf. Any location other than the townsquare won’t allow for a real fight due to the buildings.’

The sounds of Kaybern rampaging against Lancelot’s unit were constant.

- Lowly, insignificant humans! How daring of you to charge at me!

Hatred toward humans was its basic instinct.

The Hermes Guild members perished and buildings collapsed.

Bad news rushed in.

Swift Coldwind: Weed-nim, the fire in Morata is too big.

“What’s the scale?”

Swift Coldwind: I can’t identify the exact numbers, but Morata seems to be on fire from afar. The smoke is thick.

The effects of Solar Absolute caused fire in over a dozen areas and spread quickly.

The architects had created a line of ashes, but more buildings kept joining the parade of fire.

Swift Coldwind: The avian are falling from the sky due to the heat and shortness of breath.

“If the Shantytown gets completely burnt down, the fire will go out rather quickly…”

Romuna: Weed-nim, the duration of Solar Absolute changes according to the magic level of the caster. It should disappear in about 5 minutes. Ah, I really want to learn that spell.

Romuna, being a fire type mage, was jealous of every magic spell from Kaybern.

“Swift Coldwind-nim, what is the estimated damage in Morata?”

Swift Coldwind: Sight is blocked by smoke and I am unable to confirm. Wouldn’t the wooden buildings and roadsides have all been burnt down by now? A lot of plain buildings are also on fire.

Lemon: It’s dangerous around the Art Center. Several buildings are ablaze.

Even concrete buildings had a portion of wooden components.

The furniture and supplies inside could be set on fire and moreover, Morata’s history was short compared to other major cities and thus had a vast Shantytown.

The Shantytown covering the hill alone had an incredible surface area.

Seoyoon: I am on the lookout from the Black Giant Star. Unless we put the fire out, a third of Morata will be gone.

“That much?”

Seoyoon: From what I see, it seems that way.

The severity of the situation spread to not just Weed but the rest of the players in Morata.

Pale: Oh lord… That’s disastrous.

Irene: The damage is insane. It was just one magic spell.

Mapan: The cost of the buildings disappearing to the fire will be astronomical. Even if they may be wooden buildings.

Mibullo: It’s sad that I can’t do a thing about it.

Pavo: This is all my fault for not having been fully prepared.

The architects divided sections and raised fort walls to defend the city and laid anti-fire lines, but the Solar Absolute covered the entire city.

It was a painful consequence for picking a street battle strategy against a dragon in such a big city like Morata.

Lemon: Folks watching from your homes. If you have spare hands, please put out the fires in areas far from Kaybern.

Flame: Understood.

Totkung: Make sure the fire doesn’t spread to important buildings. Players in the furthest sections should move so we do not draw the dragon’s attention.

The players that remained in Morata began their move.

Since Kaybern was on the chase for Lancelot’s unit, they began extinguishing the nearby buildings.

‘I thought the Northern players would be of no help…’

Weed deemed that Morata could hold on for a bit longer and he was reassured to wait it out.

Swift Coldwind: I have entered the sky zone of Morata. The heat could burn my feathers… Anyway, I have a visual on the dragon.

“What about Lancelot?”

Swift Coldwind: The unit is out of commission! The engagement had resulted in greater destruction of the surrounding area. The buildings are crumbling, causing the players to flee with Kaybern on the chase.

“What’s the direction?”

Swift Coldwind: It is not heading in a specific direction, but destroying random areas around the Shantytown.

Kaybern was not being lured to Bingryong or Wyvern Square.

Sculptures, paintings and precious treasures were placed as traps but seemed to be undiscovered. For the time being, it was fully consumed by destruction and slaughter.

“This is troublesome…”

Weed gazed up into the sky.

The pure blue sky of Morata was covered in black smoke.

Kaybern murdered players in sight and bombarded the city with massive AOE spells.

The dragon’s enormous figure over the height of 200 meters crushed Morata’s buildings with every move.

The Hermes Guild chat alert popped up.

Arkhim: Kaybern uses dark magic by offering blood and sacrifice. It won’t be good if more players die.

Heroid: Let’s tell the players to run for the Bingryong Square while they’re at it. The city will turn to waste and we won’t be able to do anything about it if they all run in every direction.

Boemong: They’re going to die anyway, so have them come to the ambush site!

The atmosphere of the Hermes Guild too was becoming hasty.

Kaybern’s barrage of spells were blowing away the Hermes Guild members along with the random selection of buildings.

Magic explosion, trembles, screams.

Everything that was happening in Morata was like that in a war zone.

Swift Coldwind: Kaybern is now on the Hill of the Artist and continuing the destruction. From above, the scene of the Black Dragon wreaking havoc is a true spect… Hmm, mmm. I apologize. Anyhow, it is causing great damage to the city.

There was a scene that also unfolded in Weed’s mind.

Black Dragon swinging its tail, smashing buildings and destroying with magic.

It was utterly simple but the speed was so incredible that it could make a city disappear in an hour or two.

He imagined the destruction of Morata, players dying one after another, black magic charging to random explosions.

Kaybern’s attack was truly about to be unleashed as its main talent was dark magic.

“Sigh, this stupid world… Why can’t things go my way for once? I laid down so many baits and they were completely ignored.”

The Hermes Guild possessed an independent chain of tactical command in this battle.

With Bard Ray and Arkhim’s presence, it was intrusive to give orders to their forces. Furthermore, he believed that they had coordination from their companionship and will fight better on their own. But, that was only if the dragon came to the ambush site for the Hermes Guild to pour everything they had.

“Now who would be willing to step up in this situation… Of course, only me. Everyone, wait here.”

Weed told the dwarves to stay put and walked out to the street.

“Kyaaah, help me!”

“Run! Kaybern is using another spell.”

“Evacuate, evacuate!”

The screams coming from the direction of the Hill of the Artist told the urgent situation.

Weed let out a roar and sprinted to where Kaybern was located.

- Listen up you smoked lizard! I, Weedhand, who robbed your house, am here!