An Offer from the Evil of the Heavens

The promotion match alternates between day and night in six-hour cycles.

During the day, the fighting centers on lane battles along the canyon.

At night, occasional guerrilla skirmishes break out as each side targets the other's monster encampment.

“Something like that.”

“I was never in any danger.”

Nyx let out a soft, lamenting sigh.

“Will you be targeting the Chinese side again this time?”

“No. I’m going after Laos.”

Once you clear a promotion match in the Ancient Canyon, you cannot re-enter it. The twentieth-floor promotion match uses the same battlefield, but the types of monsters spawning from the encampments are different. In that case, shouldn’t I collect every essence I can beforehand?

“The best rewards come when you set a new high record on your first attempt.”

I shut her down without hesitation.

There was another issue. Even if you finished dead last in the promotion match, the Tower compared contributions and sent thirty-three percent of the participants up to Iron. I had already butchered quite a few Chinese players at the very start. My contribution score was locked in first place, which made running the Unranked promotion match twice impossible.

“Hold off the Chinese players for me here.”

“Understood.”

The Chinese team must be gnashing their teeth by now. They had lost two minion buffs and suffered countless player deaths. With Jiyoung guarding that side, she would be able to hold the line. Even in the worst-case scenario, we wouldn’t lose every buff.

“By the way, is it all right not to inform the others?”

“One person is enough.”

“Master, you surprisingly have a strong sense of selective exemption.”

Hey. This isn’t the military—cut me some slack.

I set off eastward with only Nyx at my side. The canyon path led toward the Laos team. Scattered across the deeply gouged earth were pieces of minion clothing and weapons.

“Unexpected.”

“The Laos players’ combat strength is actually decent.”

I swept my gaze across the ground. The traces of battle left in the canyon suggested a fierce, back-and-forth struggle where neither side had held a clear advantage. Korean players were of a fairly high standard, while Laos had a smaller population and the quality of players reaching the promotion match was lower than that of the other two nations. Yet they had held their own.

So far I had only paid attention to China, but it seemed Laos possessed forces that could not be completely ignored.

“As if.”

This goddess was showing off again. It was obvious she would panic the moment enemies swarmed in.

“Yeah, strange.”

We had reached the vicinity of the first fortress, but I sensed no presence at all. Even though the side paths had opened, leaving a wide canyon traversable by large numbers of people was dangerous. I sharpened my hearing.

A faint clash of metal rang out—clang.

“Looks like a fight broke out nearby.”

“I doubt it.”

The monsters spawning in the Laos encampment were imps. They specialized in dark magic, so there was no way they would produce sharp sounds of metal clashing. And if the canyon had been emptied as well… it had to be the other side.

The Chinese team.

I had assumed they would come for us, but they hadn’t. They had acknowledged the difference in strength and chosen to strike the weaker target first. The Chinese players, who constantly prattled on about the pride of a great nation, had made an unexpectedly rational move.

“I only need to steal the crystal anyway.”

“Ah, right.”

When I headed toward the metallic sounds, the battlefield was already half cleaned up. A group of Laos players was being pushed back, while the Chinese had surrounded the area at even intervals just like before. Imp corpses lay scattered across the ground.

Whew. Good—I wasn’t too late.

Among ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Chinese players were a few familiar faces.

“We meet again here?”

When I waved my right hand, their expressions twisted.

“Why are you—”

“Ping Lei isn’t around?”

“Young Master Lei is not idle enough to deal with the likes of you.”

“A busy man, is he?”

I grinned and cast a fireball.

“We already know that trick.”

“Reflect Shield!”

One of the Chinese players deployed a barrier. The flaming orb struck the square shield, then reversed direction and flew straight back at me.

“It’s reflection magic.”

Reflect Shield was a tricky skill that could only bounce attacks of two stars or lower and required precise angle calculations, but it was useful precisely because it could turn an opponent’s power against them.

A dark-red aura swallowed the returning fireball. Mana Absorb was limited to power below my own magic. Naturally, that meant it could absorb even my own attack sent back at me.

At that moment—

Wait a second. This actually sounds tempting.

While the Chinese players, including Ping Lei, were focused on me—

“Their attention is elsewhere!”

“Push them back!”

The cowering Laos players launched a counterattack.

Hold on.

“It’ll be troublesome if you people interfere.”

Stone pillars erupted between both sides. Several Laos players who had been charging forward were struck by the rocks and bled.

“Korean player, weren’t you coming to help us?”

“There are no allies in a national war of destruction.”

If I were to be exact, I had come here to devour your buffs. On top of that, I had just received a proposal from a constellation. If the Laos players interfered and caused Ping Lei’s forces to be wasted, the Evil of the Heavens might withdraw the offer. That would be inconvenient.

“If you touch my prey, you die too.”

The enemy of my enemy is my friend? That saying did not apply in a three-way battle. I had to clear out the weak ones first.

“…This is going too far. That arrogance.”

“Let’s take down the Korean player first.”

Killing intent flashed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the eyes of the Laos players.

“They didn’t mention the Laos side, so it should be fine.”

After crushing the Laos team members with full power, I could hunt the rest using only martial arts.

With the constellations’ permission secured, I might as well raise my kill count while cleaning up the trash.

* * *

“I couldn’t catch them all.”

Tsk. I clicked my tongue.

The proposal from the Evil of the Heavens had been to defeat the Chinese players. I had tried to annihilate them completely, but some who judged the fight unwinnable had fled the battlefield. I used Cloud Flow Steps to chase them down, yet I still couldn’t finish everyone off.

“It’s better if there are no flaws.”

I glanced at the Chinese player who had been reduced to powder.

Huh?

“Yeah.”

A chuckle escaped me.

The Owner of the Oasis—the alias of the constellation Set, who had chosen Ping Lei as his apostle in my previous ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠life. Its rank as a constellation was S. It fell slightly short of Baal or the Evil of the Heavens, but it still stood high among many constellations. There was no way Set’s observation of me at this exact moment was a coincidence. It seemed the constellation had already been watching Ping Lei. Now that its chosen contractor candidate had been brutally crushed, it was only natural for its interest to shift to me.

Nice assist. Ares’s message had confirmed it. Set had begun paying attention to me instead of Ping Lei. The moment his future fell into darkness—

No. I couldn’t let my guard down yet. Even if Set had turned its gaze toward me, if I refused to form a guardian constellation contract, it might reach out to Ping Lei again. To uproot that possibility, I would have to torment Ping Lei even more brutally.

“Still, why were these guys here?”

I stroked my chin. The situation had rendered my expectation of Chinese retaliation meaningless. Those Chinese players, famous for their immense pride, had chosen to raid Laos instead of seeking revenge.

“What? Got an idea?”

“This foolish and lacking mortal dares to beg—O Goddess, bestow upon me your wisdom.”

Nyx perched on my shoulder.

“We did.”

“You don’t know how big their pride is.”

Now that she mentioned it, some of them had turned tail and run the moment they realized they couldn’t win. They would revive in sixty minutes anyway. With no minions spawning, attacking the towers or fortress was impossible. There had been no need to flee unless…

“There was a reason.”

Thanks to Nyx’s pointed remark, I realized one fact. The Chinese players had chosen rationality over the pride of a great nation. Which meant—

Ping Lei could have crossed over to the Laos side to aim for their crystal. No. Judging by how they ran, it was one hundred percent certain.

“This is completely outside my common sense.”

“Catch them before the Chinese snatch everything away.”

A chance to lower Ping Lei’s stock had arrived.

However, even after activating Cloud Flow Steps and sprinting at full power, when I reached the next encampment there was no trace of the Chinese players left.

“After China, now Korea?”

“These bastards—are they treating us like a neighborhood punching bag?”

“No way. Is he alone?”

The Laos players watched me warily.

“Yeah. Still single.”

It was a shame I had missed the Chinese players, but I had come all this way. I couldn’t leave empty-handed. Imp corpses were strewn across the ground and a buff crystal waited on the other side. I might as well take everything.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

Hyung is a little busy, so please don’t run away or anything.