Chapter 68
Chapter 68
The Illusion Terror Incident - 5
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“Shiiit—!! Die, all of you—!!”
In the original story, it took only three seconds for the bomb to detonate.
Living up to its name, the Super Mana Bomb, a fusion of highly condensed mana and a small amount of nuclear energy, possessed enough destructive power to obliterate everything within a radius of several dozen meters.
One might scoff at the limited range, but the Super Mana Bomb wasn’t designed for widespread destruction.
Its characteristic was concentrated devastation within a small radius.
The epicenter of the explosion was said to be completely vaporized.
If De Roque didn’t sacrifice himself to contain it, everyone in the vicinity, including myself, would suffer catastrophic damage.
Due to its immense destructive power, it was a bomb that not just anyone could handle. The original story mentioned that only a select few could create a Super Mana Bomb.
If I hadn’t known the original story, I would have been running for my life right now.
But I held my breath, my eyes were fixed on De Roque.
“You fool—!!”
De Roque, also aware of the power held in Rokta’s hand, quickly activated his ability.
Just like in the original story, he transformed his body into black smoke and ensnared Rokta within it, like a net.
A moment later,
*-Whee-e-e-e-ing*
The rising ultrasonic whine abruptly cut off with a high-pitched *beep*, creating the illusion of time stopping.
And then,
*-KABOOM!!*
A tremendous explosion erupted, and a bright white light burst forth from within the black net of De Roque’s transformed body.
The black net momentarily expanded like a balloon before collapsing.
*-Fwoosh…*
With a hissing sound, gray smoke billowed out. When De Roque reformed his body,
I witnessed the true power of the Super Mana Bomb.
As described in the original story, there was no trace of Rokta, the B-rank villain.
He had been vaporized in the explosion.
A testament to its power, a large crater had formed where Rokta had been standing, the ground caving in.
“Ugh…!”
De Roque coughed up dark red blood and fell to one knee, weakened by the blast.
The original story never explained why Choi Do-han had to be captured alive, but seeing De Roque sacrifice himself to contain the bomb suggested that he had been ordered to capture him unharmed, without any physical damage.
However,
Having taken the full brunt of the Super Mana Bomb, De Roque was in bad shape. If Park Na-yeon had been here, he would have been easily subdued.
Unfortunately, there was no sign of my Master.
This was where the real game began.
Without Park Na-yeon’s assistance, I had to wait for Choi Do-han to land a follow-up attack on De Roque.
It might seem cowardly and opportunistic, but adhering to morals, ethics, or rules in a life-or-death situation was foolish.
‘But the real problem is…’
De Roque was at least an A-rank villain.
If he hadn’t taken the Super Mana Bomb head-on, Choi Do-han would have had almost no chance of winning.
It usually took about three A-rank Hunters to take on an A-rank villain.
Even with the critical injury from the Super Mana Bomb, it was uncertain whether Choi Do-han could land a decisive blow.
If Choi Do-han fell easily, I would have no choice but to confront De Roque directly.
I didn’t want that to happen, so for the first time, I found myself rooting for Choi Do-han.
Safety first, right?
‘Go get him, kid.’
And judging by what I saw at lunch, he seemed to have something up his sleeve.
So, I kept my bow drawn, ready to fire at any moment and watched them closely.
A moment later,
“Hammer Doom—!!”
Choi Do-han initiated the fight.
*-BOOM!*
“Ugh!”
Hammer Doom, a skill where he jumped high into the air and slammed down on the ground with tremendous force. It was a simple attack pattern, but it could inflict significant damage in a single blow.
De Roque narrowly dodged the Hammer Doom, but he was hit directly by the following horizontal slash, “Side Smasher.”
“Gah!”
*-CRASH!*
De Roque coughed up blood again and was sent flying, crashing through various equipment in the gymnasium before rolling across the floor and hitting a wall.
“Ugh…!”
He coughed up more blood and slumped to the ground, seemingly unable to continue fighting.
‘…What? That was anticlimactic.’
Was it a fight that could be ended with a single Super Mana Bomb, even without Park Na-yeon’s assistance?
‘Well, it was powerful enough to vaporize a B-rank villain without a trace, and he took the full force of it, so the internal injuries must be far worse than the external ones.’
Although there wasn't significant external damage, the internal injuries must be severe, making him cough up blood and lose control of his body like a zombie.
It was time.
Choi Do-han, also sensing the opportunity, was preparing for the final blow.
I took a deep breath, held it, and quickly activated my [Detection] trait, locking onto De Roque.
The moment these three arrows were fired, the conflict between Choi Do-han and me would escalate to its peak.
Ambushing him and aiming for the last hit clearly showed my intention to interfere.
It was a blatant disregard for his warnings and threats from lunch, so he wouldn’t let it slide.
But there was no hesitation in my hand as I drew the bowstring.
As the chosen agent of the 52-time regressor, I couldn’t afford hesitation or fear.
I needed a resolute heart, courage, and unwavering determination.
*-Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.*
Surging mana condensed into the arrows.
I focused my mind, sharpened my aim.
And then,
*-THWOOM-!!*
With a sound like a cannon firing, three arrows shot towards a single target.
*-Shatter!*
The arrows shattered the window, slicing through the scattering shards and hurtling towards De Roque.
The three arrows rotated and created a powerful gust of mana-infused wind.
Choi Do-han looked back.
His eyes widened.
But his gaze couldn’t even follow the wind created by the arrows.
They had already passed him, hurtling towards De Roque.
“Shit-! Divine Swing—!!”
He hurriedly activated his skill.
Divine Swing, one of his strongest skills.
He launched his enlarged mace like a boomerang, making it an unavoidable attack.
But it was too slow to even graze the tails of my magic arrows.
And a moment later, a system notification rang in my ears.
[Ding]
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
“Everyone, move in—!”
““Yes!””
As planned, at 8:20 PM, villains appeared inside the academy.
They had come through the completed portal.
Buildings were destroyed, and the festival grounds were in chaos.
However, to avoid arousing God R’hell’s suspicion, the Monster Management Bureau, which had surrounded the academy, didn’t intervene immediately.
They could afford to wait for the minimum response time after receiving a report.
They had notified the academy in advance.
The time of the attack, the target buildings – they had shared all the information.
Thanks to this, the academy hadn’t set up the festival venue near the targeted buildings, and security guards hired by the academy were stationed nearby.
This prevented any major casualties.
“Execute D-rank and lower villains on sight, and try to capture C-rank and higher villains alive. Understood?”
Hye-seo, the on-site commander, gave the order to the Holders of the Capture Team after deploying the Suppression Team.
““Yes!””
“Move in.”
With a flick of her wrist, Hye-seo also approached the festival grounds.
She knew this was Illusion’s declaration of war and a show of force.
But her pace quickened.
‘The graduating class’s festival area was over there, right?’
Hye-seo looked around, as if searching for someone.
Then, spotting something, she ran towards it.
“Han-na? Is that you, Han-na?”
It was the table where Tae-jin had been sitting.
She had seen the record that Cadet Han-na had been with Tae-jin when he hunted villains at the academy.
And,
“Oh, Renia? Is that you, Renia?”
“Huh? Who’sh dat~?”
“It is you. But, where’s Tae-jin?”
Hye-seo knew that Tae-jin and Renia were always together.
But he wasn’t anywhere nearby.
As Hye-seo looked around anxiously, Su-ah stood up with her eyes filled with worry.
“Wh-what is it? Did something happen to brother Tae-jin?”
“No, not that I know of. Do you know where he went?”
“He said he was going to check out the situation, and he hasn’t returned…”
“How long has it been?”
“I think it’s been over 20 minutes…”
Hye-seo frowned.
Was there something going on after all?
The fact that Han Tae-jin had disappeared after acting alone made her uneasy.
20 minutes meant he had disappeared as soon as the attack started.
“Hmm, I see. Thank you.”
“W-wait!”
Su-ah grabbed her arm.
Her eyes were filled with anxiety.
“Are you looking for Brother Tae-jin?”
“Yes, there’s something I need to confirm.”
“I-I’ll go with you…!”
‘Were they that close?’
Since more eyes were always better for a search, Hye-seo nodded.
“Alright. Let’s look for him together.”
“Yes…!”
“Let’s start by going in the direction he went. Lead the way.”
“Okay!”
Su-ah started running, and Hye-seo followed.
Cadet Han Tae-jin.
He had been on her mind lately, and today was no exception.
If he had stayed with the group, that would have been the end of it.
But where was he, and what was he doing?
There was definitely something going on.
He would have realized it was an Illusion attack within a minute. So, why hadn’t he returned to his group?
Especially after he had promised to come back.
Had something happened to him?
‘Han Tae-jin, where are you…?!’
Her brief experience as a search team leader, along with her intuition as a woman, urged her to find Cadet Han Tae-jin.
She didn’t know why, but she felt that finding him would somehow help her unravel the questions swirling in her mind.
Su-ah and Hye-seo navigated the chaotic scene.
Then, Su-ah spotted it.
The [Gymnasium].
A place she, as a 52-time regressor, couldn’t possibly mistake.
The scene of the incident she had experienced 51 times.
Choi Do-han and De Roque were most likely fighting there right now.
It was an event that had repeated itself 51 times.
But strangely, she had a nagging feeling, a certainty, that Han Tae-jin was there.
“H-hey, where are you going, Cadet Yoo Su-ah?!”
Ignoring Hye-seo’s call, Su-ah ran straight towards the gymnasium.