Meteor Strike
Meteor Strike. The ultimate siege weapon of the Thread world, a spell that had dealt fatal wounds to countless raid bosses. The sight of the sky splitting open as a meteor plummeted from above was so spectacular that even Thread newbies would gasp in awe when shown footage of it. Among the gathered streamers, many let out exclamations of wonder.
"That's actually insane."
Even Bae Min-hwang, standing right beside him, had his eyes sparkling.
"Took an all-nighter to make that one. Of course it's broken."
It was a magic scroll that required an enormous amount of materials and a long crafting time. Anything less than this level of power would have been disappointing.
"But oppa, isn't using that on a single person a bit much?"
Visually, it looked like it could level an entire area. Wasn't it overkill just to kill one person?
Bae Min-hwang's fellow streamer offered the perfectly reasonable opinion, but he shook his head.
"That probably won't be enough to kill her."
It was faith. Faith in the opponent's awe-inspiring strength. If Hwaryeong went down too easily, it would be troublesome for Bae Min-hwang as well. He'd gathered nearly a hundred people just to get a good broadcast angle—if she collapsed without putting up any real fight, the ending would be so anticlimactic he couldn't even upload it to MyTube.
Even so, Bae Min-hwang had gone all out from the start because he was certain Hwaryeong wouldn't fall to something like this.
Hwaryeong did not betray his expectations.
He saw it. The meteor falling toward the ground was suddenly sliced clean in half. And at the end of that trajectory, the sun itself was cut away, bringing day to an end as night descended.
Staring blankly at the scene, Bae Min-hwang unconsciously pressed a hand to his forehead.
I figured the meteor wouldn't take her down, but this is a bit much, isn't it? I at least thought it would do some damage!
A finishing spell capable of halving a castle protected by countless defensive magics and inflicting fatal wounds on raid bosses that other spells couldn't even scratch—being dismantled this easily? And what the hell was this now?! Why had the time of day suddenly changed from day to night?! What kind of magic was this? Had Thread been hiding some secret spell they hadn't discovered yet?! It wasn't just the time changing either! Night had fallen so abruptly that not even the moon had risen, and there wasn't a single star in the sky!
Faced with a phenomenon that defied all common sense, Bae Min-hwang couldn't hold onto his rationality. If something was only moderately impossible, the brain could at least decide whether to accept it or not. But when you witnessed a scene straight out of a movie that made you think "even for a movie, this is too much," words simply failed.
The other streamers were no different. Everyone gathered here was a broadcaster of some scale—people who could draw at least a hundred viewers. They were extremely sensitive about dead air on their streams, so silence rarely lingered in a gathering of streamers. But now it was different. No one could speak. They could only gape in shock at the spectacle before them, unable to describe, judge, or analyze it.
How long had they stood like that? It was only when the directionless meteor crashed into the sea with a thunderous roar that a voice rang out across the field.
"Is that all?"
It wasn't a shout. The woman's voice that echoed across the plain was neither shrill nor loud. It was calm. Yet despite its calmness, it was so loud that every streamer gathered on the field could hear it clearly—as if she had cast some kind of magic.
"You thought you could bring me down with just this?"
Just this. The strongest, most devastating spell in all of Thread—reduced to "just this."
Bae Min-hwang let out a hollow laugh at that declaration.
This person was definitely born in the wrong genre. Why are you in the modern world? Go to some fantasy or murim setting already. You'd still cause chaos there, but at least you'd fit the genre.
"Then all that remains for you is death."
"Everyone!!!!"
Finally snapping back to his senses, Bae Min-hwang drew in a deep breath and raised his voice. Years of broadcasting had honed his lungs to the point where his shout could command the attention of every streamer on the field.
"Prepare the bombardment!!!"
Only after Bae Min-hwang's cry did people begin to move, one by one. The raid wasn't over yet. It had only just begun. A variable had appeared—the opponent was far stronger than they'd anticipated—but that didn't mean the preparations they'd made had vanished.
"First wave! Fireeee!"
The strategy of those who had gathered to bring me down was clear. If I got close, I would obviously crush them. So they intended to crush me with firepower before I could approach.
In truth, they had prepared thoroughly to execute this strategy. First, the firepower. Countless fireballs, lightning, bombs raining from the sky—each carried enough power to vaporize my body. On top of that, various devices to block my approach. Softening the ground to make it hard to step on. Weaving vines to trip me. Strong winds to hinder my advance. I could feel their will to trap and trample me.
However, I still have only one thing to say about it. You thought you could bring me down with something like this? What a joke. If I were the kind of person who would fall to this level of assault, I would have been buried in the murim long before reaching the modern era.
The barrage pouring from the sky left no gaps, no matter how small. They must have formed that line to give me no room to dodge. But that was the problem. What did it matter how dense the barrage was? I could erase it all in an instant.
I paint upon the world as my canvas. This was something I learned when I went to the Heavenly Demon Cult. A Taoist magic likely connected to the very foundation of who I am. Something that erases everything in the world.
All things around me fell silent at once, and the world was dyed in emptiness. Following that, the meticulously calculated spells were erased as well.
Now then. Nothing remains to obstruct me.
I looked toward those standing in the distance. They weren't far. The moment I charged forward, trampling the earth as if to shatter it, a wall rose up before me. A trick to slow my approach. But the wall was not sturdy. Ah, how could a wall of this level be an obstacle to someone who had just cut away the sun? I sliced the wall cleanly in half and took another step forward, only for another barrage to rain down.
The second barrage was not as dense. Instead, it was continuous. Had they judged that the first barrage disappeared because it was all fired at once? Changing strategy this quickly, and executing it immediately—either way, it was impressive. Though not threatening to me.
If I wished, I could erase them all, or send them all back. Hmm. But that would be too despairing for them. I should give them some hope. They must have worked hard to prepare all this.
Between the loose but continuous barrages, gaps existed. One wrong step and I would be erased in the crossfire. But I was not the kind of person to make such a mistake. Forward. And forward again. With every step I took, countless obstructions flew at me to stop me. I dodged the tree roots trying to trip my ankles, leapt over suddenly collapsing ground by stepping on air, and cut away the cold weapons riding the fierce winds. Before I knew it, I had reached them.
"I believe I've shown considerable consideration."
At the very least, I didn't render your preparations meaningless. I gave you the chance to do your best. This is clearly my mercy.
"So now, I'll do as I please."
The moment I sent the head of the person staring at me in bewilderment flying, those gathered behind began to charge with shouts. Even in this situation, they had front and rear lines divided. They had prepared for this scenario as well. Their thorough preparation was admirable, but it didn't seem very useful. Why did they think I would deal with the front line first? I was an individual, while they were an army.
I crushed the head of the one charging at the front and headed toward the rear. Those who saw me coming panicked and stopped, but that couldn't halt the charge of those behind them. Using the heads of others as stepping stones, I reached the rear ranks.
From then on, it was simply a chaotic melee. The ones standing in the rear each had several scrolls tucked in their robes. So I snatched those away and unleashed magic indiscriminately upon them. I knew nothing about magic, but with an endless supply of scrolls, there was no difference between me and the Great Mage.
As I enjoyed the melee, before long the people standing around me had all but disappeared. There had only been about a hundred of them at most. They couldn't have lasted long. On a field filled with limp corpses and the bags carefully placed atop them, the last one standing was someone I had seen far too many times before.
Bae Min-hwang. The one who had sought my advice from below. The one who was probably now the leader of this raiding party. He met my gaze and gave a bitter smile.
"Isn't this a bit much?"
"You should've prepared more thoroughly, then."
"...More than this?"
"Yes."
Saying that your strategy had failed after preparing with everything you had simply meant that the strategy, the preparations—everything—had been insufficient. You should have been more thorough.
"I worked pretty hard, though."
"Then what are you going to do? I'm still standing here perfectly fine."
"When you put it that way, I don't really have anything to say either."
"Enough. I've played with you long enough. Let's end this now."
I still have the fate of petting the soft fur of my wolf pup waiting for me. I don't want to drag this out any longer.
As I said this and raised my sword, Bae Min-hwang burst into laughter as if he couldn't believe it.