novelraw Chapter 89 : Chapter 89
Chapter 89 : Chapter 89
Chapter 89: Raid (5)
Pieces of wire. Severed pillars.
Only the boy stood unharmed in the middle of the vacant lot where metal debris scattered.
Gonta couldn't believe the sight.
The transparent spiderweb he had set up with his own hands.
He had believed that as long as they were inside it, anyone was in his grasp.
It didn't matter much that they made a splash with water to make the steel wires visible.
It was just an interesting prank.
After all, the Hero was already in a near-death state.
In the end, all that remained was just one Academy cadet.
He thought the balance of power hadn't changed.
Until he saw that boy's performance.
It was in an instant.
All those structures were cut away entirely by that guy's sword.
“Wow— amazing?”
Right beside him, Saturn exclaimed in admiration.
The corners of her mouth twisted strangely.
“Did you see that kid's movement just now? I saw it.”
Saturn tilted her head and rolled the earring below her ear.
Playful, but there was clear excitement in her eyes.
On the other hand, Saturn seemed to be subtly mocking, ‘You didn't see it, did you?’
Gonta didn't answer.
Instead, his finger trembled unconsciously.
‘……I didn't see it.’
It wasn't even captured by his dynamic visual acuity.
Gonta was a type unsuited for close-quarters combat.
Hiding weapons, mocking and cooking the opponent from afar, that was his style.
That’s why he became anxious.
If he ends up fighting close with that guy, could he be safe?
His gaze turned to the ground.
Severed streetlamps, fragmented signboards, and messy metal debris.
In addition to the wires, he cut away even the pillars used to wrap the wires around.
‘Nonsense. This is nonsense.’
That crazy bastard literally cut everything around him.
The fingertips that were handling wires grasped empty air.
Now there aren't even objects to wrap around.
The method to deploy again disappeared.
Gonta gritted his teeth.
And opened his mouth quietly.
“……Hey, Saturn.”
Grasping the situation, he spoke quietly towards Saturn.
As he called, Saturn turned her head.
Her round eyes were asking what it was.
“I think I need your help.”
His pride was hurt, but there was no choice.
He had to ask for help.
But Saturn's gaze was strange.
“Huh?”
Her eyes narrowing into crescents were full of mischief.
“Didn't you say you didn't need help earlier?”
“What?”
“When I asked ‘Shall I help?’. You snorted and said ‘Hmph, no need.’ completely confidently.”
Subtle mockery seeped into her tone.
“Damn it, so what?”
“So what indeed.”
As Gonta asked back with irritation, Saturn shrugged her shoulders.
“It means you handle things here on your own.”
Gonta's facial muscles distorted.
“I plan to go check on Seol Hayun soon. Did you forget? My target isn't that kid. It’s Seol Hayun.”
“You, you……!”
As Gonta shouted as if dumbfounded.
“I’ll tell you one thing.”
Saturn raised a finger in front of Gonta.
“All the Chimeras in the next sector are dead. Three Heroes, looks like they’ll come here soon. Shouldn't you finish quickly? Or run away. Risking embarrassment, that is.”
Saturn's body bounced back lightly.
Like a puppet on a string, lightly and flexibly.
“Then good luck~.”
Leaving that one phrase, Saturn's figure disappeared in an instant.
“Damn it all…….”
Gonta ground his teeth.
He turned his head towards Ryu Jinwoo.
The guy had tense eyes seeing Saturn disappear.
He probably thinks she is coming towards him.
‘Bought a little time.’
Gonta exhaled.
‘But it won't last long.’
Because that guy will soon realize that Saturn isn't targeting him but just headed somewhere else.
Then what should I do?
Gonta's head spun intricately.
Ryu Jinwoo possessed tremendous speed.
When he jumped in to save the dying Hero, he appeared in an instant.
It was the same when he cut the surrounding structures just now.
In other words, there's no chance of winning in a simple speed battle.
And even if he dodges like this, there was no guarantee the guy wouldn't chase him.
That guy would know that if he lets Gonta go, his life would be targeted someday.
‘……Still, he is wary right now.’
A brief gap created by Saturn's disappearance.
He must utilize this moment to the max.
Gonta slowly calmed his breathing.
Under the floor, between the wooden skeletons, a thin steel wire quietly stretched out.
[Salpa]
Transparent steel wires trembled minutely.
As he caught the rhythm with his fingertips, vibration slowly spread.
He inhaled.
Sweat and dust mixed together stung his nose.
Immediately, he opened the pocket on his waist.
Caltrops poured onto his fingertips.
As the film of magic power covered them, the metal pieces began to hide their appearances one by one.
Thus, invisible traps surrounded the vicinity.
If the guy approaches unknowingly, no matter how fast, he will be caught in the trap.
Gonta caught his breath for a moment and pictured Ryu Jinwoo approaching him in his head.
That expression flustered by the invisible trap.
‘Good. This should do.’
The moment he thought so, the corner of his mouth twisted automatically.
Previously that guy was in the trap, but now Gonta was putting himself inside the trap and holding out.
It felt a bit humiliating, but Gonta repeated to himself that this was the best.
‘Anyway, as long as I don't go over there.’
The only place the guy can reveal transparent objects using water is near the broken water pipe.
Once out of that area, the trap will never be discovered.
‘If the guy doesn't move like this, I hide and catch a chance again. If he approaches…… he gets caught in the trap.’
At least make it so the guy cannot chase him, then leave the place.
Having made up his mind, Gonta felt inside his clothes.
Metals touching his fingertips trembled minutely.
Gurkha, dagger, and even the grenade, the final choice.
All of them disappeared transparently.
“Right. Nothing changed.”
Gonta muttered as if brainwashing himself.
“I still have the advantage.”
It was then as he pledged so.
Ryu Jinwoo began walking slowly toward Gonta.
That gaze.
An unknown creepiness as if piercing something brushed by.
‘That bastard, what on earth is his identity?’
That’s a normal cadet?
Such killing intent can flow out from such a young guy?
Before the questions rising consecutively could end, the boy's form disappeared as if distorting.
Following a faint afterglow.
Pubuk—!
A rough sound of a blade digging into flesh rang out.
A minute vibration rang from the floor.
‘……Got him!’
Gonta instinctively cheered.
The guy had stepped exactly on one of the caltrops he laid.
As expected, it was tremendous speed.
Enough that eyes couldn't follow.
But it's okay.
Because he laid the trap with that in mind.
If he stepped on the trap, the next step was obvious.
Balance collapses and speed slows down.
The guy who lost his only weapon, speed, would be reduced to a toy again.
“Crawled in unknowingly! Stupid bastard!”
Mockery was brief, Gonta's mouth shut instantly.
Ryu Jinwoo appeared from behind before he knew it.
What was strange was his eyes.
They didn't shake at all.
Rather, they were even clearer.
As if he expected this much.
‘Wait, how did that guy get in?’
A new question suddenly flashed in Gonta's mind.
He had already surrounded the vicinity with steel wires.
They shouldn't have been visible to him.
How could he dodge those steel wires and settle right behind me?
Does he have teleportation ability or something?
However, magic power wasn't felt.
Instead, an unknown sensation dug in.
As the guy got closer, an inexplicable energy was felt.
Muscles all over the body stiffened automatically.
It was a sensation like the infrasonic cry of a beast, making him hunch his back unconsciously.
‘Damn it.’
Gonta ground his teeth.
His fingertips trembled quietly.
Gonta distanced himself from the guy while throwing the weapons he grabbed from inside his clothes.
A transparent dagger and Gurkha rushed toward the guy drawing respective trajectories.
And it was then.
“Puwuuut—!”
Ryu Jinwoo spat out what he held in his mouth.
Like an executioner before an execution, he spat out water roughly.
Water droplets mixed with red light scattered into the air.
Liquid fluttered in the empty air, faintly emitting the smell of blood.
The moment those water droplets touched Gonta's weapons, transparent objects revealed themselves like holograms.
Two streaks of blades stretching out cutting through the air.
Facing them, Ryu Jinwoo's body twisted minutely.
Hwiik—! Pit—!
He dodged both blades flying toward him.
‘Dodged?’
Gonta's eyes narrowed.
This much reflex transcended a certain level.
He prepared the next attack immediately.
Just as he was about to twist the trajectory diagonally by rearranging the steel wires.
Seogeok—!
A sharp sound tickled his ears.
Soon, severe pain brushed his left arm.
A rough sensation exploded as if current flowed along his spine.
Cheodeok—
With a powerless sound, a chunk of meat fell onto the roof.
Gonta saw what was his left arm and immediately moved his gaze to his shoulder blade.
Blood was bursting out like a fountain.
“Damn it!”
Gonta instinctively stepped back.
Breathing roughly, he grabbed the severed part with the opposite hand.
Black liquid flowed freely between his fingers.
However, that scene didn't last long.
Muscle fibers began to wriggle at the severed spot.
Pulling each other stickily, flesh covered the outside.
Tissues connected as if vines were wrapping, beginning to regain the previous form.
And just as the process was completing and the arm was about to regain its original shape.
Seogeok—!
Ryu Jinwoo cut Gonta's arm once again.
It was a resolute and unhesitating posture as if he knew from the start that it would regenerate.
“Kkeuaaak!”
Rising scream.
Gonta looked at the opponent with surprised eyes.
Normally, an opponent is bound to be surprised at the sight of a body being restored.
Surprise and fear, momentary hesitation mix, and in that short gap, one can regain the advantage.
But this guy was different.
He showed no fear nor hesitation whatsoever.
Movement without a single shake as if everything was calculated.
Without hesitation in his hand, the guy extended his sword.
This time he was targeting Gonta's neck.
“Keueuk—!”
Gonta threw his body backward as is.
Ryu Jinwoo's sword accurately cut the empty air where Gonta's Adam's apple was located.
Goosebumps wrapped around his whole body.
He almost had his neck pierced just like that.
‘This son of a bitch, he's targeting the neck accurately.’
The guy who wasn't flustered at all even seeing the regeneration knew the weakness accurately.
In bewilderment, Gonta gulped—swallowing dry saliva.
As his back slid across the floor, Gonta pulled his right hand.
When he yanked the steel wires woven in his hand, wires woven in various protrusions on the roof moved organically.
Several strands of steel wires lying quietly on the floor soared like snakes and tightened toward Ryu Jinwoo's ankles.
‘I’ll cut your feet first.’
Gonta gave strength to his brow with the certainty that his attack would work.
Immediately after, he was lost for words at the sight he witnessed.
Teoeong—!
The boy kicked off the floor strongly and jumped up.
As if he waited, timing it exactly.
With eyes wide open, Gonta looked at the wires.
And the moment he saw the wires, he realized.
Black blood was seeping all around the floor.
Sticky blood sprayed as Gonta's arm was cut.
Thanks to that, the outlines of transparent steel wires were faintly revealed.
‘This bastard, were you calculating everything from the start?’
Gonta's breathing became rough.
The guy who jumped up naturally began to thrust his sword toward Gonta.
At the same time, severe pain from the left arm was crushing Gonta.
Regeneration was not fully completed yet.
Udeuk.
Gonta gritted his teeth.
Cold sweat flowed down his nape at the unexpected difficulty.
The trajectory drawn by Ryu Jinwoo's sword flashed fiercely.
Gonta's vision blurred white for a moment.