Superhuman's Duel (2)
Flash!
As they entered the dungeon, a brilliant light filled their vision, transforming the scene before them.
As expected.
Kim Jehyun nodded as he surveyed the dungeon interior.
Right at the entrance stood five tunnels.
Five tunnels from the start.
That meant there were at least over a hundred possible paths leading to the boss room.
Some of those tunnels were traps, and even if he chose a safe one, it would branch into more choices further in.
As Jehyun pondered the tunnels, a burst of light erupted beside him, and Kim Sang-hwi appeared.
“……”
The two stared at each other in silence for a moment.
Jehyun had no reason to exchange words with this thug whose intentions were transparently vile, but Kim Sang-hwi's silence stemmed from a different cause.
To think I felt fear—even briefly—toward this brat.
Grind.
A deep gash scarred his pride.
The 6th Circle wasn't a realm just anyone could reach. Kim Sang-hwi had bloomed his talent through grueling training to attain it.
Ever since ascending to the 6th Circle, he had always been treated with respect and deference.
Yet now, being ignored by a kid whose blood hadn't even dried on his head filled him with an indescribable humiliation.
He wanted to tear Jehyun apart right then and there, but...
Those eyes just now... What the hell were they?
Recalling the eyes Jehyun had shown before entering the dungeon, a chill soaked through his spine once more.
Those were eyes only absolute beings who looked down upon the world possessed.
Did he somehow fool the circle measurement?
But Jehyun was far too young for that. It was a realm impossible to reach at his age.
In the end, Kim Sang-hwi could only grimace, unable to make a move.
His instincts told him Jehyun possessed something he couldn't ignore.
“……Go ahead and choose first.”
Forcing his stiff lips apart, Kim Sang-hwi spoke.
He could stick to the plan anyway. He'd repay this brief insult soon enough.
“Consideration? I won't refuse.”
Jehyun smirked at his demeanor and turned toward the tunnels.
He doesn't seem intent on attacking right away.
Jehyun had prepared for the possibility of combat the moment they entered. Since no one outside could know what happened inside immediately, he'd provoked Kim Sang-hwi in case of hidden schemes.
Planning some other trick?
Something scheming glinted in Kim Sang-hwi's eyes.
If so, he needed to prepare countermeasures.
Whatever it is, he'll regret any pointless moves.
With that thought, Jehyun activated Dragon Eye.
Dragon Eye detects traps.
First, second, and fifth.
Three were traps. The safe paths were the third and fourth.
―No matter how you look at it, Dragon Eye's power is ridiculously overpowered in a labyrinth dungeon.
Jehyun smirked in agreement with Alkasha.
Dragon Eye granted absolute superiority in mazes.
With these eyes, reaching the boss room in record time was guaranteed.
Take down the boss quickly first.
Jehyun headed into the third tunnel.
* * *
Dragon Eye detects traps.
The power of Dragon Eye activated once more, and Jehyun stepped toward the central tunnel out of the three ahead.
In truth, he hadn't even needed Dragon Eye this time—he could tell which wasn't a trap.
The boss's mana flows thickly from there.
His keen senses had picked up the boss's mana.
Without taking a single wrong turn, Jehyun reached the boss room in under ten minutes since entering the dungeon.
Anyone witnessing this would have scoffed in disbelief.
No one had ever cleared a maze-type dungeon this easily before.
“Sand?”
The moment he entered the boss room, his eyes fell on the sand covering the floor.
The hall, about the size of a small gymnasium, was blanketed in it.
The boss is...
Jehyun scanned around before looking down at the floor.
The boss's mana emanated from below.
At that instant.
Grrrrrr.
Boom!
No sooner had he felt the vibration underfoot than sand erupted toward the ceiling, and a figure over three meters tall burst forth with it.
Here it comes.
Jehyun's eyes gleamed.
The creature resembled a pitch-black mole, with sharp, scale-like spines protruding from its back and three massive claws on each hand.
It had clawed through the sand to emerge.
If Jehyun hadn't leaped back the moment he sensed the vibration, those claws would have struck him dead-on.
Dragon Eye.
Jehyun scanned the boss's info.
“……!”
Jehyun frowned at the black mole's info.
That ominous aura had made him suspect it, and sure enough—it was a mutant.
―This one's infected with the purple energy too.
As Alkasha said, the Great King Black Mole was originally a B+ grade monster.
But the purple energy had upgraded it to A rank.
If Jehyun were an ordinary 5th Circle mage, soloing it would be impossible.
Stinks of malice.
The purple energy in this Great King Black Mole felt unnaturally imposed.
Shrrk!
Its claws slashed through where Jehyun had stood.
Despite the sand, Jehyun vaulted into the air, dodging effortlessly.
His physical stats, now bolstered by additional abilities to 50, rivaled an average A-rank physical superhuman's agility.
Subdue it first.
Jehyun's eyes turned amber.
At the same time, dragon scales of pure mana erupted across his body, and a dragon horn protruded from his forehead.
He unleashed Dragon Fear at the Great King Black Mole.
“Kyak?”
The beast froze with a bizarre whimper.
Its eyes, filled with rage and killing intent, shifted to panic, shock, and alarm.
The overwhelming emotion of facing an unstoppable apex predator crushed its mind.
Fire Burst.
Before landing from midair, Jehyun conjured Fire Burst in both hands.
His dragon blood responded to his will.
Now, he could cast up to 4th Circle spells with virtually no delay.
Golden flames from his hands engulfed the Great King Black Mole.
Roar!
In agony as its body melted, the beast screamed desperately.
―Kyaaaaak.
It rolled in the sand, trying to smother the flames.
Sand was effective against normal fire, but Jehyun's mana-fueled blaze wouldn't extinguish easily.
“Lightning Spear.”
A blindingly bright thunder spear formed in Jehyun's hand, scattering light.
With his partially awakened dragon blood and lightning mana blessing, its destructive power far surpassed before.
Kaboom!
The spear struck the Great King Black Mole.
Dazed, the beast lost consciousness.
Its tough hide melted into mush from fire and lightning, internals charred by the electric force.
An A-rank boss felled in just two spells—a feat no 5th Circle mage could achieve.
Alkasha.
Responding to his will, Alkasha absorbed the purple energy with Absorption's power.
Absorption was now nearly at 25%.
He still didn't know what filling it completely would bring.
But his sharpened instincts screamed it was crucial.
Jehyun approached the fallen Great King Black Mole and extracted its magic stone.
With this, exiting would make him the winner of this superhuman duel.
It would be an anticlimactic victory.
Under normal circumstances, yes—but...
No way it'd be that easy.
Jehyun turned to the boss room entrance and spoke.
“Come out already.”
At his words, a flinch came from the entrance.
“Hah, how long have you been watching?”
The man who emerged was Kim Sang-hwi.
He had observed Jehyun enter the boss room and battle entirely.
Witnessing Jehyun's overwhelming power confirmed his instincts weren't wrong.
Even he couldn't replicate what Jehyun had just done—felling an A-rank boss with two spells!
And that mana barrier covering his body, the horn-like mana concentration on his forehead... An inexplicable fear beaded on his skin.
Without Lee Hyun-woo's contingency, he'd have fled, duel or not.
Kim Sang-hwi was more cowardly than he appeared.
“I've known since you started tailing me.”
“……Crazy.”
So Jehyun had noticed from the start.
Yet he'd fought the boss anyway.
This meant one of two things: either an overconfident fool blind to danger, or absolute confidence in his abilities.
Kim Sang-hwi knew it was the latter.
Shit. He's a real monster.
His face twisted subtly.
Jehyun defied normal judgment.
A 5th Circle mage? Bullshit.
This was a being beyond circles, wielding unprecedented power.
Suspicious from how he beelined to the boss room.
Even watching it unfold felt unreal.
He'd had the dungeon map, but how did Jehyun pick only the correct tunnels?
It even made him wonder if Jehyun had a map too.
“Kukuku. Whatever. Your rampage ends here.”
“What're you talking about?”
To Jehyun's question, Kim Sang-hwi grinned and infused mana into an orb from his pocket.
Ziiing!
The mana triggered magic circles pre-installed throughout the boss room.
Fwaaah.
Black mana spewed from the circles, enveloping the entire hall.
Death Formation.
One of the Black Snake Clan's signature arrays.
Trapped inside, darkness mana disrupts mana flow, slowly draining life force until the victim withers like a mummy.
Breaking free required shattering it with overwhelming mana—impossible for Jehyun.
“Because this formation was made by a 7th Circle mage. Can't even circulate mana properly now—think you can break through?”
Kukukuku.
Chortling darkly, Kim Sang-hwi continued.
“Would've been cleaner if the boss killed you... But this works too. Watching you suffer and wither slo— Huh? What's that?”
His eyes fell on the baseball-sized orb Jehyun had pulled from his inventory.
“What do you think it is?”
Jehyun smirked.
“No way... A Recording Orb?”
Recording Orb.
A magic tool for capturing footage.
Its operation here suggested a top-tier, exorbitantly expensive model.
Just as Kim Sang-hwi guessed.
It had cost tens of billions, but for Jehyun—who amassed wealth effortlessly—it was pocket change.
“Yeah. Everything you've said and done is being recorded.”
“Kuh, kuahaha! Kahahaha!”
Kim Sang-hwi clutched his belly laughing.
“Seriously? Thought you were smart, but you still don't get it? You really think you can escape this formation?”
“……”
Seeing Jehyun silent, he chuckled lowly.
“This is the Black Snake Clan's trap for you. You won't leave alive. Can't you feel your strength draining?”
“Kuh, no way... You planned this from the start?”
Jehyun's face suddenly paled, looking weakened.
Kim Sang-hwi gloated and rambled on.
“Yes! If you'd refused, we'd have sniped you another way. That idiot Jang Gwang-su dying against Geolsu Clan messed things up a bit, not bringing you along... But you were marked by our clan—inescapable fate.”
He blabbed excitedly about the clan's plans, savoring Jehyun's 'demise'.
“As expected. Got it all.”
“What?”
Kim Sang-hwi startled at Jehyun's suddenly normal expression.
How—from near-death moments ago?
Jehyun smirked at his panic and glanced at the ring on his left index finger.
Black Lime Ring.
This greatly boosted dark resistance, rendering the formation's darkness mana ineffective.
Plus, Jehyun already had high innate dark affinity.
In short, the Black Snake Clan's formation did nothing to him.
“Wisp.”
Gazing at Kim Sang-hwi's shocked face, Jehyun summoned Wisp.
A radiant being burst forth, scattering light amid the death formation's gloom.
“Th-that's...”
“A light spirit.”
“……!”
Kim Sang-hwi's face twisted in horror at Jehyun's words.
A light spirit? No one had ever summoned one before.
How could a mage like Jehyun?
“Don't... lie!”
Denying reality, he roared, drawing his skull-adorned wand and slamming it against the orb, pouring all his mana.
The death formation thickened its dark aura.
“No matter what you do, you won't escape!”
Jehyun silently drew his divine artifact: World Tree Bow (Light).
Wisp nodded and merged into the bow.
A brilliant light illuminated the boss hall.
“Kuh.”
Sensing danger, Kim Sang-hwi's eyes wavered.
M-must run.
Instinct screamed something was wrong.
He turned to flee.
But Jehyun acted faster.
Ziiiiing.
Jehyun fully drew the bowstring of World Tree Bow (Light), loosing the formed light arrow.
Fwaaaah.
The arrow streaked forth, filling the boss hall with blinding radiance.