“Hey! Han Tae-Sung! What the hell are you doing, you crazy bastard?!” Cheon Woo-Jin screamed at him. “Siegfried! What are you doing?!” Beowulf shouted in shock as well. Their reaction was only natural. The death counter was already at one thousand four hundred ninety-nine, and only one more death was needed for the Blue Knight of Death to descend. Despite their desperate situation, Siegfried had actually decided to... kill his own teammates? Why was he purposely increasing the death counter when he knew what would happen? His actions could no longer be considered as simple trolling—no, he was now deliberately bringing the world to the brink of ruin. Nobody had ever imagined, even in their wildest dreams, that Siegfried, of all people, would start trolling , especially Cheon Woo-Jin. “Hey! Have you lost your damned mind?! What the hell are you doing?!” Cheon Woo-Jin lashed out, his voice shaking with rage. He had every right to be angry—no, enraged right now. The reason he and Siegfried became comrades and friends in the first place was that they shared a common goal. Both of them wanted to protect the world from destruction, so they fought side by side against anything that threatened to cause its demise. Thus, Cheon Woo-Jin couldn’t help but feel betrayed when Siegfried killed their teammates to increase the death counter. Surprisingly, Siegfried seemed completely unfazed. “Hey, Han Tae-Sung! What the hell do you think you’re doing?!” Cheon Woo-Jin screamed, completely enraged. “What did I do?” Siegfried replied calmly with a shrug. Then, he transformed his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a revolver and started gunning down their comrades. Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! —And six bodies fell to the ground. Siegfried even had the audacity to casually blow the smoke from his gun barrel as if he were some protagonist in a Wild West movie. “Han Tae-Sung! What the hell is wrong with you?!” Cheon Woo-Jin snarled, grabbing Siegfried by the collar. “Tsk, let go of me,” Siegfried grumbled, looking clearly annoyed. “Answer me! You son of a bitch!” Cheon Woo-Jin lashed out. “Tsk! So annoying...” Siegfried grumbled before throwing his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp. Even though Cheon Woo-Jin was right up his face and had grabbed him by his collar, Siegfried still managed to use Flying Sword to send his weapon streaking through the air. The +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp flew across the battlefield and smashed Yong Seol-Hwa's head open. Her HP dropped below twenty percent, and the Ushers of Death moved quickly to execute her. “Kyah!” Yong Seol-Hwa shrieked the moment her head was smashed open. She, too, was killed by Siegfried. In addition to massacring his own teammates, he even killed one of his closest comrades, Yong Seol-Hwa. “Hey, you bastard. I’m going to ask you one last time. What the hell are you doing—” Cheon Woo-Jin growled in a low voice. "Let me ask you the same thing," Siegfried interrupted with a grimace. “What are you doing?” He activated Embrace of Despair, inflicting the boss monster with a heavy, slow debuff. Then, he turned to Cheon Woo-Jin and said, “Quit annoying me, will you?” “Why are you doing this?!” “Where’s the Blue Knight of Death? Did it appear?” “Did the Blue Knight of Death appear after I killed the others?” Cheon Woo-Jin couldn’t answer. Because the Blue Knight of Death hadn't appeared... The death counter didn't increase even though Siegfried had killed eight people. “Huh?” Cheon Woo-Jin muttered, and his eyes widened in confusion. The Blue Knight of Death was supposed to be here by now, but there were no signs of the knight at all. While Cheon Woo-Jin was feeling bewildered— —Siegfried kicked him in the ass. “You’re overreacting, dumbass,” Siegfried grumbled before unleashing the Transcendent Torrential Flower Rain. Thousands of radiant aura blades filled the sky in an instant. “Sorry, everyone. But I need you all to die. So let’s make this easy, okay?” Siegfried said. As soon as his words fell... The aura blades rained down like a torrential storm, spinning until they formed a massive whirlwind of death. It swallowed up the weakened party members who were already about to die. “I... I have no idea what’s going on, but I guess we should just die.” The party members were still clueless as to what was happening, but they decided to accept their fate. They would suffer a death penalty, but judging from how things were going, it looked like they had no other choice but to die either way. Two days ago, Siegfried had discovered something quite interesting. When Seung-Gu mistook Siegfried’s party as a group of undead monsters and bombarded them, it resulted in thirty-two casualties. When Siegfried checked the quest window, he noticed that the death counter hadn't increased at all. He took note of that and decided to use it later when necessary. Once the death counter was close to the threshold, he would start killing his own teammates. He would get called a troll by his teammates, but wouldn't it be fine as long as he could stop the Blue Knight of Death from descending? That was the reason behind what looked like the worst trolling in the history of the game. “Oh, I forgot to tell you something. It seems like the death counter doesn’t go up if we kill our own allies,” Siegfried said. “W-What? Are you serious?” “Why the hell are you telling me now?” “I told you, I forgot. Besides, I wasn’t sure at first. I couldn’t remember the death counter at the time, so I wasn’t exactly sure. And it’s not like I can deliberately kill an ally just to confirm it,” Siegfried replied with a shrug. “But I paid closer attention on the way here and saw someone who died from an ally’s skill. I saw that their death didn't increase the count, and that’s when I became sure of it.” “We don’t know if suicides count, so if things get dangerous, kill each other. That way, at least we won’t have to deal with the Blue Knight of Death.” “Okay, that’s a relief. Damn, that was really close...” Cheon Woo-Jin said with a sigh of relief. “Anyway, good job, everyone,” Siegfried said. Then, he turned his gaze toward the boss monster. ‘But why is this guy the boss monster...?’ Siegfried was confused after seeing the unexpected figure standing as the boss monster. [Boss: Wrathful Neighdelberg] The boss of Death’s Carnival was not Emperor Stuttgart, but rather, his trusted retainer, Duke Neighdelberg. The boss monster, the undead version of Duke Neighdelberg, instantly recognized Siegfried and growled. “Siegfried... van Proa...!” However, there was nothing he could do against Siegfried, as the slow effect of Embrace of Despair prevented him from closing the distance between them. Instead, Neighdelberg unleashed the Aura of Mortality at Siegfried. “Nope, not happening!” Siegfried said with a grin, immediately using Waves of Oppression to disrupt the boss monster’s flow of mana. Neighdelberg’s skill failed, and Siegfried didn't age even a bit. Shock spread across Neighdelberg’s face, but before he could do anything... A torrent of radiant aura blades shot toward him like a rain of arrows. When they struck Neighdelberg, they exploded and unleashed a bone-chilling energy. Siegfried’s source of energy for the radiant aura blades was the Blood Frost Orb, so it was natural for them to be infused with the ice attribute. The slowing effects of the Torrential Flower Rain compounded with the effects of Embrace of Despair, instantly immobilizing Neighdelberg As if she had been waiting for this moment, Gosran bombarded Neighdelberg with a rain of Frozen Arrows, amplifying the slow effect. “You damn wretches...!” Neighdelberg cursed while struggling desperately to escape from the slow hell. There was no way he could escape from the slow hell after being raided to near death by Cheon Woo-Jin and Beowulf’s party. Even if he were in peak condition, breaking free from this many stacked slow debuffs would still be difficult. However, Siegfried was far from done. A burst of blinding white light flashed— —And sub zero frost gripped Neighdelberg. Neighdelberg’s eyes widened as he was frozen solid. He was locked in place before he could even react. “Should I finish him off?” Siegfried asked, casually glancing back at Cheon Woo-Jin. “Yeah, you can have him,” Cheon Woo-Jin replied, waving his hand. He was too exhausted to lift a finger, so he handed Siegfried the final blow. The rest of the party was in the same state as Cheon Woo-Jin. They were too drained from the earlier battle that they did not care who landed the last hit. All they wanted was to clear this dungeon, get out, and rest. The moment Cheon Woo-Jin gave the green light, Siegfried immediately started charging his most powerful single-target offensive skill–Touch of Death. Without hesitation, Siegfried swung his +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp at Neighdelberg. ‘I really want to rest now,’ he thought while swinging his weapon. After spending days raiding the Death’s Carnival, he was completely exhausted. The +16 Vanquisher’s Grasp connected with Neighdelberg, blowing away his upper body. [Alert: You have gained experience points!] [Alert: You have reached Level 336!] As expected of a boss monster, Neighdelberg gave a ton of Experience Points upon death. [Alert: Death’s Carnival dungeon has been cleared!] [Alert: An Epic Quest has been triggered!] A golden quest window popped up in front of Siegfried’s eyes. Siegfried’s eyes widened upon seeing the quest window before his eyes. Receiving a quest while raiding a dungeon was quite common, but one appearing after clearing a dungeon was quite rare. [Alert: You have received the Quest – Crossroad of Destiny!] Curious, Siegfried opened the quest to check its details. [Crossroad of Destiny] [Return to the Proatine Kingdom and speak with Michele.] [Note: This quest will have a significant impact on your life.] ‘I wonder what this is...’ Siegfried wondered after reading the quest’s description. Why did this quest suddenly appear? ‘Guess I’ll figure it out as soon as I get back.’ Just then, Cheon Woo-Jin walked up to him and asked, “Hey, what are you doing? Aren’t you coming?” Siegfried snapped out of his thoughts and looked around. The rest of the party was already walking toward the dungeon’s exit portal. “Oh, I just got an Epic Quest. I was reading it,” Siegfried replied. “I don’t really know. It’s not very clear, but it’s quite simple. I guess I’ll complete it first and tell you later.” “Anyway, let’s get outta here.” With that, Siegfried accepted the Epic Quest, "Crossroad of Destiny," and exited the Death’s Carnival dungeon alongside Cheon Woo-Jin. ‘But why was Duke Neighdelberg the boss monster rather than Emperor Stuttgart...?’ Siegfried wondered. The question gnawed at his mind. The dungeons generated by the Great Rift were chaotic realms where the past, present, and future events were all interwoven. In other words... ‘Could it be that... Neighdelberg rebelled and became emperor instead in another timeline?’ A what-if question popped up in his head. It was not entirely impossible, as nothing in the world was truly set in stone. After all, there was even a theory called the Butterfly Effect. An infinite number of variables shaped an infinite number of futures... ‘Oh well, I guess I’ll find out soon enough,’ Siegfried thought with a shrug. With that, he set his thoughts aside and started walking toward the exit portal. Right now, all he wanted was to get some rest.