Chapter 165 : Chapter 165

Chapter 165 - Surprise Attack (3)

Silence can be used as a means of communication in many more ways than one might think.

The fact that one can express anger, praise, or joy by saying nothing makes language a truly fascinating domain.

In that sense.

“...”

“...”

The silence that hung between me and Altair was surely one that held many meanings.

The meaning implied from his side was probably something akin to bewilderment or shock.

Mine was probably something akin to boredom.

“...They were all taken care of?”

“Yep.”

I answered indifferently to Altair, who barely managed to force out a voice that was stuck in his throat.

Well, anyone would react like this if they were told that their subordinates, of whom they could be proud anywhere, had all their heads blown off overnight.

“...How?”

“What do you mean, how? All three of them were bugs.”

“...”

As I scratched my head and answered indifferently to the speechless Altair, the plastic bag hanging on one of my arms rustled and dangled.

In response, I felt his narrowed eyes glaring at my form.

“...I see. You. You knew everything from the start and prepared for it, didn't you?”

Of course.

“And you came to this place to kill me alone. Am I right?”

As expected of a guy with ‘Pseudo-Observation’, he read my intentions in an instant.

I felt like giving him a round of applause.

“...Fine. I’ll play along.”

With those words, mana surged with a terrifying presence.

‘It’s murderous.’

It was a sharp aura, enough to make even me flinch, despite having dealt with all the Guardians of the World Tree, who were treated as almost final-tier bosses in combat.

Of course, in terms of simple output, those guys would be higher.

But the ‘threat level’ emanating from the one before my eyes was overwhelmingly on Altair’s side.

‘Well, that’s because...’

If the guardians fought by crushing their opponents with overwhelming mana, this guy felt like he had honed every single strand of his mana to the extreme in order to kill his opponent.

His output might be slightly lower, but of course, his overall combat power was much higher.

“I am the Undying, one who has pierced the truth that lies beyond death...”

A meaningful mumble echoed around. The spreading mana almost visualized, spreading out like a billowing fog.

Terrifying. Even Damian, who tore space apart at will, couldn't do something like this.

“...”

But.

But, you see.

There was certainly a bloody battle scheduled, but.

My mind and body were more peaceful than ever.

“...”

Well, I knew this guy was a final boss candidate.

But he was a direct counter to me.

I must have said it before. A user of ‘Pseudo-Observation’.

So what did that mean?

[Observation]

The branch family can never beat the main family.

Come at me, fake.

I can beat you even without items.

***

It is said that what does not kill you makes you stronger.

If so.

How much can a person who has experienced what lies beyond death change?

Altair Lancester’s body was no different from the answer sheet itself.

A state beyond death reached through countless layered battles.

After reaching that beyond once, she changed forever.

A regenerative power that brought her back no matter how many times she died. And endless mana and seasoned techniques based on accumulated combat experience.

All these combined were what made up the person called the ‘Undying’, who currently occupied the pinnacle of the human climber world.

And among them, the most amazing thing was.

An insight close to omniscience that saw through all the principles of things. An ability she named the ‘Eye of God’.

‘With the Eye of God, I can defeat any opponent.’

That thought was deeply ingrained in the very attack that opened the battle.

An attack that created and fired multiple mana bullets packed with mass.

By climber standards, a mana bullet had a status only slightly better than a bare-fisted punch, but she had just calculated that ‘this much was enough’ to land an effective blow on the opponent.

The opponent’s physical abilities, the purity of her own mana, and the tightly woven trajectory that was absolutely unavoidable.

‘This brings back memories.’

A faint smile appeared on Altair’s face.

Were they Seo Jin-seong and Kim Kang-in?

She remembered toying with them one-sidedly using only these trajectory-bending mana bullets, even against guys who thought they were in the strong league.

The despair on their faces back then was quite enjoyable.

‘This eye is a god, and I am invincible!’

This guy probably wouldn’t be able to escape these mana bullets easily either.

The moment that conviction came to Altair.

“Hup-cha.”

Kim Gyu-sik swatted the mana bullets with his palm.

It was a light motion, as if catching a fly.

“...Huh?”

A dumbfounded voice escaped from Altair.

No, seeing the blue fire on his hand, I knew it had some kind of mana-blocking effect.

But were her mana bullets the kind that could be erased that easily?

Even the world’s strongest climbers had been beaten to death by her because they couldn’t overcome them, a common occurrence.

“Hmm.”

But the man who had accomplished such a feat just looked at Altair with impassive eyes, with the attitude of someone who had come out for a walk after a meal.

He even raised his hand and beckoned.

As if to say, bring out more if you have anything.

“...Ha, haha. Right. It has to be at this level to not be boring!”

With those words, Altair prepared her ‘next move’.

Maelstrom. A wide-area spell bombardment that covered the entire area. It was an attack with a power that probably even a dragon, called the final point of Demonic Beasts, could not easily ignore.

Even that man would probably struggle a bit with this attack!

“Hoo-eet-cha.”

Kim Gyu-sik just waved his hand again and deflected the Maelstrom.

“...”

“...”

An awkward silence settled between Altair and Kim Gyu-sik once again.

Fortunately, her mask hid it, but Altair’s face was currently a dumbfounded expression with her mouth agape.

“...D-don’t be ridiculous!”

It didn’t take long for bewilderment to be replaced by anger.

That man just now. He had nonchalantly touched and destroyed the ‘core’ of the spell she had woven.

Considering that hiding the core of a spell was one of the measures of a spellcaster’s ability, it meant that she, who had even mobilized the ‘Eye of God’, had been completely defeated in a battle of wits.

The fact that she had suffered this even without the man’s favorite armor called Cheonryongpo or that mana necklace was undoubtedly close to a disgrace!

“Die! Death Cradle!”

A tracking mana beam that relentlessly follows until death is confirmed.

“Hup-cha.”

It was deflected again.

“Immortal Shredder!”

“Urat-cha.”

“Stargazer!”

“It-cha.”

But, no matter what attack she brought out after this, the same composition just continued.

For Altair, it was a situation where she was beyond dumbfounded and about to go crazy.

‘What the hell is this...!’

The opponent’s attitude didn’t even show a hint of seriousness in engaging in battle.

As if he had come out to weed the garden, as if he had come out to do some daily work, he just waved his hands and deflected all of her attacks.

The main reason that was making Altair’s mind go blank was the fact that each and every one of those deflected attacks was a secret art that a person in the realm of a ‘genius’ might or might not reach even if they practiced for a lifetime.

‘What the hell is this guy...!’

Gritting her teeth, Altair finally brought her hand to her mask.

I really didn’t want to bring this out...!

“Witness the true power of the Undying...!”

With those words, the mask slowly came off.

And with just that action.

-…

-…!

-…!!!

The torrent of mana, which was already pouring out so terrifyingly that even a moderately strong climber would be suppressed just by being nearby, was transcendentally amplified.

Right. This mask was a ‘suppressor’ prepared to restrain Altair’s overly powerful force.

Even the man who was leisurely scratching his head over there would not be able to maintain that attitude after seeing this true form of the Undying...

“...What are you doing now?”

“Huh? No.”

Altair said in a bewildered voice to Kim Gyu-sik, who wasn’t even looking at her.

His gaze was fixed on his wristwatch.

“Gotta time the record.”

“...Record?”

“2 minutes and 11 seconds until Phase 2 opens. A little late.”

“...”

She couldn’t understand what he was talking about.

But it was undoubtedly an attitude that treated even Altair’s ‘current state’ as nothing special.

“...”

What.

What is he, really.

Just by her releasing her energy, the earth was shaking, the heavens were trembling, and a powerful mana capable of boiling the very seas was surging.

And that’s his attitude?

The feeling of blood vessels in her head popping and the feeling of a tick-tack-toe mark being clearly engraved on her forehead came at the same time.

“I’ll kill... I’ll kill you...!”

Altair grit her teeth and rushed at Kim Gyu-sik.

“Right.”

Again, a beep sounded from Kim Gyu-sik’s wristwatch.

“I was waiting for you to come out.”

And then.

The plastic bag hanging on his arm rustled.

***

“...This is bad.”

At a certain distance from the open space where the fight was taking place.

It was a groan-like word uttered by Seo Ah-in, who was watching Kim Gyu-sik and Altair Lancester getting entangled in a chaotic mess.

“...I see. It is indeed a big problem. Such a powerful energy is not easily found even at the Round Table...!”

As Evangeline, who was nearby, said that with a tense voice, Seo Ah-in shook her head and grabbed her shoulders.

“That’s not the problem! The result is already decided!”

“What?”

“There! That!”

The tip of her finger was pointing at Altair, who had revealed her bare face.

“...Yes. It’s a very powerful energy. Why are you telling me that?”

“That’s not it! Look at the person herself, not the energy!”

“The person?”

Hmm.

She was a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes. I knew she was quite old, but due to the influence of learning spells, she looked to be in her early to mid-20s at most.

What was the problem with the person?

“You don’t get it?!”

“...I don’t.”

“She’s a woman! A being that Mr. Kim Gyu-sik can counter just by breathing!”

“...Ah.”

I see.

So that’s how it is.

She might have shown a dumbfounded reaction in the past, but now she had also learned from experience that putting a woman and Kim Gyu-sik together would lead to a very natural result.

“...Then isn’t it a good thing rather than a big problem? That guy, he’s a master at catching women...”

“That’s why it’s a big problem! Winning is winning, but the result that follows is also decided!”

“...Ah.”

I see.

That’s also how it is.

“Well, soon that woman over there will be miserably defeated...”

“And then she’ll be used by Mr. Kim Gyu-sik while being sucked dry to the bone...”

“...”

From afar, it felt like Kim Gyu-sik was glaring at Evangeline, who was nodding in agreement.

It was a look that said, ‘What are you guys deciding and agreeing on by yourselves?’.

“...Hoo.”

With a sigh, after lifting the plastic bag he had been holding all this time.

The problem was that he showed a side that was not at all shameful of such an evaluation.

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