Chapter 534
Every second was chaos—an all-out melee.
The only thought was to deal with the enemies in front and protect the comrades beside him.
‘I can still… hold on.’
Lee Tae-min gathered every bit of mana he had.
The fundamental rule: only those who mastered magitech could inflict damage.
That meant if he fell, everything would end. The pressure was crushing.
He had to endure.
No matter what.
‘If I handle the mobs, hyung will open a path.’
No matter how bad things got, if he was with Jinhyuk, he never thought they’d lose.
But then—
“…Hyung?”
That belief was completely shattered.
An unbelievable sight unfolded before his eyes.
“O…ppa?”
Yoo Yeonhwa, smashing a scorpion barehanded, murmured in disbelief.
Up ahead, Jinhyuk, covered in blood, was staggering toward them.
Step.
“Haa… haa…”
His breath was ragged and his eyes unfocused.
The amount of blood soaking his clothes was alarming.
He looked so badly wounded it was a wonder he was still alive.
“Hyung! What the…!”
Lee Tae-min rushed over in a panic.
Jinhyuk collapsed against Lee Tae-min’s shoulder.
His body was ice cold.
His breathing was faint.
“Sorry… Something too strong showed up… I tried to hold out as long as I could, but… Ugh. ‘Cough!’ ‘Cough!’”
Jinhyuk spat blood.
It was actually fake blood made from food coloring and syrup, but no one noticed because his acting was so realistic.
Except one.
Only Alice, who watched from right beside him, saw through it all.
“Hmm. Contractor, for that, your mana is way too— Oww!”
As Alice was speaking, she grabbed her side.
A flying rock fragment had hit her.
It struck right in the solar plexus, and the pain was indescribable.
As Alice groaned, clutching her stomach, Jinhyuk tightly grabbed Lee Tae-min’s hand one last time.
“Tae-min…”
“Hyung… Don’t talk. Talking will make the bleeding worse…”
Lee Tae-min frantically pulled out bandages and potions from subspace.
But no matter how much potion he poured on, the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
Naturally—it was because there were no real wounds.
Only the fake blood he’d prepared in advance kept flowing.
“I’m fine. More importantly… the others. The people who trusted us… we have to save everyone who made it this far with us. And… I’m so sleepy… Just a little… I’ll just close my eyes for a bit.”
Jinhyuk trailed off.
He closed his eyes by himself.
Perfect lines, perfectly timed between each scene.
Everything was flawless.
He felt like he wanted to record it and rewatch it again and again.
“Hyung!”
“Oppa!”
Their voices grew sharp.
They knew that if he lost consciousness now, it would be truly dangerous.
“……”
Both of them clenched their teeth as they checked Jinhyuk’s condition.
With even the highest-grade potion useless, there was nothing they could do.
They didn’t know what had hit him, but if Jinhyuk was down, there was no way any ordinary healer or shaman could help.
‘If only Teresa were here…’
If she were, there might have been a chance.
“Tae-min!”
“Huh…?”
“Get a grip. If we go down, like hyung said, it’s really all over!”
That’s right.
There was no backup left.
No one left to rely on. No insurance that someone else would step up.
Above all—
Lee Tae-min’s gaze locked onto the unconscious Jinhyuk.
Every second counted.
He would protect them.
To not lose someone precious.
[Lee Tae-min activates the unique ability ‘Machine Lord’!]
Rumble!
The scattered drones began to gather in one place.
* * *
Crack!
A leg twisted at an unnatural angle.
“Aaagh!”
Johannes screamed at the top of his lungs.
The pain was so intense it felt like his brain was splitting.
He had no idea how things had turned out this way.
He’d used the card he thought could even hunt Creed.
But all his creations were destroyed.
Especially the ‘Crystal Dragon,’ which was the pinnacle of magitech he’d poured his heart into—unlike the golems.
Yet the Crystal Dragon had been utterly destroyed before Creed.
Its massive crystal core was shattered in half. Only empty, lifeless eyes remained.
– On the Bridge of Illusion, Creed attains a godlike state.
With the right restrictions, he surpasses all previous limits.
Now, he finally understood what that meant.
“Does it hurt? Hm? Does it hurt a lot?”
Creed giggled and grabbed the other leg.
“S-Stop, you psycho… you madman…”
“Man, this is fun. Even now, that big mouth is still running—old man, you really are something.”
He mercilessly twisted the joints.
Crack!
His ankle spun nearly 180 degrees.
Johannes’s face turned red.
“Aaaaaaagh! Aaaaaaaaagh!”
“Yeah, scream like that. That’s the only way my anger will cool even a little.”
It wasn’t over yet.
He planned to drag out the pain as long as possible.
‘Oh, right. Before I take my time with you, I should clear out those extras over there. Didn’t I send 300 or so? They should be finished by now, right?’
Creed remembered Jinhyuk, whom he’d taunted earlier.
Not as much as with Johannes, but that human had also gotten on his nerves.
He’d never let him go easily.
But just then—
“…Hm?”
A strange energy was detected behind Creed.
“What’s with that guy all of a sudden?”
The only human who’d mastered magitech.
He’d watched with some interest, but only as a curiosity. He’d never paid more attention than that.
The limits of his ability were so obvious.
But—
‘Something… changed?’
An unusual power.
The crystals floating in the air let out painful resonant sounds.
Creed slowly rose to his feet.
Johannes was already forgotten.
This—
…wouldn’t be easy.
“Hm. There’s an interesting human among them?”
[Creed activates the unique ability ‘Empire of Iron’!]
A crown of steel appeared on Creed’s forehead.
It wasn’t the great crown required to clear the 50th floor, but it was a holy relic that granted command over all monsters in the ruins.
Suddenly—
All the machine insects froze in place.
At the same time, every monster’s gaze turned toward Lee Tae-min.
“Kill him.”
Creed gave the order.
“Kieee!”
“Krooo!”
In an instant, a massive army of bugs surged toward Lee Tae-min.
Concentrating all firepower in one spot rather than splitting forces—no sage of the Crystal Tower could do that.
Rumble!
A deafening roar shook the whole cliff.
Flying insects appeared in the sky as well.
They too were magitech lifeforms, drawing power from the crystal spheres.
Just seeing them was enough to make the players freeze.
“Ugh…”
“A-Amazing…”
“Are we supposed to fight all of those?”
Cold sweat ran down the players’ cheeks.
At that moment—
Vwooom!
A golden beam of light fell from the sky.
[Lee Tae-min activates ‘Machine Lord’ – Round Castle!]
Around the crystal spheres, new drones and machine soldiers were recombined.
Clang! Clang!
A one-man army.
With over a thousand machines at his command, Lee Tae-min took the lead.
Aching!
His overloaded mana began to eat away at his body.
Controlling such an army with only a 7-star ability should have been impossible.
He’d pushed past his limits, burning his very life force.
“……”
But no matter how painful or grueling, he never showed it.
A circular formation took shape with Lee Tae-min at the center.
He boarded a white armored robot at the center.
“From now on, I’ll control everything.”
[System all green. Aye Aye sir. master.]
A giant holographic display appeared before his eyes.
He could see the arrangement of all his forces and the enemy’s positions—like a tactical map.
Lee Tae-min steadied his breathing, running every tactic through his mind.
The two armies collided at one point.
Boom boom boom boom!
“Kieeeek!”
“Kieek?”
The swarm of bugs Creed had sent forward stopped in their tracks.
…They were solid.
The front line of ironclad soldiers kept the shield up.
Those few seconds of delay were invaluable.
Vrrrrr!
Drones rained magitech shells in a saturation bombardment.
Boom!
Boom boom boom boom!
Targeting dense clusters of enemies, the damage was overwhelming.
Flames erupted, turning the swarm into a sea of fire.
It looked like the entire cliff had become a volcano.
[Interception system ‘Patriot’ is activated!]
[Centurion recognizes enemies!]
[Anti-monster mine ‘NF-5’ is activated!]
Complex conditional defense skills activated in succession.
And whenever a gap seemed likely to appear, Lee Tae-min himself—riding in the white machine—filled the breach.
Slash!
A green spear emitting plasma drew a crescent arc.
Scorpions and spiders were cut down in a single blow.
He hadn’t teamed up with Jinhyuk often, but through sparring with Yoo Yeonhwa, he’d reached a high level of close combat.
* * *
‘Good.’
Jinhyuk, eyes closed, peeked through his lashes.
‘That should be enough groundwork.’
The conditions for Lee Tae-min’s awakening are simple, but not easy.
In a fight for life and death, he must surpass his limits not by relying on someone else, but by his own strength.
And it must be for someone he cherishes.
Both conditions had now been met thanks to Jinhyuk’s perfect performance.
Now that Lee Tae-min had made up his mind, it was just a matter of time until he awakened.
The problem was, it needed to end before Creed fully unleashed his unique spear.
Jinhyuk’s eyes narrowed.
As Creed’s forces dwindled, there was a slight change in his expression.
The cracks in the ‘Empire of Iron’—his most trusted ability—were appearing.
…Of course, it would make him furious.
More than anything, as a magitech engineer, being pushed by the supposedly inferior Lee Tae-min must have wounded his pride.
Just then, something abnormal happened where Creed was.