NOVEL NEXT Chapter 78
‘Is it magic?’
Cain glanced at the pillar that had just barely missed him, wiping the sweat from his brow. He had been sitting in the 3rd Platoon Captain’s position for over ten years. He had dealt with criminals and rowdy students before. But he had never seen magic like this.
Well, that made sense, as most existing magic required complicated formulas and calculations, which meant that unless you were a genius who appeared once a decade, you usually had to undergo an incantation.
“…Is it a skill instead of magic?”
Skills. Now that was more troublesome.
Skills were unpredictable.
Still, he didn’t think he would lose. He had almost never been defeated in his life. Except for those monsters that were always above him. He tightened his grip on the sword and stared ahead. No follow-up attack came.
Is it a technique that cannot be used consecutively?
‘My last resort is… still on hold. For now, I need to get out of here.’
His companions, who were already smashed and lying on the floor, were of no concern to him. They were basically just a contract that would not matter again once this was over. Cain was not the kind of sentimental person who would spare the lives of those he wouldn’t see again.
“Hey, you… thinking of abandoning us?!”
“Don’t get mad just because life is harsh. Isn’t life all about surviving alone? You have to take care of yourself.”
“Cain!”
Ignoring the voice behind him, Cain infused his sword with aura. The enemy, perhaps assessing the situation or thinking of fleeing, made no attack. Just as he was about to be puzzled, a voice reached his ears.
“Millia. Take Elisa and go first.”
“Got it! Ugh…”
Footsteps were heard. The passage was long and dark, making it hard to see, but Cain realized that the target of his meticulously prepared operation had disappeared beyond the corridor.
This is the worst.
Missing the target, facing an unidentified enemy in a straight corridor with nowhere to escape. Cain swallowed hard without realizing it.
‘How did things get so tangled?’
He had surely planned the operation, built cooperative relations with the gang, and successfully completed the first operation smoothly. But where had it all gone wrong?
‘…Now is not the time to think. I need to get out first.’
Cain bit his teeth and surveyed his condition.
‘My condition is not bad. I have enough aura. But that guy’s ability… bothers me.’
A technique that could block his path in such a narrow corridor. He experimentally grabbed the nearby pillar and brought it down. The impact was weak. It didn’t seem like it could change its properties like alchemy. In that case, it meant that the pillars the opponent created were made of earth.
‘It looks like I can offset it just by wrapping my aura around it.’
He would approach and cut him down in one blow.
Cain lowered his stance and concentrated strength at the tips of his toes. The distance to the enemy was about 30 meters. Long enough and short enough. He had to sprint like a wolf hunting its prey.
“Is this what it means to be the 3rd Platoon Captain? Not bad—”
Now’s the time!
Cain launched himself forward like a cannonball. He closed in on the human figure in an instant. The opponent remained unmoving even at the sudden approach. Was he unable to react to such a fast speed? A sly smile crept onto Cain’s lips.
His arm was pulled back, and the sword in his hand scattered gray energy.
“Die!”
His sword cut diagonally across the figure. He felt a light shock in his hand. It was odd.
The sensation of cutting through flesh and bone shouldn’t feel this light. It dawned on him too late that he had sliced through a humanoid figure made of mud, and he gritted his teeth.
“You arrogant little…”
“You’re the arrogant one, old man.”
Crafting—
Before he could ponder the meaning of that faint voice, Cain suddenly felt weightlessness.
He was falling. Downward.
As a knight of considerable skill, Cain immediately drove his sword into the wall. With a hard stop to his falling body, he found himself hanging in the middle of a pit, looking up.
“So you didn’t become the 3rd Platoon Captain for nothing.”
“You… that time…!”
The burly man. The scarred face. The man looking down on him mockingly while holding a lamp in one hand. Johann grinned at Cain, who hung on the pit wall with a shovel slung over his shoulder.
‘How boring.’
It was fortunate that the opponent had not grasped his capabilities. He had thought about hastily using his crafting skill to create multiple tunnels to harass him. But he had been caught off guard and instantly found himself in a dead end.
If he used a skill like this, it could cost the 3rd Platoon Captain his life.
But it was complicated to take a life in this situation. He intended to use a skill to subdue the 3rd Platoon Captain.
“J-”
Johann instinctively twisted his body. The gray sword aura sliced through where he had just been. If he had been even a moment slower, his upper and lower body would have been severed. Johann’s gaze returned to Cain.
“This is pathetic. It’s already over, so why not just surrender?”
The somewhat awkward way the words were said scratched at Cain’s nerves. To be humiliated by such a person. It wounded his pride.
“…Ha! That’s nonsense!”
Cain kicked off the wall and sprang up onto the tunnel above. With cat-like agility, Johann clicked his tongue as he regripped his shovel. The two men stared each other down over the small pit formed in the straight tunnel.
“I didn’t expect you to prepare such a surprise. You’re not bad for a young one.”
“Hey, old man. The thing between your legs? You won’t be needing that anymore.”
“What?”
“Crafting.”
Cain’s instincts blared at him. He immediately kicked off the ground and jumped back. Only after he landed did he fully understand Johann’s meaning.
“You crazy bastard.”
“After all, you won’t have any use for it now.”
Johann, who had tried to collect the peanuts kindly, clicked his tongue and filled in the pit with a skill. There was no need to leave a pit that had already become useless. Falling into that pit would be pretty embarrassing.
Johann gauged the distance between himself and Cain, checking the state of the tunnel. Since it was the tunnel he created, checking its durability was not too difficult.
‘If I use my skills haphazardly, it’ll collapse.’
Even with all of his experience, it was uncertain if he would survive in a collapsed tunnel.
“Why not just surrender?”
“Ha, you think I’ll let myself be caught by a punk like you?”
He was elite to the bone. There was no way his pride would allow him to be caught easily. Cain casually turned his head to look behind him.
If he ran fast enough, he could escape.
However, Cain’s feet wouldn’t budge easily. It was because of the words Johann had thrown at him.
“Summoning a demon, huh? You’ve set up quite the big scheme.”
“…How do you know that—”
“Spilling info everywhere as if it’s nothing.”
Johann deliberately laughed out loud. It was a nasty laugh. Cain wracked his brain over that statement.
How did he know?
Years spent toiling on this project?
‘The only ones who should know about the plan are the gang and me—’
Johann leisurely approached the confused Cain as if he were out for a stroll. Cain tensed up and adjusted his stance.
‘If I can’t kill that bastard, it’s game over.’
End this in one blow. The middle-aged swordsman recalled his family’s secret technique. He had not perfectly mastered it, but it would be enough to crack the skull of someone who was just bragging about one skill.
If he killed that bastard, he should be able to escape somehow. If that doesn’t work, at least he could try to make a getaway. If neither of these work, he could resort to his last resort.
He calmed his heart, which was trying to charge like a wild stallion.
Fight calmly. But with fiery passion.
It was the first thing a first-year student of the Knight Department learned. Cain recalled that phrase and twisted his lips into a wry smile.
Quickly deal with it and get out of the academy.
“Hey, you brat.”
“Hmm?”
“Consider it an honor.”
His lower body executed defined movements according to a set technique. At the same time, his upper body moved with a graceful curve, creating a gray mist. The life technique boasted by the Lifnich family revealed itself in the dark tunnel.
‘To think I’d end up using it on a bastard like you.’
The second son of the swordsmanship family, or rather now the shabby-looking 3rd Platoon Captain, drove strength into his toes and sprang off. An even faster approach than before. What was more troublesome was that the aura wrapping around him blurred his form.
‘Quite the variety of techniques you have.’
“Crafting.”
He erected a pillar between himself and Cain. But Cain was no fool; he had already dodged that attack twice. Using almost acrobatic movements, he swiftly dodged the pillars and charged straight at Johann.
“Don’t use big techniques like that here.”
…Crafting.
Crafting. Crafting. Crafting. Crafting.
Suddenly, pillars sprang out from the sides of the wall, crashing down on Cain. One, two, three, four. A total of four pillars restricted his movements. In a space with little room to maneuver, the pillars blocking his path became a nuisance.
“Do you really think this will work?!”
Relying on the aura that surrounded him, Cain charged into the pillar. The dirt pillar could not withstand the attack of a seasoned swordsman and snapped like a twig.
‘Just as I expected.’
Confirming once more that dirt pillars were worthless against someone of significant strength, Johann frowned.
Cain had now reached right in front of him.
Johann muttered to himself, not even looking in his direction, pressing his forehead in frustration.
“What a sh*tty game.”
“What?”
“Just say goodbye to your d*ck.”
Before he could comprehend the meaning of those words, Cain was suddenly struck by merciless pain. As he turned his gaze downward, a dirt pillar of hardly noticeable size stood before him. And then, something wide that shattered his groin came into view.
The thing that merged with the dirt pillar.
‘A shovel…?’
Cain’s gaze rose again. Johann had nothing in his hands.
“Where… did that…”
“You should have listened to the man. I said it five times already.”
‘How could you… see through… when I can’t even see a step ahead…’
“Absurd…”
‘To have never even gotten to use my last resort.’
His body couldn’t bear the pain and began to stagger.
Johann saw this and used his skill one last time.
“Dismantle.”
Johann picked up the shovel that had fallen to the ground. He grimaced as he wiped the liquid off the shovel blade, which was caked in dirt. Cain could only stare blankly at the sight.
“Grow well.”
Johann lifted the dirt-stained shovel. Cain could only look up at the shovel in a daze. A dim shape leaping toward him in the dark.
He was going to die.
But… he couldn’t move his legs…
“Did I solve one thing?”
Johann looked down at the fallen 3rd Platoon Captain, his eyes rolled back in his head. He kicked him a few times, but there was no response. It seemed he had completely lost consciousness.
He took out a rope from his pocket and tightly bound the 3rd Platoon Captain.
“…Ah, those bastards were here too.”
The criminals had lost consciousness after being caught up in the fight between the two. It was because Cain had rampaged without regard for his comrades.
Binding the kidnappers neatly with the extra rope, he dragged the criminals like a dried fish and placed his hand on the wall.
“Crafting.”
Light shone through. Johann shielded his eyes from the light entering from the exit he had created effortlessly and looked back at the criminals.
‘It’s hilarious that the ones who came to hunt the witch ended up getting hunted themselves.’
“…Time to get going.”