Night Demon in the Desert
The desert was packed with monsters.
They were unleashing blind fury toward humanity.
Expressing the slaughtering instinct engraved in their very core through monstrous roars, they advanced one step at a time like cars stuck in gridlock traffic.
All to find the humans who were the targets of their rage.
But even in this space that seemed forever unchanging, a shift had begun.
The sun vanished. The scorching earth grew cold.
Soon an eerily chilling wind blew in, darkness draped itself over the roaring monsters, and….
It was night.
A perfect night of absolute darkness, devoid of both moon and stars.
The night demon had arrived.
Thud.
Lee Hye-jung melted into the shadows and settled onto a monster’s shoulder.
The sleepless monsters were still roaring. They were still marching forward in search of humans, yet….
Lee Hye-jung strode across their bodies with shocking serenity.
And the monsters never noticed that the very humans they cursed were stepping on them and advancing.
Perfect freedom. It was exactly as Lee Shin had said.
It was now a distant memory from the wild age. The secret art of Doksahu, one of the world’s three greatest poison masters.
For example, the presence of its attribute. Was it something even a three-year-old could recognize at a glance, like Sanwang Kim Jong-pil’s nature or Geoshin Park Su-bin’s machinery?
Another was a clear endpoint. How clearly defined was the ultimate destination, like Hwarang Kim Yu-shin’s Super Synergy or Genius Baek Yeon-woo’s Heavenly Eye?
There were other factors, of course, but when Lee Shin considered just these two, he could state it with absolute confidence.
The Yama you learned is undoubtedly SSS-rank.
Spatial domination.
Domain expansion.
In other words, projecting one’s own world onto reality, which was….
Not a mere ability, but something closer to a miracle.
Lee Hye-jung’s Yama was a power that let her wield authority at an absurdly low cost.
As long as the condition of “night” was met!
Exactly.
Just as he had with Kang Mal-suk, Lee Shin’s training philosophy was crystal clear.
If the talent one was born with was lacking.
If innate limits were obvious and the potential reflected in one’s status window was low.
Then for Lee Hye-jung, who was stubbornly climbing the sheer cliff of talent through nothing but miraculous effort, never knowing when she might reach the top….
All Lee Shin could do was lower the most splendid ladder called Yama and give her a firm push from behind.
With the knowledge of a veteran!
With seemingly endless funds!
Items capable of summoning night spirits ranging from low to high grade.
And the legendary weapon she had traded with Doksahu using the legendary item received from Saudi Arabia.
◈ A chain scythe that slew the evil oni king of legend. Like how the hour before dawn is the darkest, it carries the terror of the oni king’s final, darkest night.
From cute orbs of darkness resembling fireflies to oni faces radiating blue ghostly energy.
Spirits and monstrosities alike guarded Lee Hye-jung’s surroundings.
Then another card was activated!
Collective Intelligence (SS)
…Maximizes allies’ abilities in communication, confidence, cooperation, strategic understanding, and more. They become an extension of your own power.
Combining traits and items for synergy like a true veteran, the Lee Shin-style enhancement was complete!
The night Lee Hye-jung wielded was poison mist, and it was her nervous system.
Night existed everywhere. Even inside bodies where it could not be seen.
Once she reached them, even if delivering a fatal blow was difficult, making them unable to perceive her was entirely possible.
The night around Lee Hye-jung, who had been stepping on monsters as she advanced, exploded outward.
The leg of a giant octopus? The heads of countless snakes? The strands of darkness that stretched like living things trembled for a moment.
Then they immediately burrowed beneath the desert sand.
Just as Doksahu had hunted down countless villains, Lee Hye-jung’s night scoured beneath the desert and located an elite monster, a Sand Golem.
A short while later, Lee Hye-jung stopped as if by magic.
Standing atop the Sandman’s crown with both legs together, her eyes sparkled.
Found it!
But now a new problem arose.
She had found it, but how was she supposed to drag the Sand Golem hiding underground out and kill it?
For Lee Hye-jung alone, it was impossible. She lacked the firepower, and attacking would break the perception block and endanger her safety.
But that was fine. Lee Shin had never expected her to handle it that far anyway.
Once located, whether it was buried underground or blocked by other monsters.
Even if the distance was extremely far.
At that moment, a green targeting reticle unfolded beneath Lee Hye-jung.
World Tree Vita’s bombardment was loaded.
“Coordinates confirmed. Bombardment in three seconds. Hye-jung, disengage.”
At Sanwang’s voice coming through her earpiece, Lee Hye-jung quickly retreated to a safe distance.
3
2
1
WORLD TREE BOMBARDMENT
Monsters screamed as they were vaporized.
Sand exploded and melted into slag.
This was an uncontrolled strategic strike. It was nothing like the soft bombardment used in the team competition.
A massive crater formed in the desert as if a hole had been punched through it.
And from between the rising plumes of smoke, the Sand Golem that had barely survived began to rise.
In that instant—
Shwooooosh—!
A flash of light fired from the far side of the darkness pierced the golem’s core with perfect accuracy.
It was Blitz Yu Ri-ra’s sniper shot from the distant rocky mountain.
“Got it! Sister, retrieve the key~”
Instead of answering, Lee Hye-jung tapped her walkie-talkie twice.
She then picked up the key from the scattering remains of the Sand Golem.
That’s one.
The night was still long.
Lee Hye-jung set out once more to find new prey. As silent as the night itself….
* * *
But on the other side, the atmosphere burned hotter than a volcano.
The commentators were shouting themselves hoarse, faces flushed red.
As the caster had said at the beginning, Guardian and Taeyang Guild’s strategy had been simple. They placed Heok-seong Gong Ju-in, a specialist in group battles, at their base and used Horus, a desert specialist, to secure an advantage in searching.
In reality, the direction itself had been flawless. Heok-seong’s skeleton legion was devastating, and Horus had gathered keys with overwhelming performance.
Thanks to that, they had created a monster wave several stages ahead of the other teams in the early to mid-game.
However.
As if mocking the leading Taeyang Guild, Mir Guild flipped the entire board.
“The detached force of Kang Mal-suk, Genius, and Geoshin activated every stronghold and filled the entire field with monsters.”
“It’s even been entered into the Guinness Book of Records. It will go down in history as the match with the greatest number of monsters ever summoned.”
“Because of that, the situation flowed in a completely unexpected direction, exposing Taeyang Guild’s weaknesses.”
Lack of wide-area skills.
Lack of sustain.
Lack of a commander.
Of course, that did not mean Lee Hye-jung was on the same level as Horus.
Horus had shown a truly astonishing performance, dodging the monster-filled desert to burrow underneath and hunt the Sand Golem directly.
Compared to that, Lee Hye-jung could not handle it alone, so she was indeed lacking.
But so what? If you’re upset, why don’t you get a global strike capability too? Or acquire an impossible sniping ability?
Before this match began, Taeyang Guild had been evaluated as the kings of group combat.
They possessed Heok-seong, a world-class necromancer, the insane charging power of a Sword Master as their vanguard, and even Guardian’s brain. Whatever the reason, they had barely beaten Mir Guild in the previous raid, so it was reasonable to say they were nearly on par.
Yet with just this single match, Lee Shin kept asking Taeyang Guild the same questions.
Group combat is nice, sure. But what about your sustain?
Your vanguard is amazing, I get it. So where are your area skills?
Guardian’s command is excellent, I acknowledge it. But is that all you have?
Everything’s good, but your arms are too short. What are you going to do about that?
Even if Guardian and Taeyang Guild begged, “Professor, the lessons are too fast!” the cold-hearted Professor Lee showed no mercy.
And so time passed.
Exactly on the fifteenth day of the raid.
They finally overtook them.