“What exactly are you people doing?”
“…..”
“Enough. Just die.”
Ian drove his sword into the fallen man, cutting off his breath.
He brushed back his hair, now soaked red, and looked ahead.
“It’s no different from the hell of that day.”
Suddenly, the sky darkened, and figures cloaked in robes adorned with crescent moon symbols launched a surprise attack.
In the chaos, a beast tamer was ambushed and killed, causing the beasts to go berserk.
This series of events led to the horrifying situation at hand.
“What on earth is that massive veil…”
The sight at the edge of Ian’s gaze was beyond bizarre-it was terrifying.
A pitch-black shroud slowly descended from the heavens.
It swallowed all light and swayed like a black wave, blurring the line between reality and nightmare.
“Could it be… we’re trapped?”
The dark veil seemed to encircle the area where the beast hunt was taking place.
As the looming darkness crept closer, Ian, feeling an urgent sense of unease, scanned the battlefield.
“We can’t just sit still.”
It would be an overstatement to say the students were holding up well.
While a few strong individuals prevented them from being overwhelmed outright, their opponents were formidable.
“First, I need to figure out what that is.”
Deciding that understanding the situation was the top priority, he ran toward the massive veil, deliberately avoiding the sight of bleeding, fallen students.
***
Amcheon (Dark Heaven).
A psychotic terrorist group whose goal was to plunge the world into darkness and destroy the continent.
They are the main antagonists of the story, wreaking havoc on the Empire in countless ways.
The true nature of Amcheon is revealed later in the narrative, but their actions against the protagonist and his allies begin from the early stages-like right now.
‘To think they’d pull this off so blatantly…’
Originally, their acts of terror were planned for after the beast hunt.
The goal was to kill key individuals or inflict critical injuries.
During events like the school-wide match, where the entire student body gathered, they would blend into the crowd and strike.
‘In a way, they’re idiots too.’
These lunatics believe destroying the world is salvation.
For them, there’s no option of leaving alive.
Their fanatical, brainwashed mindset leaves no fear of death.
Like emotionless puppets, they follow orders,
ruthlessly charging forward even with severed limbs until their breath finally ceases.
This made them a poor matchup for the students of Arcane.
‘They still have their innocence.’
No matter where you go, no matter the world, people are all the same.
The students of Arcane are, at most, in their early twenties.
An age where, in a place like Korea, they’d be enjoying their youth at university.
Even if they defeat their enemies, could they coldly judge and take lives?
‘Absolutely not.’
Even I barely suppress my revulsion, forcing myself to endure.
Why would they be any different?
Most of them would hesitate, aside from a select few.
There aren’t many who are accustomed to taking lives.
‘But where the hell has he gone…’
Ian was nowhere to be found despite thoroughly searching the area.
At first, I thought he was fine, just out of sight momentarily.
But as time passed and he still didn’t appear, I grew anxious.
“Ugh… Serena… I can’t die here… Please…”
“Ahhh! Someone, anyone…”
“My leg… my leg is…”
The situation was rapidly deteriorating.
Even those who had been barely holding on began to crumble.
Screams echoed relentlessly, and the metallic stench of blood lingered in the air.
The bodies scattered across the ground were so
indistinguishable,
It was hard to tell whether they belonged to beasts or
humans.
‘This is horrific.’
Among them were corpses that had been flattened.
Traces of footprints of various sizes were mixed together.
Probably those who failed to respond properly at the start of the attack.
‘I have to ignore it… I need to…’
Even as I squeezed my eyes shut and covered my ears.
The vivid scenes resurfaced in my mind.
No matter how hard I tried to erase them, they were etched deeply and wouldn’t fade.
“Damn it.”
I knew.
I couldn’t save everyone.
That a story must progress with the sacrifice of a few.
I had firmly resolved to accept this just a few days ago.
But sometimes, action takes precedence over reason.
“Get downnn!”
If someone saw me now, they might call me foolish.
They could criticize me for making a stupid choice.
‘F*ck, but can you really just control your emotions like that?’
But what else could I do?
If I didn’t help them right now, I felt like my sanity would shatter.
Those crying for help with their guts spilling out, their legs torn off.
How could I cold-heartedly abandon them?
***
“Th-thank…”
“Drag the fallen one over there. There are more people gathered there, it’s better than here.”
Even the time spent receiving thanks felt wasted because there were so many in need of help.
Some were already too late, but if there was even a slight chance they could survive, it was right to save them.
While restoring order and gathering those scattered, I sent them to places with strong people like Sylvia or Venice.
Repeating this process over and over.
Screeeeech!
Boom!
An explosion erupted, momentarily lighting up the darkened sky.
Even the enemies, including the monstrous beasts, briefly shifted their attention.
“That is…”
A white, turbulent storm of mana stretching and contracting
like a chaotic slime.
I knew what it was.
‘Ian.’
The skill he unleashed whenever he was in a life-threatening situation.
A self-destructive yet ultimate technique that intentionally caused his mana to go berserk, momentarily amplifying his power by several times.
“Overdrive…”
The moment I saw it, my body was already moving toward the source of the storm.
“Why did he go there?’
To be honest, ever since Ian lost to Kunbero, I no longer expected him to grow overwhelmingly powerful like in the original story.
I just wanted him to grow strong enough to keep up with the story.
That way, both he and I could survive.
But I had been too complacent.
There was no guarantee that the protagonist would always be safe.
I had almost forgotten the core issue because I was too preoccupied with my own concerns.
‘Please, just stay alive.’
He was the sole warrior possessing divine blood.
As the protagonist, his death would be meaningless and unacceptable.
“Theo! Don’t go!”
“All the inquisitors are following that man…”
“W-wait, Lady Rose… where are you going? Please come back!”
There were those who tried to stop me as I rushed straight toward where Ian was, cutting through the enemies.
But I ignored them all and headed directly to where he was.
.
.
.
.
I found Ian just as the blinding white mana began to fade away.
If I had been a little later, he might have truly died.
“Huff… heuff… se-senior…”
“Shut up. Don’t talk, or your wounds will open.”
A hole as big as a fist had already been punched through his stomach.
‘This is bad.’
I performed emergency first aid, but his injuries were worse than I had expected.
If this dragged on, he would bleed out and die.
Ian’s combat ability was by no means weak.
Even surrounded by monstrous beasts and underlings of the Abyss, he had been able to hold his own.
He even used the suicidal skill called Overdrive, making it all the more so.
“Hah, such tearful camaraderie.”
But the large man before me was different.
“Narvain was like this, and so is this guy. Why are mid-game bosses appearing this early?”
Previously, we encountered the puppeteer Narvain, who almost took our lives with just a single puppet.
He was that formidable an opponent.
This man was similar.
A leader of Amcheon and the first disciple banished by the War God.
Bakal.
His body was unscathed, not a single injury.
Even though Ian used his suicidal move.
“There’s no chance of winning.”
He was someone Ian couldn’t even lay a hand on.
No matter what desperate measures I tried, it wouldn’t work in my current state.
Even with the combined strength of others, it would be barely possible.
“Are you planning to stall for time? You’re so honest it’s exasperating.”
Bakal sneered and pulled something out from under his robe.
“Do you know what this is? It’s something I received to completely and flawlessly kill brats like you.”
In his palm was a small orb, emitting black smoke like a shimmering haze.
“Let’s have some fun, shall we?”
Clink!
He clenched his fist, shattering the orb.
Black smoke spread wide, descending to the ground and covering the area.
Then, at some point, it suddenly stopped.
It swelled like fluffy cotton candy, rising high into the air.
“Hahaha! How do you like it? This space won’t break until someone dies here.”
He burst into a maniacal laugh, his eyes curving like crescent moons as he stared at me.
Watching his actions, I voiced the doubt I had been holding.
“Why use that now? We can’t be your true targets.”
At this point, Ian wouldn’t be a significant threat to them.
The fact that he carries the divine blood foretold in the prophecy hasn’t been revealed yet.
While Ian may be a genius prodigy and a top priority to some extent, he shouldn’t be their primary target.
“…..”
“Hmm, as much as I’d love to crush the Saintess’s head, orders are orders, after all.”
“Vanice isn’t the top priority?”
Watching him casually shake his head and feign regret, I realized something was wrong.
“Arcane is supposed to have smart brats, but it seems that’s not always the case.”
“Hmm, I’m getting tired of talking. You’re just a dead man walking anyway.”
Crack, crack.
Bakal threw off his robe, stretching his body as he slowly approached.
“What kind of magic is this…?”
He was merely walking, yet the overwhelming pressure made it hard for me to move.
“I hope you’re at least strong enough to be a toy.”
As he approached me, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and smirked, adjusting his stance.
“Try to block this.”
Then, he slowly extended his fist.
At first glance, it appeared almost like slow motion—a straightforward and honest strike.
The distance was too far for his extended arm to reach me, so someone who didn’t know him might be fooled.
‘Damn it, if that hits me, my head’s going to be blown clean off. I have to dodge no matter what.’
Knowing the details from the original story, I mustered every ounce of strength to twist my body and barely managed to roll to the side.
Boom!
As my gaze lowered to the crumbling ground, a deafening sound, like that of a cannon firing, roared past me.
The sheer force ruptured my eardrums, causing blood to stream from my ears.
“You dodged that?”
“Tch. Who just stands still and takes a hit like that? You thick-headed bastard.”
“Haha, as agile as you are, your mouth is just as unrestrained.”
Bakal, whose talents were said to surpass even the heroine Isabel, was praised as an exceptional genius.
That’s why the War God had taken him as a disciple.
‘No matter how much I downplay it, he’s at least 7th rank.
This guy can knock down trees and carve mountains with the wind pressure from his punches.
In other words, there’s no way for me to win.
Exploiting gaps using knowledge from the original story, like against someone like Roxanne, is impossible.
To him, I must seem like nothing more than a flying insect.’
‘If this keeps up, I’m 100% dead.’
Even if I stalled for time by playing along with his pace, it would only delay my death for a short while.
Hoping for reinforcements to arrive within this magically sealed barrier was nothing but a vain wish.
There was no certainty.
‘Whether I die now or later, the result’s the same.’
So, I made up my mind.
If I’m going to die anyway, I might as well put up a fight before I go.
If I’m going to fall, I’ll take a gamble.
[Current EXP – 101,247]
Before the protagonist enrolled, I had aimed to accumulate 100,000 EXP points.
I only decided later that I’d use them to raise the protagonist.
Initially, I had another plan.
[Fragment of Chaos no. 5]
[Consumes the user’s ᄆᄆᄆ to convert it into magic power.]
[EXP – 100,000]
The plan was to buy an item called the Fragment of Chaos, which dramatically increases the user’s magical power.
In the original story, it was referred to as the “Stone of Greed.”
Anyone who obtained the Fragment of Chaos, even an ordinary human, could gain tremendous power and achieve rapid growth in a short time.
Of course, it wasn’t just an overpowered item with no drawbacks.
‘Those who used it mostly died young.’
For whatever reason, all of them died within 5 to 10 years, give or take.
Readers speculated it consumed life force to convert into magic power.
‘I thought the same thing.’
Although the author never revealed the detailed settings, I was convinced it was life force.
‘It’s like innate qi from martial arts novels.’
I wanted to avoid using it and even buying it if I could help it.
‘But what good is that reasoning when I’m about to die right now?’
After a brief hesitation, I pressed the purchase button.
Swing!
A black stone, the size of an egg, fell from the sky into my hand.
“How boring. How much longer do you plan to make me wait?”
Bakal, smiling devilishly, began closing the distance.
I could sense that his patience was wearing thin.
Without hesitation, I activated the Fragment of Chaos.