The Atmosphere Suddenly Turned Bizarre
The atmosphere suddenly turned bizarre. He had just leveled up again, and his swordsmanship skill had finally reached the Advanced rank. He was on the verge of shedding tears of joy when the mood suddenly turned ice-cold!
'Ugh. He could have just died quietly, but he had to screw me over at the very end.' Tae-hyun cursed Antonio inwardly.
With the level up, the swordsmanship skill, and even the Atali Kingdom contribution points, he had thought Antonio was a very generous and kind NPC. But to leave those parting words!
Of course, that was only from Tae-hyun's perspective. From Antonio's point of view, it was only natural. Having realized at the very last second who he was dealing with, of course he would leave a warning!
'What skills did I just get? First, swordsmanship reached Advanced. I got a secret skill as a reward. Gataqua Swordsmanship is newly unlocked. And what did I get for Sadiq's Authority?'
Upon activation, the user becomes immune to fire damage and absorbs fire instead. Restores HP/MP and dispels negative status effects proportional to the amount of fire absorbed.
"..."
A recovery skill! Considering Tae-hyun only had evasion or offensive skills, Flame Regeneration was an incredibly useful authority.
"...Come over here for a moment," the Holy Knight Commander's voice rang out.
Even without using a skill to check, Tae-hyun could feel it. The Commander was suspicious!
He could try to push through with his Speech skill, but...
'That guy looks like he's hiding something.' An NPC of the Holy Knight Commander's caliber might have a skill to verify Tae-hyun's identity.
"What is the matter, Commander?! Surely you don't believe the words of that traitor!"
Flawless acting! Tae-hyun cried out in mock grievance and activated Sadiq's Authority.
Sadiq's divine flames erupted from his hand!
"Can you not see this flame?!"
At the same time, he activated Flame Regeneration.
Your entire status is being restored proportional to the absorbed fire.
Simply absorbing fire didn't just restore HP; it also restored MP and could even dispel curses if he absorbed enough fire! Fortunately, thanks to the fierce battle, flames were still raging all around them.
"I believe you. I do. So just come over here for a moment. There is a way to verify your innocence."
Failed to persuade the Holy Knight Commander.
If it had been anything else, his Speech skill would have succeeded. But the name Archisus had struck a chord. In the Sadiq Church, merely mentioning that name was enough to draw curses! It was a name so hated that the Sadiq Church had carved statues of him just to burn them! That was Archisus!
"Understood, Commander."
"Yes. Come closer."
The Holy Knight Commander didn't know. Those very words had just solidified Tae-hyun's resolve!
'Saying that means he actually has a way to check if I'm related to Archisus, right?'
Sssss—
"?!?!"
Tae-hyun pulled out all his remaining bombs and threw them into the flames on both sides. Then, he dashed forward at full speed.
Shadow Dive, Shadow Leap, and Complete Escape!
The legendary trio of escape skills made their return after a long time! Tae-hyun abandoned all thoughts of attacking and focused entirely on evasion.
"Y-You...!"
"No way!"
"How can an Archisus spy use Sadiq's Authority?!"
Leaving the shocked reactions of the holy knights behind, Tae-hyun bolted down the passage.
Crash!
At that moment, the floor of the passage flipped over, and the Holy Knight Commander, who had been far behind, suddenly materialized right in front of him. The Commander blocked Tae-hyun's path!
"..."
"Where do you think you are going?"
The Holy Knight Commander's eyes blazed with fury. He was enraged to the absolute limit!
Your Deception has been exposed.
Sadiq Church contribution points have been completely reset to 0.
The Sadiq Holy Knight Commander is casting a skill.
He didn't know what skill it was, but it had a terribly ominous name!
"I realized I left the lights on outside, so I'm going to turn them off."
"You...! An Archisus spy...! How dare you use such wicked tricks to kill Antonio...!"
"Hey, you guys were the ones trying to kill Antonio. I was just standing there at first."
"You bastard!"
The Sadiq Holy Knight Commander is extremely enraged.
Even though Tae-hyun was only speaking the truth, the Commander's rage reached its peak. But Tae-hyun remained completely calm. Even though a boss monster and semi-boss monsters were right here...
Tae-hyun swapped his weapon. The weapon he equipped was the Ancient Hammer.
"Didn't you see what I threw next to you?"
"...?"
Rumble-boom-boom-boom!
Along with a massive explosion, the passage began to collapse.
Crash! Crash!
Tae-hyun didn't hesitate. He swung his hammer and charged forward. Whenever the ceiling shattered and debris fell in front of him, he swung the Ancient Hammer. Its power was immense, crushing solid rock as if it were soft tofu!
"YOU BASTARD!!!!!!"
The Holy Knight Commander's voice echoed from behind. A murderous intent so thick it sent shivers down Tae-hyun's spine! But they couldn't give chase immediately. They were tied down trying to shield themselves from the explosion and the falling debris.
"See you later!"
He had to defeat them eventually to obtain their authorities. But doing so now was impossible! Tae-hyun quickly escaped the passage. His initial goal had been achieved: defeating a high-ranking member of the Sadiq Church to obtain an authority! Now, he planned to regroup with Cain and Lee Da-bi, then head toward the fortress gates.
'If we can raid the Archbishop together, we will.' He had already secured one authority, so he was playing with house money. Getting one more would be hitting the jackpot.
As Tae-hyun ran, something caught his eye. It was Burford and the Raider Players locked in a fierce battle!
"Pant, pant..."
"This is the end, you pushover. If you had just quietly opened the warehouse door, we wouldn't have had to go through all this trouble!"
"Do you know how much we lost because of you? Die, you bastard!"
The battle was almost over. The Sadiq holy knights had all fallen, and only Burford was left, gasping for breath! Normally, the Sadiq holy knights should have had the advantage. No matter how much the Raider Players emptied their pockets using potions and scrolls, they were outnumbered.
There was only one reason the tables had turned: a sudden fiery explosion had swept over them! That explosion had wiped out the Sadiq holy knights. The Raider Players, who had luckily avoided a direct hit from the blast, excitedly turned the tide of battle. Now, only Burford remained! Burford glared at them with a look of bitter resentment.
"And to think I trusted you...!"
"Trust someone trustworthy, you idiot. No wonder you got scammed by Kim Tae-hyun."
"And beaten by Evangeline."
"S-Shut up!"
No matter how unfavorable the situation was, he couldn't stand having his sore spots poked like that.
Pitter-patter—
"...?"
Hearing someone running up from behind, the Raider Players turned their heads. A very familiar figure! It was the new player who had been following Burford but had disappeared earlier.
"You!"
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"Where the hell have you been, bastard?"
Thinking this was perfect, the Raider Players looked at Tae-hyun and gestured to him.
"Hey. Get over here."
"...?"
Tae-hyun, who was about to ignore them and keep running, paused. He had just killed Antonio, and the Holy Knight Commander was probably chasing him like crazy, so he was going to let them slide. But they just had to call him over.
'Well, if they want to dig their own graves, I shouldn't stop them!' He was busy, but he had more than enough time to deal with these guys.
"Hey. I told you to get over here! Are you deaf? I'll..."
"By the way, why are there only three of you left?" Tae-hyun asked as he walked toward them. His attitude was completely different from his previous cautious, cowardly act.
The Raider Players felt a strange sense of cognitive dissonance.
"What?"
"I asked why there are only three of you."
Overwhelmed by Tae-hyun's confident approach, one of the players blurted out, "Some logged out during the fight..."
"Hey! Why the hell are you telling him that?!"
"S-Sorry."
The player got scolded by his companions for his slip of the tongue. Watching this, Tae-hyun shook his head.
"Why are you nagging him over something like that?"
"R-Right?"
"Yeah. It's fine to tell me."
Seeing that Tae-hyun didn't look scared at all, one of the players said angrily, "What is this bastard babbling about? Go stand next to that pushover before you get beaten up."
"I'm in a hurry, so let's keep this short."
"...?"
"Are you going to listen to me, or do you want to get logged out?"
"Is this guy crazy—"
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Before the player could even finish his sentence, Tae-hyun drew his sword and thrust it forward in a rapid flurry. A crisp, consecutive attack exploded against the Raider Player's body. Amplified by Lucky Strike, the devastating damage shattered the Raider Player, who collapsed instantly.
HP: 0 / [DEATH]
The target has died and will be logged out.
"..."
Every player present stared at Tae-hyun, their mouths agape. What did they just witness? Regardless of their shock, Tae-hyun shifted his stance, pointing his sword at the second Raider Player.
"Are you going to listen to me, or do you want to get logged out?"
"Y-You bastard!!!"
The second Raider Player drew his dagger and lunged at Tae-hyun. He refused to go down without a fight like his companion!
Circle of Counterattack!
But things in life rarely go as planned. The lunging player was struck by the Circle of Counterattack and stumbled backward. Before he could even steady his staggering body, Tae-hyun's follow-up attack connected.
Near-Perfect Flurry!
The secret swordsmanship skill he had received as a reward for reaching Advanced rank in swordsmanship! It was a skill that increased damage by a set percentage with each consecutive hit. Befitting its status as a secret skill, its difficulty was quite high.
The initial damage was weak, and the damage only amplified as the consecutive hits stacked up! If the flurry was interrupted, the skill ended right there. One could say it was tricky to use, but if Tae-hyun couldn't even pull off something like this, he wouldn't have made it this far.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!
Before he could even trigger Critical Explosion, the second player was logged out.
"Uh, uh, uh..."
Tae-hyun had deleted two players in the blink of an eye! Terrified by this display of raw power, the last remaining player trembled. He had thought this guy was just some clueless newbie who had wandered into the Sadiq Church...
'T-This guy is a monster!'
As a Raider Player, he at least had an eye for talent. The strength Tae-hyun had just displayed was easily at the level of a high ranker! In fact, he doubted how many rankers could delete two players so instantaneously.
Tae-hyun spun around.
"Are you going to list—"
"I'll listen! I'll listen! I said I'll listen! Is that enough?!"
Before Tae-hyun could even finish, the player answered frantically.
"Watch your tone."
"I-I will listen, sir!"
"Good. I like that attitude."
Burford, who had been staring blankly at the exchange, finally snapped out of his daze.
"Y-You...!"
'Did he realize I'm Kim Tae-hyun?' Seeing Burford point at him in sheer shock, Tae-hyun thought to himself.
If one connected the absurd burst damage he had just shown with the bomb that combined Archisus and Sadiq earlier, it wouldn't be hard to figure out his identity.
"You were an expert!"
"..."
But Burford failed to make the connection. Tae-hyun looked at Burford with pity in his eyes.
'How is someone this dense going to survive in Pan-On...'
"You did amazing! Do you know how much those bastards insulted me...?! Hey, say it again! What? A pushover? Who's the pushover now?!"
Burford shouted excitedly and ran toward him. He still didn't know why Tae-hyun had stayed quiet earlier, or why he had suddenly disappeared. But he was just grateful that Tae-hyun had appeared right before he died!
"Whoa there."
"...?"
But Tae-hyun reached out and stopped Burford. Then, he pointed to the space right next to the remaining Raider Player.
"???"
"Stand over there."
"W-Why? Why all of a sudden..."
Burford was flustered by Tae-hyun's cold, sudden boundary-drawing. But the real shock hadn't even begun.
"Are you going to listen to me, or do you want to get logged out?"
"..."
The exact same words he had heard just moments ago! Hearing them directed at himself, a cold shiver ran down Burford's spine.