Level Up Inquisitor [EN]: Chapter 58

“Kueeeek!”

The corpse mermen that had respawned in the dungeon charged.

However, they were instantly felled by Lucas’s simple gesture with his dagger drawn.

The level difference was so great that Lucas, an archer-type class, was able to take them all out at once with just his sub-weapon and no skills.

Lucas trampled over the butchered monsters and continued forward.

The dungeon had a very complex structure with passages branching off in all directions.

He had done some prior research on the internal structure, so he knew about it, but finding the target hiding inside was still a bit more complicated.

Thanks to this, more than 10 minutes had already passed since Tullen and Lucas had split up to begin their search.

‘It’s only a matter of time, though.’

It was certain that Aile, their target, was inside.

Not long after the Amaranto guild members entered, Aile tried to take advantage of the gap and escape towards the entrance.

Of course, one of their squad members was firmly guarding the entrance, and Aile had no choice but to flee in a hurry instead of getting out.

The squad member didn’t chase after him, not ruling out the possibility that the target was deliberately trying to lure him away.

They knew very well that if they guarded the entrance, Aile wouldn’t be able to get out no matter what he did.

Clang!

At that moment, the floor Lucas was stepping on caved in, and long spear blades flew in from both sides.

But Lucas, without showing any surprise, swung the dagger he was holding and chopped all the spear shafts heading towards him into pieces.

He clicked his tongue lightly as he watched the spears fall to the ground.

“It’s like they’re playing house since a while ago…”

After entering the Tomb of Corpses, he kept encountering traps everywhere.

At first, he thought that the target, feeling uneasy after escaping from the city, had set up traps around the entrance, but after coming further inside, he realized that the place was completely covered with traps.

He probably tried to use his head as much as possible, but all the traps were crude and numerous, not even causing a scratch.

“You thought you could catch us with this?”

Lucas scoffed and said.

The squad leader told him not to let his guard down, but he was just a clueless kid.

He must have run away in a hurry without even knowing who he was dealing with.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have only prepared this level of countermeasures and chosen to come into this dead-end dungeon.

“Squad leader?”

Lucas turned around, sensing a presence beyond the wall.

And as he expected, the squad leader, Tullen, who had split up at the entrance, appeared around the corner.

It seemed they had run into each other while searching the dungeon.

“It’s already been 15 minutes.”

“His judgment is terrible, but he seems to have a knack for hiding.”

“It won’t be long now.”

There weren’t many places left for the target to hide.

From the perspective of the pursued target, wandering around the dungeon would only increase the chances of getting caught up in battles with monsters and being discovered by the sound of fighting, so the fact that he hadn’t been found yet meant that the target was hiding in one place.

Now, there were only four or five points left at most.

Rumble!

Suddenly, a suspicious sound was heard from one side.

Both of them turned their heads simultaneously in the direction of the sound, and it didn’t take long to realize that it wasn’t a location where monsters appeared.

Whoosh!

Without any conversation or gestures, Tullen and Lucas rushed out at the same time.

Aile, noticing that they were approaching, jumped out from behind the pillar.

‘Damn it!’

Aile started running in the opposite direction.

He had hoped they would hold out a little longer to buy him some time, but it seemed impossible.

Phew!

Lucas’s arrow, drawn in an instant, flew.

But Aile quickly hid behind a pillar to avoid the arrow, and soon ran around the corner.

“You think I’ll let you get away!”

Lucas shouted and took something out of his grasp and threw it.

It wasn’t a throwing weapon like a dagger, but a long, thick rope.

Whirr!

His rope skillfully wrapped around the pillar where the arrow had struck, and Lucas pulled it taut and launched himself.

‘Rope action… A tracker, huh.’

Aile was finally able to deduce his class for sure.

‘Rope Action’ was one of the specialized classes in the archer category, and it was the signature skill of Lucas’s class, ‘Tracker’.

The Tracker, as the name suggested, was an archer class specialized in tracking and PVP [Player versus Player combat], and was skilled at wearing down opponents with its fast mobility.

Of course, it possessed many excellent approach skills.

Whoosh!

Using the rope, the distance between them was quickly narrowed, and Lucas, who had rounded the corner, drew his bow again, pulling it taut.

But right then.

A thread that couldn’t be seen collided with his body and snapped with a thud.

Thwack!

Before he could react, Lucas was hit in the face by a rake-shaped wooden trap that flew in from the side while he was suspended in the air, and he lost his balance and crashed to the ground.

Once again, it was a trap that Aile had set up in advance that had been activated.

“You son of a bitch!”

Lucas, enraged, jumped up almost as soon as he fell, but Aile was already running away, having gained even more distance than before.

Tullen, who had followed from behind, quickly picked Lucas up and began to close the distance again.

No matter how much time he bought, it was impossible to completely escape their grasp due to the speed difference caused by the level difference.

Swish!

Lucas’s arrow split into three green lights and narrowly passed over Aile’s head.

His powerful attack left a large scratch on the rock wall, and fragments flew around.

But Aile suffered no direct damage at all.

‘He dodged that?’

Lucas and Tullen couldn’t help but be quite surprised at the sight.

Dodging an accurately flying arrow without looking back while running at full speed was not something a novice could imitate by chance.

“Ha, this is an interesting guy?”

“Don’t get excited.”

As they followed Aile’s movements once again and rounded the corner, they saw a thin rope blocking the path.

Its color had been changed to match the surrounding environment, so it was the kind of trap that could be easily fallen into if one carelessly passed through a dark area.

Lucas and Tullen still didn’t slow down and jumped over the rope without touching it.

But this was just a trick; the real device was on the other side of the rope, where a thin thread was stretched.

Of course, the Amaranto guild members were aware of this fact and lowered their posture as soon as they jumped over the rope, passing through the thread.

As Aile had expected, they seemed to notice almost everything.

Tullen, who had escaped the trap, immediately activated a skill and leaped forward, quickly closing the distance with Aile.

Clunk!

Aile’s traps, set up in succession, were activated additionally, but Tullen broke through by directly ramming into the trap activated by his dash.

Tullen, who had chased right behind Aile, raised his two daggers.

Skill, Rolling Cutter.

Clang clang clang!

The circular swing of the swords created large wounds on the surrounding walls and floor.

It was such a powerful attack that even a graze would be fatal, but Aile managed to save his life thanks to narrowly passing by his neck after quickly backing away.

Aile had succeeded in predicting what skill would come out by looking at the opponent’s preparatory movements and had moved out of the attack range in advance.

‘Damn it… Is the rogue a basic class?’

While frowning at the fragments flying in all directions, Aile continued to think fiercely.

He couldn’t be sure yet, but judging from the two skills he had just activated, Tullen could be presumed to be a general rogue class that hadn’t specialized.

The War Lord’s job system was largely divided into basic jobs and specialized jobs, with one exception: basic jobs representing the categories such as swordsmen and mages, and specialized jobs that were further divided within those categories.

For example, specialized jobs were cases like necromancers or summoners, who were specialized in one thing within the category of mage.

It wasn’t necessarily that one side was particularly better, but rather that there were advantages and disadvantages to being a more versatile basic job or a specialized job focused on a specific concept.

‘Basic jobs usually have a wide range of concept choices. I don’t know what direction he’s developed his skill tree, so I have to be careful.’

If the goal was just to escape for a while, there would be no need to think this hard.

But Aile’s retreat to the outside was blocked, and two players around level 140 were closely following his tail.

Clatter!

Another trap was activated, and Tullen turned to the side to avoid the capture trap that rose from the floor.

He had to waste his movement again at the moment just before Aile’s skill range was about to reach him.

But this time, Lucas was standing still in that spot.

It wasn’t that he hadn’t reacted.

It was just that he had chosen to fire an arrow instead of evading this trap.

Whoosh!

The black aura-filled arrow flew towards Aile like a shot.

‘That’s…!’

Aile’s eyes widened as he glanced back to see the effect of the trap.

Unfortunately, there were no shelters nearby, and the speed of the projectile was so fast that it was impossible to avoid.

But he had to avoid that at all costs.

It was a monster-like skill that gave the user everything from location tracking, movement speed bonus when approaching, and additional damage effects to enemies hit by the arrow with a mark engraved on them as a job-specific skill called ‘Mark of the Tracker’.

Once marked, it was impossible to escape from it unless you fought and won.

Clang!

Aile quickly swapped weapons and managed to deflect the black arrow with his dagger.

It was a skill with terrifying power, but it had no damage of its own, so it could be blocked even with a large level difference.

But ‘Mark of the Tracker’ was not a skill that could be solved by deflecting it with a weapon.

Sizzle!

With a burning sound, a black mark was engraved on the blade of Aile’s dagger.

“Tch!”

Aile threw the dagger he was holding to the side without hesitation.

This was the only way to get rid of the skill once a mark was placed on the equipment.

It was a relief that he had been hit on the weapon side; otherwise, this method would have been impossible.

‘It was a rare grade equipment… but it can’t be helped.’

It was a pity, but that wasn’t important.

If he died here, he would drop at least two or more of the equipment items he was wearing, so it wasn’t the time to dwell on a single dagger.

His level had risen quite a bit compared to when he first obtained it, so he decided to think of it as letting go of something he would have had to sell anyway.

[Elapsed time ’00:19:34′]

Aile checked the time on the timer he had set in advance.

He was starting to get out of breath, but he still had to hold out against them somehow.

‘Let’s see who wins…!’