Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 216

216. Team Play

“What are you…”

Ail looked at Neshua, surprised.

Neshua’s sudden appearance during the battle with Yuron was startling, but what surprised him most was that Neshua spoke directly.

As a member of the Shadow Order, he should have been under a vow of silence, yet he was clearly talking to him.

He had been with Neshua several times, but this was the first time he had ever heard his voice.

“Does it feel a little awkward?”

“What are you talking about…”

Neshua shook his head at Ail’s absurd reaction.

“You wouldn’t have left the Order. What’s gotten into you all of a sudden? You’ll get a penalty from the deity, you know?”

“I don’t usually care about that. It’s just that there hasn’t been a situation where I needed to speak until now,” Neshua replied simply.

From the beginning, he hadn’t liked talking to people unless they were close to him.

That’s why he joined the Shadow Order, which people avoided, without much resistance.

‘Well, even if it’s the Order’s rule, it would be unreasonable to strictly adhere to it in a situation like this.’

Even if it was a rule, it was acceptable to receive a slight penalty unless it was a serious violation.

The internal affairs of the Shadow Order were not well known, so he couldn’t guess exactly, but it was entirely possible to receive fewer penalties depending on the deity’s whims or the situation.

Ail himself had experienced it several times.

Occasionally, there were cases where allied Rankers he encountered were branded [marked with a penalty], but in most situations, they let it go without causing friction.

Of course, even for Ail, an apostle, he would have received some penalty if it wasn’t for a major issue like the Holy War.

In such an important situation where the positions of the seven deities were at stake, they had no choice but to be lenient to some extent.

“Focus on what’s in front of you. He’s not someone you can afford to chat with.”

“…Okay.”

Yuron, who had already risen to his feet, was approaching them.

He seemed quite offended by the unexpected ambush, and he was exuding a menacing aura.

‘Who the hell is that guy?’

Yuron tilted his head, examining the uninvited guest.

He had been caught off guard by the previous attack.

He was fighting in the middle of a city that had become a battlefield, so he had considered that someone might ambush him.

That was only natural, and that’s why he was a little annoyed.

‘Some guy I’ve never seen before is interfering.’

It was different from Ail, who was already well known among the top players and had even entered the top 100.

Neshua, on the other hand, was a face he had never seen before, let alone being famous.

Even Yuron, the Guild Master of Cerberus, received regular reports on the Ranker list and paid quite a bit of attention to it.

He could tell at a glance that he wasn’t a Ranker.

At best, he was at a level that hadn’t stood out much even among the semi-Rankers [players close to ranking but not officially ranked].

Unless he was a support specialist to help Ail, nothing would change even if a thief of that level joined in.

However, his thoughts changed when he actually clashed with the two of them.

Clang!

‘This is… a Shadow Order specialist.’

Yuron thought as he faced Neshua’s dagger.

The cold energy of the black frost blooming on the dagger crept up his spear.

It was the opposite of the white flames blooming on Ail’s longsword, but at the same time, it looked somewhat similar.

‘A Light Order and a Shadow Order specialist, huh? This is the first time I’ve heard that the two Orders are on good terms.’

The specialist of Hin, the God of Darkness, the Shadow Watcher.

He had never seen one in person because the Shadow Order was so minor, but he had heard stories about them.

“Ail!”

“I know!”

KWAHHHH!

Ail and Neshua exchanged glances and launched a combined attack.

First, Neshua activated the Shadow Wedge skill to bind the opponent’s actions, and Ail unleashed a baptism of fire at him.

Then, Yuron’s health, which hadn’t budged until now, decreased rapidly.

The teamwork the two were showing was already better than that of most professional tag teams.

Clang!

“You, what are you?”

Yuron fixed his gaze on Neshua, who had approached him first.

Aside from their perfectly synchronized teamwork, it was something that had been bothering him for a while.

Contrary to his initial expectations, Neshua’s skills were surprisingly far beyond the level of an ordinary semi-Ranker.

He seemed to be almost on par with Ail, let alone entering the rankings.

However, Neshua had clearly not made it into the rankings, and it was impossible to show such skills under normal circumstances.

“It’s a waste to incur a penalty for talking to you.”

Whack!

Neshua coldly refused to talk and deflected the spear.

It wasn’t like Ail was asking, so there was no need to kindly explain to the enemy.

The reason why he still hadn’t made it into the rankings was simple.

An apostle of Hin was not included in the user rankings due to their characteristics.

The Grace of Silence and Shadow.

In fact, not being able to enter the rankings no matter how hard they tried was likely to be a curse for most players.

However, players had various tendencies.

For Neshua, who didn’t want to attract the attention of others, it was the biggest merit he could get as an apostle of Hin.

Whoosh!

Neshua, who had retreated a great distance, disappeared.

While Ail was sticking to the front, Neshua completely concealed his presence and aimed for the opponent’s rear.

‘He’s been annoying me since earlier.’

Yuron frowned at his disappearing figure.

As expected, the first surprise attack was by no means due to carelessness or coincidence.

Neshua’s skill in hiding his presence was better than any Ranker he had seen in War Lord.

Just as Ail’s Madness stat showed amazing performance, Neshua’s ability to delete his presence was a weapon that demonstrated tremendous value in battle.

He had to secure his peripheral vision so that he wouldn’t be caught off guard, as he could be attacked at any time if he only paid attention to Ail, who was rushing in from the front, and even then, he couldn’t let his guard down.

‘At this rate, I can do it without my last resort.’

Of course, Ail, who knew that fact well, thoroughly exploited that point.

With the attack option of Neshua, who was always aiming for the rear, he didn’t easily back down like before.

Ail’s synchronization rate had already been raised to 140.

KWAH-KWAK-KWANG!

The building was smashed, and Yuron was pushed into the side alley.

Ail’s longsword flew in from the front, and he swung his spear to block it.

But then Neshua, who had appeared from behind without a sound, swung his dagger, and Yuron, who had noticed it just before, hurriedly used an escape skill.

Faaat!

“Hah…”

Yuron, who barely avoided the combined attack, let out a brief chuckle.

As expected, 2 vs 1 was troublesome.

He could slaughter hundreds of insignificant opponents at the same time.

But now, his opponents were two Ranker-level players who knew how to PVP [Player versus Player combat] properly.

Originally, he was going to play around with Ail instead of bothering to look for the princess.

‘But I don’t have time for that.’

Yuron raised his spear sharply.

* * *

“What, those guys are better than I thought?”

Around the time when the battle between the three players was in full swing.

There was a man sitting on the roof of a building, watching their figures.

It was Rucan, one of the top executives of Apollyon.

“Yuron seems to be thinking of going all out too…”

Although he was somewhat far away, judging from Yuron’s demeanor, which he could roughly see from above, he seemed to be planning to go all out.

The one-sided fight had become quite interesting as it turned into a 2 vs 1, and now he seemed to be planning to show off all the skills he had been saving.

Originally, it was natural not to use skills with long cooldowns on opponents who could be easily dealt with, and the fact that he felt burdened by the two’s combined attack meant that he couldn’t do it without taking out his full strength.

As the situation became more and more interesting, he crossed his arms and carefully looked down.

But then, he received a call that he couldn’t ignore.

It was a call from Kruger, the Guild Master who led Apollyon.

-Rucan?

“Oh, what’s up all of a sudden? Did you find the target you were looking for?”

-No, it’s something else. Are you on the side where Yuron is right now?

“Yeah, he’s fighting Ail and some unknown guy at the same time. It’s 2 vs 1, but it’s pretty…”

-Then don’t just stand there with your arms crossed and quickly wrap up the situation.

Kruger’s order to intervene instead of watching was issued.

“What? Why? I found some interesting guys for the first time in a while, aren’t you going to watch?”

-That side of things is already over. It doesn’t matter anyway once this is over. The princess hasn’t been found yet, so it’s better to deal with it for sure.

“Okay, I got it. I’ll take care of it quickly and go look for her.”

Rucan, who had licked his lips, got up from his seat.

The call with the Guild Master was cut off, and he was about to step forward, loosening his fists here and there.

It was a little disappointing, but since the Guild Master’s order had been issued, there was no value in considering anything other than obediently following the instructions.

Clang!

But at that moment, a long sword was slammed down, creating a metallic sound.

He quickly raised his arm and blocked it with the gauntlet on his fist, but the heavy impact pressed down on him.

It wasn’t just that he was strong, but he was also so fast that even Rucan, who was receiving it, was in danger for a moment.

“This is…”

Rucan chuckled and muttered.

He didn’t even need to turn his head to know who it was.

Currently, there was only one hostile player in this Belhaven city with this level of skill.

The Guild Master of the Iron Cross, Circe.

She was here.

“You should be running wild moderately. It’s troublesome if you invade someone else’s city and wander around comfortably like you’re the owner.”

“Circe, I didn’t expect you to show up on your own.”

“It’ll be easier to get things done if I get rid of you guys first.”

“Haha, good. But is it really a good idea to show up here right now? You’ll have to face Yuron together when that fight is over. Can you handle it?”

“Well…”

Circe had never directly faced the top executives since Apollyon revealed its full strength.

But it was certain that even Rucan alone would be a difficult fight.

If Yuron joined in that situation, there would be no chance of winning.

But this decision was not a simple misjudgment.

Her appearance here to stop Rucan was done with thorough calculation.

“Or maybe it could be the opposite.”