Chapter 295
“…”
As soon as they ran away from the area of Blood Field, a notification window popped up.
[Your party member Huroi has died.]
The atmosphere was heavy.
“Shit… There is a day when I have to sacrifice my companion to live…”
“This is the result of our lack of power. Let’s take this opportunity to work harder.”
The party members no longer blamed Grid. They knew Grid hadn’t chosen to abandon Huroi because he wanted to. When they looked at it calmly, Grid’s decision was right. No, maybe it was better. Thanks to Grid’s decision, the rest of the party were able to escape the crisis.
He took the nature of the boss into consideration and created such a situation? It was the day they noticed that Grid wasn’t evolving in just personality and abilities, but in intelligence as well. The present situation wasn’t bad when they thought about it positively.
But Regas was still shivering.
“It would’ve been better for all of us to die, rather than sacrificing someone.”
Originally, Regas was a sympathetic person who valued righteousness above all else. When Grid was still immature. Regas was the only one who respected and trusted Grid, who was ignored by everyone else. Thus, Grid could understand Regas’ anger. But understanding didn’t mean he could accept it.
“If you have time to grumble, kill more monsters. We now have to clear four buildings in 23 hours.”
“…!”
Grid’s group took an average of 10 hours to clear a building. This was a lot. The first two days, it took them at least 12 hours to finish a building.
There were many strong vampires in each building. In particular, those with more than two True Blood vampires were particularly dangerous. There were times when Vantner needed to use his invincible skill.
Now Grid declared that the strategy was to spend six hours per building. In particular, the number of people had decreased by one. In a way, it proved that Grid was the most enraged person about Huroi’s sacrifice.
“Look. We’ll be wiped out if we hurry. It will be unlucky if we encounter a party with more than three True Blood vampires, and if there is no rest…”
“Vantner is correct. We should maintain our previous pace. Don’t you know that we can get more hurt if we’re too hasty? Grid, I understand your feelings, but don’t be too irritated.”
Pon persuaded. However, Jishuka and Peak Sword’s thoughts were different.
“No, we have to do as Grid says. Elfin Stone will come to us again tomorrow.”
“If Grid doesn’t reach level 300 by then, this situation will happen again.”
The goal was set.
“More haste and more speed. We have to hurry.”
Grid entered the new building and immediately aimed Transcend at the ceiling.
Kurururung!
There was a loud sound as the ceiling collapsed and dust covered the place.
Bump!
Kung! Kung!
There were piles of stones.
Kwaang!
Kwang! Kwang!
The coffins in the part of the hall with the collapsed ceiling opened simultaneously. Hundreds of vampires escaped and gazed around angrily.
“Who dares to awaken us from our sleep!?”
“These human scum want to die!”
“No, I want to kill you.”
Grid held Failure and the Doppelganger’s Greatsword with a cold expression.
‘I am angry.’
His party members were here to help him with his quest. He was shaken by his helplessness.
“I…!”
Grid led the way. There was no stopping. The red light of the Slaughterer’s Eye Patch shone in the darkness.
“I! I’m going to become stronger!”
Yes, he would become strong enough not to experience this dirty feeling twice. The best! Grid finally had a goal to play this game. What was the one thing he needed? Numerous combat experience, level and senses. As well as the power of items.
“Ohhhhhh!”
Grid entered the middle of hundreds of vampires! In the darkness, Failure and Grid’s Boots became more powerful. Now he was able to fight better than before he arrived in the vampire city.
He had struggled with a large number of enemies all day long and grew more proficient. But he should remain calm at all times.
“Kek! Ugh! H-Hik! Save me!”
“…”
Grid moved like a madman among the vampires and quickly became ragged. The party members had to struggle to clean up his mess.
***
Reidan Castle’s resurrection point.
Pahat!
Huroi appeared with a burst of light. He looked fine considering that his body had been torn apart by Elfin Stone a while ago.
“Pant… Pant…”
Huroi’s breathing was rough. His body was trembling like crazy. He had a strong mentality, but he hadn’t experienced his body being hacked apart before. He breathed out as he shook off the shock and opened the status window. He checked his experience gauge.
‘10%….’
The drop in experience was a huge 29.3%. From level 200 onwards, the loss of experience after death was in proportion to the level.
‘Fortunately, no items dropped.’
It wasn’t comforting. The durability of all of his items had dropped by at least 100 points. If Huroi was an ordinary user without Grid, he would’ve had to spend a lot of money on repairs.
“Huroi?”
Lauel ran over to Huroi. He was the busiest person in the guild. Lauel was tired.
“What happened?”
He knew of only two ways to escape from a vampire city. It was to kill the boss or die. There was only one reason for one member of the party to return.
“…You, did you die?”
Huroi nodded at Lauel’s question.
“The boss is too strong.”
“Please tell me the story.”
There was no reason to hide it. Huroi told Lauel all the details of what happened in the vampire city. Lauel’s reaction to the story was surprisingly bright.
“Grid used such a method? Haha! Incredible! Grid’s brain wasn’t just a decoration!”
“…”
Lauel was truly jubilant about Grid’s growth. But this choice of words was inappropriate, so Huroi couldn’t help glaring.
***
“Grid’s expedition of the 13th expedition will end in failure. Maybe this time tomorrow, Grid’s party will appear at the resurrection point.”
The meeting room in Reidan Castle.
Lauel convened the former members of the Tzedakah Guild and delivered the news of Grid’s party to them. The Overgeared members murmured at the desperate story.
Toban gritted his teeth, “I should’ve gone.”
Toban was a paladin with divine power. He was the antithesis of vampires. But he didn’t take part in the expedition because he was in charge of the yellow mithril mine. There were few people in Overgeared who could manage the workers, so Toban was an invaluable presence.
Lauel waited until the atmosphere calmed and opened his mouth again.
“As you know, pavranium is indispensable for Grid. The more pavranium that Grid obtains, the stronger he will become. So I will send an additional two people to support Grid’s party.”
Reidan, Bairan, Cork Island. These three territories must be managed so more support was impossible. Just sending two people as support was hard for Lauel. If only two people were missing, Lauel would have to reduce his sleeping time and managing the territory would become more difficult.
Toban declared, “I am going to join.”
“Nope. Not you.”
“Ik…! Think about it! I will be the biggest help to Grid’s party right now!”
“I’m aware of that. But now that the number of miners is over 100 people, you can’t leave.”
“Then what about me?”
It was the human beast, Toon. Lauel shook his head again.
“Not you either. If you leave the guild while the main force is absent, the guild’s attack power will drop to a dangerous level.”
“Then who are you going to send?”
“Hrmm.”
Lauel examined the Overgeared members. Including Huroi, there were a total of three people. Who could be a big help to Grid without taking away too much from the territory management?
Lauel struggled before pointing out one person.
“Ibellin.”
“Yes!”
The flamberge master, Ibellin! He was delighted at being called. For the past few days, he had just been hunting the monsters near the mine.
“The second one… Hah.” Lauel sighed at the thought. “No matter how I look, there isn’t another useless person like Ibellin.”
“You bastard!”
Lauel and Ibellin were still rivals from their days in the Ten Rookies. As the two people were fighting, somebody knocked on the door of the meeting room.
“Come in.”
Lauel called out and a soldier opened the door.
“A guest has come.”
“Guest?”
What guest would come to the guild?
“Heok.”
“T-This is ridiculous…”
The Overgeared members were surprised. It was because they confirmed the identity of the guest.
“Nice to meet you.”
Even the voice was beautiful. White skin and black hair. A slender figure and neat impression that radiated charm. It was her, Yura.
Lauel smiled widely.
***
“Pant pant… Shit, I’m going to die now.”
The bloodstained Vantner cursed and screamed. The situation was desperate. There were over 100 vampires surrounding Grid’s current party, and there were also three True Blood vampires.
On the other hand, the eight people of Grid’s group were now ragged. Their health and mana was at the bottom and even their stamina was low, so it was difficult to raise a finger. It was the aftermath of hunting without any rest.
“It’s too much.”
“I wanted to slam my fist into that bastard Elfin Stone’s face. It’s too bad I’ll die before that.”
The party assumed the worst. Even Jishuka, who always encouraged the group, was silent. Grid stared at her chest that moved with every hard breath she took and tightened his grip on Failure.
Kwajak!
He squeezed out all his strength and aimed at the skull of a vampire. The vampires’ aggro fell on him and they simultaneously stared at Grid.
“Crazy!”
“Hey! How can the leader die first? We should be the first ones to die!”
The terrified party members moved towards Grid.
“Pant… Pant…”
Grid didn’t say anything. He kept panting as he wielded his sword towards the vampires. The only good thing was that Lifael’s Spear wasn’t affected by his tiredness and hovered beside him. Grid would’ve died sooner if it wasn’t for Lifael’s Spear.
“Sigh, one last rampage.”
Vantner was stimulated by Grid and grabbed his shield. He had already consumed his invincible skill and couldn’t even use basic defense skills. Potion? He took them every time the cooldown ended. The other members were the same.
“Die!”
The vampires unleashed an onslaught. The three True Blood vampires were at the center. Vantner wanted to block their attacks with his shield, but he was forced down. The other party members also killed two or three vampires before reaching their limits. They allowed attacks and their health quickly sank to the bottom.
“Jishuka!”
The enemies penetrated through the collapsed front line and aimed at Jishuka. Zednos squeezed out the last of his mana, but the wind failed to be of any help to Jishuka. This was the end.
“Hah… Hah…”
The party members could only await death. Just as the vampires were about to take away the last of their health.
Chaaeng!
There was a splendid pillar of light. It was the signal that someone had levelled up. That someone was naturally…
“You’ve been waiting.”
It was Grid.
[Congratulations!]
[You have reached level 300 and achieved the third stats awakening!]
[For every point of stamina, health will increase by 25 and defense will increase by 0.9.]
[For every point of strength, health will increase by 7 and attack will increase by 0.6.]
[For every point of intelligence…]
…
…
[One of Pagma’s Descendant’s hidden pieces ‘Sealed Ability’ has been acquired.]
[The skill ‘Item Combination’ has been acquired.]