by Park Saenal
“How dare you try to harm your master! Don’t you know that this is a felony? Your limbs will be cut off and you will all die!”
Earl Zebra cried out. But the threat didn’t vanish. The soldiers raised their spears. Earl Zebra wanted to avoid this and quickly changed his attitude.
“If you put down your spears now, I will forgive you and give you a great reward! So please calm down!”
He tried to negotiate, but it didn’t work.
“Do you think that we’ll believe your words? We know that you tell dozens of lies to those you torture!”
“We hated you from the beginning! You human butcher! It’s better to get rid of a guy like you!”
“One of the girls you framed and killed was my relative! She was only 15 years old! You son of a bitch.”
The anger that had been suppressed was being expressed. If they didn’t kill the earl, they would die anyway. The soldiers were well aware that there was no turning back. They stabbed Earl Zebra with their spears.
Puk! Puk puk puk!
“Y-You…! You guys! Kuheook!”
It was the end of the human who was more cruel and wicked than a demon.
“Nyang.”
The cat, who was the culprit of this situation, slowly escaped from the great hall.
***
“Was this what you aimed for?”
On the outer walls. Kiki had reported the situation in the castle after she used her Hawk Eyes skill.
Veradin shook his head.
“No. I just wanted to obtain the bones of the Slaughterer.”
Veradin couldn’t know why Grid, a duke of the Eternal Kingdom, came to visit Earl Zebra. But he could roughly guess the reason why. The Slaughterer was a bounty monster for many rankers. Maybe Grid came here to raid this place? He predicted Grid’s presence and didn’t report it to Earl Zebra. As a result, Grid raided the Slaughterer.
Thus far, it was as planned. But he had no idea Earl Zebra would be killed. In fact, it was the soldiers who killed Earl Zebra, but the black cat that caused the incident obviously belonged to Grid.
“It’s surprising.”
Was Grid acting for the people of another kingdom that weren’t related to him? A strange smile appeared on Veradin’s face.
Kiki questioned him, “What should we do? There will be an uproar.”
The empire wouldn’t stay silent after a noble was killed. A large scale investigation team would be sent and the atmosphere would become bloody for a while. That wasn’t the only problem. The son of Earl Zebra was still young. In addition, he grew up watching his crazy father and was emotionally unstable. In short, he was easily manipulated. It was doubtful that the other nobles would give a territory to a lacking boy. It was expected that a bloody faction strife over the territory would occur.
“Veradin? What are you thinking? Wouldn’t it be better to report Grid right now?”
“Dismissed.”
“What?”
Kiki couldn’t believe it. Grid was an enemy. Now only did he hurt their guild, he damaged Earl Zebra’s territory, the home of their guild. Yet Veradin was intending to let Grid go?
Veradin explained the plan. “We will arrest the soldiers who killed Earl Zebra and get a huge achievement. Then we can increase our influence and make the son of Earl Zebra a lord.”
He was drawing a big picture.
“This is an opportunity to go further.”
Veradin believed that this work would allow him to devour Earl Zebra’s territory in the future. He would give this estate to his master, Agnus.
***
The outskirts of Earl Zebra’s castle.
Grid was waiting for Noe.
‘I wanted to kill him myself.’
Earl Zebra was a wicked man who shouldn’t be saved. Grid had gone through many adventures, but it was the first time he saw such a brutal person. But it was too dangerous to kill the earl himself.
It would be difficult to access Asmophel if the empire was chasing him, and it would also put the Eternal Kingdom in a difficult position. If he knew that Veradin was a noble of the empire, Grid wouldn’t have touched the White Wolf Guild either. But Grid didn’t know the truth about Veradin, so he couldn’t feel glad that Veradin didn’t report him.
“Grid is a good person? Then you punished a bad person?”
Randy started questioning the division between good and evil. Grid was satisfied at the friend who grew up everyday and replied.
“I’m not good.”
That’s right. Grid wasn’t a good man. He wouldn’t sacrifice his life unless it was for his colleagues. But he had the minimum of conscience. He couldn’t turn away from those who were in fear from Earl Zebra. If he lacked strength, he might’ve turned away for his own comfort.
‘I’m no longer a weakling.’
He was willing to help someone if he could help. But that story was based on the assumption that he would come to no harm. This was Grid’s evolution. It wasn’t quite justice. However, he wasn’t really reprehensible.
“Rather…”
Grid sensed uninvited people approaching their hiding spot. It wasn’t difficult to detect them because he had over 1,400 insight.
“These guys, they were sent by Zebra.”
The criteria that Grid used to judge the skills of an assassin was Faker. These assassins weren’t a match for Faker. In other words, Grid didn’t acknowledge most of the assassins in the world. It wasn’t just arrogance.
His position was right. An assassin’s weapons were their secrecy and swiftness, but it was virtually impossible for them to threaten Grid with his high insight and unreasonable defense. They needed to have at least Faker’s skills to threaten him.
Susuk.
The assassins were unaware that they would be detected. After steadily narrowing down the distance, they aimed their daggers at Grid’s neck. At that moment.
Chaaeng!
Golden blades flew and blocked the assassins’ daggers.
“Aren’t you using cute tricks?”
“…!”
The assassins’ expressions didn’t change. But they were incredibly surprised.
‘He noticed our surprise attack? It couldn’t be.’
They tried stabbing again, but it was useless.
Puok!
“Kuaaaak!”
The golden blades were thrown by someone unknown and flew again, sticking into the assassin’s thigh. A notification window appeared in front of Grid.
[Critical!]
[You have dealt 1,590 damage to the target.]
‘There is only this much damage, even if it’s a critical attack.’
Pavranium was the strongest mineral. If he made a weapon using pavranium, the attack power would be beyond Failure. But right now, the blades made from pavranium couldn’t exert their full strength. They were made with only a small amount of pavranium, so the attack power wasn’t very good.
‘Minor must find the western labyrinths quickly.’
He wanted to secure more pavranium. Minor had a lot of responsibility. As Grid was thinking this, the assassins became wary.
‘This person has a companion!’
Grid was obviously alone when he came to the castle. But now he had a girl with him, as well as a hidden guard. They had to find the guard hiding somewhere that was throwing the golden blades. But they couldn’t detect the person.
Grid smiled like they were funny and pointed towards the sky.
“Above.”
“…?”
At that moment. The assassins looked up at the sky and witnessed the golden blades moving alone.
‘Artifact!’
The astonished assassins looked back at Grid.
“Keok…”
“Ugh…”
Three of the assassins were skewered with a blue greatsword.
“What is this?”
This was too absurd!
“Are we being hunted?”
The past Grid and current Grid had something in
common. He showed no mercy to his enemies.
“Don’t waste your time and die obediently.”
An iron mask that covered half the face. At first glance, it seemed to be crying, but now it was smiling. The assassins experienced the greatest horror since they were born.
Chapter 246
Chapter 246
‘Are we going to die like this?’
The assassins were trained to maintain their composure under any circumstances. Surveillance, assault, assassination, etc. Their tasks required secrecy and patience, so suppressing their emotions was the most basic skill.
But now the Black Arrow assassins lost their composure. In other words, they were clearly terrified. This was evidence that their status was low. An excellent assassin would’ve kept their composure, no matter how strong their target.
“Your master is a dog and you’re just at the level of a gangster.”
Step, step.
The target moved closer and approached them. The assassins were good at using a dagger, so they welcomed close combat, but this situation was an exception.
‘There is no chance when facing him from the front.’
Their colleagues were killed in the blink of an eye. The six assassins quickly determined and spread out. Then they threw their daggers.
Pa pa pa pat!
Dozens of daggers flooded towards Grid. It seemed like there was no room to evade. The assassins naturally thought that Grid would bleed. They had an extremely poor imagination.
Suuk.
A jade greatsword was calmly and quickly pulled out. Then dozens of daggers flying at Grid were sucked into the centre of a vortex. This wasn’t the end. Then the direction of the vortex changed and the daggers popped out like bullets.
It was Pagma’s Swordsmanship, Revolve.
Puk! Puuok!
“Keook!”
“Kkuk!”
The effect of ‘skill damage increased by 20%’ made the daggers bombardment much more powerful than when the assassins threw them. The assassins hit by the daggers became a hedgehog.
‘Being hit by my own attack!’
It was serious. The eyes of the assassins swayed like a lamp in front of the wind. Grid triggered Blacksmith’s Rage and wielded the blue greatsword like a lightning bolt.
Seokeok!
Two colleagues lost their lives at once. The bodies and heads were separated, turning them to ash at once.
‘He is too strong…!’
The assassins were well aware of the fact that the Slaughterer was strong. But they were confident that they could kill the Slaughterer if all nine assassins did a pincer attack. However, the number of people who could access the basement was limited to three.
It meant that the target was a monster who had taken on the Slaughterer alone. However, the nine of them could beat the target if they fought together. But that wasn’t it. The target’s strength far exceeded the assumed range. He might even be a match for the famous Red Knights.
The Black Arrows that followed Earl Zebra and committed many bad acts were wiped out on this day.
***
‘If I aim at a vital spot, the chances of activating the Bisect skill is much higher… Is it? I need to experiment a bit more.’
Grid defeated the Slaughterer and gained a lot of experience. He defeated nine Black Arrows assassins with an average level of 240, and his level rose due to the additional experience. 288. Based on his level, he was now within the top 500 rankings.
But that strength? His rank had nothing to do with it.
‘My agility is too low.’
Grid invested all 10 stat points into agility, but he still felt that it was lacking. Piaro’s strength and agility was a 1:1 ratio. Grid had used him for reference and invested all points into agility for several months, but his ratio was still a mess. He had invested most of his stat points into strength until he met Piaro.
Grid currently had 2,810 strength and 1,606 agility. He had to make the ratio of these two stats 1:1. If he wanted to use the ideal swordsmanship that balanced strength and speed, he needed to gain at least another 120 levels.
‘My vision is dark.’
But did he feel desperate? No way.
‘I have to concentrate on hunting every time I take a break.’
Right now, Grid didn’t care about overworking himself. He would be rewarded for all the effort he put in. He was well aware of this fact.
Noe flew to him. “Praise the best demonic beast of hell! Nyang!”
Based on his expression, he had completed his task properly. This was the end of Earl Zebra’s reign.
“Then let’s go to Titan.”
Now Grid didn’t need the hat. The mask and eyepatch hid his features, so his ID was automatically hidden.
Grid moved forward without hesitation. He met monsters on the way to Titan and gradually adjusted to dual wielding and using the Vital Spot Detection skill. After the battle, he recreated the contents and sought how to overcome his weaknesses.
The journey to Tital would take approximately a fortnight. Until then, Grid’s goal was to reach at least level 291.
Randy and Noe became surprisingly friendly.
“Noe! Cute!”
“Kyang! Pat the best demonic beast of hell on the head! Stroke my chin as well! Kyang!”
***
The 31st knight, Idan. He was the youngest of the Red Knights. He was only 14 years old when he joined the knights and now he was 23 years old. He wasn’t from a prestigious family.
But nobody could ignore him.
Who would make fun of him, one of the empire’s strongest knights?
“Hrmm~”
The scene where Earl Zebra was murdered. There were dozens of nobles and knights present. They stood like stone statues and watched Idan. On the other hand, Idan didn’t look at them. He questioned the seven soldiers who murdered Earl Zebra, as well as the circumstances around his murder.
“Um~ I see.”
After a while.
Idan made an expression like he finally grasped the situation. Then at the place where Earl Zebra was killed. In other words, he sat on the throne in the great hall. Nobody pointed out that this behavior was unbecoming.
Idan ordered.
“Destroy them and their families.”
“S-Sir Idan!”
The seven soldiers who murdered Earl Zebra cried out. Didn’t he say that their families would live if they cooperated with the investigation? It was a ruthless command! Idan smiled at those who were looking at him with eyes full of pleading and resentment.
“I understand the reason why you needed to kill Earl Zebra. In addition, I know that Earl Zebra deserved to die. But a crime is a crime. I need to enforce the law.”
“Why are you doing this? You promised to spare our families!”
“That was if you cooperated.”
“We willingly cooperated!”
“Yes~? When?”
“…!”
The soldiers realized it. Idan was an evil person. He was just as vicious as Earl Zebra. It was chilling to see him laugh as he sentenced dozens of people to death. Idan watched the soldiers who were dragged to the execution area before turning to the nobles.
“Did you say you were Baron Veradin?”
“Yes.”
Veradin was called by Idan and took one step forward. Idan observed him closely before smiling.
“You accidentally witnessed the murder of Earl Zebra at the hands of his soldiers and arrested them… Aren’t you wonderful?”
It was blatantly sarcastic. The situation was excellent enough to make Veradin stand out, and Idan clearly smelt it. Veradin didn’t shake. He bowed while maintaining a calm expression.
“I might’ve been able to save Earl Zebra if I arrived at the scene a little sooner. I am sorry.”
Idan’s eyes darkened. Veradin was a pretty tough guy.
“Do you know anything about the killer of the Slaughterer?”
Just before Earl Zebra was murdered,
someone had killed the Slaughterer by himself. Idan suspected that these things were related. However, it was a problem because Veradin, who was presumed to be in the center of the case, remained consistent until the end.
“This is all the soldiers said. He was alone, and was a black-haired man full of grace. I didn’t see him myself.”
“Yes, I understand.”
That was the end. Idan left without looking at Earl Zebra’s body. Then he looked at direction where the killer of the Slaughterer had headed.
“Who is he?”
The empire’s judgment division determined that the Slaughterer was an A+ grade monster. Three black knights weren’t able to defeat it, so he was sent alone. He didn’t like the fact that he was pushed to do this troublesome thing. Now he was irritated because the situation had become more complicated.
‘A person who can handle an A+ grade monster alone isn’t ordinary… The seniors won’t like it if I return without investigating the person’s identity.’
“Hah.”
He could only sigh.
***
“Is this authentic information?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, now is the perfect time.”
Zibal was second on the unified rankings. The Snake Guild, led by him, was growing rapidly, but he couldn’t help feeling anxiety. The total number of guild members was 275 and their average level exceeded 230.
At least 100 of them were in the top 1,000 rankers. He had recently achieved his goal of becoming an earl of the Haken Kingdom. He would be the first user to become a king. But there was a big stumbling block.
It was none other than Grid. Grid had become a duke at once due to the large-scale golem invasion. It was highly likely that Grid would take the title of first king. Zibal couldn’t sit back, and instead made a plan.
Seven guilds had joined forces to keep Grid and Reidan in check. The leaders of the seven guilds pledged to cooperate. They would suppress Grid. But there was a problem.
Grid and the Overgeared Guild were too big. How could they invade Reidan when there was a group of monsters completely dominating the 10th to 40th places in the unified rankings? If the seven guilds combined, it might be possible to kill the Overgeared members, but they would have to take huge damage. It would turn into a loss for them.