Chapter 189

Chapter 189. Traitor (3)

Up until now, the players that Zhang Tianyu had faced always had gaps in their defenses.

They wielded only one sword, whereas she wielded two.

For someone like her, who had been trained to be ambidextrous from a young age, opponents who only wielded a single weapon were just easy prey.

If she attacked from the left, the right would open up, and if she attacked from the right, the left would open. She only needed to exploit those gaps to pierce her blade through.

But this intruder was different.

If she struck from the left, the spear would follow and block, and if she tried to exploit that gap by targeting the right, somehow, the tail of the spear would already be waiting for her blade.

It was as if this person knew exactly where she would swing her sword.

When she gritted her teeth and swung her sword faster, the intruder reacted just as swiftly.

It was a leisurely response, as if granting her the courtesy of seeing how far she could go.

“You sly bastard.!”

Frustrated, she shouted and swung both swords upward simultaneously, determined to finally land a meaningful hit on this person.

“Hmm.”

Yet, her opponent was just as composed this time, seemingly predicting her move.

The intruder had laid the spear horizontally and stepped forward, preemptively blocking her attack by striking her wrists with the spear shaft.

Then, suddenly twisting his body.

“Huek!”

The intruder aimed a kick over the horizontal spear shaft towards her head.

A chilling realization came over her; the mere thought of being hit by that foot imbued with red mana felt like her head would burst.

The moment she instinctively bent her waist backward, a cold chill brushed past the back of her neck.

Zhang Tianyu almost instinctively propelled herself off the ground, altering her center of gravity backward.

Barely had she thrown herself back in retreat when the spear swept through the space her neck had occupied.

Her neck would have been severed if she hadn’t thrown herself back.

As soon as her back hit the ground, Zhang Tianyu used a backward roll to stand back up.

Thwack.

The spear, swung down from above, pierced through the glistening marble beneath.

From then on, the tables had completely turned.

“Ugh!”

The momentum she had while pushing the intruder back was gone, and she was purely on the defensive, overwhelmed by the intruder’s relentless attacks.

There was a slash, then a thrust, and even attempts to strike her with the spear shaft, leaving her no chance to breathe.

Left eye, right temple, head, left breast, and back to the head, then to the abdomen center.

Each of these attacks was lethal if she slipped up even once.

It felt like every moment her life was being threatened.

This was a completely unfamiliar sensation for Zhang Tianyu.

She was always the one reigning over others, wielding their lives at her whim.

Even when she was being assaulted by Jang Yang, she never truly felt her life was in danger.

Losing her composure, unlike at the start, her movements began to unravel.

Unable to block with her weapons, she resorted to throwing herself to dodge the intruder’s strikes.

Because of this, the glass window behind her shattered with a loud crash.

There was nothing special about it. The entire office was already in ruins, broken and damaged.

The real issue was that even though the place had become such a mess, there was no sign of her subordinates on the lower floor.

‘Even though a barrier is set up.’

The mana in the surroundings was fluctuating wildly, yet they were not so clueless as to miss it.

This meant that the intruder had not come alone.

It also meant that she’d have to abandon any hope of receiving external support.

‘The ones who came last time made their presence known from all directions.’

She was so frustrated having to wait for them to set up barriers.

But this one approached truly without a sound.

His spear-handling mastery and mana manipulation skills were a step above Zhang Tianyu’s own.

It seemed this time, a proper enemy had come.

The sense of disregard she had before became newly urgent and was giving her danger signals.

Yet before she could properly react to this development, something happened that dulled her sense of danger once again.

“Your sword skills are decent, I’d admit that. I’m quite surprised.”

Now then.

“Let’s see how well you handle mana.”

Seeing those disdainful eyes evaluating her skill made her mind snap.

“I planned on just killing you, but since you’re performing quite well, I’ll play along with you.”

One word after another grated on her proud heart.

As her attribute mana began to boil, the air inside the barrier grew hot.

“What are you doing?”

With a mocking palm gesture, the intruder taunted her.

“If you don’t want to die here, you’d better struggle.”

Use everything you have and burn it all.

“Fine, you arrogant bastard.”

Gritting her teeth, her voice lowered to a growl like a beast, fire ignited on Zhang Tianyu’s sword.

* * *

After the previous attack, I had heard security at the new shelter had become much tighter.

Yet, it was eerily quiet around Zhang Tianyu.

‘A few Silver rank agents had been stationed, but.’

It didn’t seem like they were there to protect Zhang Tianyu.

‘It’s not a single house but entirely different floors, what are they planning?’

Did they perhaps intend to drill through the floor in case of an emergency?

If so, they were sorely mistaken.

The game had a barrier magic that could isolate a target separately.

‘Even without that, I have Stealth now.’

Bounty hunting has granted numerous absorbed magics.

Among them was “Stealth”, a high-grade, third-grade wind attribute magic.

‘Under normal circumstances, my attribute mana would make it inaccessible.’

Fortunately, I had encapsulated the third-grade wind element mana in a mana accumulation tool shaped like a ring.

The provider, of course, was Kim Yul.

Thanks to him, I could quietly keep an eye on Zhang Tianyu, who smugly barged in alone.

Even when I got within several meters, there was no resonance of mana from her.

The fact that she could seal her mana tightly within her core indicated her skill level.

‘The only information gathered from prisoners was that it was fire-based.’

There was no information beyond that…

‘An attribute as rare as magma.’

It was not as if her mana control skills were as dreadful as Jang Ryun’s.

It seemed I had stumbled upon a valuable opponent to gain experience with interpersonal combat.

When Zhang Tianyu began to withdraw defensively, I attempted to provoke her.

True to her fiery nature attribute, she reacted immediately to the provocation.

If this battle continued, defeating her didn’t seem like it would be difficult.

At my provocation, an incensed Zhang Tianyu propelled herself off the ground and charged.

Bang, thump!

The sound was too heavy to believe it was just a clash of sword and spear.

“Die!”

Every time Zhang Tianyu swung her sword, materialized mana in the form of magma scattered around.

Shortly afterwards, she even unleashed an area-wide magic.

The cracked marble floor started bubbling and sizzling.

The moment I hastily created a barrier and ascended into the air, the marble melted away.

An area with about a 2-3 meter radius had turned into molten lava.

“Heh.”

I didn’t know the exact name of the magic, but it was indeed a spectacular sight.

However, it wasn’t particularly threatening.

‘This is a high-rise building.’

Sure enough, the lava-turned floor of the officetel suddenly collapsed.

Held in suspense in the interim, unable to penetrate the equally ranked double barrier.

Had this magic been used externally, and on a broader scale, it would have been quite bothersome.

Without some sort of flight magic, countering it would have been impossible.

But the current geographical advantage had significantly diminished the magic’s potency.

“Tch.”

Zhang Tianyu herself soon put the magic to rest, realizing this fact.

Then, she looked up at me, still sitting atop the barrier, with a smirk.

“You suit running away so well.”

It seemed like a deliberate attempt to provoke me.

‘If that’s the case, I should join in.’

With a quick chuckle, while lightly tapping off the barrier, I murmured.

“It’s a misunderstanding, you see. I’m more suited to charging ahead. Suits my nature, too.”

The concentration of attribute mana I infused into the spear deepened, increasing the number of sparks protruding.

In that state, I leaped downwards, thrusting the spear forward.

The clash of lightning and magma erupted with bright flashes.

The result of fire meeting fire was far from trivial.

The heat that diffused everywhere set the sofa’s leather, the curtains, and other flammable items alight.

Then I caught a glimpse of something distinctly unsettling.

The barrier behind Zhang Tianyu flickered for a moment, as though wavering.

No, it hadn’t just seemed that way; it truly fluctuated.

‘What is this phenomenon?’

The barrier today wasn’t made of the regular sealing stones sold in the shop.

To prevent the target from escaping, it was a custom-made double barrier stone commissioned from a high-grade spatial magic user.

‘It should far exceed the regular barriers in hardness.’

A magician of considerable skill wouldn’t easily dismantle it.

Moreover, barriers don’t flicker and ripple like waves when tampered with.

Much like glass shattering, they crack and collapse.

‘It’s neither typical nor normal.’

Yet it unfolded right before my eyes.

‘A relic, perhaps?’

If someone had obtained a relic capable of nullifying or ignoring barriers, it wouldn’t be surprising.

But without certainty, it continued to bug me.

Initially, it happened at the 12 o’clock direction behind Zhang Tianyu.

Then at 10 o’clock, next at 4 o’clock, and even above my head, similar phenomena occurred.

Then, at one point, the entire barrier exhibited similar occurrences.

“Dammit, what the hell is this…?”

Zhang Tianyu seemed equally oblivious to the phenomenon.

But before she could back off.

Abruptly, a hole was punctured through one section of the wavering barrier.

Immediately following this, something extraordinary happened next to Zhang Tianyu.

The empty air split open and a black hand emerged.

Neither Zhang Tianyu nor I was the first to react.

「Trait ‘Capitalism’ has been activated.」

「System switching to support mode. Support target: Player Kang Hyunwoo.」

「Detecting abnormal access. Attempting to block.」

The system quickly responded, faster than anyone else.

“.!”

Though unfortunately, there wasn’t enough time to process the sudden messages.

Having seen the black object spew, aimed towards me, from the hand cleaving through the air.

A dark, stake-like object, as thick as a fist.

Upon sighting it, rather than retreating or dodging, instincts drove me to utilize acceleration, deeply thrusting the spear.

It was an almost instinctive choice.

The attribute mana forcibly injected into the spear emitted wild sparks, densely filling the surroundings.

Consequently, thunk!

It pinpointedly penetrated the neck of Zhang Tianyu, who had been distracted by the occurrence next to her and let her guard down.

Simultaneously, the black object from the black hand pierced through my abdomen.

“Keuk!”

Upon reaching Silver Rank, my body had become resilient enough not to be wounded even if a normal adult man punched with all their might.

To pierce through such a body, it took an overwhelming force.

The impact was enough to send me flying backward.

As a result, I was propelled backward with a fist-sized black stake impaled in my abdomen, crashing into a wall.

Even that wall couldn’t withstand the force that knocked me back.

The wall of the rundown officetel splintered and gave way upon collision.

Two, one after another.

I was flung through two walls before ending up pressed against the edge of the double barrier.

Finally, as the barrier itself shattered and I was hurled outside.

“K!”

I heard Lily Evans’ voice because we had planned that if I set up a barrier, she would remain nearby.

Yet I couldn’t respond at the moment.

During those split moments of falling onto the floor, my interface screen began to break before my eyes.

「 #@&|** has been infected. The infected component begins reproducing.」

「Purify the pathoge promptly.」

「Warning」

Failure to purify #@&|** will initiate a forced termination.

Time limit 00:15:00

Amid a regular message overlay, unusually bold lettering appeared, and on the foreground, a system interface in a mix of red hues had emerged as well.

Among these, certain words particularly caught my attention.

‘Infection, purify, forced termination.’

It took exactly twelve seconds to gather my bearings of the situation.

After glancing at the timer that had changed to 14:48, I instantly placed my hand on my abdomen.

Gripping the inch-thick, foot-long black stake embedded in my belly, I applied force.

“K, don’t!”

Deaf to Lily Evans’ voice, hastening towards me as if to stop my actions.

“Phew.”

With a deep breath, gritting my teeth with force—yank!

“Hurk!”

I pulled out the stake lodged in my abdomen.

Even with a hardened body, it didn’t mean my pain threshold was equally reinforced.

The sheer pain overwhelmed my senses, painting my vision white.

“Aaahhh!”

Consciously, I lifted my voice to keep my composure, shouting as an effort to recalibrate my senses.

‘First, manage the bleeding.!’

During those fleeting moments, consciousness still intact, the rhythmic pulsing from my heart matched the stream of blood pooling beneath me.

With over fourteen minutes remaining on the purify timer, addressing the hemorrhage was the priority.

“Huff, puff.”

With trembling hands, I retrieved a potion from my inventory.

With no time for uncorking, I just snapped off the neck of the glass container with my fingers.

After consuming three or four potions in rapid succession, the bleeding significantly subsided.

When I glanced quickly to check the remaining time, my eyebrow twitched.

‘Eighteen minutes?’

The timer had extended.

Damned System.