I Gave Up Being Stronger

Chapter 321

This was a type of psychological warfare—using poison against an opponent who was immune to it could lead to complacency. It was a setup.

Muenne’s involvement made Filiak realize something.

‘Chul-Soo did not show his journey here on his livestream... It must have been a tougher struggle than I thought!’

However, Filiak was grossly mistaken.

‘If that’s the case, then he must be nearly out of stamina. Destroying the spire was just a bluff using the last of his strength!’

This made things a lot easier.

Filiak slowly said, “So you’re from the Arvis Server, huh! This has become more complicated than I expected.”

He drew his sword and thought, ‘For now, I will pretend to focus on the duel with Muenne.’

He knew Muenne quite well, including how she handled weaker opponents.

‘She won’t press me too hard right away.’

When fighting weaker opponents, Muenne always showed consideration, especially to those who fought with all their might, valuing their spirit over their lack of skill.

‘I will pretend to fight with all my might, and then...’

Since Chul-Soo was serious about his livestream, there would surely be a moment when he would come close to Filiak.

‘That’s when I will ambush Chul-Soo.’

Filiak did not believe his attacks could harm Chul-Soo; this was another trap.

‘My attack is merely a signal!’

At any rate, Chul-Soo would undoubtedly deploy his ultimate defensive skill, Absolute Barrier.

‘That will be my opportunity.’

For this, Filiak had prepared a former elder of his family, previously confined in the family’s dungeon. To the outside world, the elder appeared to be a feeble old man, disguised as a mere servant.

‘Your powerful Absolute Barrier will become your shackles, Chul-Soo!’

Absolute Barrier was indeed an enviable power. However, such strong defensive Skills could occasionally become a liability. The elder’s attack, known as Conversion Strike, shone brighter the stronger the opponent’s defenses were. It utilized the opponent’s defense to inflict damage.

‘Yes, this is actually for the best. Muenne’s involvement will only make Chul-Soo more complacent.’

Filiak sensed his impending death. He knew he could not win a fight with Muenne.

‘But that doesn’t matter.’

For the freedom of Hell, he was prepared to sacrifice himself to kill Chul-Soo.

‘My death will ignite a great wildfire in the Third Hell.’

***

With his sword in hand, Filiak said, “Let’s have a fair fight, Muenne.”

“...”

Muenne did not properly acknowledge the greeting, a sign that should have alerted Filiak that something was amiss from the outset.

“Ugh!” Filiak yelled.

Muenne had suddenly closed the distance between them and struck Filiak in the abdomen with her left fist. The sky seemed to darken for Filiak, and he found himself unable to breathe. His legs gave out involuntarily, and he knelt, experiencing a level of pain he had never felt before.

Amidst this intense agony, he wondered, ‘Why is she like this?’

This was not like her at all. Normally, Muenne would have ended the duel here, as she had done in most of her victorious battles, typically concluding with, “Stand up. The outcome is already decided.”

However, this time was different.

“Stand up. I need to beat you a bit more,” Muenne said.

Filiak doubted his ears. ‘Did I hear that wrong?’

As he staggered to his feet, Muenne’s fist came flying again.

“ARGH!!” Filiak yelled.

Muenne had struck the same spot again. Filiak screamed as he rolled on the ground, his face turning ashen. Muenne steadily walked up and forcefully lifted Filiak, only to hit the same spot once more.

“Why would you hit me on the same sp— ARGH!!”

Muenne, having closed the distance once again, was muttering something very quietly. Filiak desperately racked his brain, trying to understand why Muenne was acting this way.

‘What’s going on? What did I do wrong?’ Not only was Filiak failing to get close to Chul-Soo, but he was also drifting further away. ‘Muenne keeps muttering something.’

It was as if Muenne had lost her mind.

‘Could it be that Muenne has been brainwashed?’ Filiak had an epiphany. Suddenly, everything made sense. ‘Muenne has always been quite favorable toward Chul-Soo! That would have made her an easy target for brainwashing! Considering his alliance with the Empress of Hell, it is entirely possible!’

Filiak yelled, “Muenne! Snap out of it! You are under a spell! That vile Empress of Hell and Chul-Soo are controlling you! Chul-Soo is exploiting your fondness for him!”

Jin-Hyeok could not help but let out a sly grin. ‘Oh, this is perfect!’

The Streamer was happy with the scene, which would make a great preview video for the next episode.

***

Muenne stopped abruptly as if she were defying reality. She halted her fist just before it could reach Filiak’s stomach again.

Sweating profusely, Filiak internally celebrated. ‘Good. Brainwashing breaks easily once the person knows they’re brainwashed!’

Moreover, for someone like Muenne, a universe-level ranker, escaping from brainwashing would be even easier.

“Are you coming to your senses now?” Filiak asked.

“I have somewhat regained my senses.”

‘I’ve been too lenient with my attacks. If my attacks were intense, he would not spout such nonsense so freely,’ Muenne thought. This meant that Muenne needed to prepare herself to fight with the resolve to kill.

Unaware of this, Filiak appeared relieved and slumped to the ground. “Thank God!”

‘Actually, this is good. Now, Muenne’s anger will be directed toward Chul-Soo!’

However, at that moment, a blade swung down at him. Muenne, who had been using only her fists until now, was now wielding a real sword. Although her primary weapon was a spear, a sword was sufficient to confront Filiak.

“W-Why are you doing this to me?” Filiak, in a somewhat comical fashion, crawled and rolled to narrowly avoid Muenne’s sword. Even in this situation, he struggled to analyze what was happening.

‘If Muenne wanted to, she could slice me open in an instant. The fact that she has not killed me yet means that...’

The intention was clear. Muenne was threatening him while making a mockery out of him.

‘But why? Why is she doing that to me?’ Filiak could not understand.

Muenne was muttering something like a chant. “I must protect Chul-Soo at all costs.”

She kept swinging her sword hard.

Then, she glanced at Jin-Hyeok. ‘Did he get enough footage yet?’

As sincere as Muenne was toward Jin-Hyeok, she was equally serious about his livestream. She had long abandoned her beliefs for the sake of his channel.

‘Sometimes, the important thing is that a person’s belief can be changed,’ Muenne thought.

***

Jin-Hyeok spoke. “It seems the outcome of the duel has already been decided.

It would not have been difficult for him to kill Filiak if he wanted to. However, he did not want that.

‘Even while getting beaten up that badly, Filiak is constantly trying to analyze the situation,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. It was unclear what he was planning, but Filiak seemed to have some scheme in mind. ‘His intent to kill me is real. But even if he succeeds in killing me here, he knows well that he will die too.’

The battle had been over the moment Muenne had shown up. Knowing this better than anyone, Filiak did not give up until the end, an impressive thing.

‘Moreover, his love for this Server is genuine.’

Of course, it was wrong for Filiak to kidnap and torture the residents, but his love for the Server was sincere.

‘Plus, since he’s the Great Nobleman, if I can recruit him, it would be a great help to Hell Man.’

“To preserve the honor of the nobility, I will stop the livestream here. I will post a brief update on the situation later through an announcement,” Jin-Hyeok said to the viewers.

After ending the livestream, Jin-Hyeok approached Filiak, who was desperately dodging Muenne’s sword.

“Thank you, Muenne. I think we have got enough footage for now.”

Ironically, Jin-Hyeok’s words felt like a ray of salvation to Filiak. However, what Muenne said next was rather shocking.

“So, should I kill him now?”

It was hard to believe that these words came from one of the Seven Paladins of the Sacred Empire of Helen.

“No, no. I would like to talk to him for a bit,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“He labeled you evil and slandered me as being brainwashed. I wanted to kill him immediately, but held back because of your livestream,” Muenne answered.

“And I appreciate that.”

Muenne’s cheeks reddened. “Well, I didn’t do it to be thanked, but...”

“Leave the rest to me.”

Muenne intensely looked at Filiak and nodded.

“Muenne, close your eyes for a moment.”

One could wonder why Jin-Hyeok had asked her to do that, but Muenne simply complied. Though she did not understand why, she also clenched her lips tightly and tensed up.

“Just stay like that,” Jin-Hyeok said.

“Okay...”

“Don’t move.”

“Okay...”

“You promised. Keep your eyes closed and don’t move.”

“O-Of course...!”

Jin-Hyeok walked past Muenne, who was all tensed up, and stood before Filiak. “Filiak, I know your heart is true with the Server, though your actions were misguide—”

Just then, Jin-Hyeok saw Filiak’s eyes change drastically. A deep murderous intent emanated from him.

‘Perfect! I knew this would happen,’ Jin-Hyeok thought. Though he had turned off his livestream, he was still recording everything that was going on.

Filiak lunged at Jin-Hyeok with his sword. “Die!”

Muenne, who hastily opened her eyes, was too slow to react due to the close distance between Jin-Hyeok and Filiak. Jin-Hyeok thought that was fortunate. If Muenne had not been completely frozen with her eyes shut, Jin-Hyeok would not have gotten such a perfect shot for his video.

‘Finally, the guy disguised as the servant is making his move!’

Jin-Hyeok had read the former elder\'s movements. Filiak, who had made meticulous preparations, thought this was his grand opportunity. However, for Jin-Hyeok, who had experienced similar things in Arvis, it was a trivial plan.

‘That’s why the environment is important for Players,’ Jin-Hyeok thought.

Facing universe-level rankers made an average high-Level ranker feel like nothing. Jin-Hyeok had already gauged his opponent’s Level and fully understood his secrets while observing him during his livestream.

‘So now, Filiak should attack me.’

Jin-Hyeok knew that he could completely block Filiak’s attack, but he chose to take the hit for the livestream.

Shunk!

Filiak’s sword pierced Jin-Hyeok’s abdomen.

Of course, the Shunk! was just a sound effect. In reality, Jin-Hyeok had received only a small cut from the attack.

‘So, this was the signal!’

The elder, disguised as a servant, swung an axe at Jin-Hyeok.

[You have used the Mystery Conversion Strike.]

This Mystery used the opponent’s defensive stats against them. The stronger the defense was, the more it was converted into pure damage against them.

Filiak’s eyes lit up with expectation. If Chul-Soo’s formidable defense were to meet this Mystery’s attack, the moment the axe touched Jin-Hyeok, it would mean instant death!

‘It’s over now, Chul-Soo!’ Filiak thought.

At the same time, Jin-Hyeok also smiled broadly. ‘More great content for my Eltube channel!’