Translator: HunterW

Editor: RED

The giant bull bellowed again. Its giant seven-meter tall body was truly intimidating, but my eyes drifted towards the load bags that were on its back. I had no idea what was inside those bags, but if this was a special monster, then there had to be something inside worth taking.

“Then I may as well take it for myself.” I had no intention of letting the mercenaries behind me have whatever it was. This was my payment for getting us this far.

I cut down the lesser monsters in front of me while keeping an eye on the bull that slowly stomped its way towards me. I carefully bided my time until it got close enough. “Judge’s Gavel!” I quickly activated before activating another skill. “Altered Equality.”

I didn’t feel the need to use Altered Equality on the lesser monsters, because they still pretty much fell to my normal attacks after using all of my buff skills. But I definitely had to use it on the giant bull to allow Judge’s Gavel to inflict maximum damage.

==You have activated Altered Equality – Altered Equal Stats on your opponent.

Your opponent’s base Stat points, Stat points increased by skills and items and Stat points granted by specials will all be redistributed.

Calculating all Stat points…==

==Your opponent’s Stats have been redistributed.

The effects of Altered Equality will last for the next 24 hours and you must wait that time before using Altered Equality on someone else.

Stat points received for Kiran will be set to 0 as payment for using Altered Equality.==

I smiled when the messages confirmed that Altered Equality worked, and jumped high in the air bringing my spear down atop of the bull’s head. The Judge’s hammer that fell down from the sky was the biggest so far and produced the loudest crash I had ever heard from it. The giant bull was actually pushed back five meters from the blow, but wasn’t dead yet. I could tell, however, that it took severe damage, as both of its horns had shattered.

“Fissure!” I was slightly surprised that it had actually survived Judge’s Gavel after Altered Equality, but it was only for a moment. I just needed to keep attacking it until it died.

I charged at the giant bull and slashed at it. Its hide had looked extremely tough at first, but now, my spear was actually easily cutting through its flesh. I quickened my attacks because the black door continued to expel monsters. The spearhead started to flash yellow again and again six times before a message appeared before me.

==You have defeated the special three-hour monster on Insane Difficulty.==

The load bags on the bull’s back exploded, dropping several objects to the floor.

==You will now receive the reward for defeating the special three-hour monster on Insane Difficulty.

Those that have at least killed one monster during this Defense wave will be granted large EXP bundles. Even those that have died will receive the same amount of EXP.==

There were countless large EXP bundles on the floor and they were all for me. I was the only one to have killed any monsters during this Defense wave.

==You have gained a level.==

==You have gained a level.==

==You have gained a level.==

:

:

==You have gained a level.==

Several level-up messages appeared one after the other. I had no idea about this and hadn’t heard anything of the sort from the Mercenary Corps. That meant no one knew that this was a thing.

I had no time to be happy about it, as more and more monsters continued to pour out of the door. This was no doubt not a normal power-leveling method, but these monsters were yielding at least ten times the EXP as high-grade dungeon monsters. I couldn’t give up on this, not yet!

—

About forty minutes had passed since I had defeated the giant bull. Warrior’s Brave Spirit had deactivated by now and my Sand Warriors had returned to the sand. That was just how strong the new monsters were. I was even beginning to flinch at their attacks as they cut through my DEF and started to take a chunk out of my HP. But I continued to attack for more EXP.

==You have gained a level.==

I was beginning to see the end, however, as the monsters were starting to stack. I was consistently getting four critical hits in a row, but the monsters were still standing and kept pushing me back. They were definitely stronger than dungeon boss monsters. I wasn’t bummed out about it, however. I definitely did everything that I could, and got quite the reward for my efforts. It wasn’t long before I was overrun by the wave of monsters.

==Because you have not died a true death and are protected by the quest’s magic, the Eternal Fire will not activate.==

That was the last message I saw before I died.

—

After Lee Jiwon was removed from the lane, the wave of monsters quickly pushed towards the second site.

“Whoa. They took him out so quickly.” The two mercenaries knew that if Lee Jiwon couldn’t do anything against this wave, they had no hope. But they were still mercenaries carrying the mark of the Shield of Aleppo. They put up an Ice Wall and prepared to attack even though the monsters broke through the Wall as if it were made of glass.

“It’s as we expected.”

“But…”

“But nothing. I don’t want to embarrass the Corps and just let them kill me without a fight. Let’s at least attack with everything we’ve got. Stalagmite!”

“Blizzard!”

The two mercenaries fired off their strongest spells at the incoming wave of monsters, but the spells just bounced off the monsters and they were soon overrun. It was the same for the next sites until the tenth site. The Mercenary Lord and his team did manage to last about five minutes, showing everyone that they were still the strongest of the Corps. Not a single person in the crowd looked down on them. Instead, they all cheered as Madun fought to the end. Once Madun fell and the monsters finally reached the small tower, a message appeared for all to see.

==The tower has been corrupted by monsters.

The Karaviki Division’s Defense is now over.

Difficulty: Insane

Time: 03:57:58

Current rank: 1st==

The Mercenary Corps had secured an overwhelming victory, with a record an hour and twenty minutes longer than La Griffe’s.

“Yeaaah!”

“We did it! We won!”

“Eat that, La Griffe!”

The entirety of the Mercenary Corps and its supporters cried out in joy, while La Griffe and its supporters all looked like they had just been battered for the fryer.

La Griffe was finished.

—

The mercenaries and I were returned amid the deafening cheers around us.

“Thank you, Mr. Lee,” I heard Madun say from beside me.

“Not a problem. I’m just glad I could be of help,” I replied. I was more than satisfied with what I’d done. The Reversal Prodigy the Corps had given me was a great help, as well. I got off so many critical hits thanks to it. I was also satisfied with all the levels I had gained in the past four hours. I smiled and joined the cheering mercenaries.

—

After about ten minutes, the crowd finally quieted down. Madun and Belgnac stood face to face once again at the same spot from about six hours ago.

“You don’t need to know, right?”

“…” Belgnac didn’t say anything back for a while before finally speaking up. “You are a mercenary like the rest of us, but you treat us so severely. You put so many restrictions on us while calling it equality,” he said loudly enough for all to hear.

Madun wasn’t fazed, however. “I know I am. I care more about a mercenary’s duty than a mercenary’s rights. But it was all because of you brigands and thieves calling yourselves mercenaries and stealing from other people. Am I wrong? Mercenaries aren’t thugs or assassins. I want to ask you, Belgnac. Is La Griffe truly a mercenary guild?”

“…” Belgnac didn’t have a comeback this time.

“Scum like you has dirtied the mercenary profession long enough. It is my duty to pick up the pieces and make mercenaries trustworthy once again,” Madun said loudly enough for all to hear. “I am proud to be a mercenary. I find it disgusting that you would call yourself the same. That is why I created my Mercenary Corps, so that real, proper, and honorable mercenaries can finally be treated the way they deserve to be treated. No one will ever look down on my mercenaries ever again!”

“Yeah!”

“Madun! Madun! Madun!”

Madun said one more thing to Belgnac amidst the deafening cheers. “I am so happy that you and La Griffe are no longer mercenaries. I will take this chance to make my declaration.”

Madun waited for the right timing to shout through the cheers. “According to the contract I have signed with Belgnac, La Griffe and all of its affiliated members and organizations are no longer mercenaries, now and forever!”

==The Troll Market contract will now take effect.==

Countless beams of light shot out from the sky and connected with every single member of La Griffe. The light didn’t hurt them and disappeared in an instant. La Griffe had dug its own grave. Belgnac and the La Griffe members could say nothing. It was their own contract, after all.

—

I looked over where Zulova stood. He was close enough that I wouldn’t need to use Blink to get next to him in an instant. If this wasn’t a competition and a guild battle instead, I would have attacked him without hesitation. The competition was over, however, with La Griffe’s defeat.

“Hmm…” I contemplated for a moment before I returned my Harrier to my inventory. This was between the Mercenary Corps and La Griffe. Now that La Griffe were no longer mercenaries, there was no need for me to cause a scene.

Well, I couldn’t since I was technically Madun’s subordinate for the next month. There was also what Anton told me about the Judge’s Continent. Zulova was part of this Earth, like me and like it or not, I might have to rely on him in the upcoming contest.

“Let’s head home!” Madun shouted.

I took that moment to quickly run up to Zulova. I put on a sincere smile and stretched out my hand. Hell, if he refused my handshake, I had every intention of hugging him instead.