First Joint Mock Battle Simulation (8)
The sound sliced through the air—shwooooosh!—as Han Seol-ah tumbled helplessly through the sky, her posture completely broken. A fist the size of Behemoth's entire body hurtled toward her in a brutal arc. If it connected, the sheer mass would shatter her mind long before the virtual reality system could register the hit. In that dizzying instant, my body reacted first from the rear where I'd been waiting for an opening.
Taht! I rolled hard to the side, slipping smoothly into the perfect angle to snipe Behemoth's eye. Asphalt scraped beneath me as I completed the roll, dropping into a kneeling firing stance with my knee planted firmly for stability. It was the most basic of basics, yet executed with flawless speed. Both hands already gripped the magitech automatic rifle I'd kept slung across my chest.
My target: the monster's massive, blood-red eyeball.
Ratatatatang—!! The muzzle flashed, spitting mana bullets that traced graceful arcs through the air. But in the middle of an eight-meter-tall beast rampaging through chaos, the limits of my mediocre Rank 2 skill were painfully obvious. Only a single shot found its mark in the pupil. The rest slammed uselessly into the creature's helmet-thick forehead plating and the vicious rhino-like horn jutting from its snout, sparking harmlessly before scattering in every direction.
"Grrrugh?!"
Yet that one solid hit did the trick. The stinging impact on its eye membrane made Behemoth jerk its enormous head, staggering. The monstrous fist meant to crush Seol-ah veered off by a few precious centimeters.
At the same time, I thrust out my left hand and clenched it toward empty air.
Spatial Interference
It was the faintest ripple of mana, but more than enough to tug Seol-ah's falling body a few dozen centimeters backward.
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!
Behemoth's fist whistled past her nose and pulverized the plaza floor. A storm of backlash whipped up, sending dust flying everywhere.
"Grrrrrr—!"
The injured beast shook its head violently and let out a roar of pure fury. Its glowing red eyes burned brighter as it prepared to follow up on Seol-ah, who was still lost in the dust cloud. She hadn't recovered from the shock yet, so I bellowed an urgent order at the top of my lungs.
"Jung-woo!!"
At my shout, Yoon Jung-woo—who had been knocked far back—bit down hard and charged forward.
"You son of a bitch! Look over here!!"
"Taunt!!"
He slammed his shield into the ground, and the red wave of his Taunt skill erupted once more. The monster's head snapped around toward Jung-woo as if pulled by an invisible force. A pillar-thick forearm came crashing down mercilessly over his head.
Kwaaaaaang—!!
A tremendous impact exploded across Jung-woo's massive tower shield. This time, he didn't have the luxury of perfect angle adjustment or mental preparation like before.
"Krrraaagh!"
A blood-soaked scream tore from Jung-woo's throat. The raw force of the punch drove him backward more than ten meters, leaving deep gouges in the asphalt. His shield arm trembled pathetically—he'd clearly taken heavy damage.
I didn't waste the few precious seconds of breathing room he'd bought me. I dashed forward, scooped up the fallen Seol-ah, and held her tight against my chest. Then I poured every ounce of mobility I had into retreating far beyond Behemoth's insane reach.
"Arin! Heal Jung-woo right now!"
"Y-yes...! Holy Light!!"
From behind came Arin's tearful voice, followed by the soft blue glow of healing light enveloping Jung-woo. The moment I saw it, Seol-ah stirred in my arms. She took a ragged breath, planted her feet on the ground, and stood on her own. Her right hand, still numb, gripped her longsword tightly. Her cool eyes—still clouded with confusion and shock—locked onto the seated Behemoth.
"...This is strange."
"I saw it too. The moment your sword touched it, the outer layer changed. Looks like this bastard has some kind of self-defense gimmick."
Seol-ah shook her head fiercely at my words.
"No. I mean, yes, but... it was too bizarre. It was like it could perfectly counter my sword... I mean, ugh..."
She frowned deeply, her tone suggesting she'd sensed something incredibly unpleasant and ominous. But she still hadn't fully grasped the nature of the gimmick.
As I listened to her bewilderment, I recalled the creature's chain-scale plating.
"I saw it. Chainmail form. It's structured to completely deflect slashing attacks. But... armor like that should be vulnerable to spears."
I spoke calmly, offering a small smile.
"My spearmanship might only be Rank 2, but with its leg in that condition, I should be able to drive in plenty of damage."
My mouth confidently reassured the party, but deep in my chest, an unpleasant sense of unease was slowly creeping up.
This doesn't make sense.
If the boss's defense strategy was really just 'blocking slashing attacks,' then the previous ace team—full of top students and elite players—wouldn't have been wiped out in just ten or fourteen minutes. Among them, there must have been piercing-type spear users and blunt-weapon impact specialists.
Which meant there was some fatal trap we still didn't know about...
But we can't stop now.
Finished with my thoughts, I tossed aside the magitech automatic rifle without hesitation. Shooting it a hundred times wouldn't even scratch the thing. I stripped off the chain sickle, kunai, and daggers strapped to my legs and waist to maximize mobility. Even the heavy war hammer fixed to my back was thrown to the ground without regret.
Finally, I brought forward the spear that had been slung across my back. With a soft srrrng, a spear with a cold, frost-colored blade settled into both my hands.
I rapidly sketched out the next linked tactic in my head. Seol-ah would use her mobility to draw its aggro and create openings. I'd slip into those blind spots and thrust with the spear. Even if my spearmanship was weak, if I could land consistent effective hits by targeting gaps, clearing it within the time limit was entirely possible.
"Kwak Ki-tae."
"Yeah?!"
"Jung-woo's taken damage, so Arin has to focus entirely on keeping him alive. If her healing gets split, our formation will collapse. Stay near Arin and protect her. And don't do anything until I give the signal."
"Tch. It's a shame to hold back my art, but... guess it can't be helped."
With the situation organized, I gripped the shaft of the cone-shaped spear so tightly it felt like it might snap. This wasn't the broad, leaf-shaped blade used by regular infantry. It was a spike-shaped spear designed to pierce thick armor—an Armor Breaker created solely for extreme thrusting and penetration.
Good thing I brought it.
With absolute confidence in my weapon choice, I boldly stepped toward the roaring beast. If Seol-ah's perfect longsword slash had slid off the chain scales, then the only answer to forcing through those tight gaps was penetration.
I quickly ran through the party's linked strategy in my mind. Jung-woo draws its aggro with Taunt. The moment the taunt duration ends, Seol-ah uses her mobility to ping-pong the aggro and keep its attention locked. Then, while all its nerves are focused forward, I strike from the perfect blind spot on its opposite good leg and pile on damage.
Simple, but the most efficient and safest option given our current party's strength.
I took a deep breath, circulating mana through my body and coating my muscles and the spear shaft in a thin layer. Then the operation began.
"Hey, you beast bastard!! Is that punch weaker than before or what?!"
Thud—! Jung-woo slammed his tower shield into the ground, unleashing another red wave of Taunt. Behemoth snorted in annoyance and raised its massive fist toward him.
At that exact moment, I charged toward its flank like a shadow. By the time I reached its leg, the taunt's effect was fading. Right on cue, a blue flash burst above its field of vision. Seol-ah stepped through the air, performing a hair-raising aerial acrobatic display right in front of its eyes and completely stealing its attention.
She pushed her mobility to the absolute limit, dodging its flailing forelimbs by a paper's width and keeping Behemoth's aggro completely trapped in midair. The plan was flowing even more smoothly than expected.
Finally, I reached the perfect blind spot—the creature's undamaged opposite hind leg. I spread my legs wide, anchoring my center of gravity firmly to the ground. Pulling the spear shaft back over my shoulder with my right hand, the mana-infused spike tip aimed precisely at the thick joint of its leg.
The most basic principle of spearmanship, the very essence of all penetration.
A straight thrust.
"Thrust!"
Puuuuaaack—!!
The spear, driven forward explosively with mana, pried apart the gaps in its chain scales and mercilessly pierced the flesh behind its knee joint.
"Kuuoooooo!!"
Behemoth let out another sky-shattering scream, its massive body convulsing. A perfect effective hit. But I wasn't the type to just stand there admiring the brief moment of stiffness.
The instant I pulled back the deeply embedded spear, I used a snap of my wrist and the recoil of my waist to unleash a barrage of thrusts at insane speed.
"Chaos Thrust!"
The first strike of the consecutive thrusts dug into the wound—
Clang!Kakakakang—!!
An unpleasant, bone-chilling scraping sound that made my skin crawl. From the second strike onward, what met my spear tip wasn't soft muscle or tough hide.
Marble...?
It felt like I'd stabbed with all my strength into premium marble tiles or a solid block of compressed ceramic. The tremendous repulsive force made both my hands gripping the shaft go numb.
I instinctively retracted the spear and leaped backward to create distance. The moment I checked the leg where my spear had struck, my pupils trembled.
The chain-form outer plating had already transformed into 'seamless, ultra-hard solid armor' that gleamed ominously.
So this was it.
In that instant, every puzzle piece that had been jumbling in my head clicked perfectly into place with a satisfying click.
Why the ace team with all those top students had been wiped out and kicked out. The uneasy feeling Seol-ah had sensed when her slash was blocked earlier. Even the unpleasant sense of wrongness I'd felt while planning our strategy.
This monster wasn't simply high in defense or naturally tough-skinned. It remembered the type of attack it had just received and transformed its outer plating in real time into a material that perfectly neutralized that specific attack.
When it took Seol-ah's sharp slash, it shifted into 'chain scales' that created gaps to let the blade slide off instead of cutting.
When it took my sharp pierce, it shifted into 'ultra-high-density armor' that completely sealed every gap the spear tip could exploit.
"Everyone, fall back!! Keep your distance!!"
The moment I saw through its gimmick, I shouted an urgent order to the entire party, my voice tearing with desperation.
"Jung-woo, drop your shield and get back!!"
At my cry, the bewildered party members hurriedly retreated from Behemoth and gathered around me. The beast roared and tried to chase us, but with one hind leg's tendon severed by Seol-ah and the opposite leg's joint shredded by my spear, it had slowed to the point where even walking normally was impossible.
While it limped slowly toward us, I retrieved the war hammer I'd left behind earlier and quickly returned to the party. Fortunately, we had been given a very short but precious window for a strategy meeting to break this seemingly hopeless gimmick.