Acquired the Scam Rune in the Academy

Zone 1 – Abandoned Laboratory (2)

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[You have won the duel! With the mysterious power of the Rune Hunter, you can copy one of your opponent’s runes. Please select a rune to copy.]

[1. Ludenark Spell 2. Dark Covenant 3. Black Magic 4. Mutation Creation 5. Magic Control (not selectable)… …]

[You have selected the ‘Ludenark Spell’ rune. As it’s a normal rune of level 18, its level will decrease and be registered as level 9.]

[You gain 3 Magic and 1 Recovery from the rune’s properties.]

<Rune Information>

◎Name: Ludenark Spell

◎Grade: Normal

◎Engraved Location: Back of the hand (duplicate)

◎Special Effects:

*Usage Condition: Only those who possess the ‘Dark Covenant’ rune can use it.

1) Borrow the power of demons to cast spells. Can produce 30% higher power than regular spells, and enables double casting. However, the cost varies depending on the type of magic.

◎Derived Skills: –

–

◎Detailed Information: –

: A spell method developed by the Ludenark School, a group that imitates evil. The way of arranging and manifesting magical power is very unique, so it cannot be easily learned without long-term training. Especially because of the forbidden method of borrowing power by offering a price to demons, it produces much more powerful effects than ordinary spells.

The rune taken from the enemy magician was [Ludenark Spell].

Although there were 4 runes to choose from, I didn’t place much importance on the rune selection in the first place.

I would be able to obtain all the runes anyway as we continue to clear the dungeon, and even if I obtained them, they didn’t seem like runes that would greatly help my current combat power.

What’s important is information.

It was about obtaining even a bit of information about the Ludenark School.

‘…The power of demons?’

And the unfamiliar word written in the <Rune Information>.

Demon.

[Ludenark Spell] was described as borrowing the power of demons, and it was stated that it could only be used with a special rune called [Dark Covenant].

It seems they were truly a group close to the source of evil, as they were called a group imitating evil.

I clicked my tongue and turned my gaze.

The fierce first battle at the dungeon entrance.

Our clan achieved a clean victory without a single casualty.

The Chimeras, which had boasted overwhelming numbers, were all reduced to corpses scattered around, and the magician we had taken prisoner in advance was also captured in a bloodied state.

‘…Looks like they bit a bit too hard.’

The kneeling magician was in a terrible state.

Especially around the waist area, which was quite red, it seems Tyrbon didn’t control his biting force.

“Kill me.”

The magician suddenly shivered and said to me.

He was begging for his life just a moment ago, and now he’s asking to be killed.

I snorted and began the interrogation.

“Name?”

“I have no name to give to an inferior human like you.”

We’re both humans, what’s with that.

Judging by his expression, it seems he has no intention of revealing any information… But I didn’t have high expectations to begin with.

“Age?”

“Don’t know.”

“Affiliation?”

“Don’t know.”

“It’s the Ludenark School, right?”

“……!!”

The magician’s face showed surprise at the direct mention.

At that moment, I inwardly rejoiced.

‘Bingo.’

A clue had emerged.

The fact that the enemies don’t know we’ve come to this dungeon yet.

When the magician first used his ultimate skill against me, I thought the opposite, but it seems they only shared information about me and don’t know much about the current situation.

And that could mean…

The kidnapping of Choi Arin might not have been intentional.

The thing I was most worried about when coming to the dungeon was her condition, but maybe nothing serious had happened to her yet.

I briefly turned my gaze to Choi Yoo-min, who had tears in her eyes, giving her a reassuring look, and continued the interrogation.

“Gender?”

“…What?”

“Class… Well, from fighting you, it seems you’re a magician.”

“…What are you trying to do?”

“You’re not going to tell me where your superiors are, right? And of course, you have no intention of revealing the location of the kidnapped Holders.”

“Human!! Are you trying to play games with me… Argh?!”

Thwack-!

With that sound, I struck the guy’s head once.

Why is this bastard making a fuss even without being interrogated?

I turned my head and moved my steps.

The clan members who were still armed and focused on me.

They were looking at me with puzzled faces.

“I think we’ve had enough rest time. We’ll be departing soon, so everyone get ready.”

“W-wait a moment, Master.”

Kim A-reum, the leader of Team 4, called out to me at the sudden departure order.

She looked back and forth between the magician and me, asking as if something was strange.

“Are you going like this? Don’t we have more to do?”

“This much interrogation is enough.”

“…This? No, no. Even if that’s the case, how are you going to deal with that magician?”

[Power Meteor] and a darkness attribute ultimate skill.

Just from the attacks he unleashed, one could tell his level.

The Ludenark magician in front of us was at least an A-grade Holder or higher.

Obviously, we can’t just let him go like this, and continuing to keep him as a prisoner would be burdensome for the clan.

Kim A-reum was asking about how to deal with him.

…At the very least, shouldn’t we kill him here?

That was the implicit meaning.

Some other clan members seemed to have similar doubts, so I gave them a simple answer.

“We’ll keep him as a prisoner.”

“Master!”

“Of course, we won’t be keeping them with us.”

“…What?”

Kim A-reum’s excited expression changes again.

Keeping them as prisoners but not with us?

For a moment, she didn’t quite understand what that meant.

I turned my head to look towards the dungeon entrance.

Tap, tap, tap.

Swoosh-!

There…

Fully armed Holders…

Were entering in groups, one by one.

Unlike <Wolfenser>, this dungeon has no special entry conditions.

Naturally, other Holders besides us can enter too.

And their identities were easily recognizable to me and my clan members as famous individuals.

“Ah…!”

“Holders from the Association…!!”

“…Judgement of Fire?”

“There are Royal Clan members over there too!”

Clan members are startled seeing them.

<Judgment of Fire>, <Royal>, <Dragon Sword>.

Starting with the three major clans we have friendly agreements with, the most famous domestic clans.

Even at the very front was the Holders Association that gave us this request.

Cooperation was planned, but…

They arrived much earlier, with much more force than expected.

I added an explanation to the clan members.

“From now on, the operation will continue as a joint effort with the Association and each clan. The Holders Association will take full responsibility for escorting the prisoners. Also, our clan, possessing the compass, will be the lead scout, but other clans will explore directions the compass doesn’t point to.”

The incident of Holders being kidnapped in succession.

Even though it was entrusted to our clan in the form of a request, given the unprecedented nature of the incident, other clans couldn’t just sit idle.

Most major domestic clans accepted <Evil Hunter>’s request for cooperation and sent additional troops.

Their main role is to help our clan explore the dungeon comprehensively.

It was about catching members of the Ludenark School that we might miss while mainly searching for the kidnappers, or catching related information.

“The Holders Association will be stationed at the entrance inside the dungeon and the outside entrance to assist our clan. The most important thing for us is time. We need to find and protect the kidnap victims as quickly as possible. Our collaborators will help with everything else.”

In other words, we ended the interrogation of the magician too quickly.

It wasn’t because there wasn’t enough need for interrogation.

It was because there wasn’t enough time.

Interrogating a prisoner and making them spill information takes a very long time and effort, and our clan didn’t have the time to focus on that right now.

We need to find the kidnapped Holders immediately and crush Ludenark’s plans to do something with them.

That was the division of roles.

“And for more efficient exploration, we’ve secured another collaborator from outside. This person will act as a temporary member of our clan during this incident and will help with exploration and strategy.”

“…Another collaborator?”

This time, Yoo Eun-seol, the clan’s vice master, tilted her head.

This was the first time I was mentioning this to the clan members.

Even my master hadn’t heard about this.

“Yes, let me introduce. The Holder who knows the most about the Ludenark School among current domestic Holders, Holder Park Ji-hwan.”

One Holder walking from far away…

As soon as I finished speaking, he instantly arrived beside us.

With agility and speed almost like using an assault-type rune.

Taking advantage of the clan members’ surprise, I immediately added an explanation.

“He’s known as Ryu Ji-hyuk in the country. He’s one of only five S-grade Holders in the country.”

“……!!”

“Ho-Holder Ryu Ji-hyuk?!”

“No way, how…”

An unexpected name appears.

Ryu Ji-hyuk.

One of only five S-class Holders in the country, also known as the veiled Holder due to his elusive nature.

He’s a Holder who receives quite a lot of respect in the warrior class due to his uniquely balanced abilities.

‘…It must be the first time he’s revealing his real name.’

However, his true identity is Park Ji-hwan.

The name Ryu Ji-hyuk was a new identity created by changing his face with a special ability.

He was the first to warn me about the dangers of the Ludenark School, and besides me, he knows the most about Ludenark.

I had been thinking about collaborating with him since this incident broke out.

There was talk of sharing related information when we last made contact, and above all, I thought things would be much easier if an S-grade Holder joined to help.

‘…I didn’t think he’d really come though.’

I didn’t expect him to come so willingly, even revealing his real name.

According to him, since we’ve definitely caught Ludenark’s tail, there’s no need to hide his name anymore.

Anyway, for us, it’s the appearance of a very reassuring reinforcement.

The clan members who learned of his identity couldn’t close their surprised mouths.

And, the clan member who was most surprised by Park Ji-hwan’s appearance was someone else.

At the front of where the temporary hunting team 5 was stationed.

Where my best friend and team leader Park Jin-woo was.

“…Dad?”

It was a moment of unexpected father-son reunion.

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