Chapter 14 : The Person Who Shouldn’t Be Here (2)

“It doesn’t sound wrong. We still haven’t seen your face even once.”

Pretending to hesitate, I slightly quivered my voice as if conflicted, intending to use this opportunity to pull down her stifling hood.

Just how precious is her face that she keeps it hidden so tightly?

“Now, is this enough? Trust me. We don’t know when they’ll reveal their true nature!”

Reluctantly, Norha removed her hood, revealing a stunningly beautiful face befitting an elf.

Between her soft pink hair, her pointed and long ears were visible as well.

However, her expression was urgent, as if she was exasperated by my and Eden’s attitude.

“You know I haven’t done anything yet, right? What are you going to do if I continue to do nothing?”

“If that’s the case, then we’ll just have cleared an advanced trial the easy way.”

Even at Barnald’s shrugging response, she didn’t lower her bow, as if fully convinced.

However, Barnald wasn’t entirely wrong.

The evidence was suspicious but not yet definitive.

“…What’s that sound?”

That faint possibility was shattered by the sound of screams in the distance.

They came from the northern defensive post where Ella and Ron, that rude couple, had headed.

“Annoyingly sharp instincts, elf.”

As if the scream was some sort of signal flare, Barnald changed his demeanor.

With a smirk, he turned his sword—not toward the enemy but toward us.

In the end, this masquerade reached its preordained conclusion with them revealing their true colors first.

“Attack!”

“Huh?”

Norha clenched her teeth and launched a preemptive strike, shooting the arrow she had been aiming.

She shouted for us to attack together, but Eden was too overwhelmed by the situation and froze in confusion.

“Aagh!”

Yet, in mere seconds, Barnald effortlessly deflected the arrow.

His body, now enveloped in a crimson aura, closed the distance in an instant, striking Norha’s solar plexus with the back of his blade.

Norha tried to retreat, but he caught up, causing her to scream and drop her bow as she collapsed to the ground.

She coughed in pain, trying to grab her fallen bow, but Barnald crushed it underfoot without hesitation.

‘He’s definitely someone who shouldn’t be here.’

From my perspective, Barnald’s skills were easily above the 30th floor.

The difference between a novice on the 2nd floor and a veteran of the 30th floor was like the gap between heaven and earth.

“Stay put, unless you want to end up like this.”

“You…”

Grabbing Norha’s hair, he yanked her up as she groaned in pain.

With a sneer, he pointed his sword at us as well.

Eden, finally grasping the situation, began to sweat profusely.

However, his hand holding the staff trembled uncontrollably.

Even he could sense the overwhelming skill level of the warrior before us.

“We set a trap. So what if you noticed? What can you possibly do about it? It’s already over for you. Even if all five of us were to die here, do you really think the three of you could hold the defensive line and survive this?”

He alternated his gaze between Norha, who trembled in fury, and us, smiling mockingly.

It was the attitude of someone completely convinced of their victory.

“Your future is already decided. Wouldn’t it be better to submit quietly rather than resist and suffer unnecessary pain?”

“Why are you doing this?”

“That’s such an obvious question it’s tiring to answer. Aren’t you black magicians? You lot love living test subjects the most, don’t you?”

As expected, an obvious question was met with an equally obvious answer.

In the lawless shadows where all manner of crime runs rampant, this wasn’t uncommon.

But still, it was a place where people lived.

Who would’ve thought I’d get caught up in something like this the moment I first stepped out?

“It’s… over. Just like he said, there’s no way out. Those guys shouldn’t even be here.”

Eden’s shoulders trembled with fear.

At first glance, it seemed like checkmate.

Unless someone still wearing their mask finally decided to take it off.

“Eden, I’m a busy person.”

With a faint smile, I grabbed his trembling shoulders and pulled him back.

“Huh?”

Caught off guard, Eden stumbled backward as he watched me step forward, eyes wide with shock.

“Quietly accept… wait, what?”

Barnald, who had been looking down at the furious yet powerless Norha with satisfaction, raised his brow in confusion.

For the first time, Shin Jia—a female novice black magician who was supposedly entering the dungeon for the first time and whom Barnald had been keeping a close eye on—began to step forward.

‘What kind of madness is this?’

Barnald’s face soon twisted in shock.

He could feel the sudden explosion of magical power radiating from her.

On instinct, he leaped back to create distance, only to see sharp spikes shooting up from his shadow, aiming for his body.

「Ring of Original Sin · Shadow Spear」

“You’ve got better instincts than I thought. Still, isn’t this behavior a bit disgraceful for someone who’s come this far?”

With a smirk, she twirled the ring on her hand.

Her demeanor had completely changed, as if she were an entirely different person.

“What the hell is this?”

Barnald was in disarray.

From what he had sensed earlier, Shin Jia was just an insignificant lower-tier novice.

Even if she had been hiding something like Norha, it was a problem.

Unlike Norha, who had been somewhat obvious, Shin Jia had hidden it so well that he hadn’t noticed a thing.

That could only mean her skill level far exceeded his own.

‘It must be her equipment!’

Thinking quickly, Barnald attributed her sudden display of power to external factors.

He wasn’t entirely wrong—her magical energy was currently amplified by the Ring of Original Sin, which she had acquired during the tutorial.

‘Her magic isn’t that vast to begin with!’

Suppressing his panic, Barnald began to see the objective reality.

Even with the ring’s amplification, her magical energy was only on par with his own.

While the sudden shift had surprised him, he was confident he could win in a fight.

“So you’re a sly one, huh!”

With a powerful kick, he launched himself forward, sword raised.

Believing that with their similar stats, there was no way he could lose, Barnald charged straight at her.

She had rolled through countless battles before descending to the 2nd floor, while Shin Jia was merely a novice who had just ascended.

While everything else might be surmountable, the gap in experience could not be bridged.

“Do you think you’ll win just by closing the distance?”

“…!”

But her movements and thoughts were already being read by someone with far greater experience.

「Ring of Original Sin · Wraith Resurrection」

A spell considered the flower and symbol of black magic.

The reason why a great black magician is called a one-person army capable of facing an entire legion alone.

With a wave of her hand, the shadows beneath her writhed, and something massive began to rise from them.

“Why is that thing here?”

At that moment, everyone present had the same thought.

Even reduced to white bones and still cloaked, Patroller Alpha let out a ghastly scream as it swung its scythe at the utterly stunned Barnald.

“Gah…!”

Caught off guard by the overwhelming strength, Barnald staggered.

With both hands gripping his sword, he barely managed to block the scythe aimed to split his head in two.

But when a warrior is forced to stop moving against a magician, the battle is practically over.

“Your actions reek of arrogance. Hunting only weaker prey has left your skills biased and stunted.”

“W-Who… Who are you really…?”

By then, shadows had coiled around his body, immobilizing him completely.

Ignoring his struggles, Shin Jia smirked and conjured a spear of black magic, aiming it at his head and firing without hesitation.

‘Why is a monster like this here?’

Even if she weren’t a novice, her speed and power were beyond belief.

Barnald’s last sight was the magic spear piercing through his defense, shattering it and boring through his skull. With that, his life ended.

The deafening noise of battle subsided as quickly as it had started, leaving only silence in its wake.

“Ah…”

Norha, who had risen shakily on trembling legs, and Eden, who had watched in stunned silence, both stood frozen.

Neither could bring themselves to speak first.

“We don’t have time for this. Why are you all standing there like that?”

Finally, Shin Jia broke the silence.

As if nothing had happened, she casually absorbed magic from Barnald’s fallen body using Drain.

“Activate the defensive stone and head to the central area. Let’s finish off the remaining four enemies, complete the defense mission, and head back.”

With her usual smile, she pointed toward the defensive stone.

At that moment, who could dare refuse her words?

Eden and Norha hurried toward the defensive stone as if competing, quickly activating it.

They then scurried back to her side, standing awkwardly as if awaiting further instructions.