What Do You Mean, "What"?

"What's this?"

"Tsk, trying to slide in at the last second and scoop up the rewards..."

The mage players grumbled. They assumed the players who had suddenly appeared were trying to muscle their way into the Edaor raid.

But that wasn't why they were here.

Swoooosh!

"Aaargh!"

"Are you insane?! Where the hell are you aiming your spells?!"

As spells slammed into their backs, several of the mages' ongoing incantations were forcibly canceled.

"What's going on?"

"Intruders! It's an intrusion!"

"Long live the Alliance!"

The sudden onslaught of Guild Alliance members threw the players into utter chaos. Some spun around, preparing to retaliate against the guild members.

"These bastards... How dare they make a mockery of the Magic Tower...!"

And the Archmages were equally furious. They were already seething over the previous assassination incident, and now these pests had dared to trespass again.

"Die!"

Fwooooosh!

Spirits of fire began to swarm toward the guild members, who desperately used scrolls to ward them off.

"The Archmages are no joke! If we don't get out of here fast, we're toast!"

"Edaor! Go wild, quickly!"

The guild members relied on only one thing: Edaor!

As if answering their prayers, Edaor began to move. With the players' barrage temporarily halted, the demon finally had room to breathe.

Pat-pat-pat!

"Edaor broke free!"

"Bind him with magic again!"

The mages panicked as Edaor broke out of the dozens of spells that had been pinning him down.

—Roaaaaaaar!

Everyone tensed as Edaor charged forward.

Tae-hyun frowned.

Me again?

He couldn't think of any other reason why the demon would sprint so desperately in his direction. Tae-hyun prepared to command his undead army to block the path once more.

But this time, his prediction was off.

—Dimensional Portal of the Demon Realm!

A massive portal tore open in midair.

Edaor glared at Tae-hyun and roared.

—Remember this, you rat of Archisus! I will surely repay this grudge!

Flash!

Edaor instantly vanished through the portal.

"..."

An icy silence fell over the chamber.

Tae-hyun, the mage players, and the Archmages all stared blankly at the portal before slowly turning their gazes toward the Guild Alliance members.

The Alliance players also stared at the empty air where the portal had been, their jaws slack, before suddenly snapping back to reality with a gasp.

"Th-that demon bastard ran away?!"

"And they told us never to trust a demon...!"

The Guild Alliance's plan had been simple: exploit the chaos of the raid to attack the players, assist Edaor, and escape. No matter how ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠powerful the Archmage NPCs were, they wouldn't be able to focus properly with enemies disrupting them from behind. If Edaor went wild during that opening, they could all slip ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠away.

But Edaor had simply ditched them and fled on his own.

Of course, they hadn't actually made any formal agreement with Edaor, but still...

Tae-hyun pointed his staff.

Then, he spoke.

"Kill them."

With those words, the furious mage players unleashed their wrath.

"Where do you think you are, trying to ruin our raid?!"

"You're the bastards who scammed everyone on the forums!"

Boom! Crash!

A cataclysmic barrage of spells rained down, obliterating the guild members.

"We lost Edaor because of you!!"

"Are you going to compensate us for our EXP?! What about our items?!"

"That was our chance to get a demon weapon!"

Tae-hyun flinched slightly at those words. It seemed some of the mage players had been eyeing the demon's equipment. Of course, Tae-hyun had already stripped Edaor of his signature greatsword long ago, and even if another weapon had dropped, there was absolutely no way Tae-hyun would have let anyone else have it.

Completely surrounded and overwhelmed, the guild members made one final, desperate cry as they glared at Tae-hyun.

"Heh... Hehehe! Kim Tae-hyun! Do your worst! It doesn't matter anymore! Your quest is ruined anyway!"

Though Edaor's sudden flight had baffled them, they took solace in the belief that they had successfully sabotaged Tae-hyun's quest.

"What kind of nonsense is that? Nothing changes just because Edaor ran away."

"You let Edaor escape, so your Magic Tower trial is a failure! Stop bluffing... Urgh!"

"These guys sure talk a lot for people getting beaten to a pulp..."

Tae-hyun ruthlessly commanded his undead spirits and fired off Dark Arrows. The talkative guild member was thoroughly thrashed before being forcefully logged out.

"Bwahaha! Bwaha—aaargh!"

The guild members had been under a massive delusion. They believed the Archmages had summoned Edaor specifically for Tae-hyun's quest, and that defeating him was the objective.

Of course, that wasn't the case at all.

"How was that, Archmage?"

"..."

"..."

Once Edaor was gone and the chaos was settled, the Archmages stared at Tae-hyun with deeply conflicted expressions.

Their eyes clearly said: This absolute lunatic...

"Oh, don't tell me this still isn't enough? Should I summon an even stronger demon then...?"

"N-No! No!"

"There is absolutely no need! We have seen more than enough!"

The Archmages desperately held Tae-hyun back.

Watching this, Chesia was filled with admiration.

He truly is a man born to be a black mage!

His ability to extort them while feigning innocence was a masterpiece of psychological warfare.

"Count Kim Tae-hyun, we formally acknowledge that you have passed the trial!"

A powerful title that granted massive bonuses to all black magic! It was a title any mage player would drool over.

I can borrow skills?

It seemed he could temporarily borrow and cast spells used by other black mages.

Though he had leveled up, things hadn't gone exactly according to his original plan.

I was planning to drink an EXP potion right before killing Edaor to get an explosive level boost...

But the Guild Alliance had ruined that opportunity.

Those bastards...! How dare they sabotage my quest?

Compared to the sheer scale of sabotage Tae-hyun had inflicted on others, this was a mere drop in the bucket, but Tae-hyun was not the type of person to think with such objective fairness.

He was furious!

"Why is Kim ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Tae-hyun so angry when he cleared the quest?"

"Right? Didn't the Magic Tower mages just say he succeeded?"

"Is it because Edaor got away?"

"You idiots. Don't you get it? Kim Tae-hyun is angry on our behalf."

"?"

"Kim Tae-hyun has already defeated Edaor before. He doesn't care about losing him. But this time, he was raiding with us, right? Those bastards interfered and ruined our chance. Kim Tae-hyun is seething with rage for our sake!"

"!"

"No way...!"

"He is truly a saint...!"

If Cain had been there, he would have screamed, "No, you crazy bastards, wake up!" But unfortunately, Cain was not present.

The mage players gazed at Tae-hyun with eyes full of deep, tearful admiration.

"???"

This time, it was Tae-hyun's turn to be utterly bewildered.

Why are they looking at me like that when Edaor got away? I'm about to explode from sheer anger here.

Pat.

"Excellent work, Count Kim Tae-hyun! I always knew you would pull it off. Though I would have killed you myself if you had failed!"

Chesia's jokes never failed to send a shiver down one's spine.

"Thank you."

"Now that you are the Successor of the Black Mage School, I trust you will show the responsibility and dedication befitting your title?"

Did I just see some really bizarre quest names in there?

Tae-hyun decided to check the quests later. For now, he had a much more pressing matter to attend to.

I let them off easy, and these bastards just keep clinging to me like leeches...

The Guild Alliance!

It was time to thoroughly crush them once and for all.

When the Guild Alliance attacked Tae-hyun, they never imagined they would face a counteroffensive. Even if the strike force they sent was captured or wiped out, there was no way Tae-hyun would dare to march straight into their headquarters! The disparity in their overall military strength was simply too massive.

But if Tae-hyun were the type to back down out of fear, he would never have made it this far.

Why else would he have accumulated so many enemies and stacked up so many grudge points?

Because no matter who the opponent was, he beat them up first!

Tae-hyun's mind began to spin at high speed.

The best approach right now would be... bomb terror, assassinations... Come to think of it, I could use the rabbits... and now I can command the black mages too. Since I just got a bunch of Contribution Points...

A flurry of devious methods flashed through his mind in an instant.

After a brief moment of deliberation, Tae-hyun made his decision.

I'll just use all of them!

A complete gift set of absolute misery for his enemies!

Meanwhile, Chesia pulled something out and handed it to Tae-hyun.

"Take this."

"What is this?"

"Didn't you say you worship Archisus? This is a book related to him."

Tae-hyun's face stiffened.

Unaware of his reaction, Chesia smiled innocently.

"It took me some time to dig up this Archisus book from the Magic Tower's secret archives. Well? Do you like it?"

"...Didn't you tell me that items like this are usually found inside the Magic Tower Dungeon?"

"Did I? I believe I said there was a high probability..."

"..."

Tae-hyun barely resisted the urge to punch him. Chesia was still highly useful, and if they actually fought, Tae-hyun would most likely lose!

Ugh, this man...

Because of Chesia's misinformation, he had wasted precious time running around the useless Magic Tower Dungeon.

Tae-hyun sighed deeply as he pocketed the item.

—The quest is over. Everyone, get ready.

—Huh? Ready for what?

Cain, who received the whisper, replied innocently.

—We're going to the Auston Kingdom.

—Why... there?

—Why do you think? We're going because there are people begging for a beating.

—W-Wait a minute! Don't tell me...! Hey! Shouldn't we just practice Fantasy Craft instead—

Click!

Cutting off the whisper, Tae-hyun turned back to Chesia.

"Master Chesia. I am about to go to war with the enemies who dared to attack me. Would you be willing to lend me your strength?"

"Of course! That is only natural!"

The Black Mage School possessed a vast array of forces that Tae-hyun coveted. He began to browse through them as if he were on a shopping spree.

First, let's add the high-ranking Black Mage NPCs. And since I'll be commanding an undead army... well, I can always make corpses on the spot, but it's better to bring some along, right? Oh, they have Golems too. And Wyverns? I'll take this, and this, and this...

It was a shopping spree of epic proportions, destined to completely vaporize the Contribution Points he had just earned.

Meanwhile, a player slinked over to him.

"Ahem, Tae-hyun. Now that the raid is over... do you have a moment?"

It was the player who had lost his desired item to Tae-hyun: Baha.

"Ah, right. You said you wanted the dice?"

"Ahem, well, not that I'm desperate, but if you're willing to sell..."

"In that case, I won't sell it and just use it myself."

"I absolutely must have it!"

Baha's attitude did a complete 180.

Tae-hyun stared at him intently.

Under that gaze, Baha suddenly felt a strange chill run down his spine.

"?"

"Would you mind coming along with me somewhere? If you help me with a quick task, I'll give you the dice immediately."

"Really?! Deal!"