A Despicable Alliance

"But... it's Kim Tae-hyun!"

A statement with one hundred percent persuasiveness! Countless players around the world watching the broadcast agreed with those words.

It was already common knowledge that Tae-hyun never looked at the chat when he was focusing. That only made people more curious. What on earth had happened to bring him there? Please, just give us a hint!

Tens of thousands of reactions poured down in less than a second.

Latecomers screamed in anger when the stream failed to load. Since personal broadcasts were hosted on an external Pan-On site, unlike the actual game, they were bound to freeze when too many users connected at once. Of course, the complaints about server management were highly unfair. The servers were built to easily handle over a hundred thousand concurrent viewers! It was just that the sheer number of people flocking to Tae-hyun's stream defied all common sense.

He possessed the monstrous power to surpass the viewership numbers others spent years building, just by streaming once in a blue moon! Right now, Gold gifted by thousands of viewers was piling up, and questions from tens of thousands of people flooded the chat in the blink of an eye.

Oblivious to all of this, Tae-hyun glared down at Furneus with wide, focused eyes.

"Yong-yong. You have to focus. Seriously."

"I know, Master."

If they strayed even a fraction from the path Pogalo had mapped out, Furneus would react first. And after that...

Just thinking about it is terrifying.

If they failed, they might have to play a literal life-or-death game of tag.

Whoosh!Yong-yong spread his wings with all his might and began to accelerate. Yong-yong himself was an outstanding magician. The speed at which he flew, casting various buff skills and banking along his trajectory, was no joke.

Tae-hyun gripped his spear. The Strength stat boosted by Edaor's soul unleashed a monstrous level of physical power.

Three.

The Ice Dragon that Furneus was riding came into view. Made entirely of ice, the Ice Dragon was not a living creature; it was more like a golem. However, the mere fact that Furneus had personally summoned it to use as a mount gave a clear indication of its power. In fact, it had played a major role in wiping out large guild parties.

Two.

Furneus's chest was clearly visible. A bare, blue crystal-colored body.

...Don't talk to me, you're breaking my concentration! One!

Because Carbanog's comment was so funny, Tae-hyun had to bite his lip hard. Seeing this, the stream chat went wild once again.

Little did they know it was actually because Carbanog was cracking jokes right next to him! Soon, Tae-hyun and Yong-yong broke through their stealth, appearing directly above Furneus's head.

Now!

"—!"

A notification popped up, but it was already too late. Tae-hyun had expected it to trigger at this distance anyway. He raised his spear. His target was Furneus's head!

"Edaor's Hellish Strong Strike!!"

The spear, imbued with terrifying power, tore through the air with a screeching rip and plunged straight down.

CRASH!

Dozens of notification windows popped up. Edaor's various skills clashed, collided, and shattered against Furneus's counter-skills. Tae-hyun quickly swiped away the clutter, checking only the essential messages.

"!"

“?”

Both Tae-hyun and Carbanog were startled by the notifications.

You said they'd be released!

Hey!

RUUUUUUMBLE—

An ominous sound began to echo from all directions. The Cold Spirits wandering nearby began to swell, preparing to go berserk. It was a volatile, intense energy born from the mixture of Hellish Mana and elemental spirit power!

Now is not the time for this!

Tae-hyun snapped back to reality. Whether the spirits went berserk or not, the priority was Furneus. How was Furneus doing?!

"How... dare you..."

Although his crystal body was shattered from his head down to his chest, Furneus was still alive. A Demon Duke wouldn't die instantly just from a few critical hits to his vitals.

"Edaor... Have you lost your mind?!"

"...Hmph! Do you really think you can withstand the alliance between Adad and me?!"

Tae-hyun had been briefly confused, but he immediately caught on and played along. Furneus was currently under the misunderstanding that Adad and Edaor had joined forces to launch a surprise attack.

"That staff is mine!"

"Wh-What?"

While Pogalo hesitated in confusion, Tae-hyun quickly snatched the fake staff from his hand. Pogalo had no idea what Tae-hyun was doing.

What are you doing??

More than that, he was confused about whether the person before him was the Avatar of Archisus or Edaor. He seemed to have transformed into Edaor... but surely he hadn't actually hired the real Edaor, right?

Am I crazy? There's no way that's possible!

But since it was the Avatar of Archisus, he felt a creeping dread that it just might be possible.

"Furneus. Your era is over. Die."

Tae-hyun swung his spear as he spoke. Even with his torso shattered, Furneus immediately tried to cast a spell to defend himself. However, Tae-hyun's target was elsewhere.

The Ice Dragon! He was targeting the powerful mount Furneus rode. It was a calculated move to cripple the enemy's mobility first in case they tried to flee.

"Hellish Mana Meteor Shower! Endless Flowing Red River! Red Dimensional Gate! Summon High-ranking Demon!"

While continuously battering the Ice Dragon with his spear, Tae-hyun simultaneously cast wide-area magic and summoning spells! Caught completely off guard by this overwhelming onslaught, the heavily battered Furneus could only grit his teeth and retreat.

"Absolute Zero Shield! Protection of the Frost Giant! Frost Giant's Sorcery! Curse of Soul Stasis! Binding of the Ice Coffin!"

The Demon Duke was indeed a monster. Despite taking such a beating, less than a second had passed before he cast spells to recover his condition and set up defenses. His plan was to defend first, recover, and then counterattack! Anyone else would have grown anxious, but Tae-hyun remained calm. Defeating Furneus had never been his goal in the first place.

"—SCREEEEEECH!"

The Ice Dragon shrieked in agony! It tried to take flight and put some distance between them, but once Tae-hyun locked onto a target, he was a hunter more relentless than any other.

"Dragon's Fall! Dragon's Ruin!"

"..."

Tae-hyun could feel Yong-yong's deeply unamused reaction.

It's not like I wanted to get this...!

He had just happened to slay two dragons by chance; he didn't actually hold any personal grudge against dragons!

"Edaor! You absolute bastard!"

Furneus, who had done nothing but defend while his mount was being slaughtered, had finally recovered his strength. He conjured a spear in one hand and hurled it.

Whoops.

Startled, Tae-hyun swung Dragon's Ruin to intercept it. If that spear accidentally grazed Yong-yong, it would cause critical injuries at the very least.

Furneus stood on the ground on his own two feet. Though his damage wasn't fully healed and he had lost his mount, his aura was terrifyingly savage.

Tae-hyun swallowed hard. He couldn't afford to miss a single one of his opponent's movements. The moment he lost focus, he would die!

"You bastards are even more despicable than Archisus! To think you two would ally after fighting like cats and dogs. You are honorless trash unworthy of being Demon Dukes!"

"Hmph. I can't hear you."

"Die!"

Furneus launched his assault. As his famous ice spears were thrown, they exploded in midair, causing sharp shards of ice to bloom in all directions.

"Sadique's Flame Rune!"

Damn it. Sadiq is a god too.

Since it was a divine skill, it was bound to clash with Edaor's skills! But he had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠no choice if he wanted to resist the freezing cold. Enshrouding his body in flames, Tae-hyun continued to fly. Furneus, clearly irritated, hurled spear after spear in rapid succession.

"Come down, Edaor! Do you not even have the courage to face me?!"

"Nope!"

"...Since when did you become such Archisus-like trash, you bastard?!"

Every time he dodged a spear, a notification popped up!

At this rate, I'm going to hit Advanced rank.

His heart squeezed with anxiety every single time they dodged one of Furneus's attacks. Tae-hyun would likely trigger an evasion thanks to his absurdly high Luck stat, but Yong-yong wouldn't. If it looked like Yong-yong was about to get hit, Tae-hyun would have to use the Authority of Archisus without a second's hesitation.

...But I don't want Furneus to catch on!

Since they had already ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠come this far, he wanted to pin the blame entirely on Edaor and Adad until the very end. A truly exemplary Archisus mindset!

Yeah. I can do this!

He would absolutely keep the Authority of Archisus hidden, stall for time, and dump this entire mess onto those two!