Chapter 449 (Side Story): Killing Two Birds with One Stone (3)

Kai quickly scanned the trio that appeared at the end of the corridor.

Two men and one woman.

A female Wizard, a male Warrior, and an Archer. Judging by their equipped gear, he estimated them to be around level 80.

“

Hm

.” The Archer looked at Kai with a suspicious look. “He’s alone?”

“I told you, yes. I ran the detection spell three times already. It’s definitely just him.”

“A Cleric wandering around the second basement floor alone? That seems a bit suspicious.”

That was why they weren’t approaching recklessly. They were probably also considering the possibility that Kai was a high-level player.

The Warrior then used a magic scroll.

[You have become the target of the magic scroll Detection.]

[Your equipped gear and level are now visible to the opponent.]

“

Hah,

we were worried for nothing. He’s level 71. But more importantly... his items are insane.”

“What? Let’s see.”

As the trio gathered around the warrior to check his information, their faces lit up. Of course, they would think they hit a jackpot. He was covered in gear worth millions of won per piece.

“H-holy crap. How many Greedy Designations do we have left?”

“Damn it. Only three.”

“Only three? I told you we should’ve brought more!”

Greedy Designation. Items targeted by that magic scroll would have a high chance of dropping upon death.

So, they’re the real deal.

It probably wasn't their first time working together. He could tell they were organized looters who preyed on players just from their conversation.

“Damn, we wouldn’t even need the scrolls if he were an NPC. We could just kill him and loot everything...”

“True, but there’s nothing we can do. Let’s just hope we get lucky.”

[Magic scroll Greedy Designation has targeted Chi-Tala’s Cleric Robe.]

[Magic scroll Greedy Designation has targeted Holy Epaulets.]

[Magic scroll Greedy Designation has targeted Sage’s Belt.]

They picked the expensive ones. If Kai was unlucky enough to drop all three items, he would instantly lose 20 million won.

The Archer drew his bowstring to its limit and offered a desperate prayer, “Dear God, please, just this once!”

A wild scene of a chaotic player calling upon a god. An arrow cut through the corridor and flew straight toward Kai’s forehead.

It’s slow.

As Kai simply tilted his head and dodged the arrow, the Wizard glared at the archer.

“What are you doing, idiot? You missed that?”

“N-no, that bastard dodged it!”

“How slow was your shot that even a Cleric could dodge it?”

“

Bahaha

. Maybe we should rethink the loot distribution ratio,

huh?

”

The Archer’s face took turns turning red and pale under his teammates’ scolding. As he whipped his head around, his eyes were filled with murderous intent.

“Fine. I’ll do it properly this time.”

As he drew the bowstring again, the arrowhead began to glow red. It was one of the Archer’s skills, Rapid Shot. Three arrows shot off the string simultaneously.

Guess it’s about time I started moving too.

Now that he was sure they were chaotic players, there was no need to continue acting any longer.

“Purify.”

[Status effect Bind removed.]

[Status effect Bleed removed.]

[Status effect Poison removed.]

“Heal.”

[3,800 HP has been restored.]

The snare trap restricting his movement vanished, and the status effects draining his health per second disappeared as well. Even the health he had already lost recovered instantly.

Kai rolled once across the floor. The moment the three arrows became meaningless, his tight right calf slammed into the ground.

“W-what the!”

As their startled faces came into view, Kai chose his first target.

The Wizard first.

Nothing was more troublesome than dealing with a Wizard protected by a sturdy frontline. Kai instantly sprinted down the corridor, but the Warrior stepped forward, drawing his mace and shield.

“

Ha!

So you

are

skilled enough to roam around alone,

huh?

”

The shield warrior completely filled the narrow corridor. He charged straight at the Cleric running toward him.

“Shield Charge!”

His massive body began glowing red and accelerated rapidly as he lunged forward. However, just before the clash, the Cleric suddenly kicked off the wall, stepped on his shoulder, and landed behind him.

“What?!”

The Warrior’s face turned pale. If the frontline was breached like this, the fates of the Wizard and Archer who were both weak in close combat, were obvious.

“Y-you idiot! If he gets through to here—!”

The sword pierced the Wizard’s throat mid-sentence. Realizing he was next, the Archer instinctively drew his bowstring.

“Explosive Arrow!”

Boom!

Thick smoke rose throughout the narrow corridor, but only one message appeared before the warrior’s and archer’s eyes.

[Party member, Bihela, has died.]

“You bastard...!”

They didn’t need to see what happened to know. Kai must have used the Wizard’s body as a shield against Exploding Arrow.

Dang it.

Before the Archer could even finish trembling from sensing his impending death, a hand burst through the smoke and grabbed his face.

“N-Nelson!” the Warrior shouted, but the Archer’s body was already dragged into the smoke.

[Party member, Nelson, has died.]

Two of his allies had died in an instant, and all while the Warrior himself was still standing unharmed.

What the hell is this guy?

A Cleric bringing a whole party to the brink of annihilation was a situation so humiliating, they couldn’t even complain to anyone. The Warrior tightened his grip on his shield and hardened his resolve.

Wait, maybe this is better...

This wasn’t his fault. The fools who got killed were just idiots. Getting solo-killed by a Cleric ten levels lower clearly meant they weren’t in their right minds.

If I think about it rationally, I can handle this guy alone.

No matter how good his gear was, he was still just a Cleric. Unlike a fragile Archer and Wizard, a Warrior had high defense.

I can take a few hits if I have to.

Just one strike. If he could land a single decisive hit, victory would be his.

Then I can get all twenty million won for myself.

The Warrior’s eyes gleamed with greed. Thinking it through calmly, the situation didn’t seem so bad anymore.

“Don’t even think about running! I’ll chase you to the ends of hell!”

As the heavy smoke that made the Warrior’s warning sound hollow slowly cleared, the Cleric’s figure was revealed. Kai stood there, spotless and without a trace of soot. The warrior abandoned his shield and tightly gripped his mace.

My Strength stat is higher.

That was only natural since he was a warrior, after all.

If I turn this into a pure combat of strength, the advantage will be mine.

The reason he abandoned the shield was simple. Even if he took a few hits, he would win as long as he landed one decisive blow.

“Boiling Blood!”

Heat surged through his body as his Strength stat skyrocketed. Along with his Strength, his confidence soared as well. Riding that momentum, the Warrior thundered forward and charged straight at his opponent.

***

Kai watched the approaching Warrior through narrowed eyes.

The difference in Strength stat could be as much as five times.

It depended on the class, but usually, warriors split their points evenly between Strength and Stamina. Meanwhile, Kai’s unspent Strength stat was only 48.

Even with the two additional points from Benevolence stats, that’s 50.

He could raise it by another five points using herbs, but he didn’t think it was necessary.

“Die!”

The Wizard’s mace came crashing down with a vicious sound.

First, deflect.

Kai smoothly guided the mace away with his sword, redirecting the strike to the side. Failing to control his boosted strength, the warrior slammed his mace into the wall. In that opening, Kai’s sword moved efficiently.

Keep movements as short as possible.

He precisely slashed at the seam between the plates of the armor, barely finishing the motion when the next strike came flying. Instead of retreating, Kai stepped forward, closing into the warrior.

“

Argh!

”

With his mace swung wide, the Warrior couldn’t attack the Cleric at such close range. Kai shortened his grip on the sword and scratched his opponent’s body.

“That tickles!” the Warrior let out a loud shout and shoved Kai away with his palm.

He’s definitely strong... Insanely strong.

Not even a skill but a simple push lifted Kai’s entire body off the ground. Perhaps encouraged by that sight, the Warrior swung his mace again.

“Just once! If I land one hit, you’re dead!”

He wasn’t wrong. With such a huge strength difference, a single hit from the mace would likely cause Collapse, Paralysis, or even Dyspnea.

Sorry, but I just won’t get hit then.

If Kai wanted an easy win, he could dump his stored stat points into Strength right now. Then, each swing of his sword would land devastating blows.

But then I wouldn’t get any training out of this.

Even now, he could feel his old peak instincts returning rapidly. The pressure of knowing that even a slight graze from his opponent’s attack could mean defeat tightened around his chest.

Good. This is perfect.

Without being consumed by the tension, he instead devoured that tension whole. All of Kai’s senses were focused on the warrior before him.

“Fuck, fuck... fuck!”

As time passed, curses began spilling from the Warrior’s mouth. No matter how many times he swung his mace, his attacks never landed.

Why the hell?

Why wasn’t he able to land the hit? His speed was actually faster than Kai’s, and yet, his opponent barely, perfectly, avoided every strike.

Is this even possible?

He suddenly felt afraid of the smaller Cleric standing before him. With those unwavering eyes staring straight at him, as though he might be swallowed by those calm pupils, a fear rose within him.

“

Huff... haah...

”

The Warrior’s movements slowed as he struggled and breathed heavily. That was also the moment when Kai became certain of his victory.

It’s over.

The opponent’s Strength and Stamina were undoubtedly far superior, but his movements were unnecessarily flashy and wide. Meanwhile, Kai always fought by stripping away every ounce of waste, taking risks in exchange for efficiency.

That took long enough.

Kai knocked off the opponent’s helmet with a light upward swing of his sword, and his blade slashed toward the sweaty neck now exposed beneath it.

“

Kugh!

”

Like a glass sculpture shattering, the warrior fragmented into thousands of polygonal particles.

“

Phew

...”

It had taken over twenty minutes just to hunt a mere trio of level-80-something players. Still, there were gains.

[You have slain the notorious chaotic player, Bihela.]

[You have slain the notorious chaotic player, Nelson.]

.

.

.

[The Solarian God Helik greatly praises your achievement.]

[+30 Benevolence stat.]

[Level increased!]

[Level increased!]

He also gained two equipment drops on top of that, though he hadn’t particularly wanted them. Selling them together would bring around 1.5 million won. However, far more valuable than that was the experience.

Feels like my old senses are starting to come back.

If he had to put it into numbers, maybe around 80%. With just two or three more battles like this, he felt he could say with certainty that he was back.

***

Watching Kai from Celestial Island, Helik smiled brightly.

“Look, Rashya. That is my apostle.”

“

Yeup

. He still fights just as well.”

Even though it must have been years since his last real battle, his fundamentals hadn’t faded at all.

“With skill like that, the Solarian Church should be able to regain its former glory quickly.”

“I would be most delighted if that happens!”

If nothing unexpected interfered, they would head straight for the new continent once Kai left the labyrinth. When that happened, the Solarian Church becoming famous would only be a matter of time.

“Wait a moment.” Rashya’s brows furrowed as she stared intently at the labyrinth. “Those are... Betix’s followers, aren’t they?”

“Betix? Rashya, what is that?”

“This world is generally very tolerant of religions. The coexistence of so many faiths is proof of that.”

“Of course I know that. That tolerance is why we could rebuild the Solarian Church so easily.”

But there was one exception, a single religion that was banned across every nation on the continent, designated as a cult.

“That’s them.”

A sect of heretics who worshipped an ancient demon king and dreamed of his resurrection.

Helik blinked her round eyes several times and stared intently at the labyrinth as she said,

“Uh

... Are those the ones? The ones Kai just ran into?”

“What?” Bewildered, Rashya snapped her head toward the labyrinth, and said, “I-I think so!”

***

The two groups silently stared at each other for a moment.

Who are these guys?

Kai furrowed his brows as he watched the group that appeared without warning at the opposite end of the corridor. An even stronger sense of caution rose within him than when he had first encountered the chaotic trio. It was only natural, as they were all dressed in matching black priest robes, their hoods pulled low over their faces.

A party made up of only priests? That shouldn’t even exist...

Such a formation was pointless unless every single member had exceptional physical stats.

More importantly, these guys...

They carried the same strange aura he sensed when he first stepped onto the second basement floor. His eyes slightly widened as he thought carefully about the strong yet dark energy they radiated.

Muldine?

It was an unsettling, dark aura unique to evil gods, completely opposite to the energy of the Solarian Church. The moment Kai realized that, the opposing group simultaneously raised their hands.