novelraw Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40 : Chapter 40
Chapter 40.Turmoil (9)
It’s only natural for anyone to get angry if they are interrupted on their way home from work.
But Riman was not only interrupted but also suddenly hit by a hammer.
It was a strange situation if he didn’t lose his temper.
A venomous murmur flowed from Riman’s lips.
“These sons of bitches…….”
First, he sent four to the afterlife.
Then, there were three survivors on the enemy side.
First, Lee Jeok-seo, one of the three, was a non-combatant, so pass.
And the remaining two were combat personnel.
One Hunter holding a shield, and Lee Jeok-seo’s brother holding a sword.
The shield bearer survived thanks to deflecting the poison stream with his shield, and Lee Jeok-seo’s brother survived because he was at the very back of the group.
Riman looked at them and said.
“Traitorous bastards.”
Riman could roughly guess how this situation had unfolded.
‘They probably plotted outside while I was fighting.’
Saying, let’s just kill that guy Leman since he must be exhausted from fighting anyway.
‘And they must have said let’s take his share too.’
Of course, the idea of Lee Jeok-seo’s group was rational, economical, and efficient.
But there was no need for Riman to understand that rationality, economy, and efficiency.
The emotions Riman should have toward them were murderous intent and hostility.
If someone tried to kill me, it was only reasonable for me to try to kill him too.
Killing.
Now there was no room for negotiation or forgiveness to intervene between them.
Only fighting remained until one side died.
The one who attempted to attack again was the Hunter holding the shield.
Whoosh!
The guy charged toward Riman.
There were spikes on his shield.
It was armor to block the opponent’s attack and simultaneously a weapon to crush and tear the opponent apart.
The shield rushed in aiming for Riman.
Riman saw.
The guy’s speed, direction, the shield’s shape, thickness, stiffness.
All that information poured into his head.
‘It’s hard.’
Thickness was one thing, but it was a shield reinforced with mana.
To break that shield, it was best for this side to take out magic too.
But that was something that withstood and deflected even the penetrating power of [Water Vein Thread].
Ordinary magic couldn’t even deal proper damage.
Then what magic should be taken out?
Should he shoot [Water Fragment Arrow]?
If he could hit, he could break a shield like that in one go.
Only if he could hit.
[Water Fragment Arrow] cannot be used right now.
Because the casting speed is slow, he would be hit by the shield before activating it.
Ultimately, what was needed was fast casting speed.
Yet destructive power enough to break the shield.
The magic needed right now had to satisfy these two conditions.
Was there such convenient magic?
No.
But depending on the timing and method of use—
‘Even weak magic changes its power and aspect drastically.’
Swish—
Riman thrust his fingertips forward.
Meanwhile, the opponent’s shield came right in front of his nose.
Close enough to clearly see the blood on the tips of the shield’s spikes.
He let it come.
So that the guy would enter the most appropriate distance.
So that he could capture the most precise timing.
If it were an ordinary Mage or Superhuman, this was no different from gambling.
Since that precise timing was nothing but a split second.
But for someone whose sensitivity of senses reached the extreme like Riman.
So for someone who could embody mental processes as if time slowed down.
This was not a gamble but a bold deliberate move.
‘Now.’
It’s now.
The optimal distance and optimal timing to land the magic.
Magic emits from his fingertips.
[Incision]
5 rapid shots.
Of course, [Incision] cannot cut that shield.
Even 5 rapid shots of [Incision] are insufficient to break that shield.
But what if those 5 shots of Incision are not scattered but hit exactly the same spot?
If that cutting force can be concentrated entirely on one point?
Of course, it’s an act close to a stunt.
It’s an act close to the feat of driving 5 bullets into one point in succession with a pistol.
But if the distance is close enough, and the caster’s precision is high enough.
So if this stunt can be successfully pulled off.
It is possible.
It can cut.
Depending on the timing and method of use, even the same magic changes its power drastically.
Wind slashes burst out.
Thus, the shield is cut.
Slice.
That thick metal shield was split exactly in half horizontally.
Even the owner of the shield saw the cut section of the shield for the first time.
“W-what… what……?!”
Thud!!
The severed shield fell to the floor.
At the same time, the Hunter holding the shield also stopped in his tracks.
He didn’t stop voluntarily.
His legs didn’t move.
Clearly, his legs were attached, but they could no longer be felt.
Trickle—
A red line seeped out over the skin of his waist.
He looked at the blood flowing from his waist and muttered.
“…Mom.”
That was his last will.
Flop.
His upper body slid along the waistline and fell to the floor.
Soon his lower body also collapsed.
Now only one Hunter remained.
Only Lee Jeok-seo’s brother.
“…Damn it.”
Lee Jeok-seo’s brother gripped the sword handle tight.
To the point that the handle became soaked with cold sweat seeping from his palm.
But he already knew.
That there was no way to survive fighting against Riman.
Therefore, to survive, he had to choose another path.
“…Spare me.”
He chose pleading.
“Spare me. If you just spare me, I’ll do anything. Spare me.”
“…….”
Riman walked slowly toward him.
The closer Riman approached, the more he felt his body trembling.
He thought it was a natural chill due to fear.
But that was a physical problem, not an emotional one.
Because his body was actually freezing.
“You sweat a lot.”
“……!”
Before he knew it, most of his body surface was covered in ice.
Magic, [Freeze].
The reason his body trembled as Riman approached was that the source of that cold was Riman.
“Aaaack……!”
The ice covering his body gradually thickened.
The skin that screamed it was cold lost sensation at some point and fell silent.
Joints no longer moved, his mouth couldn’t make a voice, and his ears gradually went deaf.
Feeling like sinking under an ice sea alive.
The moment it froze up to his eyelids like that, his consciousness also sank down into the deep abyss.
Freezing was complete.
And his brother, Lee Jeok-seo, saw all this spectacle from about 10 meters away.
He witnessed in detail the process of his brother becoming frozen meat.
What Lee Jeok-seo recalled at that moment was a science experiment he did at school in elementary school.
An experiment reviving a goldfish frozen by burying it in dry ice by putting it in water.
So, there was still hope.
My brother is just frozen.
He just froze, he’s not dead yet.
So, so…….
Grip.
At that moment, Riman grabbed his brother’s face with his hand.
Lee Jeok-seo’s face turned pale.
“No.”
Push.
Riman pushed the frozen body to the floor.
Heavy ice breaks easily even with a light impact.
Crash!
Shattered to pieces.
Lee Jeok-seo screamed.
“Noooooooo!!”
But the spilled person could not be picked up again.
The scream was hollow, and only the reality that it was his turn now remained.
Riman stared quietly at Lee Jeok-seo.
He didn’t use any magic.
But Lee Jeok-seo felt suffocated.
His body’s five senses were screaming.
That it’s dangerous.
That death has come right before his nose.
But an alarm only notifies of danger and doesn’t give a plan to escape danger.
Therefore, all he could do was watch Riman slowly walking toward him.
Riman spoke.
“Why did you do it?”
Lee Jeok-seo felt a chill from a human voice for the first time.
Riman continued.
“Queen Spider subjugation, honestly, I had no goodwill toward that proposal either. But at least I thought there would be good faith. Good faith for each other’s benefit. I thought there would be trust as thick as a banknote at least.”
But……
“You backstab me like this?”
“My brother, my brother made me do it.”
What eventually popped out of Lee Jeok-seo’s mouth was pathetic blame-shifting.
“This is all my brother’s plan. Look, I’m neither a Superhuman nor an Enhanced Human. I’m not even a Hunter. So what power would I have? Do you think I have the power to give orders to these people? Huh?”
“It does look like you don’t.”
“Ah……!”
“And from the beginning, I didn’t like your brother. I understand.”
“T-then…….”
“But you’re the representative.”
Lee Jeok-seo’s expression stiffened.
“Th…….”
“Being a representative is a position that takes responsibility. Isn’t it?”
Responsibility.
There was no way he, the representative of a company, didn’t know the weight of that word.
With that one word, Lee Jeok-seo felt it.
That there was no hole to escape from this situation now.
His lost gaze turned toward his brother again at some point.
The coldly sprawling brother was hinting at Lee Jeok-seo’s future.
It was the end.
And a person driven to the end could do anything.
“Aaaaaah!!”
Click!
Lee Jeok-seo drew a pistol and aimed it at Riman.
A 6-shot revolver he carried for self-defense.
Bang! Bang!!
The muzzle spat fire six times.
Even in that urgent moment, the aim was surprisingly accurate.
The bullets flew aiming exactly for Riman’s head and chest.
But unfortunately, the material of the warhead was lead, and Riman had already set up a shield.
There was no way mere lead bullets, not magic bullets, could penetrate the shield.
Ting!
The bullets bounced off vainly, and Riman was still standing there.
It was useless.
Nothing was useless in the current situation.
Eventually, Lee Jeok-seo moved the muzzle to a target he could definitely hit.
He put the muzzle in his mouth.
And pulled the trigger.
Click.
But there were no bullets left in the cylinder.
Riman said.
“You don’t even calculate the remaining ammo while shooting?”
“Wai……!”
Zap!
At that moment, a pitch-black spark flashed before Lee Jeok-seo’s eyes.
He lost consciousness as he was.
* * *
How much time had passed?
Lee Jeok-seo barely lifted his eyelids, enduring a heavy headache.
“Ugh…….”
He was alive. Surprisingly.
His location was still inside the Queen Spider’s spawning room.
But Riman was nowhere to be seen.
“W-what……?”
Lee Jeok-seo tried to stand up but collapsed as he was.
His ankles were tightly wrapped with something.
It was spiderweb.
“What……!”
Not only his ankles but his wrists were also tied.
A state where he couldn’t go anywhere at all.
He couldn’t understand why he ended up like this.
“Damn it……!”
No matter how much he struggled, the spiderweb tying his hands and ankles didn’t break.
Fortunately, there were no spider Demonic Beasts visible around.
But that couldn’t be said to be good.
Because he couldn’t do anything in this state.
“Is anyone there……?”
It was absurd even as he said it himself.
Even if there was someone around right now, it would have been only Riman.
But now even Riman wasn’t here.
“Ah shit……!”
He rolled his body and turned his head to examine the surrounding situation.
What he saw were the Queen Spider’s corpse, the Hunters’ corpses.
And high-purity magic stones embedded in the wall… but.
“Uh……?”
The condition of the magic stones was somewhat strange.
Because they were emitting an unusually intense light.
Originally, magic stones do emit a faint light usually.
But they don’t emit such intense light.
There is only one case where magic stones emit light of that level.
Exactly when they are on the verge of explosion.
Sizzle……!
Now the magic stones were not only emitting light but also emitting smoke and starting to vibrate.
All the magic stones embedded in the wall were doing so.
Lee Jeok-seo’s face began to turn white.
“N-no……!”
Flash.
An intense flash, a vibration equivalent to an earthquake filled the spawning room.
And everything began to collapse.