"Ugh! Wh-what the?!"
"What happened?"
"It seems like your little act is crumbling."
KangWoo laughed at their attitude which had completely changed.
Echidna transformed her hand into a human's again and cast magic.
A black vortex appeared in her hand.
"You're bothering us."
The black vortex gathered in her hand began expanding.
"Move back!"
"Kyaa!"
The masked men began scattering away.
As one of the masked men pulled Han Seol-ah violently, she screamed.
Tap-!
KangWoo approached the man holding Han Seol-ah.
—-He swung his hand.
The man was pushed back while a chilling death rattle escaped his lips.
"Ugh! Surround him and attack!"
They took out their weapons.
They were weird weapons that consisted of iron hooks connected by chains.
Nine iron hooks were swung at KangWoo.
"Hmm…"
KangWoo narrowed his eyes.
He'd be in danger if he received those attacks upfront.
He grabbed Han Seol-ah, used the Authority of Sky, and jumped into the sky.
"Kyaa! Mr. K, KangWoo?!"
"Stay still," KangWoo said to Han Seol-ah, who was struggling.
He landed on the ground after moving away from the masked men.
"Wait for me here."
"I… I'll help!"
Han Seol-ah extended her hand, and white light started to gather around her hands.
"Graceful Light!"
After she made a short chant, a light flowed into KangWoo.
Ting-.
[You've received a graceful light.]
[Your stats have increased. Strength +2, Agility +3, Unique Stat (Demonic Energy) +2.]
'Woah.'
KangWoo looked at the white light with great interest.
Leaving Strength and Agility aside, he wasn't expecting his demonic energy to go up.
It was as if the demonic energy inside him had increased.
'Although it's a bit weird that my demonic energy increased after receiving a graceful light…'
The important thing was that her buff skill was more useful than he’d initially thought.
He began wondering about what effects she would get after leveling up.
'But before that…'
KangWoo narrowed his eyes.
He could see the nine masked men looking at him nervously.
'I'll have to take care of them first.'
He raised his right hand, and a black sword appeared in the palm of his hand.
He lowered his body.
After using the Authority of Speed, his body shot forward as if he were an arrow.
Slide-!
The iron hooks targeted KangWoo.
Although nine iron hooks were thrown simultaneously, none of them interfered with the trajectories of the others.
—That meant that they were trained assassins.
KangWoo swung his sword and defended against two iron hooks. He lowered his head.
—An iron hook brushed past his head.
He jumped, and two of the hooks ran into each other.
The strangers’ eyes began shining sharply.
Three iron hooks changed direction toward the sky.
KangWoo stopped the Authority of Speed and used the Authority of Sky.
While ignoring gravity, he changed direction to the right.
Slash-!
The three chains brushed past the Black Pearl Coat. He stomped his feet in the air, and his floating body shot toward them at high speed.
'Authority of Dark Spear.'
Numerous spears the size of his hand appeared and poured down as if it was raining. The strangers quickly tried to dodge the spears.
Crack-!
"Ugh!"
One of the opponents that couldn't dodge the attacks was hit by tens of spears.
With his blood pouring out, he collapsed to the ground.
The strangers quickly tried to counter-attack.
The chains that were scattered all around pressured KangWoo.
'It isn't a bad attack, but…'
KangWoo smiled after looking at the chains.
It reminded him of another attack.
'It can't be compared to Chae YeonJoo's.'
He raised his right foot…
And stomped the ground.
He used the Authority of Waves, and all of the chains that were targetting him were pushed back.
He could see that the strangers were perplexed.
"R-retreat."
Their information was wrong.
Player Oh KangWoo wasn't a rude newbie who just acted high and mighty just because he was under Chae YeonJoo…
'We must inform the Cardinal.'
His existence was an unexpected variable. If the Cardinal didn't hear it, it could interfere with their plans.
They turned around.
"Where are you going?"
KangWoo opened both arms.
A suffocating chill struck the strangers, and they visibly slowed.
"Echidna…"
"KangWoo, leave it to me."
Echidna opened her hand.
Black walls appeared around them. It wasn't a magic cast for defense, but a magic cast to stop prey from escaping.
The masked men began swinging their weapons toward the wall.
"It's already too late."
KangWoo took a deep breath.
He gathered a huge amount of demonic energy from within and placed his hands on the ground.
'Earth Blades.'
* * *
The land was split.
Black swords rose from the cracked earth. It wasn't one or two. Hundreds of black blades struck the masked strangers.
Stab-!
"AGH!"
"Damn!"
The blades dug deep into their flesh.
The masked strangers tried to escape, but there was nowhere they could run.
In front of them, there was a black wall. Behind them, there were the earth blades.
Four people lost their lives instantly, and the other four were also heavily wounded.
You could see the despair in their eyes.
Boom-!
KangWoo leaped forward to the ones that had survived.
'I can't let you go.'
He had to restrain them before they could commit suicide or become demons.
KangWoo grabbed the head of the one that had ordered the others to retreat.
—He used the Authority of Fear on him.
"Ugh! AGH!"
White bubbles foamed at the man’s mouth.
KangWoo frowned.
'Did it fail?'
He felt a huge amount of demonic energy flowing out of his body.
But still, it didn't seem like the Authority of Fear had succeeded.
The effectiveness of the controlling Authorities was reduced against strong targets.
Since the people that were targetting him weren't weak, it was obvious that it would fail.
'The Authority of Fear isn't the only way…'
KangWoo took off the man’s mask.
Under the mask was a man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties.
KangWoo slapped the man.
"Who gave you the order."
"Cough! Cough! Kill me."
Crack-!
KangWoo twisted the man's hand.
A scream spread through the place.
"I won't give you a lot of chances. So talk. Who gave you the order?"
"Kill m... ARRGGHH!!"
KangWoo twisted his other hand…
He crushed his foot…
He ripped apart his ear…
The man peed himself from the pain.
"Who gave you the order?"
KangWoo’s voice was calm.
The man's eyes were full of fear.
"I… I don't..."
"There's no way you don't know. Say it. It will get easier for you."
"..."
"Dying is nothing. You know that very well, don't you?"
He spoke softly.
The man gulped.
He knew that death was nothing.
In front of real pain, death was a blessing.
He was controlled by a fear that devoured his reason.
The man slowly opened his mouth.
"Bae, Bae..."
"Bae?"
Stab-!!
It was when the man was about to open his mouth…
One of the men that had collapsed swung an iron hook.
The target wasn't KangWoo, but the man who had been about to talk.
The iron hook pierced his neck.
"Glory to the Demon Cult!!!"
The man's body began to inflate.
KangWoo clicked his tongue.
"Petrification."
Thanks to the effect of the Gargoyle's Armor, his physical defense was doubled.
On top of that, the Authority of Defense protected KangWoo's body.
Boom-!!
The body of the inflated man exploded, killing all of the other would-be kidnappers as well.
KangWoo calmly walked out of the explosion and grabbed one of the red masks laying on the ground.
It was a mask with the face of a demon on it.
"Things got bothersome."
Once again, he wasn’t able to find out who the Cardinal was.
He felt annoyed.
KangWoo took a deep breath and tried to calm down.
'So you won't come out, huh?'
KangWoo's eyes shone.
"Then I'll force you to crawl out."
There was no need to hurry.
He wasn't the one that was running out of time.
The mask in his hands was crushed and fell to the ground.
* * *
"It… it failed."
"What?"
"I just confirmed that all the shadows have died."
"Did Chae YeonJoo do it...?"
"We aren't sure, but that's probably it."
"Well. There aren't many players besides Chae YeonJoo who could face 10 shadows."
Baek KangHyun frowned.
He wasn't expecting the shadows to be crushed in such a way.
It seemed like other members of the Red Rose Guild had participated.
"Things are getting bothersome."
He’d lost important forces while trying to get rid of Chae YeonJoo.
He got annoyed at the constant failures.
"How many fissure fragments did you get?"
"About 30%."
"Not bad."
Baek KangHyun nodded.
He took a deep breath and calmed down.
There was no need to hurry. He wasn't the one who was running out of time.
'They won't be able to find the demonic energy stones anyway.'
Time was on his side.
Unless they had a demonic energy stone detector, they wouldn't be able to find them.
Baek KangHyun stroked his red demon mask, a smile on his face.
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