Chapter 178
Chapter 178
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>Translator: penny
>Chapter: 178
>Chapter Title: Royal Castle Back Gate
>-----------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 178
>178.
>Royal Castle Back Gate.
Do-hyun let out a sigh of relief after slipping out of the royal castle.
“Phew... I nearly died there.”
Jihard clicked his tongue at that.
-Master, you sure have a weird way of talking.
-Lizar.
-This time, even this lowly sword agrees, my lord.
For once, Charlie and Elizar were chiming in with Jihard.
Seeing even his loyal retainer Charlie admit it was a blunder, Do-hyun nodded as he recalled what had just happened.
‘Gilverun is definitely a sage king.’
He had nearly caused a massive disaster, turning into a traitor who lusted after the king’s wife, but thankfully, Gilverun was a sage king.
“No, what I meant was that Lady Angela’s power is needed to complete the necklace.”
“……”
After hastily correcting himself, Do-hyun spent a full thirty minutes explaining why he absolutely needed the necklace and why Angela’s help was essential, and that was how he avoided being thrown in prison.
Gilverun’s eyebrows had twitched—he clearly wasn’t pleased...
But the mere fact that he held back without imposing any punishment proved he was a sage king with tremendous patience.
If he had been even a little more hot-tempered, throwing Do-hyun in jail without hearing him out wouldn’t have been strange at all.
“Just to make sure, this really is a misunderstanding, right? Angela is so beautiful, after all.”
“Absolutely not. It’s a misunderstanding.”
“What? Then are you saying Angela isn’t beautiful?!”
“It’s definitely a misunderstanding. ……Luriel, help me out here.”
“Hmm~ I have no idea.”
Of course, Gilverun hadn’t completely shaken off his discomfort, so it took a few more rounds of back-and-forth before he finally calmed down.
Once he had composed himself, Gilverun spoke in his usual stern tone.
“Hmm…… Very well. If that’s the case, it’s not difficult. I’ll give you the necklace. I’ll ask Angela as well.”
“Thank you.”
“So…… you’ll grant my request?”
With the misunderstanding cleared up, he readily agreed to Do-hyun’s request.
With confirmation straight from the king’s mouth, what reason was there to hesitate?
“Alright. I’ll help.”
“Really?! Thank you so much, Foretold Apostle!”
And with that, it was done.
Thanks to Gilverun’s magnanimity as a sage king, Do-hyun had escaped the crisis and arrived at this point.
Several hours had already passed since entering the castle.
Now, after this long ordeal, it was finally time to advance the quest.
Finishing his recollection, Do-hyun pulled out a scroll from his inventory and stared at it intently.
[Worn Unknown Teleport Scroll – Saved Location]
>-Grade: Quest-limited item.
>-Description: A teleport scroll presumed to be crafted by someone who reached the pinnacle of spatial magic.
>Despite its worn condition, it contains exceptional magical engineering. Unlike modern one-time scrolls, it can be reused indefinitely as long as it’s recharged with mana.
>-Effect: Teleports to the last saved location upon use. (Cooldown: 120 minutes)
>-Saved Location: Luidra’s Lair
‘A quest that hands out something like this is a first.’
It was the teleport scroll Gilverun had given him as he left.
Teleport scrolls weren’t easy to come by on their own, but top rankers usually carried a few.
However, one tied to a specific location was rare.
And if it wasn’t single-use but reusable indefinitely after cooldown? Even rarer.
‘They fetched insane prices in Demlock.’
In all three years of Demlock’s history, so few had ever been found that whenever one hit auction, even Bora-ajae lost his mind and bid.
One of them had gone for tens of millions of won.
More expensive than most high-grade gear.
Factoring in the price gap between Godose and Demlock, he couldn’t even guess what it’d go for here.
‘Too bad I could use it and sell it.’
Do-hyun could only smack his lips in regret.
Quest-limited items like this vanished after clearing the quest.
In other words, it was a sign of just how massive the scale of this quest was.
Of course it was.
‘At this level…… at minimum an eight-man raid, up to fifteen.’
A standard thirty-man raid was legendary-tier, so it was most likely fifteen-man.
Facing something like that meant the scale was enormous.
Still, if there was a silver lining, it was that he didn’t have to outright kill it.
-Just in case...
Gilverun had given him one final earnest warning when handing over the scroll.
-You must never kill her.
“Of course?”
“She is the Witch of Dreams. Killing her doesn’t truly kill her. It would only put her into a long slumber, forcing you to wait endlessly without moving. So even if you must kill her, secure the Spark of Purification first. Remember that.”
-……Understood.
It was crucial advice.
If he killed her without obtaining the Spark of Purification and failed, Do-hyun would be stuck here, desperately waiting for Luidra to awaken from her sleep.
‘Ugh, horrifying.’
That absolutely could not happen.
In any case, this quest wasn’t about slaying the boss.
Do-hyun counted that as a relief.
Raids always came with absurd numbers of boss minions.
This Luidra raid was no different.
-I recommend assembling a raid party if at all possible. Even if it’s just retrieval, Luidra commands legions made up of countless minions.
-I’d love to assign the knight order…… but this damned mark renders me helpless. It’s shameful.
Even Gilverun had recommended putting together a raid party.
-Huh? Why are you looking at me, Master?
-Lizar?
“No.”
Meanwhile, they were just four.
The Lawless raid had manageable minion numbers, covered by the undead legion, but no matter how many more undead he summoned, covering Luidra’s full legions was impossible.
That was the problem.
‘Should I assemble a raid party?’
The bedrock of any raid.
Realistically, it made the most sense, but Do-hyun’s goal wasn’t a standard clear.
He couldn’t just charge in blindly—he had to secure the Spark of Purification first.
Relying on strangers while carrying that risk felt uneasy, and depending on the situation, if he only went for the spark, what would he even tell the party?
Not to mention, where and how was he supposed to find the Spark of Purification?
-Huh? Master, doesn’t the city feel kinda empty? Fewer people than before?
-Lizar lizar.
-Hm. Definitely. It’s noticeably different from earlier. Almost feels deserted.
As if that wasn’t enough, far fewer users were visible in the city.
Rare enough to wonder if they’d all picked up some group quest.
‘Man, I miss Ssamdak, Sword Emperor, and Bora-ajae.’
Back then, the four of them could handle anything.
Even the endlessly annoying Ssamdak was someone he missed now.
With a deep sigh, Do-hyun made up his mind. Jihard yelped in surprise at the sight of him touching the scroll.
-Huh? Going right now?
“Yeah.”
Whatever the case, he needed to meet the boss in person and check things out first.
Endless theorizing without info led nowhere.
As the saying went, life was about real combat—without information, you had to clash directly to learn anything.
At least, that’s how the RPGs Do-hyun had played worked.
-Excellent judgment, my lord! A true man never fears a challenge.
-Lizar lizar!
-Ri, right. I was thinking the same.
The silver lining was that he could use the teleport scroll anytime the cooldown ended.
No reason to turn it down in a situation like this.
Having decided, Do-hyun gripped the scroll tightly.
[Using ‘Worn Unknown Teleport Scroll – Saved Location.’]
[Teleporting to saved location, ‘Luidra’s Lair.’]
Light burst from the scroll,
‘Let’s see just how impressive this thing is. Time to get a look at its face.’
and Do-hyun’s vision flickered.
* * *
-Wow, holy shit, insane.
-Wow, all new monsters. Those are the raid boss’s adds, right?
-Each one’s elite-grade?
-Target-exclusion immunity trait. No wonder they packed in a hundred.
Luidra Mountains.
A forbidden zone where no user should set foot, now swarming with people locked in combat.
Hero Guild and their hundred-man raid party.
A fifteen-man tryout team of guild executives and elites, plus a hundred-man team to handle the trash mobs.
Slash—crack—!
Kreeee!
“Urgh! No way—these are just trash mobs? They’re practically boss-tier!”
“Push a little harder! We’ve got the numbers!”
“No, that target’s on me and that swordsman. No damage going in—don’t waste HP, take out the others.”
“Everyone, focus! We can do this!”
115 total party members against at most fifty monsters.
They had the numerical edge, but the raid party was scrambling.
The unfamiliar golem-like monster types were disorienting enough, but every single one was an elite with traits equipped.
Terrain played a role too.
Rumble—
This was a rocky mountain range.
Steep, narrow rock faces rose like walls on either side, with a wide-open path below—like an old riverbed.
At first glance, it looked like golems would come straight at them in a line, but that wasn’t the case.
“Eek! Why’re they coming out of the rocks?!”
“Damn, these things hit hard.”
The golems burst from the rocks themselves, swarming from all directions.
Thanks to the unexpected ambushes, the raid party had no choice but to advance in constant tension.
Meanwhile, the elite tryout team—supposed to be hard-pressed—were utterly relaxed.
No, beyond relaxed—they were just strolling.
They stood atop the mountain rocks, where golems hardly appeared, watching the raid party below.
“Is it really okay for us to just do this?”
“Jerpak told us to hold position. In a raid, the commander’s orders come first.”
“Well, it’s comfy for me. But public opinion... What the—everyone’s totally on our side?”
Sure, they were conserving stamina, but this felt way too cheeky...
With Hero Guild’s image in the gutter lately, he couldn’t help worrying this would spark an uproar.
Unable to hold back, a guild member snuck a peek at the chat—and his eyes went wide in shock.
The reactions were completely the opposite of what he’d expected.
-But why’s Hero Guild half-assing the fight?
-Stamina management. Gotta try the boss—can’t burn out here.
-Still, isn’t that a bit much...?
-No whatㅋㅋㅋㅋ They hired the raid party for exactly this. Grateful just for the clear rewards. Keep expecting handouts and you’ll end up like Dooly.
-Agree. Don’t usually like Hero Guild, but they’re in the right this time.
Considering Hero Guild’s recent image, these were practically angelic responses.
Viewership had already hit 13.54 million.
Just two hours into the broadcast, and factoring in international time zones, that was massive.
Even if Berge himself went live for a raid, hitting these numbers wasn’t easy.
“This raid really is on another level.”
“Obviously. Berge hammered it home over and over. Word is he’ll strip ranks from anyone who screws up.”
“Yeah…… The execs all seemed crazy tense.”
“That’s how big a deal it is. We just gotta nail the boss tryout.”
It was right then, as the raid’s prestige truly sank in—
-But what’s Kaiser doing?