The Prince's Generous Command

But there was no need to agonize over the decision. The First Prince of Erangse kindly made it for them.

"Kill every single one of those adventurers on the plains as well!"

"!!"

"W-wait, what a complete bastard!"

The rankers were furious. No matter how ruthless he was, how could he issue such an order without even a second of hesitation? The First Prince had absolutely no intention of letting any of the adventurers here leave alive. After all, he had heard everything Kim Tae-hyun had shouted.

"Kim Tae-hyun! You did that on purpose, didn't you?!" one of the rankers roared in anger. No matter how they looked at it, this had to be intentional. Their memories of his antics in Pan-On 1 were still vividly fresh.

"How on earth could I have orchestrated this?" Tae-hyun asked, sounding utterly dumbfounded. Granted, he had exposed the castle, but even he hadn't intended for things to go this far.

"That's not Kim Tae-hyun's fault."

"Exactly. How could Tae-hyun have controlled that?"

A few rankers spoke up in his defense. They were rising rankers who had started in Pan-On 2 and had never fallen victim to Tae-hyun's schemes. In fact, they held a highly favorable opinion of him.

He was the player who showed his face the most in the media, and whose various quests made even those completely uninterested in the game take notice. That was Tae-hyun.

A role model for the young, rising rankers!

...If Tae-hyun had heard this, he would have shrieked, "What kind of crazy nonsense is that?!" in sheer horror. Of course, even without Tae-hyun hearing it, the veteran rankers who had played since Pan-On 1 were already sufficiently horrified.

"Hey. I told you, don't trust Kim Tae-hyun!"

"This is why newbies are just..."

The rising rankers reacted coldly to the warnings of the older generation.

"What are they even talking about?"

"Jealousy is fine in moderation, but this is just pathetic."

"It's not like acting like that will raise their own value. Haha!"

"..."

"..."

Fume! The veteran rankers seethed with rage. Those... those little punks! Even though there wasn't a massive age gap, the older generation of rankers felt a distinct generational divide.

"Now is not the time to fight! We have to join forces and break out of here together," Lee Se-yeon said, and everyone nodded in agreement. Both the old-school and rising rankers respected Lee Se-yeon.

...Of course, it was actually Lee Se-yeon who had summoned them to this castle in the first place, but the rankers had completely failed to realize that fact in the heat of the moment.

Isn't this just a good cop, bad cop routine? Lee Da-bi thought to herself. Tae-hyun playing the bad cop and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Lee Se-yeon playing the good cop to exploit the rankers...

"Everyone, don't hold back and prepare your skills! I'll summon the undead, and we'll push through and escape!" Lee Se-yeon commanded.

"Got it."

"I'll take command," Tae-hyun said.

"Why on earth did that crazy bastard level up his tactical skill to the highest grade?"

"Is it because he's a king?"

"He's not even a guild master of a giant guild..."

Even guild masters rarely leveled up their tactical skills beyond the advanced tier. It was impossible to fathom what he had done to reach the highest grade. The more they looked at him, the more baffling he became! However, it was undeniable that his skill was incredibly helpful in this situation.

My defense increased by 50%. He did kill me twice back in Pan-On 1, but I have no choice but to acknowledge his skill.

An attack speed increase of 40%... He did steal all my gear back in Pan-On 1, but I have no choice but to acknowledge his skill...

My skill cooldowns are cut in half. Back in Pan-On 1, he...

"Why do those guys have such solemn expressions on their faces?" Tae-hyun muttered.

"Who knows? Let's just focus on our own job," Lee Da-bi replied.

The combined power of the gathered rankers was terrifying. Although they had failed to conquer Baltaror Castle due to its absurdly broken dungeon mechanics, this was the open field. They could fight as much as they wanted by utilizing the vast terrain.

"Let's go!"

"Follow right behind Kim Tae-hyun!"

"Kim Tae-hyun, you bastard, wait up!"

Thud, thud, thud! The rankers pooled their strength and charged across the plains.

"By order of His Highness the First Prince, do not let them escape!"

A knight order clad in heavy plate armor and riding white stallions gave chase. It was the royal knight order acting on the First Prince's command!

"Lee Da-bi! What knight order is that?" Tae-hyun asked.

"The Lily Knights! Regular knights are level 650, and their decurions are level 700..."

"I can clearly see they ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠are not opponents we should be fighting!" Tae-hyun shouted.

Lee Se-yeon must have reached the same conclusion, as she immediately set out to buy time. An army of over several thousand undead rose from the ground to block the path of the pursuers. Other mages among the rankers also began unleashing curses and spells indiscriminately.

"The front is blocked! Clear a path!"

"Hold the line until we secure an escape route!"

A bloody battle ensued.

The rankers held their ground through coordinated party play and various skills. Their goal was to wipe out the foot soldiers and break through before the Lily Knights caught up with them from behind!

However, Tae-hyun assessed the situation with cold rationality.

We won't be able to break through before the knights catch up.

To make matters worse, the First Prince's soldiers were continuously pouring in. The surrounding rankers were still full of energy, and since they were all highly renowned players, they didn't seem to sense any danger yet. But Tae-hyun felt it first. It was an intuition born from surviving countless chaotic battlefields!

What should he do in a moment like this?

No. That's a bit much.

No. Those guys are too sturdy, they'll survive it easily.

The broken skill, Sacrificial Offering, granted a massive buff to the entire party by sacrificing a single member. If a high-level ranker were to be sacrificed, the effect would be truly monumental.

...Of course, absolutely no one would agree to it!

No. I'm planning to use this instead.

Whoooooosh—!

"!??"

"Kim Tae-hyun! What are you doing?!"

The rankers gasped in horror. Suddenly, a massive pillar of fire began to surge wildly right in front of Kim Tae-hyun.

"Kyaooo!"

Bulbul-i's eyes sparkled as he stared at Sadiq's Flame. Tae-hyun and Carbanog were horrified and tried to stop him.

"Bulbul-i! That's Sadiq's skill! You shouldn't be interested in stuff like that!" Tae-hyun cried.

But Bulbul-i was already completely captivated by Sadiq's Flame. After all, Sadiq's authority perfectly matched the nature of a Red Dragon!

"T-that is truly incredible!" one of the rising rankers shouted in admiration. He rushed over to Tae-hyun's side and spoke in an awestruck voice. "I thought you were a melee dealer class, but how can you cast magic like that? Even the top-tier mage players right now wouldn't be able to pull off a spell of this scale. How are you controlling such a massive fire tornado?"

"Uh... I'm not controlling it," Tae-hyun replied.

"...???"

"What?"

The rising rankers doubted their own ears. Wait, he's not controlling it? He summoned something like this without any control? Tae-hyun's words shattered their expectations, leaving them utterly bewildered.

"Yep, that's our Kim Tae-hyun!"

"I knew you'd do something like this, you son of a bitch!"

The veteran rankers who had suffered plenty at Tae-hyun's hands weren't particularly surprised. Boldly unleashing such volatile, uncontrollable skills on a whim was classic Kim Tae-hyun!

The sheer audacity to dive into dangerous situations relying entirely on his own abilities! That was Tae-hyun's true strength.

Seeing that the veteran rankers weren't panicking, the rising rankers felt slightly reassured and asked, "Ah. Since you guys aren't surprised, I guess he's done this a few times before. What should we do now?"

"Run like crazy! Just run!" Tae-hyun yelled.

The rankers quickly summoned their mounts and climbed aboard. They had no choice but to flee, praying that the fire tornado wouldn't sweep them up!

"...!!!!"

I get it, so you can stop telling me now, Tae-hyun thought dryly.

He summoned Yong-yong and climbed onto his back. The surrounding area had turned into a complete sea of fire. Flames surged in every direction, making it impossible to see even an inch ahead! Fortunately, the fire vortex was moving in the opposite direction.

Talk about good luck.

"Kyaooo~"

...Never mind, my luck is terrible, Tae-hyun lamented.

Why did hearing that his pet had learned Sadiq's Flame make him feel like he had just suffered a massive loss?

"Kim Tae-hyun! To the left!" Lee Se-yeon shouted.

"Got it!" Tae-hyun steered Yong-yong in the direction she indicated. Lee Da-bi, riding Heuk-heuk right behind him, followed closely. The fire was so intense that even flying was highly dangerous! They had to escape as quickly as possible.

"You bastard! I will never forgive you! I will root out the Archisus Cult from this kingdom entirely!"

The First Prince's threatening voice echoed from behind. Tae-hyun merely snorted.

"The Archisus Cult doesn't even have roots to pull out! What a pathetic threat!" Tae-hyun shouted back.

"Tae-hyun... please don't make rebuttals that sound so depressing! We actually do have temples in the Erangse Kingdom!" Lee Da-bi cried out.

Tae-hyun had absolute faith in the Archisus Cult. They were far more persistent and insidious than your average evil god's cult! Even if the kingdom launched a crusade against them, they would simply retreat underground and survive perfectly fine.

Tae-hyun and the rankers flew like madmen. They quickly crossed the Auston Kingdom and finally arrived in the Atali Kingdom!

"Phew. We made it."

"Assassins will probably show up periodically from now on, but I guess we'll just have to deal with that."

"Great job, everyone!"

The rankers exchanged warm, relieved remarks. The rising rankers turned to Tae-hyun and said:

"That was truly magnificent. At first, I doubted what on earth you were doing, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but you had a plan all along!"

"Being able to boldly unleash a skill like that in such a situation must be the secret to your strength, right?"

"Exactly. If we had stayed there any longer, we definitely would have been captured."

The veteran rankers were utterly flabbergasted by their words. How can they spout such nonsense just because things ended well and the atmosphere is warm?! They were only standing here because they got incredibly lucky. If their luck had been even slightly worse, they would have been forced to log out while cursing Kim Tae-hyun's entire lineage.

"We survived because we dodged well, you idiots! Why are you praising Kim Tae-hyun?!"

"Have you lost your minds?!"

The veterans argued back in frustration, but the rising rankers, already completely infatuated with Tae-hyun, didn't pay their words any mind.