The Battle Erupts – Iron Blood Alliance Members Attack!
The group continued advancing deeper into the dungeon.
By repeatedly farming, their specs had grown stronger.
As combat experience accumulated, they became capable of challenging monsters far beyond their own levels.
“Keep pushing forward and fight!”
Inside the tomb, there were not only undead but also a few monsters with physical bodies.
Fafnir always took the lead whenever he encountered them, fighting fiercely.
‘This is a great opportunity to gather materials.’
Flesh, blood, and bones from the corpses of high-level monsters.
These could serve as ingredients for dark magic or equipment crafting, but other methods existed as well.
-I fed a new bone to Elite Skeleton Troop 1.
-The damaged parts of Elite Skeleton Troop 1 have been repaired.
Using dark mana does allow bones to grow,
but it was far better to feed separate bones.
The reason was simple.
High-quality and strong bones would grant additional stat increases.
-Elite Skeleton Troop 1’s defense increased by +1.
-Elite Skeleton Troop 1’s maximum attack power increased by +1.
Of course, the drops were rare,
but with repeated use, the bones would naturally grow tougher and stronger.
‘Not the absolute highest, but this quality is plenty to feed.’
The monster bone skeletons were strong monsters.
Yet their bones were from hundreds of years ago.
Some preservation was poor or corroded, so they couldn’t be called top-tier.
‘I’m glad I gathered a large quantity of Max Capybara bones after all.’
In the eyes of others, these were top-tier materials,
but in the inventory, they were now just common loot items!
Fafnir fed the Max Capybara bones and monster bones generously to the skeleton troops.
“I’ll head outside for a bit.”
“Be careful and come back safely.”
During breaks, they toured the surrounding dungeon and completed the remaining quests.
They placed incense in the empty skulls and conducted funeral masses!
Hundreds of corpses were buried here, but with a little trick, they handled everything quickly.
On the third day,
Fafnir finally completed the funeral rites for the last body.
-Quest ‘Funeral Mass (Normal)’ completed.
-Experience points gained.
-King Hadar is pleased with your actions.
-Intelligence stat increased by +1.
-Knowledge of darkness deepened.
-Darkness attribute resistance increased by +1.
“Mr. Manson, it’s all finished.”
“Ahh… All have achieved enlightenment. Thank you so much. Thank you… Now I can finally be freed…”
Faaat. The pale ghost of Manson spoke his last words.
“Take this. These are the promised things.”
-Manson’s Amulet (Rare) acquired.
-Unknown Female Statue (Normal) acquired.
-Odd-shaped Totem (Normal) acquired.
The ghost of Manson vanished as is.
‘I was right not to worry about favorability.’
No matter how much favorability was stacked, if the NPC disappeared, it would all be in vain.
‘Still, I suppose I should be satisfied with completing the quest.’
The quests that had been chained like spiderwebs across the surrounding dungeon were now over.
Experience and items were eaten without shortage, and personally, it felt refreshing.
‘Now I can focus solely on hunting the first floor.’
As levels rose, the Living Armors near the entrance became easy to hunt alone.
The first-discovery buff had been fully consumed, so there was no need to circle around.
“Kuuuueeeer…!”
Deeper into the dungeon, a four-armed monster wearing ornate armor appeared.
[Balalang]
“Intruder! How dare you claim this place!”
Immediately, battle with the named monster followed!
Fafnir used his skill.
“Pandemonium Nepenthe!”
High MP cost and long cooldown, but the strongest destructive skill.
The lost-center monster took a pillar of light summoned by Lihana, and Drexler, Veron, and Hilde joined in to beat the named monster.
-Experience points gained.
-Level up!
-Balalang’s Swinging Hand (Rare) acquired.
Cleanly defeated the named monster and leveled up.
Drexler’s face bloomed with a smile upon seeing the rare gear item.
“Wow, amazing!”
“With this, we’ve earned this month’s rent.”
Veron agreed with Drexler’s words.
“Let’s take a short break and go deeper.”
Hilde said.
But at that moment, Fafnir’s expression hardened.
“…That doesn’t seem possible.”
“What?”
“Someone is approaching from this direction.”
“…!”
A short while later, several figures emerged from the passage at the dungeon entrance.
“What the heck are these guys.”
Chuk, chuk.
A group wearing Iron Blood Guild belts.
Filled with expensive-looking items, they were clearly different from ordinary users.
“Hey, what the hell are you guys doing?”
One warrior from the group spoke.
“Is it the beast’s heart, or have you gone crazy? What kind of thinking is hunting in the Iron Blood Guild control zone?”
“Iron Blood Guild…!”
They had deliberately stayed far from the center claiming to hunt secretly, yet someone had spotted them.
‘Not the other rankers.’
The warrior’s left corner of his mouth lifted.
“I see guts sticking out. Hunting named monsters too.”
“Is there a problem?”
Fafnir stepped forward and asked.
“There was no one at the entrance, and the people we met were the first ones we’ve encountered.”
“That’s…”
The warrior’s mouth went dry.
Of course.
This was a hidden dungeon discovered only recently.
Under strict information control.
A high-level farming spot that hadn’t sent out even one rat while being secretly developed.
“…Well, this dungeon is declared ours under kingdom law! You noble NPCs can’t even see our faces, so I guess you wouldn’t know.”
In the end, Iron Blood Jin Gwon continued with the word “law.”
“Anyway, it hasn’t been announced yet, but the dungeon has been Iron Blood Alliance territory for a long time under law. So controlling it is justified.”
In short, it meant control.
Fafnir asked a new question.
“How exactly is control carried out?”
“It’s nothing special.”
Iron Blood Jin Gwon nodded.
“Normally we’d take the experience cost too, but we’ll make an exception this time only.”
“Then?”
“Hand over all items. I’ll pay for the value.”
A situation where all loot and high-grade gear from days of hunting had to be forcibly handed over.
“What about the price?”
“One gold per rare or higher, one silver per regular gear, and one copper per common item.”
“You guys are really ruthless!”
A sharp voice rang through the area.
The shock was so great that not only Iron Blood Jin Gwon and his subordinates but even Hilde’s group turned to look.
“First grader, or even a freshman, can calculate it. If I had that brain, I’d have bit my tongue and died long ago.”
“…”
Nothing but harsh words pouring from the petite red-haired girl.
“This brat… I was going to let him off easy, but…”
In the end, Iron Blood Jin Gwon exploded.
“Beat them all to death! Extermination incoming…!”
Kwaaang!
Even before the words finished, an explosion occurred from under Iron Blood Jin Gwon.
“Kyaak!”
Iron Blood Jin Gwon crossed his arms and screamed.
At that moment, bone fragments holding spears rose from the ground.
“Ting, ting!”
“Thud! Crack!”
The skeleton troops and skeleton knights rose in unison, along with summoned creatures!
Fafnir and Iron Blood Jin Gwon shouted almost simultaneously.
“It’s all or nothing! Fight everyone!”
“Beat them all to death!”
The battle between Hilde’s party and the Iron Blood Guild members had begun.
***
‘These guys… are strong.’
Hilde’s party, especially Drexler, was sweating.
‘Their specs are similar… but they’re too skilled at player-versus-player.’
Their party aimed for adventurers.
Naturally specialized in exploration, monster hunting, and farming.
Even the party composition was tank, black mage, monk, cleric.
The tank focused on pulling aggro and exploiting weaknesses while the others hunted and dealt damage.
In contrast, the Iron Blood Guild had one warrior, one mage, one cleric, and one assassin.
With three frontliners, it was difficult for tank Drexler alone to handle.
If Fafnir hadn’t helped, they would have collapsed quickly.
‘The job balance is too different.’
The enemy mage’s skill was particularly outstanding.
Veron wasn’t weak, yet he handled two enemies simultaneously with ease.
‘They could have rushed in and killed us all, but they’re slowly tightening the noose. These are high-level players.’
It looked balanced, but they would lose without a doubt.
‘Especially that warrior is the biggest problem.’
Warriors were an extremely unusual class.
In adventurer parties, they were almost never used!
Punching or kicking monsters rarely worked.
They could only gain experience fighting humanoids, NPCs, or other players.
Without guild backup, it was one of the hardest classes to level.
‘And they specialize in brawling, making it even harder.’
Hilde’s party wasn’t weak.
But the Iron Blood Guild members were absurdly strong.
Their levels and gear were all top-tier by current standards.
“Where are you looking? Triple Ghost!”
“Ugh!”
Drexler gave way after using the warrior’s skill.
“Counterstrike!”
And the follow-up.
“You think baby deer don’t fear the tiger? Knowing who we are and still jumping in?”
The warrior’s mouth lifted in a smirk.
They were not just gear-heavy; they were skilled elite users even within the Iron Blood Guild.
‘Pretty skilled.’
Watching the fight from the side, Fafnir nodded.
In outnumbered fights, coordination mattered most.
Fafnir observed from the side without interfering with Hilde’s party.
And he concluded.
‘If they were Dragon Hunters, they’d be B-rank.’
He could start slaughtering them now.
‘First, to the side.’
The front was still in fierce battle, so he didn’t interfere.
Fafnir’s body moved toward the warrior at the right end.
“What, you.”
The warrior raised his arm slightly while felling a skeleton.
His body full of passive skills could tank even a decent dealer's attacks.
But the moment Fafnir’s sword touched it, blood spurted from the arm.
“Waaah!”
-‘Cold’ debuff applied.
-Tough Body canceled the debuff.
-‘Anemia’ debuff applied.
-Tough Body reduced debuff effect by 30%.
Even tough bodies were sliced by Epic gear!
Plus the debuffs from special abilities.
“Ah damn! This guy is strong?”
“I thought you were just watching, Extra! Be careful!”
The extermination group responded coldly.
The movements Fafnir had shown earlier.
Sneak attack or not, it was not one to be underestimated.
“Did you see what skill he used just now?”
“I-I didn’t see.”
“The movement looked like a warrior! Prepare defense and counter!”
Orders flew instantly.
That was proof they were elite.
Not a single word was spoken about who would go where.
“Me!”
“Me too!”
The warriors stood at the front, and archers drew their bows.
But there was one mistake.
“Lihana, restore HP. Veron, haste on me.”
Fafnir gave a light order and charged at the Iron Blood group.
‘They think I’m a warrior.’
Fafnir pretended to use a skill and extended his sword.
“That’s Great Bash!”
“Attack when there’s an opening!”
A deliberately shown gap.
Daron, the group’s attacker, targeted it.
Great Bash has a one-second opening before use.
‘I thought he was high-level from the movement, but PVP? Not so.’
Daron used the skill Quick Dash.
0.1-second cast, then a fast, powerful slash.
Particularly, Daron’s Quick Dash added 0.3 seconds of stun.
A finisher that even good warriors and thieves struggled to dodge.
‘I’m dead!’
The moment he tried to use Quick Dash.
“…!”
A cool sensation hit the ankle.
“Ah, damn!”
Daron couldn’t finish his sentence.
Squelch. The skeleton that had pierced the dungeon floor toppled him.