Chapter 137: Geumwa Clan (4)
Chapter 137: Geumwa Clan (4)
It is always difficult to respond when the unthinkable happens.
Boom!
"Aaaagh!"
"Gah!"
The Awakeners of the Geumwa Clan, who had been huddled behind barricades, felt a shockwave so intense it felt as if a bomb had detonated beneath their feet. Their insides churned, and stone fragments whistled through the air like shrapnel.
A massive hole had been blasted through the floor of the fourth floor. Through that opening, Han Shin and Laysia leaped upward, infiltrating the level.
Attacking this way had been Han Shin’s call.
He had surmised that after clearing the third floor, the enemy would be waiting on the fourth with even more rigorous preparations. He was right.
Predicting they would maintain distance to intercept them as they came up the stairs, Han Shin had instead swung his warhammer against the very center of the building’s structure.
Han Shin vaulted onto the fourth floor alongside Laysia, satisfied by the chaos above.
Scanning the room quickly, he noted that there were even more personnel here than on the third floor—and his primary target was among them.
He spotted Kim Gi-joon positioned at the furthest point from him.
Before starting today’s assault, Han Shin had already memorized the faces of the Geumwa Clan’s executives. He had paid particularly close attention to Kim Gi-joon, the most dangerous individual to capture.
That’s the guy.
When fighting a mage, the priority was to close the distance as quickly as possible to prevent them from casting.
Han Shin charged toward Kim Gi-joon, leading with his shield.
"B-Block him!"
"Kill him!"
The Awakeners here weren't mere amateurs; they knew exactly what the Knight was aiming for.
Yet, they could not stop the charge of a knight enveloped in a silver aura.
Having drawn upon the Power of the Dragon to enter his Juggernaut state, Han Shin ignored the enemies lunging at him from all sides.
Clang!
"Aargh! My arm!"
The wrist of a swordsman who clashed blades with Han Shin snapped at a grotesque angle, the joint instantly dislocated.
It was sheer, overwhelming power.
Han Shin’s strikes, his physical abilities pushed to the limit by the Power of the Dragon, were a nightmare even for high-rank Awakeners. Those who tried to block with shields fared no better.
Thud!
"Aaaagh!"
The dull sound of warping metal was followed by a scream.
The Geumwa Clan Awakeners trying to block Han Shin were actually stronger than their natural states. Through the dark magic enhancement spells taught by the ego artifact Raulo, they had unconsciously begun to channel dark mana, bolstering their physical forms.
But against Han Shin, it meant nothing.
Some even tried to fight back using dark mana directly, but…
Thwack!
It was useless against the Power of the Dragon.
Han Shin slammed his shield into one Awakener, knocking him unconscious, and saw that the path to Kim Gi-joon was almost clear.
Laysia, the martial artist who had ascended with him, also showed the Geumwa Clan members no mercy, helping Han Shin pave his way toward Kim Gi-joon.
She, too, had identified Kim Gi-joon and understood Han Shin’s intent, moving with calculated precision to support him. As Han Shin charged forward recklessly, she prioritized neutralizing those attempting to strike him from behind.
A warrior protecting a mage while they cast spells was a basic formation.
A massive warrior wielding an axe and a thick shield stepped into Laysia’s path to fulfill that very role. Having already witnessed Laysia’s strength, he attempted to play defensively, hoping to coordinate a pincer attack with his allies.
It was the best decision he could make in such a desperate situation.
To Laysia, however, it was a clumsy defense.
When Laysia made a wide motion with her right hand as if to strike his shield, the warrior braced himself to endure the impact.
Crunch!
"GYAAAH!"
Instead, Laysia stomped down with a heavy step, pulverizing the warrior’s right foot into a bloody pulp.
The bones were shattered, the flesh torn, and the foot left a mangled mess.
As the warrior’s posture collapsed from the agonizing pain—
Whack!
"Guh!"
Thud.
She finished him off with a swift left hook to the face.
The warrior’s sacrifice did, however, buy the mages enough time to fire their spells at Laysia.
Bolts of lightning and fireballs streaked toward her, but a protective shield had already manifested around her body, rendering the attacks harmless.
Her recent level-up in Siberia had made a significant difference. With a more abundant supply of Tiamat’s holy power, she was finally reclaiming her original combat prowess.
Kim Gi-joon’s face was grim, his lips pressed into a thin line as he watched the battle turn into a one-sided slaughter by just two people.
He had come to the fourth floor to mount a proper defense, but Han Shin and Laysia’s unexpected entry through the floor had shattered his strategy before it could even begin.
Around Kim Gi-joon’s neck hung a necklace made of golden metal.
The ego artifact Raulo was also watching the situation through Kim Gi-joon’s eyes. He realized then that these intruders were followers of a Benevolent God.
Though he knew Laysia’s logs had been identified, Raulo hadn't expected to run into them like this. He found himself in a frustrating and precarious position.
What rotten luck…
Raulo had been promised a glorious future in exchange for discarding his physical body to become an ego artifact. Since crossing over to Earth, he had successfully beguiled Kim Gi-joon, turning the Geumwa Clan into his puppets.
Things had been going so well he thought they couldn't get any better. He had subtly altered the clan members' thoughts, strengthening them and injecting them with demonic nature without them even noticing.
He had even planned to plant these minions among the humans so that, eventually, they could delay clearing portals under the guise of "difficulty," allowing demons to cross over safely.
Raulo, who never expected to encounter followers of a Benevolent God here of all places, racked his brain for a way out.
He whispered to Kim Gi-joon.
[There are plenty of catalysts around him. Use the Living Bomb.]
Initially, Raulo had spoken to Kim Gi-joon mechanically, almost politely.
But by now, Kim Gi-joon’s mental state had deteriorated to the point where he didn't even find it strange that Raulo was speaking to him informally.
Though Kim Gi-joon was an S-rank Awakener and a brilliant mage, he was weak compared to Raulo. Even without a body, the demon was more than capable of toying with the man’s mind.
The "Living Bomb" Raulo mentioned was a spell that used an entity containing dark mana as a catalyst, causing them to go berserk and detonate with massive force. Kim Gi-joon had learned it from Raulo under the lie that it was a long-lost ancient magic.
If it were the old Kim Gi-joon, he would have rejected such a thing instantly. But not now.
Seeing that Han Shin’s advance was unstoppable, he believed a sacrifice was necessary to deal a fatal blow.
Thinking it was sound advice, he didn't hesitate to cast the Living Bomb.
It was Raulo who had given the Geumwa Clan their dark mana, refining it from monster corpses to ensure it was easily absorbed.
He had pre-conditioned the clan members to accept the dark mana required for the Living Bomb without resistance. The members currently fighting Han Shin had no idea.
To kill Han Shin and Laysia at any cost, Kim Gi-joon triggered the spell.
It was his first time casting it on humans, but it worked perfectly.
With a bit of help from Raulo, the eyes of the Awakeners surrounding Han Shin suddenly lost their luster.
Then, with a series of wet pops, they exploded. Shrapnel of bone and flesh sprayed in every direction.
Han Shin was caught right in the middle of it.
He had noticed something was wrong with the Awakeners surrounding him, sensing the activation of magic, but it was too late to retreat.
Like a blast from a canister shot, the bone fragments shredded everything in their path, wounding friend and foe alike.
Dammit, what is this…
Han Shin hadn't expected the men he was just trading blows with to turn into human bombs.
If he had been an ordinary Awakener, he would have been turned into a pincushion and died instantly.
But he was the Proxy of Tiamat.
Kim Gi-joon assumed he had killed Han Shin by sacrificing his subordinates. The executives around him thought the same.
"Nice!!"
"That son of a bitch is finally dead."
They were certain of his demise.
But their jaws dropped when Han Shin emerged, completely unscathed.
Blood had been sprayed everywhere and bone fragments had flown in all directions; the man at the center of that explosion should have been dead.
"No way… what the fuck? How?"
Comically, one of the executives who had said the exact same thing when the second floor was breached muttered it again.
Han Shin had felt the full benefit of wearing Tiamat’s Full Body Armor.
He hadn't expected people to explode into a shockwave of bone shrapnel, but the defensive power of Tiamat’s armor was extraordinary.
Not a single scratch had reached his skin.
However, his body had still absorbed the massive physical impact of the dark-mana-infused bone fragments slamming into the suit.
If he weren't Han Shin—if he were just an ordinary Awakener wearing the armor—the shock alone would have knocked him unconscious or killed him through internal hemorrhaging.
But as a Dragon Knight, Han Shin possessed a physical form stronger than any other Awakener on Earth.
To Kim Gi-joon, the failure of his trump card felt surreal.
He was being reduced to nothing more than a helpless victim, no different from the subordinates he had just discarded.
He realized too late that Han Shin’s fist was already inches from his face.
CRACK!!
Despite being hit by the Living Bomb, Han Shin had used the moment Kim Gi-joon lost focus to make a final sprint. The last thing Kim Gi-joon saw was a silver gauntlet clenched into a fist…
And that was the final scene Kim Gi-joon witnessed that day.
The unconscious Kim Gi-joon was a mess.
His high nose was crushed, blood streamed from his nostrils, and his mouth was a ruined, bloody pulp. With half his teeth shattered, the once-handsome face of Kim Gi-joon was nowhere to be found.