Episode 87
087. Sword Forest
The affable, hearty smile had vanished long ago from the man. To this man, golden hand asked:
“Where did you get the Monster Lure Incense?”
“H-how did you…! This bastard knows everything! Kill this son of a—”
“Tia, eat.”
— Tii-yat!
Before the man could even finish his sentence, Tia, perched on Geumson’s shoulder, shot towards him like a beam of light.
And then.
Crunch— Crunch—
Crunch— Crunch—
The weapon the man had drawn. It was already half gone, disappearing into Tia’s stomach.
“Wh-what? Wh-what is this…?”
The man watched his weapon being eaten before his very eyes. While he was staggering in disbelief at the unbelievable sight, golden hand slowly walked towards him, uttering just one word.
“Disarm.”
[The target’s armor is being removed.]
Clatter—
With his armor removed, his upper body was exposed. Dozens of red and blue points shone clearly upon it.
CRACK—!
[Weak point strike successful.]
[Critical hit confirmed.]
[‘Infinite Chain Strike’ activated! Final damage increased by 10%!]
[Hostile player has been eliminated.]
“First one.”
A message popped up as golden hammer sank into the skull of the man who had been laughing heartily. The members of the Arachne Guild watching this seemed unable to comprehend the situation. Understandably so, because it was an utterly surreal scene.
“Wh-what… what did I just see?”
“A little bird ate the weapon, and then the boss took off his armor!”
“What kind of bullshit is that! Unless the boss has gone mad… R-retreat!”
CRACK—!
[Hostile player has been eliminated.]
“Second.”
[‘Infinite Chain Strike’ 5th consecutive hit! Final damage increased by 50%!]
[Hostile player has been eliminated.]
.
.
.
There was no time to read the popping-up messages. While the opponents were confused, he had to take down as many as possible. Momentum was crucial when facing multiple foes.
“Fifth.”
By the time about five Arachne Guild members had fallen, one of them shouted. He seemed to hold some rank.
“He’s alone! Don’t panic! Maintain distance! Hit from afar! Use ranged skills!”
At that moment, the Arachne Guild members seemed to regain their composure. A shower of skills instantly poured down on golden hand. Ranged magic, magic-infused arrows, poisoned daggers, etc. Any and all ranged attacks were aimed at golden hand.
BOOM—
BOOM BOOM—
The area around golden hand caved in as if struck by a meteor, sand and dust billowing up. The corners of the Arachne members’ mouths began to twitch upward. Unless the opponent was someone like Kang Moo-jin, survival was impossible. They seemed convinced.
“D-did we get him?”
“Wait!”
“Wait for what? We got him! Ah, to get spooked by some nobody…”
Before he could finish his sentence.
A single shadow burst through the cloud of sand and dust. That shadow uttered just one word.
“Sixth.”
BOOM—
golden hand had already used the ‘Inviolable’ skill before the attacks hit. For 15 seconds, golden hand was invincible. He took no damage. The billowing sand and dust, on the contrary, limited the enemy’s vision. Such environmental conditions only helped golden hands.
‘Dark Vision activate, Perception of Boundaries!’
The effect on his helmet, securing vision even in darkness, activated. Followed by golden hands skill activation. Perception of Boundaries. He activated it more precisely using magic.
[Consuming magic to mark hostile targets within visual range.]
Linked with the system map, even within the sand cloud, the vivid silhouettes of enemies became visible. Not to mention ‘Resolute Intuition’ and ‘Insight of the Veins,’ which had been active all along.
With the three skill effects overlapping, he began to see the enemies’ weak points even within the thick sand cloud. As clearly as if there were no sand at all.
‘Good.’
Geumson was surprised by the skill synergy, but he didn’t even have the leisure to marvel at it. Before this sand settled. He intended to end the battle before that.
“Gahk—!”
“Wh-where! Where did that come from—ack!”
“I-I can’t block it! What level is that golden handed bastard! This doesn’t make sense! Damn it!”
An unstoppable runaway locomotive. golden hand hammer seemed just like that. With each swing, golden hand’s Infinite Chain Strike grew stronger. No player present could withstand its impact.
“This wasn’t part of the deal! What kind of monster is thi—”
CRACK—!
[All hostile players have been eliminated.]
[Achievement: Villain Hunter]
[You have defeated 20 or more players in a single battle.]
[The system is intrigued by your tenacity in seeking out villains to prey upon and your overwhelming violence.]
[Effect 1: Probability of detecting the location of evil-aligned players increases by 50%.]
[Effect 2: Item drop rate from defeating evil-aligned players increases by 100%.]
As the message appeared, the sand dust settled. The only one standing intact on the desert where the sand had settled was golden hand. The only traces of the Arachne Guild members were the items they dropped upon death.
‘Villain Hunter? 100% drop rate! Not bad.’
From now on, whenever he defeated an evil-aligned player, they would definitely drop some item. golden hand, who knew more villains that needed to be dealt with than anyone else, found this a very welcome effect.
“Walker, gather it all up.”
“Wooalker! G-gather! Gather all!”
— Tiat!
[You have acquired Monster Lure Incense.]
[You have acquired Arachne Communicator.]
[You have acquired Nightspider Silk Vest (Legendary).]
[You have acquired Snare Hand Crossbow (Unique).]
[You have acquired Soundless Shadow Boots (Unique).]
.
.
.
golden hand had ended the battle in an instant, without even giving Iron Walker or Tia time to act. He had considered sparing one or two. But he soon shook his head. They weren’t the type to give proper answers even if spared and questioned about their backers.
‘They must have been hired by someone…’
The Arachne Guild. They were definitely a scummy guild in Lepyon, specializing in destruction, assassination, disruption—the work of the back alleys.
But they had one unbreakable rule: They only moved upon receiving a commission. The Arachne Guild did not act without a request.
“A Legendary item…”
Among the items Iron Walker was harvesting, a Legendary-grade item was visible. It seemed the client who commissioned this Arachne Guild had deep pockets. Then, Walker seemed to pick up an interesting item.
“Walker? Wooalker?”
Iron Walker scratched its head as it brought something to Golden Hand. The moment he took it, a message popped up.
[You have acquired ‘Arachne Guild’s Secret Orders’.]
Geumson read the orders without hesitation. Perhaps he could find out information about the client.
[…In the name of the great Sword Forest , plunge Airtos into chaos. Additional compensation will be provided based on the degree of disorder in Airtos…]
“Sword Forest…?”
golden hand repeated the name. In his past life, after the server merger in Lepione, it was China that sought to swallow up Korean territory. And Sword Forest was one of the major blood alliances that ‘worshipped’ the absolute ruler of the Chinese server, the Heavenly Demon .
The Sword Forest Guild, which should still be quietly building power under the Heavenly Demon. That name had inexplicably appeared in the Arachne Guild’s secret orders.
‘Are they already starting with this kind of interference?’
A rough picture formed in his mind. It seemed China’s Sword Forest had been planning this for a while. While most Korean players were frantically focused on growth, Sword Forest had been silently, steadily completing a grand scheme. A plan to shake the Korean server and swallow it whole.
‘China is already preparing for the server merger… and the Arachne bastards are just following along for the money. Infuriating.’
The Arachne bastards must have known this commission came from China’s Sword Forest. Yet they accepted it. With the name ‘Sword Forest’ blatantly written in the orders, they couldn’t not know.
‘Blinded by money. Or perhaps, had no choice?’
A bitter feeling washed over golden hands. They probably couldn’t refuse the sweet cash Sword Forest offered. They didn’t know what consequences their current actions would bring when Lepione became reality.
golden hand sat still on the scorching sand, lost in thought. The monster wave was already unstoppable. Even at this moment, the red concentric circles surrounding Airtos were becoming clearer. But he had no intention of sitting idly by and playing into the schemes of China’s Sword Forest Guild either.
‘Things won’t go according to your plans.’
golden hand made a decision. The enemy wanted to move in secrecy. Then golden hand would do the opposite; he would move openly. With nothing hidden, completely transparent.
golden hand accessed ‘Repinet’ through Repion system. And began writing a post.
[The King is dead.]
[The King of the Netherworld has been defeated.]
[A player’s treason has succeeded.]
[You have solo-hunted the King of the Netherworld.]
[The system is silent before this unbelievable achievement.]
[This achievement cannot be disclosed.]
.
.
.
System messages popped up insanely. Before this overwhelming cascade of messages, the man’s expression remained nonchalant. He seemed indifferent even after soloing the King of the Netherworld, a being on par with the Nightmare King.
“As expected of the Heavenly Demon! Even that thunderous brute Kang Moo-jin from Korea, before the Heavenly Demon…”
“Shut up, Liu Wei. The strong deserve respect.”
“Ah, y-yes, that…”
Liu Wei, the guild master of China’s Sword Forest. Even he, the leader of a massive organization, could only kneel before the Heavenly Demon—this incomprehensible man—unable to even meet his gaze.
