Chapter 87

Chapter 12: The Flame of Life (3)

However, for now, Yeonwoo is only receiving attention in the lower levels and is being praised as a rookie.

To the two giant clans, he is still just one of the many players.

There are thousands, or even tens of thousands of players, and hundreds of high-ranking players entangled in the battlefield, and he does not have the ability to influence it.

Still, Yeonwoo wanted to participate in the war somehow.

There must be a huge difference between watching the war from the outside and being part of it from the inside.

‘There might be something unexpected to discover as well.’

He was particularly curious about why Bahal and Leont had clashed.

After Artia's dissolution, it was true that the relationship between the two had deteriorated, but there must have been a significant reason for their direct conflict.

Fortunately, there was a way to participate in the war.

‘If I go to Bahal.’

Bahal had left a message saying to come whenever he wanted.

Most importantly, Bahal was the cause of this war and a member of Artia, so being by his side might reveal a lot.

But Yeonwoo soon had to shake his head.

‘No. That would be too dangerous. If I stay by Bahal’s side, I will eventually be exposed.’

It would be dangerous if he were asked to take off the mask he was wearing.

Then, what other options were there?

‘As a mercenary. What about that?’

A large war naturally requires a significant number of participants. However, the question was whether Yeonwoo had the qualifications to join as a mercenary.

‘It’s the best way for me right now.’

He thought he could pass the skill test.

‘However, to weed out spies, they will likely conduct thorough background checks. It might be less dangerous than going to Bahal, but it’s still risky.’

Ultimately, no matter what, the ‘background check’ was always the sticking point.

‘Or.’

Under the mask, Yeonwoo’s eyes glowed strangely.

‘Maybe I could gain such an overwhelming reputation that no background check would be necessary.’

Yeonwoo liked this idea the most.

If he was invited by both sides, things would go much more smoothly.

‘I’ll think a bit more about how to build my reputation. The war won’t start immediately, so I can plan after finishing the trials as quickly as possible.’

Yeonwoo organized a rough plan in his mind and brought up the quest window in the air.

The list of necessary items for creating the Flame of Life was mostly marked as ‘completed.’

The only thing left was:

‘Manticore’s Heart.’

The Manticore is a mythical creature, a winged lion with a scorpion’s tail.

It is one of the highest difficulty upper-level creatures in the 11th floor, second only to the Four Divine Beasts.

Moreover, its lair is a dungeon located deep underground.

It is known to be extremely difficult to penetrate due to the numerous monsters that follow it inside.

Therefore, many clans organize large-scale raid parties of over 50 members to challenge the Manticore.

Yeonwoo planned to break through alone, as it was the final hidden piece to complete the 11th floor trials.

‘However, the key is how long it will take to break through the long dungeon that extends to the 10th underground floor.’

His steps toward the Manticore’s dungeon quickened.

Or, rather, he tried to quicken them.

Thud!

Yeonwoo quietly stopped.

His enhanced senses, which had become almost passive, allowed him to always establish a clear cognitive field within a certain range.

Something caught his attention within the wide cognitive field. A group was beyond the forest.

“Will you come out now?”

Soon, the bushes rustled, and over 30 players appeared.

They had their weapons drawn and were brimming with hostility.

“Is it the Lone Eater?”

Yeonwoo narrowed his eyes.

He recognized the faces.

The Behemoth Clan, which had crossed the city of Barak.

The player next to the leader nodded after comparing a wanted poster with Yeonwoo.

“It matches the description. It’s the Lone Eater.”

Some of the clan members whistled lightly.

It was surprising to finally meet the Lone Eater, whom they had only heard about.

There was no fear on their faces.

Instead, their eyes shone with greed, like a pack of hyenas eyeing their prey.

Yeonwoo asked coldly.

“What’s going on?”

“We have a few things to confirm.”

“Confirm?”

“Yes. You must have heard about the recent chaos in the 11th floor’s ecosystem, right?”

Yeonwoo sneered.

He could see through their intentions clearly.

“So?”

“Many people have been affected by this. We suspect you might be the culprit. We want you to cooperate with our investigation.”

The leader licked his lips with a red tongue.

And in response to a signal, the players surrounded Yeonwoo.

The atmosphere was thick with the threat of force if he did not comply.

If the investigation revealed him as the culprit, they would seize the materials. Even if not, they would still try to steal the Lone Eater’s artifacts.

For them, it was a win-win situation.

Especially since he had set new records up to the 10th floor, they were curious about what rewards he might have.

Moreover, they seemed confident that he wouldn’t dare to mess with them.

Everyone in the 11th floor knew that the Blue Flower Path was behind the Behemoth Clan.

They didn’t think he would do something as foolish as making an enemy of a giant clan.

So.

Chuckle-

Yeonwoo couldn’t help but let out a sneer through his mask.

It was too similar to what they were doing.

The expressions of the Behemoth Clan members hardened.

“Are you mocking us?”

“Whether in the tutorial or here, why are you so greedy for what others have?”

Yeonwoo relaxed his shoulders and slowly drew his greatsword from his waist.

“If you want to attack, do it. Stop with the pointless excuses.”

The leader’s face flushed slightly, feeling exposed, but he soon laughed cruelly.

“Indeed, it seems it was you. Anyway, I need to get some compensation for the damage you caused.”

Yeonwoo snorted.

“Try it if you can.”

“What…!”

The leader was about to give the order to attack, wondering what confidence Yeonwoo had to challenge them.

But his voice only echoed in his throat.

And his consciousness faded.

Swish-

Puuu!

Suddenly, the leader’s head separated from his neck and fell to the ground. A fountain of blood shot up.

A ghost appeared where the leader had stood.

Surrounded by gray mist, the ghost laughed sinisterly. It was a wraith.

Kee kee kee!

“Leader!”

“What, what is this!”

Startled by the sudden situation, the players quickly distanced themselves from the fallen leader.

But that was just the beginning.

Nine more wraiths appeared in the spaces between the players.

The wraiths, already strengthened from their travels to gather materials and their departure from the Phoenix’s nest, were now even more powerful.

Each one could easily dispatch an average player.

The wraiths let out ear-piercing screeches as they began to slaughter the Behemoth Clan members.

Swish, swish!

“Gaaaah!”

“Damn! Run!”

The clan members, in a panic, saw the wraiths, which were not significantly affected by their sword swings.

The forest was filled with the screams of terror as limbs were torn apart.

A few tried to grab Yeonwoo, but.

Whoosh!

Yeonwoo wrapped his greatsword in black energy and swung it. The space tore open, and three of them were swept away.

Thud.

Blood splattered, turning the ground into a red puddle.

“You, you, you, do you know who, who we have behind us… Gah!”

The player who had fallen to the ground trembled and screamed.

His pants were wet with fear.

He had tried to sell out the Blue Flower Path to survive, but.

“Who knows?”

“Wh, what?”

“Since you’re all going to die here anyway.”

“…!”

Yeonwoo’s sword was relentless.

Whoosh-

Thud.

“Eeeek!”

“Damn it!”

In the end, the remaining members realized they had no chance of winning and started to flee.

A monster that controlled ghosts that were hard to kill.

That’s how they saw Yeonwoo.

“Kill every last one of them. And collect their souls separately.”

Kee kee kee!

Rumble, rumble-

The wraiths answered and pursued the fleeing members into the forest.

The souls of those who died in fear had many uses, especially for strengthening the wraiths.

Yeonwoo also moved slowly, following the wraiths.

Aaaah!

Help!

The forest echoed with terrified screams.

* * *

Aaaah!

“It seems it’s started.”

“The ones who went to catch the Lone Eater. Weren’t they some of the top members of the Behemoth Clan?”

“It means the Lone Eater is much stronger than we thought.”

“Indeed… With all those rewards, how could he not be strong?”

The clan alliance, positioned along the outskirts of the forest, stiffened upon hearing the screams.

They knew whose screams and cries these were.

The Behemoth Clan was a well-known medium-sized clan in the tower, covering both the lower and middle levels.

They had many enemies due to their domineering nature, but they were also very skilled.

After becoming a subordinate of the Blue Flower Path, other clans generally avoided conflict with them.

A conflict with the Behemoth Clan could easily turn into a conflict with the Blue Flower Path.

The Blue Flower Path valued their prestige and reputation highly.

So when the Behemoth Clan initially took the lead in dealing with the Lone Eater, other clans did not protest.

They knew they couldn’t win a conflict.

But now, they felt relieved.

‘Defeat the Behemoth Clan alone?’

‘Crazy! He’s willing to make an enemy of the Blue Flower Path without batting an eye?’

They felt a chill down their spines.

When the Lone Eater revealed who he was and where he was in the Starlight Tavern.

The clans staying in the city of Barak all prepared to chase Yeonwoo.

The damage Yeonwoo had caused them was immense.

Especially since they were on the brink of a major war and desperately needed resources.

So they formed an alliance and pursued Yeonwoo.

But now, a sense of unease slowly crept up on them.

At the time, they thought that no matter how strong the Lone Eater was, he couldn’t handle so many of them.

But now, they wondered if they had made a mistake.

However, no one dared to suggest leaving this position.

They knew that showing weakness here would be the end.

The tower was a world of the strong preying on the weak. Even if you were weak, you couldn’t show it.

But.

The consequences of not distinguishing between recklessness and courage were also their responsibility.

“Still, he’s just one person. No matter how powerful he is, he can’t handle so many of us. Let’s build a tight encirclement and drive him into one spot. Once he’s trapped, he won’t be able to do anything.”

The suggestion from one of them made the eyes of the other clan leaders light up.

They thought they could drive Yeonwoo to another side and let the clans there deal with him, while they attacked from behind to reap the benefits.

It was already agreed that the clan that killed Yeonwoo would take all the spoils.

So.

They slowly entered the forest, forming an encirclement.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh-

At that moment, a gray mist spread thickly through the forest.