The Cost of Frugality
The amount of Orihalcon used in the arrow is insufficient.
A penalty is applied to the damage.
“……”
Carbanog looks at you with utter disdain, wondering how you could possibly be so stingy with your crafting materials.
It's not that I was trying to be cheap, it's just that that was all the materials I had!
“Graaaaaagh! Argh! Graaaaaagh!”
Title Effect Activated: [Royalty Slayer]
Massive bonus damage is dealt to Dominic!
The Royalty Slayer title, obtained by defeating Dominic's father, Antonio! It was a title that granted massive bonus damage when fighting those of royal blood. When he first acquired it, he had thought, Will I ever even use this? But in a situation like this, he couldn't be more grateful for it.
Dominic's HP has fallen below 10%!
The target has sustained a fatal wound and is in extreme agony!
Oh. The effect is still plenty good enough.
Even though he had made it small due to a lack of materials, it had still wiped out ninety percent of a boss monster's health! Of course, the Royalty Slayer title buff had played a huge part, but... if it had been just a little bit larger, he might have truly finished him off in a single blow.
Dominic attempted to heal himself, but Tae-hyun immediately moved to disrupt him.
You have cast [Archisus's Authority: Curse] on Dominic.
Your Luck stat will be continuously consumed until the curse is lifted.
It could only be cast on a single target, and it continuously drained his Luck stat from the moment of activation. However, putting aside those two drawbacks, Archisus's Authority: Curse was easily one of the strongest curses in the entire game. The moment it landed, it unleashed a wave of misfortune so severe it made the victim want to quit the game entirely. The only counterplay was to avoid or block it before it hit.
Backlash damage has been applied to the caster.
Dominic has lost his balance and tripped due to extreme misfortune.
*Boom! Crash!*
When the skill failed, backlash damage was dealt to Dominic instead.
“Aaargh!”
Having completely lost his mind, Dominic rolled on the ground in agony. Of course, even rolling on the ground was a hazard under this curse.
*Thud!*
“Archisus! I'll kill you! Archisus! I'll kill you!”
Hmm. Even after losing his mind, he remembers that one name perfectly.
Tae-hyun calmly assessed Dominic's condition. At this rate, the fight was practically over. Normally, Tae-hyun's party might have been pushed back, but thanks to the members of the Salavian Order blowing themselves up one by one, the job had become several times easier. The Salavian Archbishop had wiped out all the high-ranking cultists with his own self-destruction, and Dominic had gone completely mad after recklessly absorbing the incomplete power of Salabian.
Of course, even that incomplete power was incredibly threatening and formidable... but to a player like Tae-hyun, who possessed all sorts of hidden trump cards, a mindless beast was nothing more than easy prey.
After taking the arrow he had been saving, Dominic's massive HP pool had plummeted below ten percent, and his various skills were completely locked down by the curse. On top of that, there were no allies nearby to help him. Compared to the other boss raids Tae-hyun had done, this was easily on the simpler side. He was as good as dead!
Wait. Those two are still alive.
Tae-hyun glanced to the side. Now that the boss monster was practically dealt with, another thought crossed his mind. The two counts were still alive and kicking!
I should have gotten rid of them earlier...
He should have given them a subtle nudge from behind during the magical overload! Tae-hyun reproached himself. He had been so focused on protecting the rest of his party that he had failed to finish off the counts.
“Count Kim Tae-hyun! That monster looks like it's on its last legs! Let us finish it off at once!” Count Bucard and Count Fibre shouted, their spirits soaring.
Tae-hyun smacked his lips and nodded.
“That monster won't be able to use its power properly. You should be the ones to deliver the final blow, my Lords! Surely, taking the head of that traitorous rebel would bring the greatest possible honor, would it not?”
“!”
“!!!”
Highest-grade Eloquence Skill
The two counts have been completely blinded by greed and ambition!
“I... I will be the one to kill him!”
“Out of my way, Count Bucard! How dare a pathetic swordsman like you try to steal my glory!”
As the two counts charged forward, their knights cried out in panic.
“It's dangerous, my Lord! Please leave this to us!”
“How dare you!” Tae-hyun interjected. “How dare you interfere with the honor their Lordships are trying to claim! Are you harboring foolish ambitions of your own? Are you trying to steal the glory that rightfully belongs to the counts?!”
“?!”
At Tae-hyun's words, the two counts glared at their own knights with bloodshot eyes. The knights waved their hands in sheer terror.
“No, of course not!”
“Then just stand back and watch!”
With those words, Tae-hyun leaned in and whispered to Yu Ji-soo.
“Shoot them.”
“Yes!”
“No, not Dominic. Those nobles over there.”
“What?”
“Come on. You know what I mean.”
“I-I really don't...”
Yu Ji-soo was flustered, but she prepared to draw her bow anyway. She didn't understand why, but if Tae-hyun told her to do it, she would!
“Oh, Lady Yu Ji-soo. Are we shooting?”
“Are we firing?”
Seeing Yu Ji-soo raise her bow, the Tyrum Hunters behind her excitedly aimed their own weapons.
“We're not shooting Dominic, we're—”
*Thwip-thwip-thwip-thwip!*
Before Yu Ji-soo could even finish her sentence, the hunters released their bowstrings!
Ah. Those stubborn contrarians...
Tae-hyun let out a deep sigh. Come to think of it, the Tyrum Hunters had always been terrible at listening to instructions.
“I-I'm so sorry...”
“No, it's fine. How could this be your fault? It's definitely their fault.”
When Yu Ji-soo apologized with a tearful face, Tae-hyun comforted her. The Tyrum Hunters were just bizarre; it wasn't her fault at all.
*Thud-thud-thud-thud!*
A series of satisfying impacts echoed.
“Graaaaaagh!”
Each and every arrow was already targeting a vital spot, and with Archisus's Curse active, all kinds of status ailments were inflicted upon him. Dominic shrieked and thrashed wildly on the ground.
As he rolled around, his massive hands suddenly lashed out and grabbed the two counts who had been creeping closer.
*Snatch!*
“!”
“!!!”
“My Lord!”
“Oh, heavens, my Lord!”
They were both shouting "my Lord," but the emotions behind their cries were vastly different. It was a cry that practically omitted the words, *Thank you for making our lives so much easier.*
The knights panicked and prepared to charge forward.
“We will save you!”
“Step aside! I shall rescue them!” Tae-hyun declared.
“Oh! Count Kim Tae-hyun! Thank you so much!”
Seeing the hero of the continent and the kingdom step forward, the knights were overjoyed and deeply grateful. Of course, Tae-hyun's definition of "rescuing" them was slightly different.
I'll rescue you by sending you to the grave!
*Tap-tap-tap—*
Dominic, who was thrashing about mindlessly, couldn't land a single hit on Tae-hyun. Only the incompetent counts would fall for such clumsy attacks.
Closing the distance, Tae-hyun prepared to sever Dominic's arms to save the counts... or not.
“Sadique's Flame Rune!”
*Swoosh-swoosh-swoosh!*
He engraved the Sadique's Flame Rune skill onto Dominic's frantically moving back! It was a feat bordering on acrobatics, but it was child's play for Tae-hyun.
[Sadique's Flame Rune]
Until the engraved rune fades, Sadique's Flame will erupt eternally from the rune!
He had already confirmed during the territory siege that the Salavian Order and the Sadiq Order had the absolute worst compatibility. He could only pull this off because Dominic had lost his mind, but...!
Salabian's regeneration has been completely suppressed.
“Graaaaaagh! Argh!” Dominic shrieked.
“Aaaaargh! Count Kim Tae-hyun! We're still here!”
The two counts also screamed in agony. It was burning hot!
“Ah! Your Lordships!”
“Yes! Count Kim Tae-hyun! Save us!”
“I cannot! Dominic is far too strong!”
“Cut his arms! Cut this bastard's arms off!”
“They are too thick and hard! I cannot cut through them!”
“Are you out of your mind?! Call the knights! Call the knights!”
Burning alive while hearing nothing but excuses, the counts' anger flared. To think the hero of the kingdom was such an incompetent fool!
“Did you just call me out of my mind? Wow. My feelings are hurt.”
“N-No... that's not what I meant... Hot! It's hot! Save us! Count Kim Tae-hyun!”
“Do you truly want me to save you?”
“Yes!”
“By any means necessary?”
“Yes!”
“Understood!”
Tae-hyun pulled a bomb from his breast pocket. Seeing this, the counts' faces lit up.
“Oh! Yes! With that, you can blow his body to pieces!”
“Wait. If you detonate that bomb, will we be safe?”
“Count... Count Kim Tae-hyun is said to be a master of explosives, surely he can... Aaaargh! Give us some warning before you throw it!”
*Kaboom!*
Dominic has withstood the explosive attack with a passive skill.
Dominic has been STUNNED!
A passive skill! What a persistent bastard.
It seemed passive skills that were already active continued to function even under the curse. Honestly, Dominic wasn't the issue. Although he had survived this attack, there were plenty of ways to finish him off.
The real problem was the two counts!
“I-I thought I was going to die!”
“As expected of Count Kim Tae-hyun! He calculated everything perfectly! Now, quickly, rescue us!”
Thanks to Dominic shielding them, the two had taken zero explosive damage! Tae-hyun felt a sudden wave of anxiety that he might actually fail to kill them. With the knights watching from behind, there was no telling when they might rush in to help. If he didn't finish those two off before Dominic died, it would become virtually impossible to kill them afterward! Making up his mind, Tae-hyun placed his hand on the stunned Dominic.
[Living Bomb]
Advanced Engineering skill has increased significantly!
His Advanced Engineering skill had finally reached level 9. Just one more level, and he would reach Highest-grade Mechanical Engineering! Considering how many bombs Tae-hyun had detonated up to this point, this progress was actually on the slower side. Engineering was a notoriously slow skill to level up.
“Count Kim Tae-hyun, what are you doing...?”
“Shh. Stay still.”
He had to turn Dominic into a bomb and get out of there before the stun wore off!
The moment Tae-hyun finished casting, Dominic broke free from the stun and thrashed in desperation. He didn't know what it was, but he was terrified of the skill Tae-hyun had just used.
“Graaaaaagh!”
Normally, he would have teleported a vast distance, but due to the skill failure, he was teleported a random short distance instead! Dominic was flung from the palace courtyard all the way to the inner castle gates. It was a distance that would take barely ten seconds to cover if one ran! It was practically meaningless.
No, wait. This is actually better. The knights won't be able to see clearly from here!
Right now!
“Detonate!”
• Dominic, the cursed heir of Salabian and traitor to the Atali Royal Family, has entered eternal rest.
• Your Reputation has increased significantly!
• Your Holy stat has increased significantly!
• Count Bucard and Count Fibre have died.
• Your Infamy has increased significantly!
• You have acquired the title: [Noble Slayer]
A whopping five levels in one go! To anyone else, it might not have seemed like a big deal, but to Tae-hyun, it was monumental. It was a level-up made possible only because Dominic had personally absorbed the Salavian power and run amok, and because the two counts had selflessly sacrificed themselves to assist him!
Thank you, everyone!
Carbanog stares at you as if looking at a complete madman.
◈ [Acquired various items]
◈ [Authority of the Salavian Order]
[The Sovereign of Atali]
📍 Description: Due to Dominic's massacre, the royal bloodline of King Damiano II has been completely severed. Any legitimate noble of the Atali Kingdom who defeats the rebel Dominic may claim the throne.
🎁 Reward: Sovereign of the Atali Kingdom.
• You can now proceed with the [Atali Kingdom Coronation] quest.
⚠️ [WARNING]: Declaring yourself King of the Atali Kingdom may cause backlash from other nobles of the kingdom, depending on your Affinity, Reputation, and Infamy.
Looking back, he really wondered how on earth he had managed to clear this quest. Even Tae-hyun himself hadn't expected to succeed...