Aon Castle had been built around an obsidian mine and a mountain range. Over long years, however, it had fallen into extreme disrepair. While the outer walls were maintained through the constant cycle of war and reconstruction, other parts were neglected.
When Simon first arrived, he was shocked to see that the main support pillars were severely worn. At first, he had worried, 'What if the enemy collapses this place?' But that thought soon shifted. 'What if I collapse it first?'
[Do not worry,] the king had assured him. [The obsidian mine is extremely durable against external shocks, making it the safest place in this kingdom. Even if the entire castle were to collapse, the inside of the mine would remain safe.]
That was why the king had evacuated the civilians into the mine. So, Simon had planted the colossal Gwoegong at the very foundation of the castle and, with the help of his Skeleton Mages, detonated it with a Corpse Explosion.
The result was catastrophic. As the foundation collapsed, the structure above was bound to fall. Like a landslide stripping a mountain bare, all the buildings and stairs were swept away at once. The screams of the Khan Kingdom soldiers were drowned out by the roar of collapsing structures, and countless soldiers fell like black rain along with the debris. The entire landscape was choked with thick dust.
Soon, just as the king had said, the towering mountain range and the original mine were all that remained. Only the royal palace, perched at the very peak, stood intact.
Everyone watching was at a loss for words.
"...Wow. Seriously," Dick breathed, looking down from the palace with a hollow laugh. "The idea of the defenders collapsing their own castle... that's not something you come up with easily."
[Luri Polorence has been eliminated.]
[Rosaria Riodel has been eliminated.]
[Mark Chandler has been eliminated.]
.......
.......
[Defense Team (9/15)]
[Siege Team (3/15)]
A staggering seven players from the Siege Team had been taken out by that single attack. The war was as good as over.
"That's pretty much annihilation."
"Did Hector get taken out, too?"
"Looks like he survived. Still, this isn't the kind of damage two or three people can come back from."
As Simon and the students peeked out from the palace to observe the situation, a deep voice spoke from behind them.
"Thank you for saving the kingdom. Squeak."
"Your Majesty!"
The king of the Aon Kingdom was approaching. Simon bowed his head.
"My apologies. This was the only way to stop the Khan Kingdom..."
"Squeak. No. Do not apologize, Guardian." The king lightly patted Simon's shoulder. "A city can always be rebuilt. What's important is—"
The king and the students turned their gazes behind them.
"—the people."
Hearing that the soldiers had arrived, the beastmen who had been hiding in the mine rushed out, embracing the soldiers in joyous reunions. Some shared passionate kisses on the spot, while soldiers beamed at the sight of their unharmed children.
"What does a city matter?" the king continued, a benevolent smile on his face. "If we join forces once more, we can do anything. Thank you for saving my people, Guardian."
A few hours later, the thick dust cleared, revealing a sheer mountain range where Aon Castle had once stood. The fortress and its homes had been washed away, leaving only the mountain and the obsidian mine, its black patches exposed to the sky.
The Khan Kingdom had suffered near-total annihilation. Only three necromancers remained, and their army was no longer capable of combat. The number of injured was too great to manage. Elisa, in a desperate move, gathered the uninjured soldiers from outside the former inner castle and ordered an attack. But as they tried to scale the high mountain, they were completely exposed to the Aon Kingdom's archers and were wiped out once again.
Furious, Elisa tried to launch a landing operation with her ghost ships, but the Defense Team's necromancers were not about to stand idle. Led by Meirin, a sea of jet-black flame magic rained down, forcing Elisa to flee after losing a single ship.
"Damn it!" Hector roared.
With a slam, he grabbed Elisa by the collar and shoved her against a wall. She winced with a grunt.
"...That hurts. Is it proper for a young master from a noble family to lay hands on a lady?"
"Cut the crap, Elisa Selen!" Hector snarled, his eyes murderous. He looked ready to tear her to shreds. "We did everything you said! You even went against my wishes and sent Jule after Simon just to wear him down! And this is the result?"
"...I have nothing to say," Elisa sighed.
She had moved too hastily, thinking the battle was already won. Instead of sending troops straight to the palace, she should have calmly scouted the area and figured out her enemy's plan. Her 'one-step-ahead' tactic of seizing the northern gates and destroying the guardian stone had been effective throughout the war, but in the end, it had been a fatal poison.
Elisa lowered her head in resignation.
"...I admit my command was a mistake. If violence will make you feel better, you can do as you please."
Hector ground his teeth, slammed her against the wall one last time, and then turned his back. Elisa slumped to the floor.
"Uheheh." A faint, chilling smile crept onto her lips. "I'll be sure to repay this debt someday, Simon Polentia."
With those words, Elisa withdrew all her ghost ships and touched her card, forfeiting the game. When there was no chance of winning, it was wiser to leave quickly and search for other opportunities.
"Goddammit...!" Hector spat, glaring up at the royal palace atop the mountain peak.
The end of the siege was spectacular. Beyond the horizon, glowing with the light of dawn, allied cavalry arrived to support the Aon Kingdom, striking the rear of the Khan Kingdom's army. Normally, the appearance of these reinforcements would have been more dramatic, but with the Aon forces safe in the palace and only remnants of the Khan army left, it ended rather tamely. Still, it was an impressive sight. Watching the cavalry kick up clouds of dust as they swept through the enemy ranks was awe-inspiring.
[The Aon Kingdom is victorious!]
[Thanks to your efforts, the Aon Kingdom will prosper once again!]
[The Defense Team has won the game!]
Along with the victory message, the air flashed, and cards materialized before the surviving students. They were the purple cards from the siege.
"We won!"
Finally realizing their victory, everyone let out a cheer and grabbed their cards.
"Huh?" Simon murmured.
"What's wrong, Simon?" Dick asked, pausing his celebratory ritual of kissing his purple card.
"I think there's another card stuck behind this one..."
A brilliant light erupted from behind Simon's purple card. He was the only one who had an extra.
Meirin shouted in surprise, "That's a golden card!"
She was right. The golden card, which no one had yet obtained, was shining in Simon's hand.
"So you can get them from the siege battle!"
"Looks like you have to pull off something on Simon's level to get one."
The best possible hand was the seven-card rainbow—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet—plus the golden card, for a total of eight. Now, Simon only needed to collect two more colors to achieve the highest score.
"Congratulations, Simon," said Fitzgerald, a fellow member of the Mutants club, as he approached.
"Thanks," Simon replied. "You were amazing out there, too. I feel bad that I'm the only one who got it."
"Not on your level," Fitzgerald said with a shake of his head.
In truth, Fitzgerald's performance had also been brilliant. Though he wasn't as noticeable because he had been defending a different area, he had practically held the eastern gate of the outer castle by himself. When the northern gate was breached, he had earned distinction by protecting the fleeing allies and holding off thousands of Khan Kingdom soldiers. He had also taken down a few Kizen students from the Siege Team, but his achievements couldn't compare to Simon's, who had eliminated over ten thousand soldiers and seven rival necromancers.
"Hehehe. Well, I'll just take this card, then," Dick said, carefully tucking the purple card into his shirt before looking up. "I doubt this is the end of it! There's something else, right, Lord Endolas?"
As if in response, a cluster of light appeared in the air. With the sound of cheap firecrackers popping, winged gift boxes began to flutter down from above.
"I knew it!"
"It's a prize from Endolas!"
The students excitedly opened the gift boxes that landed at their feet. Inside each was a black, shining ore.
"This is obsidian ore."
"Is this real obsidian? This stuff is super expensive!"
"So that's why they put an obsidian mine in the game!"
Grinning from ear to ear, the students began to compare the size of their obsidian chunks, arguing over whose was bigger.
"Wow!" Dick shouted. "This is amazing! Mine is huge! A total monster!"
"...Don't shout that out loud, you psycho!" Meirin yelled, her face turning beet red for some reason.
While everyone was happily chatting, Simon stood awkwardly, empty-handed. Dick sidled up to him.
"Hey, Simon, how big is yours? No way it's bigger than mine, right? Let's compare!"
"I... I didn't get a gift."
"Huh?"
Meirin and Fitzgerald came over.
"Why is Simon the only one who didn't get one?"
"Maybe the golden card was the gift instead."
"There's no way that's—!"
Just then, the glowing dawn focused into a single, brilliant beam of light that shone down on Simon. The students shielded their eyes and stepped back from the blinding flash.
"Look over there!"
From within the light, a gift box far larger than the others emerged and floated down to Simon.
"That's it!" Dick yelled, jumping up and down in excitement. "That's the grand prize Endolas showed us in the Grand Auditorium!"
"It is! I knew it was the prize for the siege battle!"
The large box settled neatly into Simon's arms. He placed it on the ground, his heart pounding as he gripped the lid. The other students swarmed around him.
"Should I open it?" Simon asked with a playful smile.
The students let out a deafening cheer.
"Open it! Open it!"
"Stop dragging it out and open it already!"
Simon chuckled as if he couldn't help himself and lifted the lid.
With a grating laugh, a staff shot up into the air and began to zip around the royal palace.
"It's the self-acting staff, 'Areldelu'!" a student exclaimed.
Simon nodded. As a Summoning major, he had secretly hoped for the Death Phoenix, but this wasn't bad. In fact, given that he was in the process of creating a lich, it might even be better.
Areldelu zipped around the palace, playing pranks on the students. It shot a curse that changed someone's hair color, then smacked Dick on the back of the head before darting away.
"You little—!" Dick roared, leaping to catch it.
But Areldelu deftly dodged underneath him and tripped him from behind.
"Agh, damn it!"
Dick tumbled gracelessly to the floor, clutching his head.
"What's with this staff?!"
"What are you fools doing?" Meirin laughed, her hands on her hips.
Just then, Areldelu zipped in front of her and flipped up her skirt.
"@#$!#^#$!!!" Her face turning crimson, Meirin lunged in a fury. "I'll kill you!"
She fired a barrage of ice into the air, but Areldelu dodged every shard with infuriating agility.
"Hmm—" Dick mused, putting a hand to his chin with a serious expression. "That might not be a staff."
'CRACK!'
An ice shard from Meirin's barrage slammed into the back of his head, and he collapsed to the floor.
Simon smiled quietly and held out his hand.
"Come back."
Fortunately, it seemed to recognize its owner. Areldelu shot into Simon's hand with a swoosh. He quickly sent it into his subspace before Meirin could break it in two.
"A portal!"
Just then, a portal to exit the game opened. Everyone laughed and exchanged thanks for a job well done.
"Squeak! Attention!"
At that moment, the king, his soldiers, and all the residents stood before the students who were about to leave.
"Salute the great Guardians!" the king commanded.
"Aium Aon!" the soldiers chanted, snapping into a salute.
"Squeak! Thank you for saving our kingdom!"
"Goodbye, squeak!"
The soldiers and residents they had fought alongside waved. The students, feeling a surge of emotion, waved back one last time. Simon also waved to them, then picked up the empty box that had held Areldelu and walked toward the portal. He had just thought of a use for this staff.

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