Dahav narrowly dodged the barrage of dark-colored spears with his eyes, shifting his feet to evade.
Elwin had been weaving in and out between the attacks, trying to complicate Dahav’s pattern, but Dahav deliberately dodged and pressed forward.
“Got you.”
It was as if the trajectory of the spears was stored in his mind, allowing him to dodge and close in until he secured the desired distance.
Dahav’s feet slid across the icy ground as he advanced swiftly, closing the gap between him and Elwin in an instant.
Elwin hastily retreated, trying to maintain distance.
He already knew from previous fights that close-range combat was disadvantageous.
But one important fact remained: at this distance, Dahav held the overwhelming advantage.
“You’re too fast.”
Elwin frowned.
Before he could even assume a defensive stance, Dahav’s spiritual vision had already reached right before him, thrusting out his dagger.
Elwin swung his staff hurriedly.
Clang—
Clang—
The staff and dagger clashed midair.
Perhaps due to lowered stats, Dahav was pushed back by sheer strength.
Elwin seized the opportunity to regain distance, immediately raising the staff in his right hand and gathering magical power to form a precise spear, which he launched at Dahav’s shoulder.
Though caught off guard by the sudden magic in this unfavorable situation, Dahav’s lips curled into a smirk.
“No way…”
Elwin tried to sense a hint of Dahav’s weakness, but Dahav gave no opening and tilted his body, slipping through the undefended left side.
“I win this round too.”
That thought turned into a warning cry and then a fierce punch.
Elwin gritted his teeth and tried to form a magic shield with his mana, but before the shield completed, Dahav’s punch struck Elwin’s chest.
Thud—
The body struck the air and crashed into the wall.
Pinned against the wall, Elwin coughed up bright red blood from his nose and mouth.
It was a clear sign that victory was certain.
“Now, let’s end this.”
Dahav narrowed the distance with a victorious smile and surged forward.
Elwin, bleeding profusely and on the verge of death, suddenly let out a bitter laugh.
“Fine. I’ll end this game the way you want.”
A dark magical energy trickled from his weakly extended arm, slowly spreading inside the laboratory, specifically across the floor scattered with insect corpses.
Seeing this, Dahav intensified his final strike, but Elwin’s speed was even faster.
Elwin aimed at the corpses beneath, in front, behind, and beside Dahav.
“Explode!”
Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!
The insect corpses detonated like dynamite, shattering into pieces.
But it didn’t stop there.
Elwin’s magic continued spreading, reaching even the specimens preserved in test tubes within the laboratory.
Instantly, countless corpses exploded, scattering debris in all directions.
Though the blast from a single corpse was not negligible, with dozens or hundreds exploding at once, it felt as if they were in the middle of a battlefield.
This was the final phase granted by “Rampage Barrage,” a pattern triggered when health dropped below 5%.
A phase that had annihilated countless challengers and had even caused Wilhelm of the Domain of One to suffer a rare defeat.
As proof of its power, numerous message windows flooded the screen, filling the view with excruciating pain.
[You have taken 150 damage from Elwin’s Dead by Explosion!]
[You have taken 150 damage from Elwin’s Dead by Explosion!]
[You have received a critical spot hit, increasing damage by 300%!]
[You have taken 450 damage from Elwin’s Dead by Explosion!]
Without the Half-Dragon Dagger, everything would have gone dark, and soon the Capsule’s entrance would open, forcibly returning them to the real world.
‘But I have a sturdy insurance.’
A faint glow leaked from the blood-red gem embedded at the tip of the dagger.
[The skill Wings Beyond the Shore of the Half-Dragon Dagger activates in response to fatal damage!]
[Death is nullified, and health is fixed at 1 for 3 seconds.]
Seeing the message, only one thought came to mind.
‘This skill really is broken.’
Turning death into a free pass was an unexpectedly great benefit.
‘This is no simple insurance.’
It was an outrageously broken ability, capable of turning the tables by wasting the opponent’s surprise attacks or instant-kill skills.
At the same time, it sparked respect for Elwin, who could only hunt effectively because he used Wings Beyond the Shore.
‘Truly, this crazy difficulty is insane.’
Only now did Wilhelm truly understand why those who solo-cleared Elwin were called the “Hidden Dragons.”
The monsters here were not only higher-level than bosses of the same level, but starting from the very first phase, it was a struggle just to survive the smooth 30-level city Amor de Croixoruc.
The second phase brought infinite swarms of bugs and an aura called Drain Bite that drained defense.
And the final third phase, “Dead by Explosion,” was a skill so powerful that most who got hit, even wearing armor, were killed instantly or overwhelmed by the critical damage and shock.
“So, in a way, this is a good thing.”
Elwin had a ‘gut feeling’ after every action, a sense that he hadn’t yet seen the recorded footage but that it must have turned out incredibly well.
“No matter how good the beginning is, the finish is what truly counts.”
From aggro management in the first phase to the unexpected counter using ghouls in the second, and even the showmanship of shedding armor—
Finally, in the third phase, although struck down by Dead by Explosion and seemingly wandering the abyss of death, he used Wings Beyond the Shore to overcome the crisis like a hero from a manga or novel.
Everything went according to plan, and the video recording succeeded—but if the raid failed here, it would all be for nothing.
‘Fortunately, that won’t happen.’
If Elwin were preparing for the upcoming battle with high alertness, it would have been a headache.
But instead, he was wildly exploding in the thick dust, completely dazed.
“Ha ha! You’re so arrogant—serves you right!”
Dahav silently approached Elwin, using the dust as cover, and thrust his dagger.
Confident in his victory, Elwin was caught off guard, and the result was obviously a deadly hit.
Thud—
A cold metallic sensation pierced Elwin’s heart, and his eyes flared with fury.
“How…”
“The attack was good, but I’m a person with a very tough life.”
Explosion—
Elwin prepared his magic without giving up in the final moment, but Dahav was faster.
Quickly, he twisted the dagger 90 degrees and pulled it out.
Chik—Scratch—
Blood sprayed out like a fountain alongside the dagger’s blade.
Elwin grabbed his heart, groaning in agony before finally collapsing.
[Insecta Warlock, Hagwid Elwin has been slain!]
[You have gained 100,000 experience points.]
[You have gained an additional 100,000 experience points due to the Tomb Raider achievement!]
[Congratulations! You have reached level 21.]
[Achievement unlocked: Solo Slayer of Elwin.]
[Achievement unlocked: First Conqueror of the Laboratory.]
Exciting messages popped up one after another, but Dahav only smiled with relief and slight exhaustion, no longer shouting as before.
It wasn’t because he cared about his image in the video.
The more information players gathered about super players and rankers’ skills and equipment, the more they planned to edit out reward messages before uploading.
“Maybe it’s because it was such a long match, but I think I used more stamina and mental strength than when I debuted as a boxer and fought my first match.”
His body ached and was weak from maintaining a high state of alertness for so long.
Both headaches were pressing in, so he decided to set aside his pride for now and give his body and mind ample rest.
[Elwin’s Laboratory First Clear! You will receive the first-clear rewards!]
[You will obtain only the highest quality or unique items from Elwin!]
[As a first-clear reward, you obtain the unique Skill Rune, Dead by Explosion.]
[Transcendence of the Five Senses – Luck Overflow is maximized!]
[Additional rewards granted!]
[As a first-clear reward, you obtain the special item Seal of the Black Robe Cultist!]
Though he tried to avoid it by taking maximum rest, he couldn’t help but mutter.
“The rewards are too sweet to ignore.”
The rewards kept pouring in endlessly, and they were even better than what he originally planned to get.
Originally, what he planned to obtain was the Skill Rune ‘Rune of Summon Sacrifice,’ beloved by summoning classes to the point of being called a textbook.
“But Dead by Explosion…”
It was a skill rune he didn’t even know clearly existed.
Rumors said that a superior version of Summon Sacrifice’s Skill Rune existed—and that was Elwin’s Dead by Explosion.
But nobody had ever believed it could be true, nor had anyone who hunted Elwin obtained it.
People just dismissed it as nonsense.
It was normal that it was something unknown and unobtainable.
As the videos were released and Elwin’s identity became known, the speculation was that Wilhelm or some unknown player had already claimed it.
In other words, Wilhelm or some mysterious player had preemptively secured the Skill Rune to strengthen their gear.
Suppressing a smile and uncontrollable excitement that had been building up, the emotion burst out of him.
“This is insanely good!! Long live luck! Glory to luck!”
Like regretting that first shot of soju, he opened his inventory to check if the data and items matched.
A message popped up on the side of his screen: a small window with the face of his close friend and health coach, Seokdu Jeong.
-Hey, it’s time but you weren’t showing up, so I came looking for you myself.
Usually, he was strict about time, but the raid had been so intense he’d forgotten.
“Ah, brother, sorry. I’ll be out right now. Just wait a bit.”
Feeling sorry for making Seokdu worry unnecessarily, he quickly logged out.