The Fire God's Wrath and the Rabbit's Gift
At first, Yu Ji-soo thought she was joking, but seeing the deadpan seriousness on Lee Da-bi's face, she panicked. She wasn't joking?
"I don't joke about gold!"
"Ah, right." Ji-soo was completely overwhelmed by Da-bi's intense aura.
With his decisive strike blocked, the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander was pushed back onto the defensive once more.
Clang! Clang!
"Hey, ahjussis! Hit him gently! You're going to ruin the armor!"
"Are you out of your mind, you crazy bastard?! Is that really what you're worried about right now?!" the Orc ahjussis barked back, utterly dumbfounded by Tae-hyun's words. Who on earth worried about preserving gear while raiding a boss monster?!
Even if the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander was cornered, a boss was still a boss. One wrong move and they could be wiped out in an instant!
But Tae-hyun was dead serious.
"Aim for his face, not the armor! It deals more damage, and the armor stays intact!"
"Why don't you try it then, you punk!"
"Wait, if we tell Tae-hyun to do it, he's the type who'll actually do it."
"Ah. Right. Let me rephrase that. Are we you, you bastard?!"
Faced with the Orc ahjussis' protests, Tae-hyun decided to take matters into his own hands. He just needed to land one solid spear thrust! However, the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander was incredibly thorough.
"Take this! You pests!"
Thud! Thud-thud!
The Commander didn't even bother dodging the Orc ahjussis' attacks, taking them head-on, but...
Whenever Cain tried to activate a skill, the Commander went out of his way to shut him down.
"Aaargh! Why only me?!" Cain screamed as he retreated, having suffered a harsh counterattack after carelessly trying to use his chains.
Furthermore, the moment Tae-hyun tried to close the distance, the Holy Knight Commander immediately backed away. It was like a frustrating game of tag!
Seeing this, Tae-hyun shifted his strategy.
"Hey, you cowardly bastard! Aren't you embarrassed to face Sadiq?!"
—Exactly, exactly! Heuk-heuk chimed in excitedly, adding fuel to the fire.
Tae-hyun suddenly realized something was off and turned to his pet.
—Wait a minute, Heuk-heuk. You were flying around just fine earlier. Why are you just sitting there doing nothing now?
—M-Master. That is... since Sadiq's Avatar departed, my strength has...
—...Right. I get it.
—This is not my fault!
—I said I get it, you lizard.
Too lazy to listen to Heuk-heuk's excuses, Tae-hyun waved his hand to shut him up. Then, he pointed a finger directly at the Holy Knight Commander.
"Everyone, let's laugh at this guy!"
"Huh? Why?"
"I don't get why we're doing this, but if you say so..."
The Orc ahjussis didn't understand the logic, but they did as they were told. And they were surprisingly good at it!
"You rabbit-like coward! Is running away the only thing you know how to do?!"
"Was the god Sadiq the God of Cowardice, not Fire?!"
The Sadiq Holy Knight Commander trembled with rage. Being mocked by mere Orcs was pushing him to his absolute limit.
I must endure, I must endure...
—Ebebebe! Ebebebebe!
"You traitorous lizard bastard, I'll kill you!"
The Commander, who had been desperately holding back, finally exploded at Heuk-heuk's childish taunts.
Whoosh!
"An opening!"
"Aaargh!"
—Perhaps I possess a natural talent for provocation... Heuk-heuk mused internally.
"We'll think about that later!" Tae-hyun shouted, unleashing his Archisus Swordsmanship as he thrust his Roughly Made Unstable Steel Sword in rapid succession.
Stab! Thrust! Pierce!
"T-That crazy Tae-hyun... he's actively stabbing around the armor!"
"What a devilish bastard!"
"As expected of Tae-hyun-nim!" Lee Da-bi exclaimed in admiration. She wished the members of the Power Warrior Guild could watch and learn from this! It was the perfect hunting method—slaying the target while keeping the valuable equipment completely undamaged!
"I will absolutely... never let you get away with this!"
As the Holy Knight Commander's eyes flared with a dangerous light, Tae-hyun quickly gestured to the party.
"Everyone, fall back!"
The moment a massive wave of fire swept toward them, Tae-hyun countered with his skill.
[Temporarily sharing Luck with those led by the Apostle.]
[Successfully evaded Sadiq's Wrath.]
"Damn you, Archisus!" the Commander roared in frustration.
"That's getting a bit old now!" Tae-hyun retorted.
The party remained completely unfazed by his curses. Hit and run, hit and run—it was the textbook definition of a perfect boss raid! Though the Holy Knight Commander occasionally unleashed devastating wide-area attacks in his death throes, Tae-hyun and the Orc ahjussis managed to block and evade them flawlessly.
Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever taken down a boss in such a textbook manner before, Tae-hyun mused.
"Ugh...!"
Thud—
Finally, after taking one last decisive blow, the Sadiq Holy Knight Commander slowly collapsed forward.
[The vanguard of the Sadiq Order, Sadiq Holy Knight Commander, has fallen!]
[The last executive of the Sadiq Order, the evil cult that sought to burn the continent, has fallen. The Sadiq Order will not rise again for some time.]
[You have become the sole legitimate successor of the Sadiq Order on the continent. You may declare the resurrection of the Sadiq Order...]
Are you crazy? Tae-hyun thought.
The other denominations were already glaring at the Archisus Church. If he went ahead and announced the resurrection of the Sadiq Order, they would immediately seize the opportunity to organize a massive subjugation force to wipe him out.
✔ [Divine Power increases greatly.]
✔ [Reputation increases greatly.]
✔ [You have leveled up!]
✔ [You have leveled up!]
✔ [Acquired Sadiq's Divine Authority.]
✔ [Acquired items.]
His Reputation was now at 30,100, while his Infamy sat at 22,160. There was a time when his Infamy had surpassed his Reputation, but now he felt he could finally breathe a sigh of relief. While his Infamy was still three to four times higher than that of an average player, Tae-hyun had no intention of trying to lower it. Instead, his strategy was simply to raise his Reputation even higher to cover it up!
[Your Divine Power stat has exceeded 10,000.]
Oh, they're giving me something else! Tae-hyun immediately recognized the format. This was definitely a reward notification window! His heart began to flutter with anticipation.
What will it be? A wide-area skill would be great, or maybe a ranged DPS skill... A curse counter skill would be nice too. Since Word of Power is so inefficient right now, maybe an MP recovery skill to offset it...
Tae-hyun let his imagination run wild!
[You are currently utilizing the Divine Authorities of Archisus, Sadiq, and Carbanog.]
"...?"
A sudden wave of anxiety washed over him. Why were they reminding him of that now?
[You will randomly acquire one of these Divine Authorities.]
No way!!!
Tae-hyun was horrified. Why did it have to be random, of all things?!
Well, nothing is set in stone yet...
His first choice was Archisus, and his second was Sadiq. While Archisus had plenty of bizarre skills, it also boasted an incredibly powerful skill set. Most importantly, they synergized perfectly with Tae-hyun's existing authority skills. Sadiq might be an evil god, but the sheer destructive power of his skills was undeniably spectacular!
The one he absolutely had to avoid was Carbanog!
If skills like Rabbit's Foot or Carbanog's Authority popped up, Tae-hyun would lose his mind.
[Carbanog protests. Carbanog states that Carbanog's Authority also possesses many excellent traits.]
[...Acquired Carbanog's Divine Authority!]
No!!!
[Acquired Carbanog's Dagger Blueprint!]
"...Eh?"
It was a completely unexpected authority skill. On top of that, it was a crafting-related authority.
I thought it would be something like 'Feeding the Rabbits'...
[Carbanog is angry...]
Alright, alright, I get it.
Even so, Tae-hyun didn't let his guard down. He needed to find out exactly what this dagger was first!
With the blessing of the Rabbit God Carbanog, you can craft Carbanog's Dagger.
Carbanog's Dagger: Durability ?/?, Physical Attack ?
"The strength of rabbits lies in their numbers."
[Additional Option]
The more individuals nearby wielding this dagger, the greater the attack power buff applied to the dagger.
"?"
Thinking he might have misread it, Tae-hyun blinked and read the description again. But the explanation remained exactly the same.
The durability and physical attack power would show proper numbers instead of question marks once he actually crafted it, so he could ignore those for now. But the description and the option...
What kind of option is this?
In short, the more people wielding this weapon, the stronger it became!
It was a highly unusual option, and an incredibly awkward one to utilize.
If it scales like this... the base attack power is probably going to be abysmally low...
Tae-hyun caught on instantly. Options that seemed too good to be true always came with a catch.
[Carbanog looks smug.]
Now is not the time to be smug.
Though he wasn't quite sure how to put it to use yet, Tae-hyun was satisfied enough that it wasn't a complete dud. He had acquired Sadiq's Divine Authority separately, and he had secured the boss's equipment as well.
"Tae-hyun! Tae-hyun!"
"?"
The voices of the Orc ahjussis snapped Tae-hyun out of his thoughts.
"Shouldn't we start running? The noise is getting louder."
The thunderous rumbling was indeed growing closer. The giants who had invaded from the outside were gradually making their way deeper into the ruins!
"Yes. We've got everything we came for, so let's get out of here!"
The Erangs Kingdom.
Out of the many kingdoms on the continent, there was a very good reason why the vast majority of players chose to start their journey in Erangs. It was the most prosperous kingdom! It boasted state-of-the-art facilities and impeccable public security. No matter what class you chose, starting in the Erangs Kingdom guaranteed you would perform above average—the exact opposite of Tyrum City, where any choice led to a below-average experience!
Because of this, the players of the Erangs Kingdom were deeply accustomed to peace.
Even when posts warning of danger appeared on the community boards, they would simply shrug it off. Even when emergency alerts popped up, they paid them no mind!
BOOM!
Thus, when a massive pillar of fire suddenly plummeted from the heavens, it was only natural that the players didn't run away, but instead flocked toward it.
"Huh? What's that? A meteor?"
"Whoa! Does that mean we can mine rare materials like Black Iron?!"
"To think I'd witness a free event like this with my own eyes...! I knew living a good life would pay off!"
The crowd buzzed with excitement. As rumors of a fallen meteor spread, players from the surrounding fields began to swarm the area in droves.
—I am... Sadiq...
"Huh?"
At that exact moment, a system notification flashed before the eyes of every single player on the Central Continent.
[The Avatar of Sadiq has set foot on the Central Continent. Filled with hatred for all other denominations, the Avatar of Sadiq will not stop until everything is reduced to ashes.]
Subjugate the Avatar of Sadiq
📍 Location: Central Continent
🎁 Reward: Unknown
Only then did the players who had drawn close realize the true nature of the "meteor."
"W-Wait a second..."
"Run!"
—I am... Sadiq!
FWOOOOOOSH!
A colossal giant made of pure fire rose to his feet, instantly engulfing the surrounding area in a devastating wave of flame.
[Your HP has reached 0. You have died.]
With just that single attack, every single player present on the field was instantly wiped out!
—Rise... my servants!
Sizzle! Crackle!
From the scorched, burning earth, Sadiq's demonic beasts began to manifest, their bodies crackling with intense heat. In less than a minute, a massive army of fire beasts had formed. It was a force easily capable of trampling an entire castle!
—Hehehe, Lord Sadiq! We have been waiting for you!
—Graaa! I want to burn everything! I want to reduce everything to ashes!
—My beasts... Hmm... Why is there no Black Dragon among you... More importantly, where are my faithful priests and holy knights? I do not see them...
—Hehe, Master. The followers of the Sadiq Order were hunted down and wiped out by the other denominations. They have fallen into ruin.
—W-What did you say...! Unforgivable...!
—Graaa, the bastards of the Archisus Church played the biggest role in our downfall!
—Unforgivable...! I was planning to strike the Erangs Kingdom first... but I must teach the Auston Kingdom a lesson before I go...
—What are your orders, Master?
—I will burn down a few of their castles to teach those fools a lesson... For those who dare resist me, only ashes shall remain!
Thud, thud—
The Avatar of Sadiq decided to deliver a few heavy blows to the Auston Kingdom before moving on to Erangs. All because the faith of Archisus had spread there!
And at that very moment, Su Ning was on the verge of making a historic declaration.
The King of the Auston Kingdom has fled, and unification is finally within our grasp!
Although there were still a few guild territories left to conquer, it was only a matter of time. The most crucial obstacle had been the King of the Auston Kingdom himself! Once they dealt with the King, there would be virtually no enemies left to oppose them in the kingdom.
And now, after a grueling, endless siege, the King had finally fled. The sheer, overwhelming numbers of the Guild Alliance, which kept coming no matter how many times they were slain, had proven too much to handle! No matter how elite the Auston Royal Army was, they simply couldn't withstand such a relentless, unending onslaught. The royal forces, already severely depleted from the civil war, had crumbled completely.
Hehe... I will rule this land perfectly. First, to win over the players of the Auston Kingdom and attract others, I'll lower the taxes to the absolute minimum for a while... Excellent, excellent...
It was the beginning of his long-term plan to rule the Auston Kingdom, a plan he had meticulously prepared for a very long time! Now, it was finally time to put that plan into action.