𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟒𝟗
“Ugh!”
“……”
I let out a quiet sigh as I watched Sina tumble pathetically from the Trial of Light gate.
Yesterday, the Yuas barely managed to clear the light attribute quest and, with my help, completed the following quest to kill 50 of Beluin’s Thoughts.
However, after hearing about the choices of the Trial of Light and Defense Line Construction from me, they all chose the Trial of Light without hesitation.
Even though I clearly told them it was difficult.
Anyway, thanks to that, I was witnessing a disastrous failure in real-time, but thankfully, there was no shock as I had expected this outcome from the beginning.
‘By the way, I didn’t know all three of them would come to the Ronda Kingdom.’
According to Aizen, who completed the quest before Yua, I heard that they would be randomly placed in the remaining four countries, excluding the Harpe Empire and the Pronia Kingdom, which is currently under attack by Beluin.
Calculating the probability, it was a 25% chance.
The possibility of all three of them coming to the same country was lower than expected, but there was a secret to it.
‘They could change countries?’
Originally, only Yua and Sina were assigned to the Ronda Kingdom, and Rine was assigned to the Iot Kingdom.
However, Rine insisted on being sent to the Ronda Kingdom together, and the High Priest who gave the quest had no choice but to change her country to the Ronda Kingdom, and that was the truth behind these three gathering here.
If I had known earlier, I would have called Aizen here.
‘But there’s nothing I can do since they are already in the middle of the quest.’
Anyway, I could see Sina, who became depressed from the recent failure, and the executives of the Emperor Guild sitting on the floor like defeated soldiers.
“Isn’t it too difficult, common sense-wise!?”
“Damn it, how much money did we just waste?”
“Sigh, we’ll be in the red this month for sure.”
“……”
And watching the guild members lamenting, I even felt a bit sorry for them.
‘But why are only these kinds of people gathered on my side?’
Hwaryeon, who only delved into fire magic.
Row, the self-proclaimed excellent archer.
Yuke, the dual-wielding dagger assassin.
Eris, the strongest healer.
And even the nameless executives.
For reference, there wasn’t a single warrior-type among those I knew who used swords or spears.
In the first place, all skills are sealed while fighting, so what use would it be whether you’re a mage or an archer?
Two of the nameless executives seemed to be warrior-types, but their skills weren’t very good, as they kept failing repeatedly.
‘At this rate, I might have to retrieve the sacred relic with just two people.’
The reason I said two people here was, of course, because there was one more person who succeeded besides me.
Yua.
This was something I couldn’t help but be surprised about, as Yua showed that she could succeed in just three attempts.
I knew that Yua was quite skilled, but I didn’t know she would pass the Trial of Light, so she surprised me and the Emperor Guild executives.
“You failed again. It’s alright. I’ll open the gate for you anytime you wish.”
Suddenly, I heard Arus’s insincere consolation, but I ignored it and looked at Sina.
Sina was sitting with a gloomy expression, and Yua was comforting her.
Behind them, Rine was moving around, practicing.
‘Really……’
It’s bleak.
Even if they passed the Trial of Light, I doubted they could retrieve the sacred relic.
“Rudin-nim. Do you have any good strategies?”
“I already told you the strategy.”
At that moment, I answered Hwaryeon’s question, which seemed to be asking for help, as if there was nothing more I could say.
Actually, I had already told them all the strategies I knew.
Use a spear, which has the longest reach, since everyone on the other side uses swords.
Focus on dodging rather than attacking.
Never get surrounded.
Fight with the mindset that it will take at least an hour, and so on.
I told them almost every strategy I knew, but unfortunately, only one person cleared the Trial of Light based on that.
‘Should I really think of another way?’
Maybe giving up would be an option.
The main scenario didn’t mention disappearing upon quest failure, so it would probably be replaced with Defense Line Construction.
“If it doesn’t work, giving up is also an option.”
“The reward for this is skill enhancement. Honestly, it’s a shame to give up.”
Well, that’s true.
That’s why I tried again.
Anyway, I understood Hwaryeon’s feelings of regret, but at this rate, I felt like I would lose at least a few thousand gold.
‘But should I be thankful that the time spent on the Trial of Light is getting longer?’
More time spent means longer battles.
In other words, it means their skills are improving.
So, if they keep trying, they might be able to clear it someday, but considering the gold it would take until then, it felt a bit wasteful.
“More than that, I’m sorry. Rudin-nim’s feet are tied because of us.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry about. The next quest is one that can’t be done alone.”
“I think Rudin-nim could do it.”
“There are four apostles there, how is that possible?”
Even with just two, I think I could manage somehow.
I thought so and shook my head as if it was difficult, but Hwaryeon seemed to have a different idea.
“Think carefully. It’s not about catching the apostles, but retrieving the sacred relic. So, wouldn’t it be over if Rudin-nim used your skill, Teleport, to distract them and then just snatched the sacred relic?”
‘……Huh?’
After hearing Hwaryeon’s words, it somehow sounded plausible.
Could I really distract the apostles’ attention by summoning Ust and illusions, and then just take the sacred relic?
‘But what happens to these people here if I complete the quest?’
Since there would be no need to retrieve the sacred relic, it was highly likely that it would be replaced with another quest, but it wasn’t certain.
“Anyway, I’ll go try again.”
“I wish you success.”
“I want to succeed too.”
Leaving those words, Hwaryeon got up from her seat and entered the Trial of Light again, and I watched her before turning my head to look where Yua was.
It seemed like she was talking with Sina……
Curious about what they were talking about, I approached them and overheard Sina’s bewildered voice.
“So, you’re saying that if I swing the spear around to block the incoming swords and, at the same time, hit them with the spear blade, I can succeed?”
“Maybe? Anyway, that’s how I succeeded.”
“……I bet you’re the only one who can succeed like that.”
It seems like she asked Yua for advice on how to do it.
It didn’t seem to be of much help, though.
‘More than that, can she block the attacks with three paladins?’
Blocking one or two attacks occasionally might be possible, but I thought it would be impossible to block them continuously.
While I was thinking that, I suddenly saw Sina turning her head towards me.
“Oh, perfect timing. Go have some fun with Rudin-nim over there.”
“With Rudin-nim?”
“What do you mean?”
Yua and I asked back as if we didn’t understand, and Sina sighed and answered.
“Rudin-nim has been tied up for almost two days, right? It would be a waste of time to do nothing, so wouldn’t it be better to take Yua here and go hunting or something?”
Indeed, staying here and watching when they would clear the Trial of Light was a waste of time.
It seemed like a few more people would clear the Trial of Light if I waited a little longer, but in that case, I could just contact them, so there was no problem in leaving.
“But this is the Ronda Kingdom, so I don’t think there’s anywhere to go.”
The fields would be teeming with players, and the dungeons would be owned by other guilds, so there wasn’t much to do in the Ronda Kingdom.
“Or you could look for the location of the sacred relic.”
‘The location……’
That sounded much more plausible than going somewhere to have fun or going hunting.
The quest only gave a rough area, not the exact location, so we had to find it ourselves.
Also, if we found it in advance, we could immediately complete the quest with the guild members who would eventually clear the Trial of Light, Sina, and Rine, so I even thought that moving now wouldn’t be so bad.
“Well, what do you want to do, Yua-nim?”
“Me? I’d like to stay a little longer and teach Sina……”
At Yua’s words, Sina’s expression darkened rapidly.
I thought it might be related to what I just said about looking for the location of the sacred relic, so I decided to leave this place as soon as possible.
“Wow, this is so comfortable.”
After leaving the shrine with Yua, I summoned the griffin without hesitation and flew to the location marked on the map.
Since the griffin had such high stats, it didn’t take long to reach our destination, and Yua seemed impressed as we were able to arrive comfortably.
“When did you get this?”
“Not too long ago. By the way, it’s quite spacious.”
Looking around, it was a place where the remains of half-destroyed buildings were scattered haphazardly.
And sand piled up instead of soil.
In addition, I could see giant scorpions and Beluin’s Thoughts wandering around, but even ignoring those, it was a place that was overwhelmingly vast.
‘I have to find the place where the apostle is hiding here?’
I thought it might take longer than expected, but it was something I could solve quickly using Intuition.
Didn’t I use Intuition to find all sorts of hidden places in the first main scenario?
Considering that, I didn’t think it would be too difficult this time either, but I didn’t use it immediately because Yua was next to me.
If I suddenly found the hidden place from the start, anyone would think it was strange.
“Rudin-nim, I think there’s someone over there.”
“There could be people here, it’s not a dungeon.”
I heard that some fields are managed by guilds, but it seemed like the Ronda Kingdom wasn’t one of them.
Anyway, I turned my head in the direction Yua was looking and checked it out, and unexpectedly, I saw a single player fighting against giant scorpions and Thoughts.
No, to be precise, it wasn’t just one person.
‘Is that…… a Skeleton Dragon?’
A dragon made of bones, about 15 meters long from head to tail, was rampaging around.
‘Well, I know who it is.’
I had heard that an S-rank summon had appeared in the Ronda Kingdom before, and as I vaguely remembered that the summon was a Skeleton Dragon, I could easily figure out that the player in front of me was the owner of the Skeleton Dragon.
Also known as the S-rank player.
And I heard they didn’t even join a guild?
‘By the way, it seems like there are quite a few people with S-rank skills.’
Excluding the members of the Emperor Guild, there were four people I knew.
Of course, considering that it had been almost four months since Twilight began, it might be considered a small number.
It was no more than ten people.
“Let’s leave that side alone for now and search the other side.”
“Okay.”
I thought there was no need to interfere since they seemed to be fighting hard, so I moved in the direction where the S-rank player wasn’t, and Yua followed me, taking out the Immortal Spear I made for her from her item window.
‘Come to think of it……’
Yua’s skills were proven in the Trial of Light.
So, I wondered what kind of performance she would show in the future battle against Beluin if I enhanced the Immortal Spear I made for her to +15.
“Rudin-nim, come here.”
Suddenly, a few of Beluin’s Thoughts that were wandering around spotted us and rushed towards us without hesitation, but Yua and I responded calmly.
“Shield of Light.”
Pak!━
Needless to say, I was fine, and Yua could also deal double damage thanks to her title change, so there was no need to worry.
Maybe we could kill them instantly?
Even though they were twice as strong, Yua’s damage had also doubled, and she had eliminated Beluin’s Thoughts without any problems before, so I thought it would go similarly this time, but something unexpected happened elsewhere.
Kwa-kwa-kwang!━
‘Huh? What’s that?’
I heard an ominous explosion, and then I saw the battered Skeleton Dragon flying towards us with the player on its back.
Thump- Thump━
And as I watched the Skeleton Dragon fly past overhead, I started to hear earth-shaking sounds.
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