"Aren't We Supposed to Fight?!" "Then You Fight. I'm Leaving."

"Hehe. Who said I would let you leave?" Marquis Marden sneered, stomping his foot. The shattered walls rose once more, sealing off their path.

"Well... I didn't expect you to just let us walk out." Tae-hyun raised his Ancient Hammer. Even if they couldn't kill him, they needed to deal enough damage to create an opening to escape. A boss monster wasn't just going to stand by quietly.

"I'm here too!" Evangeline shouted. Tae-hyun glanced at her with a look that clearly said, Oh right, I forgot about you.

"...Don't tell me you actually forgot I was here?"

"Of course not. I was naturally counting you as part of our main forces."

"..."

"Hmm? Well, look at this. A young vampire!" Marquis Marden seemed to only just notice Evangeline's presence. Tae-hyun's aura had been so deeply unpleasant that it had completely monopolized his attention until now.

"How dare a vampire run around with a wretch who serves some pathetic god! You have fallen as low as one can go!"

"Who are you calling fallen?" Evangeline muttered, utterly dumbfounded. Marquis Marden was the one who had attacked innocent people and triggered a subjugation quest in the first place! Tae-hyun chimed in.

"Hey, do you even know that you're being ostracized by the other vampires?"

"This grand self has nothing to do with those pathetic insects. Those worthless bugs..."

"Well, I'm sure you'd like to believe that. I understand."

Twitch. Tae-hyun's taunting worked flawlessly, completely bypassing any level differences!

Subjugate my foot. Tae-hyun knew the difference between healthy ambition and reckless greed. Trying to defeat Marquis Marden here was pure folly. There were no other players, nor any reinforcements from the church or the army. Picking a fight under these conditions was just plain stupid.

"Very well. Let us see if you can wag that tongue of yours after you are dead!" A crimson energy writhed in Marquis Marden's hand. Tae-hyun didn't rely on his evasion stat; he physically dodged. A boss monster of this caliber would quickly realize that Tae-hyun evaded most attacks automatically. Standing still and taking a hit would be suicidal. Tae-hyun's danger-sensing instincts were several times faster than an average person's.

Boom! Crash!

"Keep your distance! Don't get close!" Shouting the warning, Tae-hyun began relentlessly smashing the walls behind them instead of attacking Marquis Marden.

"That... That bastard is destroying my castle...!" Marquis Marden was utterly flabbergasted. Moreover, Tae-hyun was shattering the incredibly sturdy corridor walls as if they were nothing but rotten wooden planks.

"I will tear you apart!"

"Not on my watch!" Evangeline stepped in, blocking Marquis Marden as he lunged at Tae-hyun. She had no idea how such a monstrous boss had been awakened, but she couldn't let him get to Tae-hyun.

"Young vampire, do you hold your life so cheap?!"

"We came here to kill you in the first place! Everybody hates you!"

"..." Evangeline's words poked right at the sore spot Tae-hyun had just opened, causing Marquis Marden's pale face to contort in sheer fury.

"How dare you insolent pests...!" At that moment, a massive swarm of bats began flying in from the distance.

"Die, you ugly vampire!"

"?!" Yong-yong bared his fangs and swelled in size. Instantly, a violent lightning storm erupted in midair, completely obliterating the swarm of bats summoned by Marquis Marden.

Feeding him those elixirs was worth it! Tae-hyun felt a brief pang of anxiety about whether it was safe for the dragon to expend so much power, but now was not the time to worry about that.

"Su-hyeok! Don't worry about your remaining mana, just pour it all out! Cast your strongest offensive spells!"

"Yes, Senior!" Su-hyeok's greatest strength was his absolute obedience; once ordered, he executed without a single question. Even with a raging boss monster right in front of them, he didn't even think of running away and simply did exactly as Tae-hyun commanded—a talent in its own right.

"These! Worthless! Insects! Keep—!" Every time Marquis Marden tried to speak, one of Su-hyeok's spells slammed into ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠him, driving the vampire lord absolutely wild with rage.

"What kind of magic is cast so quickly?! What sort of sorcery is this?!"

"You're the only one using sorcery here, you bastard."

"...!" Meanwhile, Tae-hyun had returned from smashing the walls. The enraged Marquis Marden realized too late that he had let his guard down.

"When did you use stealth to get behind—ugh!" Tae-hyun swung the Ancient Hammer with all his might, delivering a devastating blow to Marquis Marden.

KABOOM!

"Did you see that, you insect?! This grand self has ways to seal away a weapon or two of yours in an instant!" Marquis Marden laughed triumphantly, mocking Tae-hyun even though a chunk of his flank had been blown away. The moment the hammer struck, a mass of blood had wrapped tightly around the Ancient Hammer, sealing it.

What kind of broken, cheat-like skill is that? Though honestly, Tae-hyun was the last person who had any right to complain about broken skills.

"Now, lose your weapon and tremble in fe—?!" However, losing the Ancient Hammer didn't make Tae-hyun flinch. The hammer was merely one of many weapons in his arsenal. If he were the type to give up just because he lost a single weapon, he would never have made it this far.

"What are you bringing out...?"

"Haha! It's time for a bomb show!"

"You absolute madman!" Marquis Marden gasped in horror as he realized what Tae-hyun was carrying instead of the hammer. His hands were piled high with bundles of bombs!

BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!

Tae-hyun immediately lunged forward and unleashed a devastating skill combo. He chained Circle of Attack, Wrath, Multi-hit, Strong Strike, and Critical Explosion into a massive burst of damage! But he didn't stop there.

Weapon Detonation! A high-level technique that detonated the very sword he had just thrust into the enemy!

CRASH! With a deafening explosion, Marquis Marden was completely enveloped in a thick cloud of smoke. Watching this, Su-hyeok muttered under his breath.

"D-Did we get him?"

"You idiot..." Tae-hyun pressed a hand to his forehead. Why did the kid have to utter those cursed words of all things?! Saying "Did we get him?" was the ultimate trigger for a boss monster's survival!

Of course, Tae-hyun hadn't expected to defeat Marquis Marden with that attack anyway. The vampire lord still had plenty of unrevealed skills and numerous ways to regenerate. Tae-hyun's goal from the start was simply to deal enough damage to the newly awakened boss to buy them time to escape!

He woke up when he shouldn't have. His body can't possibly be in perfect condition. If we deal enough damage, he'll be forced to back off! Tae-hyun's calculation was half right. But it was also half wrong. Marquis Marden's deep-seated hatred for Apostles was far deeper than Tae-hyun had anticipated!

"...To think you would force me to get serious. I acknowledge your strength. But not a single one of you shall leave this castle alive!"

"..." Tae-hyun ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠shook his head. If they went all-out in a desperate struggle, the advantage lay entirely with Marquis Marden.

No choice then. We have to run. At this point, the only option was to retreat and pray everyone else could make it out on their own. It was obvious that Marquis Marden hated Tae-hyun the most out of everyone here, and if there was one thing Tae-hyun excelled at, it was running away. No matter how strong or relentless Marquis Marden was, could he actually kill Tae-hyun if Tae-hyun focused solely on escaping? Tae-hyun highly doubted it.

"Come to my hand, Scepter!" Marquis Marden, his body heavily battered, raised his hand and commanded. He was summoning his artifact! Everyone present tensed up. He was already this powerful; how much stronger would he become once he held his primary weapon?

"...?"

"...?" But nothing happened.

"I said, come to my hand, Scepter!"

"??"

"What in the... What on earth is happening?! Where is my scepter?!" Marquis Marden glared at Tae-hyun one last time before suddenly dissolving into a cloud of mist and vanishing. He had gone to search for his scepter. They had no idea what was going on, but there was only one thing to do now.

"Run!" It was a stroke of luck sent straight from heaven!

"Tae-hyun! We sold so much! Look at thi—"

"Run! Pack up the stalls and just run!"

"What?!" The blacksmiths were utterly bewildered when Tae-hyun suddenly burst out of the castle shouting. On top of that, there was a new player in drab full-plate armor running alongside him!

"Who are you?"

"We'll talk about that later! Just run! If you don't run, we're leaving you behind!"

"W-We're running!" Evangeline cried out in shock as she watched Tae-hyun's group charge toward the castle gates.

"You can't run! If you run..."

"The monsters will chase us? I don't care, just run!"

"I'm telling you, you can't!"

"Then don't run if you don't believe me!" Tae-hyun yelled back as he sprinted ahead. Evangeline stared at the others in disbelief. Without a single second of hesitation, they were all sprinting right behind Tae-hyun.

"Argh! Seriously!" Evangeline lamented as she began to run. Whenever she was around Tae-hyun, she felt like her pace was completely thrown off. Sure enough, undead monsters began spawning rapidly all around them, swarming in their direction.

"What are you going to do about this?!"

"This is what I'm going to do." As the monsters began blocking their path and closing in, Tae-hyun immediately activated a skill.

Wait. What happens if my skill overlaps with her passive? The thought suddenly crossed Tae-hyun's mind as he ran. But he didn't stop. After all, it wasn't his problem!

I'm sure she'll find a way to survive! It was a thought that would have earned him a torrent of curses from Evangeline had she heard it. However, the disaster Tae-hyun worried about didn't happen. His high Luck had pierced through her bad luck aura and taken effect.

"!!!" Evangeline checked her status window with a look of sheer shock.

The bad luck locked at -999 had vanished. How long had it been since she last saw this?!

"H-How is this possible?" Incoming attacks ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠began to miss, and the durability of her equipment—which usually plummeted to 1 the moment she did anything—began to rise.

"!!!" The armor she wore possessed an incredibly broken option: it was indestructible by normal means and automatically restored its own durability. Of course, this option was only possible because it was exclusive to her class. Her bad luck was so severe that her gear's durability would drain even if she was just standing still and breathing! To balance out such terrible misfortune, she needed armor of this caliber.

As Evangeline ran in a mixture of shock and joy, someone caught up to her from behind. It was Ed-an.

"Fufu. Tae-hyun."

"Whoa, you scared me!" Whether Evangeline was startled or not, Ed-an stuck close to Tae-hyun's side. As a self-proclaimed Great Thief, his Agility was second to none.

"Tae-hyun. But why did you leave the castle without telling me?"

"Did I? I could've sworn I told you." Tae-hyun replied, his face completely shameless. He spoke with such casual nonchalance that even Ed-an was momentarily convinced.

"Fufu. Tae-hyun, you did tell me to find something valuable inside, didn't you?" Ed-an's face was brimming with confidence. Tae-hyun couldn't help but wonder what on earth this guy had managed to bring out. Just what did he have?