Let Them Fight

Tae-hyun momentarily thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. No, in truth, he desperately wished they were. Dealing with Dominic's army was already enough of a headache, so why on earth was Sadiq's Avatar here as well? Furthermore, while he was confident he could somehow repel Dominic's army through ambushes, assassinations, and trickery, he honestly had no confidence when it came to Sadiq's Avatar. Could he even defeat it right now? ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠It was a boss monster whose level wouldn't be surprising even if it exceeded 600 or 700! At a time when top-tier rankers were hovering around the early-to-mid 200s and other rankers were just barely hitting level 200, he couldn't even begin to imagine the scale of casualties it would take to bring it down.

"M-Master. What should we do?"

Tae-hyun made his decision in a single second. "For now, let's avoid eye contact and slip away."

"Understood!"

Flash!

A sphere made of flame rose into the dark sky. It possessed a majestic presence, like an artificial sun! The problem was that this artificial sun had exposed Tae-hyun's location as well.

"What is that?!"

"Th-That guy..."

"That's Count Kim Tae-hyun!"

The members of the Salavian Church, recognizing Tae-hyun's face, quickly reported to Dominic. Dominic's face contorted like a demon's.

"You bastard! How dare you look down on me from above...!"

"Tsk."

On the other hand, cheers erupted from atop the castle walls.

"Waaaaah! It's Lord Tae-hyun! It's Lord Tae-hyun!"

"He was trying to launch a surprise attack in secret! As expected of Lord Tae-hyun! So fair, square, and cool!"

Hearing the cheers beside him, a spy from the Suning Guild tilted his head in confusion. Was that praise even appropriate for the current situation?

"What are ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠you doing? Why aren't you cheering?!"

"Ah, sorry! Long live Kim Tae-hyun! Fight on, fair and square!"

The spy hurriedly screamed. Surely this scene won't be broadcasted back to the guild, right?

"Count Kim Tae-hyun. How dare you launch a surprise attack like a filthy rat!"

"Look who's talking—the bastard who assassinated His Majesty the King with a sneak attack."

"W-What nonsense... His late Majesty was..."

"Dominic is the one who stealthily ambushed and murdered the late King! You can tell just by looking at Dominic's father! Who is Dominic's father? None other than that traitor—"

"Shut your mouth!"

Tae-hyun was expertly poking at every single sore spot! Dominic's eyes turned bloodshot with rage.

"I will not let you die easily. I will tear you limb from limb and make your death as agonizing as possible!"

Having won the verbal dispute, Tae-hyun completely ignored Dominic's curses. His target was the Royal Army led by Dominic, which had just been shaken!

"Behold! I have the Sword Bestowed by the King of Atali and the Horn of the Attali Royal Palace right here!"

These were the reward items he had received from the King long ago after completing the quest to subjugate the Sadiq Church!

"That guy over there has no sword, no horn, and absolutely zero items related to the Atali Royal Family! Do you even have a single thing?!"

"You dog..."

"If you have one, bring it out! Ah, you can't! Do you even have the crown?!"

Dominic seethed with rage. The crown was currently being kept inside the royal palace for the ritual. To think he would target that specific detail!

"Behold! Here is the Sword Bestowed by the King of Atali! Everyone, do not listen to that traitor, that rebel, and come to this side instead!"

"In the name of the King!"

As Tae-hyun raised the sword and activated the skill, a dazzling light burst forth.

Saving the sword's skill all this time had truly paid off. The moment he used the skill, he could visibly see the Royal Army wavering.

"Shoot him!"

"..."

"What are you doing?! I said shoot him!"

When the Royal Army refused to obey, Dominic barked orders at the cultists instead. *Screeech! Screeech!* The demonic beasts raised their heads and began spitting attacks toward Tae-hyun.

"Ugh. What is that?"

"It's poison! Poison!"

"Ah. Fly closer, Yong-yong."

-?!

Yong-yong had flown far away to escape the attacks, but Tae-hyun was stopping him! Green globs were flying through the air. If he just let them hit him, Tae-hyun's absurd Luck stat would probably trigger an evasion...

"Hup!"

"...Master. Have you lost your mind?"

Yong-yong was utterly flabbergasted. Tae-hyun snatched a flying green glob out of the air with his hand and shoved it right into his mouth!

'Ugh. Tastes terrible.'

If the Orc Ahjussis had witnessed this, they would have smiled warmly and thought, 'That kid Tae-hyun really knows his stuff!'

He was certainly putting on a spectacular acrobatic show in midair, but the actual result was incredibly bizarre. Even the beasts of the Salavian Church stared at Tae-hyun with bewildered eyes.

'What on earth is that guy doing?'

Once his HP dipped below 10%, Tae-hyun stopped eating the poison. Although his various skills mitigated the poison damage, his HP was bound to run out if he kept eating it.

"Alright. That's enough eating... Here's a return gift!"

"Poison Equip, Spread Deadly Poison!"

Globs of poison materialized in front of Tae-hyun, dispersing into a fine mist that began raining down below.

"Blow downward!"

"Argh!"

"Cough!"

The cultists below were poisoned, and the weaker vampire warriors collapsed one by one. Tae-hyun didn't stop there. He began dropping bombs in rapid succession! *Boom! Bam! Kaboom!*

*Screeech!*

"Aaaargh!"

Tae-hyun was single-handedly wreaking absolute havoc on the cult! Riding atop Yong-yong, he maintained a razor-thin distance, raining down wide-area damage with all sorts of skills. The mechanical engineering blacksmiths on the castle walls shed tears of joy and applauded.

"Sob... Loyalty! Loyalty! Loyalty!"

"Flying beasts, return immediately and capture that bastard first!!"

The Salavian Archbishop finally ordered the beasts attacking the walls to fall back. He realized they couldn't capture Tae-hyun if they left him unchecked. And at that exact moment, a message window popped up.

It was a shocking entrance, but everyone had temporarily forgotten about Sadiq's Avatar because of Tae-hyun's wild rampage! The very first words uttered by Sadiq's Avatar upon waking from its rest ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠were:

"Arkh... isus..."

"..."

Tae-hyun smacked his lips. 'We're doomed.'

"Found it. Sadiq's Avatar definitely entered this mountain."

"But Party Leader, even if we find Sadiq's Avatar, it's not like we can defeat it."

Explorer players from the Guild Alliance were thoroughly searching the border region to locate Sadiq's Avatar. With the border area currently being turned into a wasteland, the only solution was to eliminate Sadiq's Avatar!

"Don't worry. We aren't the ones who are going to fight it anyway. Once we find its location, the rankers will handle it. Besides, according to the data we gathered within the guild, an avatar that descends to the continent cannot be complete. That might be why Sadiq's Avatar vanished after going on a rampage."

"Is it resting because it used up too much power?"

"Exactly! That's when we strike and take it down. Alright, this is the place..."

Whoosh!

The explorer party climbed over the cliff. This was the exact spot where Sadiq's Avatar was rumored to be!

"...??"

"...???"

But there was nothing there. Only a small, crackling remnant of Sadiq's Flame remained, burning quietly.

"Wh-Where did it go?"

"Arkh... isus..."

"The territory of Archisus isn't here, it's in the Auston Kingdom."

The Guild Alliance spy was utterly dumbfounded. To think he would try to lie even in this situation! At this point, it's almost admirable!

"Arkh... isus..."

Of course, Sadiq's Avatar was not fooled. To be precise, it wasn't even listening to Tae-hyun.

"I feel... the energy... of Archisus..."

Thud, thud—

With every step Sadiq's Avatar took, massive sparks flew, and waves of fire erupted in the surroundings. *Whoosh!* In the wake of that terrifying heat, the vampire warriors died in droves.

'It'll be dangerous if that bastard joins hands with the Salavian Church.'

Tae-hyun's mind raced. Should I abandon the territory? After how much I've invested into it! Normally, one might hesitate with such thoughts, but that wasn't important right now. When it was time to let go, one had to be able to abandon anything!

Fortunately, however, that worst-case scenario did not happen. While the enemy of my enemy is my friend, that only holds true if the circumstances align. The Salavian Church and the Sadiq Church weren't exactly on friendly terms either.

"Where did this insolent bastard suddenly pop out from to look down on me!"

Furious, Dominic drew a spear. He then hurled it straight at Sadiq's Avatar.

"Salavian Spear of Decay!"

*Swish!* The spear flew like an arrow and pierced Sadiq's Avatar. However, it failed to deal any significant damage.

"What is... this stench... Salavian..."

"Where do you think a washed-up has-been who lost his entire church is acting up! Get lost! This is the land of the Salavian Church!"

At Dominic's words, the sound of someone collapsing with a groan of *"Urgh!"* echoed from atop the castle walls. It was Burford.

Sadiq's Avatar answered with a fist instead of words. *Whoosh— Kaboom!*

Centering on where the fist swung, an earthquake erupted along with soaring flames, completely sweeping the ground.

"Aaaaaargh!"

"Screeech!"

The gathered vampire army took a massive blow. Seeing this, Tae-hyun had an intuition. Ah, this is going to work out beautifully!

"Yong-yong. Let's go to the top of the castle walls! We can just watch the show!"

He had half-suspected it, but to think they would actually fight each other! 'I guess his grudge against Archisus is nothing special. To think they'd clash with each other when they should be joining forces to fight me!'

*Boom! Bam! Crash!*

Torrential lava swept away thousands of vampire warriors. It was a majestic sight, as if straight out of a myth! In front of the Archisus territory, the colossal powers of two cults clashed.

"We will take down that washed-up has-been first. Warriors of the Salavian Church! Rise up!"

The high-ranking cult NPCs and warriors who had been on standby until now began to move. An encirclement quickly formed, spreading in all directions! The low-to-mid-grade vampires who had been swarming the castle walls also rushed over, aiming for the feet of Sadiq's Avatar. Their plan was to crawl up and kill it!

However, Sadiq's Avatar was by no means an easy opponent. *Whoosh! Screeech!* The low-to-mid-grade vampires burned to death in groups just by coming into contact with Sadiq's Avatar. Furthermore, unlike before, the summoned low-to-mid-grade vampires could not resurrect. Because they were completely incinerated by the divine flames, resurrection was impossible!

"Way to go, Sadiq!" Tae-hyun clapped his hands and cheered them on.