BAM! BAM! BANNNNG!
"Uh!"
Oliver quickly stepped back, admiring the smashed multiple black shields.
Duncan, who held a T-shaped tonfa baton was certainly strong, a strength worthy of Edith Rock's close confidant and a former Pinkman office executive.
‘Is this the strength of a Pink man executive?'
Oliver stepped back thinking, and as soon as his feet moved a step backward, Duncan ran as hard as he could and narrowed the distance at once.
"……!"
He was the fastest opponent Oliver had ever faced, and to be honest, he was hard to deal with.
His attacks were quick and threatening
[Thrust]
Oliver fired a shock wave and hit Duncan.
As the bullet of hate got blocked by striking with a phenomenal reflex, Oliver chose to attack with a shock wave, which fortunately worked.
At best, it kept him busy.
"Hmph…"
"I made it so that it could break a cement wall…unfortunate."
Oliver said, looking at Duncan holding out the shock wave.
His body was quite solid, and it was even more difficult to inflict damage due to the vast amount of mana surrounding him.
Thus, Oliver decided to pinpoint his attacks on one point rather than attacking aimlessly.
[Shadow spike]
Oliver's shadow stretched forward and quickly rose from under Duncan's feet.
Each shadow stake aimed at Duncan's ankle, abdomen, chest, and chin, but Duncan quickly avoided the shock wave and swung his tonfa to smash the shadow spike.
Oliver was at a loss.
An obvious but effective strategy to blind the opponent’s vision using a shock wave and attacking from an unexpected position ended up as a failure.
Of course, he was not cornered by an opponent like Dunan who kept closing the gap, but it was still quite difficult.
"Um…"
Oliver deflected the tonfa using his quarterstaff and looked at Duncan.
He looked pretty relaxed.
‘No, is that a given?’
Hate Bullet was avoided, Las Bomb was endured using the mana around him, and shadow-based black magic doesn't work either.
And, Oliver was reluctant to believe in the [Black suit] in a close-range battle.
No, rather, it was the situation he wanted to avoid the most.
Along with high firepower, his close combat skills were also on an extremely high level. Even if at least once Oliver got hit by the tonfa he would be in a stunned state, and if got hit by it continuously he would be minced meat.
If Puppet he faced in the contaminated zone was an unknown enemy, Duncan was a deadly and breathtaking enemy.
If his concentration lapsed for even a second, he would lose his life.
In a sense, Duncan was the worst kind of enemy, and there was no support like the entrance to hell or the artificial soul that Oliver used when dealing with Puppet.
The only way left for Oliver to survive now is to find the elements of victory as much as possible using the current emotions.
There was a way, but he needed more time to do that.
While Oliver thought about how to drag the battle, Duncan opened his mouth.
"…you're pretty good.”
"….thank you?"
"I'm not kidding."
Duncan’s words were true.
"I've dealt with three Warlocks before, and among them, one was pretty famous.…. Compared to them, your skills are way above. Considering the age, there is a possibility of huge growth. It's a waste to die like this."
"Thank you for the compliment."
"I mean it. It's such a waste. Don't end your life looking for some pennies on the street.. I suggest you come under me."
Oliver was surprised at the unexpected suggestion.
It was because he didn't think he would get this offer during the fight, and what was even more surprising was it was not a trick to deceive him.
Duncan meant every word he said.
"Because of you, I lost two people I've been paying attention to. You fill the vacancy. I'll treat you better."
Oliver asked, taking a breather, though he didn't relax.
"Um, when you say two, are you talking about Mr. Scott and Ms. Nina?”
"Yeah, I guess you're not tactless.”
"Um? That's a relief. People around me say I'm tactless….. May I ask you a question?”
"What?"
"Is the reason you're trying to kill Ms. Jane to open an office like Pinkman office?"
Oliver asked to confirm.
He said it was certain to Jane, but he wanted to hear it from Duncan’s own mouth, and Duncan’s emotions answered before his words.
"…Yes, is there a problem?"
"No, I just don't understand. How should I say this? Ms. Jane seems to have quite a lot of faith in Mr. Duncan, why did you betray her?”
"Are you curious about that?”
"Yes, I'm curious. If you answer, I'll answer your suggestion."
Oliver said so and raised his hands.
There was also a purpose to stall, but there was also a sincere desire to hear an answer.
Jane believed in Duncan, and it means that Edith Rock believes in Duncan quite a lot.
But he betrayed that faith all of a sudden, and Oliver was curious about the reason.
Duncan opened his mouth after thinking for a while. He coveted Oliver quite a lot.
"…to make my dream come true."
"… opening an office?”
"No, it's a tool to achieve my dream. Do you know about the Pink Man office?"
"A little?"
"I don't know what you heard, but what you heard will be only the tip of the iceberg. How much they are active in the public eye, they are even more active in the shade. For the politicians, businessmen, and capitalists who need them. And by using those clients' influence, they have transformed into a powerful force in the city."
"…do you want to have power?”
"Yes, everyone does.”
"Um…"
Oliver admired his growth in understanding things.
Previously, it used to take some time to understand these kinds of things, but now he is able to grasp the context quickly.
"I have no intention of simply ending my precious life as an employee of any organization or anyone's subordinate. I want to be a big shot that people envy…. I wouldn't have done this if that as*wipe Edith Rock had left a small gift for me, who had worked for him for 20 years, but due to the fear of death, that sl*t went nuts and tried to cut down the wealth he had built with me… I need to get my share.”
"Is that why you joined hands with Mr. Edith Rock’s family?"
"…Are you judging me?"
Oliver shook his head.
"No. I was just asking to be clear. I don't think I can judge anyone.. That dream sounds like a very important dream, is there a special reason?”
"It's my turn to hear the answer. If you want to hear the end of the story, answer me first whether you want to come under me or not. I'll never let you down like how that sl*t Edith did to me. I’ll show you a world that can never be reached by picking pennies on the street."
A promise is a promise.
Oliver pondered seriously.
"Um… I'm sorry, but I refuse. I don't want to spend my life in an organization. You seem to want to do something similar to the Pinkman office, then you’ll also make me attack the workers as they did. I'm a Warlock, I don’t think it’ll sit well."
"That's stupid. I can cover that much.”
"I see…"
Oliver fell back into thought.
The group of beggars he saw in the sewer came to his mind.
"Um…but I don't like it. I'm sorry."
"All right… then die."
Duncan rushed to Oliver with a cold look filled with anger as if he had been deceived.
Duncan was quick once again, but Oliver was getting used to it, and this time he quickly invoked the [Shadow spike] at the right time.
A thin shadow stake soared as if forming a wall, and Duncan showed excellent reflexes, he stopped right in front of the stake, swung the tonfa, and broke the shadow stake lightly like a matchstick.
The destroyed shadow lost its power and went back to a normal shadow.
When Duncan tried to move immediately, he was taken aback by something that was holding him back. It was Oliver's shadow tentacles.
Oliver intentionally lowered the output of the shadow tentacles so that they could not be noticed, and would break if applied a little force.
But it didn't matter. This was enough for Oliver.
[Black Cube]
A Black Cube, which was formed by connecting six black shields, surrounded Duncan.
Duncan didn't panic and tried to swing his tonfa as hard as he could, squeezing the vast amount of mana in him into the tonfa.
"…What the?"
When he was about to swing, he stopped looking at the minion in the black cube together with him.
And at that moment…
—————BANG!!!!
The minion packed with Las Bomb exploded.
It was a Black magic that Oliver came up with on the spot while dealing with Puppet in the past.
Using a powerful explosion that could limit the damage around while causing huge damage to the opponent in the cube.
Oliver didn't know what happened exactly, but he was certain that it would have caused damage.
But Oliver didn't let his guard down.
Even if he was caught up in the explosion, Duncan’s will was not broken.
Oliver extracted the emotions at once and made four minions on the spot.
The minion that was fed [Hate Bullet] was soon made to spit out bullets of hatred toward the place covered with red flames and black smoke.
Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut Dut!
The bullets of hate poured down like bullets from a machine gun.
Each one of them was low in power, but the overwhelming numbers prevented Duncan from avoiding all of them.
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh..”
Duncan screamed and ran toward Oliver.
He gathered the vast amount of mana in his body and wrapped it around like armor, which was a significant waste of mana, but was effective and could withstand the bullets of hatred shot by the minions.
It was almost like an armored car that was rushing toward Oliver at a high speed, but Oliver calculated it and made [Hate Bullet] at the tip of his finger.
The most basic form of black magic [Hate bullet].
Although it was the basics of the basics, its power far exceeded the basic level depending on the quality of the emotions used and the user's ability, and considering that the opponent is a human, the killing power and its utility were very high.
Oliver remembered the first lesson taught by his Master Joseph and compressed the emotions of hatred as much as he could.
‘More…more…more…. More…'
As the emotions of hatred which had strong repulsion against each other got compressed, its power doubled. And he needed as much time as that power.
In a little while, the bullet to penetrate Duncan's mana armor will be completed, but the problem was that Duncan was a little faster.
Because of this, Oliver did not use [Hate Bullet] in this way.
Nevertheless, the reason why he used this method now was that there was an existence that could make him some time.
"Kuhahahahahahaku……!!”
"kiiiiiiiiig! Kiiiiiiiig!"
"Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-Tak-"
"Keeheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee”
Oliver's Corpse dolls appeared over the wall.
For this crucial timing, Oliver dealt with Pink Man alone without using the corpse dolls.
The only close-range doll was the [Swordsman], but other Corpse dolls also had a high defense which Oliver believed could serve as a shield for a moment.
Oliver intended to shoot the compressed bullet of hatred in the meantime, giving Duncan a fatal blow.
A convincing plan
However, Oliver was not the only one who hid his trump card till the end.
[Holy Light]
The sacred light surrounded the vicinity with Duncan's chant.
"…Um?"
(To be Continued)
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