Chapter 105: Verification of Doom (11)
Triple-layered, attributeless active defense magic that activates automatically upon impact detection.
Shattered.
Double-layered impact absorption magic boasting the fastest casting speed.
Also shattered.
A defensive barrier woven from tough roots and sturdy tree trunks.
Penetrated.
And even the Aura Shield, the last line of defense……
Similarly shattered.
All the defensive measures that In-su had layered were crushed in an instant.
By a single punch from Sa-hyeok.
Click-
Sa-hyeok took out Mandrake Bile from his hip sack and poured it into his mouth, but there was nothing left.
‘Fatigue is starting to build up…… Tsk.’
Sa-hyeok threw the empty potion bottle and looked down at In-su, who had been battered.
“Tough b*stard. You’re not dead even after taking my punch head-on? Is this what being S-rank means?”
Then, Sa-hyeok’s eyes fell on the Thunderbolt Needles that In-su was wearing on his waist.
“Give me back my weapon.”
Whoosh-
Snap!
Sa-hyeok retrieved the Thunderbolt Needles.
Now there were three weapons attached to his waist.
Two Thunderbolt Needles and one Mubuchamdo.
He had to find and retrieve the remaining Mubuchamdo, which he had thrown away as a flame spear earlier.
“But it will take a while to find that small thing in this forest……”
Then.
Fizzle-
The trees and vines that In-su had grown began to wither rapidly.
The completely withered trees crumbled like ashes and collapsed.
“……Well, this makes it a bit easier to find.”
But there was something to do before searching for the Mubuchamdo.
Sa-hyeok looked down at In-su and said,
“What should I do with you?”
Sa-hyeok scanned In-su’s body with telekinesis.
Even with a quick scan, it was clear that bones all over his body were crushed and fractured, and bleeding was occurring everywhere.
He looked like he would d*e within an hour if left alone.
Actually, Sa-hyeok wanted to k*ll him right away.
But there was one problem.
This guy was Jang-hoon-sahyeong’s older brother.
Since Sa-hyeok knew Jang-hoon, it was ethically right to leave this guy’s disposal to his family.
Of course, after making sure he couldn’t do anything stupid.
Stab!
“Kyah!”
Sa-hyeok stabbed In-su’s body with the Thunderbolt Needles and sent an electric current through them.
Crackle!
“Kuuugh!!”
The electric current ravaged In-su’s body, causing a short circuit in his mana circuit.
Although the circuit short circuit would recover over time, it would definitely prevent him from using magic for about a day.
Thus, he was deprived of physical movement and magic.
Complete neutralization.
“Let’s just leave it at this for now.”
Sa-hyeok muttered.
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A few minutes ago.
When the fierce battle between In-su and Sa-hyeok was just coming to an end.
The villagers were watching the battle nervously from a distance.
Of course, they couldn’t see the battle itself.
Because of the densely grown trees, they couldn’t see inside the Great Forest.
And at some point, the loud noises and vibrations coming from the Great Forest stopped.
The battle was over.
The villagers gulped.
Of course, they were convinced of the victory of their village head, In-su.
But somehow, an unknown anxiety began to creep in.
Fizzle-
The trees withered, and the Great Forest collapsed.
And what the forest had been hiding was revealed in broad daylight.
Sa-hyeok standing tall. And next to him…… In-su, lying sprawled out, covered in blood.
A surreal scene where an S-rank mage, decked out in billions of won worth of artifacts and equipment, was defeated by a mere C-rank Hunter.
Shock, astonishment, and fear.
The villagers screamed.
“No!!”
“Village Head-nim!!”
“Uwaaaack! No!!”
It was the scream of fanatics who had lost their leader.
It wasn’t just the villagers who were in shock.
Jang-hoon couldn’t believe the situation unfolding before his eyes either.
“He…… won against an S-rank……?”
Jang-hoon had thought it would be a stroke of luck if Sa-hyeok even survived.
But not only did he win, he completely crushed him?
And against an S-rank Hunter at that?
The meaning of this was simple.
Sa-hyeok’s power had reached a level comparable to S-rank.
If Sa-hyeok were to receive S-rank certification because of this incident, Kwonmu-mun would become the only guild in the country with two S-rank Hunters.
Master Kwak Ja-ryong and Min Sa-hyeok, that is.
“Is what I’m seeing…… really real?”
At that moment, as Jang-hoon muttered to himself, women came and stood beside him.
They were In-su’s three wives.
They looked down at the pulverized In-su as if they had lost their minds.
At that moment.
Dash!
The first wife ran into the house.
Unable to bear the shock, she covered her mouth with her hand.
Jang-hoon looked at her with a bitter expression.
But……
“……Huh?”
Seeing what she brought out of the house, Jang-hoon was speechless.
Click.
What she was holding was a loaded shotgun.
The shotgun that had been displayed at the entrance of In-su’s house.
══════════════════
Meanwhile, the Hunters of the village who had been watching the battle also immediately assumed combat readiness.
Their eyes were filled with rage.
Sa-hyeok defeated an S-rank?
That wasn’t important to them.
Swish!
A dozen Hunters ran towards Sa-hyeok.
“K*ll him!”
“Protect the Village Head-nim!”
Looking at them, Sa-hyeok muttered.
“Well, it’s easier for me if you come first.”
Sa-hyeok extended his right arm.
On his right arm, not only was the Flame Ring equipped, but also the
But there was no need to use it anymore.
He could now control fire with telekinesis.
Whoosh!
Condensed fireballs were fired consecutively from the ring.
The fireballs engulfed the approaching Hunters.
Boom!
“Fireball?!”
“Kyaack!”
“Water Stream Sorcerers! Put up a defensive barrier right now!!”
But the mages in the rear were helpless.
“Keuhuk……”
“Kugh……”
Thud, thud-
The mages collapsed with sudden penetrating wounds.
The Mubuchamdo that Sa-hyeok had thrown had pierced them consecutively.
“No……!”
“Where are you looking?”
Boom!
The flame magic that Sa-hyeok shot exploded again.
The Hunters fell one after another.
He didn’t bother using the Lightning Ring.
Not only was the Flame Ring sufficient, but he couldn’t control electricity with telekinesis yet.
In-su could only watch the scene helplessly.
‘No way…… This can’t be……’
In-su barely held onto his fading consciousness.
‘Why…… did I lose……?’
In-su hadn’t let his guard down even for a moment.
No, he had been overly thorough and had used every trick he could think of.
He had drugged the apple tea, given poison instead of potions, and even accompanied a Flame Sorcerer assassin to the Flame Dungeon.
On top of that, he had even brought out his strongest secret technique,
Even at the risk of destroying the village’s farmland and surveillance trees.
There was nothing more he could have done.
Nevertheless, In-su was defeated.
‘If I’ve used every trick I have and still lost…… what should I do now?’
No, before that.
‘Why did this disaster befall me?’
He felt wronged.
Deeply wronged and frustrated.
‘If it weren’t for that b*stard……!’
Cough!
In-su coughed up blood.
Now, only a hollow laugh came out.
C-rank, he had been driven to this point by a mere C-rank Hunter.
‘I’m an S-rank……!’
The thought that everything was futile and meaningless began to fill his mind.
‘Alright, f*ck it, let’s end it all. Let’s end it all……’
While Sa-hyeok’s attention was momentarily diverted due to the battle,
In-su took out a small jar he was carrying on his waist with his barely moving left arm.
A single pitch-black jar about the size of a grenade.
In-su bit the jar with his teeth.
Crunch-
He focused all his remaining strength on his bite force.
In-su had one goal.
To break this jar.
And-
Crack!
The jar shattered.
The shattered fragments of the jar pierced and dug into In-su’s palate and tongue.
Even as blood flowed from his mouth, In-su was laughing.
“Ehehehehe……”
It wasn’t the benevolent smile he had always shown to those around him.
Maniacal laughter.
It was the last desperate act of a madman.
“Hahahahahaha!!”
At the sudden laughter, Sa-hyeok turned towards In-su.
Poof!
The shattered jar.
A black, murky smoke billowing from the jar.
At first, Sa-hyeok thought it was a smoke grenade.
But the atmosphere emanating from it was too ominous for it to be smoke from a smoke grenade.
Moreover……
Crackle-
Something like sparks were swirling within the black smoke.
That was a thundercloud.
A cloud carrying lightning.
“What the……?”
“Artifact,
In-su continued, chuckling.
“It kills all humans except the owner until it’s sealed back in the jar. But what can I do, the jar is broken?”
“……!”
Whoosh!
The black thundercloud rapidly grew in size and started rushing towards the people.
The first targets were the Hunters of the village who were lying sprawled out after being defeated by Sa-hyeok.
Crackle!
Those caught in the thundercloud were instantly fried by the tremendous electrical shock.
“Kyaaaack!”
“Help me!!”
“Mom……!”
Only those who had been burned black to death remained where the thundercloud had passed.
The thundercloud absorbed the mana of the dead Hunters and grew even larger.
Then, the thundercloud began to pursue Sa-hyeok.
‘Crazy b*stard, using his subordinates as batteries?!’
Whoosh!
The enlarged thundercloud attacked Sa-hyeok from all directions.
Sa-hyeok immediately responded by throwing two Thunderbolt Needles.
Whoosh!
As the Thunderbolt Needles penetrated the thundercloud, the electricity condensed within the thundercloud began to concentrate on the Thunderbolt Needles.
Crack!
Sa-hyeok immediately plunged the Thunderbolt Needles into the ground.
Then, the electricity guided by the Thunderbolt Needles flowed into the ground, and a large amount of power was absorbed into the earth.
Just like a lightning rod attracts lightning and spreads it into the ground.
Crackle-
Thus, the thundercloud lost a significant amount of power and its size decreased.
In-su muttered in a voice filled with rage.
“Wh-What are you doing……!”
But even so, the thundercloud was still a threat.
Above all, the thundercloud didn’t stop pursuing Sa-hyeok.
Sa-hyeok activated the Flame Ring.
Whoosh!
A wall of flames blocked the advance of the thundercloud.
But the thundercloud was a cloud, its essence water vapor.
Therefore, the thundercloud began to erode and penetrate the wall of flames.
‘Tsk……!’
Sa-hyeok tried to make the wall of flames thicker, but he didn’t have the strength.
From the raid to the one-on-one battle, too much fatigue had accumulated.
He hadn’t even taken a stimulant after the battle.
Whoosh!
Eventually, the wall of flames collapsed.
The thundercloud approached like a wave.
He had to dodge.
No, he could dodge.
But Sa-hyeok knew that if he did, this chase wouldn’t end.
So Sa-hyeok chose.
To stand still.
Whoosh!!
The thundercloud engulfed Sa-hyeok.
“Sa-hyeok-ah!!”
Jang-hoon screamed from the top of the hill.
A situation where he would most likely be electrocuted to death.
But-
Crackle, crackle, crackle-
The size of the thundercloud began to shrink little by little.
At the same time, In-su’s face hardened.
“What……?”
Crackle-
“It can’t be. You can’t possibly control electricity too……!”
Crackle-
The rapidly shrinking thundercloud, the shrinking electricity.
Soon, the figure of Sa-hyeok, who had been inside the thundercloud, was revealed.
His body was covered in burns from the electric shock.
However, the thundercloud that had done that to him had shrunk to the size of a baseball and was held in Sa-hyeok’s hand.
He had now succeeded in controlling not only flames but also electricity.
It was clear who the victor was.
In-su muttered.
“……No, why does something like that even exist……!”
Swish!
Sa-hyeok gathered all the fragments of the broken jar with telekinesis.
Then, he restored the broken jar as if putting together a puzzle.
Thanks to his experience in solving junk artifacts thousands of times more complex than this, the restoration was completed in an instant.
And Sa-hyeok put the thundercloud back into the jar.
Clang-
However, it wasn’t a perfect seal.
He was forcibly maintaining its form using telekinesis.
The moment Sa-hyeok released his power, the jar would scatter again.
Therefore, Sa-hyeok poured all his mind and strength into maintaining the seal.
But the battle wasn’t over yet.
‘Sung In-su……!’
He had to k*ll that b*stard to end this situation.
As that thought reached him-
Bang!
With a sudden gunshot, Sung In-su’s chest spurted blood.
“Sung In-su…… you…… b*stard……”
Unexpectedly, it was Sung In-su’s first wife who had fired the gun.
Bang!
Another gunshot followed.
Blood spurted from In-su’s temple.
That was the end.
The battle ended like that.
