Chapter 101 : Chapter 101

Chapter 101 - Attack (3)

Meirin and Evangeline were forming a strange sense of camaraderie.

There was the fact that they had just shared a life-or-death situation, but more than that, it was because they were sharing the absurdity of the situation unfolding before their eyes.

“...Is that thing really soaring up right now?”

“Yes. It’s rising. Higher and higher.”

To Evangeline’s drained words, Meirin also affirmed in a listless tone.

At the edge of their vision, Kim Gyu-sik was caught, vertically ascending into the air with something clearly ominous hanging from one side of his body.

“...Ms. Evangeline. How on earth is that-”

“I don’t know either.”

“...”

Even the person who could fly freely in the sky with mana control decades ahead of the current Climbers’ technical level gave up on explaining in an instant.

No.

He did say that he would ‘fly up’ around this time. But would it kill him to do it in a way that was a bit easier to understand and predict?

Just when you thought you were getting used to him, he was a man who always pulled out an even more mind-boggling stunt.

“...Anyway. I suppose I have to do what he asked.”

Letting out a deep sigh, Evangeline manipulated her mana.

That man had asked her to ‘boost’ him if he flew up at this timing.

Looking at the context, he probably meant to fly even higher from there.

“...What? You’re going to fly even higher from there? What for?”

At Meirin’s question, Evangeline tilted her head.

She had definitely heard the explanation. That was also why he had requested for the sky to be ‘cleared’.

However, it was a word she just couldn't comprehend.

What did he say? It was definitely...

“He said he was going to do... graffiti?”

“Pardon?”

***

In truth, flying high in the air with a bare body wasn't a very pleasant experience.

It was tiring. And cold.

Of course, considering the free fall that would follow, such things were minor problems, but for now, it was a necessary action.

Just by pulling Edgar high up from the darkness covering the ground, it resulted in significantly weakening this guy’s specs.

“...Ugh... Keuk...!”

And as a result, the drug’s effect seemed to have worn off a little, as Edgar, who seemed to have regained some of his senses, began to make a more human-like voice than before.

His focused eyes briefly looked around, and then his gaze turned to examine his own body.

And then, seeing his hideously mutated body, he was immediately horrified.

“Oh. Are you feeling a bit better?”

“C-crazy! What in the world is-!”

The enhancement drug supplied by Raven boosts the user’s specs to a terrifying level beyond the original, but in the end, it brings a miserable fate upon the user. As proven by the clinical trial subject, Aaron.

Of course, Edgar heard it was an improved version or something and believed such symptoms would have been resolved. But there was nothing more foolish in the world than taking a demon’s words at face value.

‘Improved version’ meant that the specs were boosted more heinously, but the side effects were more severe. Unfortunately.

The black mist suddenly erupting from Lina’s body would have been part of their plan as well.

“...”

And since demons were such insidious creatures, it was clear.

There was a high possibility they were enjoying observing this scene right now. Because they were sadists by nature, guys who feel good seeing others suffer.

And, I.

I was planning to send them a ‘warning’.

“My, my body.... How, how did I end up like this...!”

“It’s because you were being so greedy.”

Saying so, I gathered my mana.

I prepared the cone-shaped gun I had brought. The Mana Crystal in its core glowed blue.

It lacked any of the parts a normal gun should have, but instead, all its components were honed for only one purpose.

It was fine if it broke quickly, a ‘one-point breakthrough’ that could pierce through just once.

Right now, the fog that would continuously regenerate this guy was quite far away. He had just woken up and would be disoriented.

It was a golden opportunity to take care of him.

“I, I! Cannot fall in a place like this-!”

However.

“I have a goal I must achieve. I cannot be stopped by a mere worm like you!”

Edgar’s eyes, which seemed to have sensed the crisis even in his disoriented state, began to burn with a dangerous color.

It was the harbinger of an event dangerous enough for even me to feel the peril.

***

Edgar Richter had a reason he could never fall.

His consciousness returned to five years ago, when he first entered the world of Climbers.

Yes. The horrific memory he experienced there had completely changed him. That was-

“-Not interested.”

“...”

Edgar’s consciousness, which was about to continue its recollection, was abruptly pulled back.

The last thing he remembered was the blue flash exploding before his eyes.

***

Phew.

That was close.

If you were to list the things to be careful about when catching a boss, there would be many, but the two most representative ones are as follows.

An ally muttering, ‘Did we get him?’

An enemy muttering, ‘I have a reason I must win...!’

Yes.

Once these two start, even a top-tier veteran like me has a pretty hard time. Everyone, please be careful.

Thinking so, I reloaded mana into the gun I had just fired.

As a weapon that bet everything on penetration, it wasn't difficult to blow up the weakened boss’s head.

But guys contaminated by demons don't just die right away from dying once.

You could tell just by seeing the black energy crawling out from the exploded head and regenerating immediately.

He might be far from the fog, but he probably wouldn't go down right away.

So.

[Arcane Burst / Rune Characters: Eternity]

[Double Pulse]

Well, there was no need to mix all the skills. It shouldn't be too strong either.

If he dies too quickly, I can't do ‘that’.

One more shot.

The fired bullet blew up the guy’s head again. The splattered black flesh and blood decorated the surroundings.

Fire again. Fire again.

Edgar’s continuously exploding body decorated the entire sky.

This dark mana, you know. Looking at it, it feels very sticky and long-lasting.

It had the texture of oil paint.

“Hmm.”

It’s been a while, so this feels nostalgic.

I touched the selector on the firearm to lower the power a little, and this time, I aimed at Edgar’s body a little more carefully.

Now.

This is where it gets important. A part that requires immense concentration.

Top-tier veteran’s secret technique No. 2.

An artistic act that can only be performed after achieving the prerequisite of ‘subduing alive’ a demon-related mob, a particularly powerful one at that.

‘Demon Graffiti’.

***

Demons are fundamentally a long-lived race, which is synonymous with being unable to feel much interest in most of the world’s affairs.

Raven was one of them, and therefore, he did not deviate much from the demon characteristic of doing anything to see what he wanted to see.

The new ‘toys’ he had discovered this time were not much different in that context.

Fools who would do anything for power. He thought it would be quite amusing to see them drink the ‘drug’ made from a part of his own by-product and be ruined.

Well, the Master of the Magic Tower that guy was aiming for was a human that even demons like themselves wouldn’t dare to challenge recklessly. If a fool like that were to charge in, the result was obvious.

The reason he was observing Edgar here was because he was expecting to see him get crushed unsightly.

In the end, he did see the scene he had expected.

Though not at all in the way he had thought.

“...What in the world is that.”

Raven muttered in a dumbfounded voice.

He couldn't even remember the last time he had made such a voice.

A single Climber falling from the sky, entangled with Edgar. A gun being fired continuously.

The debris of a shattered body scattering in the air.

Up to this point, it could be considered a dramatic scene.

But if you looked at it closely, you would be able to see a certain ‘intention’.

“...”

The angle of the attack. The power. The timing. All three were perfectly timed.

With Edgar’s scattered body, ‘letters’ were being inscribed in the sky.

In line with the trajectory of the two falling. From top to bottom.

“...”

It was a mind-boggling sight.

Not even the demon hunters, who could be said to be the greatest natural enemies of demons among the opponents in the material world, had ever committed such a crazy act against a demon.

Raven stared blankly at the scene.

The characters created as they fell were forming the following sentence.

“You peeping tom bastard. Just you wait. I’m coming for you myself soon.”

And after reading that, Raven.

Stared blankly for a long time. After a little more contemplation.

He couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Ah. I see.

That Climber named Kim Gyu-sik. He knew that he was watching this right now.

That message was for him.

“..Ha. Hahaha!”

Come to think of it.

That man, just to write and send that one sentence to him.

He used a Knight of the Round Table to clear the sky, went 1-on-1 with a demon-contaminated Climber, and then was free-falling bare-bodied from the sky.

To think that the result of orchestrating something on such a grand scale was to ‘provoke’ him.

This. Was undoubtedly.

Interesting.

Immensely.

“...Kim Gyu-sik. Yes. Kim Gyu-sik. It’s been a while since I’ve found someone interesting.”

Starting with the matter of Batan Gilius, whom he had recently picked up as a ‘test subject’. He was already a guy he was observing with some interest because the Tower’s ‘Guardian’ and the ‘Knights of the Round Table’ were involved.

“...”

He was beyond expectations.

To think he would hold and shake the entire board by himself like this.

“I will wait for your visit with pleasure.”

Thinking that he could genuinely do so, Raven smiled brightly under his mask.

***

“...Is this thing alive?”

“Yeah. For now.”

I answered and looked down at Edgar, who was writhing on the floor.

As expected of a top-tier Climber contaminated by a demon. He was still breathing even after being hit by so many mana bullets at close range and serving as my cushion when we crashed to the ground after a high-altitude fall.

As expected of Edgar. One of the best ‘paints’ chosen by top-tier veterans.

“...”

“...What?”

“No. It’s just that you have the face of someone thinking trashy thoughts, Mr. Gyu-sik.”

While Seo Ah-in was grumbling like that, the surroundings quickly became noisy.

It was the people from the Mangrave Guild. It seemed they had finished cleaning up all the nearby demons, as they all looked like they had just been through a battle.

“So... this guy is the ringleader. Take good care of him.”

As I said that and pointed at Edgar, the eyes of the people around me turned hostile all at once.

Well.

This guy was breathing now, but. After what he was about to go through, even I couldn't guarantee his fate.

There was a reason I used the expression ‘for now’ earlier.

“And I kept all my promises. You acknowledge that, right?”

“...Yes. We have confirmed the capture of the ringleader.”

I grinned at Cornelius, who replied in a calm voice.

“Then I should receive what I requested, right?”

Now.

It’s settlement time.

Hand over the reward.

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