Ch.103Angel Tip 7

06’s fist pushed against Anna’s sword.

In response, she immediately twisted her sword to deflect his strength.

As the man lunged forward with his punch, his momentum carried him forward.

Anna struck his solar plexus with her elbow as he drew near.

“Ouch!”

06 let out a deadpan exclamation.

His compressed solar plexus twitched.

“That hurts!”

He kicked Anna while still reeling from the blow.

The skilled killer immediately blocked his foot with the edge of her blade.

But the force was so strong that she was pushed back.

Perhaps due to the friction of being pushed back, heat rose from her shoes.

06 didn’t miss that momentary opening.

He rushed at the startled killer and threw a powerful punch.

This time, Anna didn’t meet his fist head-on but kept retreating.

“Why aren’t you charging in like before? Getting scared now?”

The killer didn’t respond to his taunt.

Instead… she gripped her longsword like a fencing weapon, maintaining distance from him.

Her targets were his limbs.

When he threw a punch, she’d cut his arm.

When he chased her, she’d slice his legs.

06 gritted his teeth at the difficult distance battle.

He threw his entire body forward, closing the distance to Anna in an instant.

In the process, his side and arms were severely cut, but he finally succeeded in grabbing Anna’s shoulder.

“How stupid, did you think I’d just stand there and take hits like an idiot?”

Confident in his victory, he gripped her shoulder tightly and put all his strength into his opposite fist.

And just as he was about to swing it at Anna’s face.

She bent her body as if falling and dropped her longsword.

Instead, she pulled out two daggers from her inner pocket in a crossing motion.

Then began her night technique.

The daggers gripped in both hands plunged into both sides of his ribs.

Once, twice, three times.

Black blood spurted from 06’s mouth as the blades repeatedly stabbed between the gaps.

He swung his fists desperately trying to shake her off.

But by the time Anna had already moved away from 06.

His body had been reduced to a rag.

Blood leaked like oil.

He received exactly what he had done to Jisoo in the past.

Plus, there was a subtle numbness that rose whenever he felt pain.

At that moment, 06 realized.

That Anna was on a completely different level.

He too, as a ranker, had faced many strong opponents.

But Anna was completely different from the double-digit rankers he had met so far.

If duels with other rankers felt like taking turns in a PvP game,

Fighting Anna felt like facing a murderous demon.

No matter how much he blocked or endured, his turn to attack never came.

If he forcibly swung his arm, his body would be slashed like a rag.

Movements solely dedicated to killing the opponent.

The moment he realized this fact, he felt fear.

Me, feeling fear…?

His cheekbones trembled.

Even after raising all stats by 20…!

His upper body shook.

Soon, a red light began to swirl from the tattoo on his shoulder.

That light soon became a voice echoing in 06’s mind.

“Councilor…?”

「Kill Anna.」

The command of the sovereign bound his body.

06 looked at Anna with a frightened expression, his skin crawling.

But he wasn’t afraid of Anna.

What scared him more than Anna was the sovereign’s command.

Something he couldn’t disobey even if he wanted to.

That was precisely Shinae’s ability.

「You’re more than capable now.」

“…”

It was the devil’s whisper.

He couldn’t believe those words.

He should grab her and place her in front of Anna, asking her to repeat those words.

Surely then, Mother would take back her words.

But marked by the sovereign, he had no choice.

He could only obey.

He hurriedly took out a glass bottle from his pocket.

And began shaking pills into his palm.

His palm trembled so much that about half the pills scattered.

But he didn’t care.

He just stuffed the pills into his mouth according to the sovereign’s command.

The sound of pills being chewed echoed loudly.

Anna watched his behavior with disgust.

“Relying on drugs. Korean rankers aren’t what they used to be.”

06 smiled bitterly at her words.

With cold sweat dripping from his forehead, he said,

“I have to do this to beat you.”

“I’ve been ordered to kill you.”

Anna exhaled briefly at his words.

Then she asked quietly,

“You? Kill me?”

“I have no choice. If I don’t kill you, I’ll die.”

After swallowing a lot of drugs, he crouched down.

His body began to swell and turn bright red.

Red smoke rose like from an engine.

Eventually, his face became taut as if about to burst, focusing only on one person.

The woman he had to kill.

Anna.

06’s muscle fibers broke through his skin and protruded.

The spiral-tightened muscles looked like steel bars.

Primordial human.

Spiral muscles that only emerge through countless battles and training covered his entire body.

Having overcome another limit, 06 bent his knees like before.

But his movements were very different now.

As his feet pressed down on the ground, the surface began to sink.

Then.

When 06 sprang forward like a spring, the ground he had stepped on was completely devastated as if by an earthquake.

His fist, tearing through the air, connected with Anna’s abdomen.

Her skin twisted in a spiral pattern, and she was sent flying toward the forest.

The sound of breaking trees echoed countless times.

Soon Anna’s body was buried in the ground, raising a cloud of dust.

A perfect hit.

But 06 wasn’t satisfied with this.

He had to give his all.

To survive.

He jumped into the air and stomped down into the smoke.

06’s massive foot, like a sledgehammer, struck the ground.

Soon, the ground he stomped cracked in all directions like an earthquake.

In that split second, Anna regained consciousness and barely twisted her body to avoid the blow.

The number of pills 06 had taken was at least 10.

With all stats exceeding 100, 06 was no longer in the realm of humans.

Anna rose from her twisted position and slashed his ankle with her dagger.

But not a single drop of blood came from the cut.

His blood had solidified like it was hardened.

Even his blood was hard, like that of an ancient human who had endured countless wars.

“Ha. So Mother did have a plan after all.”

He muttered, looking at Anna who staggered to her feet.

Her dropped daggers rolled on the ground.

“She must have ordered me to fight because she knew I had a chance.”

The lower part of Anna’s sleeveless top was completely torn.

Her bruised abdomen was clearly visible.

In contrast, 06 loosened his stiff neck with ease.

He had easily overcome the paralytic poison with his stat increase.

Anna wiped the blood from her mouth with the back of her hand.

Seeing her own blood after a long time, she was dazed.

“Siho is a fool too. Making cocktails with such an incredible ability.”

At the two syllables “Siho,” her cloudy eyes flashed again.

Regardless, 06 continued with what he had wanted to say all along.

“If that girl had made this drug for you, you probably would have become rank 1. Maybe even world number 1.”

The primordial human crossed his arms leisurely, savoring the drug’s effects.

Anna stared at him intently.

Then, as if realizing something, she raised the corner of her mouth.

With a mix of mockery, she uttered one phrase.

“How amusing.”

At those words, the primordial human frowned.

Her arrogant attitude despite being injured greatly irritated him.

“What…?”

“You think Siho didn’t give me buffs because she’s stupid?”

06, curious about her next words, raised his chin stiffly.

“Then, what is it?”

Answering his question, Anna once again drew her longsword.

And this time, she gripped it firmly with both hands, not just one.

“Because I don’t need things like buffs.”

The thick smoke swirled violently.

Before the particles could disperse, Anna emerged from within.

And she swung her sword toward 06’s side like a swing.

The primordial human smirked at the sight.

He took the attack head-on and instead raised his fist into the air.

The sharp blade dug into his side.

If she wanted to avoid his fist now, she would have to let go of the sword and escape.

Having targeted Anna’s weapon from the start, he tightened the muscles in his side to fix the sword in place.

And then he brought his fist down.

However, that fist never reached Anna.

He couldn’t even take her sword.

Because Anna, who had thrust in the sword, rotated with the handle to avoid his fist.

Thanks to that rotation, his side was deeply cut in various directions.

Growing desperate, he quickly grabbed her to force a ground battle.

But even when caught, she easily escaped by rotating in the direction she was held.

“Panicking?”

Anna asked calmly as she pulled out her sword.

With his side throbbing, 06 hastily stepped back.

“What good is a buff if you don’t know how to use it properly?”

Anna’s cloudy eyes narrowed.

06’s eyes trembled at her provocation, something he had never seen from her before.

“You… arrogant bitch!”

On the defensive, 06 concentrated all his muscles into his fist.

And then he struck with all his might.

He expected Anna to dodge his fist again.

He had figured out her pattern of avoiding his fist and diving in.

When Anna would dive down, he planned to raise his knee to strike her, even if it meant tearing his muscles.

But this time, Anna didn’t avoid his overwhelming power.

Like before, she raised her blade and met his fist head-on.

“How stupid…! You were pushed back by just 2 pills!”

Once again, fist and blade collided.

The savage sound caused leaves to split on their own.

“Do you think you can handle me now!”

The primordial human’s forearm swelled grotesquely.

He intended to crush her body along with the blade.

The sword bent completely like a bow.

If she continued to hold it, it would break.

But then.

Anna didn’t dodge but instead supported the handle with all her might for a moment.

As a result, the sword broke in half.

The remaining half of the blade rushed toward 06’s neck with strong recoil.

And the blade, carrying not only Anna’s strength but also his own, sliced through 06’s neck.

Very cleanly.

“—.”

The massive body fell to the ground.

The sound was so loud that even birds that had nested far away took flight into the night sky.

His head fell off and rolled on the sandy ground.

Anna silently stared at the head for a moment.

Soon, as if remembering something, she hurriedly approached 06’s body.

His body, which had been so pumped up, was shrinking at a rapid pace, making a mockery of its former state.

As the body shrank, white light flowed from the severed neck.

Anna recognized that light.

The radiance of the Angelic Hand.

The light fell to the ground and disappeared like melting snow.

Before her fingers could touch it.

“Siho…”

Anna suddenly felt anxious.

She feared that Siho might disappear like that light.

That fear soon led to regret.

She shouldn’t have killed him.

She should have captured him alive and asked about Siho’s whereabouts.

In the end, she had made another mistake.

The sword in her grip trembled.

Anna carelessly threw away the half-broken sword.

Only broken swords lay scattered on the ground.