Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 53

53. With Silence (9)

KWA-AAAA!

A streak of light – Eil’s sword strike – shot out.

Already a powerful blow, combined with the white flames of the Sacred Fire, it surged forward with tremendous force, sweeping the area before him.

The increased damage against heretics, coupled with the debuff inflicted by the dagger, showcased truly outstanding power.

The skill ‘Flash Cut’ clearly demonstrated the might of a Heroic-grade skill.

“…….”

The man, sent reeling by the full force of the skill, staggered to his feet.

He seemed to have narrowly escaped death, but deep cuts and intense burn marks covered his body.

In the heated atmosphere, the two paused briefly, catching their breath and steeling their nerves.

Though they had created some distance, they knew better than to reach for potions; neither would give the other a chance to recover.

‘Still, the mana consumption is enormous.’

Eil, sweating profusely, checked his remaining mana.

Even though he had only used two skills, excluding ‘Sacred Fire,’ which consumed only a tiny amount of mana to maintain, his mana was almost completely depleted.

Even Eil’s increased mana, thanks to the Madness stat that boosted all combat-related stats, was largely consumed by a single Flash Cut.

If Flash Cut wasn’t an Inquisitor-exclusive skill but a common skill like Backtrack, it wouldn’t have received the Faith stat bonus that increased the efficiency of job skills, and the mana consumption wouldn’t have decreased, making it difficult to use even once.

‘So… what’s your next move?’

Eil stared at his opponent, who was breathing heavily.

He was a mess, his body almost in tatters.

It seemed his health had been reduced by over 90 percent from the previous attack, and even a glancing blow from the longsword would likely be fatal.

‘But I can’t let my guard down.’

The reason Eil, who had pushed his opponent back, didn’t rush in hastily was simple.

The Warrior’s battle was a meticulous game of strategy.

Some classes weren’t heavily restricted by weapon choice, and because of the wide range of skill sets, it wasn’t easy to identify the class in advance. Even if you did, you couldn’t predict what skills they possessed.

As a result, concealing skills, surprising opponents, and engaging in constant mind games became increasingly important at higher levels of PVP [Player vs. Player combat].

Eil had unleashed his items and skills, achieving significant results, but in doing so, he had revealed his hand.

On the other hand, his opponent had only used two active skills and hadn’t yet shown all his cards.

In War Lord, survival was paramount, so proceeding cautiously was only natural.

‘But he’s the one who needs to be more cautious.’

Even though Eil had used all his cards, there was no way for his opponent to know that.

Moreover, he couldn’t easily take risks with health in the single digits.

Swish.

As expected, the man in the black hood, unsure of victory, lowered his dagger and stepped back.

Eil didn’t bother to stop him, and the man disappeared without a word.

If he were petty, he might heal up and return for another fight, knowing that Eil had let him go. But even if he was that disappointing, Eil could simply crush him again.

More than anything, Eil was confident that the player he had just faced wasn’t that type.

It was a short duel, but he had learned a lot.

“Whew, that was close…….”

Eil sighed as the black hood vanished completely.

“That’s a relief!”

Feren and Pico, who had been anxiously watching the fight, rushed over and hugged Eil’s legs.

“Waa… Eil, you’re bleeding.”

“No, it’s okay. It doesn’t hurt at all. Huh?”

Eil quickly bent down, sweating as he comforted the children who were looking up at him with teary eyes.

But while he was distracted, an unidentified message briefly flashed before him.

[‘■■■’ watches you from the abyss.]

* * *

“All purification complete!”

“Fortunately, there’s nothing wrong with the Ancient Spirit either!”

Feren and Pico, who had been running from both sides, rushed to Eil.

Eil had been guarding the area in case the unidentified user returned, but as he expected, they didn’t reappear.

The purification process seemed to have been completed successfully, and the sleeping Ancient Spirit hadn’t awakened.

Since he had succeeded, the player on the opposite side would have had their quest marked as a failure.

‘Still, for such a skilled player to suddenly appear… just who was that guy?’

Eil was lost in thought, recalling the thrill of the moment.

It had been a long time since he had such a gripping encounter with another player, and the feeling lingered even after the battle.

It was also the first time he had felt this sensation… no, it was the first time ever.

The thrill and exhilaration possible only in a virtual reality game.

Alisa, who had been with him, was also skilled, but since her job was a dedicated healer and she hadn’t fought him directly, he couldn’t have felt this way.

‘Was he a latecomer from another game’s ranking system?’

He hadn’t died and had completed the quest, so it could be considered a success, but he regretted not seeing his face properly.

‘I have a feeling this isn’t the end of our connection…….’

* * *

In a dimly lit room, two men sat facing each other.

Beken of the White Fang Guild, the user who had been killed by Eil in Ingol Forest, sat in the entrance seat as a client meeting a contractor.

After staring at the clock for two days, his 48-hour connection penalty had finally been lifted, and he had arranged this meeting as soon as he logged into the game.

“So, what’s the name of the user you want to take care of?”

“I don’t know. He’s either always doing trashy things or he’s hidden his information.”

Beken clenched and unclenched his fist, annoyed.

He was so angry just thinking about it that his teeth were grinding.

Beken couldn’t easily calm down, but Ganey, sitting across from him, didn’t show any change in expression, as if he was used to such scenes.

“Then what else?”

Ganey asked in an unchanged tone.

Due to the nature of their guild’s work, which mainly involved finding and retaliating against users who had disputes with clients, it was common not to know the name of the target.

For their guild, experts in this field, it was just a matter of needing a little extra compensation.

“That bastard stole my quest item. He’ll probably go to the White Forest. If you wait there, you’ll be able to catch him.”

Beken revealed the information about the Feather of Flight as he had planned.

He thought that this clue would definitely lead to his capture, but Ganey, who was listening, shook his head.

“No, the White Forest is difficult. Leaving aside the problem of entering, if you show even a little suspicious behavior around the entrance, you’ll be skewered by arrows. If it’s a quest item obtained two days ago, he would have already visited the place, and it’s uncertain whether he’ll reappear there. Is there anything else you can tell me about him?”

At his words, Beken closed his mouth tightly and began to think.

It was the first time he had racked his brains so hard, but he squeezed out every thought with the sole desire to kill Eil.

And after a while, Beken poured out his words to Ganey.

Starting with the fact that he was a level 20 player, using a long sword, remembering his appearance and features, and most importantly, that he was an Inquisitor belonging to the Order of Light.

The skill of attaching white flames to the weapon was not easy to find, and he remembered it vividly because it was the first time he had seen it.

After asking around while he couldn’t enter the game, he learned that it was an Inquisitor’s exclusive skill.

Beken, who shuddered at the thought that there were many crazy people in that job group, would have told Ganey about the Ingol Forest video that had become a hot topic if he had known about it.

But unfortunately, he wasn’t very familiar with the issues within War Lord and didn’t know about the Queens Blonde incident, let alone Ingol Forest.

However, Ganey, who had heard all of Beken’s story, readily nodded.

“Okay, even with just that much information, we can easily find him. So, what do you want to do with the remaining options?”

They didn’t just kill once.

Starting with determining how many times to kill the target, what items to specifically take away, and going into more detail, they received requests for revenge methods and messages to deliver, among many other options.

And at his question, Beken opened his mouth without hesitation.

“There’s no set number of times. The only condition is to relentlessly assassinate him until he gives up on the game himself.”

“That would cost…….”

“I don’t care about the money. I’ll pay whatever it takes as long as you do the job properly.”

Beken said with a glint in his eyes.

Ganey, who chuckled at his answer, said with a relaxed expression.

“Okay, then we’ll do that. You can trust us.”

‘They certainly seem trustworthy…….’

Beken shifted his gaze slightly at their confidence and composure.

The flag hanging on one side of the room and the purple flower emblem drawn inside.

It was the emblem of ‘Amaranth,’ the best bounty hunter guild in War Lord.

Amaranth, which had branches all over the continent and was actively operating, was not only the most famous of the bounty hunter guilds, but also had reliable skills and credibility.

Beken knew that and had bothered to wait two days before coming here in person.

“If I request a proof photo of his appearance after killing him…….”

“Of course, I need it!”

“Okay… I understand.”

Beken, who jumped up from his chair and shouted, couldn’t control his laughter as he imagined Eil’s corpse.

Sitting back down with a thud, he smirked and muttered.

“You bastard… you messed with the wrong person.”