Solo Max-Level Newbie - Chapter 366 : Cult of Wraiths (3)

A creeping, murderous intent filled the air.

Jinhyuk slowly released his magical power.

“You said we shouldn’t cause a commotion. But it looks like you’re itching to start one yourself.”

Chun Yoosung clicked his tongue as if exasperated.

Well… it’s true that causing a scene should be avoided.

However,

“As long as no one finds out, it won’t be a problem, right?”

Even if a few people get pulverized in a closed-off room, who would know?

At least for the time being, it would pass quietly.

Jinhyuk clenched his fist and moved forward.

And shortly after.

The thieves’ guild inside the building was completely obliterated.

No matter how hardened they were in the middle layers, that only applied to thieves.

They were no match for Jinhyuk and Chun Yoosung, who were veterans among veterans.

“Cough… Gah! Kuagh… Koff koff.”

“Grooooan…”

The thieves groaned in pain.

Since their solar plexus had been properly struck, even breathing was difficult.

“Are you ready to start answering now?”

“Kill me. You shouldn’t expect me to answer anything.”

“Oh? You must be the boss. Seems like you have some guts, huh? You’re confident you can endure the pain?”

“Yes. I’d rather die than betray my comrades.”

Impressive. For a thief, he had quite the sense of loyalty.

But did he know?

That this was only the beginning of a long stretch of pain?

Jinhyuk summoned the elemental spirits and Frey from the subspace.

Buzz!

With a bright light, Undine, Sylphid, Salamander, and Gnome appeared.

“Master, you called?”

“This time, how much are you going to work us… Ah, I mean, what’s up? Hehe.”

The spirits forced awkward smiles and rubbed their hands together.

“I need some information from these guys, but they’re not being cooperative.”

“Ohh, I see. They’re crazy. To bite their tongues and refuse to talk to the master.”

“Right? So show them a little taste of our company’s ‘bitter flavor.’”

“Got it, Master. Just leave it to us.”

Undine clenched her tiny fists and nodded.

Thus, the torture began.

Whoosh!

Salamander ignited flames around the thieves’ feet.

“Aaaagh! H-hot! It’s hot!”

“What the hell is this!?”

The temperature slowly increased.

Cold sweat trickled down their spines.

In addition, Undine began putting drops of water filled with capsaicin into the thieves’ mouths.

“Guooough! Koff! Koff… Koff!”

“Hehe. Eat up. Want some more?”

“Undine, how about adding this ingredient? Remember how we saw the mistress eat this last time? She was crying and snot was running down her face.”

Sylphid added mint chocolate and stinky tofu to Undine’s water droplets.

In an instant, something so horrific it couldn’t be described in human language was created.

“Here comes the hammer!”

Meanwhile, Gnome started doing unspeakable things to the men with a hammer made of dirt.

Whack!

“Stop!”

Thud!

“S-stop it!”

Crack!

“Aaaaagh! My… junior!”

The screams turned to desperate cries. Eventually, people started foaming at the mouth and passing out one by one.

“Master, this one isn’t moving anymore.”

Gnome swung the hammer innocently, its small face brimming with pride.

The remaining thieves screamed at the sight.

“They’re insane spirits!”

“S-spare us!”

“We thieves have our pride too, you bastards!”

Horrifying cries echoed through the room.

“Grr!”

The bald-headed man, who seemed to be the leader, gritted his teeth.

While the others were powerless against the spirits’ torture, he alone continued to resist.

“He’s more tenacious than I thought. Frey, should you give it a try?”

“Sure, I’ll give it a go.”

Frey stepped forward.

Without any warning, she pulled out a large knife.

The kind you’d use to cut through both meat and bone at a butcher shop.

“W-what are you planning to do?”

The bald man flailed wildly in panic.

It made no difference.

With a blank expression, Frey raised the knife high.

“Frey!”

“Hm?”

“If you hit him with that, won’t he die before we get any information?”

“Is killing not allowed?”

“Not right now.”

“Can I cut him?”

“That’s fine. Just keep it reasonable.”

“Understood. I’ll proceed while considering blood loss. The survival rate will be 99.5%. However, if he loses all his limbs, it’ll drop to 50%. For now, I’ll sanitize the tools to prevent infection and stop the bleeding.” (TL Note: Lol Frey)

Whoosh!

Frey heated the knife with fire.

The bald man’s face, already pale, turned a ghostly white.

“I’ll talk! Damn it! I’ll talk! The players are in the ‘Gray Forest.’ They’re there!”

At the man’s words, Jinhyuk gestured toward Frey.

Frey halted the knife she was about to swing.

“The Gray Forest?”

“Yes! The cult put a bounty on them. Thirty percent of the magic stones produced from the Magic Stone Mine for a year! Everyone’s searching like crazy!”

Indeed, the Gray Forest was a place with many hiding spots.

Teresa must have instinctively chosen it because it had plenty of cover and concealment.

“That’s enough, Frey. And you guys, stop too.”

Jinhyuk stopped the torture.

Undine, who was about to pour fermented fish sauce into a thief’s nose, stopped with a regretful look.

“S-so now you’ll let us go?”

“No.”

Sorry, but it’s not over yet.

To make this easier, there were still some things needed.

“Introduce me to the master of your thieves’ guild. I’ll need a large, well-informed organization to clear this floor.”

“Wha… Ha… Hahaha! You think you can meet our master? Hahaha! How ridiculous… Don’t even try feeding me that green stuff or slicing me up. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I don’t even know who they are.”

“A compartmentalized structure?”

Chun Yoosung frowned.

If that was the case, finding the top wouldn’t be easy.

However,

“We don’t need to find the very top.”

Jinhyuk held up a sheet of paper with a montage of Teresa.

“Even if it’s a compartmentalized system, there must be someone who gives you orders, right?”

“Yes, there is. But that person doesn’t know the master either. Capturing them would be pointless.”

“Still, that person knows about the next level above, right?”

As you work your way up the hierarchy, you’ll eventually reach the master.

That’s when the guild will be taken down.

“Searching through every level like that, you’ll never reach the master in time.”

Torture and threats.

Of course, taking down the whole guild with such methods wouldn’t be easy.

No matter how brutally you suppress them, the feeling of rebellion would inevitably rise.

“You don’t need to worry about that. I have a special skill for dealing with things like this.”

Jinhyuk took a piece of paper and pressed it against the bald man’s face.

“W-what are you doing…?”

“Stay still.”

[Lv3 ‘Human Skin Mask’ has been activated!]

Buzz!

The paper gradually began to take on the form of a human face.

Soon, a leather mask identical to the bald man’s appearance was created.

“Contact whoever gives you orders. Tell them to come immediately. We have information about Teresa.”

＊＊＊

Boom boom boom boom boom!

The landscape around them completely transformed from the storm of immense magical power.

The mark left behind as Apollo’s Solar Chariot swept across the ground.

“Charge!”

Apollo’s command was followed by a massive war cry.

“Ooooh!”

“The gods are with us!”

“Kill them all and offer this land to the gods!”

Fueled by their morale, thousands of Greek soldiers began their charge.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The earth shook as the massive army covered the frozen ground.

For the first time, a foreign flag flew over the key stronghold of ‘Jotunheim.’

Of course,

The giant faction of ‘Ragnarok’ didn’t go down without a fight.

“Graaaah!”

“These filthy invaders!”

The giants fought back fiercely, swinging ice clubs and throwing coniferous trees.

For three days and nights, the battle raged on.

The back-and-forth struggle had finally reached its peak.

“…This is harder than I thought.”

Athena, watching from afar, frowned.

She had thought wiping out Ragnarok, which had already started to crumble, would be easy.

But once the war started, the resistance was stronger than expected.

“Even without the crown, they haven’t completely lost their strength.”

“The biggest problem is Thor… If only Hercules had been assigned here instead of Eden…”

Hades sighed deeply.

Even now, the god of thunder was fighting fiercely against hundreds of Greek warriors.

Too many resources had to be committed to deal with just one opponent.

“The Eden faction doesn’t want us to grow any stronger, so we had no choice. Hercules has to hold the west in case the archangels arrive.”

The current situation in the upper floors was tangled with complex interests.

No faction rivaling Olympus wanted to see them win so easily.

So, a solid rear guard was necessary while the main forces were out on campaign.

“Heimdall is just as troublesome. He’s been crossing dimensions, disrupting our rear, and the damage can’t be ignored.”

“You’re referring to the Valkyrie unit. True, from their perspective, dying in battle means they go to Valhalla, so fighting them is like facing a bunch of battle-crazed maniacs.”

The other gods chimed in one by one.

It was clear that while they held the upper hand, these issues prevented them from securing a decisive victory.

“Has there been no update on Odin’s whereabouts?”

Zeus, who was seated at the head of the table, tapped his fingers on the surface.

Crack!

Golden lightning flickered around him.

…Heavy.

The weight of his irritation and anger pressed down on the atmosphere.

“That… It seems he knows you’re after him, Father. He’s been hiding, moving around through Heimdall. Tracking him down is proving difficult…”

“Hermes, what you’re saying almost makes it sound like you’re beneath Heimdall in skill.”

“N-no, Father! Give me a little more time, and I’ll definitely catch him.”

Hermes hurriedly tried to explain himself, clearly flustered.

In this war, the key was for Zeus to kill Odin and end the conflict quickly.

However, this fundamental objective was being shaken to its core.

Just then,

“…!?”

“Father! Someone is coming!”

Hermes barely finished his words before the air in the room twisted violently.

[An external deity is manifesting!]

Before the assembled Greek gods, a new figure began to appear.