“Tch!”

Bao clicked his tongue and lunged forward again, thrusting his sword. But once more, it was blocked by Seo Yui’s shield.

‘What an annoying ability.’

His eyes flicked to the half-mask on Seo Yui’s face.

The blue mask meant she was in defense mode.

Her ability—Twin Mask.

It allowed her to swap between two buffs: the red mask for attack, the blue mask for defense.

And it wasn’t just a matter of boosted stats—each mask carried a powerful additional effect.

In particular, the defense mode’s passive ability, Auto Guard, granted the user a 100% block rate.

That was why Seo Yui, despite being slower than Bao, could deflect every strike.

‘But it won’t matter.’

Blocking every attack only bought her time—the shield’s durability wasn’t infinite.

Bao struck again and again. After only two more hits, cracks spread across the shield.

Clang!

“!”

Seo Yui leapt back, eyes dropping to her arm.

The shield she had been holding was now shattered, only the handle left in her grasp.

“Give it up already,” Bao said, sweat beading on his brow, “If you surrender now, I’ll only take an arm.”

“If I were going to give up, I wouldn’t have left my room in the first place.”

Seo Yui reached behind her back. When her hand came forward again, smoke coiled around it.

‘An Inventory!?’

Bao’s eyes widened as the smoke solidified into another shield—identical to the one he had just destroyed.

“Go ahead, keep breaking them. I have more shields prepared than you can possibly imagine.”

“Ridiculous. Nobody could stockpile that many rare items…”

“Believe me or don’t—it doesn’t matter. The only one losing their life here is you.”

Bao’s face twisted.

That invisible girl’s ambush hadn’t cost him much HP, but the poison had sunk in immediately.

To inflict poison without fail, ignoring resistance—it had to be a high-level toxin coated on her dagger.

The poison status steadily drained HP, and without antidote, it never stopped until death.

Dangerous in theory, but in dungeons poison meant nothing.

Any Hunter worth the name carried antidote potions and other curatives.

But this was Valhall.

The children’s levels were, at best, in the mid-20s, most barely 10–20.

Meanwhile, Valhall’s Hunters were in the high-40s to early-50s.

That overwhelming gap was why Valhall’s Hunters didn’t even bother with protective gear or Skill Slots.

They didn’t need them. A casual punch was enough to kill the children.

And so, no antidote potions existed here.

Nor could they be bought in the ruined outskirts of Seoul.

Valhall had no healer with detox abilities either.

If things continued, Bao would surely die.

At that moment—

BOOM!

“?!”

Bao whirled at the thunderous noise from above.

‘A diversion…?!’

He clenched his teeth.

“Listen well, Bao,” Seo Yui said, blue mask gleaming as she glared at him.

“Neither I nor the one who struck you carry an antidote potion. But our allies upstairs do.”

Bao’s eyes widened.

“Help us free the others and escape to the surface. Do that, and I’ll tell my comrades to give you the antidote.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! If I did that, the boss would kill me before the poison did.”

“Stay here, and you’ll die anyway.”

Bao had no reply.

“…Why are you doing this?” he muttered, scowling.

“No one else treated you as kindly as I did. When the others beat you for fun, I never touched you. I knew you pulled your blows against each other, and I let it slide. That was me.”

Seo Yui ground her teeth.

That he would call this an excuse for mercy was insulting beyond belief.

“Shut up and answer. Will you save your own life, or waste it for nothing?”

Bao glanced around desperately.

If he couldn’t win, then maybe… he could take that green-haired girl hostage.

She had flown just from a light shove—her level had to be low.

But strangely, he couldn’t see her anywhere.

He realized only now that she had vanished.

“Forget it. If you’re planning to use her as a hostage, give up. She’s not here anymore.”

‘Damn it… what is she, a ghost?’ Bao clenched his jaw.

Of course, Seo Yui was lying.

Lumina was still present, merely cloaked again in Invisibility. The unopened exit door proved she hadn’t left.

But between the poison’s agony and the pressure of death looming closer, Bao’s judgment faltered.

Finally—

“…Fine. I’ll do it.”

“Toss your weapon, then.”

Clicking his tongue, Bao threw his sword at Seo Yui’s feet.

She stored it in her Inventory and demanded his keycard next.

Moments later, the Sanctuary’s children all filed into the corridor.

Not a single one chose to stay.

The sharpest among them already understood:

The constant sounds of battle above meant allies strong enough to fight Valhall’s Hunters were on Seo Yui’s side.

‘So this is why he said to keep silent until now…’

Seo Yui finally understood Yein’s reasoning—this was the way to save the most lives.

She turned to Bao.

“Lead the way.”

“…”

Face twisted like he’d swallowed filth, Bao trudged to the front.

Then—Beep! The door burst open and the plump guard waddled in.

“B-Bao! It’s chaos upstairs—huh? What’s going on here?”

His eyes landed on the children crowding the hall.

“…The boss ordered them relocated.”

“What? I didn’t hear—”

“Got the call just now. Move.”

“But Bao, your face—you look poisoned, like a monster’s venom—”

Before he could finish, Bao’s fist smashed into his jaw.

Blue mana flared around his knuckles.

“Gah! Wh-Why—”

Bao didn’t let him recover. He struck again and again until the man collapsed, unconscious on the floor.

Panting, Bao kicked the body against the wall.

‘Just as Yein predicted.’ Seo Yui whispered inwardly.

‘The one to poison must be Bao. Without antidotes, poison means certain death. But once he knows we have one, he’ll betray Valhall immediately. From how he let you meet me on day one, he’s the type who values his life above duty.’

As Yein foresaw, Bao struck down his own comrade to clear the path.

And that was only one piece.

The first meeting and the twenty million won tip.

Lumina’s infiltration and her poisoned blade.

The stockpile of shields prepared to stall Bao.

The upstairs team’s timed assault used to pressure him.

‘Everything is going exactly as Yein planned… as if he sees through it all.’

A chill ran down Seo Yui’s spine.

BOOM!

“What was that?!”

“What’s happening up there?!”

In the stands, I heard the spectators’ startled cries and smiled thinly.

It meant the surface team had entered Valhall right on schedule.

‘Soon, the underground escape team with Bao at the front should be linking up with us.’

That meant it was time for me to move.

Just then, the door by the bar swung open and two men stepped in.

Their gear gave them away instantly—Valhall’s Hunters, weapons glowing faintly with blue light.

“Ladies and gentlemen, our deepest apologies. An unexpected incident has occurred. You must evacuate at once.”

“What are you talking about? What exactly is going on?”

“What was that explosion just now?”

The crowd pressed them with questions.

“Unidentified intruders have attacked Valhall. All of them are Hunters. Our men are holding them back, but you need to escape while there’s still time.”

Panic rippled through the room.

“W-What? Could it be the police?”

“Impossible! They can’t even deploy here!”

“Someone must have ratted us out!”

“Please, this way. We’ll take you out through the rear exit.”

The Hunters moved toward a door opposite the bar, one that connected the stands directly to the outside in case of emergencies.

‘Can’t have them leaving.’

I pulled out the item I’d been keeping hidden.

“Everyone, eyes on me!”

My shout drew the audience’s gaze away from the Hunters.

“Do you know what this is?”

Murmurs broke out.

“What the hell?”

“What are you doing in the middle of this mess?”

The Hunters by the door, however, froze. As expected, they recognized it immediately.

“This is a Thunder Grenade—a bomb infused with lightning. When it detonates, everything within five meters is fried.”

It was a newer model, upgraded with better materials.

“You think you can fight off the Hunters with that?” someone in the crowd asked hopefully.

“No. I didn’t pull this out to fight the intruders. My targets are you.”

“Wh-What?!”

“Is he insane?!”

“Bullshit!”

“Please, mind your words. This was designed for monsters. The instant it goes off, ordinary people like you will be charred black in less than a second. Hunters—don’t move. If a single one of you tries anything, or even leaves this room, I’ll detonate it immediately.”

The Hunters hesitated, their weapons half-raised.

“You’re working with the intruders, aren’t you?!”

‘Quick to catch on.’

I smirked.

“Then get down. Foreheads on the floor. Unless you’d rather all be roasted alive.”

“Y-You dare! Do you know who I am?!”

One man shouted, puffing himself up.

I raised the grenade above my head, ready to throw.

“Don’t provoke him!”

“Get down! Hurry!”

The crowd scrambled, pressing their faces to the floor.

The Hunters glared but didn’t dare act.

These spectators were no ordinary civilians—they were wealthy, powerful men. If even one died, the Hunters would never escape the consequences.

Just then, a voice came through the earpiece in my ear.

[This is the surface team. We’ve just linked up with the underground escape squad.]

Rachel’s voice.

“What’s the situation in the corridor?” I asked.

[The four Hunters guarding it are down. Bao’s begging us for an antidote. Rainbow and Magical Princess went to tie up the unconscious one.]

Her tone was clipped, but the thrill in her voice was obvious. Rachel was enjoying herself.

‘Valhall had nine Hunters total. Four down, one unconscious underground, one betrayed, and two right here. That’s all of them.’

The last one left didn’t matter.

“Good. Continue as planned.”

[Roger that.]

After the comm cut, I stared at the two Hunters.

They had inched their heads up, watching for an opening.

“Keep those heads down. Unless you want to see everyone here turned into ash.”

My threat made the audience tremble harder, and the Hunters pressed their foreheads back to the floor.

Moments later—

“Kept you waiting, huh?”

Rachel’s cheerful voice rang out as she entered the stands, Sally right behind her.

Rachel took in the scene and whistled.

“Wow. Textbook terrorist.”

“What about Valhall’s Hunters?” I asked, not taking my eyes off the two on the floor.

“All six are out cold. The sleep potions didn’t take well, so we pretty much had to drench them in it,” Sally replied.

No helping that.

Unlike poison, sleep potions needed heavy stacking to take effect—especially on high-level Hunters with strong resistances.

That was why I’d stocked so many.

“Deal with these two the same way.”

“Okay.”

“Mm.”

The two moved in, but Valhall’s Hunters suddenly bolted upright, desperate to flee rather than submit.

Too late.

“Gah!”

“Urk!!”

Both cried out in pain.

Lumina had appeared behind them, her daggers buried in their backs.

Poisoned blades, of course.

As they faltered, Rachel’s invisible shockwaves and Sally’s confusion magic overwhelmed them with ease.

The crowd shuddered, watching the Hunters collapse.

“What are you staring at? Heads down, trash.”

I barked.

Everyone quickly slammed their foreheads to the floor again.

(End of Chapter)

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