The hunters in the auditorium mostly had their hands raised or were lying face down on the ground.
If they showed even the slightest sign of movement, the assailants immediately took action.
Tatadatang─!
“Kyahhh!”
“A-Alright! I won’t move. Don’t shoot!”
A man who had been moving slightly raised his hands in surrender.
At that moment, his eyes widened as he looked at the assailant.
A woman had appeared behind the assailant.
Simultaneously.
Swoosh—
The assailant’s neck was severed.
Thud.
The headless assailant collapsed to the floor.
That was the beginning.
Swoosh swoosh.
Every time the eerie sound of cutting echoed, another assailant fell without fail.
“W-What the hell?!”
“Shoot!”
Tatadatang─!
The terrified assailants fired their guns and swung their weapons at the woman holding scissors, but they only cut through empty air.
Swoosh.
The only ones falling were the assailants.
It felt like they were fighting a ghost with no physical form.
It didn’t take long for their will to resist to disappear.
Bang bang bang!
“You crazy bastard! Why did you lock the door?!”
“Open the door! Quickly!”
“S-She’s coming! Aahhh!”
The terrified assailants started running out of the auditorium.
The ones dressed in white fled outside.
It seemed that Vanessa could handle them on her own.
If it were a wide, open space like the auditorium, it might be different, but in the narrow hallways and inner rooms with plenty of hiding spots, facing Vanessa was suicide.
By abandoning the auditorium and fleeing, the assailants had sealed their own fate.
They wouldn’t be able to escape beyond the isolated hall anyway.
‘Should I start moving too?’
Putting aside my concerns for Vanessa, I summoned my Twin Dragon Swords.
“Jeanne, please help them.”
I pointed toward the Marquess Cunningham, who was fighting the assailants.
“What about you, Seojun?”
“I’m fine. I’ll be moving in secret.”
I had no intention of revealing myself and taking the spotlight.
Summoning Jeanne and Vanessa had already been an impulsive decision without worrying about the consequences.
‘But it couldn’t be helped.’
If I hadn’t summoned them, I could have been in danger.
Besides, I needed both of them to save the people.
“I’ll leave it to you, Jeanne.”
Entrusting Jeanne with supporting Marquess Cunningham, I turned towards the tightly shut emergency stairwell.
Just then.
“Seojun, wait a moment.”
Jeanne stopped me. Then suddenly, she tore a strip from her dress.
Riiip—
After tearing her skirt into a long strip, Jeanne looked at me and spoke.
“Could you give me your wrist?”
“?”
Puzzled, I held out my wrist, and Jeanne wrapped the torn fabric around it, tying it securely.
“Done.”
“What is this?”
“With this, I can support you no matter where you go.”
===
[Cloth of Jeanne d’Arc]
No special abilities, but it allows the wearer to receive Jeanne d’Arc’s energy.
===
‘A remote buff, huh.’
Even if we were physically apart, as long as I had her possession, I could receive Jeanne’s assistance.
There was probably a range limit, but within the hall, it wouldn’t be a problem.
‘I’ll have to buy her a new dress later.’
Seeing the torn fabric, I couldn’t help but smile slightly.
“Thank you, Jeanne.”
“Take care.”
Jeanne smiled brightly as she saw me off.
I gripped my Twin Dragon Swords and headed towards the emergency stairs.
There was no one guarding the tightly shut stairwell.
All the assailants blocking the auditorium had fled because of Vanessa.
I struck the lock on the emergency stairwell with my swords.
Slash—!
The lock was cut, and the chain hung loosely.
I opened the door and ascended the stairs.
4F
The top floor of the hall, the fourth floor.
Unlike the main auditorium, which was surrounded by seats like a baseball stadium, the fourth floor was empty.
—Summoning Napoleon’s Rifle.
I summoned Napoleon’s Rifle and approached the railing to overlook the auditorium.
Marquess Cunningham and his attendants were fighting the assailants.
‘Shooting won’t be easy.’
A little over 20 meters.
It was an easy range for hitting a stationary target, but hitting a moving one was difficult.
There was also the risk of accidentally hitting an ally.
That is, if it were just a regular gun.
[Battlefield Aura Detected.]
[Napoleon’s Rifle is unlocking a trait.]
[General of Grapeshot, Napoleon]
[Accuracy: +65%]
I aimed Napoleon’s Rifle at the assailants.
I observed carefully, targeting a lone assailant who had broken away from the fight, then pulled the trigger.
Bang—!
The magic bullet fired.
Vanessa assessed the situation as soon as she was summoned.
The auditorium had been taken over by the assailants.
She first eliminated Nikolai, who had dared to raise a sword against Eun-Gong.
Although killing the head of the Orthodox Church’s Korean diocese would bring retaliation from Moscow, she didn’t care.
He deserved to die the moment he raised his sword against Eun-Gong.
Then, following Eun-Gong’s orders, she deliberately drove the church’s executioners out of the auditorium.
To prevent them from hurting anyone.
Because if someone died, Eun-Gong would be saddened.
“Die!”
Swoosh—
The arm of an executioner who had been hiding behind a door and lunged at her was severed.
“Huh?”
Before the executioner could comprehend the situation, his head rolled to the floor.
Step, step.
Leaving the fallen body behind, Vanessa walked on.
As she wandered the hallway, she casually stabbed the wall without even looking.
Squish.
Blood seeped from the wall.
Thud.
An executioner disguised as part of the wall slumped to the floor.
Under desks, behind doors, on top of lockers, on ceilings, in the hall’s corners…
The executioners were hiding all over the place like they were playing hide-and-seek.
A foolish choice.
Because hide-and-seek was Vanessa’s specialty.
She located them effortlessly, as naturally as breathing.
Which instilled overwhelming fear.
No matter where or how they hid, Vanessa would always find them like a ghost.
Eventually, the executioners gave up hiding and started running away from Vanessa.
But she didn’t chase them in haste.
Slowly, they drove the executioner priests into the corner of the hall.
Step, step.
Like a rabbit hunt, leisurely.
“What the hell is this!?”
Wang Wei was extremely bewildered.
When they first devised the plan, it was an operation that was absolutely impossible to fail.
When they were offered the chance to steal the essence from the Orthodox Church, they accepted because it seemed entirely feasible.
Even when they set up the barrier and entered inside, the situation was good.
Inside the auditorium, there were only unarmed lower-ranked hunters and a small number of attendants brought by Marquis Cunningham.
Although Marquis Cunningham was an outstanding hunter, no one could handle ten people with one hand.
As the Chinese professional cleaners, armed with special equipment, rushed in, even Marquis Cunningham couldn’t put up much of a fight.
It seemed like stealing the essence was within reach.
The situation began to change when a girl carrying a flag appeared.
Flap, flap.
As the girl waved the flag, a white light spread out, and the wounds of the marquis’s attendants vanished as if they had never been there.
“What kind of ridiculous ability is this…?!”
Seeing them restored to their original state, as if they had never fought at all, Wang Wei was stunned.
Their advantageous numbers lost meaning due to that insane healing power.
Every time they started to tire, the light would burst out, and they would recover again and again.
The opponents were full of energy, while the Chinese hunters were the only ones getting exhausted.
And that wasn’t the only problem.
Bang! Bang!
“Argh!”
“Agh!”
“That bastard, I’ll rip him apart!”
Wang Wei’s eyes turned red as he looked up at the fourth floor.
There, a masked man was firing a rifle.
His timing was so precise that the Chinese hunters couldn’t move properly while being conscious of the gunfire.
Thanks to this, Marquis Cunningham regained momentum and rampaged like a mad beast.
Despite his old age, he showed no signs of exhaustion, swinging his sword relentlessly.
Even the Orthodox Church members who were supposed to help had disappeared without a trace.
Realizing that they were doomed, Wang Wei dashed toward the exit.
He hurriedly yanked the door open, only to be met with pure white emptiness.
He shouted angrily at the lieutenant who followed him.
“Sp-spatial teleportation! Hurry up and teleport us!”
“I can’t!”
“Why not?!”
“The barrier! We can’t get out because of the barrier!”
Wang Wei already knew this but asked out of panic.
Even Nikolai had said it would take about 30 minutes to escape from an isolated location like this.
And yet, the very Nikolai who had the means to do so was already lying on the ground with his head rolling.
Thud, thud, thud!
Wang Wei pounded on the white wall in desperation.
Did his efforts pay off?
“Oh! I-it’s opening!”
The void trembled, and cracks began to form.
“Hit it! Quickly!”
“Yes!”
Just as Wang Wei and his lieutenant, their faces bright with hope, were about to strike harder—
Crash! Fwoooosh!
The barrier shattered, revealing a woman holding a golden sword.
And behind her stood a crowd of hunters.
Wang Wei froze, his fist still raised.
“It’s over.”
As the barrier broke, the hunters outside swarmed into the hall.
“Eungong.”
Vanessa approached me.
“Are you finished?”
“Yes. Everything is taken care of.”
She was telling me that all the fleeing enemies had been eliminated.
“Good work.”
“You too, Eungong.”
Vanessa smiled warmly.
Meanwhile, on the first floor of the auditorium, the remaining enemies were being subdued.
“Sorry, but can we meet at home later?”
“Understood.”
I sent Vanessa away. Jeanne followed soon after.
“What the…?!”
“She disappeared!”
As Jeanne vanished, the hunters murmured in surprise.
I descended to the first floor, blending in with them as if nothing had happened.
Just as I opened the emergency exit—
“Ancestor…?”
A voice stopped me in my tracks.
Turning my head, I saw a silver-haired woman with blue eyes staring at me in shock.