“... This!”

Malacus, who was about to crush Regas’ head, became frightened and stopped moving.

‘It isn’t a coincidence?’

Before the Tzedakah Guild had arrived here. Malacus faced Grid 1-on-1 and failed to kill him. Grid wasn’t strong. Rather, he was weak. If Malacus wanted, he could kill Grid in a matter of seconds. In other words, he was at the level of a bug. However, Grid was somewhat strange. He was obviously weak, but an unknown source of power radiated from him. The overwhelmed Malacus was forced to step back.

‘I don’t understand it.’

He had dismissed it, but after experiencing it again, it wasn’t a coincidence. The pressure felt from Grid was real. How could a newbie exert such a powerful presence?

‘I should only fear God Yatan!’

Malacus was disturbed and let go of Regas. Meanwhile, Grid was approaching.

‘Shit!’

Malacus retreated to the maximum distance, while Grid helped Regas.

“Regas, are you okay?”

“Grid...”

Regas gazed at Grid with eyes that were twinkling like lanterns. With a single sword dance, he overwhelmed Malacus who had captured the second-ranked person in the Tzedakah Guild. Grid alone dominated 17 of the top 100 users, so his presence was bigger than any top ranker that Regas had met.

‘He isn’t even a famous ranker, yet he has this dignity...’

Regas recalled the first time he met Grid. He didn’t wear armor and only hunted monsters with a sword. Everyone else called him a braggart and laughed, but Regas believed it. He thought Grid was a reliable person.

“The more I look at Grid, the greater he is.”

Regas was a ranker in the top 30 of the unified rankings, yet he was feeling envy toward Grid. Grid felt an enormous joy at the words.

‘Until recently, I was an ordinary user and now a ranker is admiring me.’

For the original Grid, rankers were a vast presence that could only be seen on TV or in the distance. But since becoming Pagma's Successor, Grid’s life had undergone a great change.

‘My mouth is tingling!’

Grid wanted to wrap himself in Regas’ words, but unfortunately, Restraint only lasted for three seconds. There was no room to relax.

‘Unfortunately, the situation is like this...’

Grid’s brain was busy calculating the profit and losses as he ran away with Regas.

‘After using the sword dance once, I can definitely feel the benefits. It is definite. Considering Regas’ nature, he will want to pay this debt back in the future.’

Three seconds was a short amount of time. After the duration of Restraint finished, Malacus regained his freedom. Then he appeared in front of Grid in an instant. It wasn’t a dash type skill, but the manifestation of high-level magic that allowed him to leap through space itself.

“Eh?”

Grid was stunned to see Malacus appear in front of him.

“G-Ghost?”

Malacus gritted his teeth.

“The feeling of pressure from you has now disappeared as if it were a lie. Was I mistaken? It can’t be! You have tricked me! Disgraceful person. Show your skills, or you will never leave here alive.”

It was like a creepy and bizarre mixture of two voices.

“Hiik!”

Grid’s face turned blue. He bowed his head to try and beg for his life. At that time, a sphere of fire flashed and hit Malacus.

Peeng!

“Use this gap to escape!”

While Malacus was caught in the explosion, Grid turned his head and found a familiar woman. Then he couldn’t help asking.

"Laella?”

Laella, an 18-year-old British girl, was a global singer and also a top ranker in Satisfy! Why was she here?

“D-Don’t tell me?” Grid, who was her avid fan, asked Regas, “Regas, does Laella belong to your guild?”

Grid’s eyes were bloodshot and his nostrils flared. Regas snorted and nodded toward Laella. “Yes, that's right. She is a colleague who has been with us from L.T.S to Satisfy. Grid, do you like her songs?”

“Wow, amazing! I really like Laella’s breasts... Ah, no, Laella sings great! Haha!”

Grid was captivated by a certain part of Laella and forgot his life was at risk.

Jishuka hurriedly shouted, “How long are you going to stand there? Come this way!”

Pahat!

Jishuka fired dozens of arrows into the sky as she spoke. The rain of arrows poured over Malacus’ head, who couldn’t see due to the smoke caused by the explosion. Due to losing his composure from Grid’s actions and having his vision blocked, Malacus became a hedgehog without a shield.

Grid and Regas sprinted in Jishuka’s direction, but once again, Grid was caught by Malacus.

“Do you think I will let you escape?”

Kuoooh!

Malacus pulled out the arrows stuck in his back, waved his arms and three black spears shot through the air. They flew toward Grid.

“Ah, why is this bastard coming after me? Shit! Am I that intimidating?”

The moment that Grid was going to pull out Dainsleif from his inventory, a shadowy figure appeared and protected Grid and Regas.

Kwa kwang!

The spears that should’ve pierced Grid hit the ground and exploded. Malacus’ face distorted.

“There is a rat mixed among the hybrid dogs.”

A dark blade appeared in front of Malacus. Then the blade was fired, aiming precisely at the shadowy figure who protected Grid.

Seokeok!

The shadowy figure couldn’t run away! Rather than blood pouring out, it quietly disappeared into the fog.

“A clone? Che, I really don’t like this!”

Malacus was furious and started casting spells to chase Grid again. However, a young man with apathetic eyes appeared and interfered. He moved left and right, created dozens of clones.

Pepepepeok!

Syu syu syu syu syuk!

Daggers and other weapons flew in different orbits. It was impossible to develop a shield for every attacked area. In this case, what measures could Malacus take to protect the body? The answer was simple.

“It won’t get through!”

Malacus’ black shield expanded to surround his whole body. An absolute defense! The watching Vantner thought it was ridiculous.

“How is this balanced? Isn’t this shielding ability a scam? It can be activated without casting, and could even protect the whole body? It is invincible! How do we beat that?”

Pon didn’t agree.

“If that defensive ability is as invincible as you think, he would keep the shield constantly deployed, but he didn’t do that. Therefore, Jishuka managed to attack him several times. He only deploys the shield for the minimum time and area to block the attack, then he repeats this again and again. The magic power consumed to deploy and maintain the shield is considerable.”

“I agree.”

Malacus used chains of darkness to bind the feet of the clones, then summoned hellfire to burn them.

The shadowy figure who rescued Grid and Regas gave their opinion, “If Malacus is burdened by the magic power required to use the shield as Pon thinks... now it is our turn to be attacked. He will no longer want all his magic power to be consumed by the shield, so he will use it all to attack.”

It was the right answer.

“Noble master of hell! Let go of the reins of the dogs you have tamed since eons ago! Command them to eat the hearts of those who have oppressed your lowly servant!”

The blue sky turned dark. There was no moon or stars, just darkness. Then the thick darkness covered the forest. The dark magic dominated the area and made the bodies of the Tzedakah Guild members go cold.

Pon muttered, “Are we going to die?”

Jishuka hurriedly exclaimed, “Protect Grid!”

She had witnessed Grid’s sword dance a moment ago, so she was no longer certain that Grid was a blacksmith. Grid’s class was sure to be a blade dancer. Still, Jishuka couldn’t give up hope. Grid had clearly known the Special Jaffa Arrow with one glance. Therefore, she decided to prioritize Grid’s protection.

“Ohhh!”

Toban moved in front of Grid. Then he used the best defense skill available to him. That wasn’t all. Vantner, Pon, Faker, Laella, and all the members of the Tzedakah Guild prepared to guard Grid.

The ground where Malacus stood moved like lava and dozens of dark shadows started to rise. The dozens of shadows became dark dogs with three heads.

Grrrung.

Bark bark!

The 2m large dogs that could spew out fire, ice, and poison from each head. Their red eyes made them seem like rabid dogs. They barked like truly mad dogs. Malacus looked at them like they were adorable, and smiled.

“The hell’s keepers have come here!”

Keeong!

The hell’s keepers ran wildly toward the members of the Tzedakah Guild and Grid.

“Where are these dogs going?”

Vantner’s twin axes might be useless against Malacus, but they could easily hit the dogs. Vantner confidently ran toward the hell’s keepers and then spun his axes in every direction like a storm.

“Oraaaaa!”

Pepeok! Peok!

Bark bark! Bark!

At first glance, Vantner seemed to have the advantage, but the battle situation changed in just a few seconds. The hell’s keepers didn’t die, despite being cut in half with an axe. Vantner was burned all over, and his legs were frozen, making him unable to move. Furthermore, his skin was turning green and he coughed up black blood, showing signs of poisoning. Even his two axes were rusted and could no longer function as weapons.

It was caused by the flames, ice, and poison spewed by the hell’s keepers. It was the same with his colleagues.

Pon used Mach Spear to help with Vantner’s retreat.

Pepepeng! Pepepepeng!

The sonic spear pierced through the hell’s keepers surrounding Vantner.

Yip! Yelp!

The hell’s keepers panicked and scattered all over the place. Using that gap to recover, Vantner used his invincible skill to escape from the battlefield.

Toban’s face hardened as he watched the series of events.

“Not one died…”

A normal monster would die in one hit when attacked by the spear. If there was a critical blow, even a boss monster would receive enormous damage. Yet the hell’s keepers survived Mach Spear. This meant that the hell’s keepers possessed defense and health beyond ordinary monsters.

Jishuka and the guild members realized the seriousness of the situation.

“Vantner distributed all his points to strength, but he is still a guardian knight. It can’t be denied that Vantner’s defense and magic resistance is the highest in our guild, yet Vantner was turned into a rag in an instant. How many times has this happened? That dog’s attack power is top level among the monsters we have met so far.”

Pon agreed. “I estimate that these dogs are at least level 300. We can probably deal with two or three of them alone.”

There were 29 monsters that were at least level 300 and armed with three attributes. There was Malacus as well. The odds were becoming smaller. The atmosphere quickly sank. The hell’s keepers fell upon the guild members.

Jishuka commanded, “Respond with ranged attacks!”

They would be severely hurt if they went head to head with the hell’s keepers. Jishuka’s command was appropriate, but there were few ranged classes among the guild members.

Bark bark!

“Ugh!”

Not surprisingly, the hell’s keepers broke through the Tzedakah Guild members, defeated Toban’s shield, and aimed their poison breaths. Grid, who felt like his life was in danger after seeing Toban’s shield become corroded in an instant, took out a golden shield from his inventory.

At that moment, an amazing thing happened.

Kiing! Whine!

The hell’s keepers, who didn’t retreat even when hit by Jishuka’s arrows, retreated as soon as they saw Grid’s shield.