The Art of the Backstab
"I told you to attack! Can you not hear me?"
"Look... I'd listen if you actually made sense! Maybe it's because you're not a mage, but at my level, mana management is incredibly tight. If I use some useless skill, it'll completely mess up my skill rotation!"
Crawford wasn't entirely wrong. Though he appeared to be standing still, his mind was racing with incredibly complex calculations.
Checking his total MP, calculating the cost of his next spell, deciding which off-cooldown skill would be best to use...
Classes like mages were notoriously difficult when it came to these calculations. It was a role that required far more brainpower than melee classes!
Beside him, Jeong Su-hyeok gasped in admiration. "Wow. That's amazing. I usually just spam whatever's ready."
"Haha. You're too humble."
Crawford had actually watched one of Su-hyeok's gameplay videos before. He had checked it out after hearing rumors of a mage with terrifyingly precise control appearing in the tournament qualifiers. Su-hyeok's intuition back then had been truly spectacular. His reflexes, especially when predicting and countering his opponent's spells, were top-tier! There was no way a mage of that caliber was just mindlessly spamming spells, right?
"..."
"..."
"...?"
"...?"
"What are you two doing, staring into each other's eyes? Anyway, Crawford. Use fire."
"I literally just explained why I can't!"
"Haha. That's fine."
"Why?!"
"Because I'm the one who rescued you, not the other way around. If you don't like it, get off my ship."
"..."
What a petty bastard! Crawford cursed inwardly. But things didn't stop there.
You have disobeyed the Pope's command.
The Curse of Akisus has been inflicted.
"?!?!?!"
What kind of crazy religious order gives you a penalty just for disobeying a player who holds a higher rank than you?! Crawford screamed in his mind.
He knew Tae-hyun was the Pope, but still, wasn't he just another player? Getting a religious penalty for ignoring a player's words was absurd!
One of your active buffs has been removed.
Warning: Continued disobedience may result in additional curses.
Mana Circulation wasn't a cheap skill to cast. It required expensive reagents like Mana Stones and Magic Powders every single time. However, it was worth the cost. It couldn't be dispelled unless the caster chose to, and its MP consumption was incredibly low. For Crawford, who was decked out in all sorts of MP recovery gear, it was practically free. But of all things, the system had to strip that buff away!
"Seriously, what kind of cult is this?!" Crawford yelled, moving immediately. He couldn't afford to take any more curses. "Don't blame me if this goes wrong!"
Whoosh!
A massive sphere of fire materialized in front of Crawford.
—Continuous Fire Barrage!
The sphere of fire didn't dissipate; it remained suspended, unleashing a barrage of offensive fire spells!
Man, I'm jealous. Tae-hyun smacked his lips inwardly. He couldn't help but envy the high-impact, flashy skills of mage players. Spells that let you rain down destruction from afar without having to get up close and personal. It was basically free real es—
"K-Kim Tae-hyun!"
"Yeah?"
"It's... it's not working!"
The Kraken, pelted by the relentless fire attacks, merely stared at Crawford with a dazed expression. For some reason, it looked almost mocking.
Ugh! Crawford felt a deep sense of humiliation. It was his first time feeling humiliated by a monster.
"Wait, did Crawford just use fire magic? I know he's a pyromancer, but still..."
"Who in their right mind uses fire magic against a water monster?"
"First Alcott, now him. Are they both a bit slow?"
The other players whispered among themselves. Crawford's face flushed as red as his robes.
"Hey!!"
"Ah, stop whining. Fine, I'll take care of it."
Tae-hyun replied nonchalantly and grabbed the ankle of Heuk-heuk, who was trying to sneak away.
—Ha... Haha. Master. You see, the thing is...
—You little punk. Didn't you say fire was its weakness?
—Well... it worked perfectly when I used it...
Tae-hyun realized what the issue was. The only difference between Crawford's fire and Heuk-heuk's was the attribute!
—Dammit. You should have been more specific. It only worked because it was Sadiq's Flame.
—Ah! That must be it!
—Thanks for telling me so quickly. Go convert his fire into Sadiq's Flame before the monster puts it out. You can do that, right?
As a ranker, Crawford's full-power fire magic combo was by no means weak. The flames clinging to the Kraken's body had not yet been extinguished.
—I can do it... but I can't fly over there. I need to get close...
—Haha. Don't worry about a little thing like that. I'll handle it.
Hearing Tae-hyun's words, Heuk-heuk suddenly felt a deep sense of dread.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
—Graaaaoooor!
The roar of the Black Dragon, the demonic beast of Sadiq, echoed across the battlefield.
⊳ The Kraken's movement is temporarily halted.
⊳ Status condition has been cleared.
⊳ Temporarily immune to Fear.
"That's the pet Kim Tae-hyun keeps with him, right?"
"Wow, that's an amazing pet."
The skills a player could use varied greatly depending on their pet. In that regard, Tae-hyun's pets looked incredibly rare and powerful just from their appearance.
—Master! Master! This isn't right!
Tae-hyun was sprinting forward with Heuk-heuk tucked under his arm. Since Heuk-heuk couldn't fly, this was the best way to get him close to the Kraken!
Heuk-heuk let out a pitiful shriek. Thanks to that, the other players received a free buff.
"Alright, go!"
—Screeech!
As Tae-hyun drew near, the Kraken recognized him, its eyes flashing with rage. It immediately stopped thrashing the ship and targeted Tae-hyun! But Tae-hyun was one step ahead. Heuk-heuk quickly clung to the Kraken and activated his skill.
—O Flame, transform! Into the Flame of Sadiq!
Whoosh!
The flames clinging to the Kraken's body turned pitch black, and the beast let out a scream of pure agony.
—Screeeeeech!
A critical attack has been dealt to the Kraken!
The target has entered a Frenzied state. Exercise extreme caution!
"Everyone, brace for impact!"
The players were well-accustomed to boss monsters unleashing desperate attacks. At Tae-hyun's shout, they immediately braced themselves.
As long as we prepare in advance, we can handle any attack!
With that confident thought, they glared at the Kraken. Come on, what are you going to do?
—Screech! Screeech! Screeeeech!
"Huh?"
The frenzied Kraken was no longer targeting only Tae-hyun. It began relentlessly slamming its tentacles against the largest objects in its sight.
Crash! Shatter!
And it didn't stop there. The Kraken surged forward, wrapping its massive tentacles entirely around the ship.
"Are... are you insane?"
"What are you doing! Attack! It's weakened!"
"R-Right!"
The NPCs of the Phytos and Yata churches, along with the players, panicked and began pouring attacks onto the Kraken.
Thud! Bam! Boom!
The Kraken is attempting to destroy the ship with its monstrous strength!
Prevent the destruction of the vessel!
"The barrier is below 10%! It's about to shatter!"
"What did this crazy bastard eat to make it go this wild?!"
The frenzied Kraken didn't even bother to block or dodge the incoming attacks. It was purely focused on destroying the ship, absorbing the players' attacks with its massive health pool! The players were terrified by the boss monster's complete abandonment of defense in favor of pure destruction. It felt like the barrier would shatter at any second.
"Wow. That worked incredibly well."
Meanwhile, Tae-hyun, who had distanced himself from the ship, whistled as he approached the Kraken from behind. The Kraken had been staring him down earlier, preventing him from doing anything... but now, his chance had come.
"Let's go!"
Step, step, leap!
Like an acrobat, Tae-hyun sprinted up one of the Kraken's thrashing tentacles and activated a skill to leap into the air. Though the frenzied Kraken's body was shaking violently, Tae-hyun focused his mind and executed the maneuver flawlessly.
You have successfully performed an acrobatic feat of unbelievable difficulty.
Agility has increased!
CRITICAL HIT!
Landing squarely on the Kraken's head, Tae-hyun began unleashing his damage. His sword swung at a blinding speed, accompanied by a rhythmic, metallic ring.
Successfully targeted the opponent's weak point with Akisus Swordsmanship.
An additional curse has been triggered!
The power of Akisus Swordsmanship was truly formidable. Although aiming for the constantly shifting weak points was a hassle, every successful hit delivered a powerful curse alongside a critical strike.
—Akisus's First Strike!
Akisus's First Strike
Consumes Luck to unleash a devastating continuous attack. The duration of the continuous attack increases with skill level.
Unchecked, Tae-hyun's damage output was terrifying. Even the players who were scrambling to save the ship stopped and stared in sheer awe.
He really is on another level!
I guess you don't win the tournament by accident.
But wait, isn't that bastard going to help us?
"Kim Tae-hyun! Do something about these tentacles!"
—Master, they're asking for help. Should I go slice them off? Heuk-heuk asked confidently.
Right now, the Kraken was so consumed by pain that it was entirely focused on crushing the ship. It would be easy to go and sever its tentacles with Sadiq's Flame.
"No. Just focus on dealing damage. Cutting the tentacles won't do much damage to its overall HP anyway. If we're going to burn it, we burn the main body."
Unaware of this conversation, the players continued to scream.
"Kim Tae-hyun! Help us!"
"Aaaah! The ship is breaking!"
Splash! Splash!
A few players quickly abandoned ship and dove into the water, realizing that staying on board was suicide.
"Are you really not going to help them?!"
"Killing this thing is helping them."
Tae-hyun didn't even blink as he swung his sword. Honestly, it didn't matter to him if the people over there died! The Phytos Church, the Yata Church, and players he had only met today...
Creeeeak! CRASH!
With a sound like a dying scream, the ship finally gave way as the Kraken ripped it to shreds.
With the ship destroyed, those who had held out until the end were not spared. The Kraken thrashed its tentacles wildly in every direction. However, after absorbing the players' attacks with its body and taking a concentrated beating from Tae-hyun, the Kraken was in a terrible state.
The Kraken's HP has fallen below 10%!
Final Struggle has begun!
Despite that, as expected of a giant boss monster, the Kraken displayed a terrifyingly persistent life force. Its thrashing attacks were even more frightening now than when it was at full health!
"Aaaaah!"
"!"
A scream rang out as the Kraken snagged someone from the wreckage of the ship with its tentacle. It was Priest Hugo of the Phytos Church.
"Y-You beast! Let go of me!"
Priest Hugo had cast a protective barrier around himself, but he couldn't hold out against the Kraken's raw strength for long. He was about to be crushed to death! In that split second, Priest Hugo and Tae-hyun locked eyes.
"..."
"..."
Whoosh!
Tae-hyun blatantly looked away! He was too busy dealing damage to waste time saving Priest Hugo. At that, Priest Hugo's blood boiled.
"You cursed wretch... Your Akisus won't last long! Every single one of you who worships Akisus will be blinded by greed and fall to ruin..."
It was a strangely realistic curse. For some reason, it felt highly plausible, which put Tae-hyun in a bad mood.
"I was going to let you die in peace, but you just had to ask for a beating."
—Hammer Throw!
Tae-hyun used the skill he had acquired from the Phytos Church training ground, hurling it straight at Priest Hugo. Since he already disliked the guy, he figured he'd send him off with a bang.
Thwack!
You have successfully severed the Kraken's tentacle with the Hammer Throw skill!
You have saved the life of Priest Hugo of the Phytos Church.
Reputation has increased!
Relationship with the Phytos Church has slightly recovered.
"?"
