Are You Telling Me to Die with You?

'Is he telling me to go down with him?'

Summoning the Hungry Chaos seemed like it would only lead to a mutual suicide pact. Against any normal opponent, he might at least think about summoning it and then making a run for it, but this...

'I'll have to save this for later, when I'm surrounded by people I absolutely despise.'

"!!"

Tae-hyun was utterly shocked. To think that among the items Nekanet-sal had left behind, there was one that had cursed Alexeos's phylactery! He had no idea Nekanet-sal would go so far as to give him something like this. A sudden wave of deep emotion washed over him.

The Karbanog Church, bound tightly by the bonds of affection! To think he would look out for him like this in such a dire situation... Tae-hyun had to admit it. If Nekanet-sal had belonged to the Archisus Church, he would have abandoned everyone and fled first, sacrifice be damned.

'Did Nekanet-sal give me this so I could lift the curse?'

Tae-hyun fell into deep thought. In his final moments, Nekanet-sal had deeply regretted contracting with the Hungry Chaos. Giving these items to Tae-hyun must have been his way of trying to set things right...

"..."

Carbanog was absolutely firm in its assertion! True to the nature of a Karbanog follower, Nekanet-sal had undoubtedly handed it over to a fellow believer with the mindset of, 'I've laid the curse, so you figure out how to exploit it!' Lift the curse? Yeah, right...

'Wait, really?'

Come to think of it, Tae-hyun realized that made much more sense. While Nekanet-sal did believe in Carbanog, he was hardly a saint... It was highly unlikely that a sudden wave of regret would make him think, 'Oh, I must free Alexeos!' Rather, a sentiment like, 'Hey! I'm on my way out, but make sure you put this foolish dragon to good use for the sake of Lord Carbanog!' was far more plausible.

'Note to self: never get touched by emotion again.'

The final item was the Soul Resurrection Stone. The moment he confirmed this, Tae-hyun fully grasped Nekanet-sal's intentions.

'I see. Use the mirror to curse him ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and sever his connection to his phylactery, use that to blackmail Alexeos into submission, and once he yields, use this resurrection stone to bring him back to life.'

It was a brilliant plan. If executed properly, he would essentially acquire a fully living, breathing dragon.

'But now, it's all in my hands.'

'Indeed. The problem is that Alexeos doesn't have much wealth or power left. I'll have to make him agree to a deferred payment plan.'

Something like a contract of absolute obedience, a pledge of his dragon heart, or a lifetime of manual labor...

As Tae-hyun was indulging in these sweet fantasies, sudden news crashed into his ears.

"Kim Tae-hyun! We have an emergency! The fortress is under attack!"

"!!!"

It was Lee Se-yeon's panicked voice.

"Graaaah! Nekanet-sal! Carbanog! You wretched bastards, I'll tear you limb from limb! My legion! My weapons! My armor! My power! I will never forgive you!"

Pagroak had survived the dimensional explosion. Though his subordinates had been blown away and his weapons and armor were gone, his rage had only intensified. More than anything, the wound inflicted by Nekanet-sal stung the most. If only he hadn't let his guard down—no, if only those black mages hadn't betrayed him, it was an overwhelmingly advantageous battle he never would have lost! No matter how much he thought about it, there was only one answer. It was all because of Carbanog.

"Carbanog! How dare that insignificant, petty god! I will never forgive this! I will burn down and trample every single temple on this continent!"

Pagroak did not know. He was completely ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠unaware that there were no temples of Carbanog in the Asbian Empire! In fact, outside of the Asbian Empire, there were barely any temples of Carbanog anywhere else. The Karbanog Temple was an exceptionally unique, rare structure.

"I swear upon the name of the Hungry Chaos! I shall never stop until I have destroyed twenty-eight temples of Carbanog!"

This was a quest shared with countless players across other regions! At the sudden appearance of a Legendary-grade quest, people were thrown into confusion, fear, and panic... or not.

"???"

"Uh... are there even any Karbanog temples?"

"I think there's one at the headquarters of the Archisus Church."

"Any others besides that?"

"Probably not?"

"More importantly, there are twenty-eight of them? I had no idea."

"But do we really need to stop him? The Archisus Church headquarters is an absolute fortress anyway."

The players were remarkably calm. For starters, they barely even knew what a Karbanog temple was... and the only known location, The Valley, was practically impenetrable.

History was being rewritten in real-time! The Guild Alliance was furious. There was a long, complicated story and an astronomical amount of bad luck behind their downfall... If people just chalked it up to them blindly throwing themselves at a wall and failing, they would look incredibly stupid!

Thanks to this reputation, people remained completely unbothered by Pagroak's rampage. However, Pagroak did not stop just because others ignored him. Amidst all his misfortune, he had one stroke of good luck: the dimensional explosion had allowed him to cross the desert! He had fortunately landed right past the Pantheon Fortress built in the desert.

"No one can stop me! No one, I say!"

Pagroak invaded a nearby tribe, beating down their warriors indiscriminately and forcing them to become his subordinates. First, he needed to bolster his numbers! The tribal warriors, suddenly faced with a rampaging lunatic, had no choice but to comply through tears. No matter how weakened Pagroak was, he was still vastly stronger than them.

"Go! You trash! Destroy that holy fortress first! I shall seek out the dead dragon and present it as a gift to the Hungry Chaos!"

"Ugh. I don't want to attack! Why must we do this!"

"But... that warrior is too terrifying."

Pagroak possessed a commanding ability that maximized his Terror stat. It was a leadership style remarkably similar to Tae-hyun's! Consequently, the tribal warriors, though trembling in sheer fright, were unable to flee and forced to assault the fortress.

"It actually looks surprisingly fine?"

Returning in a hurry, Tae-hyun was surprised to see the fortress completely intact.

"...No. It's not fine at all."

Lee Se-yeon pointed a finger toward the back.

"Listen to the words of Wardpeng, the Great Warrior of the Black Mane Tribe! You weaklings!"

"How dare you? It seems you have a death wish tonight. I, Drekal, am the undisputed sword master of the Blood Archipelago!"

"You primitive savages who don't know the first thing about magic, shut your mouths. I, Ba-eorma, am a great mage who inherits the ancient tribal traditions of Uruk..."

"Igwadu is annoyed. Igwadu thinks you guys are too loud."

These were the named NPCs gathered for the quest! Having been recruited from all over, and each possessing an equally foul temperament, they naturally got along terribly. Instead of defending the fortress, they were busy bickering among themselves!

Yet, the fortress remained perfectly fine. The enemy was simply weaker than expected. Although the tribal warriors were circling the fortress and launching half-hearted skirmishes... they looked completely devoid of motivation!

"!"

In that instant, a realization struck Tae-hyun. If a servant of the Hungry Chaos had bypassed the Holy Fortress, where would they head first?

It had to be Alexeos's Lair!

"Lee Se-yeon! Follow me!"

"Huh? What? Where?"

Tae-hyun didn't answer and immediately summoned Yong-yong. There was no time to explain.

Heuk-heuk quickly let Lee Da-bi mount him and prepared to take flight. Working under the Pope of Archisus had apparently taught even Sadiq's divine beast how to read the room. As Tae-hyun grabbed her hand and pulled, Lee Se-yeon followed, thoroughly bewildered.

"Hey, wait, at least explain what's going on...!"

"Just get on! The rest of you, find mounts and follow us!"

"G-Guild Master, you're ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not being kidnapped, right?"

"Does she look like she's being kidnapped to you? If it were a kidnapping, he'd have beaten her half to death by now. Let's follow them!"

Tae-hyun prayed fervently as they soared into the sky. 'Please let it be a weakling! Not some terrifying boss like Pagroak...'

"..."

Of all people, it had to be Pagroak!

'Why is it that the ones who survive those massive explosions are always the bad guys?'

"There he is! Prepare for battle!"

"What on earth is going on?!"

"...I know a Red Dragon Lich, and he's currently targeted by the Hungry Chaos. If we're unlucky, he might end up as one of its subordinates."

Though it was a brief summary, Lee Se-yeon understood instantly.

"So we just need to stop him? We don't have to kill him?"

"I think we should be fine for now..."

"Wait. How do you even know a Dragon Lich in the first pl—Kyaaaah!"

Yong-yong suddenly swerved sharply. An attack had flown up from below.

'Pagroak!'

"Heuk-heuk! Fly higher! Get Lee Da-bi out of range!"

"...Hey! What about me?!"

Lee Se-yeon bristled. 'Is she the only ranged class here? I'm a ranged class too! Necromancers are mages, which means low defense and low HP...'

"You're over level 300, aren't you?"

"..."

Lee Se-yeon was left speechless. Well, that was true!

"I just didn't worry because someone of your level can take a hit and be perfectly fine."

"I... see. How very thoughtful of you."

Lee Se-yeon felt a bizarre mix of emotions, unsure whether she should be angry or touched.