The D-Rank Guild Master of the No. 1 Guild

As the water kept rising, Akata started to shiver.

I ignited my unique ability, fire, in my hand to warm him up. He subtly tightened his hug around my waist. Despite being younger and smaller than me.

“I’m cold.”

“…”

Making excuses about being cold implies you’re not entirely innocent, doesn’t it?

I felt awkward, but with water up to our waists, I had nothing to say.

Rumble-!

Suddenly, a tremendous vibration echoed from above us.

It sounded like a giant quadruped animal was charging toward us madly.

Akata quickly lifted his head and stretched his hand toward the phoenix. The phoenix’s hue became more vivid, as if squeezed for every ounce of color.

At that exact moment, a huge shadow fell over us. A large object that leaped over the pit blocked out the sky.

A rhino. It must be a switch ability.

What was meant to signal our location with the phoenix seemed to have revealed our position to enemies instead.

The phoenix, now infused with Akata’s full strength, confronted the rhino in the sky.

The rhino leaped back and forth over the pit, trying to devour the phoenix.

Already small and weak, the phoenix fought by dodging the rhino’s snout but could only singe its fur without causing any real damage.

Could a rhino even make such agile jumps? And those blood-red eyes, with veins popping out of its forehead…

“That’s a zombie.”

I whispered into Akata’s ear, who was clinging to me.

In zombie movies, zombie animals are scarier than human zombies.

They spread the virus with speed and strength that humans can’t match.

Moreover, it’s a player zombie. A switch-type zombie.

Against this crazed rhino, the weakened phoenix seemed hopeless. I gathered energy in my other hand to help.

In my open palm, flames swirled and spun, growing by the second. The vibrant blaze was ready to erupt.

Suddenly.

Unfortunately, it seemed my fire caught the rhino’s eye. Its glaring eyes rolled downward.

The crazed beast noticed the two humans in the pit and twitched its bloodshot eyes.

Splash-!

The rhino jumped down into the pit. Though 70% of its body was submerged in water, it wobbled as it charged at us through the water.

A strong sense of doom hit me.

How can I burn an enemy underwater?

Akata’s cheeks turned ashen white as well. I quickly thought of a plan.

This isn’t going to work. Running is the only option.

But wading through the water and dragging Akata, who has a Strength stat of C and is already exhausted, up the cliff is impossible.

Next, I thought of the phoenix that hadn’t dissipated yet.

The phoenix, being made of fire, has no solid form, but Akata can touch it.

And actually, I can also touch Akata’s fire physically because I have fire abilities too.

There’s a reason why I secretly worked with Akata’s white bird every night.

“Akata, can you ride on top of the phoenix?”

“Yes.”

“But can it carry you and fly? It looks barely stable right now.”

“I think it can. I’m light-.”

Akata’s words trailed off. He looked up at me in shock as he realized something.

“It can’t carry two people, can it?”

The message I conveyed to him was clear.

…You know that even if I die here, I don’t really die but return to the guild.

“It’s a zombie game; there should be at least one scene like this. Considering the comments from the viewers.”

It might sound like a mood-breaker to the audience, but reassuring Akata was my priority.

“Then let me go instead… Even if I’m not here, it’s fine, but if Rudel isn’t here, the others will be shocked!”

Akata staggered in agony. He leaned his head against me, hiding his twisted expression.

I knew I was asking Akata to do something unreasonable.

[“I don’t care if I die. But I can’t stand it if you die.”]

I was asking him to give up on his conviction, which had once been his awakening line.

If in the past Akata’s awakening line was directed at someone named Aria, now it was undoubtedly directed at me.

“Akata, you’ve died once before in the Battle of the Fighters, haven’t you?”

Akata is the only one in our guild with one death. The stat reduction after his death was such a waste.

“You died without my permission. Honestly, I hated that you had to go through that. I don’t want you to experience it twice.”

Still, I wanted to be selfish. There was a reason for that.

“Akata, it’s too important for me. For you not to be hurt. And… to use you to keep our guild at number one. So I can’t let your stats be reduced.”

A pang of guilt struck me for having to persuade him by exploiting his feelings for me.

“You told me before that I could use you. So, let me use you.”

What choice did he have when I asked this much?

In the end, Akata relented.

Grinding his teeth, Akata closed his eyes tightly and stepped back. He climbed onto the last remaining phoenix.

“…Give me the Stones of Aspiration.”

“No. If your energy drops any further, you might die too. Forget about the stones. Your survival is more advantageous for the round than a few stones.”

Akata was smart and shared a secret with me.

So even though it pained him, he followed my words. Akata could endure watching me get torn apart before his eyes.

He had become… a strong man.

“When you meet the others, go with Plan B! B!”

Even a second before being torn apart by a zombie, I looked up at Akata and shouted loudly. I had to give my final order before going.

“All plans start with B!”

This was my last command in the seventh round of the zombie battle. (I like it.)

* * *

“…”

Riding the phoenix, Akata landed above the pit, covering his eyes with his palm and remaining silent for a moment before glancing down.

His guild leader was nowhere to be seen. Only the rhino that sent Rudel back to the guild fortress remained.

Fortunately, the pit was deep enough that the rhino couldn’t climb back up.

However, Akata didn’t seem relieved. A grating sound escaped as he ground his teeth.

‘Once I recover my energy, I’ll kill that thing. With my own hands.’

“Akata!!”

A high, clear cry rang out urgently from the other side.

It was Lilith.

Without looking back, Akata knew his comrades had returned. He took a deep breath.

At this moment, he felt a deep resentment towards them for finding him and Rudel late.

However, he couldn’t utter a word of blame. He couldn’t even lift his head.

Lilith, who had been riding on Gio’s back, climbed down as they approached. While she checked on Akata’s condition, the others surveyed the area.

Unahar finally asked the question.

“But, where’s Rudel?”

In a low voice, Akata recounted what had just happened. Specifically, Rudel’s whereabouts.

“Rudel… she saved me…”

He explained that they were threatened by a rhino zombie in the collapsed pit, and Rudel chose to save him and sacrifice herself instead.

Akata clearly tried to stop her, but despite that, Rudel determined that sacrificing herself for her guild member was the option with the least loss. It was ultimately the guild leader’s decision.

Even though they knew this, the four who heard Akata’s recount were unable to calm down for a while.

“How could she do that?”

Unahar’s hands gripped Akata’s shoulders painfully.

“You should have stopped her to the end. You’re an S-rank ability user and you couldn’t even protect Rudel? If you hadn’t wasted your energy on Runehan, this wouldn’t have happened!”

Despite being harshly criticized, Akata didn’t make any excuses or try to deny anything. He simply bit his lip and hung his head low.

“Unahar, stop. It’s not Akata’s fault.”

Lilith, wiping her tears and opening her slightly reddened eyes calmly, tugged at Unahar’s coat from behind.

“Yeah, stop it.”

Gio echoed next to them. With Gio’s grip joining in, Unahar’s coat was nearly pulled off.

Unahar felt even more irritated by Gio’s interjection than Lilith’s attempt to calm him. He glared at the big man behind him.

“Did Rudel leave any final words?”

Among them, Kanel seemed relatively the least affected.

He asked calmly about any last words from their guild leader.

However, in reality, Kanel was also deeply shaken by Rudel’s death. His hidden hand was crumbling a piece of the summoning button he had inadvertently broken in his shock.

It was purely luck that the damaged button hadn’t lost its function.

Nevertheless, Kanel was certain that their guild leader, even in her dying moments, would have left some message or concern for her guild members.

This was an accurate prediction about Rudel.

The boy quickly responded to Kanel’s question.

“She left a final message…”

“What?”

“She said to execute Plan B.”

Unahar let out a bitter laugh in disbelief.

The boy, though not entirely confident, spoke without losing his composure, despite his lips being red from biting.

Finally, Unahar sighed deeply. Reason seemed to have returned to him.

“We’re also at fault for arriving late. I won’t say more, so stand up straight.”

“I am standing up straight.”

“…Let’s execute Plan B.”