Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 223

223. To the Top (4)

They faced Kruger, the Guild Master of Apollyon, in the final hall on the top floor.

It was certain that the Annihilation Magic Circle was being prepared behind Kruger.

However, there were no other guild members guarding the area besides him.

“Damn it, they were aiming for the Princess from the start…!”

Sir’s expression twisted at the unexpected situation.

The reason why no one else remained here except him was simple.

They had abandoned guarding the magic circle and went down to the inner castle to target the Princess’s life from the beginning.

It would be troublesome if the Annihilation Magic Circle was neutralized and the trapped citizens and users escaped safely.

However, no matter what the survivors said, it would only end as a minor disturbance within the overall picture.

From Apollyon’s point of view, already holding the royal family, the game would be over once they caught the Princess anyway.

Even if they struggled, they could completely seize control as long as they held the puppet, the fake Queen.

“To think they’d use this place as a discard… Arron, hurry down and protect the Princess.”

“Yes.”

Arron nodded at Sir’s instruction and immediately left with the guild members.

Only about forty rankers remained in place.

“I wonder if that’s a good choice? If you had all rushed in together, there might have been a slight chance.”

“What a joke… No matter how good you are, there’s nothing you can do against this number.”

Sir retorted sharply to Kruger’s relaxed tone.

Right now, all she could think about was taking down Kruger, who was standing alone, as quickly as possible and securing the Princess.

The reason for leaving so many people behind was to make sure they didn’t miss him and caught him for sure.

There was nothing a single user could do with such a large difference in numbers.

However, Alisa, who was watching this situation, was on high alert.

“Don’t assume you’ll win. Don’t underestimate him.”

“Huh? What do you mean…”

Ail tilted his head at her words.

No matter how he thought about it, saying they could win against this number was more like underestimating the opponent.

Even those who remained here, except for Lia, were all skilled Warlords in the rankings.

It might work against clueless users, but it was impossible against rankers.

However, Alisa’s thoughts were different.

The Kruger she knew was not someone who would throw himself away as a discard in this situation.

There must be a reason why he was left alone.

“Sir… I certainly thought the only variables in our plan would be you guys. In reality, variables have emerged from a completely different direction.”

Kruger’s gaze, which had turned slightly, was fixed on Ail and Alisa.

He never expected that the former vice guild leader, who had suddenly left the guild, would return as an enemy.

Above all, the biggest variable was the appearance of Ail, the third synchronization rate user [referring to a user with a high synchronization rate with the game or system].

He was a rookie who had never even experienced other games, so no matter how meticulously they calculated, he was an existence that couldn’t be included in the calculations.

In fact, it was clear that these two caused the most problems in proceeding with the plan in the final stages.

“Still, it was fun in its own way. I came to a new game after a long time, and it would have been boring if it was too easy.”

“The game you ruined is enough with East Thorn!”

Whoong!

Sir, who had kicked off the ground with great force, rushed in at once.

Her speed, combined with the acceleration skill, was so fast that it would have been difficult to react if she hadn’t prepared in advance.

In addition, a white light swirled around her long sword.

Kwaaa!

A powerful skill stretched out, splitting the ground greatly with a flash of light.

Kruger was unable to avoid the blow and was helplessly swept away.

However, after the light that had stretched out subsided.

They witnessed a shocking sight along with Kruger’s unharmed appearance.

Clang!

Sir’s sword, unable to penetrate the armor, bounced off.

Surprisingly, Kruger was not pushed back at all, except for a slight impact along with a slight scratch.

Sir’s skill, which had landed directly, had not reduced even 1 percent of his health.

“What is this…?”

Shock flashed across Sir’s face.

The same was true for Ail and the other rankers.

In a situation where he hadn’t even taken a defensive stance, let alone a defensive skill, he had offset the attack of Sir, the guild master of the six major guilds.

It was truly unbelievable durability and defense.

Kwaduk!

A creepy sound echoed as Kruger swung his sword.

A guild member who had rushed in to protect the guild master raised his shield, but the shield was crushed and mangled in an instant.

Then, he immediately lost his life to the swung sword.

The White Knight class, clad in heavy armor, was defeated in a single blow.

It was unbelievable that he had dealt with such a ranker at once, a job notorious for its tough and powerful vitality.

It was proof that his attack power was also abnormally high, no less than the defense he had just shown.

It felt like facing an extremely vicious boss monster, not a user.

‘Damn it, is he using some kind of trick?’

Ail’s gaze, looking around the hall, turned this way and that.

It was an incomprehensible sight that he couldn’t even seize the initiative even though so many rankers were rushing in at the same time, unless there was some kind of device installed in here.

“No, it’s not a trick. It’s his pure power.”

“That’s impossible. How can that…?”

Ail doubted his ears at Lou’s immediate answer.

The level difference among the rankers here was not that severe.

Since it was revealed in the official rankings, there was no possibility that he had faked the level itself, and no matter how good the equipment was, it couldn’t exert this much power if it was at a level that would be limited by the level limit.

Then the only possibility left was skills.

“Could it be…?”

“Looks like you noticed?”

Kruger, who had come right in front of him at some point, said.

Then, Ail, who was horrified, hurriedly raised his sword and stepped back.

However, as soon as the sword collided, he was knocked back and slammed into the wall.

Kwaang!

“Keuk…”

Warm blood flowed down his forehead.

He felt dizzy just from colliding head-on.

The identity of Kruger’s legendary skill was ‘Offense and Defense as One’.

It had the effect of converting both the ‘attack power’ or ‘defense power’ of the player with the higher stat.

It was truly an unbelievable effect.

After obtaining this skill, Kruger focused on investing in defense and durability, and that defense led to an increase in attack power.

Not only that.

The same was true for all defense-related stats obtained through skills.

Physical resistance became defense penetration, and defense proficiency skills had the effect of attack proficiency.

“Just as grades are divided in general skills, the same is true for legendary skills of the same grade. And you’re not the only one with two legendary grade skills.”

Tsu tsu tsu!

A tremendous energy gathering in the sword.

Kruger activated another legendary attack skill.

* * *

The hall, swept by a storm, became a ruin.

Not only the inside of the hall, but most of the floor of the entire floor collapsed, leaving only traces of devastation.

The power of the skill was so high that even the Annihilation Magic Circle on the opposite side was destroyed by the aftermath.

However, the existence or absence of the Annihilation Magic Circle was no longer a problem for them.

“Keuheok…”

Alisa, who had collapsed, twitched her arm.

She had lost consciousness for a moment after being caught in the area-of-effect skill, but now she couldn’t even hear any fighting sounds.

“You’ve rusted a lot compared to before. Even if you chose a healer, you shouldn’t have been taken down so easily.”

Alisa, who frowned at the voice she heard, shifted her gaze.

She saw Kruger looking down at her.

“It can’t be helped since I haven’t been active for a while after leaving the guild. If only you hadn’t left, things would have been faster by at least half a year.”

“……”

Alisa did not respond to his words.

As the two were considered the best players of all time, they had a completely different level.

He and Alisa had created countless scenes like this against just forty people.

“Well, the timing was bad in many ways. If a guy named Ail had started Warlord from the beginning… no, if he had started even half a year earlier, there might have been a chance.”

“That’s still unknown.”

“Well. I’m sorry, but it seems like the game is already over.”

Kruger spread his arms and looked around.

Only corpses remained all around the devastated ruins.

Even though they were skilled, they could not avoid annihilation in front of Kruger’s legendary area-of-effect skill based on his overwhelming attack power.

They were disconnected without any chance of recovery and did not move.

“Ugh…”

“Don’t bother trying to move. It’ll only take more effort.”

Seureung!

Kruger drew his sword.

“I know you know that I can’t save even you, right? It’s a shame that you suddenly came back and caused trouble, but in fact, you can come back anytime after this is over. Everyone will be happy if we share the stories we’ve missed.”

“That won’t… happen.”

“Then I guess this is our last farewell. That’s a bit of a shame.”

Kwak!

Kruger’s sword was stabbed, and blood spurted out.

* * *

“Huk…!”

Ail, who had collapsed, took a rough breath and woke up.

As soon as he came to his senses, he reflexively reached out for his sword.

However, his sword was buried under a large wreckage, and even his body could not move properly.

“……”

It took a little time to realize what had happened.

The surroundings were filled with silence.