"What? Ethan Cruz is running away?"

[Yes. To be exact, I see the two remaining undead heroes returning to him.]

"Ah... So he's at least going to try getting out with what he has left."

In a way, it was the expected course of action. Lee Shin-Woo had killed the Beast General, dropped the Vulture General from the sky, and killed six out of the eight undead heroes serving Ethan Cruz. To make things even worse for him, Lee Shin-Woo had also killed Ethan Cruz's accomplice, Mentes Orun. Were it a chess game, Ethan Cruze was essentially left with only a king and a pair of pawns. It would be stranger if he wasn't retreating.

"But... Hmm. There's no way he'd just leave," muttered Lee Shin-Woo.

Jin retorted, "Shin-Woo, don't you think you're the reason he's leaving?"

Jin believed that Ethan Cruz had done everything he could. His fault lay in failing to properly assess Lee Shin-Woo's ability beforehand. It seemed obvious, but it was indeed his biggest mistake.

"Still, there's no way he'd just leave. There are a lot of undead left on the battlefield, and the heroes are still fighting, so the fact that Ethan Cruz is running away by himself means that...he believes he might be exposed."

"Maybe he thinks he's already been exposed. Especially since you went out of your way to single out and kill the undead heroes."

"No. Regular heroes can’t use darkness mana, and won’t be able to ascertain the link between the undead heroes and Ethan Cruz. So long as they aren't cognizant of that link, Ethan Cruz will remain a trustworthy hero. Aside from me, no one else thinks that Ethan Cruz is evil. Moreover, Mentes Orun hadn’t really revealed much to Lloyd."

"Then why? Why is he doing something that will attract suspicion?"

"That's... Wait a sec. I think we'll know soon."

Ethan Cruz had sent him a request for a private chat. Lee Shin-Woo was taken aback momentarily, but it didn’t take long for him to calm down. Given what was on the table, it was unlikely that Ethan Cruz had found out Lee Shin-Woo was hostile towards him. The purpose of this conversation must be...

"Senior?"

[Ethan Cruz: Shin-Woo, I'm glad you're safe! Are you alright?]

"Yes, I'm alright!"

[Ethan Cruz: Ooh, that's a relief. This might sound like a shameless request, but I need your help. Their airborne troops have spotted me! But I can't intercept them because of the buff I cast on you... Help me out, Super Rookie. If I die here, the buff will disappear as well! Everything will become a mess!]

...Aha, as expected. At that moment, Lee Shin-Woo figured out everything about the man’s plan. Ethan Cruz was resorting to his last trick.

[Ethan Cruz: The others are busy fighting, so they won't be able to help me... Please help me out of this situation. Come over as soon as you can!]

"I understand, Senior! I'll go immediately! Please stay safe for just a little longer!"

With his level 19 Acting, Lee Shin-Woo replied with convincing concern and ended the private chat. When he looked up at the sky, the airborne troops were circling around the area where Ethan was hiding. An oblivious outsider would’ve believed that Ethan Cruz was truly in danger.

"Wait, what happened?"

"What do you mean? There’s no one else for him to turn to, so he decides to step up and do it himself."

Lee Shin-Woo led Jin towards Ethan Cruz and explained calmly. Since it seemed that Jin was still confused, he offered further explanation.

"The airborne troops that are circling around... They're obviously on Ethan Cruz's side. You know that much, right?"

"Yeah, since Ethan Cruz was the one to call in the Vulture General. But I'm surprised that he can still control the general’s subordinates."

"Yeah, that's a bit surprising to me as well. Though that's not important right now."

Either Ethan Cruz and the Vulture General had formed an agreement beforehand, or he had some way of commanding the flying troops. The fact that the troops moved in an overtly menacing manner without attacking Ethan Cruz was the proof.

"He's probably going to make up a lie, saying that the undead heroes returning to him are after him. If I were to naively go to his rescue, I’ll be fighting with great disadvantage. Once I'm dead, he would revive me as his subordinate... Well, I bet that's what he's thinking."

Looking down on the heroes and dispatching two of the twelve generals turned out to be a mistake for Ethan Cruz. His best option to salvage the situation was to call each hero to him and take care of them one by one... It was a reasonable conclusion. Ethan Cruz wasn't aiming for only Lee Shin-Woo.

"Then why are you going? Are you insane?"

"Jin, you remember that buff... No, that debuff he cast on me, right?"

Ethan Cruz had used his darkness magic to cast a 'buff' on him. It was no simple buff, but a curse that would temporarily increase one's abilities, and then debilitating side effects would follow. The curse's evilest ability was its brainwashing effect; after a certain period of time, the victim would lose the ability to defy Ethan Cruz's orders.

In other words, the request Ethan Cruz made in their chat was no request, but undoubtedly a 'command'.

"But that curse didn't work on you!"

"To be exact, I was able to resist it… But that guy still believes his curse has affected me."

Of course, Lee Shin-Woo could reveal that the curse hadn't affected him and made a move against Ethan Cruz. But if he did, Ethan Cruz would immediately dispel the link between them.

Lee Shin-Woo didn't want that. He actually wanted Ethan Cruz to cast another curse on him.

Dumbfounded, Jin muttered, "I knew early on that you were messed up, but I didn't think you were this far gone..."

"This was my plan from the very beginning. Didn’t you know?"

Lee Shin-Woo knew for certain that Ethan Cruz specialized in curses. So long as Lee Shin-Woo possessed Darkness Resistance: MAX, though, there was no way any of Ethan Cruz's curses would work on him.

In that case, what would be the best way to utilize his advantage? Force Ethan Cruz to give up on cursing him? Make him forgo darkness magic and opt for regular magic instead? No, obviously not.

"The right answer is simple: act like I'm affected by his curse to put him in a false sense of security and then counterattack. If successful, I'll be able to inflict a grievous wound even if he's a level 8."

"You fight way too dirty!"

"Just keeping listening."

Lee Shin-Woo clearly remembered Bisher Moon's explanation on the curse, Deadly Force.

Because Deadly Force is such a fatal curse, it has a few downsides. First, it's difficult to use against those with greater magic than the caster. Second, the caster cannot move freely until the target's death.

The first part wasn't relevant to Lee Shin-Woo. He didn’t think he could beat a level 8 mage in terms of magic.

However, the curse’s second downside could work in his favor. If he could bait Ethan Cruz into using Deadly Force on him, he'd be able to restrain a level 8 hero! Lee Shin-Woo was immune to all curses, and he'd be able to take that opportunity to attack Ethan Cruz.

"I would allow him to cast the curse on me and resist it instead of nullifying it immediately. It’s a lot harder to do than I'd expected though."

"You...did you allow him to curse you because...?"

"Yep. I wanted to become more accustomed to controlling my resistance."

Not nullifying the curse itself, but nullifying its effects. If that were possible, Lee Shin-Woo would be able to do as he pleased while Ethan Cruz suffered the downsides of Deadly Force. Lee Shin-Woo had been training throughout the battle in preparation for this.

"...I'm speechless."

"Yeah, and stay that way. We’re meeting him soon."

Lee Shin-Woo patted Jin after finishing his explanation in a confident tone. He seemed to have done a pretty good job, and Jin was now running faster to leave behind the battlefield. They were getting close enough to Ethan Cruz's hiding spot to see it. With Jin's speed, they would reach it in 5 seconds.

Senior Yasunori Akira is still in hiding. If he were to attack Ethan Cruz with me once I'm cursed, it'll be over in a flash...

But there was one thing that was bothering him.

Lee Shin-Woo softly sighed. He didn't really want to think about it, but it was still a possibility. If it was true, things would become a bit complicated...

"Well, whatever. If that happens, I'll just get three more."

'Three? What are you talking about?'

"Senior!"

Instead of answering Jin’s question, Lee Shin-Woo called out to Ethan Cruz. It might have been a show put up for him since he was getting close. The moment he approached, the airborne troops circling in the area descended and attacked Ethan Cruz. He almost wanted to applaud their engaging performance.

"Shin-Woo, you're here in time!"

"Senior!"

Lee Shin-Woo drew his Lightning God's Fury and cut through the undead to get to Ethan Cruz. The man had put on a look of overwhelming relief, his eyes fixed on Lee Shin-Woo.

"You came to rescue me…"

"Of course, Senior!"

Lee Shin-Woo would give Ethan Cruz's contemptible smile an 8 out of 10. The man probably had Acting as well.

Nonetheless, he discarded that thought and moved on. Ethan Cruz then beamed at him.

"...Even though the curse hasn't affected you!"

"Tch."

"Hah!"

He noticed! Lee Shin-Woo clicked his tongue. At that moment, Yasunori Akira popped out of his hiding place and attacked Lee Shin-Woo. Battōjutsu. He'd only heard of the school of swordsmanship before. Yasunori Akira's strike was so powerful and swift that it felt like he'd be cut in two.

But since he was sharing Jin's ridiculously high speed, Lee Shin-Woo's reflexes and dynamic visual acuity had grown beyond comprehension. With difficulty, he could make out the trajectory of the slash. And if he could see it, he could block it too.

"You were able to block my attack!?"

"Hoo. You know, I really want to trust other people sometimes."

Lee Shin-Woo blocked Yasunori Akira's strike with his Lightning God's Fury. His entire body had actually shattered the moment their swords clashed, but he was able to conceal it with Acting and Regeneration. He sighed.

Well, of course he'd sigh. Both his plan of using Ethan Cruz's curse and having Yasunori Akira help him had all gone up in smoke. Lee Shin-Woo had somewhat expected Yasunori Akira to betray him, but he hadn't given up on him till the very end.

I'd considered the possibility that Ethan Cruz would use Yasunori Akira as well... Since he'd need to know what Retadane would do and prepare accordingly.

Ethan Cruz knew that Retadane was suspicious of him. In that case, he must've known Retadane would eventually approach Lee Shin-Woo...as he hadn't been in this world for very long and hadn't met Ethan Cruz, therefore being trustworthy.

Ethan Cruz had planted a spy in preparation for that eventuality. Someone who would meet up with Lee Shin-Woo and Retadane before reporting what they were planning back to him: Yasunori Akira.

The reason Yasunori Akira had approached Lee Shin-Woo first and warned him about Ethan Cruz was to gain his trust. In doing so, he would be able to manipulate Lee Shin-Woo, form a sense of camaraderie amongst him, Retadane, and Lee Shin-Woo, and ultimately cause them to see him as their comrade.

"Did you know?"

"I said I really wanted to trust you. Are you deaf?"

With that in mind, the reason Lee Shin-Woo hadn't killed Yasunori Akira was because, contrary to Ethan Cruz, there was a chance that Yasunori Akira was 'innocent'. Lee Shin-Woo hadn't been able to disregard the chance that Yasunori Akira had approached him out of genuine concern.

However, his suspicion was now confirmed. The man was definitely on Ethan Cruz's side. Now he could kill him without feeling any guilt.

"Haha, you really are strong. I like you."

"Like me enough to kill me and raise me as your subordinate?"

"So you're aware of it already, Super Rookie!"

"Yeah, that shamelessness really suits you."

Lee Shin-Woo sighed once more and completely dispelled the curse. Since Ethan Cruz was already aware of it, there was no reason to carry a curse that wouldn't be of any benefit to him.

Ethan Cruz’s expression remained unchanged even though he should’ve sensed his curse getting dispelled. That meant he had something else up his sleeve aside from the curses and Yasunori Akira.

“Amazing. I really admire you," Ethan Cruz said in a relaxed voice.

Lee Shin-Woo was surrounded by the airborne troops, the two remaining undead heroes, and Yasunori Akira. They gradually closed in on him.

Lee Shin-Woo knew that Ethan Cruz was buying time to completely encircle him, but he decided to play along for now. He also needed to buy a bit of time.

"You really made a mess of my plans. I failed to stop you even with Akira. I didn't think you'd create such an impressive plan behind Retadane's back. Not only did you block my curse, but you also killed Mentes. How did you do it? I still don't understand. Ah, you can't use the chatroom here, so just relax and have this conversation with me."

"Do you really think I'll tell you?"

"Mm, yeah. You wouldn't want to. However, you'll soon change your mind. Once you've died and been brought back."

"Mm... I have something I'd like to say. Want to hear it?"

"Of course."

Ethan Cruz was sure of his victory the moment his troops completed the circle. It was clear that he was getting relaxed.

Lee Shin-Woo had expected Yasunori Akira's betrayal, but he hadn't expected Ethan Cruz to discover his plan to make the man curse him. As a result, he had jumped into the mouth of the tiger.

"If I had been suspicious of Yasunori Akira all along, I could've made a separate plan with Retadane only. Have you thought about why I didn't?"

"I've thought about it, but there's no point in bluffing at this point. Retadane is currently fighting tens of thousands of undead. I assure you...she won't be able to rescue you before she kills them all. Because that's her core, her hatred for the undead. She lives only to kill them!"

It seemed like Ethan Cruz was also aware of Retadane's obsession with the undead. Perhaps he had been waiting for Retadane to delve deep into enemy lines and go on a rampage to make his move.

"Mm, you're right. That's why."

"...What?" Ethan Cruz was slightly flustered by Lee Shin-Woo’s calm affirmation.

"It's simple. There's a part of my plan that Retadane can't know."

"Wait a sec. Hey, Ethan. Ethan! I feel something...their presence is overwhelming! How… Where did they come from!?"

"What are you talking about..."

Lee Shin-Woo grinned. "The real battle starts now."

Kwang! The airborne troops began to drop like flies. Was it Kratia and Prince's doing? No. What dropped them from the sky were boulders.

[The Great Paul Zero has commanded us!]

[How dare you challenge his authority! Kill them all!]

"G-Giants...!"

They weren’t the only ones he’d summoned. There were also the level 7 Chimeras, the level 6 Golems, and several other elites. The Heaven Defying General's corps had finally arrived.

"Lee Shin-Woo, how did you..."

"Who knows? I have no idea what you're talking about."

Lee Shin-Woo conjured a mysterious staff and beamed.

Ethan Cruz felt chills running down his spine.

Death was calling for him.