Chapter 62 : Chapter 62
Chapter 62. A Dangerous Guy
Kuuung!
Gwon’s fist pulverized a rock.
Seeing this, Maxim let out a sigh that sounded like a deflating balloon and shook his head.
“If I had to pick the best rat, it would be you.”
Gwon said, glaring at Maxim.
“I’m the best, she’s the rat.”
Maxim pointed a hand beyond the fog.
“This bastard. How dare, how dare you! You ignore me!”
“Huh? Were you upset that I didn’t call you a rat?”
“I’ll smash your skull!”
Gwon’s fist shot towards his face.
Maxim ducked and held Dawn in a reverse grip. Then, he struck Gwon’s elbow with the end of the hilt.
Ppeok.
Gwon’s arm flew high into the air. His body twisted greatly, following the movement of his arm. The small shadow of Gwon that had been stuck to the ground grew enormous, and the hazy fog gathered around him.
Maxim, righting his grip on Dawn, glared at Gwon and drew out his mana. A faint blue light shimmered from his arm and Dawn.
“I said I’d slice you, didn’t I? I take that back, I’ll smash you too.”
Dawn cut through the fog and rushed toward Gwon’s torso. It resembled a dragon spewing hot breath.
“Damn it!”
Gwon shouted. The momentum shown by Dawn was considerable, too much to block with his tattered arm.
Just as Dawn’s teeth were about to tear into Gwon’s torso.
“Tch.”
A small voice echoed from beyond the fog.
Kwagagak!
A stone pillar shot up and blocked Dawn’s teeth.
“Keuk!”
Gwon, who had rolled on the ground, spat out the dirt in his mouth and let out a foul sound.
“Is support magic all you know how to do?”
Maxim said as he withdrew Dawn.
“There’s no need to use magic on a guy like you.”
Sul emerged, cutting through the fog.
Seeing this, Maxim tilted his head.
“Isn’t this magic?”
Maxim said, pointing at the stone pillar.
At that moment, the stone pillar crumbled with a rumble.
“Gwon! Get up now!”
At Sul’s shout, Gwon grabbed his tattered arm and struggled to his feet.
Sul clicked his tongue as he looked at him. Then, he snapped his fingers.
“Huh?”
Mud stuck to Gwon’s broken arm. Then, small flames burst out one after another on top of it.
Gwon’s brow furrowed. He felt something was wrong and tried to peel off the mud. But the mud didn’t come off at all. Instead, it shifted its position and burrowed into Gwon’s arm.
“Keuaaak!”
Gwon screamed, feeling excruciating pain. As if to explain the reason, Gwon’s arm fell off cleanly. Not a single drop of blood came out. It was because something else was attached in place of the arm. A hard, pointed skewer made of stone was what it was.
“Ha! Is he some kind of chess piece?”
Maxim said, looking at Sul.
“That’s for him to prove.”
Sul stepped back to hide himself in the fog.
Maxim, not wanting to let him go, swung Dawn, which was imbued with mana.
Kang!
The one who blocked him was Gwon.
“You son of a bitch. You fucking bastard!”
Gwon, who had spewed curses, threw a punch aiming for Maxim’s torso.
Maxim lightly dodged it and asked, ‘What circle are you?’ But he didn’t hear Gwon’s answer.
‘He won’t last long.’
Sul, who was watching their fight, let out a long sigh.
Gwon was a piece Sul favored. With his aggressive nature, he never backed down from any fight. His physical abilities weren’t bad either, so he often withstood heavy magic. That’s why he had never lost a fight with Gwon at the forefront.
‘Damn it.’
Sul, who was watching the fight between Gwon and Maxim, bit his lip hard.
Gwon was relentlessly bombarding Maxim with attacks. But he hadn’t landed a single hit.
‘Disadvantageous. Overwhelmingly disadvantageous.’
Sul felt it instinctively. That Maxim was toying with Gwon to draw him out. The proof was that he didn’t launch any particular attack even though Gwon’s breathing was ragged and his movements had become sluggish.
“Fire Storm.”
Sul raised both hands and cast a spell.
A hot wind swirled around Gwon. When he took a step, the ground burned, and when he threw a punch, dust ignited.
‘I must kill him here. I must!’
Sul felt that Maxim’s existence was extremely dangerous. He judged that he had to eliminate him at this spot, no matter what it took, or else it would become a huge problem. So, Sul was determined to get what he wanted, even if it meant sacrificing Gwon.
“How crude.”
Pang!
With Maxim’s single word, the hot wind that had been enveloping Gwon disappeared powerlessly. Dawn, a wide sword of a dark purplish-black color that seemed to swallow all light, aimed for Gwon’s side.
Gwon extended his stone arm with all his might to block Dawn. But all that was transmitted to him was the pain of his entire arm being crushed.
“Keuk!”
Gwon spat out his pain.
Maxim’s attack didn’t stop there. He stabbed Gwon’s body. Then, glaring at Sul, he charged with ferocious momentum.
Sul hastily spun his mana and erected a wall of earth.
Peok!
Gwon was thrown into it.
“This is why I hate mages.”
Maxim’s sneering voice came from over the earthen wall. Then, his sword, with Gwon still skewered on it, pierced through the wall.
Kung!
The blood-soaked tip of Dawn reached Sul.
“Using a guy with no circles like a puppet. As if they’re gods themselves.”
The mound of earth crumbled, revealing Maxim’s eyes full of killing intent.
Sul placed a hand on Dawn, which was touching his chest. Then, he gave Maxim a bitter smile.
“You’re the insolent one.”
“Come on, am I as bad as you?”
“……Let’s see how long you can keep that up!”
Jiiing.
The sound of wind rotating echoed savagely from the back of Gwon, who was skewered on Dawn.
Maxim’s brow furrowed as he glared at Sul.
“You disgusting bastard.”
He quickly tried to withdraw Dawn and step back. But Dawn wouldn’t budge. It was because tree roots were tightly binding Dawn and Gwon.
“Terion! Grant me a glorious wound! Ignia! To him, a fiery death!”
Sul shouted as he covered his body with earth.
A red light began to emanate from Gwon’s body.
Kwaaang!
An explosion erupted, and light and heat engulfed the surroundings.
“Cough.”
Sul coughed up blood. He had blocked the heat of the explosion with the mound of earth, but he couldn’t do the same for the impact. But he didn’t suffer. He didn’t even wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth and even laughed like a madman.
“Huu, I’ll have to find a new one to use. I hope there’s one as good as Gwon.”
Sul, who had been overjoyed, muttered as he came out of the mound of earth.
It was then.
Ppaak!
Sul’s body shook violently and was slammed into the ground. He coughed and spat out the blood that filled his mouth.
Dust scattered. From within it, Maxim walked out step by step.
“You should be thinking about how to apologize when you meet the one who went ahead.”
Maxim said, brushing the dust off his body.
Sul looked at him with startled eyes. He couldn’t believe that he had survived the explosion, and not only survived unscathed but also managed to attack.
“You, what the hell are you?”
“That’s what I want to ask. Popping up out of nowhere, talking about killing and what not.
Making a complete fucking scene. Ah! Right.”
Maxim, standing in front of Sul, took something out of his pocket. It was a pendant engraved with a bull emblem.
“Do you know who uses this?”
Sul, who was asked the question, looked at Maxim with eyes that said, ‘What the hell is this all about?’
“You don’t know?”
“……”
“Speak. You were chattering away just fine until now. Why? Don’t want to talk? Want me to make you shut up for good?”
“……You crazy bastard. How dare you!”
Ppak!
Sul’s nose was crushed. He let out a voice that sounded like he was about to die, saying, ‘Keuk!’
“A bastard who can only use support magic, where do you get off acting all high and mighty?
Act high and mighty one more time and I’ll smash your head in.”
“Who said I can only use support magic……”
“Use it.”
Maxim cut Sul off and readjusted his grip on Dawn.
Sul’s pupils wavered.
“I’ll stand right here, so use whatever you’re confident in. Burn me with fire or hit me with rocks, do whatever you want.”
“……”
Sul was conflicted. An explosion so powerful that even Gwon’s corpse couldn’t be found had occurred, yet Maxim had survived it unscathed. He had even hit him. So, he didn’t dare to attack.
‘Should I awaken the trees and bind him?’
He thought that if he blocked Maxim’s attack with earth and bound his movements with trees, there might be a way to kill him somehow. But the shadow of failure felt too dark. He felt that he would bring greater misfortune upon himself if he provoked him unnecessarily.
Sul decided that he should create a suitable opening without provoking Maxim and escape.
“A bastard with nothing to his name, all talk.”
Maxim shoved the pendant at Sul.
“Do you know? Or not?”
“Instead of asking such things, you should be worrying about your subordinates……”
Kuk!
“Kak! Keuaaaaak!”
Sul clutched his eye and writhed in pain.
“Where do you get off threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat! I don’t know about the others, but Geom! You guys can’t handle him.
Because he’s the strongest among us!”
“Strong? Weren’t you the strongest?”
“……Geom is the strongest.”
Sul, with tears streaming down his face, reeked of injustice.
Maxim took a deep breath. Then he shoved the pendant at him once more.
“Do you know? Or not?”
“……Uresra, I saw it there.”
“Uresra?”
Maxim’s expression twisted strangely. He demanded the next answer, saying, ‘More details.’
“I don’t know. That’s all. But aren’t you afraid of Geom?”
“Forget about that and tell me more about this, will you? Who in Uresra uses this? Which family?”
“……You should be looking for Geom in the time you’re doing this. Your subordinates will be dying one by one.”
Maxim stared at Sul with his mouth shut.
Sul looked at Maxim’s face with a tense expression. He thought Maxim was wavering mentally.
‘If I shake him a little more, an opening will appear.’
Sul stealthily moved his hand back and touched the dagger hidden at his waist. He made a plan to stab Maxim’s vital point and run away if Maxim’s concentration wavered and an opening appeared.
Puk.
Dawn pierced Sul’s chest.
Sul looked at Maxim with eyes full of resentment.
“Since you don’t know anything more. Let’s end the conversation here. You said that guy, Geom or whatever, would kill us all, right? That’s what I want to say. You and your subordinates. I’ll punish you as much as you’ve sinned. Me, personally. So when you go to the afterlife, kneel before the people you’ve wronged and beg. That you’re sorry. That you were wrong. And if you’re going to pull a trick, try not to be so obvious. Hiding a knife behind your back is too obvious.”
At Maxim’s words, Sul moved his lips to say something in response. But no voice came out.
Only a lot of blood flowed out.
Pulsseok.
Sul, whose breath had stopped, collapsed as he was.
Maxim withdrew Dawn and launched himself toward the warehouse.
***
Adellian and Piontek walked into the warehouse.
“There’s too little light.”
Piontek said, looking around. As he said, the inside of the warehouse was nothing but darkness.
“We need to be able to see something to find it.”
Piontek gripped his sword. He considered creating electricity to make a fire.
Just then, Adellian placed a hand on Piontek’s shoulder and said, ‘No.’ It was because there was nothing more dangerous than exposing their location when they didn’t even know where the enemy was.
“It would be better to join up with Nigues, right?”
Piontek, who had understood Adellian’s intention, asked. He wanted to avoid the disadvantageous situation as much as possible.
‘He said Nigues is a 3rd Circle.’
He judged that they could fight in an advantageous position if they were with a 3rd Circle mage.
“No. If that happens, Nigues’s family will be in danger. So we have to find Geom first.”
Adellian put strength in her eyes and began to walk through the dim warehouse. She saw that they had to stop Geom before he found Nigues.
“Wouldn’t that be too dangerous? Maxim also said to just get out if we thought it was dangerous.”
“We haven’t tried anything yet. We have to do something. And you saw Nigues’s reaction, didn’t you?”
“What reaction?”
“The reaction he showed to Hobiyukyeong. They must be the ones who kidnapped his family.”
“That’s true, but……”
The words, ‘You mean his family was taken because he lost to Hobiyukyeong,’ rose to Piontek’s throat. But he couldn’t say them. Because Adellian wouldn't be unaware that it was dangerous.
‘I can’t let her down.’
His instincts were telling him that he was doing something dangerous, but he had to overcome it. Otherwise, he felt that Adellian would turn her back on him.
‘You’re the only one I will definitely protect.’
Piontek looked at Adellian and burned with determination.
Kukwang!
As if to prove it, an explosion filled the inside of the warehouse.