Wolves Among the Flock
The fighting had not broken out only near the clock tower. At the far outskirts of Ariaadna Square, the scene was entirely different from the side where Julia Evergreen had neutralized the enemy forces. Here, the criminals continued their fierce resistance against the police's attempts at suppression.
"First squad, fire at will!"
The officers pulled the triggers of their magic rifles, and a deafening barrage of gunfire erupted as countless bullets flew toward the martial artists. A magic rifle was a magical tool that propelled its rounds through the forced repulsion created by violently colliding the mana stored inside its embedded mana stone. The rifles issued to the police special forces were classified as top-grade. Beyond mere physical impact, the enchantments inscribed on the bullets manifested upon firing, engulfing everything in their path in flames.
"This is an extreme emergency! Prioritize civilian safety above all else!"
Most of the criminals were at the Practitioner level, though a few Expert-level martial artists could be spotted among them. No matter how powerful the magic rifles were, they alone could not fully subdue opponents of that caliber. The officers formed a defensive line to shield the fleeing citizens behind them and once again aimed their rifles at the charging criminals.
"Second unit! Fire at will!"
The officers alternated their shots to minimize the gap between volleys. Just then, a boisterous laugh echoed through the gunfire-filled square, and a man burst forward from among the martial artists caught in the hail of bullets.
His body was grotesquely swollen with muscle. He charged so fast that "rolling" would have been a more fitting description than running. Covering his ample flesh was a suit of armor bristling with iron spikes. Mana refined through martial arts clung to him like mist, radiating explosive destructive power.
"Get back!"
Mun Dong-ban, a 5-star martial artist of the Tugwi Guard. His indiscriminate charge shattered the police encirclement. He even smashed through the barrier spells set up with magical tools and crashed into the officers. Not even the bullets they fired could halt his advance wrapped in mana.
"Hahaha! Is this all you've got?!"
Following the path Mun Dong-ban had carved, numerous martial artists poured through behind him. While others trained in versatile martial arts, he had devoted himself solely to this one technique: a charging body slam. By honing a single skill to its absolute limit, he had perfected a one-hit kill technique. Though it was brutally simple and lacked flexibility, its destructive power was among the highest even among 5-star martial artists. Within the Tugwi Guard, he had been assigned the role of assault captain tasked with breaking through gates. That reputation held true even against mages.
"That bastard...!"
Though they could not understand the Fan Empire's language, the officers could clearly tell he was looking down on them.
"Don't waste precious bullets. Aim only for the ones in the back."
In this era, Majoan had integrated magic into daily life and magical tools had advanced rapidly. Yet that progress was still ongoing, and in certain areas like weaponry, clear limitations remained. While artillery mounted on combat airships could unleash great-magic-level power, magic rifles had obvious constraints due to their nature. Unless used for sniping or ambushes, they lacked the power to defeat anyone at the Expert level or higher. Even the finest rifles produced by the Magic Tower were only at that level, making them useful merely for elevating the average combat strength of the relatively weak.
'To deal with the strong, we need strong fighters of our own.'
Handing command to his subordinate, a man stepped forward to meet the charging Mun Dong-ban. His arms, corded with angry muscle from diligent training, swung toward the attacker.
BOOM!
He blocked the devastating strike that had shattered the police line with a single hand. His feet slid backward across the ground under the force, yet he remained standing and halted the charge. At the same time, Mun Dong-ban's eyes widened as he stared at the man's arm. The limb, which had been impaled on the spiked armor, was now covered in pure white fur and had transformed into something resembling a beast's forelimb.
"Don't get cocky, you trash!"
Marvin Doyan. Vivaldi's strongest mage, a rare 6-star existence even among local lords. Through transformation magic that fused the properties of replicated matter with his own genes, he had obtained the traits of the Silver Fang. Marvin bared his sharpened teeth with a grinding sound.
CRASH!
Pouring strength into his arm, he slammed Mun Dong-ban into the ground. The "Gale Blade" property unique to Silver Fangs wrapped around Marvin's claws like a storm, tearing the spot where Mun Dong-ban was embedded to shreds.
"......"
Yet Mun Dong-ban survived the attack. The officers had already seen how he could shrug off bullets with his bare body, but his durability exceeded all expectations. Still, a half-baked 5-star martial artist whose only technique was a simple charge could never defeat a 6-star mage.
Marvin raised one arm high, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.
"Thanks for clearing the way, fatty."
At that moment, someone used Mun Dong-ban's embedded body as a stepping stone and leaped upward, blocking Marvin's path. Using the "Grass-Step" technique, the figure kicked off the tips of the spikes covering Mun Dong-ban's body and launched into the air.
THUD!
From that position, the man swung his leg and kicked Marvin's wrist. The rebounding force overwhelmed Marvin's strength, forcing his eyes wide open.
'Strong!'
This opponent was on a completely different level from the fat man. At minimum, another 6-star ability user.
Two consecutive kicks followed, aimed at Marvin's face. Blocking them with his forearms, Marvin—who had not even been pushed back by Mun Dong-ban's charge—was sent flying backward.
"......"
Marvin stared at the man who now stood in Mun Dong-ban's place. He was a lean, wiry figure with a sharp, mantis-like impression. He had likely specialized in leg techniques; far more mana was concentrated in his two legs than anywhere else.
"Looks like you're the strongest one around here."
The saying about birds of a feather flocking together seemed apt. True to a follower of Tugwi, the man regarded Marvin with a battle-crazed grin and released a belligerent laugh.
"From now on, I'll be your opponent."
Matching that ferocious aura, Marvin also transformed fully into his Silver Fang form and raised his own fighting spirit.
"Yu Ha-ryang. You should at least know the name of the man who kills you, so you won't feel too wronged."
Though he could not understand the full sentence, Marvin could tell it was a self-introduction.
"Marvin Doyan."
Marvin likewise introduced himself and leaped forward with his now-pure-white legs.
BOOM!
Two 6-star fighters—each worthy of being called a great mage and a supreme martial artist—collided. Waves of mana rippled violently in every direction.
"Quickly! Evacuate this way!"
Behind them, the officers guided the remaining survivors. Rescue workers moved swiftly as well, pulling out the injured who could not flee on their own.
"Huff! Hah!"
Among the citizens fleeing the terror was Layla Ruby.
'What the hell is going on?'
Perhaps because she had entered a short break after this filming. She had sent the crew ahead, deciding to look around a bit more before leaving, and stayed behind in the city with her manager, Cheom. Cheom had eaten something bad for breakfast and refused to leave the hotel room no matter how much she knocked, so she had simply come out to wander the streets alone. Since she was leaving tomorrow anyway, she had come to Ariaadna Square to relive old memories and end things on a good note.
Yet of all days, this disaster had to strike today.
"Kyaaaaah!"
As she scrambled to escape, a scream rang out from behind. Turning her head, she saw one of the officers who had been guiding citizens suddenly collapse, bleeding. Then, one after another, people began falling, blood pouring from their bodies. Instant death, without even time to feel pain. As if a wolf hidden among sheep, an invisible something lurking among the fleeing crowd had begun its slaughter. People died in a straight line, as though tracing the path of whatever was moving through them.
'It's coming!'
And that trajectory led straight to where Layla was running. The distance closed far too quickly. It was already too late to dodge. Sensing her approaching death, she closed her eyes and clutched her smartphone tightly.
"Too late, damn it."
In an instant, the world fell into silence. Appearing behind her in slow motion was a handsome man with two-toned hair. He casually grabbed whatever was lunging toward Layla's head.
'I'm screwed.'
The sight before him was utter chaos. The collapsed clock tower and statue. The garden engulfed in flames. Corpses of victims scattered everywhere, and shockwaves exploding from powerful fighters clashing on all sides.
'The parade's definitely canceled.'
That Pride bastard. If he was going to inspect things, he should have done it properly. Of course, it was hard to pin all the blame on Pride. If Tugwi had not appeared at the grand theater and Jealousy had not been distracted by him, he would have received the signal and rushed here immediately. In that case, he could have stopped the incident before it escalated this far.
In the end, the real miscalculation that allowed this situation to spiral out of control was the unexpected appearance of Tugwi, which no one, including Pride, had foreseen.
'Their target is obviously me anyway.'
It was obvious. Since they could not directly target the Master, they had aimed for the one always following beside him. The Church bastards must have tattled that he was attached to the Master's side. This commotion was nothing more than a show to draw him out.
The Master wanted to give the young lady good memories. Therefore, the parade's cancellation had to be prevented at all costs.
Well, it was already too late for that.
'That guy still hasn't shown up, huh.'
The one who had summoned him here without any warning, sending a signal out of nowhere. If that old hag had moved first, the parade would not have been canceled. Unlike Pride, who prioritized the Master's mood over the operation's success, that old woman seemed more focused on achieving victory. She intended to use him as bait to draw out all the enemy's forces and wipe them out at once.
'Roughly, one 8-star, one 7-star, two 6-stars, and the rest are small fry?'
Thinking this, Jealousy glanced at the one he had grabbed. Like Yu Ha-ryang, this was a 6-star martial artist who had participated in the terror attack—an assassin equipped with finger blades dripping with poison mixed with blood from all ten fingers. The man, flustered by Jealousy's sudden appearance, swung his other hand toward Jealousy's face. Jealousy frowned in disgust as he looked down at him.
"A hideous bastard who doesn't even deserve to have his hands near my face dares to aim for someone's face?"
Before the man's hand could reach him, Jealousy's foot arrived first at his face. Unable to reclaim the arm Jealousy had grabbed, the man was torn away from the shoulder and sent flying. Half his head had been blown off in a single blow, and his crumpled form on the ground needed no further confirmation of death.
"Hans?"
Having instantly killed a 6-star martial artist upon appearing, Jealousy whipped his head around at the tacky name called from behind and glared fiercely at Layla.
"Didn't I tell you not to call me by that tacky name?"
He should not have saved her. Since the parade was already canceled, if this woman died too, the young lady might be sad. He had gone to the trouble of saving her, and now he had to properly educate her.
"......"
The moment he thought this, Jealousy's expression vanished.
"Hey."
He slowly turned his back.
"From now on, run as fast as you can in the direction you were heading, with everything you've got."
This was the first time Layla had ever seen him like this. Whether during Freddy's kidnapping or the times they met afterward, he had always mocked and looked down on his enemies with an arrogant attitude. His serious demeanor made the gravity of the situation painfully clear to her.
"Go!"
There was no time to ask what was happening. At Jealousy's shout, Layla turned and began running without thinking.
"How surprising. To think I would witness the one who claims supremacy over heaven and earth protecting someone."
From the opposite direction Layla had fled, a woman slowly walked out.
'With two 8-star superhumans, even I would have a hard time.'
Alongside Eun Ma-hyun, this was another hidden card the Church had prepared to hunt Jealousy. Kindness, one of the Seven Cardinal Virtues, revealed herself before Jealousy.