“Kukuah. Keahhh!”

Hoonie—who was in a black robe—threw his head back and laughed till his heart’s content.

For a pleasant thing that it was, Hoonie was laughing.

Canoel who was right next to him narrowed his eyes and said.

“Keahhh what huh? You have a bit of a strange concept.”

Hoonie responded.

“Ah what? Warlocks always laugh wickedly. Didn’t you see me smile wickedly just a while back?”

Canoel just sighed and turned away his head.

“Uh, I shouldn’t have spoken to you.”

Ian smiled looking at Canole who was shaking his head.

“In a day or two. Let’s see the video. This is really a jackpot.”

Canoel and Hoonie gathered closer to Ian.

Hoonie who was standing behind Ian spoke.

“Keukk, Ian hyung is the wickedest of all. Hyung you should have been a warlock.”

Canoel who seemed to like that said.

“Wouldn’t you be stuck in the 2nd rank if that happens?”

Hoonie pouted at what Canoel said.

“Boo…”

The three of them who had been working hard for quite a while, squatted down and watched something very intently.

Right in the center of the three was a large crystal ball filled with dark energy.

The thing they were looking at was made by Hoonie’s black magic.

“Oh, this doesn’t have any color. It would’ve been more fun to see it with color…”

Canoel laughed and responded to Hoonie’s grumbling.

“Try doing a colorectal surgery for Kaka.”

“If that could be done, then I would really do it. I’m forced to see something very interesting in black and white.”

They were looking through Kaka’s eyes which was black and white.

Inside the crystal ball, there were a few Asmodians who were fighting with a Balrog.

It was easy to guess who those Asmodians were, they were the union party of the Royal Guild and the DarkRuna Guild of Martin and Irahan.

They were seeing the suffocation of the Asmodians!

If there was anything interesting then, that was a spectacle to watch.

“I was the one who thought of it, but I’m starting to feel a little bad for them…?”

Hoonie’s expression changed after hearing Ian’s mumbling.

“Ha… hyung let’s talk about heartless acts, shall we?”

“Hey don’t say that, I have always been a very heartfelt person.”

“Noel hyung this sound like someone who drank the wrong potion would say.”

Unlike the two who have been bantering like kids, Noel who had been watching the crystal ball called Ian over.

“Hyung, it looks like it’s about to finish. What should we do? Should we still continue to watch?”

Ian who moved his attention to the ball got up from his seat.

“Gentlemen, get ready to go down.”

Seeing it, both Hoonie and Canoel rose from their seats.

“Okay!”

“Nice, should we go and harvest?”

It was a well-known fact for them that Martin and Irahan’s party would be wiped out, which meant that going down at the right moment was necessary.

It was because they didn’t plan on giving the Balrog any time to recover.

Ian and his party were hiding on the second floor of the Tomb of the Forgotten Soul. They moved to the first floor after collecting the crystal ball.

* * *

‘Shit, shit!! I’m not able to move!’

Irahan had been fighting someone without a break.

He was fighting an enemy that was able to bounce off any attack each time he swung his sword!

However, he was moving against his will, but it wasn’t the opponent who was the problem.

Irahan had an overwhelming desire to cry.

‘How long has this been going on?’

While Irahan was swinging his sword, all the other members of the DarkRuna guild were dying.

“Sh*t! What are you wizards doing? Cast your spells faster!”

“The casting won’t be effective with someone right in the front! I’m still pouring in the magic for casting!”

“Priests! Where are the priests?”

“They are gone!”

“Damn it!”

More than 70% of the party members who were involved in the battle against a single Balrog had been wiped out.

The remaining members were fighting the Balrog while it was using its ‘Soul Encroachment’ ability.

Thankfully the party members didn’t die even after the initiation of the Soul Encroachment, but their opponent turned invincible because of that ability and was almost impossible to defeat.

It was a desperate situation.

The Balrog didn’t have much vitality left, but due to the use of the Soul Encroachment, the whole situation turned around.

Specifically, Irahan, the strongest runner in the party was caught up in the Soul Encroachment, which made it impossible for the party to better their situation.

“Euahhhh-!”

Kaboom-!

With a single swing of the Balrog’s paw, one of the wizard from the DarkRuna Guild immediately died.

Irahan wasn’t able to move but was able to witness the situation very clearly, which made it much more annoying and painful for him.

‘Shit! Who the hell made the Balrog get 16 crazy buffs like this?’

The Balrog still had 3 to 4 buffs remaining, and there was nothing Irahan could do.

There was nothing humanly possible for Iarahn to do in that situation.

He saw the very last member of the guild die in front of his eyes.

He wanted to tear off the guild union and go back, but that was impossible to do because the scroll needed a large-scale return.

That was probably the worst situation that one could even imagine to be in.

The only thing which was comforting Irahan was that he had been doing much better than Martin who seemed like he would die in an instant.

‘Uh… I wasn’t so intimidated in the beginning so I thought that I could catch him…!’

It was a very painful blunder on their part, all their 6 tankers died the moment the battle started.

If it wasn’t for it, they shouldn’t have failed in hunting the Balrog.

‘We are divided…!’

At that time, a system message popped up in front of Irahan eyes.

[You have been in the ‘Soul Encroachment’ for more than 60 seconds]

[Due to the ability, your visibility will dim little by little]

Irahan smiled to himself.

‘So this is how the 1st rank will fly away from me…’

At the end of the Soul Encroachment, an opponent would have their vitality decrease to 1%.

They would be forced to be in a ‘stunned’ state for 3 minutes, and it wouldn’t have been such a problem if a priest with good control had been there.

Unlike the ability of ‘Soul Encroachment’, the basic state ‘Stunned’ was something that could be recovered with a priest’s disarming skill.

If a priest with good control was present, he or she could disable and restore the lost vitality of a user as quickly as possible.

However, the problem was that there wasn’t a single priest who was still standing from Irahan’s party.

The moment the Soul Encroachment came into play, everyone was trampled by the Balrog’s feet which made it hard for anyone to survive.

[‘Soul Encroachment’ lasts for 21 seconds.]

[‘Soul Encroachment’ lasts for 20 seconds.]

Irahan had completely resigned from the battle and was thinking of coming back here with a more relaxed mind.

Coming back to the 15th division would be benefiting since they already understand the attack patterns of the Balrog, so there wouldn’t be a need for anyone to be sacrificed the next time.

‘When we come back to try again, I wouldn’t bring the useless Royal Guild,’

And soon with the Soul Encroachment coming to end, Irahan collapsed onto the floor of the dungeon.

Thud-

[Soul Injury has been canceled, but you are in a state of ‘Stun’ for 3 minutes due to the shock.]

Irahan thought that he would die in the Hands of the Balrog any moment now.

He only had 1% of his vitality remaining. There was nothing else he could do but to die.

However, he heard some weird sound from behind him.

‘What? Aren’t all the party members been wiped out…? Did any reinforcements come?’

In that situation, the only thing that Irahan could see was the stone floor of the dungeon.

It was because he was on the floor—stunned.

There was no way he could turn his head due to the ‘Stun’, and he didn’t know what was happening apart from the fact that the Balrog had been fighting someone.

At least Irahan was under the impression that someone had been fighting the Balrog. He was thinking that they were probably reinforcement from the DarkRuna or the Royal guild.

‘Yeah! The reinforcements are here! They must be the ones!’

If the so-called reinforcements were able to kill the Balrog, then it was going to be a dramatic end for them after all.

Irahan’s heart was beating fast with excitement.

‘No one is giving out orders, but they are performing so beautifully? Is it Hemmerson? Or maybe Karyon? I’m not sure who it is, but the guy who decided to call for reinforcements needs to get a good prize. The legendary amulet will probably do.’

Kwkwang-! Bang-!

“Ly, Kaizer! Let’s finish it!”

Kwah-!

He could hear vibrant string voices.

Irahan was trying to guess what guild they were from.

‘Who are Ly and Kaizer? It’s my first time hearing those names…’

After a while.

Irahan who was knocked onto the floor heard the sound of the Balrog falling onto the floor.

Kuong-!

Irahan who heard the sound made fists with both of his hands.

Well, he couldn’t actually make fists because he was Stunned.

‘Done! Now I need to get back up!’

Around 50 seconds later, ‘Stun’ had been released, and Irahan quickly rose to see the fallen Balrog.

However, none of the support party had a priest class so his vitality couldn’t be recovered.

Irahan was feeling uneasy.

‘Maybe, they aren’t reinforcement from our guild… From the Royal guild maybe?!’

But just right then.

Irahan heard a sound from the distance.

Bbbook- bubbook- Bbook-

He didn’t understand what it was but, Irahan was feeling nervous.

‘What… what? This strange sound!’

The strange sound was getting closer as time passed.

Bbook- Bbokbbook-!

Irahan instinctively checked the duration of the ‘Stun’.

[Stun – 23 seconds left]

‘Ah, I don’t want to wait for another 23 seconds!’

Irahan who couldn’t make out the source of the sound was getting scared.

The strange sounds stopped.

He could now hear a conversation.

“Master! He seems to be alive Bbook!”

“Huh? Still alive?”

“Yeah, Bbbok! Alive Book!”

Irahan wanted to scream.

‘Yeah, I’m still alive! I want to live!’

At that very next moment, Irahan was already feeling despair.

“Then step on him!”

“Okay bbook!”

Darkness suddenly came down on Irahan.

Bbook-

[Fatal Damage received.]

[Vitality has been reduced by 1.]

[Your life has been exhausted. You’re now falling into the state of ‘death’.]

Not knowing their identity, Irahan turned into a cold carcass.