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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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This was it!
The reason why there were no traces left in this incident was because the Seolhwa Church bastards didn’t use people.
Naturally, it was normal for hunters exposed to Egeon particles for a long time to be unable to exert any strength.
These students were only 1st-years, novices who had no way of knowing this fact.
Feeling impatient, I had no choice but to boldly open my mouth, even if my identity was exposed.
“Get out of here right now!”
I shouted to all the students who had come to tour the mana control room.
“It’s dangerous here, so evacuate immediately!”
However, my words had the opposite effect.
Mistaking me for the culprit behind the strange phenomenon that had occurred in this space, the guide began to be wary of me instead.
“Who are you! Now that I look at you, you’re not wearing an affiliation badge or a security card necklace on your gown!”
“This is not the time to be doing this, we need to evacuate the students quickly!”
Despite my desperate cry, the guide’s attitude was firm.
Instead, he tried to call security to subdue me.
I could feel my already scarce mana being depleted by the Egeon particles.
The security guards in black suits swiftly dragged me out of the mana control room according to the guide’s instructions.
“If they stay there, the kids will all die!”
“What are you talking about, you sneaky cat!”
Ah… Really, nothing is working out.
The security guard struck my abdomen with a baton.
“Ugh.”
Although I allowed the attack, fortunately, I could feel a little bit of mana returning as I moved away from that place.
Sigh… I really didn’t like using force against ordinary people, but I had no choice.
Concentrating mana on my elbow, I twisted my body and struck the solar plexus of the security guard.
Unprepared for the speed and power, he was slammed into the wall.
The other security guard, who understood the situation a beat late, hurriedly tried to use his radio, but there was no way I would let him.
I cleanly chopped the back of his neck and dragged the two of them to hide them well in a corner of the corridor.
Returning to the entrance of the mana control room, I tried to open the door, but as expected, it was locked.
Judging from the banging sound coming from inside, it seemed like it couldn’t be opened from the inside either.
It was clear.
This was intentionally locked by someone in the control room.
However, unfortunately, I not only didn’t know the location of the control room but also didn’t have the authority to enter it.
I thought about talking to the facility manager here, but that was a bad idea.
Seeing the reaction of the tour guide earlier, forcibly asking to enter the control room at this timing would only amplify suspicion towards me.
If my mana was intact, I could have easily smashed a door of this size, but it was nearly impossible for me who still had injuries from the finals.
I picked up my sword, considering trying it once, but soon shook my head and put it back down.
If I failed to break the door, I would be severely lacking the mana needed for the next battle.
How long would it take for the students to completely lose consciousness?
It was certain that it wasn’t as dense as the bullet I was hit with, so it wasn’t instantaneous.
Although it was difficult to confirm, I thought it would be 30 minutes.
Within 30 minutes, they would collapse, and the Seolhwa Church bastards would collect them as they were.
Since there were a little over 30 people, they would need at least 10 people to move them quickly.
Like the security guards earlier, if they weren’t people who could use mana, it didn’t matter if there were 10 or 20 of them, but if there were those who could handle mana mixed in, it would be a very troublesome situation.
First, I started running to check if there was another entrance that could lead into the mana control room.
I needed to at least figure out the route the Seolhwa Church bastards would take to enter the mana control room.
While moving at a fast pace, I felt someone grab my wrist.
“Excuse me!”
At that moment, when I was about to shake them off and leave in a hurry…
I noticed the outfit she was wearing.
“…You’re the man who told us to run away earlier, right?”
She stopped me, wearing the uniform of Sehwa Hunter Academy.
“Yes, that’s right. Now’s not the time to be doing this, so get out of here quickly. And go ask for help from the people outside the building.”
They would trust her words much more than mine, as she was wearing an academy uniform.
Did she come out of there right away believing my words?
I was curious, but I didn’t have the time to have a leisurely conversation with her.
“Go! Hurry!”
She nodded at my words and tried to run in the opposite direction, but she couldn’t go any further.
“Oh my. It seems there are still some unharvested nutrients left.”
In the direction I turned my head, there were men wearing the same fox-shaped masks blocking our way.
…I thought it was too early to encounter them.
“Step back.”
I made the female student trying to go outside step back behind me and calmly analyzed their strength.
According to my mana sensing ability, the one in the center with considerable mana was the leader.
Apart from that, there were about 5 people who could use mana.
Were the rest ordinary people?
I couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat at the unexpectedly powerful composition of the group.
Especially that guy in the middle.
He seemed to be at least A-rank…
Taking a deep breath, I took off the gown I was wearing and threw it away.
“…Come at me, you crazy mosquitoes.”
I had no mercy to offer to these guys who sucked out other people’s mana.
“…Kill him.”
At the leader’s words, the Seolhwa Church’s minions, including the mana users, began to pounce on me.
Since it would be bothersome if there were too many of them, I quickly took care of the ordinary people first.
There was no way I couldn’t read the trajectory of their attacks, no matter how lacking my mana was.
Lightly dodging their attacks, I subdued the ordinary people with just the back of my sword.
Naturally, they rushed at me with the determination to kill me, but I didn’t want any unnecessary bloodshed.
This power was not given to me to harm people.
If I were to commit murder with the power obtained through mana, I would be no different from those bastards.
The leader on the other side, who was watching my battle, began to clap as if mocking me.
“Impressive. Very impressive. To think you could use that meager amount of mana so frugally.”
Wow.
Being treated like this by that kind of bastard, I could feel the heat rising to my head.
If only I hadn’t been hit by the Egeon bullet…
I bit my lip tightly.
The opponents in front of my eyes were a total of 6, including the leader.
Even if I somehow won this battle, if there were additional fanatics, I had no confidence in winning.
At that point, I was planning to just call Si-hwa.
Since my survival was directly linked to the survival of the Earth, I couldn’t just die thinking whatever happens, happens.
“…I’ll help too.”
The female student, who hadn’t taken any action until now, drew her sword.
“It’s better for you to just run away and go outside to help me…”
Huh?
That sword is…?
I knew the sword the silver-haired female student was holding.
The blade shining with a reddish color.
The red handle.
That’s right… That’s how it was…
The reason why this huge incident became even more of an issue was precisely because of her existence.
Sehwa Hunter Academy’s top prospect.
Lee Ji-eun.
It was because she had gone missing here.
That sword was the memento of her, who had drawn the public’s sympathy as a rising star who could have aimed for the position of the strongest hunter if she had survived.
I couldn’t gauge her current level of competence, but she would surely be helpful to me, befitting her reputation.
“…Can you do it?”
But no matter how much of a genius she was called, she was still a hunter trainee with no real combat experience.
If she was suddenly thrown into the field, I had to consider the possibility that she might not be able to perform at her best due to tension.
“I’ll try.”
At her determined answer, I looked straight ahead.
Good.
I thought it would be a bit hopeless if I were alone, but this changes things.
Even if she could handle just two of the other guys, excluding the leader, it would be much less troublesome.
“…Be careful not to get hurt.”
With those words, I leaped towards the leader.
I drew out a considerable amount of mana to strike him quickly, but as expected, he wasn’t easy to deal with.
“Hmm~ You don’t seem to be an academy student.”
Having effortlessly received my attack, he looked at me as if I were an amusing toy.
“Well. The amount of mana itself isn’t much, but it seems like you’ll make a good nutrient.”
If not with mana, I could only face him with senses surpassing his.
I tried to find his gaps in the most irregular way possible.
It was important to use mana to a minimum while achieving maximum efficiency.
However, unfortunately, perhaps because the power output was insufficient, my sword kept failing to inflict a fatal blow on him, as if it would touch him but not quite.
My last desperate sword strike only left a shallow cut on his mask.
It couldn’t even break the mask.
Raising his hand and stroking his mask, he spoke in an intrigued tone.
“Oh my. If it weren’t for your innate amount of mana, it seems like you could have been a decent hunter.”
To think I had to hear such words from someone like you.
I felt my pride being hurt.
Just you wait until I catch you again later.
He reached out his hand towards me.
Was he capable of long-range attacks too, even with the skills to block my attacks?
I clicked my tongue at his unexpectedly high level of ability.
Mana began to condense in his hand.
The mana soon started to take shape, forming a white sphere.
…I had to dodge it.
If I took it head-on, my body would definitely not be unscathed.
As he flicked his finger, the sphere flew towards me at a fierce speed.
I concentrated mana on my feet, ready to evade in any direction.
However, the sphere that was flying straight towards me split in half right in front of me.
Startled by the unexpected development, I could only fully dodge one of the two split spheres.
I allowed the other one to graze my right arm, although it didn’t hit me directly from the front.
“Argh.”
I dropped the sword I was holding due to the stinging pain.
Seeing that I couldn’t put strength into my arm, it was clear that it was broken.
…I’m screwed?
I readjusted my stance at the sight of the fox-masked bastard approaching with a smirk.
If I don’t have teeth, I’ll have to bite with my gums.
Grabbing the sword with my left hand, I changed my target.
Right.
It would be better for Ji-eun to finish off the small fry and buy time for me to escape…
I tried to assess Ji-eun’s situation with a slight glance, but I felt a momentary brain freeze.
Huh?
It was because Ji-eun had already taken out all the guys who seemed to be around B-rank hunters, except for the leader.
However, as expected, her condition didn’t look normal either.
Her uniform, drenched in sweat, proved that she had struggled.
“…Your arm. It’s broken, right?”
I nodded at her words.
“Go. I’ll handle this, so you go out and inform people about the situation.”
It was a line that sounded like it came from a fantasy novel protagonist, but I knew she didn’t have that kind of ability.
He wasn’t an opponent she could defeat with her lack of experience.
The best move I could make now was…
“Student. What’s your name?”
She was glaring at the fox-masked guy with an impatient look, as if asking why I was asking such a thing in this situation.
“It’s Lee Ji-eun.”
“Then, Ji-eun. Listen carefully to what I’m about to say.”
The choice that would allow both her and me to survive.
I decided to believe in her potential.
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