1.
The Lord of the Dead.
A lord obsessed with invading the seven-colored city of Lunsia.
At least, that was how the story went.
The ominous, ash-colored fortress visible in the distance beyond Lunsia—gloomy and foreboding—that was the Lord of the Dead’s domain.
It was close enough to be seen with the naked eye, but very few players had ever made it all the way there.
And with good reason.
Just getting the quest that allows entry to the fortress took two full months.
Not only that, but the difficulty was brutal.
Even with guides, most players failed to clear it.
Naturally, the number of users who had actually set foot inside the Lord of the Dead’s fortress was very small.
And even those who did... not a single one had ever encountered the Lord himself.
No one had ever t the Lord of the Dead. The final quest just had players defeat a sub-boss left inside the fortress.
Until soone discovered a hidden quest, most players agreed: reaching the true end of the scenario was impossible.
Still, the romantic fantasy of “hero versus demon king” kept countless players hooked.
And many rushed in with the hope that they might be the one to discover that hidden quest.
But the biggest reason why most players—even after earning the fortress quest—couldn’t proceed imdiately was because of the raid monster blocking the path.
The sa monster that made Prism Effect look for an additional party mber in the first place.
Wraith Rider, Razak.
He was essentially the gatekeeper to the Lord of the Dead’s fortress. That’s why they’d recruited Seong.
And now, the Prism Effect party couldn’t help but stare in disbelief.
Was it because Seong was incinerating undead with his overwhelming violet flas?
No.
“Wow... is this even real?”
“...He’s seriously incredible.”
“How is soone like that not in a guild yet...?”
“Maybe he’s got his reasons. Or maybe he just likes running small parties, like us?”
The reason the four of them were so stunned by Seong’s display wasn’t just the raw power.
They already knew he was strong—his firepower wasn’t a surprise at this point.
But after watching him work, they all checked the party window.
And what they saw there made their jaws drop:
『?? - Lv.220 - (????)』
『Ir - Lv.242 - (??????)』
『Stella - Lv.242 - (?????)』
『Claudine - Lv.242 - (?????)』
『Bask - Lv.242 - (?????)』
A whole 20-level gap between them—and yet Seong’s damage was far superior.
They couldn’t help but be shocked.
No wonder he misunderstood when I said Demon King. He thought I ant the one from Rapid Guild.
A fresh face, huh.
Makes sense.
No way he’d know.
Now that they saw Seong’s level, their earlier assumptions made perfect sense.
If he’d just arrived in the seventh region as a level 220 player, it wasn’t strange that he didn’t know about the local Demon King scenario.
Still—despite being only level 220...
That kind of firepower...?
I figured his class was high tier, but this is on another level.
Absolutely insane.
Damn, he’s cool.
The area damage, the raw strength—everything was unreal.
Everyone, still awestruck, cleared out their assigned zones with ease.
Seong, of course, finished first. The others followed soon after.
Once the battle had settled down, the party regrouped.
“Whew... yeah, the closer we get, the stronger they get,” Ir said, and everyone nodded in agreent.
Seong nodded too, though a bit delayed.
He honestly hadn’t noticed much of a difference, but he played along.
It had been a long ti since he did party hunting, but it wasn’t bad.
A little slow, sure.
But more efficient than he’d expected.
Even just with my natural mana regen, I can handle this fine.
Because it was a party hunt, he didn’t have to burn through mana recklessly—his enemies were going down just fine regardless.
If the Prism Effect party could hear that thought, they’d probably faint from shock.
That kind of firepower... with barely any mana spent?
In any case, Seong was reasonably satisfied.
After a short rest, they resud their march toward the Lord of the Dead’s fortress, now looming directly ahead.
How long had they been walking?
“Yu Hyeon, we’re getting close to Razak’s zone. Be careful,” Ir said, glancing toward Seong.
Seong gave a nod.
He rembered Razak was the gatekeeper, so he tensed a little as they neared the fortress—
—and then, a sudden gust of cold wind swept in.
Seong was the first to sense sothing was wrong.
“Everyone, get ready—!”
The first to respond to Seong’s urgent warning was the tank, Stella.
She raised her oversized shield high and activated a barrier, forming a do of protective energy around the entire party.
Vwooooom!
A semi-transparent, blue-tinged do shimred into place.
And then—like a falling blizzard—the icy-blue sword aura rained down from above.
CRRRRRRRACKKKK!
A screeching sound filled the air as the chilling blade aura scraped against the barrier.
What had looked like a sturdy shield, more than enough to protect the party—
—soon began to crack.
Stella’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Her shield spell was fracturing after just one hit.
She couldn’t help but be stunned.
anwhile, Ir quickly assessed the situation and shouted,
“Scatter!”
Right as she did, the cracks in the barrier expanded outward in all directions.
And almost instantly, the icy, blue-white sword aura shattered the shield and surged downward, threatening to engulf the party—
—but no one was standing there anymore.
Seong, Ir, and Claudine had blinked back with teleportation. The others dove out of the way just in ti.
And then, before them appeared a ghostly horse cloaked in pale blue and black fla—upon its back, a spectral knight.
[You have encountered the raid monster: 『Wraith Rider, Razak』.]
[The raid has begun.]
It felt a little off to Seong that the usual warning prompt wasn’t there.
But that didn’t matter right now.
Razak had launched a surprise attack.
And now, without a trace of emotion, as if nothing had happened, he raised his sword again—
Preparing to strike.
Just then, another notification appeared:
[Raid Monster 『Wraith Rider, Razak』 is summoning his soldiers.]
With that ssage, a storm of chilling wind erupted.
A blizzard of cold burst from Razak, sweeping through the area.
It was so thick and furious that it was nearly impossible to keep one’s eyes open, let alone see anything ahead.
But even within that storm, a ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) distinct sound echoed clearly.
Crack, crunch!
Crk—crack!
Crack! Crack!
The sound of ice breaking and sothing splitting apart.
The rest of the party couldn’t see it—but Seong could.
“They’re rising from the ground.”
This translation is the intellectual property of Novelight.
He found it interesting—an unusual ability—and braced himself.
There were more soldiers than he’d expected.
No wonder Razak was called the gatekeeper.
And now he understood why Prism Effect had gone out of their way to recruit another party mber.
That many soldiers would be overwhelming for most.
However—
“Turns out Inferno Road is more useful than I thought.”
Seong had been pretending to be a fla mage, after all.
Which ant the elental matchup was in his favor.
While Seong was quietly pleased about that—
Ir called out, flustered.
“E-everyone, get ready!”
The number of summoned soldiers clearly had her rattled.
That’s when Seong stepped up.
“I’ll take care of the soldiers.”
“B-but—!”
Just as Ir was about to object—
Claudine cut in.
“Let’s go with what Yu Hyeon said!”
They’d already seen how powerful he was, and more importantly, his elental affinity was a perfect counter.
Claudine shouted quickly.
Ir was the official party leader, but Claudine also handled shot-calling, so Ir had no choice but to nod.
There were simply too many soldiers for them to handle on their own.
Which ant they had to trust Seong.
“We’re counting on you!”
At Ir’s words, Seong just nodded.
He raised a wall of violet fla, trapping all of Razak’s summoned soldiers within.
The rest of the party turned their backs on the burning wall and charged toward Razak, trusting Seong to hold the line.
While the Prism Effect party threw themselves at Razak with everything they had, Seong calmly and efficiently incinerated the soldiers within his wall of fla.
For Seong, this number of enemies wasn’t even a challenge.
Watching while managing the flas, he turned his attention to the party.
“You don’t see a team this coordinated every day.”
Curious to see how they fought, he watched closely.
Stella, the tank, was the first to reach Razak.
The skill she opened with imdiately bathed her shield in a bluish glow before she slamd it into Razak.
BOOOOM!!!
The impact was so strong that even the ground beneath Seong lightly trembled.
At first, he wondered if it was just a damage skill.
But the mont the blow landed, Razak’s gaze locked entirely onto Stella.
It was an aggro skill.
Razak imdiately swung his sword down at her, and Stella raised her shield to block.
SKRRREEEEECH!!!
A shrill screech of friction echoed out, and Stella’s face tensed instantly.
She managed to block it, but so of the damage clearly got through. Unable to hold it in, Stella let out a short cry.
“Ugh!”
A quick burst of healing flew in from behind her.
And a cleansing light spread across her shield, purging the icy aura Razak’s sword had left behind.
Then—appearing from behind Razak—Bask erged, holding two short daggers glowing with a red aura. He slashed them in an X-shaped arc toward Razak’s neck.
But—
CLANG-CLANG-CLANG!
Razak’s shield swung around just in ti to block it perfectly. Bask’s frustrated shout followed.
“Damn it...!!!”
As he cursed, Razak’s shield slamd out in retaliation.
Bask raised both arms to guard, but—
“Gah!”
The sheer impact tore through him, sending damage all across his body.
A follow-up heal landed right after, but it wasn’t enough to completely restore what he’d just lost.
Just one lazy swing of Razak’s shield had done that much damage.
There was no ti to be shocked.
After sending Bask flying, Razak turned back to Stella.
His aggro was still locked on her.
Doing her job as a tank, Stella activated a series of defensive skills.
Razak, in response, unleashed that sa white-blue sword aura that had shattered the earlier barrier.
It roared toward Stella like a frozen wave. Her shield lit up with multiple defensive layers as she braced herself.
“Hup!”
With a sharp breath, she stood her ground against the oncoming slash.
Then, behind her, a brilliant white light exploded—
A massive column of light descended from the heavens and slamd down atop Razak’s head.
BOOOOOOOOM!!!
A literal baptism of divine light.
But even that wasn’t enough.
Razak, eyes blazing with malice, shattered the light column and stepped forward.
Now that’s a gatekeeper, they all thought at once.
As those thoughts filled the minds of Prism Effect’s mbers—
A surge of violet fla blood around Razak and wrapped around him in a swirl.
FOOOOOM—!!!
Unlike earlier, Razak lifted his shield to defend, exuding cold as he tried to push the fla back.
And toward him, calmly walking, ca Seong.
“W-what about the soldiers...? Huh?”
Ir started to ask—then turned back to where the soldiers had been.
There was nothing left.
Not a single one.
Seeing their astonished faces, Seong said simply:
“I’ll be joining the fight now.”
A line more reassuring than any battle cry.
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