I'm Glad You Trust Me, But This Feels a Bit Weird...

"Lee Se-yeon! Duck!"

"Oof!"

Tae-hyun grabbed Lee Se-yeon by the head and slammed her down onto Yong-yong's back. Pagroak's fierce onslaught came flying at them!

"Chaos Clash!"

As if to shatter the stereotype that warriors have few or weak ranged skills, Pagroak fired off attacks like a madman.

"Have you come to stop me, minion of Carbanog?!"

"?" Lee Se-yeon looked at Tae-hyun in bewilderment. Are you Carbanog's minion?

Carbanog was absolutely thrilled. Wow! The Avatar of Archisus is my minion!

Is this really the time to be happy?

"Master! His attacks are dangerous!"

"I got it!"

Tae-hyun immediately activated Archisus's Blessing and dove down with Yong-yong. Yong-yong charged forward, smoothly dodging every single attack flying up from below!

"Gold Dragon's Wrath!"

As Yong-yong cast his magic, the air trembled, and a powerful shockwave blasted outward. Pagroak took the magic head-on with his bare body.

Where did all his gear go? Tae-hyun wondered. Pagroak was bare-fisted, wearing no armor and carrying no weapons.

"Did you sell your weapons somewhere?"

"How dare this minion of Carbanog mock me!"

"No, I was just asking..."

"Just how high is your Eloquence skill for him to snap like that instantly?!" Lee Se-yeon was shocked. She had seen people use speech skills a few times, but she had never seen anyone succeed on the first try like Tae-hyun.

Above all, their opponent was a Great Warrior of Hungry Chaos! It was only natural to be astonished when someone successfully pulled off a speech skill on a dragon-class opponent on the very first attempt.

Of course, enraging Pagroak didn't grant them a massive advantage. While the enraged state lowered a target's judgment and made them flustered... Pagroak's judgment wasn't very good to begin with. He was a monster who made up for his poor decision-making with raw level and sheer tankiness!

"Lee Se-yeon, spread out!"

"Got it. I'll start summoning."

Tae-hyun and Lee Se-yeon immediately scattered in opposite directions. Like the veteran rankers they were, they acted according to the textbook rules of boss raids: first, scatter to split the enemy's aggro!

"Summon Golem Legion No. 7! Summon Golem Legion No. 6!"

Lee Se-yeon immediately summoned her golems. It was a powerful golem legion made of a special material—a tank golem legion specialized in physical defense! Dozens of golems piled up in a rush, surrounding Pagroak.

Not many people worshiped Shiiba, the Slime God, but...

I don't have time to look at this right now! Tae-hyun swiped the quest window aside. The Shiiba quest wasn't important at the moment. It was fascinating that Lee Se-yeon had found and crafted a Shiiba Golem, but... Does she even know it's Shiiba's Golem?

"Legion Summon! Domain of Black Shadows! Perpetual Necromancy! Cloud of Black Magic!"

Lee Se-yeon began chain-casting her skills. The power of a black mage who had made up her mind was terrifying. Over a hundred undead monsters rose, squeezing between the golems to assault Pagroak.

"Do you think attacks like this will work on me?!"

Pagroak smashed the slime golems with his bare hands and kicked the undead away, sweeping them aside.

Squelch—

However, Lee Se-yeon had no intention of taking down the boss with these undead in the first place. To defeat a boss monster like Pagroak, even an elite undead legion wouldn't cut it. They needed heavy, heavy burst damage with every single hit! And right now, Lee Se-yeon had the world's greatest damage dealer right beside her.

Since I only need to buy time.

"Great job, Lee Se-yeon! As expected of you. You really know exactly how to piss people off!"

"...Not as well as ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you do!"

Tae-hyun stepped onto the shoulder of a slime golem and leapt into the air, preparing his skills.

Avatar of Terror! Source of Eloquence!

Attempting close-quarters combat against Pagroak right now was dangerous, even for Tae-hyun. He had already experienced a few times that Archisus's authority could be blocked in the face of Hungry Chaos. And considering the level gap between Tae-hyun and Pagroak, if Tae-hyun took a couple of clean hits, he would be logged out without even a squeak. In that case... a ranged attack!

With his buffs active, including Word of Power, Tae-hyun's speech-based magic transformed into an utterly broken skill with zero cooldown and zero MP cost.

Tae-hyun cleared his throat. He didn't even dream of casting grand, high-tier magic through his Word of Power like dragons did. Tae-hyun had his own unique way of utilizing it.

"HolyHolyHolyHolyHoly..."

Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠chanted the word "Holy" at a breakneck speed, unleashing magic all around Pagroak. With every single word he uttered, a flash of light burst and struck Pagroak. It was a simple attack that gathered and fired holy power, but if that attack stacked hundreds of times... Furthermore, Tae-hyun's Holy stat was terrifyingly high.

Thud! Thud! Thud-thud-thud! Thud-thud-thud-thud!

"HolyHolyHoly..."

Flash!

For a split second, Lee Se-yeon genuinely wondered if Tae-hyun was going to solo Pagroak right then and there. His momentum ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was just that overwhelming. Activating his two buffs and pouring down a relentless barrage of attacks, Tae-hyun truly seemed to dominate Pagroak.

Sssss—

Smoke billowed from Pagroak's body. It was the aftermath of being thoroughly battered by holy power.

"I will never forgive you!!! You minion of Carbanog!!!!"

"Yep, that didn't work. Lee Se-yeon! I'm going to bring the dragon, so buy me some time!"

"Huh? What?"

"I believe in you!"

"Hey... wait!" Lee Se-yeon yelled in sheer disbelief. Is saying 'I believe in you' and running away all it takes?! Of course, she was going to do it anyway, but still...!

"Doom Knights, assemble!"

Lee Se-yeon mobilized her undead to surround Pagroak. She had to block him from chasing after Tae-hyun. Conveniently, her guild members and the Church NPCs were arriving one after another. The Pagroak Raid! Countless heroes gathered in one place to face the Great Warrior of Hungry Chaos.

"How dare you! Out of my way! I will catch that minion of Carbanog and tear him to shreds!"

"??"

"What's wrong with that guy?"

"Who is he calling the minion of Carbanog?"

"Was the Karbanog Church among the denominations participating in this expedition? I haven't seen them."

Even the bishops were bewildered!

"Paladins, forward!"

"By the power of the Holy Light..."

"Wait! Pull back the undead before you cast that!"

"This is why necromancers are so annoying..."

These guys are really testing me.

Pagroak tried to smash through everything to give chase, but it was no easy task. Whenever he broke through Lee Se-yeon's undead legion and lunged forward, the highest-grade paladins of each church, buffed by the archbishops, threw themselves at him. When he managed to beat those stubbornly persistent paladins half to death and tried to close the distance again, Lee Se-yeon, who had recovered her mana, sent another wave of her undead legion to stall him. It was a battle of attrition! No matter how many he beat and smashed, they kept coming. Pagroak could only gnash his teeth in sheer frustration.

"Alexeos! Alexeos!"

"What is happening, Avatar! What on earth is going on outside?!"

Alexeos spoke in a voice filled with fear. There was no way Alexeos wouldn't know about the absolute chaos Pagroak was causing outside. For Alexeos, who was currently in a ghost dragon state, it was a terrifying situation!

Tae-hyun quickly explained the situation to Alexeos. Starting from the mirror, all the way to what Hungry Chaos was aiming for! Hearing the explanation, Alexeos was filled with both rage and dread.

"How dare they do this to me, Alexeos! Those insignificant pests dare...!"

"Yeah, yeah. You can be angry later! Now, what do we do? How do we use this mirror to break the curse?"

Normally, Tae-hyun would have squeezed Alexeos for everything he was worth, but he refrained this time. The situation outside was simply too urgent. Let's save him first, then use Eloquence to get what we want later!

"...It is impossible."

"??"

"Because of the curse, my phylactery has grown too weak. Whether you break that mirror or not, I will not recover."

"...Wait. What about the Soul Resurrection Stone?"

He had it. It was a powerful item that could restore Alexeos's physical body.

"That body was created by Hungry Chaos! If I use that body for too long, I will eventually fall under his control."

Alexeos closed his eyes and spoke with his usual arrogance.

"If the weakening of my soul was indeed the curse of Hungry Chaos, then there is nothing to be done."

"Ah. Do you have a hidden method?"

"No. This is my end, Avatar. I intended to keep watch over this desert to ensure a tyrant like Uipoatl could never defile it again, but it seems the time has come to pass on that duty."

"No, I decline—"

"..."

Tae-hyun's face went completely blank. He was already busy enough as the Avatar of the Archisus Church, so why on earth did he have to take over the desert too?! But Alexeos was busy in his own right. Preparing for his final moments, he had no time to waste persuading the Avatar.

"Avatar. I will use the Soul Resurrection Stone to revive myself. I must strike down the enemy outside. After that, I will never return and depart this world forever."

"Alexeos..."

Tae-hyun spoke with a voice full of regret. Say what you want, but they had grown quite attached to each other through all their bickering. Besides, opportunities to receive buffs directly from a dragon were incredibly rare. If Alexeos left, who would help Tae-hyun like this?

"You must grant me one favor."

"Let me hear what it is first..."

Why, this bastard. Just because he was prepared to die, did he think he could just do whatever he wanted?

Alexeos intended to entrust Tae-hyun with a giant egg from which his descendant would soon hatch. Considering the example of the Gold Dragon, Archisus was hardly a suitable deity to entrust a dragon to, but that only showed how desperate Alexeos truly was.

"..."

Tae-hyun and Carbanog both wore deadpan expressions. Hey, what's wrong with Archisus?!

"Now, take it."

Alexeos forcefully handed over the egg! He was truly going all out, claiming he had no time.

"Give me the Soul Resurrection Stone!"