World's Strongest Survivor-Chapter 95

8th Quad. Glorious or Filthy.

***

—Tuk, tuk.

"R-Run!"

The stench of burning blood clung to the glowing sword, spreading in a nauseating wave just as six players scattered in all directions.

But three of them didn’t make it more than a few steps before their bodies were split apart and collapsed to the ground.

The knight who had shredded the three players in an instant raised the visor of his helmet.

"Tch. So they had teleport scrolls."

It seemed the others had ripped their scrolls after seeing their teammates torn to pieces.

As he stared regretfully at the space where the enemy had vanished, one of his companions cautiously spoke up behind him.

"Sir Skers, I think it’s about time we head back."

"Already?"

"The epic monster has unlocked its sixth support island."

Survivors:

390/800

.

.

.

Skers –> Kiriya (Killed with Aura Sword.)

After glancing at the survivor list, he spoke with a tinge of regret.

"If we can trim another forty, we might get a proper brawl going."

—Skers. You checked the map, right? Get back here.

As if he’d been listening in, Verus issued an order over the team voice chat with eerie timing.

At that moment, a flash lit up in the distance, sunlight reflecting off polished armor.

Seeing this, Skers twisted his lips and replied via team voice,

—I’m in the middle of a fight. I’ll wrap this up and head back.

His two companions looked displeased, but Skers simply raised a finger to his lips.

"Let’s go. Who knows what else might pop up once we clear that out."

As Skers slung his sword over his shoulder and trudged ahead, the two reluctantly followed, dark expressions on their faces.

***

"So that bastard Skers is running wild all over the map, huh?"

At limin’s comment, Seowoon nodded.

"Looks like he split his team to cover more ground."

"Would be great if we could catch him and cut him down right now."

Dumph clenched the hand holding his shield tightly, but Juriel shook her head.

"Skers and the Verus brothers aren’t just regular knights. It’s best to assume their skill level is on par with Sword Transcendents."

At the mention of "Sword Transcendent," Dump, who had been speaking boldly, hesitated and backed off a bit.

Seeing that, Seowoon tilted his head.

"Is ’Transcendent’ supposed to be even stronger than ’Emperor’?"

Since Seowoon didn’t know much about the knight rankings in their world, Juriel explained.

"Normally, once someone can dominate the battlefield with a single sword, even in light armor, they’re called a Sword Emperor. They’re full-fledged knights who can channel aura into their weapons. And then..."

She paused for a moment to catch her breath, and Dump picked up where she left off.

"Sword Transcendent means someone who’s surpassed the pinnacle of human capability. Usually they’re the highest-ranking knights—commander-level—treated with the utmost respect. And then above that, there’s the Sword Unique."

Seowoon, quietly listening, thought it all sounded extremely exaggerated.

He didn’t say it out loud, but his curiosity about the "Unique" tier grew.

"So what’s a Sword Unique?"

"Well, from what I’ve heard, they show up once in a blue moon, knights with peerless skill in their era. I’ve never seen one myself. There were rumors like someone beat a dragon one-on-one, but... who knows. Probably just tall tales made up by people who like to talk big."

"Really?"

Even Juriel nodded, backing up Dump’s words.

"It’s like an 11th-circle mage—an idealized concept. Something to aspire to, but in truth, no one’s ever seen it. Just a romanticized myth."

"So in the end, if those two are Sword Transcendents, they’re way stronger than Emperors, right?"

"Most likely. It’s not an official classification yet, but word in the Empire is that if those two team up, even the Royal Knight Commander would have a tough time."

Coming from a noblewoman of considerable influence, Seowoon figured it wasn’t just idle gossip and nodded.

And the time to confirm that power came sooner than expected.

—Enemy!—

At Hamit’s warning, Seowoon whipped his head around.

The moment he saw the red-armored knight tearing across the ground like he was ripping it up, he instantly knew who it was.

Wearing armor far too compact for someone abandoning his allies and charging ahead so confidently—there were only two like him left in this game.

"Take your positions!"

With a shout, Seowoon charged to intercept the knight.

He couldn’t afford to let the bastard get close to his teammates.

The two closed the distance rapidly, crashing into each other.

—KANG!

A metallic clang rang in his ears as Seowoon was knocked back hard, tumbling across the ground.

He scrambled upright, but his face twisted as he realized how far he’d been pushed.

Fighting brute-force knights was still a struggle in terms of raw power.

The knight who had blown Seowoon away also frowned.

Looking down at his halted feet, the knight finally gave Seowoon a proper look.

"Crown..."

He remembered catching a glimpse of him back in the waiting room amid the noise.

Not that the name "Crown" made him back off—it just piqued his curiosity a bit.

To him, rank was something that naturally rose the more you played the game. Just because someone had a higher rank now didn’t mean they were stronger.

But having met one face-to-face, he had to admit the Crown title wasn’t just for show.

He’d meant to cleave him in half in a single strike—but the guy had blocked it barehanded, with nothing but a scrap of cloth over his fists.

The knight scowled and charged again.

Seowoon charged to meet him head-on.

Just as the knight’s sword left afterimages in an attempt to slice Seowoon clean in two, Seowoon’s form split into three right in front of him.

—Swiish!

The flaming sword slashed through all three images and soared upward.

—KANG!

This time, Seowoon’s strike made the knight stagger.

He had leapt high, flipped midair, and driven his blood-breaking strike down on the crown of the knight’s head—only to drop back to the ground as the knight reeled away.

"He tanked a blow that used Heavenly Pound?"

He had expected at least to make the guy drop to his knees, but the knight had only staggered backward.

Meanwhile, the mages began launching their spells, and limin and Jinryung flanked the knight on both sides to apply pressure—prompting the knight’s allies to start panicking.

—We have to retreat! Now!

—We’ll be too late at this rate!

Until now, their hunts ended the moment they burst into enemy lines and started mowing them down before they could even form up.

But now that they were pinned down even briefly, the tide quickly turned, and the difference in numbers became obvious.

—Fwoosh! FLAARE!

Spreading its wings, the Flame Bird swooped down—only to be cleaved in half by the knight, who then caught the Flame Burst with his bare palm. Shaking off his hands nonchalantly, the knight swiftly began retreating.

Seowoon was the one caught off guard when the knight, who had looked so riled up just moments ago, began falling back without hesitation.

"He’s really leaving?"

She couldn’t believe it. The guy had looked like he was in it to the death, but now he was retreating this easily?

"Don’t let him go! We have to finish this here!"

One of him was already trouble enough—they couldn’t let two of his caliber regroup and act together.

As Seowoon persistently gave chase, the eight remaining squad members unleashed a full-on assault on the knight, who had taken on an entire squad by himself for the sake of his two teammates.

—CRACK!

The ground beneath him split, flames surged, and a hammer of wind came crashing down.

limin and Jinryung’s swords flashed in, followed by continuous attacks from Seowoon and Lilingwi.

—CLANG-CLANG!

But after a faint green glow began to spread over the knight’s body, their attacks started slipping off as if his whole body had been greased.

"It’s Attack Slip! It’s not a long-cast skill!"

Dumph’s booming voice rang out in warning.

"No one can handle this kind of focus fire! Press in!"

Four melee fighters surrounded the knight, hammering him with close-range attacks, while spells were launched whenever there was a brief gap in the melee. Even the mightiest of knights couldn’t endure this for long.

—Fall back!

Then, as if he were finally ready, Kichan lowered his staff and gave the order.

—CRACK-BOOM!

Just as the melee fighters pulled back, a lightning bolt came crashing down from a clear sky.

"Gahhh!"

Even a top-tier knight couldn’t shrug off a clean hit from Call Lightning.

Just then, as the knight reached into subspace for something, Seowoon quickly lashed out with her Bloodbone Spear.

—CRUNCH!

The knight twisted his body at the last second, letting the spear meant for his heart pierce his side instead—only for his entire form to vanish in an instant.

Seowoon, who had been preparing to follow up, stood stunned, staring at the space where he had disappeared.

"Random Teleport Scroll."

Kichan’s weary voice echoed a moment too late.

"Damn. We really should’ve finished him here."

Dumph patted Seowoon’s shoulder.

Finally snapping out of it, Seowoon nodded.

She looked around, but the knight’s two teammates were already long gone.

"In hindsight, maybe we should’ve focused on killing the shield and mage."

At limin’s frustrated comment, Seowoon shook her head.

"If we’d split our forces that way, we might not have been able to overwhelm him. We could’ve been the ones getting countered."

Brushing off the lingering regret, Seowoon quickly checked on her team and started regrouping.

***

Meanwhile...

"Huff... huff..."

Clutching his side, the knight reappeared, and verus ran to support him immediately.

"Skers!"

One of the mages, trained in healing, rushed in and began casting heals on him.

"Hah... I’m fine. I just teleported into a nest of elites by bad luck. Took a while to kill them all."

"You idiot! You should’ve called for backup! What’s the point of team voice chat?"

"A knight has his pride. I was on an assassination mission. Would’ve looked pathetic if I started screaming for help."

After receiving healing and even tearing open a recovery scroll from verus, Skers finally recovered and shot to his feet.

"Phew. Thought I was done for. Still, glad to see you guys made it back safely."

He smiled brightly at the two teammates who had gone out with him.

"You said they were strong. What, did you run into a Sword Emperor?"

Verus examined the gaping tear in Skers’ armor around his side as he spoke.

"Oh, this? That guy I forced to use the teleport scroll did it. I underestimated him—but turns out, there’s a reason he’s a Crown. Looks like a martial-arts type, not someone you can take lightly. Haven’t seen someone immune to aura attacks in a while."

At that, verus l recalled the face of a young man he’d seen in the waiting room.

—CLANG!

A sudden smack echoed like a can getting kicked as pain exploded in the back of Skers’ head.

"What the hell was that for?!"

Skers snarled, only to be met with another clang as verus smashed his helmet into his brother’s helmet with dead-serious eyes.

"If this were a real battlefield, you’d be getting court-martialed, no matter your rank."

Seeing his brother suddenly shift into this serious demeanor, Skers awkwardly pursed his lips.

"Yeah, yeah. I get it. Just chill out—it’s only a game."

"No, I’m not so sure anymore. You’re the type to screw up in real life too. That’s what worries me."

"Don’t start that crap again. So what now? How long are you planning to just sit here guarding the Activation Stone?"

Dodging the rebuke, Skers tried to change the subject, and verus glanced over at the Activation Stone.

"Well... originally I figured we’d be down to under a hundred survivors by now, but things are going sideways. There’s no need to activate it just yet, so maybe we shift straight into combat mode. That epic monster will reach the central island in a few days anyway. Better to eliminate variables before that."

"And if we mess up?"

"Game clear? Not likely at this point. Not unless someone takes down that epic monster... Ah!"

"What is it?"

Skers was intrigued—he recognized that look. It usually meant verus had just come up with something insane.

"We might be able to use the epic monster."

"What do you mean?"

"So, here’s the idea..."

***

Two days later.

"They’ve taken out over 50 people already."

"They’re clearly serious now."

"If they were going to do this, they should’ve started earlier."

As limin and Dump chatted, Seowoon stared at the updated survivor list, her expression tight.

Survivors:

299/800

...

...

Verus → Do Minchul (Killed with swordsmanship).

"They’ve completely shifted to combat mode. What changed?"

"Maybe they’re trying to secure the survival zone before that crazy monkey barges in and messes things up."

Even while listening to his teammates talk, a sense of unease began to creep up in one corner of Seowoon’s mind.

’That guy making it back alive and suddenly switching tactics—it’s bothering me.’

—Master, in times like this, the best thing to do is bail.—

’The crazy monkey outside is even more dangerous than those twin devils.’

With a mad monkey rampaging outside, and devilish twins running wild inside, it was like being caught between a rock and a hard place.

’If there are two Sword Transcendents, then we definitely won’t get a repeat of last time.’

—That one hasn’t reached that level yet. He’s just an Emperor.—

’Even one’s a nightmare—two is a disaster either way.’

Just as he was having a rare back-and-forth with Hamit, a notification popped up.

[Ding! The clone of the Epic Monster "Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal" has removed all restrictions from the auxiliary islands. Restrictions on the main island are beginning to lift. The game is entering its final phase.]

"So it’s finally happening."

"How about we escape to one of the auxiliary islands right now?"

At Limin’s suggestion, Seowoon pulled up the map and shook his head.

"Figured as much."

Limin opened the map too and barely held back a curse.

A strange magnetic field was rapidly consuming all the auxiliary islands.

"They’re trying to trap us in here with that crazy monkey!"

"Shouldn’t we form some alliances? That might be our only shot now."

"With those twins running wild, every squad is probably just hiding out. We don’t have time."

Right then, another notification rang out.

[Ding! Skers’ squad is activating the Propaganda Stone on the central island. If not stopped within 30 minutes, a powerful buff will be granted to their squad.]

The deadly message made Seowoon’s eyes turn grim.

"Did I hear that right?"

Jinryung nodded.

"So just activating the Propaganda Stone grants a buff."

"And they’re broadcasting that fact to everyone?"

Seowoon narrowed his eyes, his expression hardening.

"They want a bloodbath. This is outright provocation. Damn devs and their twisted sense of humor."

He had never imagined they’d throw in something like this at the final stage.

Even regular buff monsters gave out strong buffs—so if they were stressing the word powerful, this one definitely wasn’t going to be normal.

"You going?"

At Lilingwei’s question, Seowoon nodded.

"Have to. If we don’t... there’s no other way."

If the twins’ squad got that buff on top of everything else, there’d be no stopping them.

As they rushed toward the central island where the Propaganda Stone was located, they encountered other squads along the way.

At first, the players eyed each other warily, but it didn’t take long for silent alliances to form.

With a shared objective, teaming up happened naturally.

’But why activate the Propaganda Stone now?’

The question lingered, but Seowoon kept running toward the center.

In about twenty minutes, over a hundred players had gathered around the Propaganda Stone.

"That’s a big turnout."

Looking at the enemies surrounding them, Skers spoke nonchalantly and took his hand off the stone.

[Ding! Activation of the Propaganda Stone on the central island has been interrupted.]

As he let go, players frowned, trying to make sense of the enemy’s intent.

"What are you all staring at? You came all this way—come on, bring it!"

Drawing his sword and shouting boldly, Skers provoked the others. After a brief moment of hesitation, the players charged all at once.

They looked like a swarm of mad dogs caught in an AOE taunt.

"Something’s off. Let’s pull back a bit—"

—So this is where you’ve all gathered!

At the booming voice that echoed like thunder, the charging players froze and looked up.

With a grandeur that felt like it came with its own theme music, the dazzling form of the Great Sage, Heaven’s Equal, floated above them, radiating confidence.

"Shit! Fall back!"

Just as they tried to retreat, Skers and Verus slammed down crystals they’d pulled from subspace.

—KRAK-KRZZZZZZZT!

With an odd sound, a powerful dome-shaped barrier enclosed the area, trapping everyone inside.

"W-What the...?"

Some players quickly escaped with teleport scrolls, but the majority—those without scrolls—stared in disbelief at the twin-led squad.

"Well then, good luck with all that."

With those final words, the twins and their squad vanished in a flash of scrolls.

—BOOM! Those sons of bitches!

Seowoon slammed his fist against the barrier from the outside.

All of his teammates had been trapped inside—only Seowoon, who had moved quickly, was left outside. The others stood within the dome, facing him.

—Priest. This is it for us.

—Hyung, it’s survival mode now. We’re leaving the rest to you.

—Just find a good spot and hang in there.

—Seowoon hyung! Don’t do anything reckless!

Smiling calmly, his teammates turned and charged toward the rampaging Great Sage, who was slaughtering players like flies.

There wasn’t even time for Seowoon to watch them die. He turned and ran, grinding his teeth.

A tactic he would’ve used himself had now been used against him—and it left a bitter taste.

It was only now that he truly realized how maddening it was to be on the receiving end of a plan that, when he used it, had felt so clever.

’Those bastards... They’re that strong and still stoop to this dirty crap?’

As he ran under the setting sun, cloaked in stealth, he cursed them nonstop in his head.

’Always yapping about honor, and now this? Fine. You want crazy? Let’s get crazy. You messed with the wrong guy.’

If it came to insane plays, Seowoon was second to none.

With nearly 200 players left in this 8-person game, and him running solo, the odds were abysmal—but with nothing to lose, it didn’t matter what he tried.

’I’ll show them what a real crazy play looks like.’

The idea of clearing the game or aiming for a high rank vanished entirely from Seowoon’s mind in that moment.

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