At last they reached a huge door.
That door was very big. Strange faces were carved on its surface, and large stone guards stood on either side of it, as if they were silently guarding what lay beyond.
Yan Hanu told the team that there would probably be a boss encounter next. This was most likely the entrance to the boss room. So far in this dungeon, no one had ever reached this point.
He gave the order for everyone to apply the necessary buffs and improve their condition as much as possible. Then he instructed Yuwan to hand him an SS-grade critical potion, an SS-grade power capsule and two mental focus pills. Yuwan understood immediately and handed everything over to his leader.
Yan Hanu knew the effect of these items would only last a minute and a half, perhaps even less. The fight would therefore have to be finished quickly. A long fight would be dangerous.
The red-haired man gave his captain one more potion. It was a new enhancer that could increase the effect of all buffs by twenty per cent. Yan Hanu drank all of it.
Then he said that whether they won or not depended entirely on the next few minutes, and saying this, he immediately opened the door.
The space beyond was huge. Large stone guards stood inside the chamber. But the strange thing was that, unlike other dungeons, there was no sign of danger the moment they entered.
Yan Hanu went in first, while the rest of the team stayed behind and watched. Not one of them moved.
He noticed this and wondered why no one was following him. And only then did he suddenly feel that something was wrong.
His body began to grow weak. He fell to his knees and started vomiting blood. It was clearly connected to the potions he had just taken.
His mind became confused. What was happening? He looked at his hands and found something strange. His clothes were coming loose. His sleeves were slipping down over his hands. Everything he was wearing suddenly seemed far too big.
Yan Hanu stared at himself in disbelief. He could feel his body getting smaller.
The cause was a paralytic poison, which had reduced his body functions by ninety per cent. A warning appeared in front of him. Yan Hanu fell to his knees on the ground. Panic filled his mind. What was all this that was happening to him?
Then, one after another, more warnings appeared. They said that the user's level was insufficient, and that the equipment he was using was being forcibly removed.
One by one, all the powerful items he had earned during years of battle began falling from his body. His weapons, his accessories, everything — every trace of his victories vanished in an instant.
Even while all this was happening to him, Yan Hanu somehow tried to give his companions a warning. He told them that something was wrong with the boss room.
But his companions did not seem worried at all. They were completely calm, as if they already knew.
Samo moved forward and stopped right in front of Yan Hanu. She looked at him and smiled. Then she said carelessly that the potion had done the trick — and that was when Yan Hanu finally understood.
They had done all this. They had planned it in advance, from the start.
Yan Hanu could not believe it. His own companions had betrayed him, and they were standing there watching the consequences of what they had done, and enjoying it.
Then the red-haired man began to speak. He confirmed that what Yan Hanu had drunk earlier was no strength-boosting potion. It was a shrinking potion.
Samo laughed and teased him again. She said he had been beautiful even as a child; you could see it.
The red-haired man went on explaining his plan. The matter was simple. Their captain was very powerful. If all six of them fought Yan Hanu together while he was wearing SSS-grade equipment, who could say who would win? So they had thought of a different idea. If they made him smaller, his body would be unable to meet the physical requirements for using SSS-grade equipment. And once that happened, all of his equipment would fall off automatically.
One by one, they began picking up the things that had fallen to the ground. Yan Hanu's powerful SSS-grade items were now falling into the hands of his own comrades.
Samo picked up something and laughed. She said she was the only one on the team who did not have any SSS-grade item yet. So she had decided to take the necklace.
Another teammate picked up Yan Hanu's belt. He had wanted it for a long time. It could double the duration of his ultimate skill.
The red-haired man happily took the Starvault. That item increased damage against low-HP enemies by fifty per cent. He said he would become a god while cleaning the battlefield with it.
The rest of them also picked up their favourite things.
Meanwhile, Yan Hanu remained kneeling on the ground. He still could not understand anything. Why? Why would they betray him — their own captain?
The red-haired man bent down to his height and said, smiling, that he had planned to explain everything to him first. But Yanshi had told him to keep quiet. So he had not been able to.
Yan Hanu slowly turned his head towards Yanshi. So this was it? Had he arranged all of this? And why?
Yanshi looked at the sword he was holding in his hand. He answered again in a quiet voice. There was no need to explain anything to a man who was about to die.
His eyes were as cold as ice, as always.
Then the team turned and walked straight for the door. Not one of them looked back. They left Yan Hanu there — alone, confused, broken, helpless. He collapsed to the ground. He could barely move.
Before the door closed, one of them told him nonchalantly that they would meet in the next life.
After they left, Yan Hanu tried to get up.
Three years, five years, eight years — all those years of friendship, and it had ended in deception. He still could not believe it.
But before he could think anything else, a giant horde of demons suddenly appeared. They were completely different from the ones he had fought before. Far more powerful. Far more frightening.
Perhaps that moment would have ended everything in a single attack. A monster was standing right beside him. That was all. There was no chance of winning, no way out, and he simply died.
After so many achievements, after being called the most powerful, he fell just like that.
And only then did a notification suddenly appear.
Yan Hanu was being congratulated on completing a hidden mission. Sacrifice for the Faith. The mission had conditions. To let all his comrades leave safely, to be alone inside the boss room, and to hand over all his equipment before dying.
Every condition had been fulfilled.
The notification went on to say that since Yan Hanu had met the conditions, the system would arrange for the funeral. Although this reward could only be used once.