"Go, Second Prince, Go!" "Wait, What?"
The Second Prince hesitated, sensing an ominous foreboding, but he quickly pressed on.
"An intruder has breached the inner castle where the 1st Prince is staying!"
"What?! How did this happen?!"
The soldiers of the 1st Prince's faction, who had been waiting in ambush, spun around in shock at the sudden commotion echoing from the inner keep.
"Open the gates! We are going in!"
But the gates to the inner castle remained tightly shut, refusing to budge. Inside, the raid was already well underway!
"Mwahahaha! Die! Die!"
The Second Prince cheered gleefully from the safety of the rear, without having swung his sword even once. Having successfully pulled off the surprise attack, the Second Prince's soldiers quickly overwhelmed the inner castle guards and charged forward.
"There's the 1st Prince!"
The soldiers sprinting through the inner castle corridors shouted as they spotted a flickering light in the distance. Alerted by the uproar, the 1st Prince had emerged, flanked by his personal bodyguards.
"T-This... How?!"
"Attack!"
"Count Kim Tae-hyun! What is the meaning of this?!"
The 1st Prince shrieked in utter disbelief upon spotting Tae-hyun. At this, the Second Prince burst into a boisterous laugh.
"Bwahahaha! Brother! Have you still not grasped the situation? Count Kim Tae-hyun was on my side from the very beginning! The Count is a true hero! He recognized who the rightful king was right from the start, that's what!"
"What! That's absurd! Count Kim Tae-hyun was working for me to deceive you!"
The 1st Prince simply could not accept that Tae-hyun had betrayed him. Their affinity and his contribution points had been so incredibly high!
"Hahaha! Brother, it is time to open your eyes!"
"Don't make me laugh! Count Kim Tae-hyun! Attack that fool immediately and come to my side!"
"Brother! Do you know who showed us the secret path into this inner keep? It was Count Kim Tae-hyun!"
"T-That's impossible... Fine! Attack the Second Prince!"
"Who do you think you're commanding? Argh!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The Second Prince stumbled backward in shock. Several of the soldiers who had been following him suddenly turned and lunged at him.
"What are you doing?! Have you lost your minds?!"
"You fool! Those soldiers are men I planted!"
"What?! Don't talk nonsense, Brother! These soldiers were brought here by Count Kim Tae-hyun..."
"..."
Arguing fiercely over the soldiers in the dim light, the 1st Prince and the Second Prince suddenly realized something was deeply amiss. Simultaneously, they turned their gazes toward Tae-hyun.
"What is going on here, Count Kim Tae-hyun?!"
"Yes! Explain yourself!"
"Haha. Allow me to explain everything," Tae-hyun said, his tone perfectly polite.
"As for whose side I am on..."
"Mine, of course!"
"No! He is on my side!"
"...Actually, neither?"
The two princes still hadn't grasped the reality of the situation. Clicking his tongue at their sheer cluelessness, Tae-hyun pulled out a torch and tossed it.
Sadik's Flame begins to spread once more.
Whoosh!
Well, I can always put it out later, Tae-hyun thought.
"Count Kim Tae-hyun! How could you do this?!"
Clang! Clang!
Evaded successfully.
Evaded successfully.
While both the 1st Prince and the Second Prince possessed pathetic levels, the NPCs serving under them were a different story entirely. Even if their forces were divided, these were still the elite royal guards of a kingdom!
"Count Kim Tae-hyun, I cannot believe this! Why have you betrayed us?!"
"Are you actually serious? I've been working my tail off for you guys and haven't received a single copper coin of gold..."
Tae-hyun swiftly leaped backward. Neither the 1st Prince's Guard Captain nor the Second Prince's Guard Captain was an ordinary high-level NPC.
"Charles! Kill Count Kim Tae-hyun!"
"Carl! Kill Count Kim Tae-hyun!"
Your relationship with the 1st Prince has deteriorated to the absolute worst level.
Your relationship with the Second Prince has deteriorated to the absolute worst level.
You may be placed on the wanted list if you move within the Auston Kingdom.
The warning windows flashed before his eyes, but Tae-hyun didn't care in the slightest. After all, he just had to kill everyone here!
"Carl! Now's the time!" Tae-hyun shouted as he lunged at Charles.
Hearing this, Charles flinched and glared at Carl. However, Carl just stood there, completely unresponsive.
Your Deception skill has increased.
Your Speech skill has increased.
CRITICAL HIT!
"You idiot! Are you seriously doubting me even in a situation like this?!"
"S-Shut up! How on earth am I supposed to trust you?!"
Since the two guard captains had been bitter enemies to begin with, cooperating to face Tae-hyun was practically impossible. Under these circumstances, they were nothing more than easy prey!
Paranoia!
The skill Paranoia, which he had acquired through his Intermediate Speech skill. In a chaotic situation like this, it was incredibly useful.
Paranoia has been successfully cast.
The enemy soldiers have fallen into a state of confusion.
Intimidate, Taunt, Fight Fire with Fire, Spread Deadly Poison!
A relentless combo of various status ailment skills! Even though the soldiers were high-level, Tae-hyun's Speech skill was no joke. Boosted by his Luck buffs, every single skill succeeded in rapid succession. The result...
"Argh! Get out of my way!"
"You dog of the 1st Prince! Die!"
The soldiers began slaughtering one another!
Sadik's Flame is spreading rapidly.
One-fifth of the inner castle has been engulfed in flames.
"Count Kim Tae-hyun... What on earth were you thinking when you committed this atrocity?! Do you honestly think you can handle the consequences?!"
"Well, I did it because I can, obviously."
"You will never escape this place alive!"
The guard captains and their elite soldiers. At a glance, they were a select group of powerhouses, easily exceeding level 100! Yet, Tae-hyun simply yawned. After all, they weren't his targets.
Shadow Dive, Shadow Leap!
"...!"
"If you wanted to catch me, you should have prepared better."
Tae-hyun materialized directly behind them! One of the soldiers unleashed a red wave of sword energy, but Tae-hyun effortlessly evaded it.
"Your Highnesses! Come over here!"
"Eek! Stay away from me!"
With flames roaring and their own soldiers tearing each other apart, both the 1st Prince and the Second Prince were completely consumed by panic. In such a chaotic nightmare, Tae-hyun charging at them with a bright smile was the absolute embodiment of terror!
"This is why you should pay people what they're worth!"
"I-I'll pay you gold! I'll pay! So please...!"
"You bastard!!"
The guard captain charged in a blind rage, but Tae-hyun spun around to face him head-on. A straightforward warrior type like the guard captain was easy prey for Tae-hyun! No matter how high his level was, he possessed almost no skills capable of landing a decisive blow on Tae-hyun.
Critical Stack, Critical Stack, Critical Stack, Critical Explosion!
"Aaargh!"
You have defeated Guard Captain Charles.
🎁 Acquired an item.
📈 Reputation has increased.
📈 Infamy has significantly increased.
Meanwhile, the Second Prince was frantically trying to flee back the way he came. Spotting this, Tae-hyun immediately activated a skill.
Aki-sus's Divine Territory!
Instantly, the colors of the surrounding environment warped, radiating outward from Tae-hyun. The fleeing Second Prince and his remaining soldiers tripped over their own feet, tumbling headfirst into the raging flames. It was a domain skill that inflicted a curse on anyone who failed a Luck resistance check every single second!
"I gained a level from killing the 1st Prince, so if I finish off the Second Prince and his guards, I should get another one."
"C-Count Kim Tae-hyun! This is not right...!"
"Ah, you're too noisy, Your Highness."
Stab! Slash!
He had barely managed to scrape his way to level 65. Even after burning down a castle, assassinating two princes, and wiping out their entire guard details, he was still only level 65. The sluggish pace of his leveling was enough to make him sigh.
Seriously, how am I supposed to level up in the future?
"You fiend!!!"
Boom!
Suddenly, Tae-hyun's body was blasted forward.
You have been afflicted with Stun.
Successfully resisted the effect with a skill.
Tap, tap, slide—
Tae-hyun quickly rolled to absorb the impact, landing gracefully on his feet before spinning around. The Second Prince's Guard Captain was glaring at him with eyes full of murderous intent.
"What was that? What kind of skill was that?"
"Y-You monster... How dare you spill the blood of the Auston royal family..."
"It's fine. There's still the Third Prince."
"W-What?! Was this the Third Prince's doing?! The Third Prince! Does he not fear the heavens, committing such an atrocious act?!"
"By the way, what was that skill just now?"
"Hmph! Insolent fool! It is the secret technique passed down through generations of the Auston Kingdom's royal guard! A cocky bastard like you will—cough!"
"I don't know what it is, but I hope you drop a swordsmanship manual."
Without waiting for an answer, Tae-hyun slipped behind the guard captain and unleashed a tempest of attacks.
Thud! Bam! Crack! Crash!
"K-Kuh...!"
Lucky Strike, Lucky Strike, Lucky Strike, Wrath, Strong Strike, Multi-hit, Vital Point Strike, Critical Explosion!
Tae-hyun didn't give his opponent a single second to breathe, let alone activate a skill. Already crippled by various status ailments and heavily wounded, the NPC stood no chance. No matter how high-level they were—even past level 100—if they lacked a way to interrupt Tae-hyun's devastating burst combo, they could only stand there and take the beating.
As system messages flashed rapidly before his eyes, Tae-hyun relentlessly battered the guard captain without pause.
Your Swordsmanship skill has increased.
How convenient would it be if my Swordsmanship skill leveled up as quickly and easily as my Speech skill?
With that thought, Tae-hyun sheathed his sword. Before he knew it, Sadik's Flame had already consumed half of the inner castle. As he made his way outside, Tae-hyun bellowed at the top of his lungs:
"Ah! The Sadiq Church! Those despicable fiends launched a surprise night attack! How utterly wicked of them!"
Shifting the blame!
"So you are saying the Second Prince, in collusion with the Sadiq Church, snuck into the inner castle where the 1st Prince was staying through a secret path, and that is how this tragedy occurred?"
"Exactly."
"H-How could this be..."
"What are we supposed to do now?"
"?!"
Quite a few players had already acquired skills like Advanced Swordsmanship, Advanced Magic, or Advanced Blacksmithing. However, Tae-hyun was the first person to ever obtain Advanced Rhetoric! Not only was Speech a highly non-mainstream skill, but the method to level it up was also incredibly tedious.
Unlike Swordsmanship, which leveled up simply by swinging a sword, or Magic, which leveled up by casting spells, the Speech skill required constantly finding targets to converse with. Furthermore, low-difficulty conversations barely gave any skill experience. Tae-hyun had grown it at an absolutely abnormal speed!
I really need to get my Swordsmanship to Advanced, though, Tae-hyun thought, smacking his lips.
In any case, the most important thing right now was persuasion.
"Everyone, I have an excellent idea."
"...?"
"Since both the 1st Prince and the Second Prince are gone, we should bring in the Third Prince."
"T-The Third Prince?"
"But that's a bit..."
"Why not? The Third Prince has no backing or faction of his own. If we are the ones who bring him to the throne, he will be forever indebted to us."
Empowered by his newly evolved Advanced Rhetoric skill, Tae-hyun's silver tongue was more potent than ever. In less than a minute, the nobles began to waver.
"Should we do that?"
"Since Count Kim Tae-hyun is the one suggesting it..."
Tae-hyun nodded with a satisfied expression. His business in the Auston Kingdom was finally drawing to a close. The kingdom had been ravaged by Orcs, and several regions had been reduced to ashes, but... as long as the end result was good, everything was fine, right?
"Then, I shall go and escort the Third Prince here myself!"
"Oh, Count Kim Tae-hyun!"
"We place our full trust in you!"
Looking at the incredibly reliable Tae-hyun, the nobles wore expressions of deep gratitude.
Tae-hyun stood up, thinking to himself:
I'd better clean out the royal treasury before the Third Prince arrives.