The Art of the Steal

Ugh. Can I take him down right away?

Tae-hyun's Luck stat was astronomically high, but that didn't mean he could just squander it. A boss monster like Karag was the kind of target he should only use this skill on when he was absolutely certain of a kill. Using it this early would drain his Luck far too much. He had only cast it out of sheer necessity to keep Cain alive!

Yet, despite being ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠struck by the curse, Karag paid it no mind.

"Graaaah!"

Realizing his skills were blocked, Karag simply charged. He looked ready to beat Cain to death with basic attacks alone.

Crack, snap!

"?!"

But Cain wasn't just standing by. His entire body was expanding, undergoing a grotesque transformation.

"W-What on earth is that?!" Yohas, standing behind them, shrieked. What was that hideous power?! "Isn't... isn't that the power of the Salavian Order?!"

"You're seeing things! That's a secret skill of the Archisus Church!"

"Since when does the Archisus Church have a skill like that?!"

"Who's the Pope of the Archisus Church here? You or me?"

"W-Well, no, but... I can clearly feel demonic power coming from him...?!"

"It must be because of Karag! He got contaminated while fighting him!"

"S-So quickly?"

"Kim Tae-hyun—! What is this?!" Cain howled in utter disbelief.

Cain had ballooned to a massive size, easily matching Karag's towering height of over two and a half meters!

"Hey, look alive!"

Boom!

While Cain was busy complaining, Karag drove a heavy blow straight into him. Cain was sent flying backward.

"Gah!"

Whoosh!

Karag sensed a spear flying toward him from behind and spun around. Though he stumbled slightly due to the curse, he ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠successfully evaded it. The spear had been thrown by Yohas.

"Demon! Face me! ...Though, strictly speaking, that's not actually a demon..."

"Graaaaaah!"

Of course, such technicalities meant nothing to Karag. The demon blood coursing through his veins was screaming at him to slaughter the angel first.

"Come on... Come on!"

"Roar! Roar!"

Yohas drew his weapon and pointed it at Karag. Karag charged forward, howling like a madman. And at that exact moment, a trap triggered, and the ground gave way beneath them.

Crash! Rumble!

"!!!"

With his skills currently sealed by the curse, Karag fell straight into the pit before he could even react.

"Aaargh! Roar!"

"Music to my ears."

Tae-hyun let out a sigh of relief. For now, he had successfully dropped the beast into the deep pit.

"Everyone! Attack below!"

"W-Wait! Your Holiness! You have to pull me out first!"

"Everyone! Attack below!"

"?!"

Yohas's voice echoed from the bottom of the pit, but Tae-hyun completely ignored him. He had intended to leave Yohas down there from the very beginning. It wasn't because he held a grudge against the Phytos Church or anything...

We just need someone down there to keep Karag from climbing back up!

Normally, Cain would have been stuck with this job, but now they had Yohas.

"Your Holiness! I know you can hear me! Stop pretending you can't!"

"Fire! Fire!"

*Thwip, thwip, thwip!*

The waiting party members sprang into action. Yu Ji-soo stepped forward, leading the Tyrum Rangers. They notched arrows tipped with the new arrowheads Tae-hyun had forged using his celestial blacksmithing skills.

"Fire!"

"Aaargh!"

A scream echoed from below.

"Ouch!"

It sounded suspiciously like Yohas, but Yu Ji-soo pretended not to hear. Watching this, Lee Da-bi was deeply impressed.

She's a fast learner!

*Sadiq's Flame Rune!*

*Whoosh!*

Tae-hyun unleashed every holy skill in his arsenal. For Karag, whose veins were thick with demon blood, there was no attack more devastating. Sadiq's black flames erupted inside the pit, engulfing everything.

"Aaaargh! Your Holiness!"

Oh, wait. If I kill Yohas, will I get EXP for that too?

Seeing Yohas writhe in agony, a sudden thought struck Tae-hyun. If Yohas looked like he was about to die, he should definitely steal the last hit!

"Yong-yong, Heuk-heuk, all-out attack! Pour it on!"

Now that he had dropped the boss into a pit, Tae-hyun realized he didn't actually have that many ranged skills to use. Most of his abilities were melee-based, and his pure holy skills were limited. Fortunately, both Yong-yong and Heuk-heuk were divine beasts, meaning their attacks naturally carried holy attributes.

Should I use Word of Power? But the MP consumption is too high, and I want to save it...

He could cast holy magic instantly using his Word of Power trait, but with so many other skills to manage, he was reluctant to burn through his mana.

Ah, right. I do have ranged skills.

*Hammer Throw! Hammer Smash! Summon Flying Hammer!*

Tae-hyun pulled out the Phytos Church skills he had plundered after destroying their training ground. Compared to his primary skills, they were rather lackluster, but in a situation where every bit of ranged damage counted, he couldn't afford to be picky. However, the one most shocked by these skills wasn't Karag—it was Yohas.

"Y-Y-Your Holiness! That's Lord Phytos's...! *Gasp!* How dare this demon bastard...!"

"Roar! Graaaah!"

These were the other Orc chieftains who, like Karag, had consumed the demon blood and become corrupted! Tae-hyun quickly barked an order to Cain.

"Block them!"

"U-Uh, okay..."

Still struggling to adjust to his transformed body, Cain stared at the approaching chieftains in panic before making a split-second decision. He threw his massive weight forward in a body slam!

*Crash!*

It was simple, but highly effective. One of the charging Orc chieftains was sent flying.

This is actually better than I thought?

Cain had initially grumbled about being forced into such a grotesque form, but the raw power was undeniable. Tae-hyun immediately leaped onto the fallen Orc chieftain, unleashing a devastating flurry of attacks.

*Archisus Swordsmanship!*

"At the end of the day, a man's gotta earn an honest living through hard work."

"Ain't that the truth! Hahaha!"

The Orc Ahjussis laughed heartily. Behind them lay a mountain of items they had earned through their "hard work." Items they had rightfully plundered through highway robbery!

A formal protest had even arrived from the Guild Alliance.

"By the way, I heard Tae-hyun is here in Uruk. What's he doing here?"

"Who knows?"

"Maybe he missed the abnormal cooking?"

"Now that's just nonsense."

The uncle who brought up the abnormal cooking was promptly scolded by everyone else and pouted.

It was then that one of the Orc Ahjussis, who had just received a whisper, turned pale.

"T-T-Tae-hyun..."

"?"

"Tae-hyun is hunting Karag right now..."

"What?!"

"That... that... that little brat...!"

Kim Tae-san roared in shock. He couldn't believe it. Was his son really about to eat-and-run his Karag raid?!

"That's the last of them!"

Having dealt with the remaining Orc chieftains, Cain and Tae-hyun turned their attention back to the pit. Only Karag remained.

Karag and Yohas were locked in a literal bloodbath at the bottom of the hole. Despite being bombarded with traps, skills, and curses, Karag proved to be an exceptionally formidable warrior as he clashed with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Yohas.

Come to think of it, Yohas probably couldn't fight at full strength because of Sadiq's Flame.

As an angel, Yohas had access to a wide array of powerful skills, but fighting in such a cramped, fiery pit severely limited his options. Consequently, he was forced into a messy, chaotic brawl with a skill-sealed Karag.

"Yohas, are you alright?"

"I am fine!"

"Are you really okay? For real? Tell me if you're about to die!"

Tae-hyun tactfully omitted the second half of his thought: So I can steal ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the kill and take the EXP!

"No, I can hold on. You may save your healing skills, Your Holiness!" Yohas, completely misinterpreting his concern, replied gratefully.

"Roar! Graaaah!"

Time to wrap this up.

Yohas was performing far better than Tae-hyun had anticipated. Then again, he was an angel who had descended specifically to hunt demons...

To be honest, Tae-hyun had half-expected Yohas to die down in that pit. But thanks to him, the hunt had become infinitely easier. The moment Karag fell into the trap with his skills sealed alongside Yohas, his defeat had been set in stone.

"Da-bi, if you please."

"On it."

*Curse of Melted Gold!*

This was a class skill that completely immobilized a target by continuously consuming gold. In truth, her class was actually quite powerful. It was just that Lee Da-bi rarely used its skills because almost all of them required spending actual gold. Casting the Curse of Melted Gold this time was a massive sacrifice for her!

Don't look at the gold balance, don't look at the gold balance...

*Thud.*

Meanwhile, Tae-hyun leaped down into the pit.

Standing in the middle of a raging inferno didn't bother Tae-hyun in the slightest, all thanks to his Sadiq's Authority skill.

"Y-Your Holiness... That power doesn't seem to belong to Archisus?"

"I told you, this is Archisus too! Why do you keep questioning me?!"

"Now, let's finish this!"

Seeing that Karag was on his last legs, Tae-hyun drew his Dae-man-bul-gang-geom and lunged forward.

*Archisus Swordsmanship! Critical Explosion!*

"Graaaah!"

With his feet completely bound, Karag's ability to evade was severely limited. Instead of trying to dodge, the boss opted to strike back at Tae-hyun.

"Hmph."

The tables had completely turned! No matter how high Karag's raw stats were, as long as he was rooted to the spot, Tae-hyun could easily dodge his attacks. Even passive skills that dealt damage on contact only mattered if the enemy could actually land a hit.

*Thud, thwack, bam!*

The relentless exchange of blows continued. Gradually, Karag's attack speed slowed, and his stance shifted from offensive to defensive. In contrast, Tae-hyun's strikes grew sharper and more devastating.

Archisus Swordsmanship, which applied bonus effects upon striking weak points, combined with Critical Explosion, which detonated with every accumulated critical stack! As the two high-burst skills synchronized, Karag's HP began to plummet toward zero.

"Ugh... Graaa..."

"Farewell!"

*Squelch!*

*Blade Detonation!*

*Shatter!*

The Dae-man-bul-gang-geom embedded itself deep into the boss before shattering into a million shards, exploding outward in a violent storm of shrapnel.

"Aaaargh! Your Holiness!"

"Ah. Sorry about that."

Yohas's scream echoed through the dust, but he appeared to be relatively unharmed. Tae-hyun smacked his lips in disappointment. Just like how the grass always seemed greener on the other side, he couldn't help but feel a lingering regret that he hadn't managed to secure Yohas's kill.

Fine, fine. I get it.

It was a system message that would have made Kim Tae-san sigh with immense relief had he seen it.