Chapter 29 Do Ro-rang (3)
Do Ro-rang (3)
Episode 30
"Kkehihihihi, hihihihihi!"
Do Ro-rang stood amid the bloodshed, cackling. I couldn't think of a better description than completely deranged.
'She's out of her mind...'
She flicked her knife, sending blood spattering onto the walls. The droplets began to crawl across the surface, gathering into sharp, weaponlike shapes. The surviving students watched in horror.
Her Blood Magic was fully active, and we were its targets.
I glanced toward So-eun.
"So-eun. Can you handle this?"
"Huh? Handle what?"
"The blood she's controlling. Can you take control of it without her noticing?"
So-eun blinked, surprised, then nodded with grim determination.
"...If that's what you need, I'll try."
"Good. Then listen."
While So-eun wrested control of the blood, I would have to keep Ro-rang occupied.
I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath. I Read the gun in my left hand. Two bullets left.
I couldn't waste either of them.
『Probability of Victory - 2.5%』
『Probability of Escape - 5.5%』
Our chances were shrinking by the second.
Still, there was no one else to stop her. I couldn't let the others die.
Besides, I was supposed to be the sort of protagonist who hated injustice—at least when it was convenient.
Three years of preparing for this world had to count for something.
'I can do this.'
I exhaled slowly.
I steadied my breath and focused on Read. My eyes burned as my vision sharpened.
『Read is enhanced to its limit through Optimal Progression』
As Ro-rang's projected movements appeared before me, I caught sight of Yu Hye-na. The fear in her eyes sent a pang of guilt through me.
"Kang Yu-seong!!"
She was still searching for Yu-seong. Did she suspect he was dead? Probably not. And I wasn't ready to tell her.
It was cowardly, but I needed to survive long enough to see what became of this world. I couldn't face that truth with her now.
"Hahahahaha!"
Whatever guilt I felt, I couldn't afford to look away from Ro-rang.
"Raaaaah!!"
I roared and stomped the ground. My body, enhanced by Optimal Progression, charged toward Do Ro-rang in an instant.
"Oh-ho?"
Her face lit up when she saw me.
I aimed my gun at her. The only things I could Take from around her were air and oxygen.
I had to use every advantage I possessed.
『Taking all air except oxygen』
Ro-rang noticed the shift in the air, but she was already too late.
The pistol went off.
Bang!
The bullet, accelerated by Optimal Progression, tore through space toward her. In that instant, her pupils dilated in shock.
Whoosh!
Fire erupted around her. For a heartbeat, she vanished inside the flames.
"Ahahahaha! Ooh, you're feisty, aren't you?!"
She stepped straight through the blaze and extinguished it with a wave of mana.
But the shot had done what I needed.
I reached for her.
『Censored Ability is enhanced to its limit through Optimal Progression』
Then—
"Sweetie? Is your ability something like 'pushing to the limit'? You're being way too obvious, you know?!"
She swept aside the last of the fire and slipped beyond my reach, her twisted grin passing close enough to see.
"Just take a little nap... I'll decorate the place with your friends' blood and savor you properly, okay?"
She sprang away. I started after her—just as I'd planned.
Because all of this was within the predicted range of Read.
"...You fucking bitch!! Who the hell would wanna sleep with a pumpkin-skinned slut like you?!!"
I couldn't stop her with my physical abilities. That left only one option—my mouth. At this point, it was the only way to shake her.
Her expression sharpened with anger.
"What?!"
She stopped dead.
I pressed harder, raising my voice.
"I don't know why you keep calling me 'honey' like it's your right, but I have zero interest in sleeping with you. Wanna know why? Because you're not worth it!! Just look at yourself. Do you seriously think you're on my level?! Do you even have a shred of self-awareness left?!"
The corners of Ro-rang's mouth twitched. She strained to keep smiling.
"...What did you say?"
"I said you're not worth my time. You ugly, half-baked dark elf, you goddamn bitch...!!"
Click—
[Do Ro-rang's Affection Level: 67 / 100]
I imagined I could hear something snap inside her.
Ugly. Half-baked.
I'd aimed for the insecurities she couldn't bear to have exposed.
[Do Ro-rang's Affection Level: 51 / 100]
Her Affection Level fell exactly as I'd hoped.
I kept the fury on my face and lifted the pistol to my own temple. A collective gasp went up behind me.
Even Ro-rang stiffened.
"H-Honey...? W-What are you doing?!"
"What does it look like? I'm so sick of your bullshit I'm gonna blow my brains out."
For the first time, she looked genuinely frightened.
"Stop joking around! You're pissing me off!"
"If you get pissed, I pull the trigger."
Her purple face flushed dark with anger.
"...I told you to stop!!"
Her rage spilled into the blood coating the floor and walls. It surged out of control. That distraction was all I needed.
"Kang So-eun!!"
So-eun looked up sharply from across the room.
[Kang So-eun's 「Control」 is being pushed to its limit.]
"Now."
Golden light flashed in her eyes.
[Kang So-eun's 「Control」 is enhanced to its extreme through 「Optimal Progression」.]
With [Optimal Progression] forcing her ability beyond its limits, the blood tore free of Ro-rang's control and rose into the air.
"Ah...?!"
Ro-rang stared as the blood she'd commanded scattered beyond her reach.
Then a blinding light filled the space above us.
So-eun lifted a hand. The blood gathered into a new formation, pulsing with an unfamiliar force.
Her lips moved silently. She seemed to be looking through the building at something no one else could see.
"...「Primordial..."
[Kang So-eun manifests 「Primordial Force Control (Myth Grade)」.]
"...Force Control.」"
A power of myth—one said to govern the flow of matter, space, and even time.
At Kang So-eun's fingertips, a starlike force condensed. The light began as a soft Glimmer, then rapidly expanded outward.
"Manifest."
The glow in her eyes grew brighter.
For an instant, the whole world shone.
When the light ebbed, countless droplets of blood hung suspended in the air.
Every one of them was aimed at Ro-rang.
"......"
Ro-rang stood motionless.
—How... How can a Jobless control Mana...? Does an ability like this truly exist...?
"I heard their voices."
So-eun fixed her luminous gaze on Ro-rang, who stiffened beneath it.
"The blood you spilled is begging me to kill you."
She moved her hand.
"This is your karma."
The blood began to circle Ro-rang, gathering speed as So-eun's light sank into it. Space itself seemed to buckle under the pressure.
Surrounded, Ro-rang went rigid.
"Goodbye."
Terror distorted Ro-rang's features. The ground trembled, and the air grew so dense that breathing hurt.
Then all that force collapsed toward a single point.
Silence.
A flash of light too bright to look at.
#
So-eun had focused the explosion into one point to spare the survivors around it. That care for others was typical of her—even in the middle of a fight to the death.
But concentrating so much power took its toll. So-eun blinked, swayed, and collapsed. Yu Hye-na caught her before she hit the ground.
"Kang So-eun!? Kang So-eun!"
So-eun had only fainted. I wanted to rush to her, but I couldn't look away from the place where Ro-rang had stood.
But was it because of the backlash from Control? I couldn't pinpoint the exact epicenter of the explosion.
A warning prickled across my skin.
Whoosh!
A jagged dagger shot out of the dust, flying straight for So-eun's throat.
I was too far away to intercept it.
But—
"Ahhh!"
『Yu Hye-na activates Crisis Sense.』
Hye-na threw herself aside with So-eun in her arms. The spinning knife slashed across her back, spraying blood.
The blood hung in the air for a moment, then streamed back toward the blast site.
I turned to the thinning dust and saw a shape within it.
"...Ugh... Aah..."
Ro-rang staggered forward, staring at So-eun through bloodshot eyes. Her skin had been burned away, leaving her barely recognizable.
"Y-you... bitch—!!"
Her scream was more animal than human. But the message in front of me was even worse.
『Do Ro-rang's Crisis Reversal (Hero Grade) evolves into Mythic Grade.』
Skill evolution...?
An updated skill description appeared in my vision.
『Crisis Reversal (Mythic Grade)』
So that was how she'd survived So-eun's attack.
A Mythic Grade skill...?
Myth-grade skills were almost unheard of this early in the Tower. Only extraordinary fighters—and beings close to divine—could wield them.
Now Ro-rang had become something like a berserker, growing stronger as she approached death. Her new stats appeared before me.
『Do Ro-rang's Stats』
[Strength G-][Agility G][Stamina G-][Mana G-]
Her strength had nearly doubled.
Ro-rang stamped down and launched herself forward, cracking the floor beneath her feet.
She had only one target now: the woman who'd nearly killed her.
Even tracking her with my eyes hurt. She'd become a blur, far too fast for me to follow properly.
"Huh?!"
Hye-na hadn't seen her coming either. She froze as the pressure of Ro-rang's approach struck her.
At that moment—
『Yu Yeon activates Depicts.』
A shimmering mirage enveloped So-eun and Hye-na.
Ro-rang attacked—and both women vanished from her path.
Her fist slammed into the pillar behind them, sending a tremor through the building.
Then—
Cough!
Yu Yeon coughed up blood from the strain of her ability, but relief showed through the pain. A few steps away, Hye-na and So-eun lay shaken but alive.
Jang Tae-seok swallowed hard and shouted over the chaos.
"She's heavily injured! If we push now, we can win! We have to fight—now!"
『Jang Tae-seok activates Mind Stabilization.』
His skill steadied the survivors. They turned toward the bleeding half-elf with renewed resolve.
"Keeeh... Keeegh!!"
Ro-rang snarled through ragged breaths, her eyes still fever-bright with rage.
"Fight!!"
Tae-seok charged first. Others followed, gripping their weapons and forcing themselves forward.
The fight was coming to an end. Either Ro-rang would die here, or all of us would.