Chapter 363: The Fetters of Karma (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 363: The Fetters of Karma (5)
The guiding principle for Hunters who hunt monsters in dungeons is almost always the same.
Exploit the opponent's weaknesses.
Prevent the enemy from using their strengths to the fullest, while amplifying your own strengths two- or threefold.
The only difference lies in which side you focus on and what methods you use.
This principle applies just the same when facing humans.
The man, the Fire Man, knew this better than anyone.
After all, he had easily killed dozens of people this way.
This time would be no different.
“Kim Do-jin…”
A-rank Hunter Kim Do-jin.
Hunting him, his new target, would be the same as all the others.
Strip him of his strengths and make his weaknesses stand out.
To do that, he had to know in advance.
What were his strengths, and what were his weaknesses?
Finding this out was easier and simpler than with any opponent he had killed before.
“His strength is magic.”
Fast casting speed.
Outstanding destructive power.
A wide range of spell applications.
The senior mages who evaluated him all gave him a thumbs-up.
And they would always add this at the end.
“A genius you might see once in a hundred years…”
Mages were all picky and stingy.
They believed themselves to be special and preferred to criticize others rather than praise them.
This was true even for their juniors walking the same path.
For them to go beyond praise and offer such high acclaim for Kim Do-jin, there could only be one reason.
“He must be a true genius.”
Not one of the countless thinly-plated geniuses in the world whose facade peels off with the slightest touch, but a real one.
He had the hacker he worked with steal a few videos of Kim Do-jin.
The sight of him firing off a barrage of spells, each one looking like it could put even an A-rank Hunter in critical condition with a single hit, was truly overwhelming.
It was embarrassing to admit, but for a moment, he had felt a pang of regret.
‘Did I pick a fight with someone I shouldn't have?’
But that was only for a moment.
Before fear could consume him, the Fire Man returned to the basics.
A once-in-a-century genius, a world-class prospect, the youngest A-rank Hunter.
He stripped away all those titles and focused on a single, essential fact.
“A mage.”
Yes. The man was a mage.
A class with firepower unmatched by any other, but so focused on it that they possessed the weakest physical abilities.
“A glass cannon.”
And one more thing.
“…I am the natural enemy of such mages.”
To mages, his very existence was a disaster.
Standing atop a tall building and looking down at the night streets, he pulled a radio from his pocket and brought it to his lips.
“Are you ready?”
After he spoke in a low voice, a reply came back.
-Y-Yes, I'm ready.
A tone thick with tension.
A pathetic voice that held not even a grain of confidence.
“Tsk…”
To think the person he had to coordinate with, even for a moment, was so stupid and dull.
It was truly pathetic.
Even if he took in a guy like that, what use would he be?
‘I'll find a use for him one way or another.’
Isn't there a saying that even dog shit has its uses?
If he was truly useless, he could always be used as a test subject or a meat shield.
Pushing down the endless feeling of disgust deep inside, he continued speaking.
“His car will be here soon. Remember. Do not miss your chance.”
-O-O-Okay, I get it.
A wretched reply that inspired no confidence whatsoever.
But he wasn't too worried.
Because someone else would be the one making him move.
He waited for a moment, a faint smile on his lips as he felt his heart beat faster than usual.
‘…He's here.’
His eyes glinted as he spotted a lone sedan driving down the quiet road.
A car that looked far too modest for an A-rank Hunter.
Just as it cruised at a leisurely pace and reached the building where the Fire Man stood...
“H-Hrk…!”
Kim Oh-jung.
A fireball, unbelievably large to have come from that pathetic man's hands, exploded against the car Kim Do-jin was driving.
BOOOOM—!
The car, sent flying into the air with a massive explosion, was pulled back down by gravity.
CRASH!
CRACK!
RUMBLE...!
Like a soccer ball dropped from a moderate height, it bounced lightly a few times as it hit the ground.
The door of the overturned car, battered and dented, fell off onto the asphalt road.
CRUNCH!
At the same time, a man emerged: Kim Do-jin.
Despite taking a direct hit from the massive fireball along with his car, getting thrown around and scraped, he wasn't injured in the slightest.
“……”
A translucent barrier surrounded his body as he stepped out of the car.
In the split second the fireball hit the car, he had protected himself with a defensive spell.
Seeing this, the Fire Man gave a bitter smile.
“What a monster.”
He was definitely a monster.
Because in that urgent situation, with a fireball appearing out of nowhere to strike his car, completing a spell that required immense concentration in an instant to perfectly protect himself was impossible with ordinary senses or skill.
“Hmph… but it doesn't matter.”
He turned away with a sneer.
He never thought a single fireball from someone like Kim Oh-jung could take the man down in the first place.
“D-Die, you piece of trash!”
Kim Oh-jung's resentful cry reached his ears.
He was the bait.
A small piece of bait to attack Kim Do-jin, enrage him, and lure him to the designated location.
For the next phase of the plan, he immediately threw himself off the building.
Leaping down 20 stories in a single bound and landing softly on the ground, he headed for a small space between two buildings, about 5 meters wide and 10 meters long.
Just as he was feeling satisfied with the prepared space—one designed to amplify his strengths and obscure his opponent's...
“U-Uwaaah…!”
A desperate scream and frantic footsteps echoed.
Soon, Kim Oh-jung appeared around the corner, followed closely by Kim Do-jin.
Finally reaching the spot where he stood, Kim Oh-jung hid behind him, panting for breath.
Kim Do-jin, who had been chasing him relentlessly, met his gaze with a cynical look.
“…Who the hell are you?”
Kim Do-jin was the first to speak.
Not to be outdone, the Fire Man also spoke.
“You die here today, Kim Do-jin.”
At the same time, he began to reveal the things he had prepared in this narrow space, one by one.
Wooooong—
With a loud humming sound, a transparent, bluish barrier enveloped the area.
This was a barrier.
Its purpose was to prevent the opponent from escaping and to keep the noise from inside from getting out.
And there was one more reason for putting up this barrier.
“Hmph…!”
He expelled the mana sleeping in his core through every pore of his body, filling the space.
He had been chosen.
Amidst repeated betrayals, he had harbored wrath in his heart.
That wrath had granted him power.
The power of a hot, dry wrath that incinerated everything it touched.
Confirming that his mana, imbued with the power of Burning Wrath, had filled the space, he asked Kim Do-jin with a much more relaxed demeanor.
“By whom were you chosen?”
Kim Do-jin frowned at the sudden question.
“Your defiant personality seems to suit Pride well, and seeing how you chase women… you look like a good match for Lust, too.”
Pride and Lust.
As the names of the Sins belonging to the Seven Deadly Sins were spoken one after another, Kim Do-jin's expression hardened.
Seeing him, the Fire Man was certain.
‘Just as I thought… he must have been chosen, too.’
That was enough.
Enough to erase the name Kim Do-jin from this world.
Just as he was reaffirming the reason his opponent had to die...
“Who… are you.”
Kim Do-jin asked his identity once more.
From his hardened face, he seemed quite desperate to know.
He answered with a completely relaxed shrug.
“Well… if you can beat me, maybe you'll find out.”
Kim Do-jin gave a cold smile at the blatant provocation.
“That sounds easy enough.”
The moment he finished speaking, he stretched out his hand.
And, as usual, he began to gather mana to cast a spell, but something was wrong.
“The mana…?”
The mana wasn't gathering.
Normally, by now, he would have completed a spell with mana that had snowballed in size, but he couldn't feel anything in his hand besides the mana he had drawn from his own body.
No, even that was disappearing.
“N-No, this, why…?”
Kim Do-jin panicked.
The Fire Man bared his teeth and grinned at him.
“Keuk…! Surprised the mana won't gather?”
Kim Do-jin glared at the man with a bewildered expression.
“Did you do this?”
When he asked, the Fire Man readily admitted it.
“Yes. This is the Divine Authority granted to me by Ira, the Goddess of Wrath.”
Wrath (Ira), one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
The Fire Man's ability was one of her countless Divine Authorities.
“My mana incinerates and erases all ambient mana.”
“Erases… mana?”
“That's right.”
That was why he had deployed the barrier.
To completely erase the mana existing within a certain space and seal away his magic.
“The only mana effective in this space is the mana within your body.”
Only the mana flowing within one's body is safe from the Divine Authority of Wrath.
In other words, this battlefield was set up to be advantageous for warrior-type classes, who use their internal mana to activate their bodies and exert greater strength.
And the man was a warrior.
Moreover, he was a top-tier fighter who, in the past, had few rivals even among A-rank Hunters.
What did that mean?
It meant that unless the sky itself split in two, there was no chance of Kim Do-jin getting out of here alive.
That should have been the case.
“So… you're saying I have to use my body here instead of magic?”
Despite hearing news that should have been like a bolt from the blue, his opponent was calmer than expected—no, far calmer.
Then, Kim Do-jin's expression turned serious.
“Hmm… what should I do about this.”
He's finally realized the gravity of the situation, the Fire Man presumed.
“This is way too advantageous for me…”
Had the intense pressure made him lose his mind?
“What if I can't control my strength and accidentally kill you?”
His opponent had started spouting things he couldn't comprehend at all.