The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 146

A black spear tears through a green picture, and a green aura undulates like a wave, pushing back flames and lightning.

Both are pouring all their power towards each other.

Nevertheless, their fight shows no sign of ending and continues on.

Of course, the reason the fight is dragging on for so long is because the two are not fighting with all their might, but are enjoying it leisurely and fighting with a line drawn between them.

But the line between the two is a very faint line that can be easily erased at any time with a single trivial movement from either of them.

Jeobeok-

And Lee Shin, who had tasted everything he could within the line of a spar, crossed that line without a moment's hesitation.

Honestly, that in itself is not particularly strange.

In the first place, when Lee Shin fought against the [Kings], he always fought with all his might, with the intention of killing the opponent in front of him.

Because he couldn't face the [Kings] otherwise.

In other words, nothing had changed about Lee Shin.

What had changed was Baek Hyunwoo.

Shwiiik-

A black spear, clad in a spear ki that seemed to be dyed both red and golden, is swung in a surprise attack from Baek Hyunwoo's blind spot.

The target of the swinging spear is Baek Hyunwoo's heart.

At that moment.

O-ssak-

For the first time while fighting, Baek Hyunwoo felt fear.

It wasn't the first time a spear had been swung at his heart.

On the contrary, it was a familiar attack that he had experienced several times before.

Nevertheless, Baek Hyunwoo felt a sense of unfamiliarity from Lee Shin's spear, as if he were facing a spear swung at him for the first time in his life.

No, to be precise, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity from the killing intent Lee Shin was emitting.

So Baek Hyunwoo, without realizing it, was intimidated by that killing intent, and his body moved before his head could even think.

Kwoong-!

He took a step forward and took a stance, and his aura responded and gathered in his fist.

Jalgeurak-

The golden bracelet on his wrist responds to Baek Hyunwoo's will.

The bracelet, which trembled slightly and revealed itself, soon added a golden radiance over the aura gathered in Baek Hyunwoo's fist.

A blow with a power that clearly crossed the line.

Lee Shin, who faced him, smiled even more brightly, raised more internal energy, put it into the Yagong, and swung it as it was.

Live or die.

The moment an extreme game of chicken, where if you don't kill the enemy first, you will die, was about to unfold.

"Yes, that's enough."

A person, volunteering to be an intruder, cut in between the two.

A woman with long, flowing silver hair naturally cut in between the two and swung the platinum-colored staff she was holding.

Kwagwagwang-!!!

At that, the two's attacks were naturally twisted, hit the innocent ground, and returned to nothing, and the two were pushed back by the shock.

"What?"

"Ugh!"

Even though it was a sudden attack, Lee Shin and Baek Hyunwoo did not get hurt because they reacted to the attack in time with their beast-like reflexes.

But they couldn't overcome the force transmitted through the attack, so they couldn't stop their bodies from being pushed back, and so the two's fight entered a temporary lull.

'What is this guy doing?'

Just as Lee Shin was frowning at the appearance of the sudden intruder.

"Hey, you, how about here…!"

"Hey, you idiot! What are you doing in the middle of a spar?!"

The woman approached Baek Hyunwoo and, without any hesitation, struck his head with her fist.

Just looking at the height difference and appearance of the two, a cute sound like 'kong-' would have seemed appropriate, but.

Kwang-!

"Kkeuaaaak!!!"

"What are you screaming for when you've done nothing right! What on earth were you trying to do in a spar!"

The sound that actually came out was not so cute.

She even had a pure white aura wrapped around her fist, as if to say she wasn't joking right now.

For reference, Baek Hyunwoo had just finished his spar with Lee Shin.

Naturally, his body was cut here and there and blood was flowing, but she, as if she didn't care about such things, took a stance and was about to start nagging.

"Huh? Uriel?"

If a clueless someone hadn't intervened, it would have surely become like that.

Arachne, who had been protecting the Eun Yeonwoos from the aftereffects of the fight, tilted her head and approached the two.

"What are you doing here, leaving your guild? Is something wrong?"

Cluelessly.

"Is that something you should be saying?!"

"Ugyak!"

At Arachne's words, the woman called Uriel reacted quickly and struck Arachne's head just as she had done to Baek Hyunwoo a moment ago.

Still, unlike when she had swung her fist at Baek Hyunwoo, she didn't use her aura, but it looked just as painful.

'Did you come to save me?'

'No, I was caught too.'

While Lee Shin was thinking of a silly joke as he watched them, Uriel began to deliver a full-fledged sermon to the two who had collapsed on the floor.

"Baekho, you! What were you thinking, doing something like that in a spar!"

"Uh… well, that is…"

"And you too, Arachne! Is 'is something wrong' what you should be saying?! I followed you all the way here because you took a fighter jet and a boat from our guild without any proper explanation!"

"Ah, ahaha… ah, so that's what happened…"

In a situation where it was a bit ambiguous to ask for a fight again, Lee Shin recalled what Arachne had said and calmly looked at the woman.

Her silver hair, which looked as if it were made by melting real silver, was long and flowing down to her waist like a tail, and her eyes, which could be seen peeking out, were golden eyes that looked as if they were made by melting gold.

On top of that, perhaps because of the combination of a Westerner's physique, she wasn't tall, but her figure looked good enough to be noticeable even through her clothes.

'Certainly, judging by the revealed characteristics, it seems to be Uriel.'

While Lee Shin was having various thoughts as he looked at Uriel.

"Ah, right."

Uriel, who had poured out various nags, turned her head towards Lee Shin and bowed her head slightly.

"I'm sorry, I intervened without permission because it was clear that one of them would have died if I had left them alone."

"Hmm… well, alright."

Lee Shin, being an impromptu hedonist, would have thought it was fine even if the situation had turned out that way, as it would have been fun, and would have let it go.

But he thought it would be troublesome if he said that honestly now, so he just nodded his head appropriately.

"But what are you doing here? Unlike those guys, aren't you busy leading a proper guild called [Judgment]?"

"Ah, the guild? I've taken care of various things recently, so there's nothing I have to do right away. On the contrary, we're on a temporary hiatus for a while, in the sense of training individually."

From Uriel's expression, which showed a hint of worry, Lee Shin noticed that it was her own way of preparing for the upcoming dungeon break.

"So I came here to take care of a simple matter and also because I was worried these guys might cause some trouble, and as expected."

Uriel said that and glared at the two, and Arachne grumbled slightly, as if she didn't like it.

"No, but how do you know my location? Did you put a location tracker on Baekho's body?"

"Huh? Right? How did you know we were here? No, more than that, why my body?"

"Do you think I'm you? To not even notice something like that? I'm an assassin."

Listening to the two's banter, Uriel sighed as if it were a headache.

"Why would I bother attaching something like that? You can see everything with the artifact old man Crowley made."

"Ah."

"Ah."

At Uriel's words, the two stroked the chokers around their necks once.

Unlike the one Lee Shin was wearing, it wasn't a guy that could be used worldwide, but it was an artifact that made teleportation possible within the range of a single country.

And of course, it also had a location sharing function to prepare for emergencies.

"Then, since your business is over, are you leaving?"

At Lee Shin's words, Uriel thought for a moment.

"I wonder. Originally, I was just going to see what these guys were doing and leave, but… seeing what they did today, I'm so anxious that I don't think I can just leave them."

At Uriel's words, Baek Hyunwoo let out a 'hahaha' and laughed awkwardly.

Jjak-!

And Lee Shin, who had heard Uriel's words, lightly clapped his hands to focus their attention, then said with a smile, as if it were a good thing.

"That's great. Then you help me out too."

"…Help you?"

"Uh…?"

"Uwaak…"

At Lee Shin's words, Uriel tilted her head slightly and looked at him with slightly shining eyes, and Baek Hyunwoo and Arachne looked at him with the expression of someone who had stepped on a landmine.

Lee Shin also noticed their gazes, but he just ignored them appropriately.

Because he couldn't just interrogate them, asking why they were looking at him with such eyes.

"You were going to train anyway, weren't you? Then let's just do it together."

"And the training method is the spar from a moment ago?"

"That's right."

Since it wasn't something to lie about, he just nodded his head honestly.

At that, Uriel thought for a moment and then nodded her head.

"Well, okay. It's a bit much to just leave these two, and it's true that training together would be more effective. Besides…"

Uriel looked at Lee Shin and smiled provocatively.

"I'm also curious about the skills of the person Alice-unni and Merlin-ahjussi talked about so much."

"I'm honored that you're interested. But can I ask you one thing?"

"What is it?"

Lee Shin said, looking at Uriel's clothes.

"Why are you wearing a maid outfit?"

Although it was a slightly modified version, what Uriel was wearing clearly looked like a maid outfit.

As if worried that he might not recognize it, she was even wearing a katyusha with white lace on her head, so it was certain.

Lee Shin, who usually didn't pay attention to others' clothes, couldn't help but ask because it bothered him so much.

It wasn't just Lee Shin who was bothered by Uriel's clothes; Eun Yeonwoo and Lee Hyunseok, who were far away, were also seen secretly listening in.

"Ah, this."

Uriel shrugged her shoulders and said lightly, as if it were nothing.

"The clothes angels wear are too frilly, so I don't like them, and the clothes nuns wear are too stuffy and uncomfortable. So the compromise I chose was a maid outfit."

"…I don't understand."

What on earth do you have to do to weigh angel clothes and nun clothes and then end up wearing a maid outfit?

No, in the first place, if that's the case, shouldn't you just wear normal clothes instead of angel clothes or nun clothes?'

Uriel, as if she had roughly guessed what Lee Shin was thinking, smiled softly and said.

"There's such a thing as a brand image, you know. Well, if you think about the point of serving a master, angels, nuns, and maids are all similar. And crucially…"

"Crucially?"

"Maid outfits, they're feminine and pretty, aren't they."

At Uriel's words, Lee Shin decided to just let it go.

What can you do when it's her own taste.

'Come to think of it, those two weren't normal either.'

A manga otaku who loves to fight and an assassin who pours infinite interest into poison and spiders.

Lee Shin looked at Uriel intently, thinking that the strength of an aura user might be related to the degree of their peculiar personality.

While the two were just staring at each other for a moment, Uriel smiled stealthily and greeted Lee Shin.

"Then, I'll be in your care for a while."

A characteristic maid's greeting, with one leg slightly behind and lightly lifting the hem of her skirt with her hand.

At that playful greeting, Lee Shin chuckled and, like a clown giving a stage greeting, put one hand behind his back, lightly crossed his feet, and bowed, drawing a circle with his other hand.

Uriel, as if she liked that greeting, said with sparkling eyes.

"I'll be in your care."

"A healer is always welcome."

It was the moment when an unexpected angel joined Lee Shin's hell camp.

(End of Chapter)