Joshua was not stupid, and he finally realized that the team leader had tricked the two of them.

Seth said it with a similar shock and fear-stricken face. “They blocked the entrance?!”

"Did they know that there's a monster here?”

Joshua tried to break the barrier using his sword but found it futile. It still stayed perfectly intact when he struck it with his lyre.

They couldn't leave the place where a monster was about to take their lives.

“It's useless trying to break it. Even A-rank adventurers will have difficulty breaking through this magic barrier.” Enid grinned as she took a lollipop and put it in her mouth.

They couldn’t pass through the magic barrier, but sound could still be transmitted.

Loy let out a sigh. “Dude, the rich people are always such morons. Who would want to travel through dungeons while carrying low-rank adventurers? They only act as burdens.”

“Why would you all do this?!” Joshua hit the magic barrier and screamed in exasperation.

“Give up everything you own, and then we will decide whether to keep you two alive.”

Joshua was in disbelief. “What? You have us imprisoned here only because of our possessions?”

“That's only if you want to live. Time is running out. You better move quickly before the dungeon boss awakens.”

“As long as you listen to the leader, I will guarantee that you can leave safely,” Amelia said, looking worried and guilty. “We won't harm you.”

“It’s a dungeon boss…” Joshua muttered in fear before turning to face Cain. “Cain, what should we do?”

“I don't know. I don't know... I will give you everything I have! So please let us go!” Cain pleaded, looking scared, and then he withdrew the Book of Instant Summon and Wardstone from his space-dimensional bag.

They were ecstatic as he immediately threw out the two items towards them. Enid squatted down as she impatiently inspected the items.

Grant took a glance at the items before he said. “Throw your staff here too.”

“No way.” Cain smiled, wiping the scared expression from his face.

He used his finger to shoot at the Wardstone. The Wardstone shone and trapped the Birds of a Feather in a dome.

At the same time, the dungeon boss behind Seth and Joshua dissipated in the air. Karles had made the dungeon boss an illusion to trick Seth’s opponent. The real one had already been defeated prior to their arrival at this place.

The people across from them panicked, and Joshua looked at Seth in disbelief, asking, "W-what's going on? The boss is dead? What did you do?"

Ignoring him, Seth yelled, "Summon!"

The Book of Instant Summon that was in Enid's hand had pages turned over and emitted blinding light. Startled, she threw the book away, resulting in the summoning of multiple monsters. A massive serpent, a golem, a banshee, a Venomspire Spider, a Thunder Wolf, and a basilisk appeared one after the other in the chamber.

Seth was impressed with Karles' ability to capture all of these monsters, whether he enlisted the help of other high-ranking adventurers or not.

The monsters immediately rushed towards the panicked individuals, some spewing venomous liquid, some swinging their claws, and some roaring in anger and slamming the ground. These monsters were of B-rank or higher. The B and C-rank adventurers wondered if they would be able to fight against them.

The magic barrier that trapped Seth and Joshua vanished as the artifact was crushed by a monster.

Joshua, shocked by the development of the situation, asked Seth, "What's happening?"

“As you can see, I gave them an UNO reverse card,” Seth replied calmly.

“I don't understand what you're talking about.”

“Heh, what I mean is that they reap what they sow.” Seth sat on the ground and watched entertainment while Joshua was both scared and alarmed. “Why don't you sit first? Let's enjoy the show.”

“I… I don't think it's the right thing to do at the moment.”

Seth curled up his lips. “Do you know? If I wasn't here, you would've been their next victim. They would act as though they were kind people who help new adventurers, but as soon as you suffer serious injuries or come across a dangerous monster, they will not think twice about using you as bait before plundering your wealth.”

Joshua glanced at the scene in the chamber and then at the blonde-haired man, his lips quivering. “Is this a common thing among adventurers?”

“It does occur from time to time. This is what a novice adventurer like you needs to learn. Don’t trust people easily, and refrain from showcasing all of your advantages or riches. I suggest that you change to Melianor’s Guild. If there is an incident, it falls under government jurisdiction, and a thorough investigation will be conducted.”

“Is being an adventurer really such a bad idea? No wonder my dad was so adamantly opposed to me becoming one.” Joshua appeared to be disappointed and reflecting on his life decision.

Seth ignored him as he continued enjoying the show.

Enid blasted the serpent with fireballs, barely scorching it.

The golem tried to hit Grant, but Grant used his shield to deflect the blow, causing a dent in it.

The Thunder Wolf struck Loy in the abdomen and launched him against the barrier wall.

Amelia continued to heal them, her face pale, while she turned the pages of her own book.

“Leader, we should do something! We can't kill all of them!”

“You! Remove the barrier right now!” Grant yelled at Seth, his face flushed with rage.

Joshua, who was next to him, backed away out of fear.

“Why should I?” Seth smiled smugly in response.

Joshua anxiously looked at the scene in front of them. “Are you going to let them die?”

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

“What do you think? Do you feel pity for them?” Seth looked at his reaction from the corner of his eyes. He wouldn’t lower his guard in case Joshua suddenly attacked him out of nowhere.

Joshua hesitated before answering, “I don't know. I've never encountered something like this.”

“Do you think they'll let us live after I let them out?”

It took a moment for Joshua to reply. “... No. They won't.”

He was confused and scared and he found it hard to think rationally.

‘I guess he is not naive enough to think that they would let us live.’ Seth nodded his head with a smile. “That's right. It is either they or us who live. I don’t want to die just yet. I have other things that I want to do.”

Joshua remained silent, a confused expression on his face.

‘He really looks pitiful. I should ask Karles to look into his background in further detail.’

The group of people were yelling curses at the two of them while they were fighting the monsters.

In a situation where they were surrounded by monsters, Enid was hit by a golem and fell to the ground.

Loy took a blow to the head and lost consciousness.

Amelia was exhausted from using her healing magic and lost her strength.

With venom spat from the Venomspire Spider on his left face and shoulder, Grant was the last person standing. At some point, a monster shattered his sword in half.

“Cain! Please, I know we're wrong! Please remove the barrier!” Amelia cried out to him with a glimmer of expectation in her eyes.

Joshua gave Seth a look, and Seth could tell he was wondering about his choice.

Seth got to his feet and walked over toward the barrier dividing them. After that, he released the magic barrier.

“A-are you sure about this? I thought that you…” Joshua said, looking puzzled.

Seth said nothing as he aimed his handgun at the blood-stained Book of Instant Summon and fired light magic bullets at it.

The Book of Instant Summon was destroyed along with the monsters.

‘They could've just destroyed the book instead of fighting the monsters but they were unable to think clearly due to their panic.’

Grant gave him a red-eyed, menacing look as if he wanted to savagely attack him as Seth walked up to them. But he was immobile, panting, kneeling on the ground and relying on his broken shield for support.

Tears of happiness streamed down Amelia’s cheeks. “Thank you! Thank you!”

Her hands were shaking as she flipped her own book again.

‘Trying to heal themselves?’

Seth shot at her book right away, just missing her thigh with a narrow miss. She froze and looked at him in horror.

And then, Seth approached Loy, the skinny man who was lying on the ground. He grabbed his hair and looked at his bloodied face.

He opened his eyes weakly, and the moment he saw Seth, he snapped. “Y-you… bastard…”

The fact that he was not yet dead thrilled him. "Oh my, I am so glad you are still alive. If you had passed away so quickly, I would have been disappointed. I was left in the dungeon back in Tudela Village by all of you to die but now look at you. Haha.”

Seth laughed uncontrollably and got up from the floor, clutching his stomach.

“You are the son of that marquess?” Grant asked in disbelief and indignation.

“You never thought that today would arrive, did you?”

Their faces were filled with hatred and despair.

Loy gritted his teeth and glared at him with murderous intent. “I’ll kill you!”

“Oh, can you? As much as I wanted to make you live longer and suffer hell, eh, I don't think I have the patience to do all that. It's too troublesome and you're not worth my attention.”

Loy screamed and grabbed Seth’s feet as Seth pressed my feet against his head. Since Seth could not see his expression well with his face turned to the side, he kicked him to turn to face him.

Seth heard a breaking sound and Loy let out a strangled scream. His neck was probably broken.

‘He did kick me in the face back then.’ Seth repeatedly stomped his feet against Loy’s face until his body stopped twitching and he stopped moving.

His eyes were still open when Seth shifted his feet out of his face.

“Are you dead yet?”

Seth shot Loy until his face was unrecognizable with his light magic bullets. Red and white brain matter spilled from his skull.

“Well, now you are.”

Seth focused his attention back on the others. Joshua had vomited and passed out without him noticing in the distance.

When Seth checked on the mage, Enid, he found out that she was already dead. He used his left hand to fire more shots to confirm that she was dead. Using too much magic was already hurting his right hand.

He then turned to face Grant. From behind him, Grant had already raised his shield and was attempting to use all of his strength to attack.

“Bang!”

The magic bullet that flew from the tip of Seth's index finger accurately hit him on the forehead. Seth dodged him as his body slumped to the ground lifelessly.

This time, he made sure he was dead by shooting light magic at his head and causing it to turn to mush with his palm. He was, after all, a B-rank adventurer.

And with that, he focused on the final Birds of a Feather member. Under her legs, he could see the yellow liquid staining the ground.

“Are you scared?”

She was hyperventilating as she avoided looking him in the eyes.

“Take a deep breath. Yes, just like that.” Seth calmly said.

Amelia’s face was pale as she cried. “I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! I know what I did was wrong!”

“Really? Just like before, you said sorry when you left me in the dungeon. You were guilty, but you’ve never truly regretted it. After all, you’ve been secretly reaping the benefits.”

She stuttered to explain herself to him. “T-that was because I needed to cure my grandmother. After that, I wanted to leave them, but they wouldn’t let me go. They also promised that they wouldn't kill you guys this time. We are only doing this because we don't have enough money to support our lives.”

‘Not enough money? Bullshit. All in all, their gear, weapons, and artifacts are sufficient to enable a family of four to lead a moderate life until old age.’

“So what? Are you saying that I should be grateful if you guys spared my life? Do you even listen to how ridiculous you are?”

Amelia was startled. She lowered her head and sobbed.

Seth tried his best to calm down and took a deep breath. “Let me ask you one last thing. Did Haeseong hire you to kill me?"

“Haeseong? The hero? No, he didn't say anything like that. But it was his suggestion that we should do the quest in Tudela Village.” Amelia explained amidst crying. She was scared and hoped that being obedient to him would allow her to live.

“I get it.”

Seth stood up from the ground. She lifted her chin to look at him, trying to figure out what he would do next.

“Since you have a little conscience, I shouldn't make you suffer any longer.”

Seth raised his hand towards her.

Amelia's face turned to despair.

“Cain! Cain, please! Don’t! Don't kill me!” She clenched his pants and cried.

Seth smiled as he shot her in the head.

“Bang!”

She fell lifelessly to the ground, still with a tear-stricken face.

Silence enveloped the surrounding area. He felt complex emotions—a bit of anxiety, satisfaction, and relief. He didn't have to worry about getting assassinated again. His life would be peaceful from now on.

With the deed done, Seth scavenged their belongings from their lifeless bodies, uncovering coins and various items. There were lockpicks, scrolls, potions, signal whistles, protective enchantments, and their weapons.

He followed Enid's steps in summoning the S-grade artifact. The Luminous Aegis was the most valuable thing that he got. But he was unable to use it freely because he did not know where it came from or if the Silver Skull Guild was aware of it.

Just then, he heard footsteps clearly echoing through the silence.

Is it Karles?

The noise of footsteps ceased, but Seth had the impression that they had already entered the chamber with them. It was only when the person eventually stopped being invisible that Seth was able to see them. It was the Kingdom of Melianor’s hero, Im Haeseong.