Chapter 75

"Damn! Why now, Zen?"

"Oh, man. The aggro already flew over. This is just terrible luck."

"Complaining won't help, so everyone focus! We'll finish this as quickly as possible and go after the intruder!"

When Carpe arrived, a group of users and a wind spirit were in the middle of a battle.

It was an ordinary scene, but one thing made it special: the state of the wind spirit.

While typical wind spirits give the impression of translucent green basketballs floating around, the spirit the users were facing had a blurry silhouette of a woman.

And above the head of this wind spirit, bright red letters floated.

[Intermediate Wind Spirit – Siphiluane, Enchanted by Darkness]

At this point, the situation was clear enough.

-This is weird. A boss monster appeared here?

"What's weird about it? If it appears, it appears."

Carpe hid behind a nearby rock and muttered to himself.

"I must have been caught up in a boss spawn while heading here."

-Yeah, that's how it looks to me too.

After all, the only users in this dungeon were members of the controlling guild, KD.

Encountering the dungeon boss while moving to capture the intruder, and being forced into battle due to aggro. That was probably the story.

In short,

"This means the ambush angle is set up pretty sharply."

-They really have terrible luck. At this point, they're starting to look pitiful.

Counting the numbers, there were 8 KD members in total. It was the largest group Carpe had encountered so far.

"Hey, be careful! The aggro just flew this way. The tank, make sure to keep it pinned down!"

"Okay! Air Bomb is off cooldown. It's time for maximum damage!"

"Since we've been grinding it so much, I've memorized all the patterns. I can dodge this with my eyes closed now."

The 8 KD guild members were skillfully conducting the boss raid.

It was clear they had done this more than once, a testament to how much they had monopolized the boss monsters.

-They work well together. They seem to be the strongest among the remaining members.

"Hmm. The boss is weaker than I thought. A bit stronger than an Elder Treant, maybe? It'll die soon."

-Objectively, the boss isn't weak... but to you, it probably looks weak.

After battling fragments of the Servant and bloody conflicts, other regular bosses would look cute to Carpe.

"Hmm..."

-What are you just standing there for? You can't do anything against them anyway. One ambush and they'll all go down...

"That's true, but something feels off."

-Off? What do you mean?

"It's a bit hard to explain."

Carpe narrowed his brows and focused on the battle.

"KD members are definitely skilled... but..."

However, there were moments during the battle where the flow would suddenly break.

Clearly, they should have attacked, but why did they dodge?

These inexplicable and disharmonious actions were bothering Carpe.

"Oh! I get it."

After closely observing the battle, Carpe found the reason for the discomfort.

He turned his head to Cheonma and asked,

"Bro. Can guild members PK each other?"

-Guild members?

Cheonma, though thinking 'What's this all about suddenly?' still answered straightforwardly.

-It depends on the situation, but usually, they can. Unless they're in the same party or raid. Since this level doesn't have raids, it means they can PK anyone not in their party.

In the game's system, a 'party' could only consist of up to 4 people, and for more than 4, a 'raid' had to be created.

However, unlike parties, which users could easily form, creating a raid was more complicated.

It required the permission of the local lord through a quest.

-Except during guild wars, when all guild members are automatically considered part of the same raid.

"So the 8 people in front of me are two 4-person parties, not an 8-person raid?"

-That's right.

Now the mystery was solved.

The interruptions during the battle were due to the two parties being cautious not to attack each other.

-But so what? It's not that important.

"It's very important."

Carpe revised his plan.

Instead of ambushing KD from behind, he activated 'Dragon's Eye.'

The target was not the boss monster but a user who appeared to be a 'mage' in KD's party.

Ding.

[Cromwell]

[Classification: Player]

[HP: 100% MP: 78%]

[Skills]

-5-star Poison Cloud

-4-star Fireball

...

-2-star Fire Arrow

[Equipped Items]

-Wind-infused Staff and 6 others (View more)

"Great!"

Carpe clenched his fist, having found the information he needed. This completed all the conditions.

-What are you planning to do?

"Hehe."

-...This is really unsettling.

"Just watch."

While the two were chatting, the boss raid was reaching its climax.

"Another skill is off cooldown! Cromwell, it's your turn!"

"Got it. Fireball!"

The moment the mage named Cromwell cast Fireball,

'Fireball!'

Whoosh!

Carpe also cast Fireball using the初级法术 from the reward pack he received after reaching level 35.

The target was the tank of the opposite party!

Just by looking, he seemed to have a nasty temper, making him the perfect target for the Fireball.

Boom!

Carpe's Fireball hit the tank's leg, and

"Ugh!"

The heavily armored tank screamed and fell to his knees. He then shouted angrily at Cromwell.

"You crazy bastard! What are you aiming at? You almost killed me!"

"No, no. I didn't cast it..."

"Like hell, you didn't. Who else here knows Fireball?"

"It wasn't me! My Fireball hit the boss... Wait, what?"

Cromwell's face turned pale.

But his Fireball had vanished without a trace.

"What the hell is going on?"

"How can you say that? I got hit by it!"

"...I'm sorry."

"Damn it. Be more careful next time!"

"Hey, Ian. He said he's sorry. Why are you making such a fuss over one Fireball? You have a lot of HP, yet you're acting like this."

"What? Fuss? One Fireball took away more than half my HP... Ugh!"

Bang!

But Ian's words were cut short.

The boss monster was still standing, and the raid was ongoing.

Ian hastily defended against the intermediate spirit's attack and growled at the opposite party.

"Damn it. We'll settle this after this is over."

"Sure. We'll see you after. Just do your job well and don't draw aggro from the others."

"You little...!"

"Coming! Focus!"

The KD guild members refocused on the raid, and Carpe let out a sigh of relief.

"Phew. Luckily, he didn't die."

He had been worried that the tank might be too weak and die from one Fireball. Reducing the power by half with the Shadowless Blade and aiming for the leg instead of a vital spot paid off.

"Great. So the next target is..."

-Hey.

"Yes?"

-What did you just do?

"Huh? Just what you saw. I cast a spell secretly to cause internal conflict..."

-No, not that. The Fireball.

"Oh, that?"

The reason the Fireball cast by the KD guild member suddenly vanished in mid-air.

Of course, Carpe was the cause.

Cheonma, who had seen the scene with his own eyes, found it hard to believe.

-Did you cut the Fireball with your Wind Cutter?

"Yep, I saw it all."

-...Haha. I saw it, but I can't believe it.

Carpe had cast the Wind Cutter immediately after the Fireball!

Cheonma laughed helplessly at Carpe's calm response.

Shooting a flying spell with another spell.

It sounded simple, but in reality, it was an absurdly difficult feat.

-How did you do that?

"It's not that hard. Just focus on the direction of the opponent's arm and lips, and predict when they'll cast the skill, then shoot."

How about that? It's really easy, right?

Cheonma yelped at Carpe's gaze.

-That's not possible! Are you some kind of national clay pigeon shooting champion?!

"It actually works."

-You annoyingly talented brat...

"Ah, it's happening again."

Carpe cast two spells in succession once more.

And the result was the same. Cromwell's Fireball vanished, and Carpe's Fireball hit the tank.

Bang!

"Ugh! You, you did this on purpose..."

"No, no! It wasn't me!"

"I get it now. I thought it was strange why intruders suddenly appeared, but you guys are the traitors."

"...What?"

"You must have planned to kill us subtly during the raid and then steal the boss loot, pretending it was an accident."

"Wow, this guy is crossing the line. What did you say? Just because you're an officer?"

Finally, the desired result appeared.

Internal strife.

The members were now suspicious of each other, venting intense emotions.

-But did you really need to do this? Just killing them would have been easier.

"That's true, but I thought if I kill them all, they'll just be controlled again. It's better to cause internal conflict. And..."

-And?

"Fun gamers. They don't play to win. They play to annoy the opponent."

-Wow... your character.

Cheonma shivered, vowing never to cross this guy again if he ever regressed.

The result of the internal conflict was soon apparent.

"Ah!"

"Oh, no!"

No matter how familiar they were, a boss raid was not an easy content.

With internal conflict on top of the need to focus, the outcome was predictable.

Thud.

The 8 KD guild members were unable to withstand the boss monster's attack and were logged out. Only a few pieces of equipment remained, welcoming Carpe.

Now, only the boss monster was left.

Carpe stretched and approached Siphiluane.

"Boss monsters should drop some good loot, right?"

-Of course. One of the three wind sets drops with 100% probability. With good luck, two might drop.

That was satisfying enough.

Carpe took a deep breath and got into position in front of the boss monster.

But,

"Why are you so docile?"

The boss monster Siphiluane showed no movement.

The aggressiveness she displayed during the battle with the KD guild members was gone, and she just stared blankly at Carpe.

-This is strange. She's a first-strike monster, so this shouldn't happen.

At that moment, Cheonma was taken aback by the unexpected reaction.

Ding.

[The item in your inventory reacts to Siphiluane.]

[The second leaf of the World Tree emits the power of life.]

"Huh?"

A golden aura burst from Carpe's chest and flew toward the boss monster. The moment the aura seeped into the boss monster,

[Ah.]

The black aura surrounding the intermediate spirit gradually disappeared.

The <Enchanted by Darkness> descriptor also vanished, and a yellow exclamation mark appeared above her head.

[The power of darkness is gone!]

The intermediate wind spirit Siphiluane spoke.

Her voice was soft, like a gentle breeze. She looked at Carpe and continued in a surprised tone.

[Human? Why does a human have the Elf's relic?]

"Well, it just happened..."

[This is astonishing. If you have the relic of our race, it means the Elves fully trust you. Thanks to you, I can regain my senses.]

The wind spirit bowed to Carpe.

[Thank you very much. And I would like to ask a favor of you, who has earned the Elves' trust. Please help us.]

Ding.

[The Mage King's Relic]

[Classification: Conditional Hidden Quest]

[Quest Restriction: Those who have earned the Elves' trust]

[Wind spirits are a peaceful race that live in nature. However, one day, dark magic appeared and corrupted the spirits. Help Siphiluane purify the spirits.]

[Quest Success: The low-level demon 'Croal' appears with incomplete power. Defeating it will grant you the 'Demon's Mark'.]

[Quest Failure: The low-level demon 'Croal' appears with full power. The coastal city of Luana will be contaminated by demonic energy.]

"Demon? What's a demon doing here?"

-Demon?! Why would such low-level, brutish players be in this area?!

A 10-star player who became stronger through luck.