Using the power of the Red Dragon, it was impossible to escape from Cheon Dong-ha, who had overcome the rampage inducer alongside him.

Now, the only method left was to manipulate the situation by using hostages, coaxing them carefully, and leading them into a trap to kill them.

But the moment the 200 or so Eun-gwang students, who were thought to be tied up as hostages on the peak of Hallasan, appeared, all hope disappeared.

The assassin, who had been calmly giving instructions to use «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» the hostages to kill Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha, now realized there was no way out.

They were seasoned assassins, and their opponents were students brimming with talent but lacking in experience, so if the assassins were still able to remain hidden and act stealthily, there was a chance of victory.

However, with Cheon Dong-ha's eyes, stealthy movements were no longer possible, and their combat skills were meaningless in the face of the Red Dragon and the overwhelming number of Eun-gwang students.

'If we can capture even one hostage, we might still survive!'

Even if victory or escape seemed impossible, it wasn’t entirely out of reach.

If the skilled assassins teamed up, they might be able to capture one student.

They scattered, pretending to flee, and started looking for a suitable target.

"We’re thinking of capturing a hostage. Let’s deal with this quickly."

But all their movements were read by Cheon Dong-ha, and everything was exposed.

If they were to take a hostage, it would be best to capture Cheon Dong-ha, who had that troublesome eye, making it difficult to track him later. However, they knew that although they couldn’t match the Red Dragon in power, they were skilled enough to handle Cheon Dong-ha.

Additionally, the Eun-gwang students here had excellent physical abilities and powers, choosing to take difficult mountain routes and pierce through the wicked darkness, showing their outstanding skills.

The assassins quickly scanned the Eun-gwang students by eye, but in the meantime, one by one, they were attacked, and the number of captured ones grew, making it difficult to find a suitable hostage.

Amidst this, they noticed Ma Jin-seung, who was among the least skilled in this group, but had a loud voice that made him stand out.

Having expended a lot of energy from using his powers, Ma Jin-seung had stepped back from the fight, following the teacher’s instructions not to participate and was cheering from the sidelines.

The assassins, who were avoiding the combined attacks of the Eun-gwang students, rushed towards Ma Jin-seung as if they had planned it.

“Waaaah!”

Ma Jin-seung, who hadn’t expected them to come toward him, screamed in surprise as he was cheering loudly.

The assassin grimaced at the loud noise.

They tried to cut off his arms to prevent him from resisting, but before they could, long grass shot up from the ground, forming a wall to protect Ma Jin-seung.

'It's just some grass!'

The assassin’s blade flashed in the rain.

Even though it was a wall formed from the wicked darkness, in the end, it was still just grass.

The assassin swung the blade long, intending to cut through the grass and Ma Jin-seung behind it, as if clearing weeds.

However, faster than the blade, and more dazzling than the reflected light of the blade, a spark moved first.

Kwahhhh!

“Ugh!”

The assassin quickly pulled back, barely avoiding being burned alive, but the Red Dragon's flame still touched the blade.

The flame of the Red Dragon, now grown larger after consuming the grass that Ma Jin-seung summoned, heated the blade to the point of melting it, and even burned the assassin’s palm, which was holding the sword’s handle.

Still, the assassin groaned as they couldn’t drop the sword.

The Red Dragon, flying around the sky and firing flames, would surely end the fight if any gap was exposed.

"Wow, it burns well!"

"It’s the grass you called up."

"Ah, right!"

Cheon Dong-ha told Ma Jin-seung to retreat further, and Ma Jin-seung complied, continuing to cheer for the students who were still fighting.

Of course, Yeom Jun-yeol was among those he cheered for.

Although Ma Jin-seung had brought this danger on himself, seeing Yeom Jun-yeol’s flames grow even fiercer as they burned his own summoned grass made him feel as if he was fighting alongside him.

Yeom Jun-yeol, transformed into the Red Dragon, could use flight techniques just as the Red Dragon could fly in the sky.

So, using his mobility, he targeted the students who had fled the furthest, but when students like Ma Jin-seung became endangered, he immediately collaborated with them. Their last thread of hope, the hostage situation, was also lost. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The last captured assassin desperately thought.

'If I get caught now, I’ll have to blow everything without any reward. But if it’s against a weak student, there must be a way.'

As his subordinates were captured one by one, tied up with enemy capture items and fainting before they could attempt suicide, the assassin did not give up until the end.

He knew that this was his last chance.

Having been body-searched by Cheon Dong-ha and having lost even Zhuque’s feather, the assassin now had very few means left.

As the assassin raised his senses, focusing, he suddenly heard the conversation of the students.

"Do you think the ones who went by another route are okay?"

"There’s Teacher Je-gal Jae-gul over there. They should be fine."

Upon hearing this conversation, the assassin almost cheered.

Seeing that, Cheon Dong-ha narrowed his eyes and tried to stop him from speaking, but before he could, the assassin spoke urgently.

"I know the locations of those students. The place you’re talking about, where Seong Pan-ak is, is outside the Seongpanak course. I put in a lot of effort to guide them into a trap."

Cheon Dong-ha, who had been trying to shut the assassin’s mouth, frowned.

He seemed to regret not having acted faster.

But, knowing that there were Eun-gwang students on the other route, Cheon Dong-ha hesitated, not wanting to silence the assassin outright, as he surely held clues.

The assassin seized the opportunity and continued speaking.

"They’ve seen the wicked darkness and the rampage inducer, so I’m sure you can guess what method I used, right? By now, they must be rampaging. If they’re lucky, they might still be holding on."

“Rampage inducer?”

The students who had just joined and didn’t know about the rampage inducer were confused, but their expressions darkened when they heard about the darkness.

From the assassin’s point of view, he wasn’t sure whether the 300 students were alive or dead, and guiding them with wicked darkness wasn’t his responsibility. The traps, set off by powers and pressure, were automatic, so he had no control over them.

However, since he had to avoid the wicked darkness, he knew their locations precisely.

He had a way to get through the wicked darkness, and knowing that the students were concerned, their locations were valuable for a trade.

Desperation and urgency were evident in the assassin’s voice.

"If you let me go, I’ll tell you the locations of those students."

Meh!

At the filthy offer from the assassin, the goat, which had been hiding in the safest place during the battle, protested loudly.

The 200 Eun-gwang students couldn’t outright reject the idea of a deal.

As everyone fell silent, Yeom Jun-yeol and Cheon Dong-ha exchanged glances.

They were thinking different thoughts.

‘According to Yi-shin, they should have been put to sleep by the leaders of both factions by now. But, should I reveal that now? Dong-ha’s probably thinking something similar to me.’

‘...Jun-yeol is thinking like that, right? What should we do?’

The concerns of the two, who knew the situation, and the 200 Eun-gwang students who didn’t, were surprisingly resolved quickly.

A presence was felt from afar.

"Hey, the kids are over there!"

"I see signs of energy use. There must be a rampage inducer around here. Let’s put out the furnace."

"Idam, are you okay? Eat some jerky and nuts. They’ll help with your iron intake."

Soon, the presence grew close enough to be sensed without using energy.

It was the group from the Seong Pan-ak course, who had been looking for the other Eun-gwang students.

Upon seeing Gwak Kyung-goo, the 200 Eun-gwang students cheered.

As the assassin stared in shock at the appearance of the seemingly unharmed students, Gwak Kyung-goo, seeing Yeom Jun-yeol, now transformed into the Red Dragon with a bigger flame, stepped back and said with distaste.

From a distance, Gwak Kyung-goo pointed to the assassin, who had a dazed look on his face.

"What’s this?"

"Gyeong-gu, come here. This is the assassin who tried to sell out your location to save his life."

"Does he know anything else?"

"I don’t think so."

With that, the assassin’s consciousness was cut off.

As Cheon Dong-ha knocked out the assassin, Yeom Jun-yeol and Gwak Kyung-goo continued their conversation.

“How did you get here?”

“I won’t speak in front of those guys. They might still be awake.”

"Alright, we’ll talk later."

Cheon Dong-ha briefly glanced at the ground, watching Gyei-dam drinking water, but soon turned his eyes to check the numbers.

After confirming that everyone except the 3rd-year Class 0 students were there, Cheon Dong-ha made a suggestion.

"Once Jun-yeol calms the volcano, let’s head down. The wicked darkness has increased the invisible range. We need to get out before they figure out we’ve left."

Most of the Eun-gwang students were eager to head down quickly.

Yeom Jun-yeol, sitting with his hand on the ground, fell into deep thought.

Carefully letting the flames flow, he could feel that most of Zhuque’s feathers had been removed.

He could likely calm the volcano and head down safely, but thoughts of the family and masters still fighting on the other side of the wicked darkness came to mind.

‘There are quite a few things that are different from what Yi-shin told me.’

The joining of Ma Jin-seung’s group and Gwak Kyung-goo’s group was different from Jo Yi-shin’s calculation.

It had changed in a positive direction, but the ones who were supposed to join Yeom Jun-yeol were still missing.

‘The current number is about 500. Even if half of them fight, we can surely turn the tide. But if we keep fighting, someone will get hurt, or worse, die.’

If he risked it and suggested going to fight the unknown enemies somewhere on this mountain, the Eun-gwang students would follow his lead.

But Yeom Jun-yeol couldn’t choose that option.

It was as if Jo Yi-shin had known Yeom Jun-yeol would face this dilemma when he had spoken before the journey.

—Seniors are high school students on a field trip before they are players. I hope we all return safely.

Yeom Jun-yeol, having calmed the volcano, lifted his hand from the ground and stood up.

The heat and tremors from the earth subsided, and the rain of volcanic ash slowly weakened and disappeared.

Yeom Jun-yeol, recalling Jo Yi-shin’s wish, began preparing to head down.

Paaah!

The small space called forth by Yong Jegun consumed the flesh touched by the darkness.

As the skin, about to be engulfed by the wicked darkness, was torn away, the engulfment stopped, but the bleeding increased.

Yong Jegun, looking at his mangled skin as if it was something fascinating, looked down at his body, intrigued.

His body was covered in blood, the hostage was held, and the surrounding area was still a mess from the wicked darkness, but true to his dragon nature, he was smiling.

"As Hwang Ho and Eung-nyeo said, once this touches you, you’ll need to dig it out right away."

"You seem to be in no rush. Should I test if you can keep talking after I shove some wicked darkness into your mouth?"

"I want to try, but would it be fine if I didn’t talk? Because right now, I want to talk about the opponent you’re looking for."

At Yong Jegun’s words, Gung-gi felt a dizzying sensation.

The Red Lion couldn’t move because of the hostage, and Yong Jegun was just going mad.

Yong Jegun was clearly enjoying the situation so much that he was going mad.

Gung-gi, wondering if he wanted to hear about that opponent, stopped attacking and looked at Yong Jegun, but he tightened his grip on the hostage’s neck.

"If you start talking about something boring, I’ll gouge one of the hostage’s eyes out."

"This might not be a boring story for you. But I guess I’ll have to endure it, huh?"

Yong Jegun preemptively warned the hostage.

If the player held hostage hadn’t fainted, it wouldn’t have been surprising if he cursed at Yong Jegun.

Just as Gung-gi was about to stick the feather into the hostage’s eye, Yong Jegun spoke.

"Do you know what wish the opponent you’re looking for made to me?"

"Probably asked you to imitate him."

"No, that wasn’t a wish. It wasn’t something from the heart."

Gung-gi thought, over and over, about what kind of wish that perfect evil could have made.

Using the Yeowibongju as bait, manipulating the King of Flames and the Red Lion to get what he desired.

The only thing that came to mind was one thing.

Gung-gi smiled gently as he thought of the evil intention and answered.

"It must have been to take me."

"Hahahaha!"

Yong Jegun laughed uncontrollably for some reason.

This situation and Gung-gi’s answer were clearly something Yong Jegun found amusing.

Gung-gi’s hand tightened even more, and the sound of the hostage’s neck snapping was heard.

As the Red Lion’s eyes darkened, Yong Jegun kept laughing.

Eventually, he said.

"It doesn’t matter if I capture or kill you, but there’s something more important. Something I wished for."

At that moment, the eyes accustomed to the darkness burned as if they were on fire.

Yong Jegun’s Gwanglim, ‘Yeowibongju Hyunhyeon,’ called forth the Yeowibongju, emitting a dazzling jade light.

Gung-gi hastily used his feathers to target Yeowibongju, but breaking it or staining it with darkness, especially with such intense light, was impossible.

"The wish is ‘for us to return safely.’"

Jo Yi-shin was highly cautious of the wicked darkness, and Gung-gi, who had handled it, was also cautious.

So, he carefully built strategies to prepare for any eventuality.

What Yong Jegun said, Gung-gi didn’t understand.

"More important than capturing me? More important than killing me? You prioritize that?"

Yong Jegun didn’t answer, only laughing in response.

With a look close to an evil grin, Gung-gi couldn’t find any affection for Yong Jegun’s face.

What Yong Jegun held wasn’t malice but something akin to righteous animosity.

Gung-gi couldn’t understand.

As Gung-gi failed to understand, all those surrounded by jade light disappeared.

Even Gung-gi’s hand, holding the hostage, was empty, grasping at the air.

‘Why?’

The answer never came.

Deep despair consumed Gung-gi, and the wicked darkness, reacting to it, grew even larger.

And inside the expanding wicked darkness, someone was added.

One was a researcher following the same path as Gung-gi.

The other was Jo Yi-shin.