Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 192

192. Holy War (6)

The ambush came at an unexpected time.

As if they had been preparing for it, the number of Inquisitors far outnumbered the guild members.

The fact that they had the exact number needed to subdue them suggested they had already scouted their size and route.

Most likely, the others were being attacked as well.

But Kelz’s lips curled up as he faced Eile.

‘I didn’t expect him to appear in front of me so suddenly… but it’s all the better.’

The Earth Church had placed a bounty on him a long time ago, and after Eile defeated a personal ranker and entered the rankings, Apollion added a huge additional bounty.

The bounty on Eile’s head was so great that even rankers who weren’t professional bounty hunters would be tempted.

‘With this number, we’re at a disadvantage, but if we catch that guy and rejoin the fight, we can turn the situation around. More than anything, an unexpected opportunity has presented itself.’

In this war, the significance of Eile’s head was more than just the bounty.

He was the only ranker in the church leading the entire movement of the Church of Light.

He was one of the key figures who could determine the situation on the lower front lines, and he had appeared before them himself.

‘And… I got lucky.’

Clang!

“Kuhuk!”

A sudden scream erupted from the entangled battle.

Two Inquisitors were taken down in an instant.

Moreover, they had been attacking one person from both sides.

‘Wait, that skill just now…?’

Eile’s expression was filled with astonishment as he looked back.

Judging from the sound of friction and the marks on the floor, the skill used was the unique-grade attack skill, Blade Storm.

There was only one ranker known to use this skill.

“This is an unexpected big catch.”

Eren took off the hood he had been wearing.

As expected, the guild master of the mercenary guild Lunatic was standing right there.

‘How did this happen? The Lunatic Guild was clearly moving in a completely different direction…’

He had carefully confirmed that the information was accurate.

But Eren had moved his guild members and was with the Onyx Guild, and the two guild leaders were moving together.

It was an unexpected move for anyone.

“Kelz asked me to lend a hand, so I joined for a bit. Things have gotten interesting.”

Eren twirled his dagger and grinned.

Generally, in a high-risk mission to infiltrate enemy lines, the guild leader would never join another guild or travel with them separately.

But this time, the friendship between the two guild leaders was the issue.

They already knew each other in reality, not just in the game, so there was no worry about any problems arising.

This fact was not known to the outside world, so Eile had no way of knowing.

‘Damn it… things have gone wrong.’

He chose this place to face one ranker, but there were two rankers present.

He hadn’t noticed until right before the attack because they were hiding among the guild members with their hoods pulled down.

“We’ll finish this before the others come!”

“Okay!”

The two rankers moved simultaneously.

They were rushing at Eile from both sides.

Since he was already facing Kelz, who had closed the gap in front of him, it was difficult to react to Eren as well.

Clang!

“Kuh… !”

At that moment, Mei intervened between the two and blocked their path.

She barely managed to block Eren’s dual daggers that were coming at her from both sides, and pushed him away with all her might.

Clang!

Eile also swung his longsword to push Kelz away and create some distance.

“Thank you for saving me.”

“Executor, what do we do now?”

Mei asked with a worried voice.

Kelz and Eren were targeting them from the front and back.

They were the Predator ranked 741st and the Thief ranker ranked 913th.

Although she was one of the top-ranked players in the church, it was impossible for her to handle rankers who had entered the top 1,000.

“I’ve already contacted the church, but they’re quite far away, so I don’t think we can hold out.”

“Then… shall we run away?”

“Excuse me…?”

Whoosh!

Eile started running away with Mei.

He was running away, abandoning the Inquisitors who were already facing the heretics and even the Inquisitors who were in the middle of battle.

Mei looked utterly incredulous.

“We can’t let them get away!”

The two rankers immediately followed Eile.

Eile knew from the start that they would have no choice but to chase him.

If he could keep the rankers and Inquisitors at a certain distance, even if he lost, the other Inquisitors wouldn’t be annihilated.

‘If it weren’t for the rankers, the remaining guild members could be dealt with even without us.’

The variable was the sudden appearance of the second ranker, but they had already secured a sufficient power difference before the ambush.

If there was no intervention from the rankers, the battle would have been decided before that.

“Hey, don’t you care about your guild members?”

“This is the priority right now.”

Kelz answered Eren’s question as he chased after Eile.

Kelz, who knew that fact well, was willing to accept that much sacrifice.

Even though they were his guild members, it was a worthwhile trade if he could take Eile’s head with the sacrifice of only about twenty people.

Eile’s head, who was currently representing the Church of Light, was not just the price of one ranker.

Eile, who was slightly ahead, entered a half-destroyed building in the ruins and hid.

“They’re too fast, we can’t shake them off. Let’s prepare right away.”

“Understood.”

Mei nodded solemnly.

Then, she put her hands together and prayed, casting a buff spell.

Even among the Inquisitors, there were different branches, and she had a skill set that invested in buffs [enhancing abilities].

Whoosh!

White light burst out, increasing the stats of herself, the caster, as well as Eile, who was next to her.

But even so, the situation was still not good.

‘It may be useless, but this isn’t the time to save it.’

Swish!

He took out the magic scrolls he had purchased from the contribution store [store where players can exchange in-game currency for items].

Boom!

At that moment, Eren, who had appeared by breaking through one of the walls, witnessed Eile preparing with the scrolls in his hand.

He immediately took out an item from his inventory.

Swish!

A purple wave spread widely, stopping the activation of the scrolls all at once.

The Magic Interruption Scroll, which prevented the use of scrolls, had been activated.

‘As expected…’

As it was a complete counter item, it was a much more expensive disposable item than scrolls, but it was not a problem for the rankers of Warlord, who usually earned a lot of money.

Whoosh!

Kelz and Eren, who had quickly caught up, extended their swords.

Eile stepped forward and blocked Kelz head-on.

At that moment, Eren used the Thief’s mobility to circle around to the rear, trying to target Eile’s back.

But this time, Mei threw herself and defended the rear, barely managing to fend off Eren’s fierce attack.

‘Damn it, even one-on-one is not an easy fight.’

Eile frowned as he crossed swords with Kelz.

He should be carefully engaging in a battle of wits with him, but he had to fight as if he was pressed for time, worrying about the precarious rear.

Clang!

Boom!

The wall shattered and Mei was thrown out.

“Kuh…”

Mei steadied herself on the ground.

Blood was dripping from her head.

As expected, she had no choice but to be pushed back while facing Eren, a ranker.

“I’ll finish you off first!”

Eren activated a dash skill, trying to end Mei’s life.

It was important to finish off one of the jobs that had good combat sustainability, like Inquisitors, who had healing abilities as a support.

Boom!

Rumble!

At that moment, Eile used a side flash, smashing the pillar and completely collapsing the precarious building.

It was possible because he had looked at the structure of the building in the ruins in advance.

But this was just a stall for time; he picked up Mei on his shoulder and ran away.

“I’m sorry. I’m a burden after all…”

“No, I wouldn’t have been able to hold out this long if I was alone.”

Eile shook his head and replied.

It was not something anyone could do to buy this much time against a ranker.

Rather, he was able to hold out because she was blocking the rear.

‘Crisis, crisis.’

Eile’s head was spinning as he constantly moved his gaze.

He thought of all the variables he could use in this situation.

His current level was 225.

He had quickly raised it by cutting down enemies in the war, but the gap with the rankers was still there.

Even though he had closed the gap with madness and favor [divine blessing], it was not enough to gain an advantage.

‘How do I do this?’

It felt like he was back to when he was being chased by Amaranths.

But the opponents were on a different level than before.

Both were guild leaders and rankers who had led elite mercenary guilds.

It was natural that they had a lot of field PVP [player versus player] experience, and the shallow tricks that had deceived them would not work.

‘There’s no sure way to turn the situation around… then I have no choice but to gamble.’

He needed a number that could increase the probability of winning by even half.

The two rankers were already following behind him, and Eile, who had organized his thoughts, moved while checking the map location on his personal screen.

‘Here.’

Then he stopped abruptly on the exact location.

After attaching the items prepared through the contribution store to the floor, he put his hands on the floor.

Whoosh!

Eren and Kelz, who had been following behind, turned the corner.

At the moment when Eren’s dagger, who had moved first, came right in front of him.

“What are you trying to do… !”

Boom!

The explosives that had been attached detonated with a loud roar.

The thin floor collapsed with a loud crash due to the strong impact, and even the rankers who were retreating were caught up in it.

The collapsing range was too wide to avoid.

It was possible because it was not an ordinary ground but a thin ceiling.

Dust.

The four users who had fallen deep into the floor barely managed to get up.

The place they had landed was an old underground dungeon.

“Where is this…?”

“It’s a level 50 dungeon located under the stronghold. The original goal of this dungeon was to block the monsters trying to break the seal, with the concept that an evil demon is sealed. I heard that the waiting list was quite long thanks to the great rewards, but that story is now a thing of the past because of this war.”

“So what, are we going to do a dungeon together?”

“No.”

Eile, who was standing in the center of the large room, glanced down at the unidentified box in the middle.

As with most Warlord dungeons with great rewards, the risk of failure was high.

If the monsters pushed back or missed and the demon’s seal was broken, the dungeon was designed to wipe out the users.

Also, in a way that throws one high-level monster that the user can’t handle.

“Fighting is good, but let’s add one more person. Fairly.”

Clang!

The seal of the box in the middle of the room.

Eile struck down with his sword and broke the chains that were maintaining it.

Whoa!

Hot heat burst out and red eyes appeared in the dark room.