Discipline 18. The Disciplinary Committee Leader Stops the Villain's Plan (7)
Goliath.
One of the Six Sinners.
One of the great evils destined to bring about dystopia, and the final-content villain that boasted the single hardest difficulty in the entire game.
I could say it with certainty: he was the worst of all the challenges I would ever have to face.
Goliath's exact tier was unknown.
Only that he was, at minimum, in the upper reaches of the 7th Tier.
After all, he was presumed to be the first among the new humanity to reach — or soon to reach — the Argonaut realm.
That was why, even after repeating training in Goliath's own manner — no, in a manner that surpassed his — I had still concluded that I was merely a man of mediocre talent.
Stacked against a monster like that, anyone would have come to the same conclusion.
Come to think of it, the rain had stopped pouring at some point. It seemed Goliath's descent had scattered the storm clouds along with him.
"…I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do that."
Oh Baek-seo had been unable to obey my order to run. She simply gripped Baekryundo tightly and drew her mana upward.
"There's no way we could shake off something like that—"
"No."
Perhaps the brief respite had returned a little of my strength, because I managed to push myself up using a tree for support.
"Go alone…."
"What?"
"I have an idea…. Don't worry. Just go."
Clutching my broken ribs, I dragged myself out and stood in front of her. Unable to keep my balance on my own, I braced one hand against the tree beside me and panted for breath.
Baek-seo tried to help me up, but I waved her off.
"Honestly, it's better if you're not here right now. Tell the Disciplinary Committee to hold position too…."
Goliath's gaze was fixed on me. His footsteps were coming straight this way.
He clearly had business with me.
Did he come because he sensed my mana?
Goliath must have felt the mana that had erupted the instant my unique ability bloomed.
There had been no way to contain its release.
How should I put it — it was like dropping a candy that breaks surface tension into a carbonated drink, the fizz surging up beyond all control. That's what it had felt like, that utterly unstoppable overflow.
On top of that, Goliath would have sensed the mana that the 7th-Tier monster bursting up from underground had been pouring out. That mana had practically broadcast 'I'm right here, come catch me' for all the world to hear.
So in the game, Goliath blew up that monster and then left, didn't he.
In the game, Goliath had felled the monster with a single blow, then lost interest and departed immediately.
Because that guy loves to show off.
Goliath was the kind of man who savored the fight with the strong itself. The moment he sensed a 7th-Tier's mana, he'd have come running in a frenzy of delight. No — come flying, more like.
Either way, the blooming of my unique ability had become the wild card here.
Goliath's feet, which should have carried him away, had been tied down, and now curiosity was pulling him toward me.
The thing worth gambling on is the fact that my current state is a total wreck. I doubt that guy finds any interest in fighting me as I am now.
He finally meets someone who's awakened a promising ability — and they're in no condition to fight?
What fun would there be in brawling with someone like that?
If anything, he might send me off like a man saving the finest dish on the table for last.
So if only Goliath and I remain here, I might be able to ruin his fun and buy time to come up with a plan.
But what if Baek-seo showed hostility right now, or the Disciplinary Committee opened fire?
Goliath would take it as a declaration of war and smash us all to pieces on the spot.
Facing Goliath was something to do only after drafting the right plan at the right moment, based on my knowledge of the game.
That was exactly why I wanted to send Baek-seo away and keep the Committee standing down.
And if he attacks even after that….
Then there'd be nothing left to do.
Whatever happens, happens.
"…The Disciplinary Committee is prioritizing the students' evacuation above all else, and providing only long-range fire support," Baek-seo said.
"The target's gone, so they're probably waiting for orders right now."
In other words, they were already holding position.
"And I—"
Baek-seo couldn't finish her sentence.
From the way she hesitated, it seemed she couldn't bring herself to run.
Just as I was about to urge her on, Goliath spoke.
"So it's you…! The one who let loose that mana!"
His thick, magnanimous voice sent ripples through the air.
Considering what he said and the whole context, that settled it — he had definitely come because he sensed my mana.
Shing!
I drew the Iron Dragon Staff from my belt and flicked it, pulling out the iron rod hidden inside.
"What business does the Disciplinary Committee Leader have showing up here?"
I kept my face a perfect poker mask and asked with feigned composure.
"Looking for a fight?"
"Speak your name!"
Not listening to a word I say, I see….
Not that I'd expected him to.
I knew Goliath's name just fine anyway.
And I had no desire to watch him pull every trick in the book to pry my name out of me.
So I answered honestly.
"…Ahn Woo-jin."
"I see…. I'll remember it!"
In the very same breath, without warning, Goliath bent both his knees.
"Leader!"
"—!"
BOOM!!
Goliath kicked off the ground and launched himself straight at me.
A sonic boom rippled outward as if an explosion had gone off. The ground he'd kicked off shattered, fragments scattering in every direction.
In an instant, Goliath closed the distance. He was already drawing back his fist. The space around that fist seemed to warp and bend — his unique ability was at work.
Baek-seo urgently grabbed my shoulder and pulled me back, moving to face Goliath herself.
…So this is how it ends up, huh.
Damn it.
There was no time to think.
At the very least, I refused to let Baek-seo take that hit.
I threw the last of my strength into shoving her aside. It was pure reflex.
She clearly hadn't expected me to push her away — she stumbled sideways in wide-eyed confusion.
Goliath's fist was already at my nose. A strange sensation crept over me, as if my whole body were being dragged forward. Heavy gravity was riding on Goliath's fist.
That fist would use its crushing gravity to yank its target in and unload a horrific destructive force upon it.
With Goliath's fist filling my vision, I could find no gap to slip through.
I didn't have the strength left to swing the Iron Dragon Staff, either.
Here, it would come down to one thing.
Whether or not I could endure a single blow from Goliath's fist.
Judging by the mana and momentum behind it, this punch carried less destructive power than the one he'd used to fell the 7th-Tier monster moments ago.
If I could somehow hold out, I might still have a future to speak of.
I glared into Goliath's golden eyes.
He was glaring back at me with a grin on his face.
Do you have any idea how much hell I went through to make it this far?
I wasn't about to die that easily.
I'd grit it out if it killed me.
And then, the moment our eyes locked—
everything in my field of vision began to flow at a sudden crawl.
Craaack!
In the space between Goliath and me—
a fissure split open in the empty air, and his fist plunged straight into it.
A nameless weightlessness washed over Goliath.
All around him, silence fell.
And Goliath beheld a girl with braided golden hair.
A beautiful girl wreathed in a soft, gentle radiance.
The girl parted her lips, calm and unhurried.
─Begone.
Craaack!
Another fissure tore open beside Goliath's head.
His fist, which had plunged through the crack that had appeared before me, shot out from the new one.
Time reclaimed its natural pace once more.
WHAM!!
Goliath's fist smashed into its own owner, kicking up a ferocious gale.
With a thunderous roar, Goliath's body was launched away at terrifying speed, and the shockwave sent Baek-seo and me tumbling across the ground over and over.
Screech!
Still wearing that grin, Goliath cut through the air and planted both feet against the ground, holding his stance — arms folded, perfectly still.
His feet carved furrows through the earth, heat flaring wildly from the friction, but even under such violent grinding he refused to fall, holding his pose until he finally ground to a halt.
As that needlessly dramatic display of stubborn coolness made plain, this was a man who lived and died by his own swagger.
"Ngh…."
Groaning in pain, I barely managed to raise my upper body.
What was that, just now?
My mana should have been completely spent.
And yet a crack had opened on its own, and Goliath's fist had been sent right back at him — as if someone other than me had taken control of my ability.
Baek-seo, too, looked stunned by the sight of that sudden fissure striking back at Goliath. But she didn't drown in the thought; she came straight to my side and took a combat stance, as if to shield me.
Hiss! Then, like a TV screen switching off, the crack converged into a single line and vanished.
"The correct answer…! You've finally shown yourself!"
Goliath bellowed in a voice laced with something like a beast's breathing. He sounded delighted.
There wasn't a trace of alarm in him.
He hadn't known my ability beforehand — and yet he reacted as if this, too, had been expected.
Goliath pointed at me with a grin.
"That is the Protection of the Golden Sheep!"
"……?"
The Protection of the Golden Sheep.
By my memory of the game, it was a mysterious trait bestowed upon Goliath.
At a moment of mortal crisis, a power would activate — just once — to save him.
Considering it could trigger every single time we crossed paths, there must have been some kind of cooldown as well.
In the game, that trait alone made him a nightmare to deal with.
And he's telling me it's been granted to me too?
"……."
What had just happened was certainly something worthy of the name 'Protection.'
Goliath was the only one who had ever received the Protection of the Golden Sheep, so he alone would have been able to recognize it.
So that's why he didn't panic.
"…Baek-seo, help me up."
"Okay."
Baek-seo draped my arm over her shoulder, steadied me, and raised me to my feet.
"Ahn Woo-jin!"
"What."
Goliath thundered magnanimously.
"Don't you dare die at the hands of any of the countless small fry that infest this city…!"
The warning came out of nowhere.
But its meaning was crystal clear.
Exactly the meaning I had predicted.
Just as one must wait for fruit to ripen before eating it—
he intended to wait for me to grow stronger.
In other words: I'd caught his eye.
Goliath flashed a wide grin and bent his knees.
FWOOSH!!
He leapt skyward, tearing a sonic boom behind him.
And then, Goliath vanished into the heavens.