Chapter 238: The Great Seal 8

One of the two leaders of Ant Eaters, Himura, fell into a deep thought one day.

<...what a fucking grind.>

Their clan, the Ant Eaters, originally only had the strength to barely compare to the other large clans in terms of battle power.

Since there was a limit no matter how much he and Michael Dawson worked.

Though they were quite skilled, the large clans were clans created by those who were far superior to them.

It was hard to beat their connections and backings.

The reason why the Ant Eaters had been able to survive against them like this and grow was because they had the justifications.

With the reason of getting rid of the bug killers who harmed the game, they kept their honor with this and slowly rose their strength through this.

Though it looked like they killed indiscriminately, there were those they needed to kill among their victims.

They rounded up everyone they needed to kill and killed them as bug killers.

Even if they would get rewarded in the future, winning the battle for strength then and there and get the support of the kingdoms or the empires was the best choice since it would be hard for their powers to get dispersed or threatened this way.

Which meant that hunting for bug players was a job the Bug Eaters had to do whether they liked it or not.

Michael Dawson only said they would lower the ratio, he could never guarantee getting rid of them entirely.

Since they wouldn't be able to win against the other clans in the battle for power otherwise.

But a problem came up.

Finding the bug players became harder and harder as time went on.

Even if they tried to kill normal players, only non-bug players turned up.

They were able to justify themselves when a certain ratio of bug players roamed around, but this would shake their entire clan.

Which meant that the power would get skewed towards Michael Dawson inside the clan.

Himura thought up to this point and then made a decision together with the captain and vice-captain of the Scarlet Demons, Sharon Stiller and Olsen.

<it seems we need to follow our ancestors' insight.>

<...what do you mean?>

Himura chuckled at Olsen's words.

<the thing our ancestors used to do. they were hunter gatherers and then... they started to raise livestock and farm crops.>

<uh...>

From then things went smoothly.

The Great Maze opened then from the 5th Great Change and the fame of the War Fortress was sharply rising.

Himura decided to kill two birds with one stone and just cut the leg of a bug player and let him go.

And then spoke.

<there's one thing you need to do. get the bug killers who come in here and make them stay in here and hand over a certain amount we want every year.>

The plan was simple.

Getting those, whom they had a hard time finding, to gather into the Great Maze by themselves.

And that person would release enough for their hunting group to maintain themselves.

It was extremely beneficial.

They were able to raise the levels of the hunting team way faster than finding them one by one.

And they had been able to increase their power even faster in the War Fortress with that justification.

The man who had his leg cut off spoke while grinding his teeth.

<bastards... you think i'll do it?>

Logically speaking, his reaction was a bit too much for just handing over a few comrades.

His reaction was like those of the NPCs who actually died for real.

But Himura just let it flow past him.

It didn't seem very important to him for some reason.

And he liked the painful expressions of these people more.

'Whatever. It's just a virtual reality game. There could be side effects like this.'

Himura chuckled.

<look, you guys aren't really losing out. if we go all out, you would all lose your accounts. isn't it better to just lose a hundred than all of you getting killed?>

Since the others would figure it out if they killed everyone, they needed to handle the ratio.

At a rate where they could still hunt and grow.

And make it so nobody else knew about the deal.

Since it would become troublesome if others found out about it.

A few of the people from the Ant Tunnel would roam around as Watchmen and the Azure or Gold Demons would 'luckily' find them and kill them.

Himura thought up to this point and added something extra.

<or, you could just end it all. your friends. you. we can just find others... wouldn't it be better for you to do it?>

..............

Kamiyou's expression froze as he thought of what happened 3 years ago.

About 10% a year.

The amount they stayed here for was about 3 years.

Though 30% would die during the 3 years, the remaining 70% would grow and leave safely.

This is why he had decided to take over this place.

But from the way they were chasing him, it didn't seem like it'd end that simply.

Kamiyou asked Olsen.

"You. What are you doing? Me and... Himura..."Olsen chuckled.

"Oh. You had a contract? Well. You did.""...But?"Kamiyou's expression turned gloomy.

Even to Himura, this would be like killing the goose which laid golden eggs.

Since 10% was a huge number over 10 years and it was more than good in terms of stability.

Olsen shrugged.

"I don't know. How could I know what the uppers up decided?"

Kamiyou's expression froze as he saw Olsen's attitude.

'No can do.'

He was afraid of the possibility but it seemed these guys really were trying to kill all the adventurers.

Kamiyou took out his final card.

"Is it okay for all the money you guys spent on me to just disappear?"Back then.

Kamiyou denied the deal at first.

10% surviving was just a deal of words, if Himura wanted then everyone inside the Ant Tunnel would get massacred.

So Kamiyou had gotten angry and put out another deal.

<if you are really going to keep your word... you should be able to accept it.>

There was one thing he wanted.

It was that the large amount money for managing the clan that was invested in the owner of the War Fortress, Keil Kingdom, would be under his name.

It was so that if he didn't agree, they wouldn't be able to get the money back.

And surprisingly, Himura easily accepted the deal.

Even if he did agree with the deal, it was clear who had the upper hand anyway.

Kamiyou clenched his teeth while thinking of Einchel.

'...Sorry. There was no such thing as the prophecy.'

How would he be able to deal with these vicious guys with just some words from a Prophet?

He had lied to her because she wouldn't have left if he didn't say this much and because this was something he didn't want anyone else to know.

And this was the last resort he had.

The contract.

The only hand that he, a traitor amongst the adventurers, could use.

The Kingdom was something even the Ant Eater clan could not deal with.

Which meant that these guys wouldn't be able to deal with him that easily either.

He had used the final hand he had put so much trust in but still made a fearful expression.

Because Olsen's mouth started to curl up into a smile.

'No. Even the Anteater clan... Cannot ignore such a large amount of money.'

They needed him to get the money back.

Kamiyou swallowed back the fear that was slowly crawling up from the dark depths of his mind and then spoke towards Olsen.

"Go back. We will resettle in the Great Maze. If there's not enough harvest... I'll try harder. If another person dies I will commit suicide..."

"I said you don't need to."

Crunch.

"Kuhuuuk..."

Kamiyou made an expression of disbelief as he saw the blade which cut through his body.

Since this was not part of his expectations.

"Fucking...You are willing to lose all that money..."Olsen smirked at Kamiyou's words.

How could they give up such a large amount of money?

It was not a trifling amount.

The situation had just changed a bit.

"Hahaha. How could you know what is going on around in the world since you're always hiding in the ground."

Crunch.

"Ugh..."

Kamiyou groaned as he saw Olsen twist the short sword embedded in his body.

Olsen spoke towards Kamiyou.

"Things will change from now on. You will hear from your friends."

Kiiiiiing!

The moment Olsen was about to activate the <azure land> skill of his gauntlet.

Charrrrrrk!

The air split apart as something popped out.

"Huh...?"But before Olsen could even reply.

Whoosh!

Somebody took Kamiyou who still had a dagger stuck in his belly.

"This rat..."

Olsen realized the situation as he quickly activated Azure Land.

Craaacckckckkk!

The entire area, with the gauntlet as the center, started to freeze.

Right before Kamiyou and the man were about to freeze.

Whooosh.

The man who had come out from void with the dark aura hugged Kamiyou and returned to the void.

Then.

Clang!

The air in front of Olsen froze and a huge block of ice appeared.

But there were no traces of the two within.

Olsen gritted his teeth as he saw this but then quickly calmed down.

Since running away wouldn't change anything.

"We'll continue with our original plan. Chase."

Soon.

Papapapapak!

The moment the Gold and Scarlet Demons were about to split up within the maze.

A voice came out from the darkness behind them.

"Wait. Let's go together."

"Huh?"

A slightly tired-sounding voice.

That wasn't the issue.

Since the owner of the voice should not be here.

Olsen was shocked at the unexpected voice and spoke.

"...What's up captain? I said we'll deal with the things here. Why aren't you chasing the blacklisted guy and..."

The expressions of the ten Scarlet Demons including Sharon Stiller turned gloomy.

................

"Haa....Haa.. Ugh..."

Abanoph, who had saved Kamiyou by using <dark destruction> and ran off, groaned out while looking at his frozen right hand.

Though he could move through space in an instant, it didn't make him invulnerable during that time.

Kamiyou looked at Abanoph with a sad expression but then looked around after feeling a sudden chill.

A tremendously large area that didn't fit the maze.

And the thousands of mysterious crosses.

'This...'

As Kamiyou was shocked at the mysterious place.

The adventurers who were gathered around the 10m-tall crosses looked towards Kamiyou.

With complex emotions.

And Einchel, who was at the very front with the skull, spoke to Kamiyou expressionlessly.

"Found it."

The location of the seal which had suppressed the Ains for hundreds of years.

'This is the place the prophecy mentioned...'

As Kamiyou looked around in a daze.

A voice was heard from the entrance of the place.

"Welcome."

"...!"

'Already?'

Kamiyou made a shocked expression as he looked at Hansoo.

Even if he followed the traces, it was too fast.

Since their opponents weren't stupid.

They should've dispatched a force they thought was enough for Hansoo but he still arrived at this place at the same time as them.

'How the hell...'

Kamiyou made a confused expression.