Chapter 45: End of the Guild War

Arumode Poison was incredibly potent. Though the poison, in the shape of an earthworm, rushed forward, Kang Oh and his party remained still.

Sephiro glanced at him as if saying, 'Are you sure about this?'.

However, Kang Oh didn't respond. Sephiro glanced at Eder.

Because Eder was wearing his smile mask, Sephiro couldn't see his skull.

"Haa."

Ultimately, Sephiro sighed and looked forward.

The black earthworm was getting closer!

Malcolm tightened his extended hand into a fist.

Bang!

It sounded as though a grenade had gone off.

The Arumode Poison spread everywhere like shrapnel.

Thus, Kang Oh's party was unable to avoid the poison.

"Ugh."

Kang Oh clutched his throat and appeared in agony.

Sephiro shook as though he were in pain, and Eder was completely still, silent as a grave.

"Hahahahaha!"

Seeing their states, Malcolm laughed like crazy.

"Serves you right!" Malcolm yelled in excitement.

But then the vice-captain approached him.

"President, there's something strange about all this."

"What're you talking about?"

Malcolm looked at the vice-captain, annoyed.

"It's poison, yes, but they shouldn't be in that much pain within the game."

The vice-captain hadn't let their guard down and remained wary of Kang Oh's party.

They definitely weren't such easy opponents.

Still, it seemed like they had been easily defeated by the Arumode Poison. It was as though they had taken it on purpose!

Not only that, their reaction to it was so exaggerated!

In response, Malcolm's expression changed. Now that he thought about it, he was right.

But then...

"So one of you actually has a brain."

Kang Oh, who had looked like he had been wracked with pain, immediately returned to his original posture, looking no worse for wear.

"Indeed," Sephiro agreed.

It seemed like they hadn't been harmed at all.

"It's a combination of six different poisons and two medicinal herbs. Is Arumode Poison the key? The production's terrible," Eder said.

The reason that the Arumode Poison was ineffective was Eder.

He was the Healer who Conquered Death!

With Eder's skills, they were able to reinforce the potency of normal antidotes several times.

They had also taken a dose before the start of the battle.

Due to this, Malcolm's poison wouldn't work on them.

After all, Arumode Poison was the single most powerful poison he had at the moment.

Of course, poison didn't work on Eder in the first place, as he was an undead.

"H-How?"

Malcolm, who was completely unaware of the truth, saw that Kang Oh's party was completely fine and looked shocked.

Kang Oh had no intention of explaining it to him.

He would give him a taste of his blade instead.

"Attack."

Kang Oh rushed forward.

Eder and Sephiro offered support and harassed their opponents from the rear.

The members of the Death Potion guild were, like Malcolm, completely panicked.

They didn't believe they could beat Kang Oh. He was a monster!

Their secret weapon, the Arumode Poison, didn't work on him.

Which meant they had no other viable weapons.

Kang Oh quickly pushed into the center of the graverobbers.

It seemed as though they had him surrounded, but it was just the opposite.

He was like a savage beast amongst a flock of sheep!

Kang Oh unleashed an Intermediate Slash at the nearest graverobber.

A thick white line appeared!

The graverobber raised their gaff in defense.

Clang!

However, they collapsed from the intense pressure.

"Huuhp."

Kang Oh swung his sword once more and his magic sword decapitated a graverobber.

Red shards erupted from their neck as though it were a fountain of blood.

Kang Oh swung downwards and with two cuts, sliced in a cross motion.

"Ugh," the graverobber yelled briefly and died.

[You have defeated the Death Potion guild member, Salvadong.]

[Gluttony is active.]

[Stats have been stolen.]

[Physical +1]

'I think there's 5 minutes left on Gluttony. That's plenty.'

Kang Oh immediately dashed towards another graverobber.

"Uahk, go away, you monster!"

As Kang Oh neared, the graverobber screamed and haphazardly swung their gaff around.

'Tch, tch. I could dodge this with ease, even without Hyper Intuition.'

That's how unskilled the attack was.

Kang Oh too easily dodged the gaff and slashed with his magic sword.

Darkness Strike!

The graverobber was swept away by a black wave.

They weren't even able to utter a scream before they died.

Kang Oh went on to his next prey.

"I'm still hungry!" he cried, sounding like the roar of a savage beast.

* * *

"President!"

The vice-captain grabbed Malcolm and shook him.

Despite that, Malcolm kept repeating 'No way.' over and over again.

Slap!

He'd slapped him.

It felt like he'd relieved all the stress he'd gotten from Malcolm.

"Do you want to die!?"

Malcolm dashed towards the vice-captain to grab his throat.

"President. There's still a way we can win. So please get a hold of yourself," the vice-captain quickly yelled.

"We can win? Even though the poison doesn't work?"

"Yes. We all run and hide. We just need to hold out for one day. If we do, then we win the guild war."

"Y-You're right. That's a good idea!"

"Please give the order quickly!" the vice-captain urged.

Even now, his subordinates were being slaughtered by Kang Oh and Sephiro.

"Everyone, run away and hide as best as you can!" Malcolm yelled.

The graverobbers reacted instantly. They'd wanted to run a long time ago.

"Where do you think you're going!?"

Kang Oh wouldn't just stand by and let them run away.

"Eder! Surround them!"

"Yes."

Eder extended both of his hands and surrounded the graverobbers with bones like a barricade.

He even cast the Summon Skeleton spell, a spell he hadn't used before.

Of course, he summoned them near the bone wall!

The skeletons were so weak that they wouldn't be of any help combat-wise.

But they could hamper the graverobber's attempts at running.

"Mr. Sephiro. Please take care of the ones closest to the wall."

"Understood."

Having finished giving orders, Kang Oh dashed towards Malcolm.

Originally, Kang Oh wanted to kill as many graverobbers as possible to steal as many stats as he could.

However, now he needed to take care of Malcolm ASAP.

If for some reason they didn't win, he would not only lose the 2,000 gold deposit, but also have to compensate the Death Potion guild as well.

"President, you have to escape no matter what!" the vice-captain yelled.

Malcolm went up the stairs and ran into the Graham royal palace.

The vice-captain came down the stairs and blocked Kang Oh's path.

Contrary to the other gaff-wielding graverobbers, the vice-captain used a sword and shield.

Kang Oh swung downwards.

The vice-captain raised his shield and blocked his strike.

Clang!

It was a strike reinforced by both Gluttony and Baramut's Roar.

"Ugh."

Though he blocked Kang Oh's strike, the immense pressure and force behind it caused his feet to sink into the ground.

Kang Oh repeatedly swung his sword. He continued his assault with repeated heavy blows!

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The vice-captain was barely blocking his strikes with his shield. He didn't have the time nor ability to counterattack.

Thump!

Ultimately, the vice-captain let an attack through.

Just as a small opening could cause a riverbank to collapse, his next moves were like a dashing flow of torrents.

The vice-captain didn't last for very long.

* * *

"Heok, heok."

Malcolm was an Alchemist. He wasn't physically very capable.

Ultimately, he wasn't able to get any further and entered a secluded room in the palace.

Malcolm opened a worn-out closet and stuffed himself inside. He could see the room through the crevice of the closet doors.

"Heok, Heok."

Malcolm continued to breathe haggardly.

At that moment...

Step. Step.

Once he heard footsteps, he clamped his mouth with both hands.

'Please, please, please.'

Malcolm was an atheist, but in extreme situations, humans sought a higher power to save them.

He prayed to God, Buddha, Allah, etc. that Kang Oh would just pass him.

However!

Creak.

The door opened and Kang Oh entered the room.

Malcolm clamped even harder onto his mouth. It felt like his heart was pounding like crazy.

'He can't hear the sound of my heart, can he? Please!'

"Not here, huh."

Kang Oh scratched his neck and turned around as if to leave.

'Good. Go, go!' he inwardly yelled.

At that moment, Kang Oh suddenly swung his magic sword. His target: the closet!

"Hueok!"

Malcolm, in shock, popped out of the closet.

Crack!

Kang Oh's blade broke the piece of furniture to pieces.

Malcolm lay prone before Kang Oh's feet.

"You wear such a long overcoat and yet you choose to hide here. You sure are dumb."

That was the reason Kang Oh could find him so easily.

As Malcolm ran, his long overcoat dragged along the floor, leaving a clear trace of where he was going amidst such a dusty place.

"Please. Let me go. No, please let me go, sir."

Malcolm didn't believe he could beat Kang Oh in a straight up fight. Plus, the Arumode Poison was ineffective against Kang Oh.

If that's the case, then he had no other choice but to beg.

"No thanks."

Kang Oh raised his sword.

"W-Wait a sec!" Malcolm yelled.

"Why?"

"Why are you doing this to me, no to our guild? You preemptively declared war on us and you're trying to kill me. Did I do something to you? If that's the case, then I'd like to know before I die," Malcolm asked.

He was truly curious, plus he wanted to buy as much time as possible.

"Why, you ask?"

There were plenty of reasons.

They monopolized a hunting ground and stopped other users from hunting here; they were the mortal enemy of solo players like him.

Not only that, he needed Arumode's body, yet the Death Potion guild got in his way. That's why he planned to eliminate them.

If they were just monsters, he could kill them no problem, but if he killed another user, then he would become a criminal. That's why he'd initiated a guild war.

Above all!

"I just hate you."

He just hated graverobbers.

"T-That's...!"

Malcolm looked as though he was treated unfairly.

Kang Oh swung his blade down.

Thump.

His blade struck Malcolm's head directly.

"Kueok."

Malcolm's HP tanked instantaneously.

Kang Oh continued his assault.

Bam.

"Please let me go!"

Bam.

"Please!"

Bam.

"Hey, you son of a..."

Bam!

The blade entered Malcolm's mouth. That ended it. Malcolm couldn't run his mouth any longer.

[You have defeated the Death Potion's guildmaster, Malcolm.]

[Gluttony is active.]

[Stats have been stolen.]

[Magic +2]

[The enemy guild's guildmaster has been killed.]

[The Going as Three guild has won the guild war.]

[You have acquired the Right of the Victor.]

[Until both sides come to an agreement, Death Potion's guild members' abilities drop by 90%.]

[When both sides come to an agreement, you may be compensated for five times your deposit.]

[If the Death Potion guild breaks up, then you lose the Right of the Victor. In exchange, members of the Death Potion guild cannot enter a new guild or create a guild for half a year.]

"Five times my deposit... That's 10,000 gold."

Kang Oh's lips, which would rise whenever he hit the jackpot, rose even higher than normal.

However, his lips soon turned downward.

"Tch."

Someone like Malcolm wouldn't give him 10,000 gold. He would probably just break up the guild.

"Well, I guess that's fine."

His goal was Arumode anyway. He'd cleared the flies on the way, so all he had left to do was take care of Arumode.

Kang Oh checked the time.

Arumode would respawn in 10 minutes.

Kang Oh sent Sephiro a message, telling him to come to the throne room, and he too headed for the throne room.