Let's Take a Hit First
Blood began to seep between Yoo Heeyeon's tightly clenched fist. She couldn't accept this. Lee Hyunseung—the same Lee Hyunseung who, until just recently, had been at a level so far beneath her—had blocked her core attack, the Explosive Light. To her, Explosive Light was merely one of many techniques she could use. She hadn't poured her full strength into it, but the real problem was how utterly composed Lee Hyunseung looked.
Lee Hyunseung taunted her as if he were enjoying some amusing game. When Yoo Heeyeon froze, unable to respond, he suddenly burst forward and shouted.
Boom!
As he spoke, Lee Hyunseung charged ahead, swapping magazines mid-sprint. The magic-nullifying rounds were only useful for blocking spells—they couldn't deal physical damage. It was the obvious move.
Magic-Attribute Magazine Loaded
A magic-attribute magazine. It coated bullets in demonic energy. Demonic energy corroded anything it touched and amplified pain. That was why demonic beasts wielding it had always been objects of terror for people.
Click.
After properly loading the magazine, Lee Hyunseung dropped his stance low. He didn't want to reveal the direction of his muzzle.
Yoo Heeyeon screamed. Around her—excluding herself—stood roughly nine others. Lee Hyunseung kept his body low, muzzle hidden, eyes darting as he searched for his first target.
The group flinched. Despite Yoo Heeyeon's order, no one stepped forward. They were afraid because they couldn't tell where his gun was aimed. Lee Hyunseung had already retired four A-class members. Three of them were presumed to have been taken down single-handedly. And just moments ago, he had even blocked Yoo Heeyeon's Explosive Light. After witnessing all of that firsthand, who among them wouldn't fear him?
The thief Han Jegwang, unable to hold back any longer, stepped forward.
He's a gunslinger. His firepower is impressive, but I just won't get hit. And no matter what, he's still human. Stick a blade in his throat and he'll stop moving.
With that thought, Han Jegwang drew a small dagger from his waist.
Shing.
He hurled the dagger at Lee Hyunseung, then reached into his pocket again.
The moment he fires to deflect the dagger, I'll follow up and kill him.
He waited until the dagger reached Lee Hyunseung's face. Since Lee Hyunseung was skilled with firearms and knew bayonet techniques, he would deflect it even without shooting. That would create a brief opening.
Swish!
But contrary to his expectations, Lee Hyunseung dodged it by a hair's breadth—so close the blade nearly grazed his face. If he'd evaded even a fraction less, the dagger would have pierced his eye.
Lee Hyunseung's movement, which should have slowed from the brake, instead accelerated as he willingly took damage. Han Jegwang tried to hurl the various hidden weapons clutched in his hand.
At that instant—
Swoosh—Bang!
Lee Hyunseung fired precisely at his hand.
Whoosh.
He then leaped above Han Jegwang, raised his foot, and slammed his heel down, shattering the man's toe bones.
Crunch!
As Han Jegwang curled up in agony, Lee Hyunseung grabbed his head and drove a knee strike into his face.
Boom!
A sound like something exploding rang out. But Lee Hyunseung didn't stop—he smashed his knee into the man's face two more times.
A-class participant has been eliminated.
The brutal punishment made the remaining fighters flinch. There were still nine A-class members left, including Yoo Heeyeon. They needed to seize this momentum and charge.
Boom!
As Lee Hyunseung leaped forward again, Jeong Eunseo shouted from behind.
Whoosh.
Jeong Eunseo's mana wrapped around Lee Hyunseung's body.
Temporary increase to movement speed and attack power.
Jeong Eunseo had cast a buff spell. There was no time to analyze what kind it was. He didn't even have time to beat the enemies in front of him to death. Every single second counted.
A quick-witted swordsman carrying a massive greatsword pushed forward as if he intended to act as the tank. Behind him, an A-class mage was already casting a massive flame spell.
Damn it.
They had fallen into panic at first, but now they were forming proper formations and moving systematically. A bad sign. Still, it was fine. There were only nine of them here. The other forty-plus A-class members were probably too busy securing their own territories to pay attention. If he could thin these ones out and buy even a little more time, his plan would remain intact.
"Huff... huff..."
Lee Hyunseung was panting because he'd moved too quickly in that instant. But he couldn't stop yet.
With those words, Lee Hyunseung swiftly changed magazines again and thrust his arm toward the sky. When he fired, strange sparkling particles began to float in the air. It was the power of the Stone Dust Bullet.
Stone Dust Bullet — Upon reaching a set distance, the projectile explodes, scattering sharp stone particles in all directions.
The stone dust rained down at terrifying speed, whipping in every direction. The enemies, who had never imagined a gunslinger could use such an absurd technique, were caught completely off guard.
Whiiiirrr—!
But it was only for a moment. The mage in the rear instantly deployed a wind spell, scattering all of Lee Hyunseung's stone dust. Still, enough time had passed for Lee Hyunseung to close the distance.
Whoosh.
He reached the swordsman and slammed the barrel of his gun upward into the man's jaw.
Boom!
Cough!
The swordsman spat blood the instant he was struck. His massive size and durability were proportional, but there was no way he could withstand the damage Lee Hyunseung had driven into his jaw.
Squeeze!
Yet the swordsman refused to fall. His mind was reeling and his body wouldn't obey, but he still stood his ground.
The moment he tried to attack—
Bang!
Lee Hyunseung fired a bullet straight into his heart.
Thud.
A-class participant has been eliminated.
The deaths of the swordsman and thief who had stepped to the front. It wouldn't take long to reach the rear line now.
Tatata—!
As Lee Hyunseung charged toward the retreating enemies—
Crackle—!
Lightning began to fall from the sky.
At Lee Hyunseung's call, Jeong Eunseo created a massive magic shield above his head.
Bababababang!
The magic shield blocked every bolt of lightning.
The mage who had been lazily hurling spells from the rear—
Stab!
Lee Hyunseung snatched up the dagger the thief had dropped earlier and drove it straight into the mage's heart.
A-class participant has been eliminated.
Whoosh!
From behind, Yoo Heeyeon's spell came flying.
Too late to dodge.
Lee Hyunseung shoved the mage's body—still impaled by the dagger—toward the enemy and charged.
Boooom!
Yoo Heeyeon's spell struck her own ally mage directly and vanished.
A-class participant has been eliminated.
Now he had reached their front line. The closer a firearm was fired, the greater its power. That was why Lee Hyunseung had desperately closed the distance.
Click.
He quickly dropped to one knee to reduce recoil and took aim.
Inhale—!
The moment he held his breath, it felt as if the flow of air around him had stopped.
Focus
With terrifying concentration, Lee Hyunseung stared at Yoo Heeyeon and the remaining five A-class members.
She's gone completely insane.
Yoo Heeyeon had abandoned offense entirely and was casting a high-level defensive spell to protect herself. That meant he only had to deal with the remaining five.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
At a distance of less than ten meters, one bullet per person. All five A-class members who had been shot cleanly through the heart were eliminated at once.
A-class participant has been eliminated.
A-class participant has been eliminated.
...
A-class participant has been eliminated.
With only Yoo Heeyeon left, Lee Hyunseung charged straight at her. She was hiding inside a dark, spherical barrier.
When Lee Hyunseung swung his gun at her, the defensive magic automatically counterattacked. Black blades resembling tentacles shot toward him.
Dark Emperor — Hides the body inside a high-defense black sphere. Automatically counterattacks enemies who strike the sphere.
Whirl.
Whenever a tentacle flew at him, Lee Hyunseung twisted his body at the last possible moment to evade.
Booom—Clatter!
The same thing happened when he attacked—the Dark Emperor counterattacked. But Lee Hyunseung had already memorized all of its patterns.
Stab.
Once again, he took only a minor wound and dodged the counter.
Bang! Boom!
Lee Hyunseung alternated between shooting and direct strikes, hammering the sphere again and again. Soon—
Crack!
Fissures began to spread across the black sphere.
CRAAAAASH!
With one final strike from his gun, the sphere shattered completely.
Yoo Heeyeon trembled violently and tried to cast a spell, but—
Clatter!
From a distance, Jeong Eunseo bound her body with mana chains, preventing any movement.
With Yoo Heeyeon completely defenseless, Lee Hyunseung launched himself into the air and brought his gun down on her with the full force of his descent.
Her foot. At first, Yoo Heeyeon's foot was completely crushed.
Whirl—!
Using the recoil of his fall, Lee Hyunseung spun once in the air and slammed his heel into her face.
BAAAAAANG!
Thud.
Yoo Heeyeon writhed in agony. She clutched her crushed foot and wailed, sobbing uncontrollably. Without a doubt, she had never been beaten like this before in her life. The terror she felt must have been beyond imagination.
But Lee Hyunseung had no intention of stopping here. After watching her suffer for a long while, he spoke in a chilling voice.
Step. Step. Step.
Lee Hyunseung walked toward Yoo Heeyeon. She muttered like someone who had lost her mind.
Lee Hyunseung approached the muttering Yoo Heeyeon. Then her voice became clear.
Whoosh.
A red light flickered from her staff.
Communication-type magic.
The reason Yoo Heeyeon had hidden inside Dark Emperor was to conceal the fact that she had used a communication spell to contact her allies elsewhere.
Yoo Heeyeon pointed at the sky. When he looked up, a pitch-black fog had begun to spread across the entire heavens. Darkness fell over the arena, and a chilling mist permeated the air. A massive, alien white orb floated in the sky.
Lee Hyunseung searched for the source of the surging mana. On top of a distant cliff, dozens of A-class members were pouring all their mana into a single person. The A-class members he thought had disappeared—they had gathered every ounce of their mana to cast a high-level spell.
Yoo Heeyeon stared blankly at the sky, as if things weren't going according to her expectations. Lee Hyunseung turned away, leaving her behind.
He immediately sprinted toward Jeong Eunseo.
Jeong Eunseo stood frozen, unable to move under the oppressive, sticky dark energy. Lee Hyunseung ran toward her with everything he had. Soon, a massive spear would shoot out from that white orb.
The Spear of Longinus. Anything it struck would suffer such horrific agony that death would be preferable. Elimination didn't matter anymore. Getting hit by that attack might drive someone insane.
"Huff... huff..."
As he ran, Lee Hyunseung considered every possibility.
Where did I go wrong? How can those bastards even use that skill?
There was no way mere academy students could use the Spear of Longinus. No—they weren't allowed to. It was one of the forbidden spells. Realizing such thoughts were useless now, Lee Hyunseung considered the next possibility.
Should I abandon Jeong Eunseo? To win this match, it's more logical for her to be sacrificed than for me to throw myself away.
By cold reason, rushing to save Jeong Eunseo was the wrong choice. Yet his feet kept moving. The image of her standing firm at the occupation point, bleeding heavily, refused to leave his mind.
Rumble—!
The massive white orb in the sky had begun to push out the body of an enormous spear.
Booom!
Two spears shot out instantly, hurtling toward Lee Hyunseung and Jeong Eunseo.
Whirrrrrr—!
The instant the madly spinning spears reached them—
Shunk—!
With a terrible sound, something was impaled by the spears. Lee Hyunseung instinctively closed his eyes.
What... what happened?
He felt no pain. The Spear of Longinus never missed. There had been two spears. If both had struck him directly, his entire body should have been burning with unbearable agony by now.
Lee Hyunseung opened his eyes and looked ahead.
"Huff... huff..."
Standing in front of him was a familiar man. Two massive spears were embedded in his abdomen, yet he remained upright, albeit precariously. He gripped both spears tightly with both hands, as if afraid they might pierce through him and reach the people behind.
His eyes were bloodshot crimson. Lee Hyunseung knew exactly what those eyes meant.
The mad berserker, Han Seonggil. He stood there, drenched in blood.