novelraw Chapter 52 : Counterattack (2)
Chapter 52 : Counterattack (2)
"Hong In-hyeon!"
"Okay!"
A powerful tornado enveloped the Ma-in, and the arrow fired by Yoon Ga-ram hit the Ma-in's thigh and bounced off.
"Damn it!"
'Plunderer' Ha Jin-young.
He was the younger brother of 'Rusty Sword' Ha Jin-su, an executive, and one of the top-ranked combat operatives within the organization in terms of strength.
But he was confused by the situation not proceeding as planned.
'These bastards, their coordination skills are extraordinary!'
What they particularly hadn't expected was that instructors, who had been informed of the situation through Kim Ho-su, had joined this fight.
"Damn it!"
The one surrounded by them was Bang Un-min, a flight-type Ma-in capable of 'Ultra-Acceleration Flight.'
The instructors were using tactics to isolate Bang Un-min from his companions by keeping him in check with ranged attacks, like driving away birds.
Because of this, Ha Jin-young had to deal with the cadets' surrounding attacks alone.
"Never give him any space!"
Led by Hwang Ji-su, the coordination of Hong In-hyeon, Park Chang-jun, Choi Min-a, and Yoon Ga-ram flowed seamlessly, tormenting Ha Jin-young.
'If he gets close, it's over.'
Cold sweat from tension ran down Hwang Ji-su's forehead as she continuously created cold ice.
'I never thought Kang Geon-woo and Han So-yul would fall so easily.'
Were-Ape Kang Geon-woo, who exerted monstrous strength with judo-based one-hit kills, and Were-Gazelle Han So-yul, who fought with dazzling and powerful kicks.
It was truly shocking to see these two lycanthropes, among the best in close combat within Class 1, collapse from exhaustion just by the Ma-in's palm touching their bodies.
'Is it a mana-stealing type of characteristic? What kind of cheating ability is this, ending things just by a touch of his palm?'
But even amid this, Hwang Ji-su had immediately found the countermeasure 'don't give him space and attack from a distance' and was directing the cadets.
'That ice kid is the problem.'
Ha Jin-young gritted his teeth as he glared at her.
'Ice-type abilities are annoying abilities that don't easily succumb to power differences.'
Choi Min-a, who fired all sorts of magical attributes, was also irritating, but her attacks could be sufficiently ignored by surrounding his body with mana as a barrier.
In contrast, those ice attacks could put even himself in danger if he was caught off guard.
'That wind-using brat is annoying too.'
The somewhat fortunate point was that the attacks from Park Chang-jun and Yoon Ga-ram weren't threatening enough to be considered a danger.
"Ice Lance!"
When Hwang Ji-su swung her arm, three enormous ice lances plunged toward Ha Jin-young.
"Damn it!"
After avoiding one by stepping on it and deflecting two, the wind blade fired by Hong In-hyeon flew at Ha Jin-young.
Babak!
The fireball thrown by Choi Min-a and the mana missiles fired by Park Chang-jun followed Ha Jin-young, whose cloak and clothes had become rags.
Boom! Boom!
"Well, kids these days are fierce."
But Ha Jin-young, who had armored himself with black magical energy, endured all those attacks and rushed toward Park Chang-jun, who was closest.
'First, the weak one!'
"Idiot, why are you standing there like a fool!"
The whirlwind raised by Hong In-hyeon lifted Park Chang-jun high and helped him escape.
"Wake up!"
"Eek!"
Park Chang-jun, who had been slow to react, bit his lip.
'That bastard keeps targeting me!'
The Ma-in was too frightening for him to feel humiliated.
"Widen the distance! Don't stupidly enter his range!"
"Ah, I'm sorry!"
Hwang Ji-su, who had scolded Park Chang-jun, exchanged glances with Hong In-hyeon.
"Hey, let me borrow some power."
"What are you planning to do?"
Hong In-hyeon asked gruffly.
"Combined attack."
Hwang Ji-su's red lips curved into an arch.
"Create a whirlwind with the maximum wind speed you can."
"Whirlwind? ...Aha, so that's your approach?"
Hong In-hyeon, whose brain worked quite quickly, immediately guessed her concept and smiled.
"Here goes!"
Hong In-hyeon brought his hands together and fired an intense storm.
"Take this!"
The intense cold produced by Hwang Ji-su met the moisture in the air, creating countless ice fragments.
"Damn it!"
A massive ice storm descended upon the Ma-in.
"Great! Just die like that!"
Hwang Ji-su, getting excited, shouted.
"Ji-su. We still shouldn't kill him."
Choi Min-a shook her head from side to side.
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In the open space filled with ruins, the metallic sounds of sword meeting sword continued without pause, like playing a fast-paced piano piece.
"Lee Ho-seung, they said you'd gotten weaker, and it was really true!"
Ha Jin-su's face, fighting with ominous sword energy drawn from his rusty sword, was filled with confidence that he 'could kill.'
'I have the advantage in both strength and speed. They say his swordsmanship is marvelous, but not enough to overturn this gap.'
Moreover, as time passed, the one getting out of breath was not the Ma-in but the human.
"Hmm, for all that, you're not very sharp."
Lee Ho-seung shrugged.
"I've seen you fight before. Compared to then, your strength may have increased significantly, but your art of handling a sword hasn't changed much."
"Haha, so what about that?"
"Stupid bastard."
Lee Ho-seung clicked his tongue.
"What do you think a sword is?"
"It's a tool for killing people. Everything else is just tattered decoration."
"Hmm. Is that so?"
At those words, Lee Ho-seung nodded.
"Then the day you cut me will never come."
Lee Ho-seung's eyes contained a single sword.
'Acceleration.'
As brain endorphins were secreted, the speed of his thoughts accelerated.
His consciousness began to sink into the deep, deep surface of the unconscious.
'There's no time. I need to finish quickly and hurry.'
However, even he didn't know what state he would be in when this fight ended.
"You damned bastard!"
'Executioner' Kwak Hyeok-jung gnashed his teeth.
"You were hiding your strength!"
Instructor Kim Cheol-han was stronger than known.
"Even the point where you get angry is stupid. Did I ever need to fully reveal my strength in the first place?"
Bounce.
He never thought that targeting that simple characteristic of deflecting whatever touches his palms would be this difficult.
"Incineration!"
Sizzling hot oil poured down from the front, and iron chains flew in from behind to grab his ankles.
But Kim Cheol-han simply stood sideways and swung both hands, easily deflecting all those attacks.
"Damn it, just dragging out time."
"My disciples are fighting better than expected, so there's no need to push. Time is on our side."
Kim Cheol-han's judgment was indeed striking the Ma-in's sore spot.
'Damn it. What are they all doing!'
Though he himself was stuck due to Kim Cheol-han's unexpected strength.
None of the executives who had attacked Oh Chang-seong and Lee Ho-seung, nor any of the combat operatives who had attacked the cadets, showed signs of joining him.
First crushing the weak links, then surrounding and devouring the rest.
It was a plan they thought no one could escape from.
'Damn. If only it weren't for that flare!'
He had believed that according to the original plan, they could easily complete the mission in an hour and leisurely escape before reinforcements arrived.
But right after detonating the EMP, that premise began to shake when the flare was unexpectedly fired.
'Nevertheless, it's true that I thought 30 minutes would be enough to achieve the intended results. It had to be.'
But what about now?
Instructors and teachers rallying after receiving someone's transmission.
Cadets fighting better than expected.
And combat operatives who still hadn't returned.
Before they knew it, the situation had derailed far beyond their original plan.
'Damn it to hell.'
The seeds sown by Su-hyeon were finally disrupting the Ma-in's giant gears.
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"This monster-like bastard."
There was astonishment in the gaze of the Ma-in, Gong Jin-tae, as he looked at the 17-year-old boy looking down at him with clear eyes, without a single wound.
"Are you going to continue fighting?"
"......"
'Ant Lion' Gong Jin-tae had been drowning all of Class 2 in a sticky swamp.
But the sudden appearance of Seo Jun-seong changed the tide.
A single gesture.
With just that, all the Class 2 cadets who had been struggling in the swamp were pulled out as if plucking radishes.
'It's unbelievable.'
The control to extract dozens of people at once was amazing, but.
It was a scene that showed that the power of psychokinesis itself was on a different level from any psychokinesis users he had encountered so far.
'Such rotten luck.'
33 cadets of Class 2.
Even he couldn't do anything when all of them combined forces to attack him.
'Damn it, how humiliating.'
Thump!
Burns, frostbite, lacerations, and contusions.
As Gong Jin-tae, covered in all sorts of injuries, collapsed, the swampland also slowly began to return to its original field form.
"Aack!"
"Stay still."
'Taxidermist' Go Yu-min, who had been incapacitated by Instructor Choi Seung-wook's paralyzing poison, lay stiffly on the ground.
"Whew."
Choi Seung-wook, who had suffered quite severe injuries due to unfavorable compatibility and being attacked by two Ma-in simultaneously, finally released his tension and sat down on the ground.
"Thank you, Seo Jun-seong. If you hadn't come, I would have lost all my students right before my eyes."
"Thanks, Jun-seong."
"I really thought we were going to die for sure. You're our savior."
The Class 2 cadets, who had escaped death, also rushed to express their gratitude to Seo Jun-seong with their disheveled faces.
"It's nothing."
Seo Jun-seong calmly shook his head despite having done so much.
"It's thanks to Jeong Su-hyeon telling me to come this way."
"Jeong Su-hyeon?"
Instructor Choi Seung-wook's face showed surprise.
"How did that friend know to send Jun-seong here?"
"I don't know."
Seo Jun-seong shook his head.
"Anyway, thanks to him, we were able to save many people."
"Yes. You've done something really great. You bastard, I'll give you extra points in my class."
"...Thank you, but wouldn't that be an abuse of authority?"
"Hahaha! Such a by-the-book guy."
Instructor Choi Seung-wook laughed and then clutched his abdomen.
"Kuh, damn it. Even my internal organs are injured."
"Instructor!"
Seeing the cadets crowding around with worried faces, Seo Jun-seong turned away.
"This place seems safe now, so I'll go somewhere else."
"If you're okay, I'll go with you!"
"Me too!"
"Me too!"
Seo Jun-seong nodded at the support from cadets who still had energy left.
"Alright. Then let's go to Class 3."
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Spirit Master Jang Ha-young.
Her ability was specialized for multi-opponent battles, worthy of being called a one-person army.
Although there were many cadets unfamiliar with combat, it was thanks to this that she had been able to push back all of Class 3 alone.
But...
'If only I had a little more time!'
Jang Ha-young gritted her teeth.
Boom!
The appearance of Seo Jun-seong, who showed no mercy as he tore apart familiars with psychokinesis and crushed them using rock debris, had spilled the already-cooked rice.
The combat power of Seo Jun-seong, freed from the restriction of "no killing," was so frightening.
"Hey, isn't there nothing for us to do?"
"Yeah."
"Damn, let's at least catch the small fry!"
The Class 2 cadets following behind him were dealing with some remaining familiars.
Meanwhile.
"Cut them down one by one in a single breath!"
"Yes!"
From the opposite side came the onslaught of Su-hyeon and Lee Yu-jin, who were breaking through by cutting down familiars as if mowing through straw bundles, followed by Kim A-yun, who was firing lightning bolts.
"Damn it! Where did these ones come from too!"
Seo Jun-seong on the left, Su-hyeon and Lee Yu-jin on the right.
It was like a situation where an army surrounding an enemy was attacked from behind, and they were approaching Jang Ha-young with unstoppable momentum like powerful cavalry units.
"Damn it, children!"
As the Ma-in's hand waved, a ghastly light entered the eyes of the familiars.
"Kuwoooooo!"
The familiars under 'Frenzy' exploded with potential power like berserkers, but.
"Kim A-yun!"
"Yes!"
Kim A-yun, who flew into their center, released lightning in all directions, rendering them useless.
"Well done, your control is getting more familiar."
"Th-thank you."
Su-hyeon, who patted Kim A-yun's shoulder, rushed toward Jang Ha-young.
"Damn it!"
Just as Jang Ha-young was about to respond.
'Oh no!'
At that moment, Su-hyeon's legs gave out due to accumulated damage.
"Kyahaha! What are you doing? Just die!"
"Su-hyeon!"
A startled Lee Yu-jin rushed over urgently, and just as Seo Jun-seong reached out his hand to use psychokinesis.
"Don't move!"
A figure flying in from a distance approached Jang Ha-young, blew away the familiar, and placed his hand on her head.
Boom!
"Huck!"
Jang Ha-young collapsed like rotten straw from a shockwave hammered into her brain.
"Team Leader Song Young-hwan!"
Su-hyeon exclaimed at the unexpected face.
"I'm sorry, Su-hyeon! I came as quickly as I could, but look at this mess."
Team Leader Song Young-hwan.
Trusting only Su-hyeon's word, he had taken leave to wait nearby, and had been rushing over as soon as he saw the flare.
"...Thank you."
"No, I should be the one really thanking you. You can rest easy now."
Su-hyeon smiled at Song Young-hwan's words.
'The timing was perfect.'
"D-damn it. You'll all regret this."
Looking down at Jang Ha-young, who was groaning in pain and muttering venomously, Su-hyeon shrugged his shoulders.
"Even without you, there are plenty of things to regret in life anyway."
[At your request, 'Spirit Master' Jang Ha-young has been subdued by Song Young-hwan!]
[Unstoppable Achievement! You have achieved the highest merit in this chapter!]
[Achievement points 600 awarded, Consecutive Achievement Bonus: 300 points!]
This meant that already two Ma-in had been directly or indirectly subdued because of Su-hyeon.
'We're now right at the end point of the offensive.'
At this moment.
The Ma-in's operation had essentially completely fallen apart.