novelraw Chapter 104 : Remarkable Growth (3)
Chapter 104 : Remarkable Growth (3)
It wasn't just the dim moonlight watching the bloody battle in the middle of the night.
"Huhu. Everyone struggling so hard, how pitiful."
Vampire Queen.
She drank crimson blood from a wine glass and smiled slightly.
"Mmm. Beautiful screams. It makes my ears tingle."
Night is the time of vampires.
She was taking in the entire view of the island through the eyes of her familiar bats.
"It's amazing. When did those children become so strong?"
The skills of the high-ranking cadets who were famous from the beginning surprised even her.
'Kim A-yun. I remember her characteristic was good but her own capabilities were far from adequate.'
Compared to her appearance during the academy raid, it was truly a remarkable growth.
'Her control is extremely skillful. And what is that, a sparrow?'
Kim A-yun's characteristic utilization of creating small sparrows with lightning to shoot down the seagull flock was quite surprising.
"How cute."
Besides Kim A-yun, there were more cadets that caught her attention.
'Lee Yu-jin. That monster-like old man's granddaughter is quite good too.'
Yang Inbeom.
The Ma-in who had delivered nightmares to many Execution Force members specialized in close combat was literally being overwhelmed before Lee Yu-jin.
'She seemed to struggle quite a bit against Crusher before. Of course, that guy was pretty strong, but...'
She had clearly become noticeably stronger.
'And Hwang Ji-su, that child, how should I say, has a killing spirit? She's definitely different.'
Hwang Ji-su had already frozen about one-third of her opponent, taking away his choices and strengths one by one.
'She's experienced. She had good sense back then too, but she's gained something like seasoning?'
That memory must have been quite a stimulus for her, the Queen smiled.
'At this rate, the Ma-in side won't be able to hold out much longer.'
As for the scene of Su-hyeon fighting, who was her greatest interest.
"As expected of Su-hyeon. That child is special."
The Queen's cheeks reddened.
'Jang Manchun is quite sturdy and powerful lycanthrope.'
He was a considerable powerhouse even during his hunter days, and now as a Ma-in, he had achieved even greater evolution.
He was a strong opponent who could have a good fight even with Hong Byeong-gwon, the were-wolf whom Su-hyeon had faced earlier.
'Well, that child did overwhelm Hong Byeong-gwon back then too.'
The current Su-hyeon had clearly reached an even higher level than at that time.
'Plus, he's probably still hiding his power?'
He was indeed an interesting child.
'If this continues, things might not go as planned this time either?'
When they succeeded in ambushing using MK-1, she thought the operation couldn't possibly fail.
'It's really strange. Even to my thinking, there was nothing wrong with Hwang Won-jae's plan. Where did it go wrong?'
The Queen, who was swirling the blood in her wine glass, savored the blood's aroma and smiled.
'But it's still too early to speak of failure.'
After all, the power of the MK-1 organization fundamentally came from the force possessed by their leader, Chu Jinhong.
'If they can't stop that child, the tide of battle could change in an instant.'
In fact, to be honest.
She didn't care which side won.
After all, for her, all of this was just entertainment to pass the time.
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The one facing Seo Jun-seong was Yeom Sehwa, the "Phantom Demon," the undisputed second-in-command of MK-1.
"How foolish, where are you attacking?"
The name of her characteristic was Visual Distortion.
It was an illusion-type ability that could confuse the appearance and location of objects in the opponent's eyes.
'Despite talking about sensing energy and whatnot, humans inevitably rely mostly on vision as animals.'
Yeom Sehwa's existence was one of the driving forces that allowed MK-1 to gain notoriety along with leader Chu Jinhong.
Once caught in her ability...
Kwaaang!
"Damn it."
Seo Jun-seong frowned after attacking Yeom Sehwa's afterimage.
'Well, this is how it goes.'
"Hahaha."
Yeom Sehwa aimed a silenced pistol at the back of Seo Jun-seong's head.
And fired.
Piseuk!
However, the bullet flying toward Seo Jun-seong was deflected in a completely wrong direction due to the veil of telekinesis he had spread around him.
"Hmph, cowardly fellow."
Kwaaang!
Seo Jun-seong hurled rocks and trees toward the direction from which the bullet had come, devastating the area.
But Yeom Sehwa had long since left the place where she had fired the bullet.
'So she's fast too?'
It was already difficult to see the opponent's figure while relying on moonlight, and with even that vision being disrupted, it was challenging to pinpoint Yeom Sehwa's location.
'Plus, a gun. What an annoying weapon.'
Since telekinesis had no connection with physical enhancement, even one hit could potentially be fatal.
'But her actual combat power probably isn't that great.'
This was a common trait found in awakened ones with such tricky abilities.
'The type that either neglects physical training or needs help from companions.'
If that was the case, there was only one primary objective now.
'First, I just need to locate her actual body.'
"Heuuup!"
Seo Jun-seong concentrated telekinesis around himself and formed a gravitational field.
'This is insane.'
Gugugu.
Yeom Sehwa was shocked to see the trees around being shattered and rocks splitting.
'Is he really a cadet?'
The scale itself was at a level where even decent team leaders wouldn't be a match.
'He certainly inherited his father's blood strongly.'
Seo Dong-jin, who reigned as the nightmare of Ma-in.
Indeed, it seemed his blood hadn't gone somewhere else, as Yeom Sehwa clicked her tongue.
'...This won't work.'
Shooting a few bullets at that would only result in deformed lead lumps.
'Should I at least buy some time?'
Judging from her estimation, he probably couldn't spread an ability of that output over a wide range.
Therefore, Yeom Sehwa chose to retreat far away and keep quiet.
And that was a mistake.
'?! What is this?'
Yeom Sehwa's body, caught by something invisible, stopped right where she was.
'This bastard, could it be!'
The gravitational field was merely a distraction.
He had broadly spread his sensing ability through his remaining power and was searching for the Ma-in's presence by feeling around with telekinesis.
"...Found you."
At that low murmur from Seo Jun-seong, Yeom Sehwa felt a chill down her spine.
'I'm fucked.'
The Ma-in facing Nam Tae-hoon was a body modification ability user.
"Wow, you look fucking disgusting."
Nam Tae-hoon stuck out his tongue at the Ma-in who looked like a human porcupine with bones protruding through his skin all over his body.
The reason he felt more comfortable dealing with Ma-in than demonic beasts was because Ma-in were less disgusting.
But this was at a level where it was hard to distinguish whether it was a demonic beast or a Ma-in.
'Can he change not just the form but also the properties?'
He had actually slashed a few times with his knife, but it was like cutting alligator skin and didn't work well.
'Do I have to aim for vital points? No, in this case, can't he hide his vital points somewhere too?'
Kwajik!
The tree where he was standing broke after being hit by the Ma-in's elongated arm.
"Ah shit, I need to think!"
Nam Tae-hoon shouted as irritation welled up.
"Don't run away, human!"
"Oh, really."
Realizing there were no eyes watching him, Nam Tae-hoon controlled the shadows, momentarily freezing the Ma-in's body, then appeared behind him.
"Take this!"
He slashed the ankle mercilessly with his dagger.
"Kaaaak!"
"Oh what, this cuts well?"
Nam Tae-hoon grinned, noting that it seemed the Ma-in hadn't enhanced all parts of his body.
"This feels a bit like a zombie game, you know?"
Especially in the sense that there was no way to know which part to stab until you actually stabbed it.
"Keu. You little bastard."
Veins popped on the Ma-in's forehead at Nam Tae-hoon's nonchalant attitude.
Bbaduk bbaduk.
His body was transforming again, changing into something that greatly departed from the human form.
"Let's see if you can keep being cocky, human!"
"Wow."
Nam Tae-hoon stuck out his tongue.
"At that point, is it even right to call you a person?"
But.
"I think you're misunderstanding something too, mister."
Nam Tae-hoon's grinning eyes turned cold.
'The night is my territory.'
Shadow, shadow, shadow.
The nighttime mountain, where all around were just shadows indistinguishable from darkness.
Here, Nam Tae-hoon's power was maximized.
"The fact that no one can see here. That's the reason you're going to die."
Kkumulkkumul.
Darkness began to gather toward him.
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"Damn it, this is too different from the data!"
Chu Jinhong, who had been quietly observing the turning tide through night vision goggles, now had to acknowledge that the scenario they had drawn was completely awry.
"How can these first-year rookies be this strong?"
He ground his teeth.
"Is this a trap? No, but why go through all this trouble to set a trap?"
The exact reason was unknown.
'But that's not the issue now.'
He knew well what was more important.
'There's still a way to turn the tide.'
That method was simple.
'Subdue as many cadets as possible and gather them in one place before the Instructors join in. If we stage a hostage situation, they will have no choice but to negotiate with us.'
Even in more unfavorable situations than this, he had reversed the tide of battle many times.
Thanks to Chu Jinhong's characteristic.
Called, 'Swiftness'.
It was clear that there wouldn't be a single opponent who could counter his speed that exceeded standards, except for Kim Cheol-han and Lee Ho-seung.
'I'm going.'
Pababababak!
He crossed between islands by stepping on the calm waves.
The realm of walking on water.
His two legs were implementing a speed where he could cross the water's surface by taking the next step before sinking.
"Playtime is over."
Killing intent flowed from the Ma-in's eyes.
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"Keok!"
The Ma-in, subdued by Choi Mina's magic, spat blood.
Small-framed Choi Mina looked down at the Ma-in whose body was twice as thick as hers.
"You're weak."
She gazed at the Ma-in with emotionless, bland eyes.
"I heard Ma-in are strong and scary. You're strange. You're too weak."
A peculiar expression, unlike her usual self, could be glimpsed on Choi Mina's face.
"I want to dissect you and experiment."
"...What is this crazy kid saying?"
"But I can't. There's no way for me to sneak you away."
"Bullshit!"
It was at that moment.
"!?"
Choi Mina, who had sensitively detected the killing intent directed at her, reflexively tried to spread a barrier.
However.
"Heuk!"
Before the barrier created by high-speed incantation could surround her, Choi Mina, feeling a strong impact on the back of her head, collapsed.
"Slow."
"Leader!"
The Ma-in who spotted Chu Jinhong shouted with delight.
"You're here!"
"You idiot, why are you struggling against such a tiny runt?"
"These aren't ordinary skills. There are weak ones too, but the strong ones are much more than we expected..."
"I know, man."
Chu Jinhong turned his back.
"Lie down for a while. I'll be back after handling this quickly."
Shu shu suk!
Each time his afterimage was revealed in the moonlight at intervals of several meters.
"Kek!"
"Euuk!"
People within that radius kept collapsing.
"Jonggeon! Garam too!"
In the blink of an eye, several cadets collapsed instantaneously.
"Hahaha."
Chu Jinhong laughed.
"There's absolutely no way to resist speed beyond perception."
The dagger in his right hand had only a few drops of blood on it.
'Tch, I was just going to finish off the weakened ones.'
Thinking he should have intervened sooner, he clicked his tongue, and a rather disparate scene entered his sight.
"Oh~ It seems it's winter season over there."
What his eyes saw was Hwang Ji-su, who was pushing her opponent Ma-in almost to the brink of destruction.
"Uhahahahaha."
He laughed, thinking this was perfect.
That bastard Hwang Won-jae, whom he would gladly chew to death.
His niece was right there.
'Consider it the crime of having the wrong uncle.'
Of course, she probably didn't even know what her uncle's identity was.
'You alone I won't let live peacefully.'
As his foot stepped on the ground.
'Something's coming!'
Hwang Ji-su, sensing the killing intent, turned around.
'Damn, it's already too late...'
Chaeng!
Su-hyeon, who had suddenly appeared, stood in front of Hwang Ji-su, who had tightly closed her eyes.
"Finally, you've appeared."
'What the hell is this guy?'
To Chu Jinhong, who couldn't understand how he had responded to his speed.
'I've been waiting for this moment.'
Su-hyeon declared in a cold voice.
"You will never pass behind me."