Chapter 212 - 4 to 2
"Tch."
A sigh of frustration escaped Jeffrey's lips.
Not revealing his presence from the beginning was to surprise at moments like this.
However, it seems he was detected by enemy perception, and the situation quickly complicated.
"There seem to be more comrades than I thought."
Ma Gyeong-rok looked at Jeffrey and Joo Sung-taek with a mocking smile.
"A butler and a disabled... Did you really think you could stand against us 4 to 2, Christine?"
"Who said it was 4 to 2?"
When she turned her head, Seo Arin was already there with her summons.
Four fairies, three golems, and two spiritual knights formed a formidable force.
"CEO, shouldn't we stop this? Do you think it will resolve this way?"
"Learn, Seo."
Ma Gyeong-rok's forehead creased with disgust.
"I brought you from the beginning, even talentless. I didn't expect you to stab me in the back like this."
"Wasn't it because you saw my potential from the start and decided to invest in me?"
"Now you answer. It seems you held up quite well until round 12, did you become more skilled as a player?"
"Many things have happened. I also learned that one cannot trust someone like you."
"So that's why lately you haven't been fitting in well with us? To stab me in the back like this?"
"Don't play the victim. You won't turn a murder into something that didn't happen."
"Why not? It would be so easy to kill everyone here."
Ma Gyeong-rok laughed sinisterly like a psychopath, openly revealing his murderous intent.
"It cannot be. Only suppressing you remains."
"Huh, it's amazing. Do you think you could defeat me with your summoner skills, Seo Arin?"
Before he finished speaking, Ma Gyeong-rok quickly turned his body.
The golden ray of one of the fairies passed where he was.
"Interrupting me while I speak..."
With a malicious smile, Ma Gyeong-rok unsheathed his sword.
He abandoned all pretense and was determined to kill at that moment.
"You don't need to bother, just die!"
But before his sword reached Seo Arin, it was stopped.
Chung-!
Three sturdy golems blocked the path like solid tanks.
"These stoneheads..."
Ma Gyeong-rok swung the sword surrounded by dark aura.
Thud, thud.
The sturdy golems crumbled like tofu.
The dark aura had cut chains after all.
The last golem was about to be overwhelmed when Ma Gyeong-rok quickly retracted his sword and retreated.
Ziiiiing-!
Four fairies shot rays in all directions.
Ma Gyeong-rok, who barely dodged, felt a sense of dread.
"I shouldn't underestimate these annoying bugs..."
The damage from the rays increased according to Seo Arin's magic as a summoner.
As she leveled up, the fairies also became more powerful.
It was necessary to dodge, as the firepower was strong enough to generate smoke from the ground.
Although he had the Dark Armor skill, it was weak against magical damage, so he had to be careful.
"These annoying bugs..."
At that moment, the sword of the spiritual knight passed where Ma Gyeong-rok was.
Hwoong-!
Although he dodged it, it was quite a impactful blow.
"Where the hell did these summoners come from?"
Slash!
Ma Gyeong-rok's dark aura surrounded sword split the spiritual knight in two.
"Now only one remains."
Ma Gyeong-rok smiled, but only for a moment.
Hasn't the size of the remaining Spiritual Knight suddenly become overwhelming?
'What's this?'
The Spiritual Knight, which had increased by about 1.5, disappeared from view in the blink of an eye.
When the astonished Ma Gyeong-rok reflexively raised his sword, the Spiritual Knight's sword clashed.
Clang!
Ma Gyeong-rok's eyes blinked at the shift in power.
'The strength and speed have increased. Furthermore...'
Clang! Clang! Clang!
'It's blocking my attacks with a dark aura.'
It was surprising that the dark aura, which he thought could cut through anything, was blocked by the sword of a mere summoner.
Although it was strange, he couldn't deny it.
The fierce attack of the Spiritual Knight was quite impressive.
'It seems Seo Arin has learned a skill to strengthen her summons upon reaching level 60.'
He sighed in admiration.
He had to kill with his own hands a talent that seemed quite useful.
"Destruction."
When the dark aura concentrated to completely split the Spiritual Knight's body, Ma Gyeong-rok leaned to the side.
'What is this? A taunting skill?'
A remaining golem taunted, drawing Ma Gyeong-rok's attention.
As a result, the final blow was aimed at the wrong Golem.
Crash! Crash! Crash! Crash!
The last remaining Golem writhed and disappeared miserably.
Although Seo Arin was more surprised than expected by the immense power, she didn't waste time.
'Now! Suppress Ma Gyeong-rok!'
Giving the order in her mind, the Fairies and the Spiritual Knight launched an attack simultaneously.
When he saw the Fairies preparing to shoot rays with flashes in their eyes again, Ma Gyeong-rok regained the dark aura and enveloped his entire body.
It was the perfect time to use the skill he had learned upon reaching level 60.
'Dark Dimension.'
A skill that turned the body into spatial energy, deflecting attacks.
Is that why?
Although the rays and the Spiritual Knight's blow arrived at the same time, Ma Gyeong-rok suffered no damage.
Instead, his summons were the ones that suffered damage.
Since the attacks were reflected as they were due to dimensional refraction.
Crack! Crack!
In contrast, the Fairies and the Spiritual Knight, who were hit by their own attacks, disappeared immediately.
Seo Arin, who had lost her summons in an instant, blinked in astonishment.
'Summon, summon...'
She tried to quickly summon her summons again, but it was futile.
Only a message appeared indicating that there were 10 minutes of cooldown time remaining.
Unaware, Ma Gyeong-rok was in front of Seo Arin.
"It's time to die."
Just as he was about to wield the sword.
Ting!
Ma Gyeong-rok, who blocked the thrown dagger from the side, frowned.
"It's annoying, pitiful assassin."
Ting, ting.
While Jeffrey threw his daggers diverting attention, Seo Arin moved away from Ma Gyeong-rok.
Feeling annoyed, Ma Gyeong-rok changed targets immediately.
'Anyway, she's in a immobilized state. She can't do anything for a while.'
First, he would eliminate Jeffrey, who was being annoying, and then he would aim again at Seo Arin.
'Killing an insect like her shouldn't be difficult.'
Avoiding Jeffrey's throws and shortening the distance, Ma Gyeong-rok wielded his sword.
Swish, swish.
Like an assassin, his movements to dodge were agile.
'Seeing that he has no intention to block, he also knows. If he tries to block with a dagger, he'll die.'
Although he was quite fast, using the dark aura, he could easily tie him down.
Like this.
Swish, thud.
"Ugh!"
The dark aura wrapped around the ankle threw Jeffrey off.
"It's over."
An assassin with bound legs was no different from a disabled.
As if to prove that fact, Ma Gyeong-rok thrust his sword into his chest.
"Kueok!"
Even as he screamed in agony, Ma Gyeong-rok overlooked a fact.
'What's this? A projection?'
The person he killed turned out to be Jeffrey's projection.
'Does the level 60 assassin have...?'
He realized too late, but it was already too late.
Jeffrey was suddenly behind Ma Gyeong-rok.
"Die..."
Despite grandly shouting that he was going to stab his throat.
Tung!
Due to An Sang-cheol's shield shove, Jeffrey's finishing blow remained unfinished.
"Are you okay, CEO?"
"Thank you, An Sang-cheol. I almost went to the other world with just one abrupt movement."
While Jeffrey lamented the missed opportunity, Ma Gyeong-rok smiled.
Now, neither the projection nor the invisibility would serve Jeffrey.
'Jeffrey just has to die now, should I continue with Seo Arin and Christine?'
Looking at the three in his field of vision, Ma Gyeong-rok suddenly felt displeasure.
'Wait. Wasn't there another person?'
The disabled person holding weapons in their hands is nowhere to be seen.
Since their presence can't even be felt with detection, it seems they have already fled in fear.
'There's no other choice. I have to kill the three here.'
The situation greatly favored Ma Gyeong-rok.
There was no one in this place who could stop the dark aura, which grew stronger depending on the dark magic it possessed.
Although there was a person named Christine, praised as a saint, she had limits to protecting her companions.
She could only heal and had no way to stop the overwhelming force that could cut anything with a single blow.
"It's over. For everyone."
So Ma Gyeong-rok relaxed.
He never thought that would be his downfall.
"Hm?"
In Ma Gyeong-rok's slowly approaching gaze, appeared the disabled person who was thought to have fled.
He felt a strange anxiety seeing Joo Sung-taek's laughter.
'Why is he laughing?'
Following that man's gaze, he turned to see the corpse of Ma Gyeong-su, whom he himself had killed.
"Body Explosion."
As soon as Joo Sung-taek muttered quietly.
Kwaah!
Ma Gyeong-su's body exploded, and Ma Gyeong-rok's body flew and crashed into the warehouse wall.
It was an event that happened in an instant.
"Kuk, kkeueeuuk..."
Although he felt the pain of torn skin, Ma Gyeong-rok stood up with difficulty.
He was not unable to stand up.
But complacency was unforgivable.
"Body Explosion."
After the successive body explosions of Joo Sung-taek, Ma Gyeong-sang's body, who was in the warehouse, exploded.
Kwaah!
With a roar and explosion, the small warehouse exploded, and the carelessly Ma Gyeong-rok was thrown away.
"Kkeueuk..."
Successively beaten, he didn't have the strength to rise, but Ma Gyeong-rok finally knelt.
Although it seemed he couldn't rise due to the consecutive blows, Ma Gyeong-rok finally stood up with An Sang-cheol's help.
"Are you okay?"
"My rib seems to have popped out."
"It won't work now. Think about the future."
"...."
Although Ma Gyeong-rok clenched his lips as if he were angry, he didn't have many options.
"So let's go."
Finally, leaning on An Sang-cheol, he turned.
"Where are you going?"
Jeffrey tried to move forward, but his step automatically halted at Ma Gyeong-rok's piercing gaze, as if they were traces left by a fox.
"If you're confident, come. Killing someone like you isn't complicated."
"...."
Ma Gyeong-rok, leaving a very clear warning in English, turned around alongside An Sang-cheol and disappeared.
There was no one chasing them.
Neither Seo Arin, nor Christine, nor Jeffrey.
Now they realized how strong Ma Gyeong-rok was.
"In the end, we lost. What do we do?"
"It's inevitable."
In response to Seo Arin's question, another person's voice suddenly sounded.
The person who answered was none other than Yamti.
"Oh? Yamti-nim?"
Seo Arin, surprised at first, then her expression turned perplexed.
"How did Yamti-nim get here?"
"I heard about Black Scythe's situation and came."
"Ah."
Seo Arin remembered that Yamti was an acquaintance of Black Scythe and nodded.
So it made sense for her to be here.
Although the situation was already over.
"If you came to help, you came a little late."
"Hmm, really?"
Despite arriving late, Yamti didn't seem disappointed at all.
Rather, she had a satisfied expression, like someone who has completed their task.
Although Seo Arin found that behavior strange, she didn't pay it much mind, thinking it was just her imagination.
Unaware that it wasn't an illusion.
-------------------
"Phew, a little rest, please."
"Yes, director."
Ma Gyeong-rok leaned against a tree.
The injuries were too severe to continue the expedition this way.
"It was unexpected. Who would have thought that disabled would be so strong...?"
Using a corpse as an explosive.
Although he didn't know who it was, that should be enough to rank among the top 5, right?
Although he said it as if it was nothing, Ma Gyeong-rok also knew it.
It was so serious that it couldn't be cured with emergency treatment.
"At times like this, I wish I had Christine's healing skills."
With healing skills, he could set bones and easily regenerate damaged tissues.
"But well, it's a pity at times like these."
Ma Gyeong-rok laughed at himself with a wry smile, as if indicating he was ready to get up.
But An Sang-cheol, somehow, didn't react.
He just set a heavy atmosphere without warning.
"Perhaps you should go back now."
"What are you saying?"
"If you receive healing from Christine, you could be treated. Confess your mistakes and receive treatment."
Ma Gyeong-rok's expression turned cold at those words.
"Director An Sang-cheol? Are you saying I should go to prison after receiving treatment?"
"Isn't it better than losing your life?"
The bothersome statement made Ma Gyeong-rok openly express his disgust.
"Are you treating me as if I'm already dead?"
"You are dead. Because I'm going to kill you."
"What?"
Zzuk-
Ma Gyeong-rok looked at his chest with surprised eyes.
What pierced his skin was none other than An Sang-cheol's sword.
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