Chapter 288: Episode 288

The world dissolved into blackness. His companions, standing right before him, were smirking, their whispers turning into mocking laughter. Just moments ago, they had been chatting amiably. Something was wrong. But before he could process the thought, a hot surge of rage consumed him.

’You bastards,’ Mirage seethed internally. ’Every last one of you is laughing at me. You think I’m that much of a pushover?!’

He was always treated like the rookie. It had only been a short time since he’d joined the raid party, so he was an easy target for ridicule. Just yesterday, he’d fumbled in front of a dungeon soldier. It was because he hadn’t fully adapted yet, but they wouldn’t care about that. They would just use it as another excuse to laugh at his expense. Mirage could no longer contain his fury and shoved his companions aside.

“Grrrr! Get away from me!”

“What—what are you doing, Mirage?”

“Mind your own damn business, you bastards! All of you, get lost!”

“He’s gone insane! What’s gotten into him?”

The bounty hunters, who had been focused on detecting traps, scowled. Their concentration had been shattered by their own teammate. Mirage saw their glares and ground his teeth. The atmosphere had soured instantly. They were all looking at him like he was a madman, the same people who had been so friendly just yesterday.

’I’m not the one who’s changed,’ he realized with a sickening lurch. ’This is who they’ve always been!’

A profound sense of betrayal washed over him. He felt like a fool for ever trusting them. Tearing the shield from his back, he hurled it to the ground.

“As of today, I’m leaving this raid party! I can’t travel with bastards like you anymore!”

“…Mirage,” one of them said, his voice low. “Did you just throw away the shield the raid leader personally gave you?”

“Yeah! I don’t need this crap anymore!” Mirage spat. “It was probably just a gift to mock me later! I’m not falling for it again, you bastards!”

“Hah, what in the world are you talking about? Someone grab him!”

He was their only shield-bearer, the one protecting the priests. They had to stop him from deserting them inside a dungeon. His companions rushed forward to block his path. At that moment, a crimson haze began to rise from Mirage, enveloping them all.

[Tasrak has been infected.]

[Mentun has been infected.]

[Haizen has been infected.]

The curse of resentment spread like a contagion. The raiders who had tried to restrain Mirage instantly lost their composure, their own repressed anger boiling to the surface.

“Damn it! Why do these bastards always make me do the dirty work?!”

“Why should I have to stop him from leaving? I’ve got more complaints than he does, you sons of bitches!”

“That’s right! Yesterday, that bastard Genon was all over the girl I liked! I let it slide then, but it still pisses me off! Where are you, Genon, you bastard!”

From one to three, from three to seven, from seven to the entire party. The curse of resentment had ensnared them all. They glared at one another, weapons raised, their eyes filled with the deep-seated hostility one might reserve for a mortal enemy. Walter, the only one unaffected, immediately grasped the severity of the situation.

’This is the work of a main dungeon unit,’ he thought, his mind racing. ’I have to dispel it now.’

An ability like this could cripple his entire team. It was already stripping them of their reason, their ability to think clearly. As their rage festered, rational judgment would become impossible.

[Casting Effect Removal.]

[Removes all debuffs and malicious effects from the raid party.]

[Effect Removal usage limit 1/1]

A cloud of golden pollen descended upon them. The raiders, who had been on the verge of tearing each other apart, sniffed the air and slowly came to their senses.

[The curse of resentment has disappeared.]

[The raiders showing symptoms of infection return to normal.]

As he’d suspected, it was a skill from a main unit. Freed from the curse, they looked around in confusion.

“W-what was I just doing?”

“I remember throwing my shield… Don’t tell me I actually said I was leaving the party?!”

“…What in the world.”

The memories of threatening their comrades flooded back, and they were overcome with guilt. Walter clapped his hands sharply, drawing their attention.

“Everyone, calm down,” he commanded, his voice a steady anchor in their confusion. “A moment ago, you were all under the influence of a dungeon skill. I’ve dispelled it. You’ve done nothing wrong, so don’t dwell on it. This was precisely the outcome the Dungeon Master was hoping for.”

“S-so that’s what it was. I knew something felt off.”

“Then Mirage was the first to get hit. Where did the attack even come from?”

The best way to calm his team was to redirect their anger toward a common enemy. It was true that a dungeon skill was to blame, but guilt was a poison that lingered. He had to give them a new objective, to force them to focus on the raid.

’Whoever this is,’ Walter thought grimly, ’they have a twisted sense of humor. They may enjoy tormenting us, but they won’t succeed.’

In any crisis, quick judgment saved lives. It was a field in which Walter excelled.

“We proceed to the next objective immediately!” he ordered. “Ranged attackers, advance while eliminating familiars. Shield-bearers, guard the flanks. Bounty hunters, continue searching for field traps. Move out!”

“Understood!” the party roared in unison.

Having narrowly escaped annihilation, Walter’s raid party pressed on, leaving Hylon’s Forest behind them.

—

[Walter]

[Rank: S (Intermediate)]

[Level: 89]

[Class: Spirit Master]

[Title: One Who Receives the Blessing of a High-Level Spirit]

[Affiliation: Walter’s Raid Party]

[Stress: 8]

[Status: Focused]

[Relationship with Companions: Trust, Faith]

[Description: A raider who rapidly advanced his rank by contracting with a high-level spirit in the forest abandoned by the elves. He maintains his 7th place ranking through exceptional judgment. He has come to Balak to investigate the Silent Forest.]

He was an unexpectedly skilled opponent. Taehyun had planned to wipe them out with ease, but the presence of a single man, Walter, had changed everything.

“I was just going to use them as test subjects, but there’s an S-rank intermediate raider among them,” Taehyun mused. “The Forest of Spirits… that was the elves’ home in the south, wasn’t it?”

“That’s right,” Neru confirmed, having just entered the Master Room. “But it’s strange. If that’s the forest we abandoned, all the spirits should have left too. For him to contract with a high-level spirit… I can’t believe it.”

She tilted her head, clearly perplexed that any spirits would remain in a forest forsaken by her people. Taehyun watched Walter on the monitor, a new plan forming in his mind.

“This changes things. Alright. Time to test out all the new soldiers.”

“Um, Master Taehyun? Are you busy?” Neru asked, fidgeting beside him.

“You could say that. And you’re distracting me. Could you please stop bouncing around?”

“But you’re not looking at me,” she pouted. “If I do this, maybe you’ll pay attention?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“Then, here I go!”

Two soft hands cupped his cheeks, turning his face toward her. Neru blinked her large, luminous eyes and leaned in close.

He was too shocked to respond.

“How’s this? You can see me now, right?”

“Yeah. I can see you.” Her fair skin, the soft down on her cheeks, her rosy blush—it was all perfectly clear. Unlike the other high elves, her favorability toward him was high, and she wasn’t shy about expressing her affection. But Taehyun, unmoved by her elven beauty, gently pushed her hands away.

“I’m busy. Go stand over there.”

“Oh my, that’s strange,” she murmured to herself. “Lady Mederia told me you would definitely react if I did this. Was she mistaken?”

He said nothing.

So the culprit was in the second Balak. Taehyun made a mental note to have a word with Kinjo and began deploying his soldiers to the Revived Plains.

—

’Thump! Thump! Thump!’

A new type of soldier stomped onto the field. It was an S-rank unit, a massive creature with a thick shell on its back, unlike any drake he had seen before.

’Guooooooh!’ it bellowed. It was a Drake Turtle.

’Kkik. Kkik-kik!’

’Kkik-eek!’

’Kkik-kik-kik-kik!’

Another group of soldiers appeared. They were squirrel-like kobolds, wagging their bushy tails as they scurried forward: the Eccentric Kobolds, his second new S-rank unit. They swarmed over the Drake Turtles, taking out crossbows.

[The Eccentric Kobolds’ Superior Insight has been cast.]

[For a set time, they can see through all beings before them.]

As the raid party entered the plains, the kobolds secured their line of sight. Tapping the turtles’ shells, they gave the signal to advance. The Drake Turtles’ eyes glowed as they roared in unison.

[The Drake Turtles have cast Spinning Dash.]

[For a set time, they charge forward with immense rotational force.]

Their bodies began to spin, turning into armored vortexes. The kobolds nimbly hopped in place to keep their footing. As the spinning turtles closed in on the raid party, the kobolds’ crossbows spat fire.

“Shield-bearers, block their spin!”

“Ugh! They’re shooting explosive arrows! Take out the kobolds on top first!”

“They’re circling us! We need to get out of here!”

The Drake Turtles had them surrounded. The shield-bearers scrambled to form a defensive perimeter, but they struggled to halt the spinning onslaught. Walter’s voice cut through the chaos.

“Don’t cast the barrier yet! Javess, shatter the ground!”

“Understood!” the shield-bearer roared.

Javess slammed his weapon into the earth.

[A-rank top-tier raider Javess has cast Earth Slam.]

[The ground in the designated area shatters.]

The plains cracked and split apart. The circling Drake Turtles lost their footing and were flung into the air.

“Yurs, control gravity!”

“On it!” the mage replied.

Yurs unleashed a wave of magic toward the sky.

[A-rank top-tier raider Yurs has cast Gravity Control.]

[The space within a certain range is maintained in a zero-gravity state.]

The airborne dungeon soldiers began to float helplessly. Trapped in the zero-gravity field, they couldn’t descend. Walter prepared to summon a spirit to finish them off, but at that moment, the floating kobolds cackled and began hurling bombs.

[The Eccentric Kobolds have cast Random Effect Bombs.]

[The raid party hit by the explosion will be afflicted with a random effect.]

[An unfortunate result!]

[The entire Walter raid party is afflicted with an Immobility debuff.]

“What?!” Walter exclaimed.

A harmless-looking bomb had delivered a crippling blow. He scowled, his previous strategy now in tatters.

“Everyone, retreat for—”

He sensed the danger and tried to give the order, but it was too late. The ground beneath them began to glow with a sickly green light.

[S-rank named mercenary Bruder the Plague has cast Sea of Venom.]

[The field in the designated area is transformed into a venomous region.]

With the Drake Turtles and Kobolds still suspended above them, the field itself had become a death trap. Launching his enemies into the air had been a catastrophic mistake.

“Aaaaargh! My body—it’s melting!”

“Gah! The pain! Use an Effect Reversal Card, quickly!”

“I can’t see! I can’t see anything!”

The raiders thrashed in agony, unable to escape the toxic mire. Those with resistance gear were holding on, but it was only a matter of time. Walter stared at the Effect Reversal Card in his hand, his mind a whirlwind of calculations.

’We only have one counter item. If I use it now, the Dungeon Master will almost certainly counter it in turn. Using an item while we’re immobilized would just be a waste.’

There was no good option. Any move he made would be met with a counter. Biting his lip, Walter made the hardest decision of his life.

“Priests! Focus your Cures and Heals on those resisting the poison! The ones with high resistance will break free of the field first! Move!”

—

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