—This will never end at this rate.
‘I know, right?’
The battle of restraining and keeping Park Sang-pyeon in check with ice spears and then pulling back was certainly effective in consuming Park Sang-pyeon’s mana, but I couldn’t land a direct hit.
Thanks to constantly harassing Park Sang-pyeon, we succeeded in rescuing all the children in the school bus, but the problem was that Park Sang-pyeon showed no signs of fatigue.
—He is getting tired. The problem is that sword. It keeps circulating mana. Until now, he’s been holding out with his own mana, but soon he’ll start sucking out his life force to use.
An artifact that even uses the owner’s life force.
‘Isn’t that basically a demonic sword?’
—It’s certainly not a normal artifact.
I once again gifted Park Sang-pyeon, who was rushing towards me, with a giant ice awl. Thanks to wetting the ground, I could create ice from the ground.
Next was a giant ice prison.
I had used a total of three mana potion bottles while dealing with Park Sang-pyeon.
I needed to charge mana one more time.
Just as I was pouring the mana powder from the potion bottle into my mana bracelet-
As they say, a long tail gets stepped on.
“What’s that?”
Park Sang-pyeon’s eyes shining through the ice prison. Startled, my hand trembled and I almost dropped the potion bottle.
I succeeded in charging mana while binding Park Sang-pyeon, but I was clearly seen doing it.
“So that’s it. I thought it was strange. No matter how much we fought, your mana was always fresh.”
“Haha, you caught me.”
I tried to maintain a calm expression.
Having discovered the secret of this war of attrition, Park Sang-pyeon didn’t seem to have any intention of staying still.
Park Sang-pyeon, who had kicked off the ground, clung close to my body. He’s trying to engage in close combat. I desperately tried to shake him off, but it wasn’t easy.
He came rushing, not caring about anything flying towards his body. He didn’t seem to care whether his body got scratched or frozen.
In this situation, he intends to finish me off in one go, even if it means sacrificing his body’s safety.
There are various ways to block his attacks, but I don’t have a good way to push back someone rushing in recklessly right now.
‘Should I call lightning? No, he’d still break through. A wall of earth, damn, but I’d need to touch the ground for that.’
At that moment, my body tilted. I must have missed a piece of asphalt sticking out behind.
‘Damn.’
Park Sang-pyeon had already come close to me.
A black shadow slipped between me and Park Sang-pyeon.
“Kim Jae-ho!”
Kim Jae-ho clashed swords with him. Seeing the black mana trying to cling to Kim Jae-ho, I pushed Kim Jae-ho away with wind.
“Ugh!”
Kim Jae-ho, pushed back, glared at me, but there was no time. I stuck an ice spear into the sword reaching towards Kim Jae-ho. Park Sang-pyeon’s body, pushed by the ice spear, was flung far away.
“I told you. Don’t confront him head-on.”
Kim Jae-ho bared his teeth and growled.
“Aim for his back.”
At my words, Kim Jae-ho’s body disappeared as if it had collapsed. It was an amazing movement. I took out the dagger I had attached to my thigh again. Alright, we’re going for hand-to-hand combat. This is my main specialty anyway.
Over there, a bloodied Park Sang-pyeon was getting up and walking towards me. He’s really a persistent bastard.
“Why doesn’t anything work on you?”
Muttering that, he raised his sword again. Unlike before, flames rose almost as if they would swallow himself.
—His mana. It’s definitely weakened.
It looks incredibly strong on the outside, but Ray is right. As the mana he’s actually holding is weakening, it’s a strategy to at least increase its size.
It means the war of attrition so far has been meaningful.
The problem is that I have to clash with that.
Park Sang-pyeon’s body, having kicked off the ground, rushes straight towards me. I was planning to face him with my dagger, but with the flames around the sword so large, it’s impossible with just a dagger. I immediately stuck the dagger in and raised ice spears again.
I feel like I’ve made so many ice spears today that they’re automatically outputting without even thinking about the shape.
Bang, boom.
But Park Sang-pyeon, who had become faster, easily avoided all my ice spears. I tried moving the ground to catch his feet, but he quickly moved his body before the ground could move.
The ice awls shattered as soon as they were created.
I can’t let him get close.
I floated my body into the air, but this wasn’t a good move either. I wasn’t the only one who could kick off the ground and soar into the air.
A terrible smile spread across Park Sang-pyeon’s face as he followed me.
“Die!”
At that moment, dark magic energy rippled in the space in front of me. Han Seo-hyeon’s skeleton, summoned in the air, blocked in front of my body. In an instant, dark red mana transferred and stuck to the skeleton’s body. The mana began to burn the bones themselves.
“Ugh!”
Perhaps from the shock of the skeleton being recalled, Han Seo-hyeon’s scream was heard from the bushes.
There’s no time to ask if he’s okay.
I can’t waste the time Han Seo-hyeon bought on the ground. I gritted my teeth and gathered blue lightning at my fingertips. This much shouldn’t be noticeable from a distance. And I shot that lightning straight into Park Sang-pyeon’s body.
“Aaaagh!”
Unable to withstand the shock of his body being seared, Park Sang-pyeon’s body crashed straight to the ground.
“Haa, haa.”
I sighed as I slowly lowered my body using wind. Despite his entire body being burned and crushed, Park Sang-pyeon slowly got up.
“Huk, huk.”
Of course, he wasn’t fine. His body was half-cooked, with bleeding wounds. It was enough to make you frown just looking at it. Moreover, Park Sang-pyeon’s body had started drying up rapidly.
It’s not for nothing that sword is called a demonic sword. The sword had already started draining even the life force making up Park Sang-pyeon’s body.
Though he himself seemed unaware of it.
“Die.”
That’s why he’s spouting such nonsense. At that moment, a sword flickered behind Park Sang-pyeon.
“Argh!”
Kim Jae-ho, who had aimed for Park Sang-pyeon’s back, split his back with his sword. When Park Sang-pyeon turned around, there was already no one there. Kim Jae-ho had instantly moved away again.
And I dug into that gap.
An ice awl that shot up from the ground pierced Park Sang-pyeon’s side.
Like a frog skewered by a shrike, Park Sang-pyeon was pinned to the ground like that. Is this the end?
As if mocking my momentary thought, Park Sang-pyeon tore out the ice awl that had pierced his side with his own hands.
“Huk, huk.”
Blood that Park Sang-pyeon shed dripped onto the ground.
The light in Park Sang-pyeon’s eyes was gradually fading.
If we buy just a little more time like this, Park Sang-pyeon will self-destruct.
But that doesn’t make for a pretty ‘picture’.
I looked up at the sky.
More precisely, I thought of the numerous eyes that would be watching us from beyond that sky.
“Jae-ho, buy me some time for a moment.”
I said that and pulled back.
Naturally, Kim Jae-ho filled my place.
After tearing out his side, almost no mana rose from Park Sang-pyeon’s sword. In that state, he should certainly be able to buy time.
And…
Hound, which sprang out from Park Sang-pyeon’s side, bit into his thigh. Han Seo-hyeon smiled at me while wiping the blood flowing from his mouth.
He must have been exhausted from being recalled, but he’s tough.
“Aaaagh!”
I wasn’t idle either.
While buying time like this, I drew out mana. Output 45%. Ugh, it was definitely too much. The mana circuit heated up as if it would burst. The number of ice spears I called forth like that was twenty.
He shouldn’t have the strength left to strike these ice spears down.
The giant ice spears rushed towards Park Sang-pyeon.
Hound aiming for him from behind his legs, Kim Jae-ho in front of him, and my ice spears.
There should be no way out for him.
“Ha.”
Park Sang-pyeon, sensing death, looked at me and muttered a curse.
“I’m fucked.”
And bang, the ice spears rushed towards him.
Crack.
The ice spears pierced Park Sang-pyeon’s body and Kim Jae-ho’s sword stabbed his side. Hound didn’t let go of his leg until all the attacks hit.
A perfect combined attack.
It was Park Sang-pyeon’s end.
No, I thought it was the end. Park Sang-pyeon, looking at me, gritted his teeth. At that moment, an indescribable ominous feeling brushed my body.
—Th-th-that crazy bastard!
He stabbed his own heart with his sword. And at the same time, mana incomparably stronger than before began to spew from his body.
And everything started to burn.
No, I unconsciously muttered like that.
“Everyone get away!”
I shouted, but those two didn’t budge at my words. I had no choice but to call the wind to push them away from here. As ice fragments burst, the surroundings were tinged with haze.
Dark red flames and hazily scattering ice fragments obscured the view.
I need to kill Park Sang-pyeon in one go.
If even a single speck of the flames here touches the surroundings, this place will become a hell of fire.
The only way to remove that mana spread here is to overwhelm it with overwhelming mana.
How strong will that bastard’s mana be, at the cost of the Butcher, Park Sang-pyeon’s last life?
“This doesn’t look good.”
“Boss!”
Han Seo-hyeon called me from far away. For him to call me like that in a place full of people, he must have guessed I was about to do something crazy.
I pushed Han Seo-hyeon away with wind once again.
“You need to be in a safe place to come rescue me.”
I whispered softly into the radio. As if understanding my words, Han Seo-hyeon stopped in his place. So did Kim Jae-ho.
I drew up mana. The mana stone powder inside the bracelet began to vibrate frantically according to my will. The mana dissolved in the mana stone powder melts out in an instant and flows into my body.
“Ugh!”
—At this rate, you’ll die!
The mana circuit, accepting excessive mana, shook as if it would tear.
All the bones in my body misaligned, and my skin heated up. Even my hair tips were curling from the excessive heat.
But I endured.
I poured mana into the mana circuit.
It’s just a single mana circuit. Powerful techniques are impossible. Just, it’s about quantity over quality.
A single-stroke lightning.
Lightning gathered at my fingertips, and storm clouds roared. Even through the fog, static electricity began to spark. The dark red demonic energy surrounding us slowly began to vaporize, unable to withstand the heat of pure lightning.
And when my mana dominated everything around, I flicked my finger to complete the mana circuit.
What I sprinkled was a very simple single-stroke lightning. But as the lightning overlapped and overlapped, the single-stroke lightning I sprinkled had become a massive electrical storm.
Lightning connected to lightning, and began to spread rapidly around.
The mana that passed through my body began to explode this area.
Flash.
For a moment, a light so strong burst that it felt like the world had split in two.
And at the same time, my consciousness began to blur.