Chapter 194
Chapter 194
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 194
Chapter Title: Cowards' Last Stand
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There must be nearly a hundred of them. Han Sang-ah and Jeong Oh-hoon tense up slightly as they sense the enemies approaching from afar.
I spoke confidently to the two of them.
"No need to tense up. It's obvious what kind of state those guys are in."
Jeong Oh-hoon replied to my words.
"Still, there are a lot of them."
"Trust me. You'll figure it out naturally once you face them."
With that, I lowered my stance, gripped my spear, and took a deep breath.
"They're coming! Block that bastard!"
I kicked off the ground and charged. All sorts of abilities rained down on me, trying to halt my advance. The earth trembled, disorienting lights clouded my mind, and my vision warped.
One guy transformed his arm into a massive blade and swung it at me. I caught the whistling edge with my hand and smashed it down, shattering it.
"Block him, you fucking bastards! Block him, I said!"
Another created dozens of afterimages and lunged at me. But his spirited attempt was swept away by the barrage of magic blasts from Jeong Oh-hoon behind me.
"O Lord, place me at your side and let me stand among the saints!"
Jeong Oh-hoon floated slightly in the air, muttering nonsense as he slid around, pulling weapons from subspace and unleashing merciless bombardment.
Meanwhile, Han Sang-ah walked slowly through the enemies glaring at her, saying nothing.
Occasional faint glimmers of silver flashed. And wherever those silver gleams licked past, the foes standing there were invariably sliced into dozens of pieces.
"See? I told you. Guys who took the easy way out and fled couldn't possibly be strong."
These guys had no chance to fight a real battle here. At best, they'd tangled with a few monsters popping out of Erosion Zones.
Otherwise, they'd just crushed powerless civilians and squeezed them for blood money.
They might have made a name for themselves a few years back, but now? They were nothing but gelded beasts.
"That's just what you think."
In the midst of it, one stepped in front of me. I thrust my spear, but just before it touched him, it twisted and stabbed empty air.
"Space Distortion, huh."
"Your attacks won't reach me."
At that moment, Jeong Oh-hoon fired a magic bullet from behind. Predictably, it veered off into weird directions due to the guy's space distortion.
"Pointless..."
But the next magic bullet was different. The light on Jeong Oh-hoon's tattoo flickered out, and the shot flew true.
And finally, I got to see the power of that tattoo and let out a small gasp of admiration.
"True aim, for real."
Attacks launched after expending that tattoo's light would hit no matter what tricks you pulled. You could block them, but dodging? Impossible.
Even space distortion meant nothing. The guy, who had stood so arrogantly moments ago, stared in disbelief at the hole blasted through his chest.
"This..."
Having trusted his space distortion, he died pathetically with a magic bullet in his chest.
"That thing barely has any usage limits."
Jeong Oh-hoon now held a machine gun in one hand spewing magic bullets and a launcher in the other firing devastating magic blasts.
He created a bullet storm with the machine gun to charge his tattoo, then unleashed sure-hit blasts from the launcher.
Suppressive fire and guaranteed hits. This was the moment Jeong Oh-hoon's combat style fully crystallized.
"Well, I can't say I didn't see this coming."
Suddenly, a slender blade stabbed toward my throat.
"Hello, Salgat."
I deflected the attack with my spear and stepped back slightly. I'd seen this guy once before in Europe.
"Salgat? I have the proud name Seok Jo-heum—three characters worth."
Salgat said that while lightly pressing down his conical hat with one hand and aiming his thin sword at me with the other.
"Overall... you're looking a bit faded."
His body was semi-transparent, like a mirage teetering on the edge of vanishing.
"Maybe eat some paint. Might make you a bit more vivid."
As I spoke, protective barriers formed over the bodies of the guys attacking us.
"Yoo Chan-seok, finally."
Salgat wasn't alone. There was another familiar face—a man dressed like a shaman, gripping a sacred sword adorned with paper talismans in one hand.
Yi Ha-yoon.
"Hey, what's with your skin?"
His acne was on another level. Like tree bark from an oak.
"You see a dermatologist yet?"
Instead of answering, he planted something in the ground, took a mouthful of water, and sprayed it over the spot. The earth rumbled, and in an instant, sprouts emerged, growing into a tree.
The massive tree spread countless branches wide. Colorful threads and papers fluttered from them.
The mana it emitted carried powerful protective power. Those shielded by it wouldn't be easily hurt, and wounds would heal fast.
"What is that? Some village guardian tree?"
"Exactly. It takes root in this land by my will and protects those I choose by my will."
Its mana felt holy and merciful at first glance, but beneath lurked sinister intent.
"It'll be different this time."
"Sure. You're not even human anymore. And where's Seo Sin-cheol?"
You're not my target anyway.
"Who knows? Probably busy."
Yi Ha-yoon flicked his hand, creating concentric circles on the ground that enveloped me in a hemispherical haze. I sighed softly.
"Hey, barriers don't work on me."
I ignited Paradox Flame at my spear tip and jabbed the wall enclosing me. Like a hot chopstick piercing a plastic bottle, a hole melted through instantly.
"Didn't learn anything from Siberia?"
At that instant, dozens more rippling concentric circles spread out. Yi Ha-yoon shook his sacred sword slowly as he spoke.
"Who says I didn't learn?"
I clicked my tongue and said to Jeong Oh-hoon.
"You take that hat-wearing retard."
His ability specialized in evasion—dodge attacks, then counter. But Jeong Oh-hoon's attacks couldn't be dodged.
He could handle it fine.
In simple terms, Jeong Oh-hoon had the matchup advantage.
"Got it. Hey, Kim Salgat. Play with me."
Jeong Oh-hoon shouldered his gun and unleashed a storm of magic bullets. Most passed right through Seok Jo-heum's body. Then, amid the barrage, he fired a magic blast.
Seok Jo-heum couldn't evade the blast aimed at him. Instead of phasing through, it slammed into his torso, exploding violently and leaving a crater.
"You bastard."
Seok Jo-heum seemed to have defended at the last second, but he looked rattled. He should be fine against Jeong Oh-hoon...
"And they're still multiplying. What am I, a fragile parcel with a 'handle with care' sticker?"
They're repackaging non-stop. I smashed through layers of barriers and advanced toward Yi Ha-yoon. Along the way, other guys poured attacks at me.
Most were weak enough I didn't even need to counter—the suit's defense shrugged them off.
I only blocked the real threats while demolishing Yi Ha-yoon's barriers.
Han Sang-ah swung her sword at Yi Ha-yoon, who was desperately trying to hold me back.
"You bitch, being a nuisance."
Talismans shot from Yi Ha-yoon's sleeve, sticking to Han Sang-ah's body and detonating in unison.
"Han Sang-ah, handle that shaman."
"What about you?"
Han Sang-ah hurled lightning at Yi Ha-yoon as she asked me.
"Gotta take this guy."
I dodged an axe plummeting from the sky toward me.
A massive boom erupted as a pillar of earth shot up. A guy with a huge axe slung over his shoulder grinned at me.
"First time meeting? Yoo Chan-seok. Nice to meet a celebrity."
I eyed his axe. It bore strange red markings.
"Hello, psycho. I enjoyed the video you sent to England."
"Mind-blowing, right? Oh, guys like you wouldn't get the flavor or aroma of sound."
He spun the massive axe effortlessly with a whoosh. I watched him for a moment before speaking.
"What's that you're hiding in your coat?"
He flinched briefly at my words.
"How'd you notice?"
"Trade secret."
One thing was clear: the energy it gave off wasn't Earth tech. Humanity had only just awakened to mana—they couldn't produce something like that.
"A gift from Dangun's descendants."
I snorted in disbelief and glanced at Yi Ha-yoon. Whoever made that tool wasn't human.
"So, what're you planning with it?"
"They seem to covet your abilities."
Hearing that, I made a genuinely complicated expression.
"Are you idiots?"
No, they were always idiots, but way more than I'd thought.
"Your ability is fearsome, but..."
He charged me, swinging the axe. I dodged and countered, but he emerged unscathed.
"It means nothing before me!"
He leered at me.
"Any damage meant for me stops cold. No attack can harm me. All of it—nullified completely."
"Ah... lucky you."
I scratched my head and replied indifferently.
"Your voice... it's like sourdough. Sour and tough. Not my taste."
As I moved to attack, his body reacted swiftly, evading. His eyes bloodshot with glee, he burst out laughing.
"This body is different from yours. I was born special. With one sense—hearing—I perceive smell, taste, and sound. Know what that means? Of course you don't."
"Means you can predict attacks from sound."
More than just hearing—it let him accurately anticipate attack power and trajectory from sound alone. Perceiving three senses with one was the natural result.
Hunter synesthesia. Probably near-prophetic prediction.
"..."
"Wow, hit the nail on the head and you clam up. Guess I'll get to the point."
I leveled my spear at him.
"You're not as special as you think. People like Kanye West contributed to humanity with synesthesia. You? You're just a beast indulging in pleasure kills with it."
And I flipped him the bird.
"Drooling at sounds like Pavlov's dog, yet acting all high and mighty."
Crush the pride of someone who thinks they're special like that, and the reaction is always the same.
"You need to watch your tongue. Let me teach you some manners."
He flew into a rage. Classic response from the narcissistic.
"This mutt's got some nerve trying to school humans. Bring it."
There are no bad dogs in the world—but if a human acts like a dog, that's a bad human.