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Chapter 102: Cal Rashya’s Paladin (1)

Seemingly done with its assessment, the creature dashed forward.

It’s fast!

Judging by its attire, is it a paladin?

For now, let\'s get its attention.

Black Bear, the highest-ranking member of the party, took a large step forward. He then planted his large shield, which covered his upper body, into the ground.

Thud.

"Defender’s Will! Intimidate!"

The skills he had cast simultaneously raised the defense of the entire party and increased his own aggro value.

Lynel drew a sword with its left hand and charged at Black Bear.

"Come at me!" Black Bear shouted.

Lynel closed in on Black Bear enough that if the two had been lovers, others would have thought that they would kiss.

Everyone was expecting a collision. However, after locking eyes for a mere half a second, Lynel suddenly soared upward.

"What?!"

"The floor’s moving? Damn it! Is this what the tiles are for?!"

"It’s moving to the back! I didn’t pull its aggro! Rear line, scatter and spread out!"

The blue flashing square tiles on the floor sprang up to form pillars, which Lynel then used to leap toward the back of the raid party.

Kai tilted his head as he watched the monster approach.

Why is it coming this way? We haven’t even used any skills yet.

In other words, he still hadn’t pulled any aggro!

"No way..."

Predicting the monster’s intent, Kai simultaneously shouted a brief warning and flung himself to the side.

"Dodge!"

Boom!

The creature\'s attack struck the ground!

Through the shattered and flying floor fragments, the cold gleam of the monster’s eyes could be seen in its helmet.

This thing only targets Clerics!

As chills ran down Kai’s spine, Lynel\'s left hand shot out to the side, leaving a huge hole in the chest of their party’s highest-level Cleric.

"Kugh!"

The sword that had pierced through the Cleric\'s flimsy defenses instantly took away 60% of his health.

"Dardane hyung!"

"Tanks! Pull the damn aggro!" Black Bear shouted from what had now become the rear of their formation. He was already closing in on Lynel.

"Over here, bastard!"

Lynel gave Black Bear a cold, uninterested glance as if looking at a persistent stalker. It then kicked him in the chest and charged at the Clerics again.

"Why is it only targeting Clerics?! Use your bodies to protect them!"

The tanks quickly gathered around the Clerics and formed layers upon layers of walls. However, their efforts proved futile.

Rumble.

“Huh?”

“What’s this vibration...?”

“The floor!”

Lynel seemed capable of controlling the floor of this level at will.

The highest-level Cleric, Dardane, was lifted into the air.

“N-no, stop!” Dardane shouted.

Ignoring him, Lynel launched itself off the ground and drew a clean cross in mid-air.

Slash, slash!

Dardane died without even being able to scream!

At that moment, the raid party stood on full alert.

This guy... intends to take out the Clerics first!

Does it understand the danger Clerics bring because it\'s a paladin?

There’s no reason for this monster to attack the Clerics and let the others hit it freely!

While Lynel had been ignoring everyone to chase after the Clerics, their damage dealers had steadily chipped away 4% of its health. Nevertheless, it still charged at another Cleric, unconcerned.

“H-help me!” their second highest-level Cleric screamed.

Any Cleric would react the same way when a level 160 boss monster targeted them.

“Wizards! Bind it!”

“S-Slow Field!”

“Entangle!”

“Binding Chains!”

Several movement restriction spells covered Lynel.

However...

—An Daros!

Lynel, despite having a dullahan\'s body, was also a paladin! It wasn’t easy to slow down a monster that removed status effects as soon as they were applied.

There must be a way...

Black Bear\'s mind raced. He tried to think of a way to stop a monster that ignored taunt skills from attacking the clerics!

“Shit! This is do or die!” Gritting his teeth, Black Bear unequipped his weapon and shield. “Tanks, grab Lynel! Give the damage dealers space to hit it!”

It was a decent on-the-fly decision.

With the tanks clinging to its arms, legs, and neck, Lynel stopped for a moment. However, it suddenly sank.

—Limb Gaurdo!

The blue-glowing tiles on the floor twisted and swatted away the tanks clinging to him like flies. At the same time, Lynel raised its helmet high, and a summoning circle appeared around it.

[Lynel has summoned Skeleton Knights.]

“Shit! It has a summoning pattern too!”

Despair spread across Black Bear\'s expression. Facing Lynel was already overwhelming in itself. Adding five Skeleton Knights to the fray made the situation significantly worse.

But Skeleton Knights are...

At least there was a silver lining!

However, before they could sigh in relief, a black light flared up from the ring on Lynel\'s left hand.

Vrrrrm!

Sticky darkness emerged from the floor and enveloped the Skeleton Knights.

Then, a new message appeared.

[Lynel has used the Knighted skill.]

[By the power of Lynel, the Skeleton Knights are appointed Dullahans.]

"No way...!"

Lynel’s ambitious move completely crushed the raid party\'s morale.

"Black Bear, this is just..."

We don\'t think this is possible.

Although they didn\'t say those words out loud, they filled everyone’s minds.

The situation was that dire.

—... Ra Degare.

As commanded, the five dullahans charged at the tanks.

Finally freed, Lynel once again targeted the Clerics, scattering death with its sword.

"Argh!"

"I-I’m sorry, I’ll see y’all back at base."

The Clerics fell one after another. Unable to withstand Lynel’s overwhelming attacks, even their main healers perished after a few strikes.

Having defeated all the clerics, Lynel now only had one target left—Kai.

Kai let out a sigh mixed with a bitter laugh.

"Haha. Right... when did I ever take the easy road..."

Kai had hoped that he would have an easier time while getting boosted! Having no such luck, he quickly checked his skill window.

Undying Will is still on cooldown for a few days, so I only have one life.

Kai swiftly scanned the battlefield.

Six tanks are dealing with the dullahans. Black Bear alone is handling three.

For now, Black Bear was holding his ground. Even without a healer, he likely wouldn\'t collapse easily. However, if they failed to kill Lynel, then it would only be a matter of time before even the tanks were eliminated!

Kai put away the cleric\'s mace, which he had equipped merely for appearances, into his inventory.

"So I have to run around like a lunatic, huh?"

Meanwhile, as Lynel chased him, the damage dealers would keep attacking it and hopefully kill it.

This race against death could last hours!

Kai couldn\'t stop himself from trembling.

Maybe I\'m losing my mind too.

His amusement was drowning away his fear.

Pulling his hood lower to hide his rising smile, Kai shouted, "I’m gonna run now!"

He let out a sudden declaration of escape!

With all eyes on him, Kai pointed at Lynel.

"I\'ve always been great at running. Even if it takes an hour or two, I\'ll keep running—"

Crack!

Instead of waiting for Kai to finish, Lynel lunged forward and thrust its sword at him, an act that perfectly grasped the poorest combat etiquettes!

Nevertheless, Kai rolled away and dodged the attack. He then sprang up like a Weeble to finish his sentence.

"So you can just focus on taking down that monster, dealers."

***

Crack, crack.

Black Bear\'s shield repeatedly struck down on the last dullahan\'s chest. Only then did it transform into polygons.

"Phew..."

Even though they had defeated all the dullahans, the tanks didn\'t show any joy. Instead, they stared blankly into space, looking somewhat lost.

Rumble, rumble!

Anyone visiting Las Vegas was bound to pass by a famous hotel called Bellagio at least once. In front of that hotel was a huge artificial lake that held a spectacular fountain show every fifteen minutes—just like now.

Splash, splash, splash!

Seemingly putting on a fountain show, the blue tiles on the floor continuously rose in an attempt to restrict Kai\'s movements and assist Lynel in killing him.

However, they hadn\'t managed to stop Kai even once in the past hour and twenty minutes.

Left, right, left, left.

Kai ducked to dodge the sword coming from behind as he quickly scanned the floor ahead.

Flash, flash.

The floor tiles that would rise next quickly flashed blue.

With that in mind, Kai moved like a whirlwind, dodging all the rising tiles.

Right. Even though the Pegasus guys are a bit much, they won’t create a dungeon that can’t be beaten.

Even so, even if they were presented with the right strategy, only a few could actually execute it.

"... I have no idea how a Cleric is moving like that," Black Bear commented. He had been watching Kai\'s escape in a daze.

He was by no means exaggerating. On the contrary, he was certain that not even Usain Bolt could avoid attacks as well as Kai.

"W-well, he did participate in sprints during middle and high school sports events..."

Balter scratched his head, just as surprised,.

While Black Bear\'s desire to recruit Kai grew, Lynel finally said, [Stop!]

It was an actual dialogue, not an incantation! It must have felt extremely frustrated to say something like that.

The tanks watching felt awkward.

Kai, the target, also turned back in surprise.

"... You can talk?"

—Yes. Now, stay still and accept your judgment.

"Is that sword in your left hand the judgment you speak of by any chance?"

—Accept it.

"Kiss my ass."

Rumble!

With their unproductive conversation over, the fierce chase resumed.

Although equally surprised, the damage dealers kept bombarding Lynel with attacks.

"Piercing Arrow!"

"Ice Spear!"

"Electric Ball!"

Just when everyone else had given up, the only Cleric under level 100 in their party held on to their last thread of hope. Since then, he had been tirelessly running around for over an hour.

Embarrassed, the other raid party members pushed their focus to its limits.

Boom!

Rumble!

Crackle!

Every skill that the damage dealers fired hit its mark. With each successful hit, they became even more excited!

... Lynel only has 3% HP remaining now!

Cornered, Kai finally stopped running.

Flash, flash.

The blue tile under his feet flashed.

I should have just enough health. Time to take a gamble.

Kai glared at Lynel.