Chapter 92 – Skull (８)

Players were sprinting toward him.

They were fast — terrifyingly fast.

If not for Libre’s senses, Gijun wouldn’t have even registered them.

Players specialized for combat like this, no doubt.

Speed, assassination, pursuit — all of it.

But….

No matter how fast they were, could they outrun the wind?

That was pure nonsense.

So Gijun planned to attack them with wind itself.

Living up to the name of the gorge where storms are born.

Gijun raised his eyes again.

The air current raged like a storm.

And within it, the tiny distortion he’d created.

The idea was to detonate that distortion in a single strike, catching the Skull Players as they charged.

‘Alright, then….’

Gijun began casting again.

Fireball.

And the moment the Fireball materialized…

‘Now.’

He moved Strong Wind.

The gale that had been roaring around Gijun’s body ceased its spin and stretched out behind him.

Cradling the Fireball within it.

The Fireballs collided in midair and erupted.

The moment it merged with Strong Wind, the flame scorched the air, swelling violently in size.

Crack!

A wave of searing heat slammed into him from behind.

And at the same time—

Shiiiiiiing!

The bursting gale, the sudden expansion of compressed Strong Wind—

—combined with the raw, brutal firepower of Fireball, poured down on the Skull Players rushing toward Gijun.

But Gijun didn’t stop.

He drove his legs deep into the earth, lowering his center of gravity, bracing himself.

And kept unleashing Skills.

Strong Wind and Fireball.

A bombardment of magic so wild that even Gijun couldn’t predict where it would go—truly impossible to anticipate.

Bang! Crack! Crack-crack-crack-bang!

Explosion after explosion roared without end.

“Kuaaaah!”

“Son of a biiiitch!”

Screams from the Players rang out behind him.

The sound grew distant, fading fast.

‘Good.’

He didn’t need to take down those Players here, anyway.

No—he couldn’t take them down at all.

They were far stronger than him.

‘I just keep moving forward.’

Jun cast Strong Wind again, spinning his entire body.

That was one more step forward. And then another….

‘There.’

He found the only path through the crushing currents.

The moment he stood in it, the wind’s resistance vanished.

His body felt light—as if he’d thrown off a weight that had been pressing down on him.

He stood there and looked back.

“….”

Over a dozen Players lay sprawled on the ground.

And toward them, from behind, the Players of the Saint Guild—resplendent in golden armor—were closing in.

*

[What now?]

[Can someone explain?]

[What the hell is going on?]

Just moments ago, when Gijun had first reached the gorge….

A strange scene unfolded on the ViewTubers’ footage.

Out of nowhere, ‘something’ burst forth and began racing toward the canyon at an incredible speed.

It was so fast that it barely registered on the screen.

No sooner had it appeared than a series of explosions erupted inside the canyon.

Blazing flames flared up, and a thunderous roar tore through the air—

“It’s the Skull Guild!”

One of the ViewTubers filming on-site shouted.

“That’s definitely the Skull Guild’s assassination squad!”

[Huh?]

[Those bastards?]

[The Skull Guild’s assassination squad?]

[Those crazy fucks actually sent the real squad?]

It was true.

When the ViewTubers crept as close as they could and filmed the Player sprawled on the ground,

they revealed that the figures matched exactly the gear of the once-infamous Skull Guild assassination squad.

[Whoa, no way.]

[So that mage already knew about this?]

[Seems like it, right?]

Naturally, the assessment of Gijun could only climb higher.

Skull Guild’s assassination squad was truly notorious.

If you became their target, it was all too common to die without even knowing you were dead.

But that wasn’t the most astonishing part.

[He not only sensed them—he defended against them?]

[Over ten assassins came at him at once!]

[Just how much of a monster is he?]

The squad’s infamy was such that even Rankers of the day dreaded them.

Even most Rankers found it nearly impossible to block a coordinated assault from every single assassin.

Even if you saw it coming, you couldn’t stop it.

They struck with such swiftness and stealth that you’d fall even while watching with your own eyes.

But now, this unidentified mage had halted the assassination squad’s attack in a single blow.

And as if that weren’t enough, the squad itself lay sprawled on the ground, bested.

It was nothing short of a shocking scene.

[But isn’t this just the beginning?]

[How are they going to stop them?]

[This is only the start lol]

The other terrifying thing about the Assassination Squad.

They never gave up.

Why do you think even reasonably sized guilds had crumbled before them?

Because no matter how hard you fought back, they kept coming.

And now that the mage was their marked target, it was as good as a declaration: the Assassination Squad would never stop attacking until the mage quit the game entirely.

[Still, wouldn’t Saint protect them?]

[Right! If they’re a player Saint’s been raising, they’d get protection!]

[But Saint hasn’t used force until now, have they?]

That was when it happened.

[Huh?]

[That….]

[Where were you hiding?]

A brilliant golden Armor had appeared from somewhere, revealing itself.

And on that armor, a white lion was emblazoned.

[It’s the First Knight Order!]

[No way! The Saint Guild’s First Knight Order showed up here?]

[They’re insane!]

Saint Guild’s main assault force.

The moment the First Knight Order emerged into the canyon where the storm was beginning.

[An announcement went up!]

[Hera’s announcement is up!]

Hera’s notice was posted at the same time.

[The mage currently undertaking the Quest is neither a Guild Member of ours nor a Player we are cultivating. They are merely in a contractual relationship with us, and we are already obligated to protect the mage from any threat whatsoever. Therefore, if any faction attempts to interfere with the mage’s Quest, we make it clear that we will stop them, even by force.]

-Posted by: Hera

A message filled with Hera’s unwavering resolve.

A declaration that Hera, who had never used force until now, was ready to draw her sword.

The justification was solid, too.

She wasn’t drawing her sword for herself or for the Saint Guild.

The mage was neither a member of Saint nor anyone associated with the guild.

She was merely taking protective measures under a contractual relationship.

*

[Hera: Leave the rear to me.]

‘Solid.’

After confirming Hera’s message, Jun kept moving forward.

From behind, he felt tremors strong enough to shake the canyon.

No doubt the Superhumans of Saint Guild and Skull Guild had started clashing.

‘Good. Then I’ll get back to my job.’

Jun’s job, of course, was to reach the end of this canyon and claim the Fourth Monarch’s Fragment.

‘Let’s pick up the pace.’

Jun increased his speed.

Unlike before, when it took him a minute to take a single step, he now had some leeway.

As long as he slipped into the gaps in the air currents, moving posed no difficulty at all.

And then….

‘…!’

Jun came to a stop.

Roughly thirty minutes after he had moved across the canyon, something began to come into view ahead.

‘…A dragon?’

The source of the massive wind.

It was a dragon.

Its form wasn’t clear.

The powerful wind had condensed into the shape of a dragon.

But there was no doubt—this thing was a fragment of the Wind Lord.

The Sain-geom had reacted again, just like before.

And there it was, unmistakably.

“The core.”

Right in the center of its body, the core blazed with light.

“I have to get closer.”

If I could just reach it, that core would be mine.

But that was the real problem.

[Kwaaaaaah!]

The moment the wind dragon turned its body toward Gijun, another brutal gale slammed into him.

“…Khk!”

In that instant, the gap in the air currents where he’d been hiding vanished completely.

The flow that had been steady only moments before twisted into chaos.

[Kwa-kwak! Kwa-kwa-kwak!]

The force was still building, growing stronger by the second.

Gijun felt himself start to lift off the ground.

If this kept up, he might have to claw his way back down the hard-won path he’d traveled.

“I have to hold.”

Gijun poured more Magic Power into Strong Wind.

[Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!]

His Strong Wind and the wind dragon’s gale collided head-on.

It was a shock so powerful it split the ground and sent chunks of the ravine crumbling down.

“At least it looks like it doesn’t have any real attack moves.”

The wind dragon had no power to deal him physical harm.

If it did, it would’ve attacked him directly long before now.

Instead, it just pushed harder, scaling up the wind’s pressure to crush him.

“But…”

That didn’t mean things were looking good for Gijun.

Firing off a Fireball from here wouldn’t do a damn thing to hurt it.

Strong Wind was his only option.

And right now, that was barely enough to hold back the dragon’s onslaught.

No—it was starting to not hold at all.

“This isn’t going to work.”

He needed another way.

“I should be attacking.”

Gijun knew perfectly well that just defending would make reaching his goal a distant dream.

“Alright. Let’s clash, then.”

The answer was simple: do what he’d always done—charge straight in.

[Chwaaaaaaah!]

Gijun poured more Mana into Strong Wind.

Up close to the wind dragon now, the wind’s direction shifted wildly from moment to moment, nothing like the steady flow he’d felt from afar.

But Gijun locked his focus on the wind’s movements.

And changed the shape of Strong Wind.

Not a circle—a wedge.

[Kwaaaaaaah!]

“It’s working.”

Gijun’s feet began to move again.

The wedge-shaped Strong Wind pierced through the raging storm, splitting it open.

He wasn’t fast, but step by step, he could push forward again.

It wasn’t enough. Gijun twisted the wedge of Strong Wind, making it spin.

A drill, boring into the wall of air.

[Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!]

Behind him, a literal storm raged.

The violence of the gale hammered the ravine, and sections of the canyon began to burst and collapse.

“Not enough.”

But it wasn’t perfect.

Clearly, it was better than a moment ago when he couldn’t move at all.

Even so, Gijun’s movements slowed again.

Because every step closer to the dragon made the wind’s force absurdly stronger.

Gijun gritted his teeth.

Even now, his MP was draining at a terrifying rate.

He realized he didn’t have much time left to hold on.

“Just a little more… please…”

But he was definitely getting closer.

If he could move just a bit further, the creature’s core would be within reach.

“Krrrgh…!”

Gijun clenched his jaw again, grunting as he poured more mana into Strong Wind.

With all his strength, he pushed one step forward.

[Master, endure.]

Libre called out from his shoulder, her tone laced with pity.

He didn’t even have the spare breath to answer.

If he let his focus slip for even an instant, Strong Wind might collapse.

That was absolutely unthinkable.

Thud!

Gijun took another step forward.

‘…It’s really not far now.’

Now, fewer than ten steps remained.

‘One more…’

Gijun stepped forward again.

“…!”

But in that instant…

The Wind Dragon opened its maw.

A torrent of gale-force wind surged toward Gijun.

His body began to lift off the ground.

‘No, not now…!’

The moment shock coursed through him—

“…?!”

A message flashed before Gijun’s eyes.

[Proficiency in Skill ‘Strong Wind’ has increased!]

[Proficiency in Skill ‘Mana Handling’ has increased!]