Chapter 157

I’m translating the chapter excerpt directly with the series glossary and styling rules, and I’m checking every system-style insert so it gets the required HTML block treatment instead of plain paragraphs.CHAPTER_TITLE: Marquis Marden Awakens

"I did it! As I always say, I am fundamentally different from the likes of Pelmas! Ha ha!"

"...Are you two actually friends?"

The shallowness of it was breathtaking. There wasn't the slightest trace of friendship to be found.

But Ed-an didn't care in the least and kept rambling. He looked extremely pleased with himself.

"Behold! This scepter!"

Tae-hyun's eyes widened.

Ed-an pulled out a scepter-shaped staff from inside his robes, its surface gleaming with an ominous crimson luster. The crystal skull set into the tip made it obvious at a glance that this was a valuable item.

And there was one more thing.

"Come to my hand, scepter!"

"I said come to my hand, scepter!"

"What is this...? What in the world is happening? Where is my scepter?!"

Those had been the words Marquis Marden shouted while reaching out his hand.

He had definitely been searching for the scepter.

What kind of item description is this? Why does it sound so ominous?

The last paragraph was the worst of all.

It felt like the item itself was telling Tae-hyun, You're dead now.

Still, he understood what had happened.

Ed-an had saved their lives.

Because Ed-an had stolen the Marden Marquis's Scepter, Marquis Marden had panicked and gone off searching for it, and in that gap, they had managed to escape.

A butterfly effect, in a sense.

Then a thunderous crash rang out.

Far off, from inside Marden Castle, a violent roar erupted, and streaks of crimson energy began shooting upward.

The players who had been getting ready to return to the castle all tilted their heads at the unexpected change.

"What the hell is that?"

"Did somebody mess with something?"

And then the quest window appeared.

"What??"

"Why is Marquis Marden here?"

"Wasn't he dead?"

The players erupted in an uproar.

Of course they did. Someone they had never expected to appear had suddenly surfaced out of nowhere.

The parties that had been planning to clear the underground dungeon and collect their rewards were caught completely off guard.

"Wait, isn't this even better? We can get a reward from the Count and another reward from the Erangs Kingdom."

"...I guess?"

They still had no idea what kind of boss monster Marquis Marden actually was.

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun's party had already broken through the monsters and was rapidly widening the distance.

First things first, run.

"What are those guys doing?"

"Why are they running when a quest just popped?"

"Guess they don't have the confidence. Isn't that a good thing? The fewer competitors, the better."

"True enough. Hahaha!"

Some of the parties fearlessly began preparing to head straight into Marden Castle.

What they didn't know was that the other parties already inside the castle were being slaughtered by Marquis Marden without even managing to squeak.

"Aaaagh! What is this?!"

"None of our attacks are doing anything at all!"

Marquis Marden's voice boomed through the castle.

After Marquis Marden cast just a couple of skills, the fully prepared party was torn to pieces. It didn't matter how many layers of buffs they had piled on. They were simply obliterated.

Tae-hyun's party had fled because they couldn't handle Marquis Marden either. There was no way those other parties stood a chance.

All because they had the bad luck to be there, they were forced into logout.

"I surrender! I surrender!"

Marquis Marden turned to look at one of the players.

The player had shouted it without thinking, then froze when Marquis Marden actually reacted.

"I... I surrender."

"You surrender?"

"Yes! I surrender! I surrender!"

"Oh-ho..."

A wicked plan began to take shape in Marquis Marden's mind.

"This should be far enough that he can't chase us."

With that, Tae-hyun finally came to a stop.

The first thing he did was check the Ancient Hammer.

That meant he couldn't use it for nearly a week.

Tae-hyun clicked his tongue.

Of all times, the very weapon best suited for dealing with Marquis Marden had to get sealed.

"What happened?!"

"I don't know either. Marquis Marden suddenly woke up and started going berserk."

Tae-hyun answered in a tone of complete innocence.

Of course, he had a pretty good guess why Marquis Marden had suddenly awakened.

It's probably because of me.

He had been stomping all over the place as the Avatar of Archisus. There was no way that hadn't provoked Marquis Marden.

Judging by Marquis Marden's reaction, that seemed very likely.

But there was no reason to say that out loud and take responsibility for it.

Tae-hyun shamelessly pretended he had no idea.

"This must've been a trap quest from the start. I was too careless! 'Just kill Marquis Marden while he's asleep,' my ass. Those vampires tricked me. They'll pay for this!"

Evangeline gritted her teeth as she fumed.

Tae-hyun felt a faint prick in his conscience when he saw her like that.

The truth was, it wasn't the vampires who had tricked her. The quest had gone sideways because of him.

The blacksmiths looked half dead.

Just a moment ago they'd been doing brisk business, and then Tae-hyun had suddenly started screaming behind them like a madman, "Run! Run! I said run!" and made them sprint for their lives.

It was only natural they looked like their souls had half escaped their bodies.

"...So what are you going to do?" Rufo asked.

Tae-hyun thought for a moment.

He had several options in front of him.

Could I just run away completely?

It was a tempting option.

For one simple reason.

It would screw Marquis Marden over magnificently.

If Tae-hyun just gave up on everything and ran off with the scepter, Marquis Marden had no way to chase him.

The surrounding region would probably get devastated in the process, but that wasn't Tae-hyun's problem.

No. That won't do.

He ruled out escape.

Not because he was worried about the damage the region would suffer.

He had already made more than enough enemies.

There was no reason to add someone like Marquis Marden ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to that list too.

No more adding to the list. If I can kill an enemy while I have the chance, kill him.

If he wanted to avoid getting stabbed in the back one day while minding his own business, that really was the way to live.

Besides, he'd already come this far and put in all that work.

A boss monster like Marquis Marden suddenly showing up wasn't enough reason to throw everything away.

Underground beneath Marden Castle, they'd had no options, so they'd run. That was all.

But if they prepared out here, that was a different story.

Tae-hyun's mind began spinning at full speed.

How did one kill Marquis Marden?

"Th-this is insane..."

"How are we supposed to kill something like that?!"

Meanwhile, in front of Marden Castle, a few fearless parties were being torn apart.

When Marquis Marden saw those enthusiastic parties approaching the castle, he had personally come out with his subordinates to greet them.

And the result was exactly what anyone could have predicted.

As soon as Marquis Marden used a few skills, the party that had arrived fully prepared was shredded on the spot.

Their layers of buffs were meaningless. They were simply annihilated.

After grabbing two warrior players and draining them to refill his HP, Marquis Marden roared, "Is that all?"

The other players watching from a distance swallowed hard.

Anyone could tell at a glance that this was not a boss monster meant to be handled by the people gathered here.

"L-let's run."

"Fall back for now!"

Unlike the parties that had rushed toward the castle without thinking, the ones that had hesitated or been delayed while regrouping managed to save their lives.

They saw the massacre Marquis Marden was carrying out in front of the castle, panicked, and immediately began widening the distance.

The merchant players who had been doing business nearby were no different.

"Take us with you! Come on, let's go together!"

"We're not even close, so why should we? Move! And after charging people those ripoff prices too..."

"How is it a ripoff? I sold cheaper than the guy next to me!"

"What nonsense. Quit talking and move!"

The area around Marden Castle had descended into utter chaos.

"Let's go together!"

"I said get away from me!"

The distant shouts of players carried faintly to them.

Hearing that, Cain shifted uneasily and asked, "Hey. Shouldn't we go farther too?"

"If he comes this far, we'll see him before he reaches us. Quit panicking."

"Who's panicking?!"

Evangeline tilted her head as she listened to Tae-hyun and Cain talk.

There was something strangely familiar about both of them.

Where have I seen this before?

She kept the thought to herself. If she said anything to Tae-hyun, he would probably just answer with something ridiculous again.

"Good. Let's go to Count Anong."

"Count Anong?"

Count Anong was the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠one who had commissioned them to subjugate the area around Marden Castle and the underground beneath it.

Naturally, there was no way he had expected Marquis Marden to be alive under there, sleeping away.

But now that things had turned out like this, Count Anong was the person with the biggest stake in the entire incident.

Because if Marquis Marden gathered an army and started moving, the first place he'd collide with would be Anong Castle.

"We should be able to squeeze quite a lot out of him. Marquis Marden's going to bring a whole army of subordinates with him. We can't handle that by ourselves."

"Will Count Anong really hand over troops so easily? He might just fortify his own castle and try to avoid fighting Marquis Marden altogether," Rufo said worriedly.

It was a reasonable concern.

Even if Marquis Marden had awakened from his long sleep and was gathering an army, Count Anong didn't absolutely have to fight him.

Everyone valued their own property. Count Anong might simply sit inside Anong Castle, defend his walls, and pray Marquis Marden went somewhere else.

But Tae-hyun let out a short laugh.

"It doesn't matter if he refuses."

"...?"

"If we walk into Anong Castle carrying the scepter, Marquis Marden will come there on his own."

There truly was no bottom to Tae-hyun's malice.

Rufo shuddered, wondering how a human being could possibly be this evil.

"Tae-hyun-nim."

"What?"

When the conversation ended, Woo Jeong-sik raised ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a hand and called out to Tae-hyun.

"Who is that person?"

He was, of course, pointing at Evangeline.

Her appearance was exactly the sort that stirred a blacksmith's competitive spirit. She looked like the kind of customer whose equipment alone would make your Blacksmithing skill shoot upward just from repairing it.

"We met down there and got close."

"Excuse me? Got close?"

Woo Jeong-sik was genuinely shocked.

Someone getting close to Tae-hyun? How?

Is she one of our kind too?

If staying beside Tae-hyun through any amount of suffering brought enough value in return, then it was worth it. That was the very logic they themselves were living by.

Woo Jeong-sik's gaze changed. Now he was looking at her like a rival.

"Who's getting close to who?!"

"...?"

"I've just been getting tricked and pushed around, okay? We're not close at all!"

At that, Woo Jeong-sik felt a little relieved.

Of course. Tae-hyun was still the same Tae-hyun as always.

Even in the underground dungeon beneath Marden Castle, there was no way he'd suddenly start being nice to other people.

"Feels like somebody just bad-mouthed me."

Tae-hyun turned to look at Cain.

Cain jumped up in protest, looking deeply wronged.

"It wasn't me!"

"You're the only one here who would..."

Tae-hyun trailed off, then added, "Well, Marquis Marden is also around, so maybe not."

Cain let out a sigh of relief.

Then he looked at Evangeline and clicked his tongue in sympathy.

The pity of one fellow victim for another.

"Hang in there. Tsk tsk."

"...?"

Evangeline tilted her head again.