Two Geniuses of Backstabbing

Victory! It was a hard-won victory.

This wasn't some cheap win achieved by raiding the outskirts of the Ostern Kingdom where the Guild Alliance was absent. This was a glorious triumph won by clashing head-on with their main force! It was a shame they couldn't capture all of the Guild Alliance's rankers, but a victory was a victory.

'Capturing rankers was a stretch from the very beginning anyway.'

Rankers were, by nature, extremely thorough when it came to self-preservation. Being part of the Guild Alliance didn't change that. They would step up and fight when things were in their favor, but the moment the tide turned, they were the first to tuck tail and run! To actually capture a ranker, you had to back them into an absolute corner. Only then would they stand and fight instead of fleeing.

Or, like Tae-hyun, you had to kill them before they even had a chance to run...

Flash! Kim Tae-san raised his arm. Even if the rankers had slipped away, a victory was still a victory.

"We won!!"

Flash! Along with massive rewards, Kim Tae-san changed classes to his Legendary Class, Orc Sovereign.

Along with Tae-hyun, who was currently raiding a dragon, he was the player receiving the most attention in this event! Father and son were making waves across the server, spreading their reputation and infamy hand in hand.

"Chweek! Chweek! Chweek! Chweek! Chweek!"

"Chweeeek! Chweek!"

The war cries of the Orcs filled the plains! The players were utterly overwhelmed by the sheer volume of the massive Orc NPC army's roars. It was a heart-pounding spectacle just to look at!

"Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san!"

"Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san!"

Usually, I just thought of him as some middle-aged guy who didn't act his age, but seeing him like this, he looks like an angel... No, he's actually incredibly cool!

"Mr. Kim Tae-san! Can we pursue them?"

"What?"

Kim Tae-san was dumbfounded. Pursue them?

'How can they even say that after looking at this battlefield?'

Although they had won, Tae-san's side had suffered devastating losses. Even with his Tactics skill, the surprise attacks, and surrounding the enemy from both front and back, an astronomical number of his Orcs had been wiped out. Honestly, if Lee Se-yeon hadn't joined the fray, things could have gone south very quickly!

The Guild Alliance bastards were retreating, but they still had a decent amount of forces left. Their rankers were still alive and kicking, too. A cornered rat would bite a cat; pursuing them recklessly ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠would only lead to a bloodbath!

-Guild Leader, can we chase them?

-No. It's too dangerous.

Lee Se-yeon seemed to realize this as well, as she focused entirely on stripping the fallen NPCs and players on the battlefield of their loot rather than giving chase.

"No."

"Booo!"

"Who does he think he is?!"

"??"

"Guild Leader. Those aren't our guild members, they're outsiders."

"Ah..."

They were players who had been spectating from the sidelines and only jumped in once they saw Kim Tae-san's guild gaining the upper hand! Since the Ostern Kingdom was currently crawling with players who had come to play bandit (mostly thanks to Tae-hyun's promotion), it wasn't surprising that these opportunists had slipped into the battle.

"Then do whatever you want!" Kim Tae-san roared heartily. Well, they aren't my guild members anyway, so who cares if they die chasing them!

"As expected of Kim Tae-san! Kim Tae-san!"

"Woooah!"

Having received permission, the excited players rushed forward ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a massive swarm.

"Chweek. Chief. We want to chase them too."

"No, you idiots," Kim Tae-san cut them off flatly. He had won, but looking at the casualties made him sigh. 'All those guys I spent so much effort raising got wiped out...'

No matter how fast Orcs reproduced, recovering from a massacre of this scale would take a long time. Honestly, if it weren't for his Legendary Class quest, he would have never fought this battle! Still, he was glad they won. No matter how dangerous or costly it was, winning was all that mattered! As long as you won, you could always clean up the mess afterward.

'I'll gather the loot, distribute the EXP to promote the elite warriors to my personal guard... raid a few more untouched spots on the outskirts, and then head back to Uruk.'

Kim Tae-san quickly mapped out his future plans. He had won, but he wouldn't let greed get the better of him! Too many Orcs had died for him to be greedy. Rather than engaging in another head-on clash, it was far better to hit a few more untouched areas and retreat while the Guild Alliance was still reeling from the shock of this defeat.

'The rest of them can handle themselves. Like Tae-hyun.'

By the way, a dragon raid was currently underway just beyond the plains. How was that going?

"-What is it you want, Avatar of Archisus!"

"..."

Hakkarias and Tae-hyun stood in a tense standoff. Hakkarias had absolutely no way to deal with Tae-hyun, who had crawled inside his stomach! And Tae-hyun was finding it incredibly difficult to deal any significant damage to Hakkarias!

'The only way... is the Living Bomb.'

No matter how broken Tae-hyun's Luck stat, evasion rate, and burst damage—which ranked among the highest of all players—were, there was still a limit. The level gap between Hakkarias and Tae-hyun was simply too massive. Although Tae-hyun had taken down all kinds of high-level boss monsters up until now, Hakkarias was a boss monster that existed on an entirely different plane of existence!

There was only one way to put an end to Hakkarias once and for all. Living Bomb! Turning Hakkarias himself into a bomb.

A trump card skill that completely ignored the level difference! It wasn't that Tae-hyun didn't know how to use the skill. He had been keeping it in mind from the very beginning.

'But there are too many problems...!'

It was an incredibly powerful skill that bypassed level restrictions, but he couldn't just use it willy-nilly. First of all, Hakkarias had to stay absolutely still. Would Hakkarias, who was currently layered in dozens of magical barriers, really just stand there quietly while Tae-hyun cast such a skill?

And second, there was the explosion. What would happen if he detonated Hakkarias? Setting aside the fact that he would completely vaporize all kinds of precious loot, starting with the Dragon Heart and Dragon Scales... Above all else, this entire region would be completely obliterated.

'Honestly, even I'm terrified of how massive the blast radius will be.'

A Hakkarias-sized bomb was terrifying even to Tae-hyun! After all, his party members were still nearby. Would they even be able to survive it?

'If I cast Archisus's Blessing... Ugh, the explosion will definitely last for over twenty seconds... But if I combine it with Demer's Time Reversal, maybe we can pull it off.'

Tae-hyun sent a whisper to Lee Da-bi. It was too difficult of a decision to make on his own.

-Da-bi. The situation is like this...

-Let's blow him up!

-Are... are you sure?

-If there was any other way, you would have used it already, wouldn't you, Tae-hyun?

Tae-hyun felt a sudden swell of emotion. He was deeply touched. If I had asked Cain, he definitely would have screamed, "Hey! No way!"

-If we successfully raid Hakkarias, we can easily afford to take a death penalty.

-True...

The EXP they would gain from the raid would be more than enough to make up for any death penalty.

-And who knows, we might not even die.

-Yeah... but the real problem is how to cast it on Hakkarias. We have to make him stop moving somehow.

-I can bind him, but...

-...!

One of Lee Da-bi's most powerful skills, Curse of Melted Gold! It was a skill that completely immobilized both her and the target the moment it connected. It was guaranteed to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠work regardless of the level difference!

-But Hakkarias has cast so many spells that I can't target him with a curse.

Spells that prevented curse targeting, spells that reflected curses, spells that weakened curses, spells that redirected curses back to the caster... In short, Hakkarias was absolutely plastered in every single defensive spell imaginable!

-I'll take care of those. Can you cast it then?

-...I'll try!

There was a reason why Lee Da-bi had hesitated for a moment. Curse of Melted Gold consumed gold proportional to the level difference between her and the target! If she used it on Hakkarias... she might go completely bankrupt.

But Lee Da-bi steeled her resolve. Even if bankruptcy—no, even if the Minus Curse strikes me, I'm going to cast it!

"-Fine, Hakkarias. I'll come out now, so dispel the magic barriers around you!"

"-What? Avatar of Archisus. How do you expect me to believe that?" Hakkarias scoffed in disgust. What absolute nonsense...

"-Just as you don't trust me, I don't trust you either. How do I know you won't blast me with magic the moment I step outside?"

Flinch! Hakkarias felt a pang of guilt. In truth, he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been planning to abandon all defense and absolutely obliterate Tae-hyun the instant he emerged.

"-I swear on the honor of Archisus! You must swear on your honor as well. Swear that you will not attack me when I come out!"

"-...Fine! I shall do so. I swear on my honor!"

'It's fine. I'm not going to keep it either.'

A clash between two prideful, honorless piec—no, geniuses!

"-Dispel your magic, Hakkarias!"

"-Archisus. You had better keep your honor as well!"

Under normal circumstances, he would have never fallen for it. Normally, he would have harbored some suspicion, and if Hakkarias had been a Gold Dragon, he definitely wouldn't have fallen for it. After all, Gold Dragons, who had once been scammed by Archisus as an entire race, would never fall for such words!

But Hakkarias was a Black Dragon. He had only ever mocked the Gold Dragons who got scammed by Archisus, thinking, 'Good grief, how can you call yourself a dragon and still get tricked by Archisus?' He had never personally experienced just how wicked of a god Archisus truly was. His sheer arrogance made him believe that no matter how clever Archisus was, the god could never outsmart him! Combined with his desperation from experiencing this agonizing pain for the first time in his life!

Believing that Tae-hyun would never be able to trick him, Hakkarias dispelled his magic.

At that exact moment, Tae-hyun barked an order.

"-Demons! Split in half—one half bind Hakkarias, and the other half protect my companions!"

"-Curse of Melted Gold!"

The most terrifying state of her class! A curse where even if you looted gold, it would only go toward paying off your debt and could never actually be kept!

Yet, Lee Da-bi bound Hakkarias tightly. She would not let him go! She never thought she would ever say something like this, but...

'Sometimes in this world, there are things more important than money!'

"-Living Bomb!"

Distracted by the sudden ambush of the demons and Lee Da-bi, Hakkarias only realized too late that Tae-hyun was casting Living Bomb.

"-Avatar of Archisus! Such petty tricks... How dare you trick me first?!"

"-To think you would backstab me before I could backstab you...!"

Hakkarias was far more aggrieved by the fact that he had been beaten to the backstab than the fact that he had been tricked in the first place! As a Black Dragon who held the title of 'Manipulator of Plots and Schemes,' it was only natural for him to feel this way.

"-I warned you! You cannot kill me!"

"-Do you honestly think binding me with such foolish tricks will accomplish anything?"

Hakkarias spoke defiantly while remaining on high alert. Is he aiming for the weakness under my neck? I've already prepared for that!

'Hmph! No matter how much of a weakness it is, there's no way he can deal enough damage to kill me in such a short amount of time.'

Hakkarias was a meticulous dragon. He always prepared for every single contingency. Even though he had dispelled all his magic, he had laid a trap at his greatest weakness under his neck. The moment anyone approached his neck, every single trap he had planted would trigger simultaneously!

'I don't know what kind of curse this is, but it only binds my movements. The instant it wears off, I will turn this entire place into a living hell...!'

But Hakkarias knew far too little about Tae-hyun. Tae-hyun wasn't even aiming for that weakness to begin with. Tae-hyun didn't just possess divine Authorities. He also had Mechanical Engineering!

There were so many message windows popping up that he couldn't check them all, but he could clearly see that his Mechanical Engineering skill had skyrocketed.

Highest-grade Mechanical Engineering Level 5!

Ever since he reached the Highest-grade tier, it was normal for his skill proficiency to crawl up by a mere 0.1% no matter what he did, but this single action had boosted his skill level by three whole levels at once.

'If I turn just two more dragons into bombs, I can master Mechanical Engineering!'

Tae-hyun thought to himself with that utterly absurd logic as he barked an order to everyone.

"-Everyone, get out of here as fast as possible!"

And then, he added one final command.

"-Demons, stay behind!"