A cold fury spread across the Shadow Lord’s face.
“So you never intended to make a deal from the start.”
“The offer still stands. One person for one sword. Isn’t that a perfectly Blood Cult-like way to calculate?”
“You think I’d accept that?”
“If you don’t, that’s fine too. Just so you know, no refunds. I’ll put your gifts to good use~”
His face twitched violently, seemingly at the peak of his anger.
“I told you from the beginning, it didn’t matter if I paid you first. Not because I’m generous, but because I can take it back whenever I want.”
“Sounds like you were going to take it back no matter what.”
Even if I’d stayed cooperative, he would’ve tried to kill in the end.
One witness gone and the elixirs reclaid? Only a fool wouldn’t do it.
Especially since he’s a Blood Cul mber who thinks human lives are worth less than flies.
“……!”
Just as he opened his mouth to say sothing, I jerked my chin toward his hand.
A little reminder that he had a lie detector on him.
No way he could claim, “That wasn’t my intention.”
Sure enough, he clamped his mouth shut and fell silent for a while.
Then, he let out a low chuckle.
“Hehe… you’re pretty sharp. You’re right. Once it was all over, I planned to end your life painlessly. Looks like you’ve just sped up your own death.”
“That won’t do. I plan to live a long, happy life, you see.”
“To live long, you’ll need to make it out of here first, won’t you?”
“Oh, that’s no problem.”
I just have to fight.
With complete composure, I pulled out the Crow Tree.
Then I continued.
“How about I tell you the real reason I ca here in the first place?”
“……”
“I didn’t like you threatening the people around .”
Do you know how much effort I put into raising them?
They’re going to be the key players in world peace soday.
He hadn’t actually hard anyone yet, but even daring to issue a threat was already a serious cri.
“Since you’ve shown yourself, I figured I’d catch you before you scurry off like a cockroach again.”
“…Now I see. You’re not gutsy. You’re just insane.”
“I hear that a lot. Not exactly wrong, either.”
“There’s no point in talking anymore.”
The Shadow Lord had already regained his expressionless face.
With perfect composure, any hint of anger or killing intent that had surfaced earlier sank completely to the depths.
He tucked the lie detector away and drew a long, thin, needle-like sword that looked sharp enough to pierce through anything.
“My mission cos first, so I wanted to avoid unnecessary killing. But with things as they are, I no longer have a choice. I’ll kill you here and extract the rest from that Go Hyun-woo fellow.”
“If you can, that is.”
“……”
The Shadow Lord’s body silently lted into the darkness.
Of course he’s an assassin class.
He’d likely circle around in the shadows, waiting for the perfect mont to strike.
And each of those strikes would be lethal.
I had a few safety nets prepared, but if he went all-in on the attack, I could be taken out in an instant.
I’d rather not waste my long-cooldown skills here.
Not just the Shadow Lord. Even the Witch of Exhaustion was gunning for . If those cooldowns were still ticking when I needed them, I’d be done for.
At least [Distortion] had a one-day cooldown. It was barely manageable.
But [Pain Delay] and [Retrocovery] had three-day cooldowns. I really needed to save those.
First, let’s boost my specs.
[Activated ‘Octopus Legs’.]
[Activated ‘Amplification’.]
[The rank of Core has increased. (B → S )]
[The rank of Frozen Spirit Shot has increased. (B → S)]
[The rank of Mutual Destructive Eye has increased. (C → A)]
[The rank of Ice Wall has increased.…]
…
Raising the [Core] also enhanced the defense of my [Wise Armor].
Plus, casting an S-rank [Ice Wall] required a ton of mana.
I didn’t amplify my forbidden skills since elental penalties might accidentally trigger Retrocovery.
First, I raised walls of ice both in front and behind .
To limit the paths from which he could attack.
Just as I was about to raise the third ice wall, my stagnant water senses picked up a subtle sense of unease.
I imdiately turned my head in that direction, but the system notification ca first.
[‘Distortion’ activates.]
[Cooldown: 23:59:59]
The Shadow Lord’s longsword had just barely grazed past my side.
As expected of an A-rank. He had closed the distance in an instant and went straight for a stab.
“……!”
He hadn’t expected [Distortion]. I could see a flash of surprise in his eyes.
Realizing the attack had failed, he quickly retreated.
But by then, our eyes had already t.
[Activated ‘Octopus Legs’.]
[Activated ‘Mutual Destruction Eye’.]
[The target has been afflicted with the status effect: ‘Freezing (A)’.]
[The target has been afflicted with status effect: ‘Poison (A)’…]
[The target has been afflicted with status effect: ‘Weathering (A)’…]
[The target has been afflicted with status effect: ‘Freezing (A)’…]
…
[Cooldown: 06:39:59]
Twenty consecutive Mutual Destruction Eyes.
In the darkness, the low groan of the Shadow Lord, the sound of rushing wind, and the crackle of freezing ice ford a grim symphony.
“Guh…!”
Whoooosh—!
Crackle!
But the noise quickly died down.
He’d probably used every debuff-cleansing thod he had.
Which ant—
He can’t shake off the next wave.
While leisurely erecting another ice wall, I once again felt a chill crawl up my neck.
My stagnant water senses had picked up another disturbance.
This ti, instead of turning my head, I imdiately cast [Ghost Dance].
Swhish…
The mont I reappeared a short distance away, the sense of unease returned.
He tracked instantly.
Fast reflexes. As expected of an A-rank.
His movent technique must be top-tier too.
Still, since it was an aggressive pursuit, he sacrificed a lot of stealth.
His sharp-edged longsword thrust toward my chest.
In response, I calmly extended the Crow Branch.
[Harmonized Flow]
Fwoooosh—
For a mont, it felt like my staff and his blade were fused together.
I gave a strong sideways sweep to shake it off, and the Shadow Lord staggered, dragged off balance.
As long as it lands, this thing’s an unbeatable parry.
The key difference between a parry skill and a standard defense skill—
Is that when it succeeds, it forces an opening in your opponent.
A big enough one to counterattack.
The mont I cast Harmonized Flow, my index finger had already frozen stiff like an icicle.
To make matters worse, a chilling cold aura began to rise.
[Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger] Find the newest release on novelFirｅ
[Frozen Spirit Shot]
[Mysterious Yin Frozen Spirit Jade Demon Shot Finger]
Booooooom—!
The cold shot from the tip of my index finger struck the Shadow Lord square in the chest and exploded on impact.
Right after, a system ssage popped up.
[‘Chain Explosion’ has been activated.]
[Cooldown: 00:04:59]
Booooom—!
A second cold explosion went off in quick succession, and the Shadow Lord was soon covered head to toe in ice.
Crackling and freezing sounds followed without pause.
The effect itself is the sa as Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger.
It pushes icy energy into the opponent’s ridians, freezing and severing the flow of internal energy.
The only difference is that this one explodes.
Unlike Mysterious Yin Jade Demon Finger which targets a single ridian, this version spreads cold through every ridian within the blast radius.
Crack-crack-crack—!
Sure enough, the Shadow Lord was slowly turning into a living ice sculpture.
He could still move, but like a broken robot, he had jittery, jerky movents.
I casually asked,
“Still think you’re getting out of here alive?”
“You… bastard…!”
His bloodshot eyes glared at .
Then, as if making up his mind, he reached into his coat and pulled out a syringe filled with a crimson liquid.
Without hesitation, he jamd it into his arm.
Blood Fury Syringe.
A secret Blood Cult drug that explodes latent energy within the body to grant trendous power.
The side effect? Death.
But it seed he’d already made peace with that.
He knew he was dead either way.
“If I’m going down… I’ll be taking you with …!”
Crack, crackle—!
Horrifying sounds kept coming from his body. Ones a human body should never make.
His ridians were likely freezing, then tearing apart over and over again.
I said to him,
“Sorry to interrupt your little lodrama, but there’s sothing I didn’t ntion.”
“……?”
“I said I ca alone, but that was a lie.”
Sssrrrk…
A shadow rose from beneath my feet and wrapped around my neck, yanking downward.
The next mont, Dang Gyu-young and I had been transported to a nearby treetop.
“……!”
Just as the Shadow Lord was darting his eyes around, sothing ca charging at him at incredible speed and landed a kick.
But instead of a simple thud, the sound was more like—
Baaaaang—!
It sounded like he’d been hit by a truck or sothing.
The Shadow Lord’s body skipped across the ground like a stone over water, bouncing away into the distance.
“Hmph.”
A small snort from the Sword Queen.
Of course, she was also one of the people I’d called for help.
She watched the Shadow Lord writhe for a bit, then, as if deciding it was safe now, tossed out a comnt.
“You’re good now. Co on down.”
Even then, Dang Gyu-young still had her arms wrapped tightly around my neck from behind.
I gave her hand a little tap and said,
“She’s calling us. Let’s go.”
“Nope. I’m staying stuck to you. Gum mode~”
She smiled sweetly.
Then tightened her grip and pressed even closer.
Of course, she was just playing around. She knew she couldn’t keep the Sword Queen waiting any longer.
She deactivated her gum mode and ca down with .
The Sword Queen glanced at with a displeased look, then shot a quick glance at the Shadow Lord.
“You handled it all on your own. Guess I didn’t even need to show up.”
“If it dragged on any longer, things would’ve gotten dangerous.”
I’d landed a decisive blow, sure. But I was still no match for an A-rank master in a straight fight.
On top of that, the Shadow Lord had used a Blood Fury Syringe to unleash all his latent power, fully prepared to die.
A few more exchanges and, just like he said, I probably would’ve gone down with him.
We approached the Shadow Lord who was now an ice sculpture.
He still hadn’t lost consciousness. His eyes were wide open, glaring at .
“Lie… detector… worked…”
If you strung those three words together, it’d probably co out as sothing like: “The lie detector definitely worked, didn’t it?”
I shrugged and replied,
“That’s what happens when you rely too much on tools.”
A seasoned master of his level might’ve been able to see through my lie just from experience.
But because he focused entirely on the green light, he missed the subtle changes in my expression and tone of voice.
The Shadow Lord’s body gave one final twitch, then his head slowly dropped.
It’s over.
After confirming that, I glanced to the side, and Dang Gyu-young stepped forward and held out her hand.
The Shadow Lord’s shadow or what was left of him quietly slid out and rged with Dang Gyu-young’s shadow.
▷ Shadow Extraction [2/2]
1. Research Director (A)
2. Shadow Lord (A)
The spot once held by the relatively lower-ranked Vine Queen had now been replaced by Dang Gyu-young’s new acquisition.
With this, she now commanded two A-rank undead.
Soon, Lee Soo-dok, Seo Cheong-yong, and the other faculty mbers appeared on the scene and hauled away the Shadow Lord, who was barely clinging to life.
The Sword Queen also began walking in the direction of the academic grounds.
“You. Co with .”
User Comments
0 comments from readers