Chapter 392 – Part 2 – The Basement

Step by step.

Melissa, following Billy, stopped in front of the basement.

“Is this it?”

“That’s correct.”

“Lead the way.”

Even though they were going down dark stairs, there was no fear on Melissa’s face.

Rather, she was excited at the thought of finding Kwak Min-cheol’s weakness.

‘Let’s see what he’s hidden in the basement. Hehe.’

Surrounded by her guards, she finished descending the stairs.

‘It’s real? Just like Billy said.’

There were dozens of rooms.

They were clearly suspicious-looking rooms.

“You said you didn’t have time to open the rooms?”

“Y-yes. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s fine. Even without opening them, I can guess what they were made for.”

Melissa held a sneer at the corner of her mouth.

‘It’s clearly a place to confine and torture someone.’

She could tell from the prison-like feeling without bars and the faint smell of blood.

‘That Kwak Min-cheol bastard. To think he has the same hobby as me.’

Now knowing he was the same type as her, Kwak Min-cheol, who had seemed like a monkey, at least looked somewhat human.

‘But that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on him.’

To monopolize Eastland, she needed to catch Kwak Min-cheol’s weakness.

“Billy. Open the door. Starting from this room, in order.”

At Melissa’s command, Billy tried to open the door but turned his head.

“M-master. There’s no door handle. It seems to be a card-operated system.”

“Then just break it, you idiot.”

“R-right.”

“Is that bastard’s brain not working? Why is he suddenly acting like a fool?”

Billy’s unusually clueless behavior irritated Melissa.

Bang! Bang!

He tried punching and kicking, but the door wouldn’t open.

Billy turned his head again with a troubled expression.

“I-it seems to be made of special alloy.”

“So? Can’t you break that either?”

“Hey, Billy. Let me try.”

Unable to watch anymore, his colleague Jason stepped forward.

Crash! Crash! Craash!

When he kicked with all his strength, the door gradually became dented and finally…

Creak!

Despite being called special alloy, it was torn away.

“It seems you need over 1,200 strength to break it.”

“So Billy’s strength can’t even surpass that? Pathetic bastard.”

At Jason’s report, Melissa clicked her tongue.

“I-I’m sorry.”

Billy could only bow his head.

Crack! Creak!

After tearing off the door and looking inside the room, there was no one.

With no windows, it was truly a prison.

“At least they made it so they could relieve themselves.”

After briefly evaluating, Melissa gestured.

“Open all the other places too.”

“We will obey your command.”

The four guards each kicked down doors.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Crack!

It took some time, but tearing off the doors wasn’t difficult.

With combat power exceeding 1.5 million, it would be stupid if they couldn’t do it.

‘That Billy bastard.’

‘Was he always that weak?’

‘I thought he was decent with spears, but it was all just gear?’

His colleagues all looked down on Billy as they watched him struggle to open doors.

Melissa also shook her head with a pathetic expression.

‘I didn’t know Billy was so weak. I should replace him with someone else at this opportunity.’

She’d send him back to Westland and if she sucked up to Peter Fields, she could get a useful subordinate.

Bang! Crack!

“There’s nothing.”

“Nothing here either.”

The guards broke down doors and entered, but they were all empty.

“Keep looking. There should be someone inside.”

Melissa was certain.

If they made such a prison, there should be at least one person confined.

‘If I interrogate that person, I’ll know exactly what Kwak Min-cheol has been up to.’

Just as she was smiling at that plausible thought.

Billy, who had only shown disappointing results, brought good news.

“Found one! There’s a person in that room over there…!”

“Good job, Billy. Lower your head.”

Melissa, who patted his head like a dog, immediately approached the room Billy pointed to.

“Let’s see. I don’t know what kind of bastard is confined, but if I interrogate him…”

The moment she confirmed the person confined in the room.

Melissa’s steps stopped.

“Kw… Kwak Min-cheol?”

A person she had never expected was looking at Melissa from inside the prison.

With extremely innocent eyes.

“Byabya?”

“What?”

“Bubabu ba.”

“……”

Melissa felt like her brain had stopped for a moment.

It was her first time seeing a full-grown adult babbling.

“Kiyaang.”

“Th-this crazy bastard! Are you joking around right now?”

It was already absurd that Kwak Min-cheol was confined in prison, but now he was playing word games like this.

Beyond absurd, it was astounding, but an even more shocking event happened next.

Stab!

“Gurgle!”

At the strange gurgling sound, when Melissa turned her head.

Stab!

“Heok!”

Two giant men were falling while spurting blood.

By Billy’s dagger at that.

‘B-Billy betrayed us?’

But when she blinked, Billy’s appearance was nowhere to be seen.

‘Wh-who is that guy?’

His build had shrunk and his hair color had changed.

His outfit had also changed to something more luxurious than before.

‘That’s legendary armor!’

Since every Great Hero had one legendary weapon, she couldn’t fail to recognize it.

But what stood out most was the black mask emitting red light from its eyes.

‘What the hell happened? Why did that guy suddenly appear? Could it be that it wasn’t Billy from the beginning?’

Confusion came to her mind, but only briefly.

There was no time to think.

The black mask’s dagger was aiming for the remaining guard’s neck.

“Jason!”

Melissa urgently used her ability on the guard.

Ting!

The dagger flying toward Jason’s nape fell powerlessly to the floor as if it had hit a wall.

Her buff that reduced 99% of damage had protected the guard.

The black mask’s head turned toward this direction.

‘Huk.’

Feeling an eerie sensation, Melissa shouted from inside the prison.

“Come this way! Jason! Come guard the door!”

At Melissa’s shout, Jason grasped the situation and quickly stood in front of the door.

His massive build covered the door, leaving no gaps.

It looked like it was blocked by a wall.

Only then did Melissa breathe a sigh of relief.

‘Now there’s no way that bastard can get in.’

Jason was a special-grade shield among the four guards.

He was a hunter who had made a name for himself as an S-rank tank even before being recruited as a guard.

With him firmly blocking the prison door, she couldn’t help but feel relieved.

‘Moreover, with my trait applied, there’s absolutely no way he’ll break through.’

With a 99% damage reduction buff applied to a tanker, it was literally like a moving iron wall.

Though she was trapped in prison herself, she could catch her breath for now.

‘Where did such an assassin appear from…’

Two of her guards had been taken down in an instant.

Though it was a surprise attack, they were still S-rank hunters who wouldn’t lose to anyone.

Such guards had lost their lives so helplessly.

To mere daggers.

‘Did Billy also die at that guy’s hands?’

Seeing that Billy suddenly disappeared and the black mask appeared, it seemed the Billy she knew wasn’t the real one.

‘Does he have a trait that transforms appearance?’

If so, wouldn’t that be the ultimate trait for an assassin?

‘He’s not someone to take lightly. I need to come up with countermeasures immediately…’

Right now she was holding out using her wits, but this was only temporary.

The buff would wear off in 5 minutes.

Immediate countermeasures were urgent.

‘First, I need to figure out that assassin. Why he’s trying to kill me. Whose orders he’s following.’

Melissa, who was biting her nails while thinking, suddenly turned her head.

‘Wouldn’t Kwak Min-cheol know something?’

She looked at him with that thought, but.

“Babu.”

“……”

Kwak Min-cheol was still babbling beside her.

“Haah… There’s no answer.”

But it wasn’t like she had no countermeasures at all.

‘When the buff wears off, I’ll deliberately lure the assassin into the room. Then Jason and I will ambush him simultaneously.’

Melissa was the only mage among the Great Heroes and an S-rank hunter.

It would be troublesome to underestimate her just because she had guards.

‘One shot of Hellfire should be enough to kill him.’

Her Hellfire could easily melt even an S-rank assassin.

If only she could hit him.

It was a hastily devised plan, but it wasn’t bad.

‘Timing is crucial. Timing.’

For now, she could feel relieved.

There were still 4 minutes and 30 seconds left before the buff wore off.

‘No matter how strong he is, there’s no way he can break through when damage is reduced by 99%.’

As long as she had her trait, Jason was virtually invincible.

That’s what she was confident of.

Stab stab stab stab stab!

“Keoheok!”

An ominous sound was heard before her eyes.

“J-Jason?”

Thud!

Jason’s knees touched the ground and he collapsed forward.

The blood spreading across his chest quickly stained the floor.

It was natural for Melissa to be surprised.

‘H-how is Jason…?’

Jason, whom she had believed to be an impregnable fortress, had fallen.

With numerous stab wounds across his chest.

‘He was definitely in a buffed state though?’

“You mean the buff that blocks 99% of damage?”

Startled, Melissa looked up.

The black-masked man was answering as if he had read her thoughts.

“Blocking 99% doesn’t make you invincible. There’s still 1% left, right?”

‘Th-then with just that 1% damage, Jason was…?’

“Ding dong dang. Correct.”

He overpowered an S-rank tanker with just 1% damage?

‘Th-that’s impossible. Even Woo Seong-jae would find that difficult…’

“It is impossible. Can’t you see?”

Melissa stopped thinking with a hardened expression.

The opponent was responding according to her thoughts.

He must be reading her thoughts.

“Don’t try so hard to empty your head. I can hear it all anyway. You haven’t even trained to empty your mind in the first place, have you?”

“Y-you bastard…”

Melissa raised the staff in her hand.

‘Hellfire!’

A pit of fire generated from the tip of her staff flew toward the black mask.

Whoosh!

But the fireball regrettably only cut through empty air.

“I told you I can read it.”

“…!”

At the voice heard right by her ear, Melissa almost screamed.

‘Wh-when did he…!’

Seeing that he had gotten behind her in an instant, he must have used Shadow Step.

“Don’t move. You might get your throat cut if you’re not careful.”

“……”

A red-glowing dagger was pressed close to her neck.

The moment she showed her back to an assassin, the game was over.

It was checkmate.

‘It’s over. I can’t survive.’

Resistance would be useless.

The dagger would enter her throat faster than she could cast magic.

‘Am I going to die like this…’

She thought of various methods, but there was no answer.

Moreover, if the opponent could read thoughts, no clever moves would work.

All moves would be read.

Therefore, Melissa gave up.

She decided to cleanly abandon life.

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of killing you.”

‘No intention of killing?’

Melissa thought for a moment.

If he wasn’t going to kill her, what was he planning to do?

Was he planning to capture her as a hostage and confine her here?

Was he planning to make deals with other Great Heroes?

All sorts of thoughts came to mind in that brief moment, but one thing was certain.

‘He won’t leave me alone nicely.’

Even if he used her for deals, he wouldn’t leave someone with excellent beauty like herself alone.

He would surely defile and corrupt her to break her mentality.

‘Rather than be violated by such a bastard…’

Just as Melissa was about to bite her tongue and commit suicide.

Thwack!

Choi Seong-min struck the back of her head and knocked her unconscious.

“What is this woman thinking?”

He had almost let her commit suicide.

“I just want to look at memories.”

Of course, he wouldn’t just look at memories.

“Wait a moment, Kwak Min-cheol. After looking at memories, I’ll make you a friend.”

“Bya.”

Kwak Min-cheol answered with a bright smile.