Had they ever been hunted? If someone asked them this, the Blood Carnival members would answer ‘NO.’ They had always reigned at the top of the food chain. At least, until yesterday.

“Pant... Pant...! What are these monsters?”

Blood Carnival’s Marty’s face was white with terror. He was afraid because he’d accumulated a lot of infamy and now met enemies stronger than him.

‘I have to somehow escape.’

The loss of items was more fearful than the experience loss. The items he currently possessed were so expensive that half the money he earned in the past half a year would be blown away.

“...Now!”

A boy swordsman called Ibellin. At this moment, the mercenaries hired for an expensive amount approached and Ibellin turned his gaze towards the arrow coming from the rear.

Syuok!

Marty accurately measured the timing and threw the bomb. It was a homemade bomb and its power was greater than single-target A-grade magic. Marty had raised his passive skill ‘Intermediate Bomb Throwing’ to level 9, so the throwing speed and accuracy of the bomb were excellent.

Peeeeeong!

The bomb exploded where Ibellin was standing. The power of the explosion couldn’t be ignored. Beyond the transparent wall surrounding Siren, the waves surged.

‘Perfect!’

He did it properly. Ibellin would definitely fall into a stunned state from this damage.

‘Should I finish it off?’ Marty thought about it for a moment. ‘I shouldn’t waste time catching a kid.’

Wasting time meant he could be targeted by other Overgeared members. Marty decided to flee and had only taken two steps.

“It hurts. Don’t you have a great deal of attack power?”

Ibellin’s voice was heard from right next to him.

‘This bastard...!’

He resisted the stunned state from the bomb and instantly caught up with Marty? Marty observed the accessories Ibellin was wearing and spat out a small bomb that had been inserted between his molars. It was a bomb the size of a bean. It was accurately shot at Ibellin’s’ face. But before it hit.

Puok!

Ibellin’s flamberge was faster as it pierced Marty’s brow.

“Kuk...! Shit!”

Marty was vulnerable before approaching. He was going to die like this.

‘But I won’t die alone!’ Marty smiled with satisfaction. ‘The bomb I spat will soon approach... What?’

Marty’s expression twisted. The small bomb that he launched earlier. He witnessed it split in half on the ground.

‘He stabbed me at the same time as cutting the bomb in half?’

Puk! Puk puk!

Ibellin’s flamberge pierced Marty again. Marty felt terrible pain as he cried out.

“This kid...! You’re only playing games without attending school! Why is your control so good...? Cough! Cough!"

“Ah really. Don’t you know that kids are originally good at playing games? And I’m now 18 years old.”

Ibellin lightly slashed Marty’s neck. Once Marty died, Ibellin checked the details of the paper he dropped and scratched his head.

“Unique rated bomb recipe... This is fairly expensive... Hrmm... I will give it to the alchemy facility.”

A boy with the aspiration to go beyond Kraugel and become the ultimate swordsman. He was one of the 10 Rookies and was growing steadily. It was as a member of Overgeared.

***

"Hey, does this make sense?”

Knox’s face was blank as he looked at the battlefield. The mercenaries that he hired were nothing more than sandbags in front of the Overgeared members.

“Why are the numbers like this?”

The army of 1,000 had decreased to less than 700. Scott explained to the bewildered Knox, "Katz is present. At least 100 people died because of him.”

“Katz? Blood Warrior?”

“Yes.”

“Why is he here?”

"It seems like he’s joined Overgeared.”

“Hah... Scary, scary.”

It was difficult to predict the scale that Overgeared would grow to. In particular, the power of the rumored farmer was beyond imagination. There was also the NPC called Asmophel.

"Wouldn’t it be better to talk to Master and persuade him to step on them early? It will be hard to keep them in check later.”

"Brother doesn’t want that. Guild wars are a form of extreme warfare, so it is more efficient to conquer NPCs and tax them.

"Right... As the Overgeared Guild is growing stronger, so are we. Well, we don’t have to be scared. Obtaining named NPCs is becoming a trend.”

"Yes, a farmer is a peasant without much room to grow. We don’t need to fret. Once the scale of the fight expands to a war, we will be victorious.”

Scott and Knox. They were people who served Ares, the ruler of the battlefield who was aiming at becoming the ‘emperor.’ The reason why they accompanied Blood Carnival was to keep a close eye on the rumored White and Black sisters.

"Now that we’re well aware of their skills, they no longer matter. We should go back to Brother now.”

"Wait. Can’t we fight a few members of Overgeared? I’d like to fight that person called Faker.”

“Grid, Piaro, and Asmophel. The three of them are dangerous. We should get out while we can. It’s possible that the person called Lauel can block all paths of retreat.”

“Keok, I understand.”

Scott and Knox hastened to leave. They suppressed the water clan soldiers who tried to block them, but didn’t kill any. Meaningless killing wasn’t the path they pursued.

***

“Fire Shield!”

Laella was using magic while Vantner protected her. As the first ranked fire magician and the one in charge of Reidan’s magic tower, she saw a wind blade flying towards her and hastily used defensive magic.

Peeng!

There was a shockwave as two spells collided. Then a woman could be seen beyond the flames. She was a woman with the ID Maika.

“Hehe, it’s pathetic to see a global idol playing games. What are you doing? Shouldn’t you be singing songs for your fans?”

Laella calmly replied to Maika’s sarcastic words. “This isn’t just a game. Satisfy is just as fun and precious as reality. Of course, that doesn’t mean I’m neglecting my fans. I refrain from appearing on air, but am steadily holding my concerts. Ah, I will be releasing a new song January of next year. Please look forward to it.”

“Bah! Who said I was your fan?”

Maika became angry when her taunt failed and cast a tornado spell. She planned to break through Laella, who seemed relatively easy among the Overgeared members, and leave the battlefield. But Laella wasn’t an opponent easily dismissed. She might seem weak among the Overgeared members, but the title of 1st ranked fire magician couldn’t be won by just anyone.

Pepepepeng!

Laella read the flow of the tornado and shot five arrows at the same time.

‘This is impossible!’

Maika was astonished. Laella used the direction of the wind to increase the force behind her fire arrows. Wind and fire could be used to complement each other depending on their use, and Maika was pushed by this.

"Kyaaaaak!"

Maiak screamed as she was swept up by the flames.

“You don’t need my help. You have grown, my Laella.” Jishuka looked at Laella in a happy manner while killing the enemies from above. Zednos, the 1st ranked wind magician, puffed up his chest proudly.

“Laella has been sparring with me every day. It’s a piece of cake for her to deal with wind magic.”

"Piece of cake? Isn’t that a Korean saying?” (TL: Korean saying translated loosely into an English equivalent)

"I’ve often heard Peak Sword say it... I was naturally influenced.”

“Hahat.”

A relaxed conversation. Someone might misunderstand the conversation as taking place between friends enjoying teatime. However, this was the battlefield filled with blood and screams. Jishuka and Zednos had killed over 100 enemies while laughing and talking.

‘Huge firepower.’

In the sky above. Grid, who was searching for prey using Fly, thought as he saw Jishuka and Zednos. In particular, he admired Jishuka’s attack power every time. He couldn’t deny that archers were the class with the strongest physical damage.

“I found you.”

Grid’s eyes shone again. Approximately 50 meters away from the battlefield. He found a rodent moving in a place filled with thick seaweed. The ID was extremely red, suggesting that he was a third advancement user of Blood Carnival.

“Give me your item!”

Grid was a complete thief. He was blinded by greed and started firing at random. He used Transcend, making his ranged attacks extremely powerful.

Kwa kwa kwa kwang!

A heavy bombardment of energy blades shattered the ground. Garuda, who was moving through the overgrown seaweed, barely managed to overcome the crisis by using a defensive skill. No, he thought he was safe.

‘When...?’

Grid kept swinging the sword like crazy in the sky. This guy, how long was he going to keep shooting the energy blades?

‘Is his mana infinite...?’

Garuda couldn’t even imagine that this was an ‘autoattack’ skill. He hoped that the bombardment would be over, while an unexpected person near him saw the opportunity and waited.

‘Damn Grid!’

The person with a hostile attitude to Grid was Tarma. It was the assassin who participated in the National Competition to assassinate Kraugel, only to be smashed by Grid and Kraugel in a row.

'It’s your fault that I was disgraced!’

During the target processing. Tarma had a chance to assassinate Kraugel. But he was interrupted by Grid and killed in a matter of seconds, causing a big shock to his spirit.

‘After that, I eventually lost to Kraugel...!’

His colleagues kept teasing him. His face turned red and his heart was empty when he watched the ‘Tarma 2 seconds’ video floating around on the Internet. He wanted to hide in a mouse hole.

‘I will get revenge!’

Tarma calmed his heart and looked for an opportunity. He seized the moment when Garuda died and Grid was picking up his item. It was complete carelessness!

‘Go!’

Sururuk.

Tarma moved without a sound and took control of Grid’s rear. The moment that his dagger was aimed for Grid’s neck.

[You have died.]

‘What?’

He was dead?

‘Why?’

When? By who? What was this? As the confused Tarma’s vision turned grey, the name ‘Faker’ could be seen.

“Huh? What’s this?”

Grid was shocked when picking up the shoes that Garuda dropped. It was because he found another new item behind him. Euphemina ran up to him.

“The situation is roughly finished. An audience with the water clan’s king... Do you want to go see him with me?”

“Hrmm, I will see him.”

Most of the third advancement Blood Carnival members had died or disappeared, with only the mercenaries remaining on the battlefield. Grid was guided by Euphemina and headed to the royal palace.