The dungeon boss, Adum, was a formidable foe, yet here was a summoned commander with a level even higher than his.

"How is this even possible?"

Manhoo’s thoughts raced in turmoil, but he couldn’t voice them aloud.

The air grew heavy as if suffocating, weighed down by the sheer presence of Barfuru, the Death Soldier.

Haaahhhh...

Barfuru’s icy breath seemed to freeze the very air around him, emanating an aura of death that far exceeded anything from his previous battle with Seong.

As terror gripped the room, Amir, unable to withstand the overwhelming fear, raised his bow and fired an arrow.

The target? Barfuru.

But the undead commander barely acknowledged the attack. With a flick of his fingers, he plucked the arrow from the air.

Tock.

"Hah, you call this an attack?" Barfuru sneered, a mocking tone lacing his deep voice.

A system message appeared:

[Party member 『Amir-Lv.26』 has attacked you.]
[Entering hostile state.]
[Party member 『Amir-Lv.26』 has left the party.]
[The user is marked as notorious.]
[You will not gain infamy for attacking this user.]

That made two party members in a hostile state now.

Seong observed Barfuru and the undead goblins under his command. With a simple thought, his will reached them.

Every undead soldier lowered their heads in unison, reverent and obedient.

"We obey the master’s will!"

"Everything is as the Lord commands!"

"We shall serve the Master’s decree!"

The overwhelming loyalty and sheer terror emanating from Barfuru and the undead army left the others paralyzed.

Even Jinwoo, who had been quietly handling hobgoblins, found himself frozen, his eyes trembling.

The first to break the oppressive silence was none other than Adum, the dungeon boss.

"Krekk! Kehuk!"

Though the hobgoblin’s guttural speech was incomprehensible, its tone was unmistakably filled with hostility.

At Adum’s command, the other hobgoblins moved to attack.

But the undead goblins reacted first.

Moving with eerie agility, they closed in on the hobgoblins, their small frames darting and weaving as they attacked.

Each hobgoblin was surrounded by three undead goblins.

"For the master!"

"Let’s kill them and make them one of us!"

"Join the horde!"

The undead exploited their agility, dodging attacks and targeting the hobgoblins’ knees and shins to cripple their movement.

Staggering and unable to fight back effectively, the hobgoblins were overwhelmed. Within moments, the undead pierced their torsos with ruthless precision.

Blood sprayed as the hobgoblins coughed and wheezed, their cries of pain echoing in the dungeon.

Even Adum, the mighty boss, was not spared.

While the other hobgoblins were each surrounded by three undead goblins, Adum faced a brutal onslaught of eight.

The undead worked in perfect coordination, some wielding shields to block attacks while others relentlessly pierced Adum’s defenses.

Stab! Stab! Stab!

"KREEEEEEEEEK!"

The sound of weapons tearing through flesh and bone mingled with Adum’s howls of agony.

The macabre symphony of combat filled the cavern, leaving the remaining party members in shock.

Manhoo and the others stood frozen, unable to believe their eyes.

Seong turned toward them, his voice calm yet piercing.

"You could’ve hidden your intentions a little better."

Even if the ghost child hadn’t warned him, their clumsy behavior after their intentions were exposed made their betrayal obvious.

Manhoo remained silent, but the others spoke in trembling voices.

"W-What should we do?"

"S-Should we attack him?"

Manhoo’s mind raced.

He hadn’t attacked yet, so he wouldn’t be marked as hostile. If he backed out now, he could avoid dying.

If Seong attacked first, his infamy would rise.

Manhoo smirked inwardly.

I’ll just abandon them.

As Manhoo entertained his cowardly plan, Seong casually raised his sword and met Manhoo’s gaze.

"Planning to surrender?" Seong asked, his tone mocking.

Manhoo felt his blood boil at the insult. His face flushed red with humiliation as their eyes met.

"You bastard!"

Driven by anger, Manhoo gripped his sword tightly.

He’s just level 25. I’m higher-leveled, and I’ve got better stats.

Manhoo convinced himself that he could win as long as he stayed calm.

But Seong gestured toward Barfuru, and the commander turned his attention toward Amir and Nuel.

"Now’s my chance!" Manhoo thought.

Barfuru followed Seong’s orders without hesitation, advancing toward the trembling Amir and Nuel.

"E-Energy Arrow!"

"F-Fire Wall!"

The two cast their skills in desperation.

A glowing arrow shot toward Barfuru, and a wall of fire erupted to block his path.

But Barfuru dismissed the attacks with casual ease.

The arrow snapped in his fingers like a twig, and with a single breath, the wall of fire extinguished as if it were no more than a candle flame.

"H-How..."

Nuel’s face turned pale, and Amir was equally paralyzed with fear.

Manhoo seized the moment, sprinting toward Seong.

If the summoner dies, the summons disappear.

That was their only hope.

"He’s just a necromancer!" Manhoo thought.

His defenses must be weak, and while he’s focused on controlling his undead, I’ll have the upper hand.

Manhoo believed in his strategy as he closed the distance and swung his sword at Seong.

A system message appeared:

[Party member 『Manhoo-Lv.29』 has attacked you.]
[Entering hostile state.]
[Party member 『Manhoo-Lv.29』 has left the party.]
[The user is marked as notorious.]
[You will not gain infamy for attacking this user.]

As Seong observed the system messages flashing before his eyes, he quickly dismissed them with a gesture.

They were distracting, and he needed focus for what was coming next.

Shing!

Manhoo, gripping his sword tightly, activated one of his Swordsman skills and unleashed a powerful slash with all his might.

But Seong, with just one sword, parried it effortlessly.

No, it wasn’t just brute strength.

He smoothly redirected the trajectory of Manhoo’s blade, deflecting the attack with a finesse that seemed almost artistic.

Perfectly executed.

Manhoo’s skill wasn’t a simple strike.

It was a five-hit combo skill that unleashed a flurry of slashes in rapid succession.

A skill like this, with its relentless barrage, was nearly impossible to block without another defensive skill.

Even if someone did use a defense skill, it was powerful enough to potentially break through.

And yet, Seong wasn’t using a skill to block—he was parrying with pure swordsmanship.

Manhoo couldn’t believe it.

Shing! Shing! Clang! Clang-clang!

Each strike was parried with precision, sparks flying as blades collided.

A downward diagonal slash from the upper right? Redirected.

A horizontal slash to the midsection? Deflected with ease.

When the automatic trajectory of the combo skill turned into an upward slash from the lower left to the upper right, Seong spun his wrist fluidly, coiling his blade around Manhoo’s and throwing it off course.

Finally, the central downward slash aimed to finish the combo was halted as Seong angled his sword diagonally, absorbing the blow.

The two swords clashed and stopped dead, grinding against each other, sparks scattering in the air.

"He blocked them all?"

Manhoo gulped audibly, blinking in disbelief.

His five-strike combo—all parried without a single skill.

As his mind raced, his gaze met Seong’s eyes.

Deep, dark irises glimmered with a mysterious teal light, their intensity piercing.

For a moment, Manhoo felt like he was under a spell, transfixed and frozen in place.

"What... what is this?"

It was as if he’d been bewitched.

And perhaps, in a way, he had been.

Seong had drawn upon the memories and experiences of the former Drill Sergeant Eddie, effortlessly blocking all of Manhoo’s attacks.

But that wasn’t the end.

"Hmph."

The small sound escaped Seong’s lips, a single syllable that carried more weight than a long speech.

It wasn’t loud, but Manhoo could read the emotion behind it: boredom.

That indifference was etched into Seong’s face and voice, and it stoked a fire within Manhoo—jealousy and inferiority burned together into a raging inferno.

"AAAAARGH!"

With a scream of fury, Manhoo lunged at Seong again, his sword slashing wildly.

But Seong, who had already assessed Manhoo’s level of skill, blocked every single strike with ease.

Clang! Clang! Shing! Clang!

Manhoo mixed in additional skills, yet none of his attacks found their mark.

"He’s just flailing at this point," Seong thought, shaking his head in disappointment.

Manhoo’s attacks were wild and chaotic, with no sense of discipline or strategy.

The more he fought, the more Seong’s disappointment grew.

Seong finally decided to take the offensive, his blade cutting through the air with precise strikes.

Slice! Slash!

"Agh!"

Manhoo grunted as Seong’s attacks landed, the damage making it harder for him to think clearly.

Desperate and realizing he couldn’t win, Manhoo retreated, his mind racing for a plan.

But Seong just tilted his head slightly, looking at him as if he were a foolish child.

"Do you think creating distance will help against a necromancer like me?" Seong asked casually.

"What?" Manhoo blurted, his confusion plain.

Seong didn’t wait for a response. Raising his hand as if to grasp something invisible, he summoned a teal energy that coalesced into the shape of a spear.

Without hesitation, he hurled it.

The spear moved at incredible speed, too fast for Manhoo to avoid.

He instinctively swung his sword to intercept it—

Clink!

"What the—?!"

His blade struck something—a white bone arrow.

It had been fired to block his swing, leaving him defenseless as the spear closed in.

Thud!

[You’ve been afflicted with Dark Damage.]
[For 3 seconds, all vision and senses will be impaired.]

Manhoo felt an overwhelming nausea as all his senses vanished.

He was adrift in a void, unable to see, hear, or feel anything.

"What’s happening?!"

He struggled to move, to fight back, but his body wouldn’t respond.

Those three seconds stretched into an eternity.

When his senses returned, he was still alive, surprisingly unharmed.

He sighed in relief and resolved to flee.

"Forget the sword—it’s not worth my life," he thought.

Just as he was about to turn and run, a shadow fell over him.

"What...?"

Against his better judgment, he looked up—and froze.

Towering above him was Barfuru, his glowing teal eyes burning like twin suns in the darkness.

"Peek-a-boo."

"AAAAARGH!"

Manhoo screamed, trying to escape, but Barfuru’s massive hand came crashing down.

Crunch!

The sound of flesh and bone being crushed echoed through the dungeon.

Manhoo’s vision blurred as the system messages rolled in.

[Critical Hit!]
[Your HP has dropped to 0. You will be forcibly logged out.]
[Death penalties increased due to notoriety.]
[Dropping the highest-grade item in your possession.]

His body dissolved into pixels, leaving behind a shiny, high-quality ring.

But Seong had gained much more than a single ring.

[Victory in player-versus-player combat!]
[You’ve defeated a higher-level opponent!]
[Experience points gained!]
[You’ve cleared the 5-player dungeon, Adum’s Cavern.]
[Experience points gained!]
[Clear reward: 『Hobgoblin Warrior Adum’s Greatsword』 acquired.]
[Clear reward: 20 gold acquired.]
[Level up!] x5
[You have reached Level 30.]
[You’ve defeated a notorious player.]
[You’ve defeated a player who initiated an attack.]
[Acquired 『Reinforcement Bow』 from the defeated player.]
[Acquired 『Novice Pyromancer’s Agile Robe』 from the defeated player.]
[Acquired 『Ring of Speed』 from the defeated player.]
[New skill unlocked for 『Overlord』 class at Level 30.]
[Legendary skill 『Lord’s Silent Command』 acquired.]

"I like this," Seong muttered, a satisfied smile spreading across his face as he reviewed the flood of rewards.