God-Tier Enhancement: My Upgrades Never Fail-Chapter 190: Episode _Name Your Price (3)

5.

Though he had received what amounted to a threat from Han Simin, the aide was confident.

“Prepare for the territory war!”

He was an excellent aide who had not forgotten his roots. The territory had prospered so much, but the memory of the past, when they had to abandon their homes and flee from monster invasions, was still vivid. The days when they had to live with nothing more than low stone walls, not even the neighborly fences of a quiet village. The time when they had nowhere else to go and had to choose to become neighbors with the monsters instead. He still occasionally dreamed of waking up to find a monster sleeping next to him—how could he forget?

For this reason, the aide had invested the most money in the defense of the walls. The lord had even built them sturdy walls to protect the vast land; if he couldn’t complete what came after, he would be disqualified as an aide.

“The territory might burn to the ground! Put your lives on the line!”

“Yes, sir!”

Above all, the lord was a man who would truly keep his word. If he came back after entrusting the territory to him, only to find it in the hands of another, anyone would feel the urge to burn it all down. The Aide did not want to betray that trust. ’We will be victorious.’

With that resolute determination, the well-trained soldiers were stationed atop the walls. Their numbers were not great. There were enough to cover the entire wall, but it was a small number compared to the armies typically raised by other territories. Their equipment was also strange. They wore armor, but it wasn’t a standard design. It was the minimum weight required for defense. Furthermore, few of them carried swords or spears. It was a peculiar sight.

But the aide smiled. He felt secure. At least on these walls, no one could overcome soldiers equipped like this. Just as they finished their preparations, a roar of war cries echoed from all directions.

*

The noble who had declared this territory war on the Rich Territory possessed a domain on a completely different scale from the one who had challenged them before.

This was no mere training exercise against a few stragglers. This was a noble with the guts and power to declare a territory war while countless rivals watched from the sidelines. He had traveled a great distance from the west, a testament to his keen eye for the Rich Territory’s value and growth potential. It also meant he had his sights set on the lord’s legendary items.

Naturally, his army was on a completely different scale than the last. It was a massive force of territorial soldiers, mercenaries, and even players. Few users would turn down an event that paid them just for participating. The resulting army was vast enough to completely encircle the sprawling walls of the Rich Territory. Even when divided to attack from all four cardinal directions, the sheer number of troops was enough to strike fear into the hearts of their enemies and instill confidence in their own.

"Destroy the magic circles first!" the Marquis commanded.

This time, he even had a clever strategist providing counsel. They had gathered intelligence from the last failed siege and formulated a rough plan of attack.

"Waaaah!" his army roared.

The Marquis did not hesitate. Having fought countless territory wars and conquered numerous domains to rise to his station, he knew better than anyone that the most crucial elements were thorough intelligence and unwavering confidence. He even had a famous saying:

’The outcome of a territory war is decided before it even begins.’

’If you know the enemy and know yourself, you can win thirteen times out of thirteen!’ With such conviction, he had arrived at their gates. There was no reason to waver.

From all sides, hundreds of players surged forward, their sole purpose to disable the magic circles. Arrows rained down from the walls, felling dozens, but they eventually reached the ramparts. That was all that mattered. Now, all they had to do was step on the magic circles to activate them and... 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

He was too stunned to speak.

"Aargh!"

"I’m out of here!"

...nothing happened. The magic circles remained silent, even as every last player who had reached the wall, bracing for death, was cut down.

The Marquis frowned. This was the first complication, though it was one he had anticipated. "It seems they’ve used high-grade magic circles."

There were two types of magic circles: standard ones that detonated the moment they were stepped on during wartime, and more advanced ones that required a mage to infuse them with mana to be activated at will. The latter was significantly more expensive, so most territories rarely used them. In fact, even the former was difficult to employ, as they were mostly single-use. How many lords would spend that much gold on single-use defenses? Even if they did, the taxes on their citizens would skyrocket with every territory war, making it unsustainable.

And yet, the Rich Territory had them installed. And they were the high-grade version.

The Marquis quickly altered his strategy. He had learned about the magic circles from the soldiers of the lord who had been utterly crushed in the previous attack. Of course, since they had been stopped cold at the entrance, they knew nothing of the situation inside the walls. The plan had been to break through the magic circles quickly and prepare for any other variables, but they were already stuck.

After a moment of consideration, the Marquis bellowed, "Bring up the catapults!"

Sacrificing his own troops to trigger the magic circles was a waste. He could send in the expendable players, but the imposing, magnificent walls made him feel that wasting any forces would be a mistake. ’First, let’s deal with that arrogant wall. We need to show those soldiers looking down from above the meaning of terror.’

A smile erased the momentary trouble from the Marquis’s face. ’They couldn’t have anticipated catapults. Of course not. They’re not easy to acquire, nor are they light enough to haul around for a territory war.’

He had brought more than twenty of them.

"Ready!"

With this, he would shatter the variable of the magic circles. But as the stones were being readied to fly toward the wall, something changed on the ramparts above. It was too far to see clearly, but something new had been added. It wasn’t a person. At a glance, it looked like a catapult.

’...Stones flying from the top of the wall?’ A chill ran down his spine, but thankfully, that wasn’t it. The moment he felt relieved, however, he regretted it.

Thump.

Before the stones were even fully loaded, a heavy, resonant recoil echoed from the wall. It wasn’t just one or two. Dozens of objects positioned on the wall fired in unison.

And then...

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

"Aaargh!"

"Help me!"

The mana shells that flew in response to the recoil destroyed the catapults in a single, simultaneous volley.

He fell silent.

The confident gazes of the tens of thousands who had come for war were now fixed on the unidentified objects. One of the mages mobilized for the battle muttered, "Mana Cannons..."

"Mana Cannons?" the Marquis repeated.

"They are a new weapon of war recently developed by the Magic Tower," the mage explained. "You charge them with mana, input the coordinates, and they fire a mana shell at any enemy within range with 99.9% accuracy, but..." His voice trailed off. It was only natural. "The price is..."

A weapon from the Magic Tower. A new weapon useful in war, no less. To acquire dozens of them and deploy them in a territory? Only someone completely insane—no, someone with money to burn—could pull off such a feat.

"What’s the reload time?"

Despite the setback, the experienced Marquis did not panic. The failure to fully grasp the enemy’s strength was a painful mistake, but their numerical superiority remained.

"I’ve heard it’s about thirty minutes. Furthermore, since mages have to charge the mana, the time could be even longer if they don’t have enough of them."

"Prepare to advance!"

Territories with a lot of advanced equipment were often weak in the fundamentals. After all, the amount of money one could invest was finite. They must have reduced their number of soldiers to afford those advanced weapons. The magic circles were still a concern, but the Marquis was confident.

"We just have to break through the gate. Then we win." He would accept the losses. A territory war was, by its nature, a declaration to risk everything. Win, and you take all; lose, and you lose all. Of course, in most cases, one would test the siege and, if it seemed impossible, retreat and lock the gates to negotiate a peace treaty. But his resolve was firm. He would rather die than let the other lords get their hands on the newly revealed pendant. ’We will endure the losses! And we will replenish our forces with what we gain.’

So the Marquis thought as he advanced. But it was a flawed judgment. Information, the one thing he always valued, was sorely lacking this time. There was a fatal piece of intelligence he had failed to extract from the pig-like lord who had suffered a crushing defeat before.

[Attack Power Decreased.]

[Movement Speed Decreased.]

The final boss of the Rich Territory was its wall. As if to announce this fact to the world once more, it revealed its presence to the tens of thousands of soldiers.

*

The Rich Territory was teeming with tourists. There were players who gladly paid gold to enjoy the natural scenery around the castle—a rare sight in the real world—and the numerous theme parks built inside. There were also NPCs who came to experience a harmony of modern civilization unseen anywhere else on the continent.

They were all genuinely impressed.

"It feels like sleeping in the Amazon."

"Since we’re here, should we wear clothes made of leaves, honey?"

"Yes!"

A single night’s stay cost as much as a suite in a five-star hotel in the heart of Seoul, but guests felt it was well worth the price. The rooms were more spacious, and the ability to choose and enjoy a themed room was a unique experience. A lush jungle, a small pond, an intimate date with a lover. How romantic. For many, it was a memory worth spending a month’s salary on without regret.

And what about the NPCs?

"So this is the world where adventurers live."

"Indeed, it is splendid beyond compare."

"Incredible..."

"Science, you say. It’s not magic, but it is astonishing."

Wealthy nobles always craved novelty. For them, the themed rooms and amusement facilities filled with modern civilization were a whole new world. For those used to sleeping by the light of a lantern, the LED lights that banished the darkness and the exciting club music were captivating enough to make them forget the continent and immerse themselves in modern culture.

Such tourists were reluctant to leave the territory. They wouldn’t go even if you told them to. Of course, the Rich Territory never asked a guest to leave, but even with a territory war raging, the tourists remained unfazed and continued to enjoy themselves.

"An event is taking place outside the territory. Customers who wish to spectate, please gather at the observation decks on the 30th and 40th floors."

The war itself was being promoted as an event. They sold popcorn and popped champagne. Despite tens of thousands of soldiers outside the walls, the atmosphere was relaxed. Whether the territory fell or not, it wasn’t them who would die. The strangely low tension also played a part.

"Is that the new Mana Cannon? Remarkable."

It was a theme park, completely detached from reality. How could a war feel real?

From their vantage point, the full-scale assault of the Marquis’s army came into view. The sky lounge offered a commanding view of the forces charging from all sides at once. It looked just like a movie. A slight tension filled the air. If all those people broke through the gate, would this amusement come to an end? From the outside, the walls were high and imposing, but from the inside, the walls were all there was. There were few soldiers within, and no one seemed equipped to mount a defense.

But as if to prove that fear was baseless...

Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!

"Whoa."

Fireworks erupted, as if heralding the start of a festival. Endlessly.

The people who had witnessed the rare spectacle raised their glasses in a toast. Among them, those who knew what the toast signified were particularly joyful.

"Our money is exploding out there! Haha! It’s really going off with a bang!"

"I don’t know who the lord is, but he must really love his territory. He’s spending money like water."

The reason why not a single penny of the Rich Territory’s profits ever made it into Han Simin’s pocket was now revealed to the world.

*