Chapter 230: The One Who Takes Everything for Himself (5)

When one attacks, the other stays still.

There was no way they were already exhausted, and they wouldn’t pass up such a perfect opportunity just because they were tired.

In that case...

Kai felt as if a light bulb had switched on in his mind, illuminating his thoughts.

These guys are linked, aren’t they?

Certain monsters in dungeons often had this unique trait in

MID Online

. It was a rare ability where their souls were bound, funneling power into one entity.

That would explain the drastic shifts in temperature.

One gained immense strength while the other’s power dropped to zero. Naturally, the surrounding temperature would either rise or fall.

Tsk, the hints were there, but I figured it out too late.

Kai clicked his tongue in frustration at his oversight. Still, realizing it now was better than never.

If I can’t take down an enemy after figuring out their strategy, I might as well quit the game.

Moreover, Kai’s current state could be described as being at full power. He had the set effect of Path of the Apostle activated by equipping the three holy relics, Solar Field boosting all his stats, and not only the basic buffs available to all priests but also the exclusive top-tier buffs only accessible to Solaris Clerics.

I was caught off guard earlier, but now I’m fine.

Until moments ago, he had been distracted by one enemy while worrying about the other, preventing him from fighting at full strength.

If I only need to focus on one at a time, the situation becomes much simpler.

Kai’s front kick landed squarely on Duras’s chest. While Duras was immune to physical attacks, he could still be pushed back.

“

Urgh

...

!

”

As Duras was pushed backward, the blue glow in his eyes faded.

It switched!

Noticing that Duras had stopped moving, Kai immediately turned and charged at Radus.

“

Hm...?!

”

Caught off guard by Kai’s quick reaction, Radus swung his sword reflexively. However, Kai, fully prepared, easily ducked and dodged the attack.

And now, I strike.

The Holy Sword pierced Radus’s stomach, going straight through his torso.

“

Kuugh!

”

Thunk!

The blade made a dull sound as it struck something. Bone? No.

“Time to give it back—my sword.”

What the Holy Sword had struck was Kai’s own weapon—the Silent Longsword Frost, still embedded in Radus’s neck.

“You’ve been using it for too long. I’m taking it back.”

Kai grabbed the Silent Longsword of Frost with his left hand, and pulled it out at once. Then, blood mixed with frost roughly splattered out from Radus’s neck. At the same time, Kai quickly scanned the HP bars of the two minions.

Radus’s health is at 35%, while Duras is still at 48%.

These creatures were cunning. They clearly knew they needed to die simultaneously, or they would revive endlessly.

If I reduce only one of their health too much, things will become troublesome.

If Kai left Radus with just 1% HP, the minions would funnel all their power into Duras, who would relentlessly pursue him.

That would be annoying.

First, 10%. Kai decided to balance the two minions’ health levels to that much.

“No matter how hard you fight, you’ll never defeat the two of us!”

“Yeah right.”

Kai smiled as he twisted the Holy Sword lodged in Radus’s stomach before pulling it out.

Radus’s armor tore like rags, and as he started bleeding, his health began to drop.

“There’s two of you guys, and I only have one weapon. That’s unfair, isn’t it?”

“What...?”

"Let me give it a shot—wielding two weapons."

In his left hand was the Silent Longsword of Frost, and in his right, the Holy Sword Prius. Holding the two different swords, Kai swung them in a cross shape.

“Grand Cross!”

Though the name sounded impressive, in reality, it was just a simple cross slash.

“How dare you use wordplay!”

Radus was taken aback for a moment but quickly thrust his Inferno Sword forward to parry the Silent Longsword of Frost.

“I wasn’t joking about anything.”

As if mocking Radus, the Holy Sword shone in the sunlight and began to slowly rotate.

“Flood of Blades!”

The Holy Sword drilled into Radus’s red armor as if piercing it with a power tool, tearing into his body.

“

Gahhh!

”

Radus desperately grabbed the blade of the Holy Sword, but instead, the sword sliced his hands.

“Once more, Flood of Blades.”

Now freed from resistance, the Silent Longsword of Frost drove straight through Radus’s side. At the same time, Radus’s HP began to drop rapidly.

It’s about time he would give up now.

Kai’s prediction was spot-on. Seemingly realizing he wasn’t able to be recovered, Radius transferred all his power to Duras.

A shout came from behind.

“You bastard!”

“So, Radus’s health is at 5%,

huh?

That works.”

Radus’s eyes no longer glowed red, and Kai kicked him in the chest, sending him flying. Then, he put his two swords away as he turned to face Duras, who was approaching.

“No matter how fast or strong, if it’s just one, it’s not hard.”

If one moved alone, they needed to be overwhelmingly strong.

Like me.

Shh-clink.

Kai smirked as he felt the cold touch of chains on his left sleeve.

***

“Master, shouldn’t we support Unknown?”

Vulcan glanced at the guild member who asked the question, then turned his eyes back to the battlefield.

“There will be no support.”

“Pardon? But what if something goes wrong...?”

“It’s not my decision. It’s Unknown’s request. To be precise, there’s no

need

to support him.”

“Unknown requested not to support him?”

“Why?”

The guild members asked, tilting their heads in confusion.

Wearing a sullen expression, Vulcan said a single word. “Title.”

“Pardon?”

“He wants to earn a special title, so he told us not to interfere.”

The Warriors guild members’ mouths hung open after hearing Kai’s intentions.

“H-he’s really taking such risks just to earn a title...?”

“Well, he sure is something else. If it were me, I’d be shaking in my boots worrying I might die.”

“No risk, no reward,

huh?

That’s kind of admirable.”

The Warriors guild members looked at Kai with gazes that noticeably changed. As the battle neared its conclusion, they began gathering their weapons and gear.

“Looks like Phase 2 is almost over. We’ll support in Phase 3, right?”

“No. There will be no support in Phase 3 either.”

"Is that also at Unknown’s request?"

“...

Sigh

.”

As Vulcan gave a heavy nod, the guild members once again voiced their confusion.

“I get it for the minions, considering the special title, but...”

“Why not for Zatan?”

“We already took off 30% of its HP in Phase 1, so he wouldn’t even be able to earn the solo-kill title.”

Quietly listening to their questions, Vulcan slowly began to say, "The main raid boss monster that marks the finale of the main episode. Taking it down will surely come with a title."

“That’s true.”

"Even a random field boss drops a title when defeated."

The guild members nodded in agreement.

“The person who earned that title in Episode 1 was Yoo Ha-Rin. Naturally, no one knows what kind of title it was.”

She was still a mysterious player who insisted on soloing. No one knew how many titles she had earned or what their effects were, even if they wanted to find out.

“Wait, then...”

“So he’s soloing Phase 3 just for the chance at an additional special title?”

“Does that mean our guild’s entire contribution was only in Phase 1?”

“When you put it that way, the real face of this operation isn’t Unknown, but...”

“It’s us, isn’t it?”

The Warriors guild members gaped in disbelief. It seemed as though the Warriors had hired Unknown, but in reality, he was taking all the benefits while they had merely lent their name.

Vulcan reassured the members and calmed them down. “Don’t be too disappointed. Unknown could still fail. More importantly...”

They had lent the name of the Warriors. If the raid succeeded, the name’s value would grow far beyond its current status.

Though, not as much as Unknown, of course.

Vulcan resolved to take only money and fame from this raid. Of course, even those wouldn’t match what Unknown would gain.

***

Ding!

[You have defeated Zatan’s two minions solo.]

[The Solarian God Helik applauds your heroic actions with seal-like claps.]

[+5 Benevolence stats.]

[Due to the effect of Witness of the Sun, your Benevolence stat has additionally increased by 3.]

[Special title acquired: Knight Slayer.]

[Zatan’s petrification has been lifted. Zatan’s invincibility has been nullified, and it is now vulnerable to attacks.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[Level increased.]

[+15 to all stats.]

Nice.

After he had learned all their patterns, taking down the two minions had been just a matter of time. Despite fighting them solo, Kai remained in excellent condition.

“They were a bit annoying, but not really tough.”

Moreover, Kai always set up Spring of Restoration during short breaks like now, and he installed as many as four at a time!

Huh?

As he restored his Stamina, Kai furrowed his brows.

Pegasus must’ve done something.

Originally, the effects of Spring of Restoration stacked. Kai was certain of this, recalling when he defeated Aosa at Whitehall. However, judging by the current Stamina recovery rate, it seemed a patch was embedded since then.

I’ll have to check the patch log once this battle is over.

To nerf something as useless as Spring of Restoration—it was clearly a patch targeting his gameplay.

Kai smirked at Pegasus’s clear intentions and checked his stats before Zatan’s petrification was fully lifted.

[Kai]

Class: Solaris Cleric

Level: 416

Title: Envoy of God

HP: 111,300

Holy Power: 180,600

Stats

Strength: 1,720 (+201) Stamina: 1,113 (+201)

Intelligence: 905 (+201) Agility: 878 (+201)

Holiness: 1,806 (+201) Dignity: 825 (+201)

Benevolence: 461

Remaining Stat Points: 257

Poison Resistance +30

Magic Resistance +40%

Nature Affinity +200

Damage dealt to demons/undead +100%

Effectiveness of skills that consume Holy Power +55%

Holy Power consumption of all skills -30%

This was Kai’s best possible specs when all his skills except Descent were activated.

The enhanced stats from the effects of skills like Solar Field, Holy Explosion, Bless, and the set effect from Path of the Apostle, were indicated next to the base values in parentheses.

There’s a reason Clerics in games like this are treated like nobility as the game progresses.

Other Clerics might not be as powerful as him, but they would still be able to boost all stats by at least 30 points. Even that alone earned them the title of nobility.

So, I’ll make sure to show them.

Fully freed from its petrification, Zatan raged at the tiny human beneath it.

-Krooooaaaar!

It was a deafening roar that seemed capable of tearing ears apart!

However, Kai simply looked up at Zatan with an expressionless face.

I think it was Seol Eun-Yeong who said that the remnants of the Black Bee and Titan guilds are suspicious.

If they had joined forces, then Sting and Goliath would undoubtedly be among them. Yet Kai wasn’t the least bit worried about them. It was surprising even to himself how little concern he felt.

But what can I do when I really feel that way?

Goliath and Sting—both were excellent players. However, excellence in a game was ultimately judged relative to others.

After hearing about them from Seol Eun-Yeong, he wanted to warn them.

What can I do if they’re so determined to take me out? However...

If they were going to come, they should come fully prepared. Kai wanted to convey that resolve not just through words but through actions.

“Come at me.”

That day, the raid boss monster of Main Episode 2, Zatan, fell before Kai’s sword.