"This way, come this way!"

"Ugh..."

Knight Commander Trevor entered the park in Port Lane while supporting the residents. His expression wasn’t so good.

'Someone’s on our tail.’

Three of them were opponents Trevor could catch with his skills. However, he couldn’t even determine the level of the last one. He even had people with him whom he had to protect

‘It's not good.’

It was when he passed through the center of the park with worry shown on his face that he heard a voice.

"Stop."

Unlike the residents who ran to the point of exhaustion, the fiends walked leisurely. In an instant, the four fiends surrounded them and grinned.

"There's actually a decent knight even in this country town. It seems he’s stronger than the three of you?”

"I can win if we fight."

"Well, compared to a Squadron member like me, you guys are pretty much all small fries." The fiend nodded and spoke again, “The damage is getting bigger and bigger. The leader is really upset. You guys could lose your heads.”

"Leave it to us. We'll take care of these guys."

"We definitely won’t let you down."

The three fiends didn’t want to lose their heads, so they burned fiercely with determination. Trevor's sword pointed at them one after another.

‘I’d be slightly superior against one, but against two... I can't guarantee victory.’

There was also no way that the last one would just stand and watch when his comrades were being beaten up. Did such thoughts show on Trevor’s face? The Pride Squadron member waved his hand.

"Ahh, don't worry. I won't cut in. This is just kind of like a game to me.”

“…”

Trevor frowned, but he had no choice. Like it or not, he had to wield his sword to protect the residents in the back.

"I'll go first."

One of the fiends stepped forward pompously. If he gained some points with a Squadron member, he might even get extra points during the Squadron promotion exam in the future.

‘Is he coming at me alone?’

Trevor's eyes showed a little bit of hope. At the same time, a little bit of anger rose in him. He was thankful that they were looking down on him to this extent, but he felt as if his pride as a knight was being trampled on.

"Clump the air together like this…”

As the fiend approached Trevor, he clumped the air together with his hands, like a child preparing for a snowball fight. Then he got into position. His movements were as polished as a pitcher in the major leagues, there were no unnecessary movements.

"Hmm?" But just before throwing the airball, he noticed something and straightened up.

"What are you doing?"

When the Pride Squadron member asked with a slightly annoyed look, the fiend pointed to the front.

"Um... There's a person over there...”

The Squadron member looked at the place where the fiend was pointing with his eyebrows furrowed.

‘A person?’

There was a man sitting on a bench in the park. When he sprinkled crumbs with his right hand, seagulls gathered and swarmed his feet.

He asked, "Who’s that?"

"W-We don't really...”

"We didn't detect any presence. He doesn’t seem to be an ordinary person."

"Why haven't you noticed so far?"

It was annoying. It bothered him. He couldn’t stop looking. The biggest problem was that he hadn't even noticed the man’s existence until the other fiend had pointed at the man.

‘Player.’

There was zero chance that the man was an ordinary person. In that case, the man was an excellent Player capable of deceiving him.

"Huh? Dread-nim. That face... I know that face."

One of the fiends blankly standing next to the fiend said with round eyes, "You? How?"

"He's a famous guy. Isn't that Seo Jun-Ho?"

"Ah!"

"That's right. That’s Seo Jun-Ho."

The other fiends nodded in response.

Dread tilted his head and asked back, "Seo Jun-Ho?"

"You know, Specter’s proxy."

"Oh?"

With that short explanation, he grasped Seo Jun-Ho's identity and turned his head. His eyes toward Seo Jun-Ho were full of novelty and curiosity.

"But why is that guy moving together with the archmage and the Gray Envoy?”

"T-That, I don't know...”

"Well, it's rather good."

Dread straightened his shoulders. He was an elemental skill user and a member of the Pride Squadron at that.

‘If it’s Specter’s proxy, he should be valuable enough for me to send a report after catching him.’

Of course, it didn’t seem easy. Although Seo Jun-Ho was a rookie who had debuted only two years ago, he was strong enough to deceive Dread’s senses.

'I'll go all out from the start.’

Dread’s motto was to never lower his guard. He did his best even against a weak enemy.

"Um, Dread-nim, then my fight is...”

"Get lost. I've lost interest."

The fiend preparing for a battle with Trevor stepped back with an awkward look.

“…”

Trevor was similarly bitter. Looking back, he shook his head.

‘As expected, it's my first time seeing this face.’

Too many outsiders had entered the city in one day. However, the man Trevor was looking at now was by far the most memorable figure.

Squawk, squawk.

Squawk, squawk.

The mysterious man, leading an army of seagulls, came over and stood next to Trevor. It was strange, but Trevor didn’t feel hostile toward the man even though he was a stranger.

'I don't understand myself. What if he was with these guys...’

Trevor thought about why he allowed the man to come next to him so easily, but he couldn’t find an answer.

"Withdraw."

"What?"

Trevor’s eyebrows twitched. He was the sharpest sword of this town as the Knight Commander and had sworn allegiance to Lord Harveson. It was the height of rudeness to ask someone of his caliber to step down.

"No matter how strong you are, that is an insult to me...”

"The place that needs you is back there, not here."

"Back there?"

When he looked back without realizing it, Trevor flinched. It was only then that the pale-faced residents entered his eyes.

"Did you perhaps think that you must fight with your sword if you are a knight?”

"Not at all..." Putting away his sword, Trevor lowered his head briefly. “I have felt my own shortcomings. I will try to protect the residents."

"It's good that you understand."

Trevor stood in front of the residents like a castle wall. No matter how many fiends there were, they would have to give up an arm and a leg if they wanted to ignore him and kill the residents.

"Seo Jun-Ho." Dread spoke, “If you're Specter’s proxy, then you should know where Specter is. If you tell me, I’ll let you live."

"Of course, I know."

“…!”

At Seo Jun-Ho's words, the fiends’ eyes shone. If they could extract information from him, they could receive merit from the Fiend Association and obtain an elixir.

"Don’t get ahead of yourself, I didn't say I'd tell you."

"You'll say it even if you don't want to."

Magic came out of Dread's body. At the same time, the dark clouds over Port Lane began to rumble.

'Rain...'

When Seo Jun-Ho stared blankly at the sky, one corner of Dread's mouth curled up.

"Don't blame me. Even eagles do their best to catch an insect.”

"Did you make the rain?"

"Yes, you can be surprised to your heart's content. It's probably the first time you've ever seen an elemental skill of this magnitude."

When Dread lightly extended his hand…

Shwaaaaa!

Bigger raindrops poured down like torrents. To exaggerate a little, an average person would get bruised if they got hit by these raindrops.

"Everyone exposed to this rain is the target of my attack."

"Is this the power of a Squadron member...”

"No, I've seen seven Squadron members so far, but... I've never seen anyone with a skill like this before.”

"It seems that someone can’t just stop this with an umbrella.”

It was an overwhelming skill that mesmerized even the other fiends. It clearly revealed why people with elemental skills were revered like gods by some people.

‘The control is precise, too.’

Dark clouds rained everywhere except in some parts. Those parts probably had fiends in them. In fact, the fiends in front of Seo Jun-Ho didn’t even get wet.

"It's an amazing ability," praised Seo Jun-Ho.

But it meant it was all the more unfortunate. Seo Jun-Ho felt sorry whenever he saw an outstanding fiend, and so, he became even angrier.

‘If the weak Players who died had this skill...’

Those party members who had entered the Gate with him, and the Players who couldn't overcome their limitations because their skills were insignificant—if they had such power, how many achievements could they have done?

"How much better... How much better could the world have become?”

"A better world?" Dread smirked. "This is why Players disgust me. You and I just have different views. This is a better world for me."

“…”

"A simple and ideal world where power dictates everything, where I can kill anyone at will."

As expected, words would never get through to fiends. After initially showing regret, emotions quickly disappeared from Seo Jun-Ho's eyes. What took its place was a cold look that intimidated anyone looking at it.

Dread gulped without realizing it.

'It's a familiar look.’

He had seen those eyes from the many powerful figures of the Fiend Association. Those were the eyes of those who didn’t care about human life and treated humans like insects. Seo Jun-Ho’s looked exactly like theirs.

"Are you... Are you really a Player who debuted just two years ago?"

“…”

The voices of those who had given up their humanity sounded the same as those of beasts. Seo Jun-Ho didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand.

'It's dangerous.'

Despite the light movement, Dread felt an overwhelming sense of crisis as his eyes turned red in response. This red-eye phenomenon occurred whenever a fiend used demonic energy. At the same time, the nature of the falling raindrops changed.

"Even normal water droplets can pierce rocks." Moreover, raindrops strengthened by a fiend’s demonic energy had the strength to pierce even steel. "Die with tens of thousands of holes in your body."

With Dread's vicious curse, the intensified raindrops fell with a terrible sound.

'It smells like dirt.'

Seo Jun-Ho slightly raised his gaze. The smell of rain in Port Lane was washing away the peculiar fishy smell of the port city.

‘It's not bad.’

Hwaaaak!

Seo Jun-Ho lowered the hand he had raised. At that moment, the world stopped.

“…!”

“…?!”

With eyes wide open, the fiend looked around in an effort to grasp the situation.

‘No, the world hasn't stopped.’

Dread shook his head. It was not time, space, or their perception that had stopped. The raindrops that seemed like they wanted to swallow the world, stopped.

'But... how?’

Dread knew how to make the rain pour, but he had no idea how to stop it.

"I don’t know how to make it rain, but I know how to stop it." When Seo Jun-Ho spoke, a white breath emerged into the world.

Shiver.

The fiends began to shiver.

‘It's cold...’

‘It's cold all of a sudden. The temperature?’

It was cold. It was so cold that the coldness pierced through their bones. Dread slowly raised his head. When his gaze turned to the dark clouds, he discovered the identity of the skill.

'The dark clouds... froze?’

The raindrops that floated in that space and the dark clouds that poured them out were frozen. It was hard to call it his own skill anymore.

"Is it your taste to have tens of thousands of holes?" As Seo Jun-Ho flicked his finger lightly, tens of thousands of frozen raindrops aimed at the fiends. "It's not my to my personal taste, but I'll gladly do it for you.”

The frozen world fell on the fiends’ heads.

penguin's thoughts: there's a proverb in Latin that goes aquila non capit muscas, literally "the eagle does not catch flies". Safe to say our pal Dread is not an ancient Roman I guess 🤔