“What are you talking about? We figured out long ago that there are only two of you in here. It’s impossible for you to turn this situation around.”
Oh Jeong-woo said, as if telling him not to bluff.
By the time they made their move, they had already assessed the entire area and calculated every variable.
The barrier made any outside intervention impossible.
They had even stationed an S-rank mercenary next to Jeong Si-young to prepare for the possibility that the Shadow King might suddenly bypass them to strike the barrier.
Literally every variable had been accounted for.
Although the Shadow King’s hidden power was greater than expected, and they hadn’t anticipated this fighting style at all.
With his necromancer magic sealed, there was nothing the Shadow King could do but desperately hold on.
“You’ll find out soon enough…”
Just as Seong-hyun was about to retort nonchalantly.
A chilling presence emanated from behind him.
KRA-KOOM!
A powerful spear flew toward his heart.
Unlike the ones thrown from a great distance, this spear was launched from close range, leaving him much less time to react.
Of course, Seong-hyun, having sensed the threat in advance, managed to twist his body aside just in the nick of time.
Thanks to the martial arts trait he’d acquired from Rokan, his reflexes, speed, and even his senses were amplified, allowing him to react.
Rumble, rumble.
The spot where the spear landed caved in, tearing up the road.
“To think you’d dodge that one so easily.”
The S-rank Hunter, Yoo Seok-hwan, appeared behind Seong-hyun.
He was a man with a fierce expression and a massive, muscular build—the only S-rank spearman among the unaffiliated mercenaries.
“I had a feeling when the spears started flying, but you’ve finally decided to show yourself.”
Seong-hyun was now surrounded, caught between two S-rank Hunters.
Yet his expression was remarkably composed.
His very appearance here meant their original plan had changed, and indeed, the sight of him made his supposed ally, Oh Jeong-woo, scowl even more.
“Why are you here? I told you to guard the barrier.”
“Don’t try to order me around like you’re my superior.”
“I’m speaking as your employer. If I’m stuffing your mouth with money, you’d better do your job right.”
“Hah. Did you not see what just happened? The man dodged my spear even at that range. Thrown spears are meaningless. And despite your confidence, this fight shows no sign of ending, so I figured I’d step in and help.”
“That’s just your judgment. The more time we drag this out, the worse it gets for him. You should have just stayed by the barrier. This is why mercenaries are…”
Oh Jeong-woo’s voice was laced with irritation.
Yoo Seok-hwan’s impulsive action would only create unnecessary variables.
The Guild Leader of Pacheon, Ahn Jae-hyun, was on his way with the guild’s top executives and its full forces.
Since they controlled the area with the barrier, time was on their side anyway.
Even if the fight didn’t end and they remained at a stalemate, the Shadow King was as good as dead.
But Yoo Seok-hwan just scoffed in response.
“No. A problem has come up.”
“A problem?”
“There’s a problem with the barrier. We need to deal with him right now, before things get worse.”
“What do you…”
At Yoo Seok-hwan’s words, Oh Jeong-woo looked up.
But the massive barrier surrounding the city was still operating firmly, cutting off the inside from the outside without the slightest tremor.
He couldn’t understand what kind of problem could have occurred.
But at that moment.
BOOM!
“Wh-What…?”
A massive explosion that shook the city echoed from within the barrier.
Then, a giant pillar of flame erupted from a street on the opposite side.
A tremendous fiery explosion had occurred out of nowhere.
It was clearly no ordinary accident; one could tell at a glance that a Hunter had used their power.
’I know the woman with the Shadow King is a magic swordswoman. But magic should have been completely sealed, shouldn’t it?’
Oh Jeong-woo turned his head, his expression twisting.
As long as the anti-mage Jeong Si-young’s barrier was intact, using magic inside it was impossible.
There were no exceptions, not even for S-rank magic-type Hunters.
KRA-KOOM!
Another explosion roared as debris went flying.
This blast was even more powerful than the last.
As the pillar of flame that had shot up from the next street subsided, a brief silence fell.
Thud!
Iseuna appeared from between the collapsed walls.
With blood splattered on her cheek, she looked back and forth between Oh Jeong-woo and Yoo Seok-hwan.
“So you were all gathered here.”
“You…”
Thump!
The body of a man was thrown to the ground, tumbling across the pavement.
It was the Hunter who had been fighting Iseuna.
An S-rank Hunter and a top executive of Pacheon had been taken down, causing Oh Jeong-woo’s face to contort in fury.
“My lord, I apologize for my tardiness.”
“No. Your timing is perfect. I’ll leave the one behind me to you.”
Shing!
As Iseuna came to his side, Seong-hyun drew his sword.
He then infused his mana into the blade.
Oh Jeong-woo reacted to the ominous sight of dark energy swirling around it, and Seong-hyun instantly kicked off the ground, charging toward him.
Seeing this, Yoo Seok-hwan immediately raised his spear, intending to pierce Seong-hyun’s exposed back, but Iseuna intercepted him with a swing of her sword.
“Where do you think you’re going? Your opponent is me.”
BOOM!
Engulfed in a deafening explosion, Iseuna and Yoo Seok-hwan were blown far apart.
Thanks to her, Seong-hyun could now face Oh Jeong-woo without any interruptions.
“To be able to use magic like that in succession… Is something wrong with the barrier? What trick did they use?”
“You don’t need to know.”
CLANG!
Seong-hyun swung his sword, pressing Oh Jeong-woo even harder.
Thanks to Neia’s intervention from the outside, the barrier was weakening.
Of course, Jeong Si-young, who controlled the barrier, was not one to yield her authority so easily.
Therefore, summoning his subordinates from outside into the barrier was still impossible.
However, Neia’s assault to seize control was already causing the massive barrier to waver significantly.
Black cracks, visible even to the naked eye, were slowly spreading across the barrier.
Thanks to this, he could now unleash his power much more freely than a moment ago, when even some of the traits he could draw from the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons had been sealed.
’Even for Neia, there’s a limit to how much she can interfere with the barrier from the outside. The chances of her taking complete control are slim. In that case, I need to use this opening to finish things here quickly, then cut down Jeong Si-young to neutralize the barrier. If I’m not careful, the two of us might have to face the entire Pacheon Guild. I have to hurry.’
[The Monarch has absorbed Karon’s shadow!]
[‘Agility’ trait is now active!]
Seong-hyun acquired the trait of the dark elf, Karon.
Now that he had drawn his sword, the martial artist trait that amplified his combat abilities was less effective, so he switched immediately.
With that, the speed of Seong-hyun’s movements changed completely.
K-K-K-K-K-K!
’D-Damn it. How can a necromancer move like this…!’
Oh Jeong-woo gritted his teeth, overwhelmed by Seong-hyun’s suffocating barrage of blades.
He was struggling against the increased tempo of Seong-hyun’s movements, as if he intended to finish this quickly.
After his fights with Niaglyph and the 3-star Seong Chan-il, Seong-hyun had grown exponentially, allowing him to overwhelm even Oh Jeong-woo, Pacheon’s right-hand man.
’For a necromancer to possess such power without even summoning his minions. This makes no sense…’
Oh Jeong-woo was overcome with bewilderment at Seong-hyun’s power, which defied all common sense.
But this was not the end.
The moment he saw the slightest opening, Seong-hyun immediately activated a trait.
[The Monarch has absorbed Iseuna’s shadow!]
[‘Heart of Mana’ trait is now active!]
KWA-GWA-GWA-GWANG!
At a completely unexpected moment, magic erupted right in front of him.
Oh Jeong-woo was caught directly in the powerful fiery explosion and sent flying.
“Cough…”
Spitting out a mouthful of blood, Oh Jeong-woo pushed himself up from the ground.
Seong-hyun had displayed necromancy, martial arts, and swordsmanship.
He had never imagined that an offensive spell of this magnitude would be unleashed, and he had been hit without a chance to react.
Battered and bruised, Oh Jeong-woo struggled to lift his head.
“You… what the hell are you? Was the whole necromancer thing just a front…?”
“No. I’m definitely a necromancer. These abilities all stem from that.”
“Then how…”
“Sorry, but I don’t have time for a leisurely chat with you.”
Cutting him off, Seong-hyun strode toward Oh Jeong-woo.
There was no telling when Pacheon’s main force would storm into the barrier.
He had to finish him off quickly and head toward Jeong Si-young, not stand around listening to him talk.
But at that moment.
THOOOM!
A greatsword flew through the air and embedded itself in the ground right at Seong-hyun’s feet.
He stopped in his tracks as Hunters began to appear one by one from a nearby street.
“Oh Jeong-woo, you look like a mess.”
“To think even you were almost beaten. Haha, that was a close call.”
Pacheon’s top executives had arrived, leading the main force.
A staggering six new S-rank Hunters had just entered the fray.
And that wasn’t all of them.
Thousands of Pacheon guild members had already entered the barrier’s range, following their lead, and the rest were still pouring in.
“It’s over.”
Oh Jeong-woo’s expression, as he lay on the ground, twisted into a smirk.
No matter how strong Seong-hyun was, it was impossible for him to handle six of Pacheon’s S-rank executives at once.
The arrival of the main force had completely turned the tables.
But Seong-hyun simply raised his head.
His eyes fell on the barrier, which was quietly shimmering.
“I didn’t think she’d go this far…”
A faint smile touched Seong-hyun’s lips.
“And the timing is perfect.”
Woooooong!
Standing atop a high-rise building, Jeong Si-young was maintaining the barrier.
At her feet, a large and intricate magic circle glowed with a blue light.
It was a magical support device, essential for maintaining such a large-scale barrier.
After all, no matter how powerful, a human’s mana had its limits.
However, the magic circle she had designed and drawn was slowly being dyed black.
“Kuh… This can’t be…”
Jeong Si-young’s arm trembled violently.
She was fighting fiercely to protect the barrier as it was being rapidly corroded by an external source of mana.
“Someone’s trying to seize control. And from outside the barrier. To think there was a master with such skill in this country…”
Sweat poured down Jeong Si-young’s entire body.
She was struggling with all her might, but it wasn’t enough.
This intruder was completely unexpected, and their skill far surpassed her own.
“Well, for a human, you held out for quite a while.”
Neia placed her hand on the barrier with a relaxed expression.
As a monarch of liches who had lived for over a thousand years, her understanding of magic was on a level no human could hope to match.
Her mana pool, as a boss monster, was also overwhelmingly vast.
In the end, having lost more than half of its control, the authority over the barrier now belonged to Neia.
Rumble…
The massive barrier was turning black.
Watching this, Han Seung-hee cheered.
“Y-You did it! Can we go inside now?”
“No. You’ll have to wait a little longer for that. I haven’t taken one hundred percent control yet.”
Neia shook her head at Han Seung-hee’s impatient question.
To completely shatter the barrier, she needed to seize even more control.
She had heard that Pacheon’s main force had already arrived on the other side, which was certainly not good news.
At this rate, Seong-hyun, who was inside, would be in danger.
But modifying the structure of the barrier and the magic circle was something she could do right now.
“What? You’re going to modify it? What does that mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
Neia smiled sweetly and continued.
“Shattering the magic is no fun… so let’s try changing it into a massive summoning circle that covers the sky.”