Chapter 702
‘It was true that I was tense, but part of me had also treated this like a festival.’
After all, unlike the Tower, there shouldn’t have been any real threat to our lives.
But.
“Damn it.”
That had been a mistake.
The moment we entered the Great Temple, all communication with the outside was cut off. Even the live broadcast went dead, leaving us completely isolated.
If that had been all, it wouldn’t have been such a major problem. The worst part began after we encountered the monsters.
The monsters we had assumed were nothing more than holographic fakes attacked the raid party with fully physical bodies and genuine hostility.
And whether it was because the balance was broken or not, every single one of them was unimaginably strong.
Thud!
Another one fell.
Not unconscious.
Dead.
In less than an hour after entering, roughly 30% of our total fighting strength had been wiped out.
‘At the very least, we have to stop other players from entering this place.’
Like moths flying into a flame.
No matter how many came in, they would only die meaningless deaths.
‘I wouldn’t even consider attempting this unless at least five rankers from the Seven Great Guilds’ Top 100 joined forces.’
‘If the difficulty is already this high at the entrance, we may even need EX-rank Transcendents. Damn it.’
The sheer scale of the labyrinth was beyond imagination.
No one knew just how many even stronger monsters were lurking deeper inside.
“…We’re abandoning this area. Everyone, fall back to the entrance and hold out until reinforcements arrive.”
Hamilton made the call.
“Huh? B-but…”
“We finally got here first. If we give up now, we’ll never get another chance to join the main raid force.”
“It’s tough, but there’s still a chance.”
With such an enormous reward hanging in front of them, it wasn’t easy to turn people back.
“Do you all plan to die for the sake of joining the main raid force? Can’t you feel that something is wrong here? You need to stay alive if you want another chance.”
Even though this was only Titan Guild’s secondary raid party, Raid Leader Hamilton had instincts like a wild beast.
Fortunately, his party members trusted their leader’s judgment more than their own greed.
The hesitation didn’t last long.
“Understood.”
“Pah! Once this is over, let’s all down a shot of vodka. Wine or beer won’t be enough to wash away this bitter taste.”
As soon as the order was given, the raid party began securing their retreat while maintaining a defensive formation as much as possible.
“Kieeeek!” “Keeeeek!”
Mummies with long, torn mouths.
Cursed creatures spraying foul blood from their mouths drove the pressure even higher.
Unlike the ones we defeated ten minutes ago, these newly appeared enemies were so strong that even A-rank players couldn’t confidently say they would win.
“Ghk! Cough!”
“Mason! Hang in there a little longer! Just a little more!”
Hisssss!
Acrid smoke crept along the ground. With acidic fluid continuing to accumulate, the places we could step were shrinking by the second.
The advantage of a properly balanced raid party had long since disappeared.
‘…At this rate, even retreating won’t be easy.’
And when a monster in the shape of a rotting wolf appeared, even the last sliver of hope of escaping vanished completely.
Rumble…
The atmosphere changed in an instant.
Inside the freezing interior, only the smell of death remained.
“Grrrr…”
The wolf, holding a black book and a black staff, began spewing black shadows without end.
Sizzle! Sizzle!
It felt as if my skin itself were being scorched.
I could tell even from a distance.
‘That thing is on a completely different level.’
It was obviously a named monster, and it possessed the greatest power of any monster I had seen so far.
Its red eyes gleaming in the darkness, simply watching us, felt like a form of amusement. The moment it actually moved, there wouldn’t even be a one-in-ten-thousand chance of a miracle.
“Damn it.”
As the damage we were taking drew closer and closer to overwhelming the healers’ output, Hamilton’s face turned deathly pale.
‘It’s over.’
Just as that thought crossed his mind—
Boom boom boom boom!
Something unexpected happened.
A streak of golden light swept across the battlefield.
“I’ll help.”
A paladin radiating strands of Divinity.
It was Teresa du Laurentia.
A promising ranker from a prestigious family. Although her activity had noticeably declined after the Amsterdam Outbreak, anyone who had seen her brilliant performance in her early days knew her name.
“I-is that reinforcements?”
“Thank goodness! A paladin!”
Cheers erupted from all sides.
Against undead monsters like mummies, no class was more efficient. Naturally, hope surged up.
But the relief didn’t last long.
“Is that all?”
Barely six people.
With neither the numbers nor even the minimum composition required for a proper raid, it was almost embarrassing to call them a raid party. If anything, it looked like they would only add to the body count.
But then—
[Teresa activates her Unique Ability: Blessing of the Stars!]
Rumble…
The golden crosses piercing through the ceiling were far beyond anything a single paladin should have been able to produce.
“Kieeeek!” “Keeeeek!”
The golden haze pouring down without discrimination completely vaporized hundreds of mummies.
Everyone watched Teresa’s battle in a daze.
Every sense in my body focused on that one place.
As if trying to burn every scene into memory.
Everyone, that is, except for one.
The named monster, the Corrupted Priest.
“…”
The Corrupted Priest, which had been watching all along, sensed Teresa’s presence and twitched a hand.
Unlike the ants it could casually toy with and crush, an enemy worthy of moving personally to deal with had appeared.
Whoosh!
Black mist raged wildly.
Teresa’s Divinity was erased in an instant, and the entire area was dyed in cursed energy.
An indescribable mass of Mana gathered at the tip of the staff, taking the form of a dark crimson aura.
At that exact moment—
“Leaving our saintess alone when she’s having so much fun? Why don’t you play with me instead?”
An odd human appeared in front of the Corrupted Priest.
A player with black hair, holding a pair of daggers.
“Not knowing your place is a trait shared by all you humans, but this is simply pathetic. To think a single person would dare face this body.”
[The Corrupted Priest activates ‘Ancient Black Serpent’!]
Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom!
A beam of black particles blasted toward a single point.
Its range was much smaller, but the sheer power reminded me of a Black Dragon’s Acid Breath.
“Sorry. I’ve been fighting nothing but strong opponents lately, so my control might be a little off.”
Grinning, Jinhyuk casually swung one dagger.
[‘Black Moon Night’ activates!]
The surging beam and a black crescent moon collided at a single point.
Flash!
At the same time, Hamilton, who had been too absorbed in Teresa’s one-sided slaughter of the mummies, finally came to his senses.
“That’s right. The named monster…!?”
The mummies didn’t matter.
The truly dangerous one was that wolf-shaped monster.
Before it started moving in earnest, they needed to reorganize their formation around Teresa and focus on defense. A paladin capable of wielding that level of Divinity just might survive until the main force’s reinforcements arrived.
But—
the wolf that had been the biggest threat was nowhere to be seen.
Instead—
“Nice to meet you. Looks like desert travel is in fashion these days. I’m running into more people than I expected.”
Jinhyuk slowly emerged from the shadows.
“Th-that direction had a named-class monster. How did you come from there?” “A named monster?”
Jinhyuk’s eyes widened.
“Y-yes. A terrifying creature that could wipe out the whole raid party. We were already half resigned to not making it out because of that monster…”
“Hmm. Was there something like that?”
He genuinely couldn’t remember seeing anything especially dangerous.
Aside from picking up a strange staff along the way.
===
After the storm had passed, each guild sent in additional raid parties made up of rankers to search for the missing vanguard.
Officially, it was to confirm the fate of their valuable comrades, but in truth, they simply couldn’t afford to lose the rewards inside the Great Temple.
And so, the raid parties of the Seven Great Guilds gathered.
The raid groups, which had entered separately and become scattered, were able to find the surviving vanguard members without much difficulty once they got inside the temple.
And, of course, Veteran Corporation and Jinhyuk were with them as well.
“You bastard…!”
Mayer, a ranker from Dreadroar, strode straight toward Jinhyuk.
He looked ready to draw his sword at any second.
It was only natural that rage was boiling over. Jinhyuk had nearly dragged the entire guild into the eye of a storm.
The Dreadroar rankers behind him were also giving off equally ominous killing intent.
“Impersonating us this brazenly. That’s a creative way to beg for death.”
“After the hell we went through because of that bastard…”
“I’m going to grind him into dust.”
Shing! Clang!
Weapons were drawn one after another.
With all communication to the outside already cut off, whatever happened here would simply be buried under the usual unspoken rules.
“Quick temper.”
Jinhyuk clicked his tongue.
People who couldn’t grasp the situation and only obsessed over what was right in front of them were typical newbies.
No… at this point, had they already outgrown being called newbies?
Either way, it seemed they needed to exchange greetings before having a proper conversation.
Just as Jinhyuk was about to subtly signal T-Bone and Wolyoung—
“That’s not something I can overlook.”
A familiar voice cut in, accompanied by the presence of numerous Mana signatures.
Fssht. Swoosh.
They had concealed themselves so perfectly that no one noticed them until they were almost on top of them.
“Do you even know who we are, barging in like—”
Mayer stopped mid-sentence.
Because the person picking a fight with him wasn’t some nameless nobody.
It was Takeshi.
With his ability to read the future, he had saved Japan time and time again during countless crises.
During the Aphantos Habitat Raid in particular, he had fought alongside the current top-ranked player, Shuette, and performed feats so dazzling they elevated the Samurai Guild’s status overnight.
[Three named monsters, a Gate Guardian, and roughly 70,000 ants annihilated with only around 20 casualties.]
[The difficult 3rd Route was cleared with the least damage, all thanks to the Samurai Guild!]
[The life story of the great hero who saved humanity revealed]
The media and press had all praised Japan’s achievements and Takeshi’s judgment for turning the impossible into reality.
As a result, the Samurai Guild had firmly established itself as one of the pillars of the Seven Great Guilds.
A force no one could ignore.
The strongest close-combat martial arts group.
“If you say one more reckless thing, we won’t stand by and watch either.”
Takeshi growled.
At that, the Dreadroar rankers exchanged awkward glances and read each other’s reactions.
No matter how serious the offense of impersonating them was, clashing with another major guild without preparation was a burden they couldn’t ignore.
Especially if the opponent was the Samurai Guild, which was full of vicious Sword Demons.
“…Is that so? Wow, what a shame. I really wanted to fight too. What a pity.”
Jinhyuk’s taunt only poured oil on the fire already burning inside them.