90 – 17 – I Am the Boss – 5

The Letaphone 15 had a truly amazing new feature.

Namely, even while it was stored in the inventory, it could display the messages that arrived for its owner by borrowing the status window system.

The reason why that was useful now was that everyone participating in this faction war, including the challengers and Gi-jun, who had been hired as the boss, was forbidden from taking their Letaphones out of their inventories.

[Lora (Leta): There were vampires in the alliance. Their target was Scintilla. It seems they lured her away by casting illusion magic.]

And Gi-jun was currently experiencing in real-time the advantage of the high-spec Letaphone, which bypassed the blind spots of such contracts.

[Lora (Leta): We are on our way to rescue her now. It might turn into an all-out war with the alliance.]

[Lora (Leta): I’m sorry, Jun-nim. I wanted to watch the faction war until the end. But please forgive me, as this is for the sake of the party.]

[Lora (Leta): We might clash with the backer of the alliance. Unica-nim contacted the Lord of Turis, but I’m not confident we can hold out until then. I feel shameless asking for this, but—please come quickly. I left traces with my holy power, so you will be able to find us.]

Coincidentally, it was at the moment when the participants of the faction war began to climb the volcano that Gi-jun checked Lora’s messages.

It was absurd.

From the moment Lucy and Nabinya discovered the vampires’ chocolate factory in the alliance’s hideout, he had known that they were entangled with the alliance, but to think there were those who had already been turned into vampires.

‘Christian, whom I met this morning, was human as a result of testing him with the Flame Human’s fire. Indeed, there was no way the guild representative would have hastily crossed over to the vampires’ side. That guy… is he trying to use all other humans as pawns besides himself?’

Handing some over to the vampires to drain their blood and kill them.

And turning some into vampires to exploit them for their strong military power.

Seeing the ugly things that the man who claimed to represent humanity did by exploiting those very humans, it simply made him feel nauseous.

—Do not move from your spot.

The transmission device vibrated again, conveying the guide’s voice.

He was probably a human belonging to the guild led by Christian.

Naturally, he would have known that Gi-jun’s party members had invaded the territory of the Demander Alliance.

And he must have known what was happening inside there, too.

That was why, seeing Gi-jun’s complexion change, he realized that Gi-jun had obtained outside information in some way and was warning him.

—According to the rules, you must face the challengers at the volcano.

“You say amusing things… Are you saying our contract is still valid?”

—So you did obtain outside information after all? Depending on the circumstances, that could be a breach of contract.

“I have no intention of explaining my abilities to you one by one. But at the very least, I haven’t breached anything.”

—Is that so? Then the contract is still valid.

Ha. As Gi-jun snorted in ridicule, the man continued.

—The alliance has also not committed any breach of contract. Since holding you responsible for what the party Lumen, led by Jun-ssi, has done will take place after the faction war is over, please stay in your spot and do what you are supposed to do until then.

They had not committed any breach of contract.

In other words, they had racked their brains quite a bit to plan things in a way that wouldn’t violate the contract.

Thinking about it carefully, the pieces fell into place.

The contract focused solely on Gi-jun himself, and the meticulousness of holding hands with the vampires without leaving a trace until the very moment the faction war began.

They had focused all attention on the scheming goblins and Sabres, and then stabbed at an unexpected opening.

Thinking that even their seeming lack of interest in Scintilla had been part of their plan made his blood boil.

‘Even though I knew how easy of a target Scintilla was, to think I failed to prepare properly.’

Gi-jun clenched his fists tightly.

The pressure of the faction war, his belief in the magic contract, and even having his attention diverted by Nabinya’s disappearance—he could make as many excuses as he wanted, but.

Such things had absolutely no meaning.

It was Gi-jun’s fault for failing to properly protect his party member as the party leader.

—Since you need to focus on the faction war, I will end the call now. The alliance wished to build a friendly relationship with Jun-ssi, so it is regrettable that things turned out this way.

The man seemed to be cornering Gi-jun by speaking calmly in his own way, but the base pleasure in his faintly trembling voice could not be fully hidden.

And why wouldn’t he? Gi-jun, who had been disrupting everything since the start of the faction war so that nothing went their way, was now suffering a setback because of the very contract they had spoken of, so it must have been quite gratifying from their perspective.

The pleasure of seeing Gi-jun, a powerhouse incomparable to himself, unable to defy his words must have been quite substantial as well.

“……Fine.”

Gi-jun readily nodded and stood up.

“I should finish this faction war first.”

—Excuse me? I told you not to move from your spot.

Gi-jun ignored the guide’s voice and looked down the mountain.

Just as he had expected, most of the trolls were already cleared out, with only a few who appeared to be elites remaining and resisting.

The goblins and Sabres—no, the ogres disguised as dwarves—pretended that their glaringly obvious joint attack was entirely accidental.

At the same time, their movement up the volcano was by no means fast.

If that was a trick to keep Gi-jun tied down for a long time, it meant that not only the humans belonging to the alliance but also those bastards were supporting the operation to hunt Scintilla.

Since the ogres and vampires were cooperating under the table, the collaboration between the goblins and humans was not surprising either, but…

‘You want to win the faction war and hunt Scintilla at the same time? Not on my watch.’

They wanted to catch two rabbits—no, considering the neutralization of Gi-jun’s party, three rabbits?

There was a limit to looking down on someone.

Gi-jun calmed his mind and checked the status of Lucy and Ur.

Strangely, the amount of spiritual power and light mana they were draining from him had decreased.

Since Lucy would have informed him right away if things had gone wrong and Nabinya had died, perhaps there was good news from their end.

And Ur was…

‘You can finish it by yourself now, right? Can you let him out now?’

“—Kiit!”

Ur answered energetically to the voice Gi-jun sent through his spiritual power.

That voice vibrated not only through Gi-jun’s mind but also through the entire volcano, causing the lava lake to boil.

The gazes of all the faction war participants, who had been climbing up and down the volcano pretending to fight fiercely, naturally turned toward the summit.

And at that moment.

“—Kuaaaaaah!”

A red, burning monster leaped out of the lava lake.

It was the very ogre Gi-jun had dropped into the lake earlier.

The blood flowing from the bastard’s entire body, which was burned and blistered, turning into red steam in real-time due to the terrible heat, looked extremely horrific.

“—Did you think, did you think I would die—?!”

“You’ve completely lost your reason.”

If he had any judgment left, he would have known that he had not escaped on his own but had been let out by someone.

As Gi-jun kicked off the ground and dashed toward him, the ogre, who seemed to have lost his sight and judged Gi-jun’s approach by sound, swung his fists in the air and screamed desperately.

“—Die! Die! I’ll kill you—!”

“Hoo.”

Avoiding the thick forearms that whipped up a fierce wind with ease, he threw himself between the bastard’s legs.

At the same time, when his sharply thrust shield slammed into the bastard’s burning groin, the monster instinctively bent forward with a horrific scream.

As if expecting this, Gi-jun immediately spun around, kicked off the bastard’s buttocks and back—which were bent in a convenient position to climb—in rapid succession, and leaped up to cling to his thick neck.

“—You bastard— *Ack!*”

“Hah!”

Extending a sharp fang from the edge of the shield in one hand, he drove it hard into the left side of the bastard’s neck.

Then, while firing strongly compressed wind from the edge of the shield, he grabbed the bastard’s neck with his other hand, pulled it in the opposite direction, and twisted it off!

[With slaughtering skills that have reached the domain of a master, you have cleanly pulled out the ogre’s head and spine. You have obtained [Burning Ogre Destroyer’s Spine (U+)].]

[You have excellently slaughtered a part of a monster that mutated by consuming emotions and mana in a special situation. The Slaughter (R) skill has reached Level 40!]

[You have dealt with an enemy larger and of a higher rank than yourself in a special way. You have gained a large amount of experience. A positive modifier is applied to the title [Giant Killer (U)]!]

[You have reached Level 52, and Strength (U) has increased by 3, Dexterity (L) by 2, and Endurance (U) by 1.]

[You have hunted a Unique-grade boss-class monster and obtained 5,000 Leta Points.]

[With slaughtering skills that have reached the domain of a master, you have cleanly pulled out the ogre’s head and spine. You have obtained [Burning Ogre Destroyer’s Spine (U+)].]

[You have excellently slaughtered a part of a monster that mutated by consuming emotions and mana in a special situation. The Slaughter (R) skill has reached Level 40!]

[You have dealt with an enemy larger and of a higher rank than yourself in a special way. You have gained a large amount of experience. A positive modifier is applied to the title [Giant Killer (U)]!]

[You have reached Level 52, and Strength (U) has increased by 3, Dexterity (L) by 2, and Endurance (U) by 1.]

[You have hunted a Unique-grade boss-class monster and obtained 5,000 Leta Points.]

No matter how he looked at it, the guy seemed like a civilization representative, but it appeared that the faction of darkness did not grant a large amount of points for killing a civilization representative like the faction of light did.

Gi-jun shuddered once again at the viciousness of the Leta continent.

However, there was also a good thing: he had only dipped the guy in the lava in the middle of it to make the hunt easier while inflicting pain, but the grade of the loot had risen.

Jumping down and landing from the corpse of the ogre, which lost its sustaining power and scattered into ashes, he held the ogre’s head in his hand high.

And there was one thing that could not be left out here.

“Look―― at―― me――!”

It was Luminescent Provocation, which made his body flash intensely!

Although it was a bit regrettable that Lucy was not there to add light, the light mana Gi-jun possessed was enough to provoke them.

“That… is…”

“……”

Following the precursors of the volcanic eruption, the burning ogre leaping out of the crater and the gruesome tearing of the bastard’s neck were enough to catch the attention of everyone participating in the faction war.

The Unique-grade provocation that followed without missing a beat seized their captured attention and did not let go.

The trolls who had survived until then only tilted their heads, unable to understand why Gi-jun was proudly holding up the ogre’s head.

“……Do we have to endure that?”

“Endure? Who? Me?”

“Are you saying we have to drag out time because we’re afraid of a punk like that?”

“For the sake of a mere human?”

“No way.”

“The chieftain is dead!”

“We must kill him—right now!”

The Sabres’ reaction was different.

As the dwarves overflowing with murderous intent began to climb the volcano all at once with fierce expressions, the goblins—who had desperately pretended not to know the location of the Sabres while dealing with the trolls until now—could no longer stand by and watch.

“A-Ah, no—!”

“We have to pull back first. He’s trying to induce a chaotic battle!”

“But they seem extremely angry, what if—”

If they get caught.

One of the goblins started to say something of that nuance, only to stop in surprise and shut his mouth.

However, the situation was already growing out of control.

The fact that the ogre Gi-jun had hunted possessed a massive standing within his tribe, just as he had expected, and that his provocation was a humiliating act that the Sabres could by no means overlook combined to drive them into a frenzy.

“Tear him to pieces!”

“The device, we have to break that first!”

“Kill him right here.”

“It’s an all-out war!”

The bodies of the dwarf bastards, who were climbing the mountain while babbling all sorts of ominous words, began to gradually grow.

Although it was said that Sabres originally stored their power and bloated their bodies several times when it was time to fight, these guys were clearly crossing that line now.

Of course they were. They were not some fictional race called Sabres, but the kings of land monsters, the ogres.

In the first place, they were not a race suited for such a ridiculous play.

If there was any mistake made by the goblin bastards who had set up this stage, it was their lack of understanding of their own allies!

“Nooooo—!”

“W-We have to deal with him first.”

“Hurry!”

As things turned out this way, the goblins also had a fire lit under their feet.

If the ogres revealed their true forms here right now, it wouldn’t just be a matter of contracts or strategies; the very survival of the alliance would be in jeopardy!

However, since they did not have the confidence to face the ogres and win, the only thing they could do was to somehow move faster than the ogres and eliminate Gi-jun.

Of course, they no longer cared what happened to what they had discussed with the humans beforehand.

[You have attracted hundreds of enemies with an all-out provocation. The Luminescent Provocation (U) skill has reached Level 15!]

[You have attracted hundreds of enemies with an all-out provocation. The Luminescent Provocation (U) skill has reached Level 15!]

At any rate, looking only at the results, Gi-jun’s provocation was a massive success.

For he had made the goblins and ogres participating in the faction war rush toward him all at once!

Under such circumstances, only the trolls were left bewildered.

“—What a cowardly trick!”

“Pfft.”

After sneering at the human beyond the device, who was agitated perhaps because their plan had gone awry, he stored the ogre’s head and spine—which had fulfilled their roles—in his inventory.

He looked down the mountain once again.

The goblins and ogres were climbing up frantically, and the trolls were diligently pursuing them from behind to somehow get a piece of the action, since the faction war would end right there if Gi-jun were hunted by them.

All of them were climbing past the halfway point.

‘Ur, is it almost finished?’

“—Kiiiiiiiiiit!”

The reason he had driven the ogre out of the lake again was, of course, because Gi-jun wanted to use him to draw aggro, but there was a much more important reason.

Namely, monopolizing the ruins boss.

It was fine to face the ruins boss easily with the bastard’s help, but he couldn’t share the experience points with the enemy, could he?

Thus, he had driven the battered bastard out to die at an exquisite timing, intending to finish off the ruins boss with Ur’s strength alone.

—Rumble.

And now, he had just achieved his goal.

[You have defeated the Unique-grade boss monster ‘Lesser Phoenix’ and gained a large amount of experience. You have obtained 5,000 Points as a reward for defeating the ruins boss.]

[You have reached Level 57, and Strength (U) has increased by 4, Dexterity (L) by 2, Endurance (U) by 4, Light Mana (L) by 3, and Spiritual Power (L) by 2.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 4, reaching Level 90!]

[You have defeated the Unique-grade boss monster ‘Lesser Phoenix’ and gained a large amount of experience. You have obtained 5,000 Points as a reward for defeating the ruins boss.]

[You have reached Level 57, and Strength (U) has increased by 4, Dexterity (L) by 2, Endurance (U) by 4, Light Mana (L) by 3, and Spiritual Power (L) by 2.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 4, reaching Level 90!]

Wow, the ruins boss was a more impressive fellow than he had expected.

Although Gi-jun had not even laid eyes on it once!

He had been slightly excited about what he could obtain from the Lesser Phoenix, but in the next moment, his expectations vanished into thin air.

[The Fire Spirit has absorbed the corpse of the Lesser Phoenix and grown significantly.]

[The Fire Spirit has absorbed the corpse of the Lesser Phoenix and grown significantly.]

“Huh?”

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 2, reaching Level 92.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 2, reaching Level 94.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 3, reaching Level 97.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 2, reaching Level 99.]

[The Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has transcended its limit and grown to Unique grade! Your control over all matter holding heat, not just simple flames, has significantly increased!]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 2, reaching Level 92.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 2, reaching Level 94.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 3, reaching Level 97.]

[The level of the Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has increased by 2, reaching Level 99.]

[The Fire Spirit Arts (R) skill has transcended its limit and grown to Unique grade! Your control over all matter holding heat, not just simple flames, has significantly increased!]

Gi-jun blinked as he looked at the hectic sequence of messages.

Although he could not know the details, it was clear that he could no longer expect any loot from the Lesser Phoenix.

And at that very moment.

“Got him……!”

“I’ll kill you!”

“T-The bastard is ours!”

“No, kill him before they go berserk!”

“Huff, puff……”

“Victory! Belongs to the trolls!”

Just then, all three races participating in the faction war reached the summit of the volcano and confronted him, surrounding Gi-jun as he stood near the crater.

Shaking off his regret over the Lesser Phoenix, which he had sent away without even seeing its face once in the end, Gi-jun stamped his foot.

—Rumble.

“Kh?!”

“An earthquake!”

“No, it’s not an earthquake.”

Gi-jun chuckled and stamped his foot again.

“It’s a volcanic eruption.”

Ur, having finished his preparations, responded to that.

—Boom!

With a lava eruption that completely blew up the entire area!