Scarecrow (2)
Do-hyeon did not need to say it for Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan to know. The moment the scarecrow tore through the shadows, the air itself changed.
But even without using mana pressure, the weight pressing down on the air and the oppressive presence suffocating their bodies made them tremble uncontrollably.
These two, hailed as prodigies and even acknowledged by Do-hyeon, had never felt a dense malice and hatred like this before.
Do-hyeon himself was already sensing his body crumbling under that heavy killing intent.
On the contrary, Galakro Hedrix felt something strange and tilted his head ninety degrees while staring at Do-hyeon.
He had clearly thought the black blade had split Do-hyeon’s upper body in two, yet in that fleeting instant Do-hyeon had spotted the sickle’s handle, kicked it with his foot to minimize the impact, and taken the blow on the arm instead.
“……? ……?”
Galakro blinked his empty, vacant eyes, still unable to understand, and straw fluttered down in the space between them.
Do-hyeon looked at it and was certain.
“That guy from YouTube.”
He remembered the villainous other-race hunter he had seen on YouTube before entering the D-rank zone.
He had thought it was probably the same species because it resembled a scarecrow, but it really was a scarecrow. Never mind that. Do-hyeon checked the creature’s stats again.
Three of them exceeded sixty, and one was a full sixty-five.
The lowest was still over fifty. Seeing that, Do-hyeon felt something beyond strangeness—pure, bone-chilling fear.
Even if he were a C-rank hunter, these stats were monstrous.
The skills and abilities painted a picture of a true monster, yet somehow Do-hyeon knew the rules did not allow easy death. He began probing the load attached to the creature.
“Two loads already.”
Three stats above sixty meant two separate loads. One was a physical degradation load, and the other a skill restriction load.
The physical degradation load lowered body stats, and the skill restriction load sealed a few techniques, just as the name suggested.
A powerful being staying in a zone that didn’t match its level, committing villainy here. Was it because he was a dark mage?
Most likely the aesthetic of the sacrifice from the highest black magic line, Do-hyeon guessed.
He had almost wanted to run, but…
“It would be hard to run.”
From the way the shadow had torn open moments ago, the teleportation skill among the black magic seemed active.
Since Do-hyeon, Hana Rin, and Ji Yu-chan all possessed teleportation, if they kept moving three times—roughly three hundred meters—they might just escape. But Do-hyeon abandoned the idea.
“It teleported in from beyond my detection range.”
Do-hyeon’s current detection range was about two hundred meters.
Twice what it had been before, but that also meant the scarecrow had detected their location instantly and appeared from outside that range.
Their maximum teleport distance, using it once each, was around three hundred meters. If the creature’s range exceeded three hundred meters from here, there would be no more chances to run.
How had Korean hunters who had almost been killed by this thing escaped? The question gnawed at him.
His mind spinning, Do-hyeon watched Galakro still staring at the sickle, swallowed hard, and tightened his grip on the sword.
If that was the case, fighting was the only option.
And just as Galakro was still tilting his head and staring at the sickle, a completely new message appeared before Do-hyeon’s eyes.
**[Fatal and threatening attack path analyzed.]**
A crimson, ominous message flashed, and the attack trajectory was drawn clearly in his mind.
A massive sickle splitting open the heart and swinging down, the body torn apart.
The instant Do-hyeon saw the shape, his instincts moved. Just like before, the soundless scarecrow appeared right in front of him.
Do-hyeon recalled the shape and pushed his Golden Sword technique to the limit, circulating mana through his body, stepping in a special way to get out of the position.
He couldn’t avoid it completely.
Puaaak—
The huge blade pierced his shoulder blade.
Pain raced through his body and into his brain, yet Do-hyeon gritted his teeth and swung the sword with both eyes wide open.
Galakro blocked the sword with his other hand, spun the sickle, and swung it horizontally to cut Do-hyeon’s heart clean.
Without it, Do-hyeon would surely die, torn apart at the heart.
But Hana Rin had already fired a sharp, piercing bullet with a magic circle drawn in the air and her will added.
Siiiing——
Paararaaaaaah——!!!
Galakro, unable to ignore the incoming projectile, quickly tried to tear the sickle out of his own chest, but Do-hyeon moved a fraction faster.
The moment his sword was blocked, Do-hyeon kicked Galakro with his foot.
Of course it shouldn’t have registered on that body, but he didn’t aim to damage. He used the kick only as a launch platform and launched himself backward.
The sickle that had pierced his shoulder slid out smoothly, and Do-hyeon could step back.
Chwaaaak——!
Puk! Puk!
The Guardian’s Body had activated, so blood spurted out in gulps. If it hadn’t, the area would have been soaked in blood.
The moment Do-hyeon stepped out of the pool of blood, Ji Yu-chan, using his body and the golden sword, charged straight at Galakro and swung.
Galakro had been dodging the bullet, so he had no choice but to raise the sickle and block Ji Yu-chan’s attack.
A single strike of the Golden Sword formed a long golden arc that slammed down on the scarecrow’s sickle.
A thunderous sound rang out.
Chaaaaang———
Deeeng———
A massive sickle rang like a bell, yet Galakro, after dodging the bullet, swung his sickle upward and cleaved Ji Yu-chan first, then lifted it high.
Ji Yu-chan, intending to dodge, moved away from the spot, but Do-hyeon felt the danger and triggered Ground Upper before the words left his mouth.
A pillar of rock shot up from the floor and slammed into Ji Yu-chan.
Puuuk——!
Ji Yu-chan frowned at the sudden shock, but the Ground Upper that had risen struck diagonally and fell to the ground.
A sickle swung without even showing itself sliced through the air. Galakro tore through the shadows once more and burst out from behind Ji Yu-chan’s position.
The chill that ran down Ji Yu-chan’s spine made him forget the pain from the earlier blow.
Do-hyeon said to them, “Don’t let your guard down.”
Seeing Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan being pushed back one after the other, they could vaguely sense Do-hyeon’s intention.
“Teleport…?”
“……to save us?”
While Hana Rin and Ji Yu-chan were thinking that, Do-hyeon recovered his wounds as much as possible and charged toward Galakro.
The moment Galakro used teleportation, the analysis path would break for a second.
Seeing it break and then appear somewhere else, Do-hyeon understood the effect of the shadow teleportation.
“The body disappears first, then it decides where to move to.”
He thought such an overpowered technique was impossible, but he didn’t say it out loud.
Had Galakro noticed Do-hyeon’s unreasonableness?
He tilted his head ninety degrees again and looked at Do-hyeon. When their eyes met the straw pile in the empty space, a terrifying illusion rose.
But.
**[Upper-tier black magic—Gruesome Vision [C] analyzed.]**
**[Upper-tier black magic—Gruesome Vision [C] canceled.]**
The instant Do-hyeon saw it, he read the trajectory the analysis had shown and, spotting the sickle aimed at his neck, used the Golden Sword technique and dropped his body low.
Hooong——
If not for the analysis, his neck would have been sliced off.
Realizing it, Do-hyeon dropped his body and cast magic. Sparks erupted above Galakro’s head, and with the will to pierce, lightning fell.
Kwarrurureung———
A strong bolt of lightning became a thunderbolt and fell toward Galakro’s head, intending to pierce the body.
But Galakro quickly spun the sickle he had raised and rotated it at the same time, black energy infused into the blade, shattering the falling lightning.
Chizizizit———
The lightning’s streak flowed along the sickle, spread in all directions, and was destroyed.
Yet at that moment Do-hyeon straightened his crouching body, raised the golden sword, and swung.
The black energy erupting from below was like a soaring dragon, golden light rippling as it aimed to cut Galakro’s chest.
However, Galakro had already vanished into shadows again. Do-hyeon analyzed the figure that had appeared behind Hana Rin and tried to cast Ground Upper under her feet, but it was too late.
The sickle had already emerged. If he sent Hana Rin out like this, she would be split in half by the blade.
The moment the analysis of the trajectory was accelerated, Do-hyeon saw the sickle slowly piercing through the air, decided, and activated Ground Upper beneath his own feet.
Since magic activated closer to the caster formed faster than using it from far away, Do-hyeon added his will here and triggered Ground Upper faster.
Puuuueong———!!!
Even though the distance was not great, a sonic boom erupted. Grasping the faint golden sword, Do-hyeon spun in mid-air and extended the blade toward the emerging sickle.
The moment Do-hyeon’s charge collided with the scarecrow, the figure behind Hana Rin was analyzed, and she was about to be knocked away.
But Do-hyeon hugged her, turned his body, and barely deflected the sickle with his own swing.
Kwaaaaaang———!
The sickle bounced off like it had hit an explosion, his arm jerked back. Galakro stared at Do-hyeon with an unreadable expression and empty straw eyes.
Do-hyeon spun his body, pushed Hana Rin behind him, and in the next instant, with a new sword drawn, he swung, leaving a golden trajectory in the air.
A downward wind arose, a golden storm roared toward Galakro, and Do-hyeon kicked the creature again, using it as a platform and kicking with his foot.
The instant their feet touched, Do-hyeon recalled the vague sensation he had felt earlier, his eyes shining.
And the moment his foot touched Galakro, he analyzed every drop of mana in the creature’s body, traced the flow through every vein, and reversed the entire current.
Reverse Flow.
The instant the creature froze, a beam of Hana Rin’s cold light shot forward.