Chapter 133
“What are you going to do if you’re like this from the beginning? Are you going to kill us all?” I yelled at the Second Virtue.
His eyes shook not only because my attitude had completely changed all of a sudden, but also because I had crushed the pawns in an instant. The Fourth Virtue was the only one who had been talking to me, and he was the only one I could communicate properly with since Angela had remained in the mansion.
“Lee. How…how did you do that?”
I ignored him and grabbed the Second Virtue’s hand to make him stand up. When my hand touched him, he tried to shake me off instinctively.
“Tell me, Joshua. What are your plans from now on?” I asked.
Everyone was looking at us, and they surrounded us, even the mercenaries from afar who couldn’t see us.
“You should answer first… How…could you do that? By yourself…”
The Second Virtue… No. Joshua’s eyes strayed over to the dead monsters again and he patted his arm as if he got goosebumps.
“I asked you first,” I said bluntly.
“No, you deceived us. You must have played this type of game many times before.”
Joshua rummaged through his backpack and took out profile documents.
“All stats are F-class. No skills. Four insignias.”
He read off the information on my profile and handed it to me. I tore it up in front of him, and people began talking again. The mercenary captain approached us, although he couldn’t see much, and when they spoke in German, I stopped them.
“Speak in English.”
I already knew that the mercenary captain could speak English. It was ridiculous because he stared at the ground with an angry face, but he couldn’t meet my eyes. As the Fourth Virtue mentioned, civilians had become burdensome and worthless. Their fear spread around the group and negatively impacted those even with a strong mentality.
The captain ignored my words and continued speaking in German, so I pressed his shoulder.
“Ugh.”
Although he tried to endure my strength, he rolled on the floor with a scream when I raised my Strength to E-class.
“Stop! Don’t cross the line anymore,” Joshua shouted.
“What are you going to do?”
The Awakened around me including Joshua, Braun Nase, the bald guy, and the Fourth Virtue pointed their blades at me.
I smirked. “This is funny. Do you guys think you’re still in a civilized world? This is the wilderness, and do you want me to show you what happens when someone goes against me?”
Zzzing. Zzzzing-
Blue sparks trailed up on my body, and the people who had been trying to overpower me stepped back. Some of them even fell down. Only my sparks lit up the dungeon, and blue lightning struck a pawn’s corpse. The smell of the flesh burning filled the air, and the body was quickly torn apart to pieces. Burnt flesh splattered everywhere, and those who got bits of charred pieces stuck on their bodies were busy slapping them off in revulsion. The gigantic pawn crumbled into a handful of ashes.
Zzzing!
I moved the sparks a little more toward Joshua, and he curled up to avoid them while looking at me. It was then that I noticed someone who tried to attack me from the back. It was quite impressive. He had reinforced his arm with skill and intended to use it to stab me. It would have been possible if my Odin’s Wrath was still in F-class, but it was now C-class.
This was the problem with amateurs. He couldn’t even go against a single pawn, but he was trying to ambush me, despite me having casually killed seven pawns in an instant. Emotions had overwhelmed his rationality as he thought a human being would be more vulnerable than a monster. That was his big mistake and a symbol of his stupidity.
“Argh!”
When he made contact with a small spark, he began to cry as if he was stuck in a fire.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
“Please… Stop…” Joshua pleaded.
“You should be the one doing that,” I answered him.
“W…what do you mean…?” He asked.
“Tell your healers to use their skills. You have Hoffman and Mueller.”
Then, Joshua hurriedly gave orders to them, and the two healers started treating the guy who tried to attack me. The wary looks that were directed at me died down as soon as they met my gaze.
“Try your best to take me out. It’s dangerous for the whole group to leave a complete outlaw like me, so you need to remove anyone that can harm your group. What’s stopping you?” I provoked him.
Joshua bit his lower lip since it was difficult to find anyone who would fight against me now. The Fourth Virtue intervened, “Calm down, Lee. Tell us why you’re acting like this. No, just tell me. What do you want from us?”
“What do I want?” I asked.
“Yes!”
“I want everyone to survive. Translate my words to everyone about what I want,” I said.
***
[You have invited Joshua into your party.]
[Joshua has joined the party.]
Joshua blinked in surprise as he couldn’t believe such a thing existed. Anyone could manage the system without difficulties once they got used to it.
“Try it.”
I broke up the party and instructed Joshua again.
[Joshua has invited you to his party.]
[Would you like to accept it?]
The message popped up. Joshua’s astonished response made everyone else wonder what I was teaching him, and they became noisy. The Fourth Virtue seemed to feel the same. Braun Nase began calming people down, but he was speaking English by using easy words like ‘stop.’ He looked at me once in a while as he was quieting people. It was the same way he had looked at Joshua in the past. He clearly understood the new power structure inside the dungeon, and he had the instincts of a born bootlicker. He even tried talking to me in nonfluent English.
“I’ll do it. Stop. We.”
The Fourth Virtue’s eyes narrowed as he disapproved of Braun Nase again.
“Yes, that’s how you do it, Joshua. But only five members per party,” I said.
“...Then?”
“Hey, I’m not saying that I’ll become the leader. You’re still the leader, but you shouldn’t treat me the way you used to. Have you not learned anything so far?” I snapped at him sharply.
“...”
“Be polite if you want to get out of here alive. You’re their leader, not mine,” I added.
“Okay,” Joshua replied calmly.
He might have clenched his teeth, but he knew that he was just a wimp compared to me.
“But why did you join my group? You would…” he asked.
“You were the one who recruited me,” I replied.
“You tricked me, though.”
“About my abilities?” I questioned.
“Yes.”
I snorted. “Are you confident that you have never lied? Did you get all those necklaces and rings by yourself? Also, did you tell everyone about all the skills you have? Stop bullshitting me. If you keep questioning me like that, I’ll go out alone.”
“You’re in the same boat since you’re here with us,” he responded.
I shrugged. “Completing the quests isn’t the only way to exit the dungeon.”
Among the glances that focused on us, I beckoned the curly-haired hunter nearby. He came out of the crowd in bewilderment.
“Joshua, keep people like this one close to you,” I said.
Joshua frowned as he didn’t understand my words.
“This is why you were unable to give more faith to your group and find a way to tell if one of your members was lying or not,” I added.
“What do you mean?”
I ripped off the curly-haired guy’s shirt, and although he was startled and tried to avoid me, he stopped immediately when I glared at him. I pointed at the insignia embedded on his chest.
“This is the escape insignia, which allows you to get out of the dungeon without completing the quest,” I said.
The curly-haired guy looked away from us and covered his insignia as if he felt guilty.
‘Get your hands off of that.’
This must have been what Joshua sharply told the guy in German. When the curly-haired guy didn’t listen, Joshua made Braun Nase overpower him from behind and forcefully spread his arms. Then, Joshua mercilessly interrogated the curly-haired guy, and he was busy making excuses.
“Don’t you think it’s time to praise him for not running away instead of asking questions?”
Joshua would have done so in the past, but he felt cornered and trapped in the dungeon. However, he stopped asking like he had realized something from my words.
“Is there any other way besides the escape insignia?”
“There’s something more important to think about,” I replied.
“What is it?”
“Annihilation,” I answered.
“...”
“Don’t take it as a joke. It’s better to die here if we can’t conquer this dungeon, and there are no barriers outside. If someone runs away with the escape insignia, the dungeon remains open,” I explained.
“Then, what happens?”
“There is a possibility that the monsters will crawl out. The higher the dungeon’s class, the more likely it will happen,” I said.
“How in the world…do you know all this? What the hell are you?” He widened his eyes.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Ah!”
“If you want to get out of here alive, you should be the true leader. Don’t lose yourself in fear, and put the team together properly. You should also restructure the rules,” I said.
“Okay, but…”
“But what?”
“It’s more reasonable for you to lead our group,” he said.
“Do you really want me to? I told you not to speak nonsense.”
“...”
“This is your group, Joshua. Listen carefully,” I added.
I pulled Joshua towards me and whispered that he could only hear me.
“This is your group. But, you are mine.”
Joshua shuddered.
“Stop resisting. You’ll have to accept it as your destiny. You can bet that I’m right,” I continued.
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