Solo Max-Level Newbie
Chapter 366: The Order of the Specter (3)

Chapter 366: The Order of the Specter (3)

The murderous intent rose slowly, curling into the air.

Jinhyuk slowly unleashed his magical power.

“You said we shouldn’t cause a commotion, yet you seem to be itching for action yourself.”

Chun Yuseong clicked his tongue as if to say he couldn’t be helped.

Well… avoiding a commotion was indeed the right move.

But,

“As long as it doesn’t get out, there’s no problem.”

Who would know if a few people were smashed to pieces in a closed room?

At least for the time being, it would pass quietly.

Jinhyuk clenched his fist and moved forward.

Moments later.

The entire guild of thieves inside the building was obliterated.

No matter how seasoned they were among the middle class, that was only relative to thieves.

They were no match for veterans like Jinhyuk and Chun Yuseong.

“Cough… Gag! Gak… Cough, cough.”

“Keugh…”

The thieves let out groans of agony.

Having taken a solid hit to the solar plexus, even breathing was a challenge.

“Thinking about answering now?”

“Kill us. You’d better not expect any answers, no matter what you ask.”

“Ho. Even calling yourself the boss, you seem to have some price. Proud of your ability to endure pain, are you?”

“Yes. Even if I die, I won’t sell out my comrades.”

Impressively, the thief had a semblance of loyalty.

But does he realize?

This is just the beginning of a long torment?

Jinhyuk summoned the spirits Aether and Frey from the pocket dimension.

Wooong!

With a surge of bright light, Undine, Sylphid, Salamander, and Gnome appeared.

“Did you call for us, Master?”

“How much do you plan to make us work this time… Oh, not that. What’s going on? Hehe.”

The spirits nervously rubbed their palms, fake smiles plastered on their faces.

“I need to extract some information from these folks here but they’re not cooperating.”

“Uh-huh. I see. They should’ve just bitten their tongues and died. Madmen, resisting their Master.”

“Right? Show them a taste of our company’s bitter medicine.”

“Understood, Master. Trust us.”

Undine firmly clenched her small fist in agreement.

Thus began the torture.

Fwoosh!

Salamander ignited flames around the thieves’ feet.

“Ahhhh, it’s hot, it’s too hot!”

“What is this?!”

The temperature steadily rose.

Cold sweats trailed down their spines.

Undine started stuffing the thieves’ mouths with water droplets loaded with capsaicin.

“Kwaaeek! Cough! Cough… Cough!”

“Hehe. Eat up. You want this too?”

“Dine, here. This ingredient will make it even better. Remember last time our mistress ate it, tears and snot were streaming down.”

Sylphid added mint chocolate and stinky tofu to Undine’s water droplets.

In an instant, something unspeakably horrific was created.

“Hammer, release!”

Gnome began to perpetrate unspeakable acts upon the men using a hammer made of dirt.

Thud!

“Stop it!”

Thwack!

“No, no more!”

Crunch!

“Aaaagh! My juniors…!”

Screams turned to cries of despair, then to desperate pleas.

Eventually, people began to faint, frothing at the mouth.

“Master, this one’s not moving anymore.”

Gnome waved the hammer cutely in the air.

The next targets among the thieves screamed.

“Cr, crazy spirits!”

“Pl, please save us!”

“We too have our honor, you damn fools!”

Terrible screams reechoed through the area.

“Kuh!”

The apparent leader, a bald man, grit his teeth.

While the other men gave in to the torment of the spirits, this one man alone stood defiantly.

“You’re tougher than thought. Frey, how about you give it a try?”

“Okay. I’ll take a turn.”

Frey stepped forward.

Without warning, she brandished a large knife.

The kind used to cut through meat and bone as a whole in butcher shops.

“Wha, what are you planning to do?”

The bald man thrashed wildly in terror.

But Frey remained impassive, holding the knife up high.

“Frey!”

“Yes?”

“Even if you chop with that thing, wouldn’t he die, taking any information with him?”

“Is it bad to kill?”

“Yes. Not now, at least.”

“What about cutting?”

“That’s fine. But, do it within the boundaries of common sense.”

“Got it. Then I’ll proceed, taking blood loss into account. Survival rate will be 99.5%. If he loses all arms and legs, the survival rate drops to 50%. First, I must prepare the tools to prevent infection and stop the bleeding.”

Whoosh!

Frey began heating the knife in the fire.

In the midst of such a grim conversation, the bald man’s face turned ashen with fear.

“I’ll talk! Damn it! If talking will save me, then I’ll talk! The players are now in the ‘Grey Forest.’ They’re there!”

At the bald man’s words, Jinhyuk gestured to Frey.

Frey halted the knife she was about to bring down.

“Grey Forest?”

“Yes! The Order has a bounty on them. They’re all fired up, looking for them since the reward is 30% of a year’s worth of magic crystals mined from the Magic Crystal Mines!”

The Grey Forest would indeed offer plenty of hiding spots.

Theresa must have instinctively chosen a place with ample cover and hiding spots.

“That’s enough, Frey. And you guys, you can stop now.”

Jinhyuk called off the torture.

Undine, who was about to pour fermented sand lance sauce into a thief’s nostril, reluctantly ceased.

“Ar, are you going to let us go?”

“No.”

Unfortunately, it wasn’t over yet.

To resolve this matter more smoothly, a few more things were needed.

“Introduce me to your guild’s master. We need a force with extensive information and numbers to conquer this level.”

“Wha… ha… haha! You want to meet our guild’s master? Hahaha! It’s unthinkable… No, don’t feed me that green gooey stuff. Don’t try to slice me with that knife either. It’s not that I don’t want to tell you. I really don’t know who that person is.”

“A cell-structured organization?”

Chun Yuseong furrowed his brows.

It would not be easy to find the very top of such an organized group.

But,

“There’s no need to find the man at the very top.”

Jinhyuk held a piece of paper with Theresa’s portrait.

“No matter how cell-operated it is, there must be someone who orders you around, right?”

“Yes. There is. But that person doesn’t know about the master either. It’s useless to catch him.”

“But that person must know something about the higher-ups.”

As you move up the hierarchical ladder, you can eventually reach the master.

That’s when the absorption of the guild truly begins.

“It isn’t easy to break down the whole guild with torture and threats, is it?”

Torture and threats.

Indeed, it’s difficult to completely absorb a guild with such methods.

No matter how strongly you crush them, a sentiment of rebellion is bound to arise.

“You don’t have to worry about that. I have a special ability tailored for this kind of job.”

Jinhyuk held up the paper in his hand to the bald man’s face.

“Wha, what are you doing…?”

“Stay still.”

[Lv3 ‘Human Skin Mask’ is activated!]

Wooong!

The paper began to take on the shape of a human face.

Soon enough, a skin mask identical to the bald man’s face was fashioned.

“There’s information about Theresa, so tell your higher-up to come right away.”

＊＊＊

Kwaaaaa!

The world transformed under the mighty storm of magical power.

It was the track left by Apollo’s Sun Chariot as it swept across the ground.

“Advance!”

At Apollo’s command, a tremendous cheer followed.

“Ooh!”

“The gods are with us!”

“Let’s slaughter them all and dedicate this land to the gods!”

Thousands of charged Greek soldiers started to advance.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

The earth trembled, and vast numbers of forces covered the icy terrain.

For the first time, a foreign banner flew over the key stronghold ‘Jotunheim’.

Of course,

The great force ‘Ragnarok’ was not just passively receiving blows.

“Aaargh!”

“The vile intruders!”

The giants wielded their ice clubs and threw pine trees, fiercely resisting.

The battle, ongoing for three days and nights without rest, was reaching its climax.

“…It’s harder than we expected.”

Athena, watching the battle from a distance, frowned.

Initially, they thought they could easily sweep away Ragnarok, whose power was already waning.

However, once the war began, the resistance was far from weak.

“We haven’t completely lost our strength even after losing the crown, it seems.”

“Thor… He’s the real problem. Unfortunately, Heracles is handling the Eden front…”

Hades sighed deeply.

Thor, the god of thunder, was at this moment fighting valiantly against hundreds of Greek soldiers.

It was an overinvestment just to handle one opponent.

“Since the Eden front doesn’t want our power to grow, we couldn’t do much. We need Heracles on the western front in case Archangel-class beings appear, so he can hold them off.”

Current upper layers were tangled with complex interests.

Powers competing with Olympus would certainly not wish for Olympus to thrive unchecked.

Thus, a sturdy guardian was needed to protect the rear while the main force was on an expedition.

“Valhalla’s Valkyrie brigades are troubling too. As they believe dying in battle will secure them a place in Valhalla, we’re essentially fighting against battle-mad fanatics.”

The other gods also chimed in.

Undoubtedly they had the upper hand, yet these factors prevented them from securing a definitive victory.

“Have we not located Odin yet?”

Zeus, seated at the highest position, drummed his fingers on the table.

Crack!

Golden lightning flashed in all directions.

…The atmosphere was heavy.

A mixture of annoyance and rage weightily pressed down the surrounding area.

“That… The father has been hiding ever since he knew you were after him. He’s been darting around through Heimdall’s portals, making tracking… difficult.”

“Hermes, you make it sound as if you’re lesser than Heimdall.”

“Oh, no! Give me a little more time, and I will surely catch him.”

Hermes fumbled, attempting to defend himself.

The key to the war was for Zeus to kill Odin and swiftly wrap up the conflict.

But that absolute premise was being shaken.

At that moment.

“…!?”

“Father! Someone approaches!”

Soon after Hermes’ words, the air twisted and elongated.

[An external deity is manifesting!]

Someone appeared before the assembled Greek deities.