Chapter 456 (Side Story): End of the Labyrinth (3)

Kai had instantly killed three people—Jane, the axe Warrior and even Gillian.

And they even figured out my identity in the process.

It would’ve been a lie to say he hadn’t expected anything at all. He had hoped that they might quietly back off after realizing he was a GM.

Kai scanned his surroundings.

But it seems that was a foolish hope.

Instead, the gazes directed at him each seemed to carry an unfamiliar hostility. The current standoff also felt tense, as though it could break at any moment, and that wasn’t all. The dark priests and knights, who had stayed a step back from the battle, had completed a tight encirclement.

Did they come from the east?

The place where the High Priest’s summoning ritual was being conducted was likely there as well. However, he would first have to break through this solid encirclement first to get there.

Kai let out a heavy breath from deep within. The clock showed ten hours remaining.

If I want to carve a path through before then...

Every passing second would matter from now on.

The Wizard noticed Kai’s gaze shift into a battle-ready focus and said, “

Oh

, don’t tell me you’re going to try.” He shrugged and looked around. “You’re brimming with confidence even after seeing this encirclement... but guess what? This isn’t

MID Online

anymore.”

No matter how legendary he had been during the

MID Online

days, that was glory of the past.

“And besides, your success was all because of your class advantage even back in that trash game.”

The fact that he had been the holder of a Mythic class was already a well-known story among gamers. It was something the Wizard had been bitter about for a long time.

“You were just lucky. If it weren’t for you...” the Wizard growled under his breath and lightly waved his hand. “Forget it. Crushing you directly will feel better than complaining a hundred times.”

Four magic circles suddenly appeared, and dozens of ice shards shot out.

Quadruple Casting?!

Kai’s eyes wavered for a moment. Even among ranker Wizards, those capable of triple casting could be counted with one hand.

But he’s using quadruple casting?

The idea that such a player hadn’t made any headlines until now wasn’t understandable for Kai. After all, even he would have never reached that level without the system-assisted senses he had.

No, questions like that can wait.

Kai cleared his complicated thoughts and focused entirely on the battle. As he dodged the ice shards aimed at his vital points and darted into the forest, they chased after him as though they had eyes of their own. With the sound of ice shards embedding into trees, the rustling of countless leaves, and the sound of a tree collapsing, he didn’t need to look back to know exactly what was happening behind him.

While relentlessly sprinting forward, Kai suddenly stomped one foot hard onto the ground ahead. His speed instantly dropped, and a massive curved blade swept past right before his eyes.

“What? you dodged that?!”

An ambush attack from an enemy hidden behind a tree. It would have been a fatal strike if he hadn’t slowed down.

The moment I take a critical hit, it’s over.

It was better not to assume that enemies of this level would fail such basic coordinated attacks. Fortunately, it seemed his instincts hadn’t dulled yet.

My temples are tingling.

It was the killing intent created by the enemy’s sheer will to kill him. He didn’t know how that sensation was scientifically processed in the game, but gamers who had survived countless life-or-death situations could clearly feel it.

If an attack failed, paying the price was only natural. As Kai drove his sword into the enemy’s abdomen, chills ran down his spine.

Behind me?

The time he had stopped moving after constantly darting around was barely two seconds. Yet, the enemies didn’t miss that opening and unleashed a barrage of attacks.

I guess I have no other choice.

Kai lightly bit his lip and snapped. He planned to use this only if he needed to escape, but it didn’t seem like a simple retreat would be possible anymore.

—Got him!

The Assassin who had gotten behind Kai shouted over team voice chat, and with good reason as he had already slipped behind his target and was swinging a Unique-grade dagger. Every movement was smooth like flowing water, without making even the slightest sound, but it was blocked.

As expected, Shield of Light.

He had anticipated that much. His opponent was a gamer who had once dominated an entire era, after all. It was foolish to think he would fall so easily.

—There are seven layers total!

—That many in such a short time...

—Stay still! Don’t move!

—Don’t try anything! Just hold him down!

Annoyed by the chaotic instructions coming from everyone, the Assassin simply muted the team voice chat.

Do they think I’m an idiot?

There was no one in the Carmelo Family more skilled in assassination than him. And from his perspective, breaking through seven layers of shields was nothing difficult.

Because this game doesn’t have any hidden classes powerful enough to break the balance.

In other words, no matter how confident one was in their skills, overturning class advantages wasn’t easy. Naturally, Assassins were considered a nightmare for Clerics and Wizards, known as their natural predators.

Now, I’ll show you why that is.

The dagger’s blade, blocked by the barrier, began to glow red. That meant the dagger had been imbued with the Pierce attribute. The stopped dagger smoothly slid forward, as if slicing through butter.

It’s over for you.

With Deadly Strike already active, his next attack would land as a guaranteed critical hit, and the damage would double because it counted as a backstab from behind.

If he survives this, no one would even want to be an Assassin.

After all, Clerics and Wizards were notorious for having the weakest defenses. Just as a faint smile of victory began to spread across the assassin’s lips, his vision suddenly turned golden.

“

Huh?

”

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Right when the dagger in his hand was about to pierce his opponent’s neck, the forest path beneath them erupted into an explosion of golden light, shooting up a thick pillar of light.

—That idiot!

—We warned him, and he still got hit!

—See? I told you that bastard muted the voice chat again. He always does this. I knew this would happen someday.

The Carmelo Family guild members spat out curses. They stopped in their tracks and couldn’t recklessly approach Kai.

There are traps set up in the forest.

The destructive power is considerable, too. Looks like the light pillars deal damage every tick while exposed.

How many of them are there and how big is the range?

This battlefield was chosen by the opponent, and he had deliberately lured them here. Naturally, they should have suspected traps, but they dismissed the idea because their opponent was a Cleric. More importantly, the butterfly effect caused by the traps didn’t end with just the Assassin’s death.

“I thought you were all so confident because you had impressive skill, but you’re less capable than I expected.”

“What?”

“We’ll handle it ourselves from here on, so just support us when needed.”

The dark knight commander, who had been quietly observing the situation, finally stepped forward. He lightly waved his hand and began tightening the encirclement.

“This is how we should’ve done it from the start. Giving authority to outsiders was my mistake.”

In his judgment, the reason they couldn’t capture a single cleric was simple.

The enemy is fast and precise.

His movements were swift, and whenever he found an opening, he never failed and killed opponents one by one. However, that was all there was to it.

Once we close the encirclement and leave him no space to escape, he won’t be able to do anything.

It was with that logic that he gave the order. Naturally, the Carmelo Family rebelled.

“You dumb fanatic! Didn’t you see the forest is packed with traps?”

“Stop showing off and act as human shields! Give us time, and we’ll handle it ourselves!”

“Say one more word, and we’ll consider it blasphemy and attack you.”

The Carmelo Family members wore twisted expressions at the dark knight commander’s stubborn attitude. Never had the saying that stupid allies are more dangerous than enemies felt so painfully accurate.

Realizing the situation was taking a turn for the worse, a wizard said, “If that’s how it is, then handle it yourselves. We’re out.”

“So you want to dump all the risk on us? Not happening.” The dark knight commander shook his head. “You were the ones who insisted we investigate the suspicious light pillars in the first place. If not for you, we wouldn’t even be here. Stay and fulfill your role.”

The Wizard sighed in return.

This is hopeless.

He wouldn’t have brought them at all had he known they would be this useless, as they were on the verge of being wiped out thanks to these incompetent allies.

But if we abandon them and retreat, we’ll be enemies of the Betix order before the ritual even finishes.

That would essentially be a death sentence. If that happened, every remaining Carmelo Family member in this dungeon would die pointlessly.

“

Sigh,

I wanna quit this trash game,” the Wizard muttered quietly as he raised his staff.

***

Huh?

Kai, quietly watching the situation unfold, sensed an unexpected advantage.

Their formation is completely falling apart.

With the encirclement tightening, it wasn’t just his own movements that were restricted. In fact, it was more accurate to say the enemy, who had the greater numbers, was suffering heavier losses.

I almost feel like I should thank them for this.

He didn’t know who was commanding the enemy, but thanks to them, his odds of victory had skyrocketed. Even now, the results were showing.

“

Ugh

, damn it, stop pushing!”

An Archer, pushed forward by the dark knights and priests, stepped onto the forest floor unwillingly, and the moment his foot landed, golden light spread from beneath the soil.

“Damn it! Move! Get out of the way!”

From what Kai had seen earlier, the Archer should have been able to dodge it blindfolded. After all, his light pillars planted underground took two whole seconds to activate.

Honestly, I thought I would lose when it only caught one Assassin at first...

But with the situation playing out like this, the battlefield had shifted perfectly in his favor.

No wonder the Betix order failed.

Not all high-ranking NPCs were capable or competent. The reason the Betix order had starved and wasted away in the remote regions wasn’t because of some special cause. It was simply because the organization itself was too incompetent.

Roughly two hours, maybe.

Before the battle began, he had estimated he would need five hours to completely clear this place. But with the situation flipped now, the calculations also had to change. Now, he was confident he could subtract at least two hours from that estimate.

***

The calculation was roughly accurate. Three hours and twelve minutes. That was how long it had taken Kai to completely wipe out the massive force of seventy enemies.

“But something about this still feels off...”

In the final moments, Kai had deliberately spared a few of the Carmelo Family members. He had hoped he might be able to extract some information about the order or the guild from them.

But not a single one of them said anything.

That was strange. Even if they were guild members, players at that level would normally fear the death penalty more.

Of course, maybe they just wanted to uphold loyalty, since it’s not like they actually die in real life...

But considering how unfriendly they seemed toward each other, their silence was unusually heavy. Just as if they were hiding something.

Well, it’s probably nothing I need to know.

After taking a brief rest, Kai stood up. He was beginning to feel drowsy. Thinking back, he had originally come here intending to level up a little before sleeping so the accumulated fatigue was considerable. Kai chewed on bitter herbs, forcing himself awake.

He said the east.

Ironically, it was the dark knight commander who revealed the order’s location. He had threatened that if Kai killed him, over a thousand Betix followers stationed to the east would come after him for revenge.

Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. I wasn’t the one who killed him.

The Carmelo Family Wizard, apparently enraged beyond reason, killed him while pretending it was an accident.

There were still a thousand enemies remaining. Logically, Kai’s chance of victory was close to zero with his current stamina and mana nearly depleted.

I burned through too much energy in the very first fight after going to the fifth floor.

A gamer’s mindset always had to remain flexible. Kai slightly adjusted his goal.

Charging head-on in this state would be insane.

Naturally, assassinating the high priest in the middle of enemy territory was also impossible. Thus, he would find a way to slip through to the altar and detonate summoning magic. That was the new plan.