MTLNOVEL Chapter 27
There wasn’t really anything special to prepare before entering the Toulon Gate.
I was already fully equipped, and for Joan, even decent armor was kinda meaningless anyway.
Her recovery and defensive abilities were far beyond what any armor could provide.
I watched as Joan tied a piece of cloth to a small iron rod and asked her,
“Joan, what’s that?”
“It’s a banner. I’m more comfortable with this than going completely empty-handed.”
In Joan’s hand rested a dainty, pure white banner.
==
[Rough Holy Maiden’s Banner]
[Rarity: Rare]
─A banner crafted by the holy maiden Jeanne d’Arc herself.
==
‘So this is how it turns out.’
Even though she simply tied a flag onto a pole, in Joan’s hands, it became a holy relic.
Of course, it was only a holy relic because Joan was holding it—anyone else would just see it as a rag.
Naturally, this was different from the old-school banners of saints that required sacrifice.
It was merely something familiar for Joan to hold, so she made it into a banner.
“Are you all done?”
“Yes, I’m ready.”
“Then let’s go.”
With Joan’s banner completed, we immediately entered the Toulon Gate.
==
Entering Toulon Gate.
==
Swoosh…
A cool sea breeze blew through.
The refreshing view of Toulon Harbor filled my sight.
“It’s been a while.”
Although not much time had passed in reality, memories of Toulon came flooding back.
I’d spent a lot of time helping Yi Sun-sin and meeting Joan.
A stern male voice echoed faintly in my mind.
─Sorry to bother you, but can I get something to drink?
That was the first great person I ever met—the one who awakened my abilities.
─Napoleon Bonaparte.
Napoleon.
To me, Napoleon meant more than just a historical figure.
If I hadn’t met him, I might still be struggling as an E-Rank Hunter.
‘I miss you, man.’
Though we’d never meet again, seeing Toulon Harbor reminded me of Napoleon.
==
[You have entered Toulon Harbor.]
[A battlefield imbued with the myth of France’s revolutionary hero, Napoleon.]
[Napoleon’s Rifle efficiency increases by 80%.]
[Accuracy increases by 90%.]
[Battlefield Charisma unlocked.]
==
A flood of status messages popped up, granting new properties to Napoleon’s Rifle.
==
[Battlefield Charisma]
─France’s revolutionary hero, Napoleon, intoxicated his people with military glory.
Those who fight alongside him on the battlefield will fear death no longer.
==
‘So it’s like a courage buff.’
As I processed this newfound ability, Joan looked at me curiously after checking her own status window.
“Who is this Napoleon?”
“He’s a hero—a great man who rose from a low-ranking officer to become emperor.”
I gazed around the harbor as I spoke.
“This is where he made his debut on the battlefield.”
“You seem to know him well.”
“I met him once.”
“…Ah, did he visit your shop too?”
“Yes, he was my very first customer.”
I decided not to elaborate further.
After all, Toulon Harbor wasn’t exactly peaceful enough for such casual conversation.
BOOM!
Cannons fired, striking the fortress guarding the entrance to Toulon Harbor.
Fort Mulgrave.
The impregnable fortress that Napoleon had seized from the royalists stood intact, rebuilt as if someone had restored it.
BOOM!
An army of undead bombarded Fort Mulgrave, recreating the Siege of Toulon almost perfectly—but with one key difference.
The bombardment caused no real damage to the fortress, producing only loud, futile noises.
No surprise there.
After all, the key figure behind the Siege of Toulon—Napoleon—was absent.
The success of the Siege of Toulon was only possible due to Napoleon’s brilliant military genius.
Thus, a modern-day joke about the Toulon Gate circulated:
─Without Napoleon returning from the dead, conquering Toulon Gate is impossible.
No hunter in modern times could replace him.
Of course, it wasn’t just a matter of tactics.
Here, the revolutionaries weren’t allies—they viewed hunters as enemies and indiscriminately bombarded them.
‘And if you die, you’re absorbed.’
Die to the royalists, and you join their side; die to the revolutionaries, and you join theirs—as undead.
For hunters, both factions were nothing more than monstrous anomalies to eliminate.
At least, that was true for ordinary hunters.
“Joan, let’s head over there.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“It’s fine. I’ve got a plan.”
I pointed toward a hill where revolutionary cannons were firing at the fort.
As we climbed the hill, the undead manning the cannons turned to look at us.
[Ah oh oh─]
Just as they were about to aim their cannons at us, a message appeared.
[Battlefield Charisma activated.]
The feature of Napoleon’s rifle kicked in, freezing the undead in place.
Hundreds of pale eyes locked onto the rifle I held.
And then…
[──!]
Uttering incomprehensible words, the undead saluted me, as if welcoming a superior officer.
*
Securing command of the first battery, I moved through the hills, absorbing the revolutionary forces one by one.
Starting with “Jacobins,” then “Fearless Ones,” and finally “Rabble-Rousers,” three batteries fell under my control.
Of course, controlling the revolutionaries didn’t mean the gate conquest was assured.
They were outnumbered compared to the royalists and lacked possession of the “fortress.”
But I’d witnessed Napoleon’s wars firsthand.
I vividly remembered what he valued and how he captured Fort Mulgrave.
“Advance deployment.”
[Ah oh─!]
The undead sprang into action, moving the cannons into position.
Three batteries surrounded and pressured Fort Mulgrave using Napoleon’s strategy of encirclement.
Moreover, I possessed more than just strategy.
BOOM! BOOM!
The cannons fired with unprecedented power, thanks to the characteristic of turning regular cannons into howitzers, now amplified by [Battlefield Charisma].
KABOOM!
A corner of Fort Mulgrave crumbled, sending shockwaves through me.
‘This is the real Napoleon’s rifle?’
Its capabilities in the Toulon Gate exceeded my wildest imagination.
While marveling at its power…
“Seo-Joon.”
“Joan, what is it?”
“There are people over there.”
“People?”
My eyes widened as I followed Joan’s gaze.
In the middle of the harbor, patrolled by royalist undead, several ‘people’ hid within the sunken terrain.
*
‘I underestimated this.’
Rachel Bonaparte felt a wave of frustration.
As the current head of the Bonaparte family and an S-Rank Hunter of France, Rachel had entered the unstable Toulon Gate to conquer it.
She had lost many hunters and found herself isolated deep within the gate.
She hadn’t been careless.
Rachel had meticulously prepared for the gate assault and should have succeeded by now—if the Toulon Gate had remained unchanged.
But the destabilized Toulon Gate presented a different scenario.
‘Capture the commander? I never heard about this.’
The undead moved systematically like an actual army, each group led by officers.
Eliminating these officers stopped their endless resurrection—a fact learned only after sacrificing twenty hunters.
“Madam Head, we need to escape the harbor first.”
“I know.”
Hiding in a trench, Rachel observed the passing undead.
Suddenly…
KABOOM!
The ground shook as if an earthquake struck.
Rachel’s eyes widened upon identifying the source.
Fort Mulgrave.
The supposedly indestructible citadel’s section had collapsed.
The sound was deafening.
But what shocked her more was the sight before her.
“The artillery… why…?”
Revolutionary artillery batteries surrounded Fort Mulgrave.
‘Are the undead capable of strategy?’
The previously motionless batteries had suddenly shifted positions, surrounding and pressuring the fortress.
‘Unbelievable.’
Witnessing the intelligent movements of the undead mimicking human strategy left Rachel deeply confused.
“M-Madam Head, the undead are coming!”
Turning at her subordinate’s urgent cry, Rachel froze.
Revolutionary undead broke through the royalist ranks, heading straight for the harbor.
Both sides were equally monstrous to her, appearing only as an increase in enemy numbers.
“There’s nothing we can do. Let’s break through.”
Deciding to escape the harbor before it was too late, Rachel stood up.
That’s when she noticed something peculiar.
Among the advancing undead, figures that didn’t quite look like them mixed in the front lines.
‘…Humans?’
They were unmistakably human.
A young Eastern Asian man with a mask covering his lower face and a blonde girl.
What amazed her even more was that the undead seemed to follow the man.
“Why would undead follow a person?”
Such a thing shouldn’t be possible.
Caught off guard by this impossibility, Rachel saw the two approach her.
“I’ve come to help.”
Rachel realized the man was speaking Korean and intended to assist them.
At that moment, a familiar language reached her ears.
“Are you hurt?”
The blonde girl examined Rachel’s right arm.
“Yes, my arm…”
Rachel winced, looking down at her swollen, broken arm.
It was clearly unusable for the time being.
“Would you allow me to heal it?”
“Yes, thank you.”
As the girl placed her hand on Rachel’s swollen arm, warm light enveloped it, instantly reducing the swelling.
Rachel’s eyes widened at her fully healed arm.
‘…As if nothing happened.’
The skin and bones looked pristine, as if there had never been any injury.
At minimum, the girl was an A-Rank Light Attribute user.
Rachel watched in amazement as the girl treated other hunters’ injuries.
Then gunshots rang out nearby.
BANG! BANG!
Rachel watched as the young man efficiently hunted undead with a musket.
“Aim for the officers!”
Whether he understood or not, the young man ghosted through the undead, targeting officers with perfect accuracy.
BANG! BANG!
Every single shot hit its mark.
As officers fell, the groups of undead accompanying them collapsed automatically.
‘How does he capture undead so easily?’
His precision and firepower were astonishing.
Lost in admiration of his godlike shooting skills, Rachel’s eyes caught something unexpected.
BANG! BANG!
The musket wielded by the young man…
Recognizing the emblem carved into the buttstock, Rachel’s eyes widened in shock.
The ‘Golden Eagle,’ an insignia she knew better than anyone.
After all, the Golden Eagle was the symbol of her family, the Bonapartes, inherited from her ancestor ‘Napoleon.’
Moreover, the musket the young man used was reportedly Napoleon’s favorite weapon—the ‘musketeer musket.’
There was no doubt.
This was Napoleon’s rifle.
Yet, the young man wielded it freely without any restrictions.
‘How…?’
According to Rachel’s knowledge, handling Napoleon’s relics properly required matching ‘magic resonance.’
Even Rachel herself, as Napoleon’s direct descendant and head of the Bonaparte family, couldn’t manipulate his relics with such ease.
Unless it was Napoleon reincarnated.
“…”
Rachel’s gaze wavered as she looked at the young man, Choi Seo-Joon.