Chapter 32 – Unyielding (2)

R​eａd oǹ ​КatＲeａdiｎgC&a;f​ẽ

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ㄴ“Are those the guys?”
ㄴ“Wow, how have they been moving around without getting caught?”
ㄴ“They probably only killed weaklings…”

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While everyone’s attention was focused, events were unfolding in real time.

The gallery users, excited to see the five assassins who had forcibly infiltrated the dungeon where Reina was already inside, began capturing their images and spreading them across the community.

Even if the identities of these henchmen of the Assassination Gallery Constellations were publicly revealed, it wouldn’t directly stop their activities, but it could still hinder them.

Of course, that’s a story for their next target.

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ㄴ“Why am I so nervous?”
ㄴ“But she’s prepared. Maybe she has good instincts and vaguely sensed something.”

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The Reina they were cheering for had to fight them without knowing anything.

No matter how powerful the Constellations are, no one can accurately predict the countless possibilities of the future. As a result, there was no clear consensus among the users.

Some believed Reina was well-prepared and would win the fight, while many others worried she might get hurt or even die.

“We move according to the plan.”

Meanwhile, the five assassins who had infiltrated the dungeon were moving swiftly according to their pre-established plan.

“Everyone, take out your proper gear. While Dave handles the rookies, the rest of us will take her down.”

“Are we really doing this? Do we have to involve the rookies too?”

“We always prepare for any situation.”

Their target wasn’t just Reina.

They planned to take Shadis’s party hostage as a contingency.

Dekar, the orc warrior who had removed his decoy armor and donned his real gear, coldly declared this.

For them, it was a ruthless and meticulous plan with no room for error, solely focused on completing the mission.

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ㄴ“Lol, she’s already prepared.”
ㄴ“That’s a relief. This means one less enemy to deal with.”
ㄴ“How petty, lol. But it’s so predictable.”

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However, the gallery users watching this actually cheered and mocked their actions.

They knew Reina had already anticipated and prepared for their moves.

If their preparation prevented them from taking Shadis’s party hostage, Reina would have one less enemy to deal with.

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[By the way, I looked it up, and those guys are around floors 120-140. How does that compare to Reina right now?]
ㄴ“They’re actually weaker than Reina, so their stat reduction is less. Since everyone’s stats are different, it’s hard to say for sure, but their current stats are probably similar to Reina’s.”
ㄴ“This is purely a skill fight. And those guys seem experienced in one-on-one combat.”

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But even if one of Reina’s preparations worked out well, it’s still too early to relax.

The stat reduction when descending to the lower floors varies depending on one’s level.

In other words, assassins closer to the 35th floor would have less stat reduction, while Reina, who is much higher, would have her stats reduced more significantly.

As a result, when stats are similar, other factors become much more important.

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ㄴ“How’s Reina’s one-on-one combat ability?”
ㄴ“Honestly, she’s not a complete expert.”

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To the gallery users who had seen it all, one-on-one combat using the Tower’s system was a completely different matter.

Could Reina, who had shown strength against evil monsters, demonstrate the same skill against a challenger with similar stats?

This was something even the fan gallery users, who had been watching Reina for a long time, couldn’t easily predict.

After all, Reina had never paid much attention to or cared about fighting people.

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ㄴ“She’s already set a trap, so we’ll just have to trust that.”

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The only thing worth trusting was that Reina had already sensed something was going to happen and prepared for it.

The gallery users, who had watched everything she had done since entering the dungeon, held their breath and waited, trusting in her.

If Reina succeeded in turning the tables as planned, how satisfying would that be? No one knew.

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ㄴ“Here it comes, something big!”
ㄴ“Yeah, come on, we’re already prepared.”

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And finally, when the assassins, who didn’t even bother to hide their identities, confidently approached and found Reina in the flickering, ruined underground shopping mall.

“Who are you?”

Reina, fully armed with her main weapons including Hermetica, stood on the corpse of a monster she had just slain and glared at them.

“Did she know we were coming?”

“How bold. Is this because there’s no escape inside the dungeon?”

Including Dekar, they were slightly taken aback by Reina’s appearance, as if she had been waiting for them.

‘Did her Constellation warn her?’

Of course, as Dekar thought, it wasn’t impossible.

The Constellations who had hired them were aware that Reina’s Constellation knew about the assassination request and was trying to stop it.

“You, and you… I feel like I’ve seen you two somewhere before…”

Reina’s finger pointed at Dekar, clad in black heavy armor, and Shioko, the mage in a luxurious red robe embroidered with gold.

The Tower is vast, with countless people, but the higher you go, the smaller the circle becomes.

It wasn’t strange for Reina, who had entered the ranks of the strong, to recognize them.

“Pretending to be noble in front of others while scheming behind their backs.”

“We’re not here to listen to your lectures. We have no personal grudge, but if we can take your head, that’s enough.”

Dekar declared, aiming his large polearm.

At the same time, the other assassins also aimed their weapons, preparing for battle.

They all believed that even if Reina was a top-ranked ranker, she couldn’t crush them in the lower floors where their stats were similar.

“The arrogance of not running even after knowing. You’ll regret it as you die.”

“You talk as if you’ve already won. If I hadn’t known and got ambushed… maybe.”

But Reina, who chuckled cutely at their behavior, flicked her fingers.

「Cagos’s Lung (A)」

“W-what is this…!”

At the same time, an item Reina had hidden in advance was activated. Cagos’s Lung was a type of loot that spewed out a thick, cursed purple mist upon activation.

The dense purple mist, which didn’t distinguish between friend or foe, quickly began filling the enclosed underground shopping mall.

“Cough…”

“It’s not just poison. It’s a curse!”

For those without resistance to curses or poison, moving freely in this mist was impossible.

The only one less affected by the curse was Algoth, one of the assassins who possessed the ability 「Thousand Poisons Immunity」.

And Reina, who enveloped herself in radiant light, was the only one with the S-grade trait 「Radiance」, which purified all types of curses and poison.

“If you’re planning to gang up on me, I should at least get this much of an advantage.”

Adjusting Radiance to only protect herself, Reina leaped down from the monster’s corpse and began approaching the panicked assassins.

‘This is a ranker… Moonlight Sword Radiance…!’

Dekar shuddered inside his helmet as he watched Reina, her silver hair shimmering, approach.

He had thought that if everything went according to plan, they could easily take her down like predators hunting prey, but he was wrong.

The person standing before them was a top-ranked powerhouse in the Tower, where countless people from countless worlds were gathered.

In fact, it was they who had to muster all their strength, prepared to die.

‘Now, who’s the prey?’

Gritting his teeth, Dekar, enduring the poison, aimed his polearm and gathered his strength.

“…?!”

“If you came to kill, you must be prepared to die.”

Reina, who had been walking slowly, suddenly disappeared, and Dekar instinctively swung his weapon, barely blocking her sword as she reappeared behind him.

But Reina, with a smirk, hadn’t even put her full strength into that swing.

“Attack!”

Now, everyone here had only one choice: to fight fiercely and win.

The assassins, having gathered their strength, all unleashed their attacks on Reina, who had charged into their formation.

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ㄴ“They’re fighting well!?”
ㄴ“They’re doing this while being corroded by the poison. Did the Assassination Gallery raise them well?”

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And the assassins fought well enough to impress the gallery users watching in real time.

They dodged Reina’s powerful slashes using movement skills and, following the mage’s control spells, launched coordinated attacks to break through her defenses.

Their stats were similar.

Meaning, if their attacks landed, they could wound Reina.

“But why aren’t they landing…!”

Algoth, who had stealthily appeared from the side and thrust a dagger at her neck, exploded in frustration.

Reina, instead of dodging, caught the dagger with her hand, and her neck only had a faint trickle of blood where the dagger had touched, but it didn’t pierce through.

“If you only think about stabbing, how can you defeat someone prepared to be stabbed?”

Reina smirked and stabbed her sword into Algoth’s stiffened body.

One of the four assassins was instantly killed.

But the massive flame spear, launched with the intent to kill even Algoth, only exploded the now-lone corpse, failing to hit Reina, who had instantly moved at high speed.

‘She’s changed. She’s fast!’

They all realized that Reina’s fighting style had completely changed from the past and were horrified.

Wearing lighter armor than heavy plate, Reina’s movements bewildered them, and one by one, they were slashed and pierced by her sword.

“P-Please spare me…!”

Shioko, the mage, whose magic had been pierced and whose hastily erected barrier had been shattered, dropped her staff and began begging for her life as Reina grabbed her head.

“You already know, don’t you?”

Reina coldly spoke and, in one motion, smashed the small head with her fist like a watermelon.

As the corpse, with half its face shattered and only the lower jaw dangling, collapsed to the ground.

Now, only Dekar, the orc warrior, remained of the four assassins.

“Right now, one of us is going after your comrades. Their lives are already on the edge of a blade.”

“Are you bragging about how meticulous you are?”

Dekar played his last card. But Reina, who chuckled at this, rummaged through her pocket, pulled out her phone, and made a call.

“Reina! Enemies have really invaded!”

“Is this the guy you were talking about?”

Dekar sighed as he watched the video.

The screen she showed displayed Shadis’s party holding their ground with a barrier and his furious comrade, who was at a loss for what to do.

Author Note

A/N (Author’s note):
Thank you for reading.

Translator Note

T/N (Translator’s note):
Wow, the 4th guy really just got skipped like that without even a name…

Nah, I don’t feel bad at all, fall into obscurity, noob.