Level Up Machine

Chapter 52 Traitors (4)

The Sirentium Mountain Range.

It was a rugged mountain area with steep terrain and rocky zones where living creatures found it hard to survive.

Even those accustomed to climbing would find it difficult to scale this mountain, yet a group of around a hundred people was making their way up.

“Man, this is steep as hell.”

At the forefront of the group, a man with thick eyebrows spat out a rough curse.

The man, exuding an aura akin to a wild beast with his thick eyebrows and unkempt hair, was named Jung Yong-chan.

He was the guild master of the Judas Guild.

“Hehe. But we don’t have much farther to go, Guild Master.”

Beside him, a man with a goatee spoke in a servile tone. At his words, Yong-chan turned his head to look behind him.

Around a hundred members of the Judas Guild were following behind him.

“Surely, there are no stragglers?”

Yong-chan asked in a growling voice. The man with the goatee smirked as he replied.

“No way. If they fall behind at this level, they can’t even be called summoners.”

For an average person, climbing for just 30 minutes on this mountain would be enough to leave them exhausted, but everyone here was far from ordinary.

Even non-combat classes like mages and healers, once their level increased, saw a balanced rise in their stats, so for summoners over level 40, climbing this mountain wasn’t an impossible task.

“Damn… That may be true, but it’s still really tall.”

Yong-chan muttered as he glared at the Sirentium Mountain Range, which seemed to pierce the sky. Climbing the steep mountain wasn’t impossible, but it certainly wasn’t easy.

Despite the enhancements from the leveling system making them vastly stronger than ordinary people, they were still human.

“Y-yes, it’s really tall.”

Kim Dae-gyu, the man with the goatee, glanced awkwardly at Yong-chan with a forced smile.

Despite continuously muttering about how hard it was, Yong-chan didn’t show a single drop of sweat.

‘Of course.’

Dae-gyu stared at Yong-chan’s smooth muscles, as if sculpted by a master artisan.

Jung Yong-chan’s level was 99. He was one of the so-called “Rankers,” a powerful summoner with strength far beyond that of typical summoners. Moreover, his class was a hidden class specialized in close combat.

There was no way someone like him would tire from merely climbing a mountain. If he weren’t leading the guild, he could probably sprint to the top on his own.

Yet, Yong-chan’s frequent complaints were a reflection of his irritable nature.

‘Still, without the Guild Master, we wouldn’t have even been able to plan this, so I should follow quietly.’

Kim Dae-gyu sighed deeply as he followed Yong-chan. Among the summoners of the anti-Retalia faction, Yong-chan was one of the top-tier summoners. Without him, they wouldn’t have even thought of going up against skilled summoners like Yoo Jin and Park Cheol-tae’s party.

“But, what do you plan to do if we capture Tiria alive this time?”

Kim Dae-gyu suddenly voiced a question that had been flitting through his mind. At his words, Jung Yong-chan grinned.

“Well, I need to get my hands on the ‘Archangel’s Blessing.’ With that, I could live the rest of my life in luxury.”

Yong-chan spoke as if the question was so obvious that it was hardly worth asking. At his words, Kim Dae-gyu’s expression hardened slightly as he continued.

“But will the Elnote royal family hand over the Archangel’s Blessing so easily…?”

“Heh. Would those bastards give it up willingly? Of course, we’ll need to use some trickery.”

“Trickery?”

Yong-chan licked his lips and began to speak.

“We’ll infiltrate Tiria into the kingdom. Then, after a few months of acting as a loyal dog to the royal family, we’ll order her to steal the Archangel’s Blessing.”

“…Will she follow such an order?”

“Haha. If we have a hostage, she’ll have no choice but to obey.”

At his words, Kim Dae-gyu nodded.

It had been proven in the past that hostage-taking was effective against Tiria.

‘What a tragic fate.’

Kim Dae-gyu thought of Tiria, who had once been his guild master, with a bitter expression.

Having been on Jung Yong-chan’s side since he first joined the Salvator Guild, he had no choice but to betray the guild. However, he harbored no ill feelings toward Tiria.

She was kind and gentle, like an angel descended from the heavens. Although she might have lacked the qualities of a leader who could command everyone, she treated others warmly, like family.

And above all else, she was beautiful.

“Hehe.”

Kim Dae-gyu grinned foolishly, picturing the radiant beauty of Tiria, who seemed almost like she had stepped out of a fairy tale.

It was at that moment.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

“Huh?”

A peculiar metallic sound reached Yong-chan’s sensitive ears. It was a sound he had never heard before.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

“What the—?”

Before Yong-chan could even ask what the sound was, a massive explosion swept through the Judas Guild.

“Ahhhhhhh!”

“We’re under attack!”

The members of the Judas Guild hurriedly drew their weapons and shouted in urgent voices. At their cries, Kim Dae-gyu’s expression twisted violently.

“An ambush?! What the hell! We’ve been using magic detection this whole time!”

Magic detection spells to find entities with magic were essential for preventing ambushes, especially when moving in large groups.

Any kind of trap skill or magic would leave traces of mana. Traps without mana would only be primitive devices like shooting arrows or rolling boulders.

‘None of the Salvator Guild members should be able to use trap skills that evade mana detection!’

Kim Dae-gyu knew all the information about the pro-Tiria faction. However, none of them were skilled enough with traps to evade mana detection.

“Silence!”

*Thud!*

Jung Yong-chan stomped his foot harshly and shouted in a fierce voice. The Judas Guild members, who had been thrown into confusion by the sudden explosion, focused their attention on him.

“What’s the status of the casualties?”

Seeing no sign of the enemy attacking, Yong-chan approached the guild members who had been knocked to the ground by the explosion.

“Five dead and fourteen injured.”

One of the Judas Guild’s officers, who had quickly assessed the situation, responded to Yong-chan’s question. Yong-chan looked down at his subordinates lying on the ground, bleeding.

‘Fortunately, none of the officers died.’

The members who died in the explosion were all guild members whose levels weren’t very high.

Yong-chan raised his head and spoke.

“Healers, treat the wounded quickly. Those above the officer level, we’re having an emergency meeting.”

At Yong-chan’s words, the healers began to use magic on the injured. The officers gathered around Yong-chan and Kim Dae-gyu.

“Nothing was detected by the mana sensing, correct?”

“Y-yes, that’s right.”

The mages responsible for mana detection nodded in response to Yong-chan’s sharp question.

“A trap that doesn’t show up on mana detection… They’ve prepared something interesting.”

Yong-chan muttered, his expression twisted. He turned his body and moved back to the front, shouting.

“Once the wounded are treated, we move immediately! Stay alert, there may be more traps!”

At Yong-chan’s cry, the guild members nodded with tense expressions.

Once the Judas Guild members finished treating the injured, they began to move again. They moved slowly, under the pressure of not knowing when another trap might appear.

About an hour later.

Creak. Creak. Creak.

“Trap!”

A familiar mechanical sound reached the ears of Jung Yong-chan, who was leading the group. Yong-chan turned his head towards the direction of the sound. He saw five hidden traps on the ground.

‘…Mines?’

They were landmines, a form he was very familiar with. A game he used to enjoy back on Earth flashed through Yong-chan’s mind. As if cutting off his thoughts, the five mines buried among the guild members exploded.

Boom!

“Argh!”

“Ahhh!”

Because it was the second attack, the Judas Guild members quickly deployed defensive magic and skills to block the explosion.

“…What are the casualties?”

“Two dead and eight injured.”

The numbers had significantly decreased compared to the first attack. However, Jung Yong-chan’s expression was slightly twisted as he received the report.

‘We can’t just keep taking hits like this.’

With that thought, Yong-chan moved to the front and spoke up.

“Turn off the mana detection since it’s useless anyway. From now on, we’ll inspect the area with our own eyes. Follow me closely and watch the ground carefully. If you fail to spot something, it’ll be your lives on the line.”

Lowering his body, Yong-chan began to scrutinize the ground. The Judas Guild members followed his lead, their expressions tense as they examined the surroundings.

“Hmm.”

After scanning the area with sharp eyes for a while, Yong-chan noticed an unnatural bulge in the distant ground.

He picked up a nearby stone and hurled it towards the bulging spot that reeked of metal.

Boom!

The ground struck by the stone exploded.

A grin spread across Yong-chan’s face.

“Once we start looking, they stand out too much.”

He chuckled as he spoke. He couldn’t understand how the Salvator Guild managed to make such modern weapons, but as long as the traps were so conspicuously placed, there was nothing to worry about.

“Look for any unnatural bulges in the ground,” Yong-chan shouted to the guild members as he moved forward.

Then it happened.

* * *

“They’ve started dismantling the mines.”

From a drone high above, Yeong-sik observed the Judas Guild’s advance and muttered in a low voice. Beside him, Ara asked with a stiff expression.

“Does that mean the plan has failed?”

“No. Don’t worry. Everything is going according to plan.”

Yeong-sik replied with a relaxed expression. Ara furrowed her brow, not quite understanding his words.

“The Judas Guild members dismantling the mines is part of the plan?”

Yeong-sik nodded with a calm expression, while Ara looked confused.

Yeong-sik chuckled softly and began to speak.

“Do you remember when we caught the ogre?”

“…Yes. But what about it?”

“Back then, the ogre exhausted itself chasing the drone around wildly.”

“That’s true.”

Ara nodded, still puzzled about why he was bringing this up.

“They don’t need to run wildly to exhaust themselves. The constant tension of possibly stepping on a hidden mine will keep them from resting.”

“But what if the Judas Guild members just go in a different direction where there are no mines?”

“They won’t.”

Yeong-sik spoke with certainty. Ara looked at him even more confused.

“How can you be so sure?”

Yeong-sik’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Because they can see.”

He continued.

“They can see the mines. So they’ll keep dismantling them as they move forward.”

Following the path where the mines are buried.

Yeong-sik said this and let out a laugh.