Chapter 221. Two Archangels
Ryu Min joined the mercenary corps and took a subjugation quest.
Since he was a veteran mercenary, he was given a quest more difficult than the others.
“This is the Forest of Magical Beasts at the edge of the Lutus Mountain Range. The Hormos Merchant Alliance has been having a hard time because magical beasts occasionally pop out and attack the road.”
1 Subjugation Captain Kaltz continued the briefing as he looked over the mercenaries.
“Our mission is to eliminate the Blood Orcs, the most numerous species in the Forest of Magical Beasts. Those bastards go insane at the sight of blood, and their combat power increases too, so try not to get injured if you can. Then let’s move out.”
“Yes, sir!”
While the subjugation unit moved, Ryu Min stared into empty air.
<Sub Quest – Subjugate the Blood Orcs>
└Condition ▶ Subjugate 100 Blood Orcs
└Reward ▶ Mercenary Corps rank EXP increases slightly, 30,000 gold and EXP awarded
└Blood Orcs defeated so far (0/100)
The reward wasn’t anything worth paying special attention to.
He no longer had any greed for gold or experience.
‘The point is to raise the mercenary corps rank.’
As far as he could tell, if he cleared quests like this only about twenty times, he would be able to reach Master rank.
Shhk— Shhk—
Dozens of mercenaries advanced, stepping over the undergrowth.
Counting heads, there were forty in total.
It was, by the setting, a party made up of veteran mercenaries, but aside from Ryu Min, they were all NPCs.
‘Kill a hundred quickly and take the next subjugation quest.’
The Forest of Magical Beasts had ten subjugation quests in total, and if you cleared one, you could immediately take the next.
That chained format, at least, could be called an advantage of subjugation quests.
[You have located the target ‘Blood Orcs.’]
[They are currently 210m away.]
Using Tracking, Ryu Min found the monsters’ location.
When he used an area search skill, sure enough, multiple red dots appeared at the expected point.
“Kwik! Kwi-iiik!”
The mercenaries who spotted the Blood Orcs raised their weapons and went into combat readiness.
But before they could, Ryu Min’s scythe moved first.
THWACK—!
BZZZT—!
STAB! STAB!
He beheaded them with his scythe, unleashed lightning, and burned their bodies away.
He scattered Blades of Darkness, then once more split their bodies into two pieces with his scythe.
[You have slain a Blood Orc!]
[Due to Title effect, EXP increases by 1.5x.]
[EXP +0.24%]
[Gold +800]
[Bonus Gold +400]
[Current kill count: 10/100]
[Due to Rune of Slaughter effect, all stats increase by 10%.]
[There are 44 enemies within a 100m radius.]
[Due to Rune of One vs. Many effect, all stats increase by 44%.]
In an instant, he dealt with five, then killed another five that appeared right after.
It all happened in the time it took the mercenaries to blink five times.
“N-no, what—what just happened?”
“It was flashing, and then they all just died all of a sudden.”
“Warrior from another world—was that your doing, by any chance?”
To the mercenaries’ questions, Ryu Min nodded.
There was no reason to hide it, and he planned to show his skill without holding back so he could clear quests faster.
After that, his path was—well, completely smooth sailing.
[You have completed the Sub Quest!]
[EXP +4.8%]
[Gold +30,000]
[Mercenary Corps rank EXP increases slightly.]
[There are quests remaining in the Forest of Magical Beasts. Would you like to receive the next subjugation quest? Y/N]
In less than twenty minutes, once he killed 100 Blood Orcs, the chained quest notification popped up.
If he pressed Y here, another subjugation quest he could do in the Forest of Magical Beasts would appear, and if he pressed N, he would return to the mercenary corps as-is.
‘Obviously, yes.’
The moment he accepted the chained quest, it moved straight on to “Hunt 100 Trolls.”
He finished that easily as well, and after dealing with all sorts of monsters—Poison Slimes, Ancient Trees, Corrupted Vampires, and more—two full hours slipped by.
[You have slain a Blood Golem!]
[Due to Title effect, EXP increases by 1.5x.]
[EXP +0.21%]
[Gold +700]
[Bonus Gold +350]
[Your level has increased!]
[Current kill count: 503/100]
[Due to Rune of Slaughter effect, all stats increase by 100%.]
[There are 28 enemies within a 100m radius.]
[Due to Rune of One vs. Many effect, all stats increase by 28%.]
‘Doing nothing but quests nonstop made me level up.’
Now level 92, Ryu Min checked the time and figured he should start heading back.
With that thought, he cleaned up the area, and the mercenaries gaped anew.
“Hahaha, no matter how many times I see it, your skill is incredible. An amazing expert has really joined us!”
Subjugation Captain Kaltz and the mercenaries praised him until their mouths went dry.
He had slaughtered the Forest of Magical Beasts’ monsters to the point their species would go extinct, so it made sense.
Not that Ryu Min would get cocky over NPCs’ praise, though.
‘Finish up through the Blood Golem quest and hurry to go meet Russell—’
That was when it happened.
On the area search skill he had kept running, he saw two additional red dots appear.
‘Did monsters respawn?’
It was suspicious, though.
They were approaching this way at a speed faster than he expected.
‘That… isn’t a monster.’
As soon as the two dots entered around the 100m range, the message changed as well.
[There are 30 enemies within a 100m radius.]
[Due to Rune of One vs. Many effect, all stats increase by 30%.]
Two entities were added to the twenty-eight.
He didn’t know what they were, but two enemies were closing in fast.
Straight toward where he was.
‘They’re within 60 meters.’
Once they entered his presence-detection range, he could read their movements.
‘The sky.’
Ryu Min’s gaze lifted upward.
Above the trees, he saw winged beings flying.
They were none other than archangels.
“Look! There’s something up there!”
I-it’s an angel, judging by the wings!”
“G-god almighty!”
At the holy aura you could feel even from far away, the mercenaries couldn’t hide their shock, their faces sinking into a kind of ecstasy—but only Ryu Min remained expressionless.
Because he knew why they had appeared.
‘Now you’re sending two to kill me?’
The angels, descending as lightly as feathers, looked directly at Ryu Min.
[Found you. Black Scythe.]
[So you were here, you filthy insect.]
Judging by how many wings they had and how huge they were, it seemed they’d sent no pushovers.
From a distance of 20 meters, Ryu Min peered into their inner thoughts.
‘One is Uriel, the archangel of light and flame, fourth in the hierarchy… and beside him is Raguel, the archangel of justice, fairness, and harmony, fifth in the hierarchy.’
Luckily, even stronger ones hadn’t appeared, but having two show up still made him tense, at least a little.
‘Is it because I killed one archangel? I’m facing angels in a way that doesn’t even compare to the previous run.’
Thinking that even the one ranked first might show up at this rate, he stared at the two as if scouting them out.
Unlike the tense Ryu Min, the archangels’ mood was supremely relaxed.
[Uriel-nim. As promised, I’ll handle him first, yes? Don’t interfere.]
[I know, I know. Just do it properly so I don’t have to interfere.]
[Don’t bother with such pathetic worries. Who do you think I am? Am I not the judge of justice before whom even demons trembled?]
[Yeah. If you’re that great, try subduing him without even getting hurt. That’ll be good for saving the higher-ups’ face, too.]
[Just leave it to me. I’ll show you what justice is.]
With a self-assured smile, Raguel folded his wings and drew the sword at his waist.
It was a longsword with an impressive golden blade, and what was unusual was that there were two—one on each side.
‘An angel who uses dual swords?’
Normally, a one-handed sword and a shield would be the standard, so the fact he used dual swords suggested an aggressive style.
‘I should check how skilled he is.’
Deciding to start with probing exchanges, Ryu Min, unlike the advancing Raguel, looked at Uriel behind him with his arms crossed and swallowed a sneer.
‘Looks like they’re planning to come at me one at a time—perfect.’
He prepared to use Reaperization if needed, and Raguel spoke as he approached.
[You’re called Black Scythe, was it? No—there’s no need to even call a worm by a name. I’ll judge you from now on, and you know your charges without me needing to say them, right?]
“A crime? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
[Trash human. Are you saying you don’t even know what you’ve done?]
“Say it so I can understand—devilish angel bastard.”
[Th-this… ignorant human trash…!]
He hadn’t even provoked him that much, yet Raguel bulged the veins on his forehead, his cheeks trembling as he shook with rage.
‘Such a fervent reaction to something this mild.’
He felt like he understood why Raguel was called the archangel of justice.
‘An archangel without composure. An easy one to shake.’
Thinking through his plan, Ryu Min deliberately let out a laugh.
“Pfft. Heh-heh.”
And as expected, the reaction came immediately.
[What’s so funny, human?]
“Nothing—something funny just occurred to me. Pfft.”
When he laughed as if mocking him, Raguel’s face heated up like an active volcano.
[…A human who doesn’t know his place dares laugh in front of me?]
“Sorry, sorry. But what do you want me to do when it’s funny?”
[What the hell is so funny!!]
“All of a sudden I remembered when Remiel and Sariel died. The way they begged to be spared—how ridiculous it was, heh-heh.”
Was that the fuse?
Raguel charged in like a beam of light.
From his expression—twisted like a ferocious god—it looked like he’d completely snapped.
KANG—!
Blocking the strike aimed at his head with his scythe, Ryu Min immediately twisted his waist to avoid the sword that stabbed toward his side.
[I’ll just kill you right here, you worm of a human!!!]
KANG—! KANG! KANG!
As he received several attacks, Ryu Min was, inwardly, taken aback.
‘This is the level of fifth place?’
Because it was weaker than he’d expected.
‘No… did I become absurdly strong?’
KANG— KANG— KANG-KANG—!
He was pouring out a reckless offensive, but maybe because he was enraged, his accuracy was terrible.
There were openings everywhere.
If Ryu Min wanted, he was at the point where he could just stab and kill him in one breath.
‘Disappointing. His power is stronger than Sariel’s, but he has no sharpness. He isn’t threatening.’
In Ryu Min’s gaze—while he was only defending—he suddenly saw Uriel uncrossing his arms.
Since Ryu Min was blocking better than expected, he wore an expression of surprise.
‘If fifth place is like this, fourth place won’t be much different.’
Without even realizing Ryu Min was disappointed by his underwhelming skill, Raguel put on a face that said this was “decent.”
[For a worm, you’re managing to take some of my attacks. Honestly, I’m surprised.]
‘I’m surprised too. That you’re weaker than I thought.’
[Let’s see if you can block this as well.]
After clashing blades for a while, Raguel sprang back and held his swords crossed.
Wooooong—
The golden swords quivered and vibrated, and their radiance deepened.
—Tsk tsk, what a foolish human. If you can’t dodge, your life is forfeit.
Ryu Min not only heard the guy’s thoughts, he also foresaw—through the Eyes of Foresight—the situation that would happen seven seconds later.
‘He’s planning to turn this whole area into a wasteland.’
He knew the guy was about to use a big technique, but he wasn’t that worried.
He could just dodge.
‘But if I leave it like this, Subjugation Captain and the mercenaries will get caught up in it.’
His thinking was brief, and his movement was fast.
“Get out of the way!”
He quickly used Grip of Death to shove away the mercenaries within range, then threw himself forward and shoved Kaltz aside.
At once, the sword blades flashed, and a fountain of light erupted from the ground.
KUWAAAAH—!
In a moment, trees turned to ash, and a deep X-shaped crater opened in the earth.
“A-ah… ahh….”
Kaltz and the other mercenaries, who had barely escaped thanks to Ryu Min, stared into the bottomless-looking pit and let out the breath they’d been holding.
If he’d been even a little late, their very existence would have vanished.
“Th-thank you. Warrior from another world.”
Even at Kaltz’s thanks, Ryu Min didn’t react.
He was only looking at the message floating in the air.
[Hero Rune Stack: 73/100]
[Due to Hero Rune effect, all stats increase by 73.]
‘Saving three people raised the stack by 3.’
Ryu Min hadn’t saved the mercenaries for any other reason.
It was to build Hero Rune stacks.
‘If I save everyone here, I can fill 100 easily.’
To do that, he needed Raguel’s help.
As if on cue, the guy was staring at Ryu Min with strange eyes.
He seemed more shocked that Ryu Min saved the mercenaries than that he dodged the skill.
[What are you doing? You, a Player, saving these otherworldly humans who have nothing to do with you.]
“These people haven’t done anything wrong.”
To anyone else, it would sound like a statement overflowing with a sense of justice—but the opponent was an angel.
To his eyes, it was no different than a criminal who slaughtered people without hesitation doting on a pet dog at his side.
[Ha. How absurd. Trash who killed an archangel saving other lives.]
His disbelief lasted only a moment.
[Thanks to you, an interesting thought occurred to me.]
A cruel smile spread across Raguel’s face.
[I’ll kill every human here except you. Go on—watch.]
At that, Ryu Min cheered inwardly.
‘Simple-minded bastard.’
Just as planned, he’d gotten help from an archangel.