It was something no one could have imagined.
Legendary-grade items did not appear merely because a dungeon was difficult. They emerged at random, only after overcoming impossibly low odds.
One existed in the United States.
Another existed in South Korea.
Those were the only two Legendary items known to exist anywhere in the world, and their performance was on an entirely different level, befitting their rarity.
For example, the United States’ [Book of Annihilation] was said to have reduced every monster within a one-kilometer radius to dust in an instant...
Of course, Legendary items were not without drawbacks.
They were immune to appraisal abilities, for one thing. As a result, there were cases in which no one could determine how an item was meant to be used, as had happened with Jung Haseong’s [Sword of Sunset].
Even taking such flaws into account, however, there was no denying that these items were treasures capable of elevating a person’s status beyond recognition.
It was the opportunity of a lifetime for the pyromancer who had always been treated as second-rate.
‘I expected something Epic from an S-rank gate, but I never imagined an item like this would appear!’
Unfortunately...
The members of the Imabari Guild had signed a certain contract before entering the dungeon.
Contract Contents
Upon completion of the raid, Kim Giryeo may select and receive one item dropped by monsters within the so-called [Kagoshima Gate].At the time, Ito had thought they would be fortunate if Kim Giryeo settled for something like a Dragon’s Eye.
Reality had turned out far worse.
A Legendary weapon—something that had not appeared even during the Nuckelavee incident—had dropped here.
What on earth was he supposed to do now?
‘You’re telling me I have to hand over the Legendary item I just obtained...? Am I supposed to turn around and pretend I never saw something like this?’
Ito’s hands trembled.
The Knight’s Oath was indeed a solemn promise.
However, there was one way to break it.
The death of the other party to the contract.
That was the most common reason a Knight’s Oath was nullified.
The expressions of the Imabari Guild members changed the instant they discovered the Legendary weapon they had believed existed only in fantasy.
Joy.
Anxiety.
Greed.
The moment they realized that this once-in-a-lifetime stroke of fortune might slip through their fingers, thoughts they would never ordinarily have entertained surged through their minds without restraint.
The Japanese hunters’ demeanors abruptly changed.
Immediately afterward, Ito slowly extended the hand bearing the red ring, his expression grim.
By then, even Giryeo appeared to have sensed that something was wrong. He hesitated, then spoke in confusion.
“Ito-san?”
No answer came.
After several seconds of hesitation, Ito finally gathered his magical power and launched an attack.
“...!”
As expected of an S-rank hunter, the spell took almost no time to complete.
The place where Giryeo had been standing was engulfed in violent flames.
Boom!
An unannounced explosion erupted through the air as fierce heat surged from the ground.
“He dodged.”
Ito’s first ambush ended in failure.
As expected of a fellow S-rank, Kang Changho reacted with extraordinary speed and pulled Giryeo out of the ability’s range.
“What are you doing?!”
Giryeo, having narrowly escaped the attack, demanded an explanation in shock.
Ito answered with difficulty.
“I know this is a terrible thing to do. B-But... don’t you think it’s unfair for you to take a Legendary item without shedding a single drop of blood?”
“Legendary?”
“This gate was conquered through Japan’s sacrifices. Look! Just look at the damage our guild suffered because of those dragons...!”
Only then did Giryeo examine the greatsword they had obtained.
“Wait. Hold on. I understand what you’re saying, but I’m not going to choose that!”
In any case, Giryeo had no interest in anything other than the Dragon’s Lung.
Naturally, he had no intention of taking an item that would require him to risk his life merely to claim it.
He hurriedly continued.
“So let’s not do this. We can just—”
But at that moment—
Whoosh!
Red flames swept past him, grazing his side.
Boom!
The deafening roar followed immediately afterward.
It seemed they had not been aiming to strike him directly. Instead, they had collapsed the wall behind him to block his escape.
“Don’t let him leave the dungeon. Everything that happened here must be buried with him!”
“Hunter Ito!”
“What are you all standing around for? At this rate, we could lose the Legendary item because of a single word from him...!”
At Moritake Ito’s chilling command, the remaining hunters visibly tensed and began gathering their magical power.
They had four S-ranks on their side.
How could they possibly lose?
“Four against two. No, if you only count the people capable of fighting, it’s practically four against one.”
But at that moment, Kang Changho, who had been standing at the rear, finally shouted toward the Japanese hunters.
“Wait a moment. Judging by the way this is unfolding, it looks like you’re planning to break the Knight’s Oath.”
Sssrk.
Kang Changho raised both hands as though surrendering.
“I’ll cooperate. I’ll help you kill Kim Giryeo, so let me go.”
Correction.
Strictly speaking, this was closer to a five-against-one fight.
***
Calm down.
Wait.
Did I really look calm right now?
‘Kang Changho, you bastard.’
I had come all this way to help them with the raid, and now I was about to die because an unexpectedly valuable reward had dropped.
I had never imagined that something like a Legendary item would appear, so I had no idea how to deal with the situation.
Whoosh—!
At that moment, the harsh rush of wind came from ahead.
“Have you all lost your minds? How can you talk about killing that hunter? Kim Giryeo helped us!”
Apparently, opinions were divided even within the Japanese raid team.
In particular, Iori, one of the S-class hunters, was furious at his companions’ ingratitude.
“Keugh!”
However, Iori was soon overpowered by his fellow guild members.
Japan had developed a distorted structure in which four S-rank hunters belonged to a single guild.
Yet even among those S-ranks, there was an unmistakable hierarchy.
“Moritake!”
The master of the Imabari Guild personally subdued the internal opposition.
He trapped his companion within a vortex of flame, depriving him of oxygen until he lost consciousness and could no longer resist.
After activating the ability, Ito broke into a cold sweat, his expression twisted with anguish.
“I’m sorry, Iori... but this isn’t merely a matter concerning our guild. It concerns the national interest as well! Considering the value of a Legendary item, there truly was no other choice...”
Was there some rule on this planet that required every fire mage to become a patriot?
I had no idea how I was supposed to calm this man down.
“Thanks to you, I’m having a truly wonderful time.”
Incidentally, Kang Changho, who stood beside me, had just had his proposal rejected.
The Japanese hunters intended to eliminate both Koreans. Allowing either of us to leave and speak publicly about what had happened would cause a serious international incident.
“Keugh.”
“Ugh...”
“How did things end up like this?”
Fortunately, they had not killed anyone yet.
That meant they were still hesitating.
But that hesitation would not last long.
The dazzling appearance of the Legendary item was more than enough to blind human judgment.
‘There was even talk that if a Legendary item had appeared slightly earlier, the Hawaii Dungeon Break might have been resolved without disaster.’
I frantically searched for a way to survive inside this gate.
And then, faintly, I heard someone’s voice within my memory.
‘—That’s how hunters fight one another. People are different from monsters, so they often conceal their abilities.
—This awakener is hiding something... Once the opponent starts thinking that way, they won’t initiate conflict so easily.’
Right.
As Yoonseung had once said, displaying overwhelming strength was an effective strategy on Earth.
Magic here was still in its infancy, so opponents had no way to predict what kind of abilities someone might possess.
And when an enemy behaved as though they had some hidden trump card, most people instinctively became cautious.
‘A show of strength.’
I racked my brain for a convincing bluff.
Then my eyes fell upon the Infinite Power Cores buried beneath the ground.
I had consumed most of their energy while subduing the boss, but a little mana still remained.
To be precise, there was enough power left to reactivate the binding spell I had inscribed in this chamber one final time.
“Ugh!”
“Kaagh!”
I did not hesitate.
The moment I realized there was still energy remaining in the magical tool, I reactivated [Binding].
Mouth.
Nose.
Throat.
Chest.
Those primitive fools would have tremendous difficulty casting anything if I merely constricted their airways.
“M-Mmph!”
“Ugh!”
“Euph!”
It was fortunate that this happened to be the same place where I had confronted the boss.
Once a spell had been engraved into a core, the core could no longer be used for any other purpose.
Had this confrontation occurred anywhere else, I would not even have been able to attempt the binding.
‘Damn it.’
But what could I do?
As I had already mentioned, very little mana remained inside the cores.
In other words, this binding would last for only about sixty seconds.
Which meant...
“...You people.”
At this point, my only option was to talk my way out of the situation...!
“So you truly believed you could kill me simply by joining forces?”
It was all or nothing.
After drawing a short breath, I began my performance.
I adopted an unbearably arrogant tone so that no one would realize how frightened I was.
“Does no one in Japan know that the strength of a binding ability corresponds to the user’s awakening level?”
“...!”
“The core is merely a tool used to sustain a skill that has already been activated. I assumed even you would understand something so basic.”
Incidentally, that was a complete lie.
Such a restriction might apply to Earth’s awakened hunters, but I could freely manipulate activation conditions because I understood the structure of magical formulas themselves.
“Hunter Ito, let’s see whether you can calculate this.”
I did not reveal the secret behind my magic.
Instead, I actively exploited their ignorance.
“I am an awakened hunter who has already pinned down the boss of this dungeon.”
I looked directly at him.
“Do you honestly believe my awakening level is lower than yours?”
“Euph!”
Good.
They were reacting.
The faces of the S-rank hunters bound by threads of light gradually turned pale.
“How long do you think it would take me to crush every skull in this room?”
I threatened them, implying that I could kill everyone there whenever I wished.
In truth, I was like a yellow egg mushroom—possessing no real power, yet flaunting an appearance so vivid that others might mistake me for something poisonous.
“E-Euph...!”
Twenty-four seconds remained.
But now that I thought about it, would sixty seconds of threats really be enough to change their minds?
Cold sweat poured down my back.
For a moment, the idea had seemed brilliant.
But as the spell’s remaining duration diminished, my anxiety grew.
If I failed to frighten them into abandoning the fight, I was finished.
“How did things end up like this?”
As the situation worsened, my mind naturally drifted toward escapist thoughts, just as it had when the reporters surrounded me by the stone wall.
I found myself reflecting on the past, replaying each decision one by one.
‘Is this the price I have to pay for daring to challenge a dragon in my current state? No, more importantly, if only I hadn’t brought that contract and pretended an F-rank like me was capable of making rational calculations...’
But then one word caught in my mind.
“Wait.”
A contract?
Why were the Japanese hunters behaving like this?
Because of the [Knight’s Oath].
They were afraid the Legendary item would become mine.
But I had never wanted that sword in the first place.
With the strength of an F-rank, I could not even lift it.
Why would I be foolish enough to provoke their jealousy by claiming it in a situation like this?
“Ah!”
Until now, Ito’s surprise attack had left me too flustered to think clearly.
But once I calmed down, an extremely simple solution to the conflict revealed itself.
“Right. That would solve everything. What have I been doing all this time?”
I strode toward the fallen hunters.
Seeing me approach, Ito visibly stiffened.
However, I simply walked past him and stopped elsewhere.
Then I turned toward the members of the Imabari Guild and spoke in a flat, emotionless voice.
“Ito-san, may I take the longsword that fell over here?”
This was the easiest way to nullify the contract.
“What I wanted was never your greatsword. It was the reward Hunter Iori obtained.”
The conditions of the oath had been fulfilled.
The contract was terminated.
Ito’s eyes widened in disbelief, clearly having never considered such a possibility.
But although everyone had been distracted by the Legendary item, the item I selected was hardly ordinary itself.
[Epic] grade.
Aside from Ito’s greatsword, it was probably the finest reward obtained in the dungeon.
I picked up Iori’s sword from where it lay on the ground.
The moment ownership of the item was transferred to me, our contract was dissolved.
Crack!
At the same time, the restraints binding the hunters shattered.
“Cough! Cough!”
“Keugh.”
I had expected them to stop attacking once the transaction was complete.
Yet they remained tense, their bodies still brimming with magical power.
Then again, they had just attempted to murder someone.
It was only natural that they would feel uneasy about what might happen next.
This was the moment to drive the point home.
“I would love to kill every one of you, but...”
If I appeared weak now, they might attack again in an attempt to conceal their attempted murder.
After carefully calculating my response, I did everything I could to maintain the bluff.
“I’ll overlook this once. Japan still needs enough surviving personnel to manage the gate.”
Damn it.
My mana never increased, yet somehow my acting ability improved with every passing day.