by Park Saenal
Of course, if the opponent’s attack power was extremely high, his defense wouldn’t be sufficient. In addition, if the opponent’s defense was extremely high, the attacker would not be able to hit them with his moderate attack power. However, the current level of users didn’t have that type of threat.
In particular, a guardian knight had a one-time invincible skill. If the timing was good, it was able to neutralize the enemy’s movements once. Therefore, guardian knights tended to be active in PVP.
So Vantner had a great momentum.
“Heh, you are scared.”
Pon snorted. “Not at all. Have you forgotten what we are doing right now? It is a boss raid. But you want a 1-on-1 duel right now? How is that possible? In the first place, isn’t my unified ranking much higher than yours? Isn’t the result obvious, even if we don’t fight?”
“Shut up! Are you scared? Don’t avoid it! Your mouth sure is good at being nasty! Let’s meet in real life!”
“What will happen if we meet in reality? In reality, you wouldn’t be able to do a single thing against me. So please act moderately, you bald bastard.”
Vantner strongly denied it, “I’m not bald in reality! I just set my hairstyle to bald when I created the character. How many times do I have to tell you this, chicken head?”
“Doesn’t making yourself bald make you look older? Does that make sense? You must really be bald.”
“If I was actually bald, I wouldn’t be setting it as bald in the game! I would’ve made my hair thicker!”
“If you are pretending not to be bald, you might’ve deliberately set your character to be bald.”
“This $#!~$#!!”
Vantner, the 1st ranked guardian knight, and Pon, the 1st ranked spear knight. The two people who played the role of the vanguard in the Tzedakah Guild, they were at each other’s throat instead of fighting the enemy.
Malacus was angry about being ignored and decided to punish them. “Why are you fighting among yourselves? These disagreeable guys keep on gathering!”
Roaaaar!
Eight rays of black magic aimed at Vantner and Pon, who saw the attack and quickly jumped to the side. Surprisingly, Malacus’ magic rays changed direction, persistently following Pon.
“What? Why aren’t they chasing me? You dare ignore me?!”
Vantner landed on the ground and yelled, while Pon suddenly jumped up.
“This is the first time I’ve seen guided magic. Indeed, one of the Eight Servants… That isn’t a false reputation!”
Pon decided he couldn’t escape the magic power and gathered strength in his spear. Intense flames appeared at the end of the spear and Pon cast a skill.
“Mach Spear!”
Peeeeeong! Pepepepeng!
The sonic spear was unleashed, causing a series of explosions in the air. The explosion was so great that even the Tzedakah Guild members, including Vantner, could feel the aftereffects.
Kwajajajajak!
Pure force and pure magic power colliding, which one would win? There was no such thing, as obviously, the stronger side would win! Pon’s rotating spear pierced through the eight rays of magic power in a single red light.
Kwaaaaang!
The red flash collided with the black shield. Rare agitation appeared on Pon’s face.
“It couldn’t pierce through?”
That’s right. Even that skill was helpless in front of Malacus’ shield.
“… This is serious.
Pon was 23rd on the unified rankings. At least in numerical terms, he was the 23rd strongest among two billion users and was one of the top three in the Tzedakah Guild. He had hunted hundreds of boss monsters, but this was the first time Mach Spear had been obsolete.
It was a reminder of how good Malacus’ defense skill was, but Pon thought differently.
‘I haven’t been able to replace my weapon despite gaining 50 levels.’ This is the limit of my present weapon. I need a better weapon.’
Pon was currently level 243. Yet Pon was using a spear with a level limit of 190. It couldn’t be helped. He hadn’t been able to find a spear better than the one he was using now, even if he visited a famous blacksmith.
Why? Pon’s spear had a unique rating. It had a level limit of 190, but it was better than level 240 rare and epic rated spears, considering the unique rating and special options. In other words, Pon needed to find a unique spear that exceeded the level 190 limit before he could replace his weapon.
But when he brought the materials to create the best spears, the famous blacksmiths almost always created normal or rare items. In some cases, epic items were produced, but they weren’t satisfactory.
‘An outstanding blacksmith is urgently needed.’
The unknown craftsman who turned the world upside down by making the Special Jaffa Arrows! Pon and Jishuka were longing for him.
‘If he made me a spear, I would be able to penetrate Malacus’ shield!’
On the other hand, Malacus was suffering quite a bit. He defended against the spear with the black shield, but the weight of the spear had dealt a shock to him. In addition, he deployed a three-fold shield but almost failed to defend against such a big blow.
“To be shamed like this by a mere traveler…!”
Vantner didn’t miss that Malacus’ legs were weak.
“He is in a stiffened state!”
Vantner grasped his axes as tightly as possible. Then he used all his strength to throw an axe.
Swaeeel!
Throwing weapons was one of the few offensive skills of a guardian knight, but it was light compared to Pon’s spear.
Kang!
Malacus made an annoyed look, deployed the shield and deflected the axe.
“…”
Vantner witnessed his axe being blown away and grabbed his head.
“Aaaagh! This is really crazy!”
He was angry at his powerlessness. The class called guardian knight, it consisted of a skill tree that protected the user and their allies. But in order to master advanced protection skills, he required high stamina.
Vantner invested points in strength in order to level up quickly. Therefore, he wasn’t able to demonstrate the characteristics of a guardian knight or play an effective role against Malacus like Pon.
On the other hand, wasn’t Pon looking cool after facing Malacus alone? In fact, Vantner was 66th on the unified rankings, which was much lower than the 23rd ranked Pon, but it was inevitable that his ego would be wounded.
“There should be an item to roll back the stats!”
“Satisfy doesn’t have a cache system. It is unlikely that such an item will ever be released.”
Vantner hit the ground while Pon sincerely advised him.
“Starting from the next level up, invest all your points in stamina. If you keep investing in strength, your character will turn to shit. Right now, the strength build guardian knight is emerging as a trend in PVP, but haven’t you realized the limitations now? The stronger the opponent, the more useless a strength build guardian knight is.”
“Ugh!”
Vantner berated himself for ignorantly distributing his points to strength just to become a ranker faster. In addition, Pon was so caught up in his desire for a stronger weapon that he couldn’t concentrate on the situation.
Right now, they had completely forgotten. The presence of Regas who was abandoned in the corner!
“Are you guys chatting among yourselves again? You really have no tension. Okay, I will let you know exactly what the situation is right now.” Malacus declared while grabbed Regas’ bloody head.
Pon finally noticed Regas’ presence and asked. “What? Regas? Why are you in that state? Did you run out of potions? But why haven’t you run away yet?”
Regas, who became Malacus’ hostage, laughed as if he was embarrassed. “Haha, I wanted to see how strong Malacus was so I watched as closely as possible. I thought it would help my training.”
“… Just die.”
He f
elt it since the L.T.S days, but there were too many idiots in this guild. Pon and Vantner ignored Regas.
Then Malacus shouted to Jishuka, who was watching the battlefield with folded arms. “Girl! All of you will soon turn out like this person.”
Malacus started concentrating magic power on his fingertips. He was going to crush Regas’ head like a watermelon.
For a ranker, death was a tremendous blow. They would lose experience equivalent to one week of hunting if they died. So originally, the Tzedakah Guild wouldn’t stay quiet if their companion was going to die. They would try to protect their companions as much as possible.
But this was an exception. Regas was able to live, but he was going to die because of his own foolishness. He was reaping what he deserved. It wasn’t worth braving the threat to save him.
“Die cleanly and fix your mentality.”
In a situation where no one in the Tzedakah Guild was trying to save Regas, one man called out.
“Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Restraint!”
“…?!”
Everyone’s eyes, including Malacus and Jishuka, turned to one side. Then they saw it. Khan’s disciple, the creator of the Special Jaffa Arrows, no, maybe he was just an ordinary blacksmith. The Asian youth, whose identity still couldn’t be determined yet, was dancing with a shining dagger.
“…”
His expression was determined as he danced. It was a rare, highly skilled sword dance. It looked like…
“Isn’t this crazy?”
The Tzedakah Guild members were upset.
“What is this? Why is he suddenly dancing in this situation?”
Grid’s odd behavior that couldn’t be understood by ordinary people’s common sense! Toban saw him and remembered an incident from the past.
“I remember that guy now…”
It was a few months ago when he was recruiting for the Guardian of the Forest raid in Bairan Village. The warrior, who looked around level 80, wanted to enter the raid by pretending to be level 100. He said that he never wore armour because he was a master of control. Now that loser was Grid?
‘This is completely…’
Toban gave a deep sigh and spoke to Jishuka.
“Master. As expected, this time seems to be another false tip. Grid is a warrior, not a blacksmith. He was a braggart… Ack?”
Toban was amazed. The appearance of Grid dancing alone seemed crazy at first, but it was only for a moment. As he watched, his heart started beating faster and he felt an intense pressure coming from Grid.
‘What is this?’
Toban no longer talked casually about Grid, as he felt overwhelmed and retreated. He realized that Jishuka and all the guild members were reacting the same way. Even…
‘Even Malacus!’
Chapter 89
Chapter 89
“… This!”
Malacus, who was about to crush Regas’ head, became frightened and stopped moving.
‘It isn’t a coincidence?’
Before the Tzedakah Guild had arrived here. Malacus faced Grid 1-on-1 and failed to kill him. Grid wasn’t strong. Rather, he was weak. If Malacus wanted, he could kill Grid in a matter of seconds. In other words, he was at the level of a bug. But Grid was somewhat strange. He was obviously weak, but an unknown source radiated from him. The overwhelmed Malacus was forced to step back.
‘I don’t understand it.’
He had dismissed it but after experiencing it again, it wasn’t a coincidence. The pressure felt from Grid was real. How could a newbie exert such a powerful presence?
‘I should only fear God Yatan!’
Malacus was disturbed and let go of Regas. Meanwhile, Grid was approaching.
‘Shit!’
Malacus retreated to the maximum distance, while Grid helped Regas.
“Regas, are you okay?”
“Grid…”
Regas gazed at Grid with eyes that were twinkling like lanterns. With a single sword dance, he overwhelmed Malacus who had captured the second-ranked person in the Tzedakah Guild. Grid alone dominated 17 of the top 100 users, so his presence was bigger than any top ranker that Regas had met.
‘He isn’t even a famous ranker yet he has this dignity…’
Regas recalled the first time he met Grid. He didn’t wear armor and only hunted monsters with a sword. Everyone else called him a braggart and laughed, but Regas believed it. He through Grid was a reliable person.
“The more I look at Grid, the greater he is.”
Regas was a ranker in the top 30 of the unified rankings. Yet he was feeling envy towards Grid. Grid felt an enormous joy at the words.
‘Until recently, I was an ordinary user and now a ranker is admiring me.’
For the original Grid, rankers were a vast presence that could only be seen on TV or in the distance. But since becoming Pagma’s Descendant, Grid’s life had undergone a great change.
‘My mouth is tingling!’
Grid wanted to wrap himself in Regas’ words. But unfortunately, Restraint only lasted for three seconds. There was no room to relax.
‘Unfortunately, the situation is like this…’
Grid’s brain was busy calculating the profit and losses as he ran away with Regas.
‘After using the sword dance once, I can definitely feel the benefits. It is definite. Considering Regas’ nature, he will want to pay this debt back in the future.’
Three seconds was a short amount of time. After the duration of Restraint finished, Malacus regained his freedom. Then he appeared in front of Grid in an instant. It wasn’t a dash type skill, but the manifestation of high-level magic that allowed him to leap through space itself.
“Eh?”
Grid was stunned to see Malacus appear in front of him.
“G-Ghost?”
Malacus gritted his teeth.
“The feeling of pressure from you has now disappeared as if it were a lie. Was I mistaken? It can’t be! You have tricked me! Disgraceful person. Show your skills. Or you will never leave here alive.”
It was like a creepy and bizarre mixture of two voices.
“Hiik!”
Grid’s face turned blue. He bowed his head to try and beg for his life. At that time, a sphere of fire flashed and hit Malacus.
Peeng!
“Use this gap to escape!”
While Malacus was caught in the explosion, Grid turned his head and found a familiar woman. Then he couldn’t help asking.
“Laella?”
Laella, An 18-year -old British girl, was a global singer and also a top ranker in Satisfy! Why was she here?
“D-Don’t tell me?” Grid, who was her avid fan, asked Regas. “Regas, does Laella belong to your guild?”
Grid’s eyes were bloodshot and his nostrils flared. Regas snorted and nodded towards Laella. “Yes, that’s right. She is a colleague who has been with us from L.T.S. to Satisfy. Grid, do you like her songs?”
“Wow, amazing! I really like Laella’s breasts… Ah, no, Laella sings great! Haha!”
Grid was captivated by a certain part of Laella and forgot his life was at risk.
Jishuka hurriedly shouted. “How long are you going to stand there? Come this way!”
Pahat!
Jishuka fired dozens of arrows into the sky as she spoke. The rain of arrows poured over Malacus’ head, who couldn’t see due to the smoke caused by the explosion. Due to losing his composure from Grid’s actions and having his vision blocked, Malacus became a hedgehog without a shield.
Grid and Regas sprinted in Jishuka’s direction. But once again, he was caught by Malacus.
“Do you think I will let you escape?”
Kuoooh!
Malacus pulled out the arrows stuck in his back, waved his arms and three black spears shot through the air. They flew towards Grid.
“Ah, why is this bastard coming after me? Shit! Am I that intimidating?”
The moment that Grid was going to pull out Dainsleif from his inventory. A shadowy figured
appeared and protected Grid and Regas.
Kwa kwang!
The spears that should’ve pierced Grid hit the ground and exploded. Malacus’ face distorted.
“There is a rat mixed among the hybrid dogs.”
A dark blade appeared in front of Malacus. Then the blade was fired, aiming precisely at the shadowy figure who protected Grid.
Seokeok!
The shadowy figure couldn’t run away! Rather than blood pouring out, it quietly disappeared into the fog.
“A clone? Che, I really don’t like this!”
Malacus was furious and started casting spells to chase Grid again. However, a young man with apathetic eyes appeared and interfered. He moved left and right, created dozens of clones.
Pepepepeok!
Syu syu syu syu syuk!
Daggers and other weapons flew in different orbits. It was impossible to develop a shield for every attacked area. In this case, what measures could Malacus take to protect the body? The answer was simple.
“It won’t get through!”
Malacus’ black shield expanded to surround his whole body. An absolute defense! The watching Vantner thought it was ridiculous.
“How is this balanced? Isn’t this shielding ability a scam? It can be activated without casting, and could even protect the whole body? It is invincible! How do we beat that?”
Pon didn’t agree.
“If that defensive ability is as invincible as you think, he would keep the shield constantly deployed. But he didn’t do that. Therefore, Jishuka managed to attack him several times. He only deploys the shield for the minimum time and area to block the attack, then he repeats this again and again. The magic power consumed to deploy and maintain the shield is considerable.”
“I agree.”
Malacus used chains of darkness to bind the feet of the clones, then summoned hellfire to burn them.
The shadowy figure who rescued Grid and Regas gave their opinion. “If Malacus is burdened by the magic power required to use the shield as Pon thinks… Now it is our turn to be attacked. He will no longer want all his magic power to be consumed by the shield, so he will use it all to attack.”
It was the right answer.
“Noble master of hell! Let go of the reins of the dogs you have tamed since eons ago! Command them to eat the hearts of those who have oppressed your lowly servant!”