episode_0144

It may be external, but the area where the group of people were currently standing was still full of loud noises.

Since entering the dark fog, the world has lost its light and countless people have gathered together and created a commotion in a space filled with pitch black that cannot be called darkness.

What outsiders could hear was that different foreigners were shouting in their own languages from different places.

Of course, they have translation badges, so they seem to be able to communicate with each other, but since they are speaking a foreign language that cannot be understood by the personnel who entered to assist them, the background environment of a pitch-black space seems to be adding to the stress, and their foreheads are slightly wrinkled. .

In addition, perhaps because they were wearing thick protective clothing that allowed ordinary people who could not handle mana to survive even within the Fog, the only thing they could do was to waddle and follow the people with special abilities even under such stress.

Well, of course, the soldiers entering the fog were specially trained, so it wouldn’t be that stressful… .

And the red dragon that leads them wanders around and gives orders in an incomprehensible language.

Naturally, the people above seemed to be very busy.

And an Asian-looking woman who had received the order continued to write in a small booklet that looked like a diary.

From what I heard, it seemed like they were reporting something on the situation.

“There was movement. I’m sure. There were quite a few monsters here just a moment ago. As a result of Yue talking to the scouts who went ahead, they said that they discovered a large-scale monster camp at the point where we are currently located. Looking at the drag marks on the floor, it seems clear.”

“Damn, this is a lot. I don’t think it’s been even an hour since there was an uproar. After all, this is their base.”

“Yes, I will tell the professor and come back. Be sure to replenish your magic power. Monsters will pour out again.”

“Okay. I’ll prepare everyone.”

Han Se-jun, a young man holding a red shining long sword, nods his head and looks around at the words of Jang A-hyeon, who speaks with a sharp tone.

Just as he said, he was attacked by monsters a while ago and had a battle with them.

Since most of them were low-level monsters, it seems that there were no injuries yet, but since it was happening inside the dark fog, everyone was very nervous.

Plus, this uncomfortable feeling as if magical power is being constantly squeezed out of my whole body. No, rather than feeling uncomfortable, it feels outright unpleasant.

A sensation that causes mild dizziness, as if the whole body has been placed in a dehydrator running at a slow speed.

Sejun himself is somewhat familiar with the fog as he has already experienced it once, but since the majority of people were experiencing this for the first time, it would be difficult to say that his overall condition is good.

“Everyone wake up and get ready! The monsters will come again! Pick up the weapon you put down and get ready for battle! Hey, you! Wake up!”

At Sejun’s shout, the people who were resting on the floor slowly begin to stand up.

“Are you coming again? I don’t think it’s been even an hour since the fight ended… .”

“Are the monsters waiting for us to come? Come to your senses! We’re on the front line now! This is not the academy!”

Han Sejun frowned as he looked at the other people around him.

It’s been two days since entering the Dark Fog, and most of the academy’s first generation students like Sejun may not know, but many of them have never experienced a proper battle and this is their first time competing.

‘Ha, damn it. It’s a complete burden.’

I had no idea that Sejun himself would have such old-fashioned thoughts. But even if you don’t look at it objectively, it’s not like you’re a brat or anything.

It was certainly true that as the number of new students increased, the overall level gradually decreased.

Was their first generation something special? Maybe so.

Because they were the first students to enroll, Northmund was a bit enthusiastic and taught them harshly, and even excluding those things, it was true that a lot of eventful things happened during the first class of students, and they often stood at the crossroads of life and death.

The fact that the invasion of monsters had decreased noticeably since the conclusion of some kind of contract(?) between Northmund and the demon leader must have played a part.

Of course, because they were freshmen, they didn’t just hang out and learn with all their sincerity, but in Sejun’s eyes, they just didn’t seem very excited about it.

‘They are no different from ordinary people who have awakened their special abilities. Shit. No, this is not the time.’

I just don’t like anything.

What’s in front of Sejun’s eyes right now are a lot of people holding weapons.

And the weapons connected to each magic path glowed in their hands, illuminating the darkness inside the fog.

Unlike the first generation students, who mostly chose swords, there were many who chose unusual weapons after that.

There were some stupid-looking axes, sickles, and nunchuck-like weapons. These are truly ineffective weapons.

Of course, Northmund didn’t just tell them to take what they wanted, and unlike the first generation of students, most of whom had body enhancement abilities, there were many people with special abilities after that, so he just distributed weapons suited to each ability, but from Sejun’s perspective, it was chaotic and lacked a sense of unity. It seemed.

“Jun, can you feel it?”

“… Yes, it’s coming.”

Next to him, Muriel grabs her spear and takes a fighting stance.

In a space where the sun has disappeared and the surroundings are illuminated only by artificial magic lights, it feels like standing in a point area where zombies are pouring out in a game set in the zombie apocalypse.

“I understand for sure now. There is an atmosphere in which such a crisis situation will occur.”

As if Muriel acknowledged it, she held the spear in front of her and took in the surrounding scene with her amethyst-like eyes.

It feels real. That a battle is about to occur.

[Everyone ready for battle! Monsters are coming!]

Feeling Yue’s superpower hitting his brain, the other juniors were shocked and took their stances at the same time.

Quang! The sound of heavy drinking hit their ears.

“What are you doing! Get ready, hurry!”

“Ah, I understand! Senior Grayson”

An explosion occurs, and something that hits Tania’s light green barrier explodes, and at the same time, Tania screams.

As Sejun bites his lip at the sight, as if it were a signal, something comes from far away at extremely fast speed.

─Gaaa!

While letting out a tearing scream typical of monsters.

“… Ugh!?”

A boy holding a long sword similar to Sejun’s eyes widened at the attack being swung in front of him.

Before his eyes, a huge tentacle was swinging towards him.

The owner of that tentacle is Divider. A mid-level monster that specializes in quick attacks from blind spots.

“Huh?”

He happened to block the first attack, but the subsequent attacks were still nothing he could handle.

I can understand. In fact, didn’t Sejun and his party lose several people to the Divider attack in Tbilisi?

From the freshmen’s perspective, it was close to a lightning strike that the eyes could not follow.

And that attack will split the body of the boy with short sports hair holding the long sword.

“Oh?”

But what followed from the boy’s perspective.

“Sejun Han?”

“Don’t make a fuss. Get your bearings again!”

It was a sight where Han Se-jun, who was standing far away from him, appeared in front of him as if he had teleported and cut off the tentacle.

The speed as if a cannonball was flying. An appearance that would make even people with similar abilities pinch their own cheeks.

The boy opened his mouth in bewilderment as he saw the giant tentacle with a half-moon shaped scythe fall to the ground and return to its original abyss.

And he reflexively closed his jaw as he felt something entering his mouth.

Quagwang!

An explosion that seemed to purge the atmosphere. Instead of an explosion of flame bombs, there was a dazzling golden explosion.

It didn’t take long for him to realize that the foreign body sensation he felt in his mouth was caused by fragments of surrounding dust entering his mouth due to the explosion, which felt even brighter because it was in the dark.

Before they knew it, Jang Ah-hyun, the Empress of Gwangtan, appeared and was flying in front of them with a golden flash in her hand.

Her special ability is the ability to create oxidized substances that glow gold. When it reacts with the atmosphere, the substance oxidizes at extremely high temperatures exceeding thousands of degrees, turning into a beam of light that hits the space in front of them.

“What are you doing! Fight!”

As if Jang A-hyeon’s words were a signal, the people with special abilities who had hesitated in the sudden surprise attack began to form a line, holding their weapons and taking stances.

It was a display to respond to a surprise attack in the dark. It was a display created based on the assumption of a battle inside the fog that they had been practicing intensively at the academy.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s inside or outside the fog. Come to your senses and follow what you learned at the academy! Sejun leads the front with me, Muriel provides shadow support in times of emergency, and Tania takes the opposite direction.”

“I understand. Leader.”

“Yes! I understand!”

After Jang A-hyeon said that and confirmed that the display was in place, she stepped forward with her named team member. It’s Sejun.

When attacked in the dark, talented people form a line and first defend against the approach of monsters, while highly skilled people work separately and deal with mid-level or higher monsters that pose a threat.

This was the basic battle strategy within the fog.

Even if low-level monsters attack, whether they are a hundred or a thousand, they cannot deal with people with special abilities who are fully lined up.

However, if intermediate level or higher monsters appear, the story is different. Of course, this does not mean that it is difficult for those with this ability to deal with mid-level monsters.

However, it is also true that if you are ambushed by them in the dark with your vision blocked, you could be in danger.

Therefore, a separate team of competent personnel handles dangerous elements. That’s the basic policy.

[Don’t overdo it. Anyway, you know that when you are in danger, you take care of yourself first, right?]

[huh. But I don’t really like that.]

[Tsk, well, Sejun responds well.]

Sejun smiled bitterly, replying in a sour tone to Yue’s words, which were clearly only addressed to him.

According to Professor Northmund, in case of a dangerous situation, there was an order to consider one’s own safety before that of less powerful personnel such as freshmen.

From an efficiency perspective, this is correct. Move forward by saving the strongest ones.

In fact, Sejun’s life is worth much more than that of a hundred new students. So, if it becomes dangerous at any time, use them as meat shields. That’s why we brought in a lot of people.

‘I don’t like that kind of thing.’

Sejun also understands that no matter what he says, it is actually something that cannot be helped. Although life is not considered serious, it may be considered serious in special situations.

Isn’t that so? Aren’t most of the proverbs in this society proverbs that can only be fulfilled in ordinary daily life?

And the current situation is not normal.

‘So, it’s enough to prevent such a situation from happening.’

At the same time that Sejun is repeating those thoughts in his head, Sejun’s body slaughters a brut that was there, leaving only an afterimage.

The gigantic mass is divided into numerous pieces as if fluttering in the sky, like a tower of cards that collapsed due to a sudden strong wind.

Just as silken tofu is cut without resistance by the Mana Sword, diced pieces of meat fly into the air.

The poor middle-level monster Brute died without even being able to utter a word.

And behind Sejun, who was trying to smile with a slightly proud and smug expression.

─Something cold and chilly feeling towards the nape of his neck.

“… Huh?”

Sejun instinctively jumped at the sudden crisis signal and rolled on the floor.

I have felt this feeling before.

Although quite a bit of time has passed, it is a feeling that is engraved in my mind and can never be forgotten.

“This?! Devil?”

The attack just swung and the energy of something coming soon.

It was so obvious.

This is the feeling I felt from the black figure who called himself Adramalek.

[Sejun!]

[I know. I thought it would come out at least once. I never thought we would meet right away like this.]

Whi profit!

Something swung in the dark and it grazed Sejun’s cheek.

Something grazed his cheek, skimming the blood from his cheek.

Sejun frowned at the sharp pain he felt on his cheek.

“… Hmm.”

Demons have bodies that look like black mirages. According to what they say, that form is called the etheric body.

As I concentrated my energy, I felt a human-shaped figure hidden in the darkness.

And it didn’t take him any time to realize that he had swung what appeared to be his arm, causing pain to hit Sejun’s cheek.

『… !』

Sejun subconsciously felt the demon pause for a moment. And he must have felt it too.

Why did he flinch? Is it a surprise that Sejun was able to avoid an unavoidable attack, a deadly attack?

Or is it a reaction to Sejun’s condition, in which he has not lost any composure even after being attacked?

“I’m not the person I used to be. Actually, Adramalek or something said that they are not making any progress.”

I feel Sejun quickly retreat and hide in the dark at Sejun’s somewhat pitiful reaction.

The attack that was intended to silence Sejun forever by targeting an opening was already blocked.

I don’t know if it was a coincidence or not, but the attack failed and the situation changed.

Therefore, it melts into the darkness created by the fog again and aims for another shot.

“It seems like your ability is the ability to hide in the dark. It would have been better to shoot a beam or something from afar like that guy back then.”

『… .』

I finally found out.

What happened just now was not a coincidence.

I don’t want to admit it, but compared to myself, who has lived for eons, this pale green kid’s skills are not particularly inferior.

So, would it be better to avoid battle for now?

Since his attack has been discovered, the person who will narrow down his attack this time is naturally the kid holding this insignificant piece of metal.

The result of their long-standing plan gone awry.

Let’s hide in the dark again and wait for an opportunity.

As I was thinking that, I heard Sejun’s voice again.

“It seems like each demon has a name. You must have a name too.”

『… .』

“But I’ll be meeting a lot of demons in the future, so I think it’ll be hard to remember them all. So I won’t ask your name.”

『… !』

“Then goodbye.”

I wanted to say something to you for being arrogant.

But instead of the story, there was only silence.

『──────!』

A clanking sound was heard. A slightly insincere sound of something like a viscous liquid falling to the ground.

No, in fact, before that, there was a sound like something was swinging as if it was splitting the air.

At the very least, it should be said that the sound was not properly heard as it was drowned out by the waves of low-level monsters rushing towards the unit of people with special abilities.

『!@#$!%!』

And a very noisy sound is heard from somewhere.

The meaning is unintelligible as it is the words of demons, but there is a very high probability that it is a sound that is presumed to be a scream.

It was a scream coming from a demon that had been torn into several pieces in an instant.

And as Sejun stabbed what seemed to be the head of the creature with his sword, the irritating scream lost its sound and faded away into the darkness, leaving behind only a cloudy magic stone.

“It wasn’t as strong as Adramalek. No, have I grown that much? hmm… I guess that’s not true either.”

Adramalek was said to be the closest associate of Alexstras, the leader of the demons.

So, he must be much stronger than an ordinary demon like this.

‘oh.’

A pillar of fire rose from afar. A pillar of flame that appears to have been created by Jimmy.

He’s probably in a similar situation to the one he was in just now. It seemed like a group of demons had ambushed them with monsters.

[Yue, it looks like Jimmy is having a hard time. Please tell the leader that you are joining him. It seems like monsters are concentrating towards Ramirez.]

While saying this to myself in my head, I kicked Sejun to the ground without saying a word and moved on to my next action.