Even Tae-hyun Couldn't Help but Panic

Even Marquis Marden's skill in breaking through the defense and unleashing a curse on the spot was shocking, but what shocked Tae-hyun even more was his rolled-back Luck.

"Uh... mm..."

"Kuhahahahahaha! How is it? How does it feel to be abandoned by the god you believe in? To have the power that god gave you stripped away?"

"Look... so... about that..."

"Go on, choke like you did earlier and-"

"Will you listen for a second, you wonderful bastard?!"

While Marquis Marden kept ranting, Tae-hyun used Lucky Strike over and over, then raised Meteor and smashed it down.

"?!"

"Sorry, but I never got anything from Archisus."

"Th-that's impossible...!"

A class he had never believed in, and one he'd been forcibly changed into!

"Attack!"

Only then did all the players and NPCs inside Anong Castle snap back to their senses and begin assaulting Marquis Marden with everything they had.

"Kraaaagh! My servants! Come to me!"

"Yes, Master!"

The vampires who followed Marquis Marden came pouring over the shattered castle wall as well.

The final showdown!

They had to finish Marquis Marden here.

Tae-hyun tried to steel himself for it...

Ah. Seriously. I can't stop laughing.

Even trying to fight, he couldn't stop grinning at this effortless windfall of Luck.

Beaming from ear to ear.

Evangeline, who had been getting ready to fight beside him, asked in a worried voice, "You okay? Looks like you got hit with a debuff. Can you still fight?"

"A debuff... yeah, if you want to call it that. But why are you standing so far away?"

Unlike usual, Evangeline was deliberately keeping her distance.

"I thought if your Luck dropped, you might take the penalty..."

"There is no penalty like that!"

Tae-hyun shouted boldly, then charged straight at Marquis Marden.

"Marquis Marden, you beautiful bastard! I'll pay this kindness back!"

From now on, in Tae-hyun's personal vocabulary, saying someone was "just like Marquis Marden" would mean they were as generous as the Giving Tree.

Bang! Crash! KABOOM!

Marquis Marden had been shaken by the fact that, even after pouring an enormous amount of mana into the curse, Tae-hyun had remained unaffected, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠but he responded immediately.

Players and NPCs from Anong Castle attacked him all at once, yet he did not give up a single step.

That was Marquis Marden.

Several layers of red spherical barriers sprang up around him, and the players' attacks burst against them. The melee players rushed in as well, aura blazing from their weapons.

"No! Get back!"

Evangeline's voice came out almost like a scream.

Trying to engage a high-level vampire in close combat was madness.

"Kheuheuheu..."

Marquis Marden turned his body into mist and wrapped it around the players who had gotten close.

And then he fed.

As Marquis Marden rapidly recovered HP and MP by feeding on the players, he sensed someone approaching from behind.

Judging by the appearance, it was just another warrior much like the insects he was currently draining dry.

"Foolish insect!"

Without thinking much of it, Marquis Marden stretched out and grabbed the approaching figure.

"Hi."

"?!?!"

But the one who had come in was Tae-hyun.

In that short interval, Tae-hyun had used his Disguise skill to approach while looking like a different warrior. Marquis Marden's judgment had already been dulled by repeated taunts, and he could no longer see through Tae-hyun's disguise.

KRA-KRA-KRA-BOOM!

"Kraaaagh!"

Tae-hyun unloaded every silver-related weapon he had on hand.

A silver sword with a bomb built into it, explosives packed with silver fragments, and more...

Freed from the blood drain, Marquis Marden gnashed his teeth and retreated.

The moment his barrier dropped, the others didn't miss it.

"Attack!"

Jeong Su-hyeok was one of the people who had grown the most during this quest.

It wasn't just that he had hunted monsters far above his level. He had even obtained a brand-new class.

All of it, glory he had gained after following Tae-hyun around.

Determined to prove useful and finally earn Tae-hyun's acknowledgement, Su-hyeok poured out spell after ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spell.

And Kahladan's Lightning burst forth again and again.

Along with other effects.

"?!"

The first Kahladan's Lightning lashed Marquis Marden and, at the same time, inflicted a vision-reducing curse.

The second Kahladan's Lightning lashed Marquis Marden and erected a barrier around Jeong Su-hyeok's body.

The third Kahladan's Lightning lashed Marquis Marden and fired flaming arrows from above Su-hyeok's barrier.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The surrounding mages nearly jumped out of their skin when Jeong Su-hyeok suddenly started launching flaming arrows off his own defensive barrier.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Did your spell misfire? This isn't the time to use something like that! Is this your first day casting?"

When magic failed, it could sometimes backfire.

If you were unlucky enough, it could even attack you.

Of course they assumed that was what had happened to Su-hyeok too.

But Su-hyeok shook his head with a flustered look.

"N-no..."

For the moment, he followed their advice and changed spells.

The magic he had used since his beginner days: Lesser Arcane Arrow!

But the instant the mana arrow flew-

"Guh-hurk?!"

The ground beneath Marquis Marden gave way and dropped him into a pit.

The other mages' eyes went wide when they saw it.

He pierced Marquis Marden's defenses and applied another spell on top of it?

What level is he?

He hangs around Kim Tae-hyun. Figures he's on another dimension entirely!

The other players kept piling misunderstanding upon misunderstanding on their own.

Completely unaware of how violently Su-hyeok was dying inside.

"Idiot. That's it."

"Huh? Sunbae?"

"If you got a new class, maybe you should've bothered to check what the class actually does!"

At Tae-hyun's whisper, Jeong Su-hyeok suddenly snapped to attention.

"...!"

Only then did he understand.

This skill added a specific random effect every single time he cast magic.

What is this?!

Even the steadfast Jeong Su-hyeok couldn't help being rattled.

Every spell coming with an extra random effect?

What is this, Togepi's Metronome?!

But there was no time to panic.

Marquis Marden had begun his final desperate struggle.

"Kraaaagh! You petty little insects really dare...!"

Perhaps he had realized that if he kept holding out, concentrated fire would eventually bring him down, because Marquis Marden burst out of the pit and lunged forward.

His targets were the mages.

He was going to abandon defense and take them down even if he had to eat several hits in return.

And Marquis Marden was a vampire.

If he managed to drop them, he could recover temporarily through blood drain.

KRA-KRA-BOOM!

"And where exactly do you think you're going, Marquis Marden?!"

"You miserable little insect!"

He had already used up all the bombs and consumable items he had prepared, but that didn't matter.

Right in front of Marquis Marden, Tae-hyun unleashed a dazzling assault.

It was precisely when facing an enemy much faster and stronger than yourself that real skill shone brightest.

Read the opponent's movements first. Predict them. Dodge with the smallest motion possible. Then counterattack at once.

Thwack-thud-crack-

Strike and withdraw. Strike and withdraw. Over and over.

Blinded by rage, Marquis Marden's offense had grown much duller than before.

It was still terrifyingly fast and dangerous, but that was all.

For Tae-hyun, that made him the perfect opponent.

First, classify the attacks.

Even with attacks and skills flying fast enough to make anyone's head spin in a single second, Tae-hyun's mind stayed calm.

If it's dangerous enough that I absolutely have to dodge, dodge first. If not, take the second-best line. And if trying to move will only tangle me up, then I just endure it with Luck.

"Wh-what do we do?"

"Damn it! I can't get a bead on him!"

The people watching Tae-hyun and Marquis Marden tear at each other while moving like madmen were completely flustered.

If they attacked now, Tae-hyun would get caught in it too.

"Just fire!"

"What? We can't-"

"Gu Sung-wook! If these idiots don't shoot, there's no recipe for them! Make them fire!"

"?!"

Gu Sung-wook, who had been watching the battle with a taut expression, shouted in alarm.

"Fire! Even if you do, Kim Tae-hyun can take it anyway!"

"Are you sure?"

I don't know either, you idiots!

Gu Sung-wook wanted to cry.

But what mattered most right now was the recipe.

"I am! So shoot!"

BOOM! BANG!

The archers and mages unleashed another storm of attacks.

With assaults pouring in from every direction, Marquis Marden couldn't keep his bearings.

No matter how strong a boss monster was, once it was surrounded and focused down like this, there was only so much it could endure.

It was a shame that the taunt had worn off, but at least that told Tae-hyun one thing.

The enemy was nearly dead.

"This... this can't be...!"

It looked like Marquis Marden intended to get rid of Tae-hyun in front of him first, then break out through the encirclement.

A dark, blood-red spear formed over Marquis Marden's arm.

It spun like mad, giving off a ghastly sound. Even though it wasn't magic and it wasn't a curse, Tae-hyun felt it instinctively.

That thing was dangerous.

Too sinister to simply trust in Luck and dodge.

Tae-hyun immediately planted his feet and drew back Meteor.

What he meant to use was Circle of Counterattack.

Magic rained down everywhere around him, and dazzling effects flared without end, but Tae-hyun's mind did not waver.

He was focused on only one thing.

Marquis Marden.

Marquis Marden's body jolted again and again.

He was being hammered by arrows and spells as they flew in.

But through all of that, Tae-hyun didn't miss the small movement writhing between the gaps.

KWAAAAANG!

A deafening roar tore through the air, and smoke swallowed everyone's view.

The people surrounding them blinked.

Just now, it had looked like Marquis Marden had unleashed some powerful skill, so what had happened?

"Kgh... ugh..."

The one who had been blasted backward and buried in the rubble of the broken wall was not Tae-hyun.

It was Marquis Marden.

"!!"

"How the hell did he do that?"

"Y-you saw it, right?"

"No. I didn't catch it either..."

The nearby players kept babbling in shock, but Tae-hyun ignored them and sprinted forward.

Now was the time to end it.

Marquis Marden couldn't move because he had been hit by his own skill.

Just imagining what would have happened if Tae-hyun had taken that blow himself was enough to make his skin crawl.

"Kraaaagh!"

Tae-hyun threw every burst-damage option he had left into the attack.

A roar strong enough to shake the castle walls burst from Marquis Marden's mouth.

"This can't be... this can't be... for a hero like me to die in a place like this...!"

"You're the villain. Stop talking like the protagonist and just die already, would you?"

"Kh... khk... very well. You Archisus wretch...! Do you really think the man you've humiliated twice would die quietly?!"

"?!"

When Marquis Marden stretched out a hand and started to say something ominous, Tae-hyun hastily swung his longsword.

You never just let a villain finish his last words or reveal some hidden power.

But even as he was cut apart by the blade, Marquis Marden still accomplished what he had intended.

Cutting through the dizzying flood of message windows, Marquis Marden's final move appeared.

?!?!!