Chapter 162 : You Lead
Chapter 162: You Lead
Robin was not greatly surprised at the suggestion that he become the bait.
It was obvious that the Lich had come near the Rest Stop because of him.
The Adventurers were subtly hoping that Robin’s party would take responsibility.
Even now, the gazes directed at Robin were far from kind.
“You’re not surprised. Does it not bother you?”
“It’s not as if I’ve never thought about it.”
“Oh? You really considered luring the Lich away by yourself?”
The man stroked his chin with interest.
“Do you think it would be possible?”
“No. Even if I ran around alone, I wouldn’t last long.”
“You’re not a fool.”
“If you knew that, why tell me to be the bait?”
The man pointed at the Adventurers who were huddled together, whispering among themselves.
“If those bastards head out like this, they won’t even make it out of Fog Canyon before they die.”
“Even if I become the bait?”
“Yes. Rather than each moving separately, their chances of survival are higher if they unite as one.”
The Adventurers, moving in teams of five or six, were making plans to survive only among themselves.
Those belonging to the same Clan tended to stick together, but even then their numbers did not exceed ten.
“You lead.”
“How did it turn into that?”
“Volunteer to be the bait, but don’t get caught. Then you can live.”
It almost sounded like wordplay, but it was not nonsense.
It was better to know something was chasing them and flee than to be caught off guard by a sudden ambush.
If they scattered anyway, they would be defeated one by one.
If so, then become an unmistakable bait.
Like small fish forming a school to take on the shape of a massive whale.
In other words, he was telling him to gather the Adventurers and break through.
“You have no intention of helping, Senior?”
“I told you I’m heading to the Extreme Region. If you want to follow, I won’t stop you.”
The man looked Robin up and down before continuing.
“Even if you somehow make it to the Burning Desert, how do you plan to cross the Floating Archipelago?”
Robin glanced briefly at Serena, then shook his head.
“For now, that would be difficult.”
“You know that well.”
He was the leader of a team composed entirely of Gold-Ranked Adventurers.
Robin wondered why this man was offering him advice.
The answer was simple.
Though the strong ruled like kings, this man belonged to the good side.
“If you become the bait, it’ll be more convenient for us too.”
“…You pursue extreme efficiency.”
“Of course! That’s the proper attitude for an Adventurer!”
It was better that he spoke so honestly.
He felt far more trust toward him than toward those who hid their intentions and struck from behind.
Thud. Thud.
The Lich was still pounding on the barrier outside.
Head to the Extreme Region, or return to the Safe Area.
Take only his team and avoid the creature, or gather strangers and move together.
The weighing was over.
“Sigbard, come with me for a moment.”
Rising from his seat, Robin called Sigbard and stepped outside the Rest Stop.
The Adventurers stared at him as if he were insane.
After walking about twenty meters, they reached the boundary of the barrier.
Shing.
He drew his sword and thrust it beyond the barrier, then pulled it back.
After confirming that he felt no resistance in his hand, he stepped back.
The distance between him and the Lich was roughly five meters.
Holding two swords, he closed his eyes.
“Fuuuu…….”
A crimson Fighting Spirit flickered along the blades and extended outward.
The Lich noticed him and tried to defend, but he gave it no time to respond.
In the blink of an eye, he dashed outside and slashed across its torso in an X-shaped strike.
KWAJIJIJIK.
The sharp Fighting Spirit struck the Lich’s body, but it was shrouded in defensive magic.
The roiling darkness was only slightly cut.
But even that had been expected.
‘Once more.’
Robin twisted his wrist as he pulled back his swords.
Just as the Lich attempted to counterattack—
Slash.
“It’s Anger, you bastard.”
The Lich’s right shoulder bone was cleanly severed.
Robin himself was slightly bewildered, as he had not been entirely certain it would truly work.
The only difference from before was that he had recited the word ‘Anger’ in his mind.
As if that single word had been a fuse, the power had surged in an instant.
“Stop pounding and fall back!”
Sigbard, who had been watching from behind, intervened at the perfect moment.
The staff he gripped with both hands struck the Lich squarely in the abdomen.
The creature, which had been scattering magic, was knocked back about ten meters.
“…….”
Not only those nearby but even the ones watching from inside the Rest Stop fell into silence.
Robin instinctively knew this was the best outcome he could achieve.
One-third of the Lich’s Core had been destroyed, and it was raging more violently than before.
Provoking it further would not be wise.
Step. Step.
After taking that blow, the Lich did not recklessly charge forward.
Returning to the Rest Stop, Robin shouted to the now-silent Adventurers.
“Do you want to live!”
“O-Of course we want to live.”
“Who wants to die?”
He gave them the answer to the murmurs spreading like ripples.
“If you want to live, follow me. We’re heading to the Safe Area.”
It was such a sudden proposal that it felt almost out of place.
But they had all seen it.
Robin and Sigbard. The two of them alone had forced the Lich to retreat.
“Think carefully. If you move in small teams and run into that thing, do you think you’ll survive? With that kind of resolve, you’ll die before even escaping Fog Canyon.”
“So what are you saying? Wasn’t it because of you that that insane monster showed up in the first place!”
A short, stocky bald man pointed at Robin.
That finger accused him—none of this would have happened if not for him.
It was not entirely wrong, so Robin nodded.
“Because of me? That’s right. So what?”
“W-What! What kind of insolent brat are you!”
“If you have complaints, there’s a simple way to resolve them. Step outside the Rest Stop.”
Robin and Sigbard had not stepped back inside.
The manager only guaranteed safety within the Rest Stop itself.
The moment one stepped even a single foot outside, the manager’s protection vanished.
In other words, if he had complaints, they would settle it with a duel.
The bald man trembled but said nothing.
After all, he had seen Robin’s skill.
“Once this time passes, I won’t go easy.”
“…….”
“Good. We depart in ten minutes. If you want to live, pack your things and get ready to follow.”
The situation was flowing in a strange direction.
As though Robin had naturally become the leader of everyone present, he issued commands with ease.
The manager and even the Gold-Ranked Adventurers were present, yet none stopped him.
Even they had been impressed by Robin’s display of skill.
“What’s the plan?”
“Aelin will find the path, and I’ll eliminate any obstacles.”
“That’s reckless.”
“Sorry for making you work the moment you woke up.”
Aelin’s helmet shook from side to side.
“If you want to live, you have to try everything.”
Saying she would go up and check if they had forgotten anything, Aelin climbed up.
Serena grasped both ends of her staff and stretched it straight out.
Seeing her stretch without difficulty, it seemed no aftereffects remained in her shoulder.
“A chance that won’t come again in your life. Hurry up and stick with us.”
Silver-Ranked Adventurers were quick-witted by nature.
Even at a proposal thrown out without context, they rolled their brains to weigh which side would be more advantageous.
Those who finished their judgment moved quickly into action.
“I’m Ractor. A fifth-year Adventurer.”
“I’m Robin. Are the five of you one team?”
“That’s right. We’ll be in your care until we reach the Safe Area.”
Ractor led his team and took a spot to one side.
As if this had been a signal flare, the Adventurers sitting in the Rest Stop rose to their feet.
“I’m Terapil! Fourth year, and I use a spear.”
“Third-year archer, Raizen.”
One by one, the leaders guiding their teams introduced themselves to Robin.
Robin received them boldly and confidently, speaking down to them as if it had always been that way.
He implicitly made it clear that he was the leader.
By the time Aelin returned after finishing her preparations, only the bald man’s team—the one that had pointed a finger at Robin—remained.
“Are you going to stay there?”
The bald man took a deep breath, then approached and extended his hand.
When Robin accepted the handshake, he spoke politely.
“I apologize for earlier. I’m Tipro.”
“It’s fine. There’s space over there, so go.”
In less than five minutes, the Rest Stop was empty.
Even the Manager and the Gold-Ranked Adventurers had stepped outside, watching to see what would happen.
“Leaving now?”
“Yes. What about you, Mr. Roger?”
“I was planning to stay an hour, but didn’t you pull them all out? I’ve changed my mind.”
The Manager extended his right hand and placed it near Robin’s heart.
Whoooosh.
“Blessings upon the one who chooses hardship.”
A bright cluster of light seeped into Robin’s body.
It was the blessing of a Paladin imbued with Divine Power.
“This is… I feel overflowing with strength?”
“It won’t last long.”
After consecutively placing blessings on Sigbard, Aelin, and Serena as well, he turned around.
“Seraph, give the rookies a bit of your strength.”
A woman with her robe pulled over her head stepped forward, clasped her hands together, and recited a prayer.
Light like falling snow settled down, and the effects manifested immediately.
Their stamina and physical strength jumped up several levels.
“They say there’s nothing to fear when you have a proper Priest. I understand what that means now.”
Confidence surged within all the Adventurers at the overflowing power.
The hooded Priest bowed her head slightly and returned to her spot.
“Are you ready?”
“At this rate, we might even be able to take down a Lich?”
“Overconfidence is forbidden. In any case, I wish you fortune.”
The moment the Manager finished speaking, the round barrier enveloping the Rest Stop disappeared.
In other words, the final bulwark that had blocked the Lich’s magic was gone.
For a moment, confusion stirred among the Adventurers, but the Manager remained calm.
“Go. Rather than dragging this out, let’s part ways here.”
“You’re not going to fight, are you?”
“I’ll hold that bastard for a moment.”
The Manager jerked his chin toward Serena.
It meant he intended to repay the debt he had owed from before.
Serena answered with a solemn nod.
Even so, she could not help but ask why he was showing such favor.
“Why are you showing me this much goodwill?”
“If you escape without getting caught, won’t it make things easier for us too?”
“So in the end, you want us to be bait.”
The Manager shrugged and drew his sword.
A blade broader and longer than an ordinary sword.
Wrapped in Divine Power, the sword drove away the vile energy.
Creeeak. Creak-creak.
The Lich forcibly reattached its severed shoulder bone.
An unnatural motion, like forcing together mismatched puzzle pieces.
Even without meeting its gaze, one could clearly feel that the creature was enraged.
Robin spoke plainly toward the Adventurers.
“Move out.”
The Manager and six Gold-Ranked Adventurers.
A mere seven people slowly narrowed the distance toward the Lich.
“Thank you, Manager! And you too, Priest!”
When Sigbard called out his thanks, the others each added a word of their own.
Not long after even the bald man at the very back finished giving his thanks—
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-BOOM!
With a savage roar from behind them, the battle began.
Roger had originally had no intention of holding the Lich back.
After fulfilling his duty according to the manual distributed by the Guild, he had planned to withdraw into the Extreme Region for his own safety.
That was, if the black-haired swordsman had not united the Adventurers far sooner than expected.
“Roger! Looks like you’ve taken a liking to that brat!”
The leader of the Gold-Ranked Adventurer team spoke to the Manager in a teasing tone.
As Roger poured Divine Power into the Lich, he let out a faint chuckle.
“You’re no different.”
“His eyes were alive. He’s too promising a young man to die here.”
“Take care of your own life first, Buzz.”
He cleaved through the woman-shaped summon made of darkness, radiating light.
Every time Roger’s sword struck, the Lich’s magic was nullified.
“Look upon my soul.”
The Divine Power wrapped around his entire body did not lose its brilliance even against the Lich’s magic.
A battle made possible because the Divine Barrier that had enveloped the Rest Stop had been lifted early.
Heaven helps those who help themselves, as they say.
Thanks to Robin’s swift decision and action, Roger’s Divine Power was far less strained.
“I hope they don’t die.”
Robin deliberately ignored the sounds of battle coming from behind his back.
Every minute and second was an opportunity to get farther from the Lich.
All he could do was run as fast as possible.