Chapter 190 - The Thing Hidden in Demonia Gorge (1)

"S-spread out!"

"AAHH!"

FWOOSH!

Flames spread from her hands almost at the same time the commander shouted.

Sadly, the warning came too late.

Half of the guild members were swept away by the flames and scattered into light; the other half was confused.

"What magic is that?!"

"Those that have high fire resistance, please take the front!"

"Done. I also put up an ice protection shield!"

Crack, crack, crack!

Frost appeared on the bodies of the users that were leaping forward.

The frost shield reduced the damage of flames up to 70% until it reached a hundred thousand damage!

"With this, we can perfectly resist the flames!"

When they got close to the opponent while being covered with frost, the users saw the flames shut off.

"Huh…?

Instead of flames, there was wind.

She drew a line in the air with her wind-covered hands.

BOOM! A black typhoon cut through many people.

When the wind stopped, the bodies of the people that had leaped forward turned into light and scattered away.

"What kind of skill is that now…?!"

Instead of giving orders, the commander that was in charge of rear support had his mouth wide open in surprise.

"No way…"

"They all died again?"

Even if the opponent was a ranker… It wasn't damage a normal user of level 200 could do!

It was similar to the first time they'd met Ain.

Everyone was losing their will to fight because of the strength of the opponent when…

Boom! Another «Latent Potential Increase» overlapped.

A bloody energy was mixed into the wind.

The moment they saw a girl smiling there, a few guild members remembered the past nightmare.

'That smile…'

'Wait, no way… really…?'

Although her appearance was completely different, her atmosphere was too similar to the Ain of the Count's Quest.

It was a smile that showed a bit of teeth, and she had the habit of clenching and unclenching her hands.

Why was it that the girl felt more like Ain than the one that did the History Quests?

It was because her usual habits were leaking out as she moved of her own will.

'She's Ain!'

The members of the Darkness Guild and the executives thought the same thing, and their guesses were correct.

Since Hyun wasn't interfering, Ain had become more like that crazy warrior that enjoyed killing.

«Latent Potential Increase»!

Her body was covered in a thicker, bloody wind when the «Latent Potential Increase» reached the max of three stacks.

「Ain, isn't this too fast?」

Ain still hadn't gotten used to Louise's style of movement.

Even he needed some time to get used to the reaction of the wind.

Hyun didn't believe that Ain would be able to control herself properly at such speed.

「Hyun, you're going to cover my mistakes, right?」she playfully replied.

「Well, for the moment, yes, but…」

「Fufu, then I don't need to worry!」

Ain rose to the sky as if she were a hawk and looked at the prey on the ground.

At that moment, her eyes got fixed on a user, and she pointed at him with her finger.

「He seems to be the leader.」

「It's Bearshield! You've fought against him before!」

「I don't remember seeing his face.」

Ain's smile deepened.

「Anyway, I just have to kill him first.」

Ain suddenly vanished.

After using «Invisible», Ain stepped on a «Wind Barrier» and leaped toward Bearshield.

Clang!

"Huh…?"

Ain was pushed back right when her attack was about to land.

As soon as Ain went invisible, Bearshield had used his ultimate attack.

Whish Whish-

A shield was orbiting around Bearshield that could automatically block all attacks that happened within a five-meter range.

Bearshield's shield was going to even protect all of his allies that were close to him for the five minute duration.

'Hmph!'

Ain's was flipped away, but she stomped on the air and landed on the ground.

[Fall! You've received 103 damage!]

BOOM!

When she landed on the ground, spider web-like cracks spread over the surface.

「Woah. He was able to react to that? I guess that’s expected from a ranker.」

「It was a mistake. You shouldn't have looked at him before using «Invisible».」

「Well, he did well this time」

While Ain regained her posture, the Darkness Guild members got into position.

Swoosh! Mines made of magical power appeared in the air and limited possible aerial movement.

Crash! Crash! The ice and steel that rose from the earth limited the movements she could make on the ground as well.

They also used fog magic to hinder her vision.

The guild members moved as if they were just one body. The tankers got in the front and behind them, Assassins that dealt close-range damage followed.

There were some Magicians and Priests that dealt long-range attacks far in the back as well.

They did all of that in just three or so seconds.

Darkness was probably the only guild that could react so fast in such a short time frame, and their skills at moving as a group were better than the Returner's Guild.

Hyun understood why Darkness was able to maintain 1st place.

「Is it dangerous? Should I help you?」

「I'm okay.」

Most users would be overwhelmed in that situation, but Ain and Hyun were relaxed.

「I'm also starting to get used to it…!」

Ain was starting to understand how to use Louise's skills because, every time she made a mistake, Hyun forcibly corrected her movement.

「You don't need to make an effort to kill the commanders. Killing the weak ones one by one should be enough.」

「Okay.」

「There isn't anyone who can even touch you in a one-on-one.」

「Understood.」

「Okay, then let's go again.」

Ting!

He received a message at that moment.

「Hyun, are you in Demonia Gorge at the moment?!」

It was Mayday.

Before Hyun could answer, she shouted again.

「If you’re that girl, we, Darkness, have no intention of fighting you!」

There were three executives of Darkness inside the Gorge—the guild leader, vice leader, and Bearshield, who was ranked 8th.

Mayday contacted Hyun because the guild leader, XL, had urgently contacted her.

「Ain. Wait… Wait a bit…」

「Huh? I'm having a hard time talking at the moment!」

Ain was listening to the whisper while the Darkness Guild members were turning into light and scattering away thanks to the «Efreet's Claws» that had got mixed with Demonic Energy.

Was Ain going to understand what he said?

Hyun decided to answer Mayday first.

「It's true that I'm fighting there, but…」

「As expected, it's you!」

Mayday's voice became louder.

「Stop the attack! The guild leader says he'll listen to all of your requests!」

「All…?」

「Yes. As long as it isn't something ridiculous, he probably won't refuse!」

Hyun understood that the Darkness Guild would give up on the Demonia Gorge.

It was a harsh reality, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He needed Sacred Stones for his future plans. Even if that meant they were going to become enemies with the Darkness Guild.

'If things go like this, I'm going to feel bad.'

Hyun remembered that the information Mayday had given him about the Returner's Guild had been of great help to him.

After that, they'd registered each other as friends to exchange information.

Right, he’d have to give her some face.

「Okay. Let's listen to the deal.」

「Okay. We're also going to order our members to stop attacking!]

After the conversation with Mayday was over and he was about to stop Ain…

'Hmm?'

A question mark appeared over Hyun's head.

'What's going on…?'

He realized that the Sword of Darkness had appeared in her hands.

At that moment, his sight became blurry, and it felt similar to when he used «Biorhythm Acceleration».

When the corpses turned to light and scattered away, Hyun realized what had happened.

「Ain, what did you…?!」

「Did you see? I managed to use the technique you used before!」

「That technique…」

「Yes. Since they were trying to escape, I caught them all simultaneously. I probably killed about 20!」Ain said proudly.

Hyun began thinking about what he should tell the Darkness Guild leader.

* * *

As promised, Bearshield and the other Darkness Guild forces moved beyond the walls of the gorge.

There were only two people left in the gorge—The guild leader, XL, and the vice-leader, Reina.

Reina said that it was humiliating for them and that they had to fight even if they lost, but XL and the other executives didn't think that.

There wasn't anything more stupid than fighting a battle they couldn't win.

"You can come out now."

After their soldiers moved back, the carriage floating in the air started to descend.

While the carriage was descending, «Possession» was dismissed, and Ain returned to her usual self.

The five users looked at Ain differently, especially the Theologian that called herself Ain's fan.

"Uhmm… Excuse me… You're the real Ain, right?"

There was no point in lying anymore.

Hyun nodded but asked for something in exchange.

"I'm okay with anything else… But please don't reveal in the community boards that I was seen here."

"Yes, of course…! I just wanted to know if I could add you to my friend list."

That didn't depend on Hyun, so he let Ain answer that.

Ain wasn't satisfied that the battle had come to such an abrupt end, so she opened her mouth sharply.

"I’ll allow it if you win in a PK. How about that?"

No one said anything about how she had suddenly gone from formal to informal speech.

They'd found those people on a Korean page, so they were most likely Koreans.

"No, then it's okay…!"

It was after she'd gotten rid of more than a hundred users that looked stronger than them.

They might have been more surprised if they learned that the guild that had suffered such a loss was the Darkness Guild. Since XL and Reina weren't that well-known, no one recognized them.

[All items are set to go to the party leader!]

Then Hyun made the five join Ain's party.

Even after the deal was done, the distribution of Sacred Stones probably wouldn't change that much, so Hyun decided to start the job beforehand.

"Ms. Theologian, search for Divine Power inside the Gorge. The rest just have to use this to dig."

He also gave them a warning.

If they got too far away, the effect of everything going to the party leader could dissipate.

"Ah. You mustn't dig more than a meter!"

"A meter?"

"Yes. After digging enough, I'll do it all at once when I come around."

Even if the Sacred Stone was small, a small one was worth at least ten thousand gold, and the big ones could cost more than a hundred thousand, so he needed to control them tightly.

'Still, you never know, so I'll have to be careful.'

While they did that, the Darkness Guild members finished the meeting, and Hyun faced XL and Reina.

An average user might not have known their faces, but Hyun knew both of them.

He had seen them before, but he also tried to remember the faces of the most important members of the big guilds.

'Ain…!'

XL and Reina also recognized Ain's face.

Reina remembered how they'd lost to Ain, so XL had to be careful so that Reina wouldn't say something unnecessary.

'Her appearance changed again. Was her previous appearance the effect of a skill?'

XL greeted Ain while smiling, but on the inside, he was making lots of calculations.

'Hyun is probably «Assimilated» into her. After all, Mayday said that she sent a whisper to Hyun!'

Lots of messages were being exchanged between the six executives in the chat.

Thanks to Reina's personal stream, they could see what was happening inside the Gorge.

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