Chapter 148
However, there was nothing to narrow the gap between Jung Garam and the man.
No one knew that better than the man. When he had attacked Jung Garam in the [Tower Of Command], he was able to gain the upper hand because of not only [Gae Bolg], but support from Bae Jaemin as well; the man originally had no talent as a hunter. He had even fallen into depression because he had been so maladjusted when he first became a User.
Moreover, after [Red Lotus] disappeared, the man was too busy flattering Koo Kyungman and being a double agent for Bae Jaemin, so he had no time to improve.
Nevertheless, the time for him to take a hold of [Gae Bolg] had arrived. Reluctantly, while pretending to surrender, the man reached out once again to [Gae Bolg] that he had cast onto the ground earlier.
Normally, in this situation, if an enemy tried to grab his weapon once more, one would try to block that attempt or knock the weapon far away…However, what Jung Garam desired was an adrenaline filled fight with the man; so he didn’t hinder the man’s attempt to re-equip [Gae Bolg]. The man had predicted all of this.
‘I’ll make you regret how at ease you are…’ The man thought to himself, hands trembling as he lifted [Gae Bolg] into the air. After all, Jung Garam needed to continue to underestimate him as a miserable, poor opponent.
With that, the man slightly turned a ring equipped on his right thumb finger, activating a [Temporary Recovery] skill attached to the accessory.
[Temporary Recovery] alone would not restore the parts of his body that had been cut out, but the open wounds gradually stopped bleeding and the pain that caused him to clench his teeth slowly subsided. The man had bought these accessories because he had not fully believed in Koo Kyungman and was expecting a different sort of confrontation.
“Whew….” After regaining some composure, the man settled his grasp on the spear. He gently tilted his hips back, resulting in a subtle but efficient posture that would enable him to throw [Gae Bolg] at any moment.
“Hmmm.” Jung Garam, who looked like he was gazing at a sheep with his flashy eyes, suddenly jumped away and widened the distance between them. It was as if the two were fighting in a boxing ring–the young Assassin would give the other a chance and would not touch his opponent until he was ready.
Within Jung Garam’s confidence, the man perceived the other’s absolute confidence–the Assassin knew that the spear couldn’t even graze him–but the man clenched his teeth and activated [Gae Bolg]’s first skill: [Javelin].
Shwisshhh–!
[Gae Bolg] immediately flew in a parabola shape, cutting through the air at a frightening speed; with the force of gravity, the spear began to plummet atop Jung Garam’s head.
However, he did not hear the expected resounding scream. Jung Garam had lightly caught [Gae Bolg], as if he were catching a sorghum cracker. He had not even been pushed back from his position.
Without much excitement, Jung Garam looked down at [Gae Bolg], looked towards the startled man, and asked sarcastically, “Want me to teach you how to throw it properly?”
He then gripped the spear handle between two fingers, like he was handling an iron hook, and threw it gently–bottoms up–as if he were playing with a ball.
Jung Garam had an elegant stance, but the power contained within his throw was ferocious and harsh. If [Gae Bolg] were an ordinary item, the man would probably have lost his life with this singular throw.
However, [Gae Bolg] was a divine item; these devices had systematic safety measures to stop them from harming their owner’s body. Therefore, [Gae Bolg] stopped right in front of the man’s nose, vibrated loudly, before losing all strength and momentum, falling and rolling on the ground.
“……”
The man paled and froze, looking at [Gae Bolg] which sounded very much like a tin can clattering as it rolled across the ground. He also discovered that the spear was damaged–squished–where Jung Garam had held it.
“Pick it up.”
“……” The man took [Gae Bolg] back in hand. As he did so, a system message manifested before him: the item could possibly be completely destroyed if used at this intensity once more without repairing it first.
He realized that Jung Garam could have destroyed it completely in his first throw, but he just chose not to. Jung Garam intended to not only destroy the man but his spear as well.
‘Crazy bastard…’ The frightened man began to launch a series of flashy attacks to distract Jung Garam and modified his plan to search for an escape route.
No matter what attacks he made, he had no confidence that those actions would cloud Jung Garam’s judgement. He still had [Listrad], [Gae Bolg]’s top skill, but he wasn’t confident that [Listrad] would subdue Jung Garam.
Gradually becoming impatient, the man looked here and there, trying to find an opening. Even though Jung Garam was standing still, the Assassin’s aura made it so that not a single viable gap was visible.
“Didn’t you have an exciting skill before?” Jung Garam asked.
“……”
“Are you going to keep being no-fun like this?”
The man was unable to budge one inch despite the blatant taunt.
Clack–
Right then, the man could hear a very faint noise from behind–a very soft footstep. At that moment, the man realized once again that he and Jung Garam were not the only ones present.
“Where are you looking?”
“[Listrad]!” With that realization, the man sent a final blow towards Jung Garam’s companion and not the young Assassin.
He did so instinctively; the man thought it would be better to kill the companion rather than to retreat while firing useless attacks at Jung Garam. Of course, there was a high chance that he would die first at Jung Garam’s hand before the companion died…
‘……Huh?’
However, the results far exceeded the man’s expectations. Jung Garam ran towards him at tremendous speed, but he just passed by without attacking the man. [Gae Bolg] was aimed directly at the heart of the man behind him; Garam, who had barely flown to his companion’s position, blocked the spear with his bare body.
Originally, [Gae Bolg] would pass through obstacles to hit only the target, but it seemed now that its [blink] ability had been disabled because of its severe durability depletion.
Nevertheless, [Gae Bolg] did its job wonderfully. As soon as Jung Garam judged he moved one step too late, instead of reaching out one hand, he stepped directly in front of the target. [Gae Bolg] directly hit Jung Garam’s chest–right in front of his heart.
[Gae Bolg] had the added ability to split as soon as it penetrated its target, damaging their organs. As soon as Jung Garam was pierced by the spear, he fell to his knees, trembling as if he had suffered a grave blow.
“Garam-ah!” The Assassin’s companion who stood behind him screamed.
Watching that scene, the man almost shed tears of overwhelming joy. Though the message [Gae Bolg has been completely destroyed] appeared, nothing could dampen the man’s excitement. The joy of winning over Jung Garam once again and saving his own life had filled the man’s head. “Hahaha! Crazy bastard! I won! I did it again!”
“Garam…”
Of course, the man wasn’t simply drunk on his own victory. He had eventually succeeded in overpowering Jung Garam with his wit, but this incident had frightened him in various ways. He had to catch Jung Garam’s companion and learn the truth at all costs.
The names of some torture experts ran through the man’s head; he also recalled that Bae Jaemin had showed extraordinary interest in this guy.
‘I guess I can just leave him like this…’
He had witnessed Bae Jaemin’s cruelty several times–handing this guy over to him would probably yield satisfactory results. Plus, with this, the man could earn extra points with the Priest. After some mental calculations, the man decided he had no need to use violence against Jung Garam’s companion.
However, seeing Jung Garam’s body stretched out underfoot, he couldn’t hold in his anger, so he raised his foot–showy, as if he were performing for the Assassin’s companion–and stepped on Jung Garam’s white hand.
Rather, he was going to step on it, but……
Just before his foot touched Jung Garam’s hand, the foot was squeezed tightly, as if it were caught in some trap. Surprised, the man looked down and discovered a finger–Jung Garam’s finger–holding onto his foot. “W-What’s going on!”
Goosebumps running up and down his arms, the man shook his foot recklessly to release his foot, but, instead of falling off, the fingers continued to tighten.
“…Aa…Arghh!”
Crack.
The pain of his toe bone breaking followed the sound. Eventually, the man screamed, raised his legs, and gave one last ridiculous shake. However, the man’s foot continued to shrink from the force of Jung Garam’s grip.
The tip of the man’s boot ran red with blood, and it seemed like his foot would soon crumple into a bizarre shape. Only then was the man released; of course, he lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor.
At that moment, Jung Garam, who had his eyes closed for a while, opened his eyes again.
TL: Whew, two chapters out today. I’m running out of stockpile, to be honest, but I didn’t want to leave you guys with only the last chap >.<
I also forget how detailed this novel can get about its … blood and torture.
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