[Translator - Clara]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 42: The Celestial Voice (5)
"........"
As soon as Dokgo faced his opponent, he understood.
The only family who had been with him for decades was now lost, never to return.
"How did he die?"
"His head was blown to pieces."
"……Then, at least it must have been painless."
Contrary to what one might expect, Dokgo neither showed much agitation nor did he reveal any intense bloodlust.
Instead, he spoke in a calm, almost bittersweet voice.
"Well, I always figured this day would co. I had a feeling he’d die before . His skills didn’t match his filthy personality, and he was never very cautious."
"........"
"But still, now that it’s happened, it does feel a bit disappointing. This was supposed to be our last job together."
"Did you plan to retire?"
"No way, I’m far too young for that. I was just offered a spot at the top of the field."
The top of the field.
Oscar chuckled in response.
"Interesting. So, it’s a battle between an assassin from the top and a mage from the top?"
"Huh? Isn’t White Tower ranked at the bottom? I hear they’re usually last or second to last."
“.... It'll be different this year."
He muttered, his face slightly flushed, feeling like a die-hard fan of a sports team that finished last every season.
Hearing that, Dokgo opened his mouth to speak.
"It seems you don’t know much. Being the best in the field ans…"
Like a faint mist, a violet aura of magic seeped from his body.
Exposed to this sticky energy, the hallway walls and ceiling slowly began to lt.
"This is what it takes to get to the top."
“…………Poisonous Qi?”
Oscar frowned.
Given that his opponent was an assassin, he had expected soone with either enhancent or speed skills, not soone with such a troubleso, unique technique.
"Cool, right? And when I condense it like this…"
The purple aura, which had been spreading like mist, gathered into a dense, fist-sized sphere.
"......."
The poisonous energy was so intense that simply standing in the sa space made his head spin.
Dokgo flicked the sphere with his finger.
Bam! Sizzle!
The sphere shot toward the wall, lting the concrete as if it were chocolate left out in the sun.
"So, what do you think? Looks deadly, doesn’t it? Imagine what would happen if a person were hit by it."
At that very mont—
Sizzle!
The poisonous sphere shot out, lting the wall to Oscar’s left.
".......!"
He quickly jerked his head to avoid it, but Dokgo laughed with a sinister grin.
"Oh, I forgot to ntion that even a slight touch will poison you. It might already be too late for you."
Of course, he hadn’t really forgotten; he just hadn’t said it on purpose.
Oscar nodded knowingly.
"I know. It looked obvious."
"......What? Why do you look so unaffected?"
Dokgo's eyes went wide.
Normally, his opponent should be gasping for air or paralyzed by now.
"It’s simple. I’ve surrounded myself with magic, so no outside air is reaching my body."
"……Then you can’t breathe?"
"I’m generating clean oxygen within my body."
For a mont, Dokgo’s face turned dumbfounded.
"Is that even possible?"
"This is the kind of thing you need to be able to do to be called the best."
He'd taken action as soon as he realized how potent his opponent’s poison was.
After all, he wasn’t new to facing people who specialized in toxins, given his history as the forr Master of the Tower.
"……Interesting. So it wasn’t just a coincidence that you killed my brother?"
Dokgo smirked and casually flicked his fingers.
In that instant, the poison broke into dozens of fragnts and shot toward Oscar like a machine gun.
『Acceleration』
Oscar heightened his physical speed, focusing magic in his eyes.
'I’ll break through at once.'
Along the way, he dodged every speck of poison, regardless of size.
He wasn’t rely worried about getting drenched like in a drizzle.
Each drop of poison carried lethal power, enough to be considered an instant-kill.
"Huh?"
With his hands clasped behind his back, Dokgo laughed in disbelief.
Floor, walls, ceiling—the opponent was using the entire corridor three-dinsionally to avoid every bit of poison.
"Wait, did he really dodge them all? This is beyond a Level 4 skill."
Suddenly, Dokgo’s eyes dropped to see Oscar closing the distance.
A sawn-off shotgun nad Trinity was aid at his chin.
Without hesitation, Oscar pulled the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
『Acceleration』 『Enhancent』, 『Penetration』.
These three spells were combined in a single weapon, which ant one thing.
Brutally fast, brutally strong, and brutally piercing.
"……Whoa. That was close."
Sizzle!
But even that extraordinary bullet lted, unable to penetrate the poisonous barrier Dokgo had wrapped around his chin.
Their eyes t up close, and Dokgo sneered.
"Got it. My idiot brother must’ve been killed by this, huh?"
".......!"
Crack!
With ghost-like speed, Dokgo's kick landed squarely in Oscar’s solar plexus.
Oscar was sent flying sideways, shattering a window and falling out of the building.
"Agh… Ugh…"
The pain was so intense that his mind went blank, and he couldn’t even scream.
Both legs were broken, and he couldn’t feel strength in his left arm.
Even though he had summoned a wind shield at the last mont, the damage was this severe, revealing the overwhelming difference in physical power and mana reserves.
It was a gap that couldn’t be closed by experience alone.
"Wow, you’re really hurt. That must be painful."
Dokgo leisurely descended the stairs as he spoke.
"So, shall we finish this?"
Even as he said this, Dokgo’s gaze remained fixed on Trinity.
As if he was certain that, without it, nothing Oscar did could harm him.
"Ugh… grrr…"
Oscar gritted his teeth as he lifted his upper body, and Dokgo scratched the back of his head.
"Why don’t you just stay down? The fight seems over. No need to be stubborn."
In response, Oscar raised his trembling right hand, loaded his weapon, and aid it at his opponent.
So he plans to die fighting, even if it ans death.
"They say you're a warrior of the forest. You're pretty tough, aren't you?"
Respecting his resolve, Dokgo gathered his magic.
Bang! Bang!
[Translator - Clara]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Trinity spat out flas once more.
"I told you, it's useless."
Dokgo's poisonous qi not only lted the bullets but even swallowed Trinity itself.
Sssssss!
The gun, a legacy from Gunslinger Jack, lted away.
"Now, it’s really goodbye."
As Dokgo prepared to throw his elongated toxic blade like a spear...
Pop! Pop-pop-pop-pop!
-Waaaahhhhh!
Suddenly, fireworks exploded from the stage, and a roar even louder than before erupted.
"…She rembered well."
Hearing the deafening cheers, Oscar smiled faintly.
-We'll rehearse just one thing. It’s simple.
All he had taught Marin was one thing.
-When you hear two gunshots from backstage, set off the fireworks and get the crowd to cheer as loudly as possible.
That cheer would soon beco his weapon.
Oscar drew in his magic, completing a spell.
『Binding Sound』
The entire do of Baran was filled with the combined noise of cheers and fireworks.
Zzzzzz...
Above the do, it sounded like the cries of hundreds of thousands of cicadas in unison.
"...What the hell is this?"
Sensing an ominous threat, Dokgo hastily enveloped himself in all his mana for protection.
Using up all his remaining power, Oscar transford the sound into another spell.
『Noise Wave』
Zzzzzz!
Like a thunderbolt from the sky, the sound wave struck Dokgo square on the crown of his head.
"Ugh... ughhh..."
Dokgo couldn't even scream properly, his body convulsing as if electrocuted.
Blood was already streaming from his ears.
Even in this state, Dokgo glared at him with bloodshot eyes.
‘…What a tenacious bastard.’
His determination was truly extraordinary.
Despite his condition, he had tried to kill him with a toxic blade.
But now that he had lost his hearing, he was effectively disoriented.
"Ughhh!"
The toxic blade he aid at Oscar flew off in the wrong direction.
Seeing this, Oscar gathered his remaining magic and completed another spell.
『Wind Cutter』
The blade of wind flew faster than ever and slashed Dokgo's neck.
"..."
Dokgo collapsed to his knees and died on the spot.
Confirming the outco, Oscar finally allowed himself to collapse, lying back.
"Hah... hah. That’s what it ans to be the best in the business, kid."
Among all the opponents he had faced, this one was the strongest.
At his current level, he couldn’t guarantee victory if they fought again.
‘Strong foes like that will probably keep appearing out of nowhere.’
Thinking of this, he knew he needed to regain his full strength as soon as possible.
‘But right now... that can wait. First, let’s... just rest.’
Exhausted, Oscar closed his eyes and fainted.
* * *
A Hotel Room in Baran.
"Hmph, hmm."
A woman sat cross-legged on a sofa, humming as she read the newspaper.
Just then, a man entered the room and asked,
"Senior, I've got good news and bad news. Which one would you like first?"
"Good news, always."
"That new recruit’s brother, the one we were supposed to take in… he’s dead."
"Oh, that's genuinely good news."
The woman with ash-gray hair sparkled with delight.
She had found a gem of an assassin in this city.
His only weakness was his brother.
She had been debating whether to kill his brother once his initiation was complete, so it was one less worry.
"Okay, so what’s the bad news?"
"Well... the recruit died too."
"..."
What nonsense is this?
Her expression turned cold, her eyes narrowing.
"Would you like to make so new bad news? Want to join them?"
"D-Don’t be mad at . Apparently, your younger brother killed him."
"...What?"
She folded her newspaper and leaned forward, reaching out her hand.
The junior man nervously handed her a photo.
"This is him, right? Killian Lockwood, your younger brother. Seems he was hired as security for the opposition."
"..."
There were two photos.
One showed a bodyguard following behind Marin Maria on an outing, and the other showed the sa bodyguard being carried out on a stretcher from the Baran do.
As she closely examined the photos, one corner of her mouth twisted slightly.
"And who do you think this is?"
"...The Saint of the White Tower, isn’t that your younger brother?"
Realizing she was entering a dark mood, the junior's voice beca cautious.
Crossing her at a ti like this was a quick way to get hurt, regardless of seniority.
"...I don’t know. Has his face changed that much since I last saw him?"
No way.
The person in the photos wasn’t her brother.
Just so insolent fool pretending to be him.
The woman brushed off her seat, turned her head, and gazed out the hotel window.
Her crimson eyes sparkled like jewels.
"I need to see this face in person. Just who does this bastard think he is... pretending to be my brother."
[Translator - Clara]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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