Chapter 53

~ Guild War ~

SW/SW/SW

“Heh, we have no use of this stupid war. The victor has already been decided from the start,” Reeve let out a self-satisfied smirk as he watched the battle between two guilds atop a building. It looked like Travonka was sending out low-leveled players again, just like last time. How pathetic, considering their rank. Well, it couldn’t be helped since the guild master was cheating.

Suddenly there was a huge explosion far from his left. The sudden, deafening sound was enough to make him jolt.

“Oh, there she is! There SHE IS!!” the commentator cheered, “the infamous Torture Maiden is on rampage! Blasting 3 players at once with her spell! Holy shit, she’s summoned that dangerous, rotating spear! Anyone nearby better be on guard!”

“This will be a full frontal assault, don’t you think?” a female commentator spoke for the very first time.

“It seems like it. Both Muhehehe and Travonka have their best fighters charged head-on! I can’t help but feel intrigued! What would become of this area should they meet?! What kind of high-level battle would they perform?!”

Damn, they do talk too much, Reeve frowned in distaste. But they wouldn’t be in this place if they were as quiet as the dead. Looking at the hubbub in front of him, he thought that infiltration would be the best choice for a sure win. First, charging head on would attract unwanted attention. Second, the crystal had pretty low HP. A couple of attacks would destroy it pretty quickly.

He had explained that brilliant idea to his guild master, but unfortunately the stupid swine was way too confident with his guild’s manpower and believed that brute force was way better than sneaking like a rat.

Their way of thinking was clashing pretty badly.

Damn, it was all Shabu-Shabu’s fault for choosing such a crappy guild. And it was also his mistake to blindly follow his friend instead of double-checking the guild’s reputation.

He whistled when something exploded far ahead in a ruined coliseum. Judging by the color, it must’ve been a high-tier spell. It could be either Travonka mage or his own guild mage. In any case, it would be fun to look around. Who knew, he could find the said one-single use spell and use it to his advantage.

Reeve jumped down and begun spying…

0000

Victory for Travonka.

Maria held that determination close to her heart as she impaled a player with her spear. Without mercy she pushed him to the wall, letting the spinner do the rest. Thinking of nothing but victory, Maria ran after the ones who escaped to a coliseum, where several minutes later she emerged victorious.

Hiding behind a broken pillar, Maria cautiously looked around to see if it was safe to heal. She produced a high-grade healing potion from her inventory and brought it close to her mouth. But the enemy had no intention of ever letting her catch her breath. Maria frowned at the newcomers. One glance was enough for her to see that they were pay-to-win players.

She tsk-ed.

Maria dodged a fireball aimed to her with ease, her wings made her hard to hit. This time arrows and then throwing knives—she survived the relentless assault. Maria landed on the ground soundless, posing for deadly attacks.

“…got you,” a masculine voice from behind made her gasp. She evaded the sudden attack, but not without price. Her left arm got shredded from the skill he had used and was now dripping blood.

Out of nowhere, someone invoked a powerful thunder spell. Maria gritted her teeth and casted a protective barrier just in time before she was electrocuted to death. To her annoyance, several mages decided to interfere and each of them launched their most powerful spell with a clear intention of killing her right there.

Maria gasped in horror when the barrier cracked a little. Any more than this…

Suddenly one of the mages was killed by an unknown assailant. The assailant attempted to one hit kill another mage, but he missed the vital spot and left the mage badly wounded.

Maria’s barrier shattered and she was blown to a nearby wall. Quickly she flew before melee fighters could take advantage of her vulnerable position.

0000

“Holy cow! What the heck?!” the commentator’s shocked comment caught everyone’s attention. “Holy look at that! Isn’t that Azariel’s Aegis that guy’s wearing?!” he referred to the short haired youth in the decrepit coliseum. “Holy hell, how did he get that thing?”

“Where? Where?” asked the female commentator. “I can’t see—oh, there he is! Gosh, you’re right! That’s the Aegis! Oh~ let me check my equipment guide! I want to get that armor, too!” she opened her key item and read the guide. Several minutes later she frowned, “…this is weird. Are my eyes gone blind or is the aegis unobtainable at the moment?”

“It is unobtainable, you silly,” he muttered. “That’s why I asked.”

“Gosh! That means we’re the first to discover this… this interesting stuff!”

“Riight~!” the male announcer sang, “so that means Travonka will have to withdraw from this guild war! Too bad, but we won’t allow cheater into this sacred area, isn’t that right?”

“Yep, pretty damn right!” she cheered.

0000

“What the hell?” a knight voiced his disbelief when he heard the two commentators spoke. Then he stared at the person in question, “You… cheated? Those two said so!”

The accused said nothing. His quiet stare was unnerving.

“Damn, you Travonka are full of cheaters! First your Guild Master and then this guy!” he roared to Maria, who landed soundlessly to the ground. She paid him a menacing glare, which he answered as menacingly.

Then he laughed, “Oh, well. Not that it matters to me. You’re soon gonna be disqualified, anyway. Although it was kinda short, it was a fun fight. Don’t blame me. Blame your Guild Master and that guy.”

Maria stared disbelievingly at the new member of Travonka. Who would have thought that he was a cheater? This Guild War… this was a very important event for Travonka. To have that new member destroyed their dream, DPS’ dream…

Maria gritted her teeth.

…how unforgivable…

0000

All said and done, Travonka had lost the battle and have to wait for the next guild war to once again challenge the higher ranking guild. It was truly a humiliating battle and ended with Kail’s membership revoked.

“…no hard feelings,” DPS flatly murmured as he banned Kail from ever joining Travonka. “Seems that you lied to me about that armor. Are all of you items cheat, too?”

“I told you the truth, didn’t I?” Kail asked back. He wasn’t lying. The armor had been on his body ever since he had awoken in that dreary throne room.

Maria glared at him. Her hostility was at its peak, evident in her poison-laced tone, “I hope you will never set your foot here ever again. You have dirtied Travonka’s name.”

Kail had a staring match with Maria for quite a while before he spoke, “It’s fine. I was just fulfilling my promise, after all. And with this, I’m done.”

How he hated women. They were all the same. Hilda, Maria… they were all the same.

Kail turned on his heels and marched towards the exit. Now that the guild war was taken care of, his shoulders felt lighter somehow. It was as if his burden had disappeared into thin air, never to come back.

“Look, it’s the cheater!” someone said as he walked along the hallway.

“He’s still on? I thought he had been banned already!”

“…I don’t like how he got everything so easily while we had to grind to get rare equipments! It’s not fair…”

“Damn cheater. Die already, noob!”

Kail ignored them all. Those humans… they did not worthy of his attention. More importantly, he had to go home. Hathor said there would be a strategic meeting for the next Friday. If it could dramatically increase his chance of survival, Kail wouldn’t miss it.

…but how to go home…?

He slapped his face. God, he didn’t even know how to change continent. Moreover, he didn’t even know where his home supposed to be! He probably should call that whore, but she said she was in the middle of a massage and would like to be left alone.

Damn! Who cared about that stuff? He was his king!

“E-Excuse me…?” Kail turned around to see an elf with unusual hair color—auburn. Kail looked up to see her name—Veria.

…somehow he felt that he knew it…

“…what do you want?” he did not feel bad for being too rough. He hated women and that was final.

“I saw your fight earlier…” she meekly murmured, “…I want to be as strong as you.”

Kail stared at the girl for a while and turned on his heels.

“W-Wait…!” the elf ran after him. She was struggling to keep a steady pace against his powerful stride. “I’m new to this game and I’d like some help!”

“Isn’t Alice good enough for you?” he was referring to the newbie guide.

“She is. I’ve finished the tutorial, but I barely able to understand things. To be honest, I’m not a gamer… I didn’t even know what I was going to ask Alice…”

Kail frowned at that. Not a gamer, huh? That certainly was familiar. Elvaria used to say the same thing.

“…why me? You see those players with high-level armor? They are better than me. Besides, I’m a cheater. Why would you ask a cheater to help you?”

“…um, those players are scary… Someone shooed me earlier, saying that I’m a nuisance, but… but I just want to ask for help.”

“What? Help on leveling you up?”

She shook her head, “No. I can manage that on my own. I just need guidance about things related to this game, such as EXP, status…”

Kail stopped in his track to turn around. The elf yelped at the sudden stop and bumped into him. Quickly she took a step backwards to give him some space. Kail narrowed his eyes, “…you mean you need a guide just like Alice, not a party member?”

“…um, I don’t know what a party member is, but yes that’s right. I can google everything, but I think it’d be better to be explained by a more experienced player… Please, I promise I won’t bother you! Just private messages!”

“Do as you like,” Kail sent her a friend request, which was instantly accepted. Great, one more useless thing in his friend list…

“Hmm, making friends?”

Kail turned his head sharply towards the source of voice and his eyes widened. Standing beside him was Hathor herself.