Chapter 85.

—Kill them .

I could hear their communication . Immediately, I felt a chill run down my back .

“…Are you sure?”

The Caucasian man asked again . However, the answer was the same . The Caucasian man calmly nodded, gripping his greatsword . The baldy grinned as he held up his double-edged axe .

“Blame your curiosity . ”

The moment the Caucasian man muttered, the surroundings changed . A tide of darkness shot up from the right side, engulfing everyone .

Kim Suho disappeared into the darkness, and I was left alone with the bald barbarian .

It was an isolation barrier .

“…Haha, big bro always leaves me with the boring work . ”

Boring work . He was obviously referring to me, but I couldn’t refute him either .

Two golden axes were engraved on the chest region of his leather armor . It was a symbol used by Heroes to denote their rank . Two golden weapons indicated intermediate rank . Since there was nothing else other than the two golden axes, he was a grade 9 hero .

“…Why is an intermediate rank Hero doing something like this to a cadet?”

Although I knew the answer, I asked anyway . The baldy smiled without replying . Unlike what his appearance might suggest, he didn’t seem to be the talkative type .

The baldy collected his magic power silently . A powerful current of magic power rose up around his axe, heating up the space within the isolation barrier .

Sweat formed on the tip of my nose, and a cold sweat dripped down my back .

I couldn’t win against that baldy . His axe could easily split my skull in half, and with the isolation barrier surrounding us, I had no way to run .

But there had to be something I could do… .

Suddenly, I had a flash of insight .

I didn’t know much about that baldy’s personality .

But from his barbaric appearance, I could surmise that he was belligerent, prideful, and reckless .

It wasn’t a really logical deduction, but people like him usually looked down on their opponents . He was a typical cliché character that would have appeared several times in novels I’ve read and written .

“…Huu . ”

I sighed almost subconsciously .

I bent down and pretended to pick up a rock as I molded Aether into the rock .

95% of Aether was turned into a rock, while the remaining 5% was used to form a transparent thread that wrapped around my wrist and was tied to the rock .

Then, I muttered softly .

“Scan . ”

The result was 30% .

Although it was above the average, I was less fortunate than normal . The difference in 14% was huge in practice .

“What are you going to do with that?”

Seeing me holding the rock, the baldy showed interest . I fell into thought . Should I just throw it at him? Or tick him off a little more?

“…I just thought this would be enough . ”

I chose the latter . Immediately, his veins popped up in anger .

My lips dried up .

Will he charge at me in anger? Or will he examine me more closely?

“Where is your confidence coming from?”

The baldy widened his eyes and stood on guard . He seemed to be searching me for hidden weapons . Of course, with not even a tiny movement of magic power within my body, the baldy could only frown .

“…You little brat . ”

I stared at him as I fiddled with the Aether rock . The baldy stood still with his double-bladed axe . Though he called me a brat condescendingly, he seemed to be wondering what I would do .

“I’m gonna throw this . ”

Since he was letting me have the first attack, I accepted it gladly .

I threw the rock with all my strength . It flew quickly and accurately .

However, before the rock could reach his head, he leaned slightly to the side . The rock easily flew by him .

A big smile emerged on the baldy’s face .

However, I wasn’t disappointed . This was within my expectations .

He easily dodged the rock . Me acting like there was something about the rock had forced him to dodge it . Since he could see that there was nothing to it, he undoubtedly had his guard down now .

I had saved Stigma’s magic power for this exact moment .

“Huup!”

I poured all of Stigma’s magic power into the Aether thread that connected the rock and my wrist . Then, I yanked it with all the strength I could muster .

Stigma’s magic power flared up explosively on the transparent Aether thread . This burning of magic power could undoubtedly be seen with the naked eye .

Immediately, the leisurely smile on the baldy’s face disappeared . Taken aback by the sudden eruption of magic power, he readied his qi reinforcement . However, it was too late .

Before his qi reinforcement could fully form, the rock that flew by his head came back with even more power, striking his head like lightning .

Thwack .

With the sound of a rock cracking, the light disappeared from the baldy’s eyes .

Thud .

His muscular body fell to the ground .

“… . ”

I staggered toward him . He wasn’t dead yet . Djinns had abnormally high recuperative power . I had to end him quickly…

I aimed my gun loaded with a light bullet at the back of his head . I didn’t have the magic power to transform it into the shotgun mode .

Without even a moment of hesitation, I pulled the trigger .

KWANG!

The light bullet struck his head squarely .

Psssh…

However, the bullet was blocked by his dense skull and was unable to pierce through .

The baldy suddenly raised his head .

“GAAH!”

He then let out a loud roar . The soundwave struck my stomach . Although Aether formed a barrier before it was too late, a huge shock shook my body nonetheless .

I was sent flying back and struck the wall . Immediately, my vision grew thin . A mere sound attack without physical contact transmitted shock that seemingly ruptured my organs .

“…You son of… a bitch…”

The baldy staggered up as he cursed . His face didn’t seem human . His skin turned pitch black, his eyes were glowing red, and most importantly, sheep horns had grown on his head .

…Devil Transformation .

I closed my eyes and sighed .

No matter how lucky I was, this was the end of the line . I should have ended things before it got to this stage, but I couldn’t .

“I wasn’t going to use this, but you…”

At that moment, the sound of something cutting through flesh rang out in the empty cave .

Puzzled, I opened my eyes .

A black blade going through the baldy’s chest .

“What…?”

The baldy stared at the blade piercing through him, then fell down and lost consciousness . Before his body could touch the ground, it transformed into black dust and scattered .

“… . ”

In place of the baldy was Chameleon Troupe’s Boss .

Stunned, I stared at her in a daze .

She let out a dry cough, then spoke briefly .

“Nice to meet you . ”

“…Yes?”

Boss stared at me with a very calm expression .

Chameleon Troupe’s boss . I somewhat understood why she was here . Chameleon Troupe was supposed to interfere with Packhorse Master .

But what I couldn’t understand was why she kept appearing in front of me .

“…We’re running into each other rather often, huh . ”

“Of course . ”

Boss answered sincerely at my somewhat sarcastic remark .

“Because I was watching over you . ”

“…Yes?”

Boss approached me silently, then handed me a business card . This time, it wasn’t a guild business card belonging to Li Xiaopeng .

[Jeronimo Mercenary – Yi Saeyeon . ]

Jeronimo Mercenary . Although it was a mercenary group second only to Vast Expanse, in truth it was Chameleon Troupe’s disguise . In other words, Jeronimo Mercenary Group was Chameleon Troupe .

“Jeronimo…?”

My eyes widened .

I wasn’t pretending to be surprised . I truly was .

One of the important events I wrote was unfolding in front of my eyes in a completely different way .

「…She stood before Shin Jonghak . He already knew who she was as he had seen her many times before .

“Nice to see you . ”

After appearing out of nowhere, she greeted him out of the blue . Shin Jonghak laughed, unable to comprehend the situation .

“Aren’t you showing yourself too frequently?”

“I couldn’t help it . ”

She made a small smile .

“Because I was watching over you . ”

Then, she handed Shin Jonghak a small business card .

‘Jeronimo Mercenary’ .

When Shin Jonghak saw this, his eyes glimmered with a bright light . 」

**

Yoo Yeonha’s room, Dorm 6’s penthouse .

“… . ”

“… . ”

“… . ”

Three people were sitting in a circle, watching each other silently .

None of them wanted to lose an inch, leading to the creation of this ill-matched group .

It all started with what Yoo Yeonha said out of courtesy .

‘Since we ran into each other, would you like to come for a night snack at my place?’

Anyone could tell these were empty words . In reality, there was only a single bag of chips on the table in front of them .

However, Rachel accepted this offer .

“…Would you like some juice?”

“No thanks . ”

Unable to endure the awkward atmosphere, Yoo Yeonha made an offer, which Rachel refused .

After that, another 10 minutes of silence continued .

When the bored Chae Nayun sprawled down on the couch and scratched her belly half-asleep…

“I want to ask . ”

Yoo Yeonha opened her mouth . She was talking to Rachel .

“How did you find out?”

It was a vague question, but Rachel knew what she was referring to . She was asking about Kim Hajin .

“…I found out naturally . ”

At Rachel’s nonchalant answer, Yoo Yeonha smiled somewhat scornfully .

“But you don’t know why that person is hiding his power, right?”

“… . ”

Rachel closed her mouth . She was convinced that Kim Hajin was hiding his power, but she didn’t know why .

At that moment, Chae Nayun woke up from her sleep and interjected .

“Hey, what are you talking about? “

Then, Yoo Yeonha made a triumphant smile .

“Well, that’s not something that’s easy to find out . ”

Rachel glared at Yoo Yeonha, annoyed by the triumphant air she put on . Yoo Yeonha got up leisurely . She then brought orange juice and poured it into wine glasses .

Staring at the glass of orange juice, Rachel asked .

“Does knowing that change anything?”

“It changes everything . Isn’t that obvious? It’s like how Essence of the Strait is bigger than most government guilds . ”

“No, what I’m talking about is…”

In truth, Rachel wasn’t too concerned about Kim Hajin . However, she didn’t want to lose to Yoo Yeonha .

“Rather than finding out about it myself, it’s better to wait until that person tells me about it himself . ”

Yoo Yeonha’s face immediately turned cold . Her investigation had been done in private . Kim Hajin didn’t ask for it, nor was it for the good of the public .

“At least, that’s what I think . ”

With that, Rachel got up from her seat .

“Then I’ll be off . It’s gotten too late . ”

Rachel walked to the front door . Yoo Yeonha glared at her exiting form with strange eyes .

“…Wait, why am I the only one out of the loop? Hey, Yoo Yeonha, are you sure you were speaking in Korean?”

Meanwhile, Chae Nayun grumbled in frustration .

**

“Huu… . ”

The barrier shattered .

Soon, Kim Suho appeared with a haggard expression . James was sprawled on the ground, unconscious, and Kim Suho was holding a branch in his hand .

I immediately had a hunch .

That Kim Suho won by himself .

Of course, Misteltein was an amazing weapon even without being awakened . Since that Djinn was also a sword user, Kim Suho would have been well-suited to fighting him .

I spoke to Kim Suho .

“You won?”

“…So did you . ”

We looked at each other and laughed .

But soon, Kim Suho put on a serious face .

“…Anyways, Hajin, I don’t think this is an ordinary branch . ”

“Oh yeah? To me, it looks amazing at first glance . ”

“Really? How?”

“Take a seat . ”

First, I sat Kim Suho down . I had trouble staying standing as I felt a bit dizzy .

Both physically and psychologically… I was quite exhausted .

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