Chapter 388
Chapter 388
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 388
Chapter Title: Who Has Grown More
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Crackle...
Ice froze along the spear tip in mid-air. The charging ranker's body froze solid, lost all its strength, and dropped limply to the ground below.
Stepping on the ranker's frozen body, Si-woo leaped high into the air. In an instant, ice orbs formed at his fingertips above the heads of the rushing rankers.
Whoosh!
Just as Ye-ryeong had taught him, he fired the orbs in one breath.
The orbs scattered in different directions, piercing straight through the enemies' hearts. The rankers charging toward Si-woo collapsed one after another.
"Don't come at me one by one—rush him all at once!"
"From all sides..."
The moment the command rang out, Si-woo was already moving.
Si-woo plunged headlong into the midst of the rankers.
It was like a larger beast charging into a den of wild animals. The spear stabbed deep into flesh again and again, then split apart and whipped around like a lash.
Crack.
Si-woo's hand seized the neck of a nearby ranker. Without even needing to swing the spear, the man's body snapped.
Splat!
At that moment, a long staff flew in and embedded itself in Si-woo's side. The man who had hurled it from afar smirked in triumph.
But.
Crackle...
The staff couldn't pierce the armor of ice encasing Si-woo's body.
The staff's tip froze solid where it stuck in the icy armor. Si-woo gripped it even tighter.
Cold chill spread along the staff. The startled man tried to let go, but his hand was already frozen to it.
Whoosh.
The man's body turned white with frost. Thinking he wouldn't go down that easily, Si-woo charged and delivered a kick.
Boom!
The frozen man's head shattered. Breaking the ice-encased body looked just like smashing a frostbite victim.
Si-woo spun around, scattering ice shards everywhere, and the rankers charging at him flinched for a moment.
In that split second, Si-woo didn't stand still.
Crackle. Ice formed beneath his feet. Si-woo kicked off it and leaped upward several times.
Below him, hundreds of rankers still swarmed. He'd killed dozens, but there were still so many left.
Taking them all on was impossible.
Just as he was about to fly straight toward Kim Il-su.
Thud!
Someone pursuing him from below kicked Si-woo's spear shaft with their foot.
Thwack.
Si-woo was sent flying back in the direction he'd leaped from. He scraped the spear along the ground to halt, then checked the one who had blocked his path.
It was Pierre.
Fwoosh.
The master of close-quarters combat closed the distance in an instant and charged.
Clang, clang!
Spear and fist clashed repeatedly. Even with his eyes closed, Pierre fought with astonishing skill. He hadn't become Blue Zone's vice-guild master for nothing.
As the two exchanged over a dozen blows in seconds, Blue Zone rankers rushed in from all sides again.
Flinch.
Pierre, thinking he had the upper hand, recoiled in surprise and took a step back.
In that instant, Si-woo's eyes blazed an even deeper blue.
Thud.
Si-woo's foot slammed into the ground. Whoosh, a wave of icy blue chill spread outward.
The dozen or so rankers charging from every direction froze solid all at once. Pierre crossed his arms and leaped back to evade.
Crackle...
Ice flowers bloomed on his crossed arms. If he'd been any closer? He might have ended up as another ice block rolling on the ground.
Si-woo advanced toward Pierre with a piercing glare and asked.
"Do you even know what the situation is right now?"
"No clue."
Crack.
Pierre shattered the ice flowers with force.
"But I have a guess."
"A guess?"
"Just turn back. I have my position to consider—I can't just stand by."
As Blue Zone's new vice-guild master, he was one of the guild's top fighters.
But even so, he couldn't match Si-woo.
He knew it himself, yet he didn't back down.
"Even if you push that far, you're just going to lose. You've already burned through a lot of your mana."
Si-woo's eyes gleamed.
He'd thought he'd hidden it well, but Pierre had noticed. To get here so quickly, Si-woo had poured mana lavishly on every foe he faced.
That's why he wanted to conserve it for this fight.
"Next time, come with your allies."
"Worried about me?"
"No. We need to survive first. If you pull back, we'll cross the finish line right there. It's just ahead."
This was the reason Si-woo was unstoppable.
The finish line was so close. Si-woo didn't want to hand Blue Zone an easy pass to the next round.
"Sorry, but I have to see that guy crash and burn."
In his mind, Kim Il-su's perfect downfall included failing here in the team battle.
"And you're not alone anymore."
Whoosh.
Shadows stretched long, slicing across the necks of the surrounding rankers.
What just happened? The moment the question arose in their minds.
Splurt!
Blood fountained from their slit throats. Their necks weren't fully severed—just half-cut, dangling loosely.
Flick.
A few rankers reacted.
Spears and swords flew from all directions. The dark shadow slipped through the gaps like liquid.
Stab, stab!
Hearts and throats were pierced as the shadow passed. Nilek, a Blue Zone high-ranker, activated a skill toward the fast-moving shadow.
Whoosh.
The ground turned to sand and surged up. The moment it swallowed the shadow, a dagger shot through the sand at high speed.
Nilek ducked his head and looked down at his chest.
A dagger was already embedded there, and realizing it, he blacked out.
Ye-ryeong appeared lightly after claiming over a dozen lives in an instant. She landed right between Si-woo and Pierre.
Panting from the intense action, she swept back her sweat-dampened hair. At her arrival, Blue Zone's movements halted briefly.
Si-woo raised his spear upright and asked.
"Jang Se-ri?"
"Why ask the obvious? She's out."
Si-woo grinned at Ye-ryeong's reply.
He'd trusted her, of course. But she'd been even faster than expected.
Was it an assassin versus assassin fight? In that field, no one could match Ye-ryeong.
Pierre's narrowed eyes widened slightly at the news of Jang Se-ri's defeat.
"Is that true?"
Ye-ryeong tilted her head at Pierre's question.
Instead of answering, she turned to Si-woo and asked.
"Who's this guy?"
"Blue Zone's new vice-guild master after Lee Won-jae."
"This guy's next after that moron?"
Twirl. A dagger spun in Ye-ryeong's hand.
"Should I kill him too?"
"Still deciding."
"Does he know, or not?"
"Fifty-fifty. But he wasn't there, right?"
"True."
Ye-ryeong nodded and scanned the surroundings.
The assassin's eyes hunted for targets to kill.
"...A lot of those guys from back then are here."
Ye-ryeong's gaze cooled calmly. Her reaction matched Si-woo's.
"Hey, we meet again?"
Ye-ryeong smirked and waved. Everyone she waved at had been in the Hydra raid party with them.
The fear an assassin instilled was different from Si-woo's. The terror of dying without knowing when or how. That was Ye-ryeong's presence.
"No need to be scared."
Step.
With Ye-ryeong joining, Kim Il-su could no longer stand by and stepped forward.
"It doesn't work on me."
Shing.
Two swords were drawn from the sheaths at Kim Il-su's waist.
Both were black.
One was a short dagger about two handspans long. The other was a short sword of similar length, both gleaming with a faint green hue.
Si-woo and Ye-ryeong's eyes sparkled. The swords in Kim Il-su's hands were an item impossible to mistake.
"So that's it."
Divine-grade item, Hydra.
"...The one we stabbed him in the back for and took."
He had betrayed his comrades and claimed the guardian raid reward.
The two knew well the power of a divine-grade item. There were only five in the world, and Soo-hyuk held one now.
After obtaining it, Soo-hyuk had grown into a completely different person.
Ye-ryeong's voice reached him.
Si-woo nodded. Even without the warning, he never underestimated Kim Il-su.
In truth, he'd always been second only to Soo-hyuk. Now with a divine-grade item in hand, his strength was unimaginable.
Ye-ryeong's warnings continued.
Understanding, Si-woo nodded.
She meant: one graze and it's over, so don't even get close.
She must have worried he'd charge in recklessly.
It was strange.
Alone, he'd been ready to go wild, but with Ye-ryeong here, his judgment shifted.
"Soo-hyuk will be here soon."
Si-woo grinned at Ye-ryeong's words.
"That's when the real fun starts."
"Let's wrap this up before he arrives."
"Agreed. Can't let him hog the spotlight alone again."
Soo-hyuk wasn't with them, but they didn't feel his absence.
If anything, this moment was exactly what they'd longed for.
Twenty-one years ago, after losing Soo-hyuk and all their comrades, left as the only two survivors.
For over a decade, living in hiding like the dead, they'd imagined scenes like this countless times.
Storming Blue Zone, abandoning everything, standing before Kim Il-su like this. Giving their all in one final battle.
When that time came, the outcome wouldn't matter.
Just fighting would be enough. That alone would bring immense liberation.
'Compared to that.'
Si-woo savored the stage given to them.
The team battle they'd yearned to return to. Before them stood Blue Zone's rankers and Kim Il-su, with Ye-ryeong at his side.
No Hyo-min as a weakness, nothing holding them back. No more hiding.
His thoughts reached that point, and an uncharacteristic smile crept across Si-woo's face.
"What's so funny?"
Though feigning calm, Si-woo sensed displeasure in Kim Il-su's voice.
"I'm having fun."
"Fun?"
He wouldn't understand. Naturally. Si-woo didn't fully get it himself.
Feeling joy in a situation like this.
"Yeah. You wouldn't get it. You've been living in the light, unlike us."
Step.
Si-woo moved first.
"Who's the real shady bastard here, huh?"
Ye-ryeong burst into laughter at his words. Giggling wildly, she followed Si-woo like a shadow.
As the two approached, Blue Zone rankers blocked Kim Il-su's front. Meant to protect their guild master, but Kim Il-su pushed through them instead.
The distance between them narrowed bit by bit.
As it closed, Si-woo could read Kim Il-su's expression.
Despite not liking him, once a friend? Si-woo could read his eyes. They said:
Our Si-woo, you've grown so much.
Si-woo answered those eyes silently.
"Let's find out."
Crackle...
Ice flowers bloomed brilliantly beneath Si-woo's feet.
"Who grew more."