[Victory for the Resistance.]

[The Resistance has acquired 2 Victory Points.]

[By defeating a higher-ranked faction, you have additionally taken 2 points from the Tarantula Faction.]

The mission in Baltricia was over. The victor of the Fourth Faction War was none other than the Resistance. They had dealt the first defeat to the Tarantula Faction, with whom they had been engaged in a tense standoff since before the event began.

“To think they’d get the prince out like that… I never saw it coming.”

“Just as expected from the dark horse of the Faction Wars. To lead a mission to victory in such a disadvantageous situation. We’ll have to be even more cautious of them.”

“Unbelievable. How could he have come up with a strategy like that? It’s beyond brilliant; it means he completely understood his opponent’s intentions.”

The various faction leaders reacted differently to the outcome, but all of them grew warier of Taehyun. If they were to fight the Resistance, the one person they had to constantly watch was, without a doubt, him.

Meanwhile, the Tarantula Faction was stunned by the sudden reversal. Mihye had clearly gained the upper hand by capturing the royal castle, but she had lost the prince to an unexpected plan. They cautiously watched her reaction as she returned to her seat.

“M-Ms. Han, are you alright?”

“…Taehyun really is the best.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind. Let’s go.”

But she was actually smiling as she left the arena. And so, the Tarantula Faction tasted their first defeat and departed from the colosseum.

—

“That’s our rookie for you! No, wait. That’s Taehyun Yoo, the Dungeon Master of Balak. I knew it all along!”

“Don’t be ridiculous. When the castle was taken, you were lamenting like we’d already lost!”

“Wow. How could he even think of that? I never could.”

The members of the Resistance cheered, every one of them ecstatic about beating the Tarantula Faction. But Taehyun, who had returned to his seat, couldn’t be entirely happy. While it felt good to land a blow on Mihye, who had been treating him like a toy, he was worried about the Faction War rankings.

‘I used two points on the member swap item, but I took two points from the Tarantula Faction and got another two as a mission victory reward. We should have climbed to the middle ranks for sure.’

With the new Faction War system, the wisest course of action was to maintain a low rank. Now, he would have to carefully manage his points in every battle from the middle of the pack.

Taehyun set Songyi down and looked at Seonghwi.

“As you wished, we beat the Tarantula Faction. Now all that’s left is for you to break the curse.”

“Well, I was going to break the curse even if you lost, but you went and won,” Seonghwi said cheerfully. “The curse is already gone. Go check.”

“Understood. Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

He was referring to the curse within the Talos Dungeon, as they had agreed. Since the medium had been destroyed, Hendy’s curse should have naturally been lifted. With that, Taehyun returned to Balak.

—

[The medium of the curse has been destroyed.]

[The Advanced Curse (Persistent) has been lifted.]

[The state of unconsciousness has been removed.]

A single ray of light pierced the deep darkness. For her, who had been wandering in the heart of the abyss, it was as if a path had opened. She took one step, then another, following the light toward the exit. As she slowly reached the end, her eyes fluttered open.

She was silent.

The first thing she saw was the ceiling of a prison cell. Looking around, she realized she was locked up. Hendy sat up in bed and tried to recall what had happened. She remembered being struck by a curse in the Talos Dungeon and collapsing. But now, she was trapped in an unfamiliar prison.

‘Was I captured and locked up in Talos’s prison? If so, what happened to the others? What about Elenoa and Cheder?!’

Slowly, her comrades came to mind. The Elenoa Raid Party, which had been gaining fame in the north. She remembered them using Mind Field to challenge an S-rank dungeon, only to fail.

Hendy collapsed, sobbing.

“It-It’s all my fault. If I hadn’t been so stubborn, we could have avoided the curse.”

Because of her, the entire raid party had fallen. Crushed by immense guilt, Hendy wept. Just then, a little girl came running over.

“Oh. You’re awake, miss?”

“Wh-Who are you?”

“Wait just a minute. I’ll go get your friends!”

The girl beamed and ran off to call someone. Hendy was bewildered, unable to grasp the situation. When she saw the two people the girl brought back, she was even more stunned.

“E-Elenoa?”

“Yes. It’s me,” Elenoa said gently. “Everything’s going to be okay now. You don’t have to be afraid.”

“Tsk. You look for Elenoa the moment you see us?” Cheder grumbled. “I’m a little hurt.”

And so, after a full year, the three of them were talking again.

—

“Hmm.”

Taehyun had gone straight to the underground prison upon returning to Balak, but the atmosphere was strange.

“Release my sister and brother right now!” Hendy shouted. “I’ll join Balak instead!”

“Wh-What are you talking about? Hendy, we’re really okay,” Elenoa tried to reassure her.

“No! I’m not okay! I can’t just stand by thinking about the humiliation you must have suffered at the hands of that demon!”

“…Nothing happened to me, though.”

“Sob. Sister, now he’s even silenced you! Ugh. You evil demon! I don’t know what you did to Elenoa, but I can guess. I-I’m not a child! I know what happens in situations like this!”

Whatever she was imagining, Hendy’s face turned bright red. She squeezed her eyes shut and spread her arms wide.

“Th-Then take my body instead! I’m prepared to sacrifice myself for my sister and brother!”

“…Hey. What is she doing?” Taehyun asked, deadpan.

“Sigh. I tried to explain, but I think she has a deep misunderstanding since you’re a Dungeon Master,” Inhye said.

Inhye and Sihan were already shaking their heads. Taehyun thought for a moment before holding out a contract.

“I don’t know what you’re imagining, but just sign this. These two have already signed, so it can’t be canceled.”

“No! I’m not moving a single step from this spot until you release my sister and brother!”

“You can’t move a single step anyway. And did you even understand me? I said the contract can’t be canceled.”

“Th-There has to be a way to break it! There’s no use hiding it from me!”

‘A top-tier A-rank Raider who doesn’t even know the basics of a contract.’ Taehyun scowled and handed the document to Inhye.

“You. Get her to sign this by the end of the day. If you can’t, our deal is off.”

“T-Taehyun, can’t you just leave Hendy be? We’ll work even harder to protect the dungeon…”

“Don’t change your tune now. You were the one who agreed that in exchange for lifting Hendy’s curse, she would also become a Raider for Balak. If you can’t get her to sign by today, I’ll sell that girl off as a slave.”

“Ah, n-not that! I’ll get her to sign, I promise.”

As a Player, she had likely heard the rumors about slave raiders. As long as the shackles that blocked skills and abilities existed, slavery was an unavoidable fate.

“You son of a bitch,” Sihan spat. “So this is how you’re going to play it.”

“Don’t forget. I’m a Dungeon Master. I’ll use any means necessary to strengthen my dungeon. The only reason I broke her curse was for that purpose, nothing else. Don’t think for a second that I’d show you pity.”

“…You piece of trash.”

Sihan glared fiercely, but now that they had signed the contract, they had to obey. Taehyun shot a final glare at Hendy before returning to the Master Room.

—

[The contract process has been completed.]

[The contract has been activated.]

[Morpina, the God of Contracts, observes Player Taehyun Yoo and Raider Hendy.]

That day, Hendy ended up signing the contract. Inhye must have finally succeeded in persuading her.

“We have one more top-tier A-rank Raider now,” Riel reported.

“It’s not enough to prepare for S-rank Raiders. Besides, after the Faction War ends, we’ll have to fight an all-out war with the other surviving factions. It’s better to strengthen our forces before then.”

“That is true. Ah, by the way, Master, a report came from Melden. He said the mages from the Mage Tower have been making secret contact.”

“It’s about time they wanted to make a deal.”

All sorts of magical plants were currently growing in the Forest of Silence, imbued with magic now that the High Elves had settled there. The Mana Silk Robe he’d bought at the Demon Realm Auction had been made from those very materials.

Plants imbued with elven magic were one of the hardest magical ingredients to find. For the mages in the west, they were an essential material for their experiments.

“I should set a date and arrange a meeting soon.”

“Then I’ll let Melden know for now.”

Riel left the Master Room. Left alone, Taehyun was checking the world map when he turned his head toward the monitor. Hyena had returned to her room, apparently after dealing with a raid party.

She immediately began to take off her clothes to wash herself. Taehyun blushed and quickly looked away. For some reason, whenever he saw Hyena, a sense of guilt seemed to pierce his entire body.

“…I should probably summon the rest of the soldiers first.”

He still hadn’t purchased any A-rank Named or Hero Soldiers. Taehyun sighed and opened the shop, first checking the Blind and Random modes. Considering he had summoned a High Elf from there, it was no exaggeration to say that special soldiers were mostly found in those two sections.

He browsed the Blind Shop, looking at the card illustrations. A card with the image of a sword caught his eye.

‘This looks like a sword… Do they sell equipment here? No. This place only sells soldier cards, there’s no way there’d be equipment.’

He was already buying equipment for his main forces from the Demon Realm Auction, and the dwarves were crafting gear for the other soldiers. He had no reason to be browsing for weapons. Taehyun checked the price of the sword-shaped card.

[40,000,000 Zen]

‘F-Forty million Zen?!’

A single card cost the same as eight mercenary cards. Taehyun shook his head, abandoning the purchase.

‘Spending forty million Zen right now is too much. I don’t even know how effective the soldier would be. Unlike the Random Shop, the cards in the Blind Shop don’t disappear, so I’ll think about it again later.’

Given the price, it had to be an S-rank soldier or higher. It was best to wait until Balak’s finances were more stable.

[Hendy]

[Rank: A (Top-Tier)]

[Level: 63]

[Class: Mage]

[Title: Great Mage of Explosions]

[Affiliation: Balak]

[Loyalty: 0]

[Favorability: 0]

[Obedience: 0]

[Skills: Meteor Shower, Focused Flame Cannon, Advancing Flames, Aegis of Fire, Flame Butterflies]

[Special Ability: Great Explosion]

[Strength: 1] [Endurance: 4] [Agility: 3] [Stamina: 6]

[Mana: 57] [Divinity: 1] [Affinity: 32] [Luck: 30]

[Status: Humiliation, Anger]

‘Well, I broke her curse. Shall I test this girl’s abilities?’

Her relationship stats were at rock bottom, but her skills and mana were considerable. Taehyun was about to summon Hendy, checking on the raid parties currently in the Revived Plains, when a blue message appeared before his eyes.

[B-rank Named Guardian, Mederia the Arcane Marksman, has surpassed her limits after a long battle.]

[Mederia the Arcane Marksman is beginning to evolve.]

It was Mederia’s evolution. Taehyun recalled Grai’s transformation and grew anxious.

‘Don’t tell me her form is going to change like Grai’s did.’

She had been the next candidate for evolution after Grai. If her race changed, it would be a headache. For now, Taehyun headed to the second Balak to see for himself.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep