‘Phew………………..How did this happen?’
Lariette sighed and looked around. She was trapped in a carriage with dozens of the dead stared at the sky. Lariette stared at one of the deceased.
‘This must be him.’
She knew the identity of this deceased person. The reason she came to the Netherworld was because of the boy ghost. Thanks to Alan, she had to go to the Netherworld to rescue the soul of the Holy Knight……..at the gravestone, the boy ghost said that he would guide her to where the Holy Knight was. So she saw the deceased in front of her as soon as she entered the Netherworld. She could recognize the ghost of the Holy Knight with one look. Unlike the other deceased, he had a beautiful silver necklace hanging from his neck. But he remained silent no matter how much she used ‘Sensitive Soul.’ He just wandered around while drooling. Eventually, Lariette had no choice but to follow him. She didn’t know what would happened if he died because of monsters. So it was the first time she fought to protect others in the game. Therefore there were many things she had to learn that she was unaware of. But luckily, there were only wild animals in the forest that the dead were wandering around. Of course, some of them were strong monsters so she had to run away but she also learned new skills and raised her level. Then the Nakujuk clan came hunting the dead and caught her.
‘Now what?’
Sob, Sob.
Then, she heard some helpless cries from the side. After she was caught, a little boy was also captured.
“I’m afraid. I miss my grandfather.”
“It’s okay, it’ll be okay.”
Lariette soothed the boy as she hugged him.
“But my grandfather called the Nakujuk the most brutal of the Myutal clans. We’ll be eaten.”
“No it won’t. Didn’t you see? There are people trying to rescue us. That person won’t leave us like this. He’s probably already close by. No, I have no doubt that he is near.”
“R-really?”
“Yes, that person…….he is really strong.”
Lariette smiled brightly as she said that. Then, there was the sound of drums and the iron doors opened.
‘What on earth? This seems bad…….’
In the meantime, Ark had been looking down at the altar from the balcony. There were 200 members of the Nakujuk clan congregating around the altar. Then like a cult, the Nakujuk all bowed on the ground and chanted.
“Tamura!”
“The absolute Myutal!”
At that time, the iron doors on one side of the altar opened and someone emerged. It was a 10 metre giant. The giant wearing a robe crossed to the altar and shook a stick made of bone. Then he lifted back his hood, revealing red eyes and raised his stick.
“Finally the time has come!”
A red warning message floated in front of Ark.
-The boss monster, Master Necromancer ‘Tamura’ has appeared!
‘Boss monster!’
Just like he expected, there was a boss monster in the Abyss of Despair. Level 500. It would be a tough battle. Anyway, Tamura brandished his cane and made a grand speech.
“We have been living in the darkness for a long time. But now, our period of suffering and perseverance has ended. Today the power of the great darkness will be awakened! Using this power, the Nakujuk will once again rule the Netherworld.”
“Oh, Tamura!”
“In order to obtain the power to rule the Netherworld, we must grasp it using the Festival of Blood and Flesh! Then no one will be able to stop us! Behold, this is the crystal that contains the true darkness! The form of the God that we serve!”
Tamura forcefully struck the floor with his cane. Then a small area of the square disappeared. A form emerged from the endless darkness……..the dark shape moaned and began to squish together. An incredibly ominous aura swirled in the square. Tamura raised his head and looked at the sky through the open ceiling.
“Today is the first day of complete darkness to occur in 10 years! Even the celestial gods are swallowed by the darkness. This is the perfect opportunity to resurrect the darkness! Now, prepare the sacrifices!”
‘Huk, that is………!’
Ark abruptly flinched. The doors on the other side opened and the Nakujuk came in dragging 30 carriages. The deceased were trapped inside the carriage. And somewhere in the midst, the carriage that the Draken kidnapped contained Lariette and Bona.
“Start!”
At Tamura’s command, one of the carriages fell into a hole. After a moment, the black spirit bubbled up and swallowed them. With a violent sound, the dead people melted down and were absorbed in the darkness. At the same time, the aura became even more sinister.
‘What, what the? How am I going to do this?’
Ark became baffled. If he left Bona and Lariette trapped then they would soon fall inside the pit. Ideally he wanted to save Lariette but Bona was the more urgent problem. Although Lariette could resurrect, Bona was a NPC. It he died then the quest would fail. But he couldn’t just blindly jump into the square. There were 200 Nakujuk and the boss. No matter how strong he was, it wasn’t possible for Ark alone.
‘Dammit, why did he appear before I killed all the Nakujuk?’
After looking at the situation, it was obvious that Tamura appeared after certain conditions. This condition was probably midnight on New Year’s Eve. If he had killed all the Nakujuk before Tamura appeared then it might be possible to fight him. But now he had to deal with 200 Nakujuk and the boss monster.
‘Now I know why this is a B ranked quest. It is a party quest!’
Ark became gloomy. Did he have to give up on the quest and Lariette even though he came all the way here? It was at that time. Suddenly he stumbled and a warning message appeared.
-‘Stealth’ has been released thanks to a Ranger’s ‘Sixth Sense.’
-You have received a critical hit from ‘Precise Shot.’ Damage 400!
‘Huk, what, what the?’
Ark panicked and turned his head.
“As I expected, ‘Sixth Sense’ turned it off.”
“Ark……….No, isn’t it Dark Wolf?”
“Since you’re alone, have all your colleagues died? How disgraceful, peeping while hiding your form……..”
Ark became even more confused.
“Y-you……..what are you guys doing here?”
“Did you think you would never see us again?”
Amazingly, it was Duke, Jewel and some of the Hermes guild lined up behind Ark. Of course, Ark realized that those guys would track him down someday. But he could just move to another kingdom to get away. He never imagined that he would see them so soon. Jewel didn’t give him time to think as she said.
“You’re finished now!”
“I’ll teach you the price of messing around with Hermes! Target Ark!”
Jewel activated all the scrolls at once.
-The [Unlucky] scroll has been applied.
-The [Robbery] scroll has been applied…….
10 warning messages appeared.
‘Oh my god! A scroll combination……..!’
Ark felt a chill go down his spine. Ark understood the power of the scroll combination more than anyone else. He had almost become a beggar when Andel used it on him. If he got caught then the quest would be unrecoverable. And no matter how strong he was, he stood no chance against Jewel, Duke and 8 of the Hermes members.
‘I’m not the same as before. If there were 5 Hermes members then I might be able to handle it. But I can’t deal with the 10 of them including Jewel and Duke. I have to run away!’
As soon as the idea appeared, his body automatically moved. Ark was standing on the balcony. If he made one wrong move then he would be surrounded by 200 Nakujuk and the boss. The only way out was the corridor Jewel was blocking!
“Dark Dance!”
Ark immediately used the skill and plunged between the gaps. Although the speed of Flash was overwhelmingly faster, Dark Dance was better for defense.
“Not a chance!”
Duke lowered his stance and used ‘Rapid Fire.’
“Slide!”
“Damn, son of a bitch!”
Ark used ‘Slide’ to avoid the arrows. Duke’s face contorted angrily. While Ark was avoiding the attacks, Jewel boosted her magic ‘Mana Explosion’ and shot a fireball.
“Now. Flash!”