The Game of the Greatest Black Mage
Chapter 152

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 152

Even though he knew Helena was joking, you never knew, right?

As Seonghyun kept his distance, Viscount Paragon felt a bit of a gap between them and looked dejected.

Seeing this, Seonghyun thought.

‘Is it actually real?’

-Nah… no way….

At this point, even Helena became a little serious.

In any case, as Seonghyun and Helena continued to watch Viscount Paragon with wary eyes, the viscount became quite fidgety, wondering if he had made some sort of mistake.

He was filled with the fear that Seonghyun might not accept his request.

That worry was short-lived.

“Ahem, the reason for my visit today is the request you mentioned the other day.”

“Oh!? A-A request, you say?!?”

“Yes, yes.”

‘Why else would I be here if not for the request?’

As Seonghyun looked at Viscount Paragon with a puzzled expression, the viscount realized his gaffe, cleared his throat, and offered an apology.

“Ahem, my apologies. I got ahead of myself. I have committed a discourtesy.”

“Not at all. But what did you mean by being ahead of yourself?”

When Seonghyun asked, Viscount Paragon let out a long, deep sigh and lowered his head.

Seeing him look as if he were burdened by all the sorrows of the world, Seonghyun and Helena lowered their guard and listened seriously to the viscount’s story.

The story of a vicious criminal who had been a problem for a long time.

As he listened to the tale…

-Seonghyun? Isn't this the guy we were looking for?

‘I think you're right.’

As it turned out, the request was to catch the very target Seonghyun wanted to hunt.

His plan had been to complete this request and then ask for access to the central labyrinth as a favor, but now there was no need.

It was a target he had to catch anyway, and now he could get a quest and a reward for it?

Seonghyun was not foolish enough to refuse.

“And that is how it is. I have laid out my complaints, but please do not feel obligated to accept this request. It is a problem for our territory, but… even if you refuse, I will not resent you for it.”

Viscount Paragon spoke with a somewhat haggard expression.

Seeing this, Seonghyun was about to accept immediately.

-Seonghyun, at times like this, just stay quiet.

‘Quiet?’

-Yep, you know the saying, 'He who is thirsty digs the well.'

He knew the saying, but could it be used now?

As Seonghyun remained silent at her suggestion, Viscount Paragon grew anxious and carefully spoke up.

“If you do this for me, I will give you a handsome reward.”

“……”

“Hmm.”

As Seonghyun remained silent at that answer, as if deep in thought, perhaps the viscount grew even more anxious.

He fidgeted for a moment before speaking first.

“Th-Then I shall open our castle's treasury. It is a treasury where, if you enter once, you are guaranteed to obtain one item. How about it?”

“Hmm.”

Again, Seonghyun remained quiet as Helena instructed.

And then.

“Th-Then how about twice?”

-Just a little longer and he'll offer one more.

Seonghyun thought the same thing.

“Hmm, twice, you say.”

As Seonghyun muttered as if contemplating, Viscount Paragon took a sharp breath, stood up from his seat, and exclaimed.

“Th-Three times! H-How about it? I-I'm sure you will be satisfied with this!”

-This is the best we'll get! Accept it!

Following Helena's signal, Seonghyun nodded.

“If you put it that way… considering your sincerity, my lord, I will take on that request.”

“Ah! Thank you so much! Truly!!!”

As Viscount Paragon nodded his head, overjoyed, Seonghyun also smiled with satisfaction.

‘Alright, shall we see the quest?’

Just as he thought that and looked at the message window appearing before him.

[You have succeeded in a negotiation against a lord for the first time!]

[You have acquired the title, 『Gambler』!]

“……?”

-Oh my?

Both Seonghyun and Helena were surprised by the unexpected message.

Well, that wasn't the important thing right now, but he read the effect anyway.

『Gambler』

→《Epic》

→A title granted to the user who first succeeds in a negotiation against a lord.

→Gives an advantage in negotiations with NPCs.

→Positive effects in situations that rely on luck are increased by +10%.

‘This is amazing, isn't it?’

Seonghyun smiled, the title's effect far better than he had expected.

In any case, the quest creation window he had been waiting for appeared after that.

[You accept the request from the lord of Pentagrid, 『Paragon ze Gridley』.]

[The Hidden Unique Quest, 『The Worst of Pentagrid』, has been generated.]

The Worst of Pentagrid, huh.

Reading that, Seonghyun immediately brought up the quest window.

『The Worst of Pentagrid』

→《Hidden-Unique》

→In Pentagrid, there exists a criminal with the title "The Worst."

She is a being who has committed incredibly vicious crimes, even among NPCs.

Her name is Carmine.

Flaunting her dark red hair, she committed the worst of crimes.

At first, it was trivial. It started on a cute level, with her frequently getting into arguments with mercenaries and hunters in the labyrinth.

But perhaps that was the trigger?

After that, she killed every single mercenary and hunter she had argued with.

An immense amount of blood was shed, but did something inside her awaken at that moment?

Afterward, she even sought out and killed the families of the mercenaries and hunters she had slain.

The Pentagrid city guard and soldiers stepped in to stop her, but they were no match.

The lord of Pentagrid, Paragon ze Gridley, put a massive bounty on her head to stop her by any means.

In the end, Carmine was pushed to the brink of death by an incredibly strong female user wielding only a single sword.

However, at that last moment, she used a hidden item to escape the scene and flee into the labyrinth.

A subjugation force was formed to hunt her down, but they could not face both the harsh labyrinth and Carmine at the same time.

After the subjugation force's great defeat, Carmine would occasionally reveal herself to flaunt that she was still at large.

Lord Paragon ze Gridley had no choice but to seal off the central part of the labyrinth where she usually appeared.

He judged that to properly face her in the labyrinth, a small party of powerful users was needed, like the female user who had overwhelmed her with just a single sword.

For that reason, he is entrusting this request to you, a user who also holds the title of knight.

Please, catch Carmine and protect the peace of this city.

→Requirement: A user with a certain level of fame, or one who has proven overwhelming strength.

→Reward: A huge amount of EXP, Access to the Lord's Castle Treasury (3).

‘Hmm.’

She was certainly an atrocious villain. A murderer, plain and simple.

But anyway.

‘That user with the single sword.’

He felt a strange sense of deja vu.

‘Is she some kind of master of swordsmanship?’

Seonghyun dismissed the thought as he read.

A user from the past wasn't important now.

As Seonghyun finished reading the quest window with a frown, Viscount Paragon nodded his head as if in understanding.

He seemed to have mistaken Seonghyun's tension for nervousness about the difficult request.

“Carmine. She is a peculiar one.”

“Peculiar, you say…?”

“She wields a spear like a demon, but she also uses magic like a demon.”

“Oho?”

‘A Magic Lancer?’

He had encountered a Magic Lancer before in Meiran, but he had never actually fought one.

A spear wielder.

Honestly, it would be a lie to say he wasn't interested.

“Be very careful. Her magic and spear truly have a talent for stealing a person's soul.”

At Viscount Paragon’s warning, Seonghyun just smiled and nodded.

He was genuinely curious what kind of opponent she would be.

Although he had memories of her fighting, he had never fought her himself.

‘A battle with a spear wielder.’

As Seonghyun’s expression became incredibly serious, Viscount Paragon’s expression soured.

‘He's not going to say he'll do it and then give up, is he?’

He thought with dread.

Right now, Seonghyun was his only hope.

He desperately prayed that he would defeat that woman, Carmine.

Contrary to Viscount Paragon’s thoughts, Seonghyun was thrilled at the prospect of a new kind of battle and stood up from his seat.

“W-Why are you doing that?”

“I'm going immediately.”

“R-Right now?”

“Yes, there's nothing to be gained by dragging our feet.”

Stunned by Seonghyun’s boldness, Viscount Paragon blinked a few times and then broke into a bright smile.

“I shall guide you at once!”

He decided to do it himself, a task he could have easily ordered his head butler to do.

He had never had such a joyous day.

1.

The Pentagrid underground labyrinth.

Specifically, the central part, known to be its most harsh section.

There, a woman covered from head to toe in blood, whose origins were unknown, was trudging along.

Her hair was matted and stuck together with countless layers of dried blood.

Her original hair color was impossible to tell; dark red hair covered her entire body.

And in her eyes, only pure killing intent gleamed as she roamed, looking down on all that surrounded her.

Scccrrrape—.

She dragged a single dark red spear, caked and crusted with dried blood, across the floor as she wandered the labyrinth.

When monsters occasionally appeared, her spear would vanish for an instant, then strike like a snake, bursting the monster's head.

Splat!

It didn't matter what kind of monster it was.

When her spear flew, it never had to be swung more than once.

A single strike.

With a single strike, she burst the heads of all monsters.

And then, she would calmly trudge away from the scene.

Pure slaughter.

She moved as if nothing else had any meaning.

Carmine wandered with her gleaming eyes, then suddenly glanced down at her own throbbing torso.

Revealed there were horrific scars.

Long, deep scars from a sword covered her entire upper body; wounds that would have killed a normal person a hundred times over.

As she traced the scars that made one marvel she was still alive, she opened her mouth.

As if she hadn't had a drop of water in months, a voice, cracked and metallic, echoed savagely.

“…Why is it throbbing all of a sudden?”

A savage sound, like the sharp growl of a beast or a monster. It was a vicious sound that could hardly be judged as a woman's voice.

As the wounds throbbed, her lust for slaughter seemed to grow, and she kicked off the ground.

BOOM!

Leaving a deep and clear footprint in the floor, Carmine’s form vanished without a trace.

She reappeared in a place teeming with monsters.

There, she swung her spear.

Splat-splat-splat-splat-splat—!

With one great swing, the five bat-like monsters in that spot all hit the floor, their heads severed.

Carmine grabbed one of the bats and lifted it up.

A torrent of the bat's blood flowed down onto her face.

“Ahhh—.”

She opened her mouth to the flowing blood, quenching her thirst like an exhausted person receiving blessed rain in a drought.

Her vividly blood-stained lips gleamed.

She licked them.

“Sluuurp.”

It's not enough.

The blood of a monster like this is not enough.

“Bring me that bitch, that bitch!!!! This time, I'll definitely kill her!!!!!”

Carmine screamed.

And in a place very far from the fifth town, a place known among users as the front lines, a woman holding a single sword tilted her head and muttered to herself.

“Hmm, I feel like someone just called for me. Is it just my imagination?”

She dismissed the feeling and continued her thought.

“Hmm, I wonder if Seonghyun has met that woman yet? I hope Seonghyun catches her, since she's the one I let get away.”

Yoo Mina, or as she was called here, Yuna, smiled coldly and murmured.

“I should have killed her back then. What a shame.”

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