Ark clenched his teeth as he lost a lot of health in a short time. They were between level 250-300. After hunting the Mould Zombies in the cave and collecting the materials, Ark reached level 366. When his dark attribute bonus was added, it came to level 549. That was more than 200 levels difference. However, there were 15 opponents. While he could defeat 20 monsters, the 15 users had a variety of skills. In addition, they were a band of thieves so PVP was their specialty. Their combat standard couldn’t be compared to that of monsters. Of course, he had defeated numerous users in Seutandal but even then it was 1 against 2~3. He also had a lot of supporters to reduce the enemy. However the only person fighting now was Ark. Buksil and Baekgu had their health depleted so they couldn’t help. No, Buksil and Baekgu would just be a hindrance even if they did fight.
‘No, Racard also can’t help.’
In the bandit group, there were archers and magicians. If it was monsters then Taunt could be used to scatter them but Taunt didn’t work on users. If Racard approached again then the long range attacks would hit him.
‘Damn, why did Buksil bring these guys……?’
He had no business with that group. If he had 20~30 people with him then defeating those 15 was possible. But the 15 people had a combination of professions so it was unreasonable to expect Ark to beat them.
‘I have to try and take advantage of the terrain features.’
Ark dodged the arrows without any breaks and swung his sword when there was a chance. Ark knew that the swamp was around here. The poisonous swamp and rotting trees made it a densely packed place. Those guys wouldn’t be able to ride their horses there.
‘The problem is escaping their encirclement.’
The thieves had surrounded Ark and Buksil and took turns attacking them. Whenever Ark made a move to penetrate the siege, the thieves just moved back and maintained the encirclement. They were good at fighting in a group.
‘But there is a way!’
“Racard, Blood Lane!”
At that moment, Racard’s eyes turned red and a huge amount of blood gushed out of his mouth, hitting the archers and magicians. It flowed up and covered a range of 10 metres like a rain shower. The descent of the cursed blood caused a large number of abnormal states! But the thieves had surrounded a large area so half of them weren’t affected.
‘But that is enough!’
“Eh? W-what it this?”
“My body is moving on its own. Confusion!”
“Damn, it is curse magic. Curse Cure!”
The eight thieves that had been affected by the blood wandered around in a confused and dazed state. The priests swiftly chanted a spell and released the curse but the formation had already become disordered.
“Oooooh, b……blood….b…..”
“Go home and eat. Racard summon released! Buksil, Baekgu, run!”
Ark sent Racard who was vomiting blood back and ran forward. Although two warriors hurriedly tried to stop him, there was no possibility of stopping Ark with the battle formation collapsed.
“Adol!”
Ark combined ‘Jump’ and ‘Dark Blade,’ flying forward like an arrow and slamming into the warriors. The warriors received a devastating impact and fell to the ground. Meanwhile Buksil and Baekgu had broken through the encirclement and entered the swamp. Baekgu had only been with them for a month but had already adapted. He used ‘Jump’ to reach the swamp and lost the thieves.
“Damn, that guy got away!”
“Eh, what is this? It’s a swamp?”
The thieves became confused as they came across the swamp. They were different from Baekgu who could use Jump and couldn’t move properly for fear of falling into the swamp.
“Okay. Buksil, you escape through the swamp for the moment.”
“Huh? What about Ark-nim?”
“I have something left to do.”
Ark turned his body and grinned. While the thieves got off their horses and regrouped, Ark wandered around and attracted the Mould Zombies.
“……I won’t let it go!”
“That guy has been caught by the zombies!”
“Catch that guy! The pig was hiding behind him before!”
“Damn, if only there wasn’t this swamp……”
“Arrows. Turn him into a hedgehog with arrows!”
The thieves gathered and instantly shot a barrage of arrows. However, Ark was immersed in using Dark Dance and reducing the health of the Mould Zombies. When Ark concentrated on his footwork, a message window appeared.
-Dark Dance has reached 70% completion and Dark Scale is activated.
When the percentage of completion for Dark Dance became higher than 70%, Dark Scale was automatically triggered! It consumed 500 mana but the effect was worth it. The 200~300 damage fell down to 120~180. His defense had increased by 30% but the actual damage reduction was 40%. It was because an additional damage was applied when the enemy’s damage was less than his defense. In addition, several arrows were reflected back to the archers. Thanks to that, the attack speed of the archers fell.
‘As expected, the 2nd profession skill is different.’
While Ark had decreased four Mould Zombies down to a critical condition, the thieves were running towards him after navigating the swamp.
“Oh, they’ve come just as I’ve finished the preparations. Riposte!”
Ark hit the Mould Zombies that had less than 2% health left with Riposte. Then the Mould Zombies flew towards the bandit group and exploded, releasing a white powder. It was the ‘Mould Spore Scattering’ that the Mould Zombies used when they died. The warriors who were affected by the spores for the first time wore a stupid expression.
“W-where did he go?”
“Eh? When did you get here? Take this!”
The warriors looked around restlessly and started to hit each other. They were affected by the ‘hallucinations’ of the white spores and saw their colleagues as Ark.
“Is this another curse magic? Curse Cure!”
The priests chanted a spell but the magic couldn’t break the spore’s effect.
“What are you doing? Wake up, you stupid people!”
After hearing their colleague’s voice, the warriors stopped attacking and stepped back. Nevertheless, they were under the effect of ‘hallucinations’ and couldn’t distinguish between Ark and his colleagues. The warriors couldn’t attack each other and started to confirm their colleague’s voices. But that was just the beginning.
“Hmm, the white mould has the weakest effect? Aren’t they lucky? But how long will their luck last? Now, let’s continue. Riposte, Riposte, Riposte!”
Ark gathered the Mould Zombies and shouted before blowing them away. It was a Mould Zombie bomb! The Mould Zombies’ bodies reached a critical point before exploding and scattering various spores. The white spores caused ‘hallucinations’ while the green mould caused ‘numbness.’ Then the worse mould spores appeared. It was the red spores which turned those affected into zombies! Three or four thieves were affected and their bodies started rapidly decaying.
“Damn, what the hell is this? Retreat, retreat!”
The thieves couldn’t withstand the Mould Zombie bombs and hurriedly withdrew. Then Ark’s eyes brightened and he attacked someone who was trying to run away. It was the reason why Ark bothered to fight the thieves. If he used the Mould Zombies then he could wipe out the group. But there was a reason he wanted to confront those guys.
‘Chaotic!’
It was because there were users with red names among the group. It was a bandit group so it would be strange if none of them were chaotic. But although they were a bandit group, some of them weren’t chaotic and only had a grey name. Only chaotic users could inflict the last blow safely. So it was common for chaotic users to be mixed in the group while the person in charge of PK would deal the last blow. If a bandit group had 100 people then only 10 of them would be chaotic. However, this group of thieves were a bit strange. The higher level a chaotic user was, the more severe the penalty. So it was common for the chaotic players to have the lowest level in the group. But in this bandit group, the leader Jepeteu was a chaotic user.
‘I’m very thankful.’
It wasn’t necessary to say it again, but there was a 10% chance of equipment dropping when hunting chaotic players. In other words, chaotic users were like a walking loot for him. These were the highest levelled PKers he had come across. Even if the least valuable item dropped, he would still be able to get at least a magic or rare item! Ark caught one person with the Saw blade where the others became confused.
“Heok, J-Jepeteu hyung-nim!”
“Jepeteu, I’m sorry but you’ll have to die.”
“What, what the? This bastard…..!”
Jepeteu’s face turned red and he swung his sword. But away from his colleagues, Jepeteu was just level 300. He was moderately strong when fighting with his group but had no chance in a 1 on 1 fight. In addition, he was still affected by the ‘numbness’ caused by the green mould. Ark continuously used his sword and kicks. Within 1 minute, Jepeteu had his face shoved into the swamp. There was a ringing sound and his helmet fell down.
‘Huhuhu, I got one item!’
Ark laughed and picked up the item. Then he heard cries from outside the swamp.
“Over there!”
‘Huk, what, what the? How many are there?’
Ark turned around and his face hardened. A huge number of users were raising a dusty cloud as they came from the other side. Yes, they were the subordinates of Jepeteu who Ark had defeated. There were dozens of them!
‘Are these the subordinates in his party? They have dozens of people so wouldn’t some of them be PKers? Anyway, it’ll be annoying if they come to the swamp. I can’t get any more items.’
“Radun, transform to Radunma!”
Ssak ssak, ssak ssak ssak ssak!
Radun transformed into the huge lizard and Ark ju