Chapter 137
Chapter 137
Chapter 137
A boy emanating an extraordinary aura.
Seo-jin received the eerie killing intent pouring toward him and turned his gaze to Circe sitting beside him.
"Master."
"Yes, I'll step away for a moment."
Circe stood up from her seat, brushing off her bottom.
As one of the supervisors of this test, Circe could not and should not interfere in fights between climbers.
The same applied to Hyeon-wol, who was with Nam-gung Cheon's team.
All Circe could do now was wake up the sleeping team members.
Clap clap-.
"You guys, wake up."
"Huh?"
"Is it the enemy?"
While Circe woke up the team members one by one, tapping their cheeks, Seo-jin rolled his eyes to survey the number of the boy and the assassins hiding behind him.
'Four in total.'
The number of assassins Artovice had permitted to participate in this test would be eight at most.
Considering fairness, he would have matched the number with the Reverse Heaven Society members.
And if there were only four here, that meant.
'The remaining four must have gone to Nam-gung Cheon's side.'
It seemed Hanseong's hunting dog that Seo-jin had been waiting for had also gone that way.
For revenge on the 10th floor and the safety of his team members, it would have been better if Seo-jin had handled it.
Still.
'Nam-gung Cheon's team has enough strength that they won't collapse before I get there.'
It was a team assembled in preparation for situations like this.
As Seo-jin was lost in thought for a moment, the boy in front of him smiled brightly and spoke to him.
"Ah, are you perhaps worried about your team members? Rather than that..."
Shaaa-.
The boy's red eyes flashed in the darkness as he drew up his energy.
"It would be better to worry about your own neck."
Swish-.
Before he knew it, several daggers moved fluidly like water along the boy's fingers.
Seo-jin took in that sight and spoke calmly.
"You don't need to worry about my neck. It's already been severed once before."
"...?"
The boy tilted his head as if finding it difficult to understand, then soon let out a hollow laugh and spoke.
"I am a dagger raised from birth to kill humans. Under equal conditions, I cannot be defeated."
Before an assassin who had devoted everything in life to killing others, even renowned climbers were nothing more than ordinary people.
Especially in this test environment where the tower's protection and levels had disappeared.
"..."
Seo-jin silently looked at the boy.
'That bastard is a blade directly raised by the Director.'
Having fully inherited his techniques, he could practically be considered a successor.
Though he might lack experience and strength, he was certainly a threatening existence, so those arrogant words were understandable.
But the Director and this boy were fundamentally different.
'The Director is a professional killer, not a psychopathic murderer who enjoys the act.'
Though he had committed many murders, he didn't kill others to satisfy his own pleasure.
It was literally work. He only did it because it was necessary.
But this bastard in front of him was different.
'This bastard is a serial killer who commits murder for his own pleasure.'
A sinister creature who enjoyed seeing others' blood, especially targeting the weak like women and children.
This bastard would later be unable to control his killing intent and commit serial murders, earning the infamous name [Jack the Ripper].
Therefore.
'I'll kill him here.'
Seo-jin's eyes turned coldly sharp.
A murderous fiend who would be of no help to the world even if left alive. It would benefit everyone to eliminate him here.
Seo-jin asked his team members who were waking up and coming out of the tent.
"Ready?"
"Yes!"
Thanks to Circe, the team members who had safely emerged from the tent gathered around Seo-jin, standing back-to-back with each other.
Siegfried quickly equipped his heavy armor and held his shield forward.
Austin summoned all four elemental spirits before the battle.
And Nam-gung Rin between them, having completed her combat support preparations.
Despite the assassins surrounding them from all sides, there wasn't a trace of fear on the three's faces.
This was truly the result of training and trust in their teammates.
"Good."
Seo-jin nodded slightly and clenched his fist tightly.
Clench-.
Then he turned his head to look at the boy in front of him.
'Right now I don't have the infinite mana connected to the Energy Core, the Eye of Insight, or Future Sight from the Tears of Siyul.'
Under such adverse conditions, it was difficult to face a professional assassin.
The conditions were worse than when he faced the Director on the 10th floor.
Even so.
'I can win.'
Because he had trained to overcome situations like this.
"Attack!"
Flash-.
At the boy's command, the assassins flew toward Seo-jin's team.
Clang- Clang!
While his teammates formed a defensive formation with Siegfried at the front to face the assassins, Seo-jin stepped forward to confront the boy.
[Black Death]
Swish-.
Seo-jin shot out bundles of Black Death toward the boy.
Black magic threads that would slice through bone and muscle like tofu just by touching them.
However, the boy wielded his daggers even in the thick darkness, precisely striking down the thin threads.
Clang!
Sparks flying in the darkness.
The boy easily dodged even the barrage of black lightning that Seo-jin fired afterward.
Boom!
Black lightning that struck the ground uselessly and disappeared.
Seo-jin narrowed his eyes at the boy's nonsensical reaction speed.
'This isn't dodging after seeing the attack.'
Precisely striking down Black Death in this darkness, not to mention dodging lightning that struck with a time delay, was impossible by sight alone.
He must have the ability to instinctively sense approaching danger or the flow of mana.
It would be similar to the animalistic senses that Se-yeon possessed.
Boom!
Seo-jin continuously fired black magic to pressure him, but nothing could reach him.
Taking advantage of that gap.
Flash-.
"Is it over?"
Mad eyes appeared in front of Seo-jin in the blink of an eye.
As if drawing a trajectory in the darkness, the red eyes immediately swung their dagger toward Seo-jin.
"Tch."
Normally, he would have detected the approach in advance through Future Sight and not allowed the distance to close, but his reaction was slow now.
Seo-jin infused Mixed Origin energy into his hand and struck the wrist holding the dagger.
He intended to make him drop the dagger, but.
Swish-.
He lightly threw the dagger in his hand into the air, caught it with his other hand, and swung it toward Seo-jin's neck.
Slash-.
"Tsk."
Seo-jin barely avoided the attack by jerking his head back, but his robe was cut and a small scratch appeared on his cheek.
As blood seeped slightly from the scratch, the boy's eyes, having caught the scent of blood, turned even redder.
"Blood, show me more blood!"
The boy glared at Seo-jin with bloodshot eyes and wildly swung his dagger.
Whoosh whoosh-.
Though called wild, every attack followed the optimal path to take an opponent's life.
It was more precise than Se-yeon's attacks when she had charged at Seo-jin madly on the 12th floor, and contained incomparably thick killing intent.
Slash- Slash-.
Each time the boy's blade gleamed under the moonlight, Seo-jin's robe tore and light wounds accumulated one by one.
"Only, only this much? The so-called Nova!"
The boy screamed madly as he increased his attack speed.
"..."
On the 12th floor in the past, he had faced Se-yeon with Future Sight, overwhelming mana, and the Transcending Heaven True Scripture, but now he couldn't use any of those.
He had to split his possessed mana to the extreme limit, the Transcending Heaven True Scripture was difficult to control output, and he didn't have the Tears of Siyul to use Future Sight.
If it had been the old Seo-jin, he might have collapsed, unable to properly respond in such a situation.
However.
If there was something different from then.
[Reverse Heaven Divine Art, First Form. Reverse.]
Whooom!
Suddenly, a wave of jet-black mana burst forth from Seo-jin's body.
That powerful mana explosion immediately struck the boy who had been charging at Seo-jin.
"Ugh!"
The boy, who took the explosion head-on right in front of him, was sent flying far away and rolled on the ground.
The boy who had fallen to the ground tried to assess the situation even in his confusion.
'How on earth?'
He had already used black magic several times in this battle.
Moreover, he had grasped that much mana had been consumed through the duel with the puppet called master.
Considering the current downgraded level and total amount of mana, there shouldn't have been room to use such powerful force.
To the boy whose eyes widened in surprise, Seo-jin spoke leisurely.
"Nothing to be surprised about. That attack just now was merely releasing the accumulated residue in my body."
The backlash accumulated in the body from using black magic.
Gathering those residues and converting them into powerful force was precisely the Reverse Heaven Divine Art.
The secret martial art of a climber called the Heavenly Demon who had supposedly reached the 99th floor of the tower in the past.
Stumble-.
The boy who had fallen to the ground tried to get up hastily, but could hardly control his body.
Swaying arms and legs.
His body wouldn't move as intended.
The dark mana that Seo-jin had emitted just now was clinging to his body, gradually destroying his mana circuits.
Looking at his gradually blackening limbs, he asked.
"What, what is this..."
"What else, didn't I just say? Residue."
The price of black magic wasn't just the backlash accumulated in the body.
Reverse Heaven mana was extremely powerful, but it was a plague that brought madness just by wielding it and gradually consumed the caster.
The backlash of black magic, to make an analogy, was like radioactive waste from a nuclear power plant.
And being doused with it head-on meant...
"Aaahhh-."
Slowly dying as the body was destroyed.
The boy collapsed on the ground, writhing his entire body and letting out groaning screams.
Seo-jin had resistance from using this power for a long time, but if someone else were doused head-on with that residue of malice...
Especially in a downgraded level state, they wouldn't last even a few minutes.
"Sa, save me..."
Seo-jin looked down at him trembling in pain and spoke in a dry voice.
"Don't feel so wronged. Thinking of the innocent people who have died by your hand so far, and those who would die in the future, this is a comfortable death."
Crunch-.
Seo-jin crushed his head underfoot and let out a heavy sigh.
"Whew."
But there was no time to breathe comfortably.
If they had come here, it meant Nam-gung Cheon's side was also under attack.
"I'll leave the rear to you, Baduki."
Growl-.
Seo-jin left the remaining assassins to his teammates and Baduki and headed toward Nam-gung Cheon's team, who would be fighting the Director.
***
Clang! Clang!
The sound of sword clashing against sword gradually lessened.
"Huff huff."
In contrast, the rough breathing gradually grew louder.
The time when they could fight the enemy on equal terms had already passed.
Barely moving their heavy limbs as if soaked with water, blocking the enemy's attacks was all they could manage.
Clang!
"Ugh."
A powerful shock was transmitted through the sword, as if the gripped wrist would break just like that.
After blocking that monstrous strength several times, his arm no longer felt any sensation other than pain.
He only reflexively raised his arm to block attacks.
"Haa, haa."
Francesca's situation was similar.
Her skills were superior to the other three assassins.
But she too fell short of Hanseong's Director.
Several poison needles that she had failed to dodge were embedded in her body.
Se-yeon and So-yul's conditions weren't much better either.
Both Se-yeon, who had bled too much, and So-yul, who had used mana to her limit, had pale, ashen faces.
"Well then, it's about time to finish this."
Step step-.
At the Director's words, the assassins circled around Nam-gung Cheon's cornered team.
They looked like predators about to cut the throat of thoroughly exhausted prey.
The Director also leisurely wandered around Nam-gung Cheon's team and asked.
"Do you have any final words?"
Nam-gung Cheon raised his trembling hand and held up his middle finger.
"...Go eat shit."
"Heh. For the last words of the Shadowless Flying Hero, that's quite unremarkable. Then."
Shing-.
It was when the Director's dagger was about to strike Nam-gung Cheon's neck.
Flash-.
Lightning cutting through the dark forest.
The Director, who had been preparing the final blow, hurriedly turned his body to avoid the flying black lightning.
Pop-.
Then a man appeared between Nam-gung Cheon and the Director.
He looked at Nam-gung Cheon and his teammates, who were in terrible condition, and smiled.
"You look like a complete mess."
"Seo-jin!"
"Why are you so late, you bastard!"
"Honestly, it was too far away."
The battle with the assassins hadn't taken very long to finish.
It was just that this mountain was so vast and large that it was difficult to pinpoint the location.
Since he couldn't use the Eye of Insight either, he had barely managed to follow the faint scent of blood.
Sizzle-.
The Director brushed off the black lightning clinging to his suit jacket.
Then he looked at Seo-jin in front of him and greeted him.
"Thank you for coming on your own. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Yeah, it's been a while. And."
Seo-jin smiled slightly.
"We won't be seeing each other again."