I seriously need to move out of this place soon.
What kind of cursed feng shui does this studio apartment have that trouble keeps finding its way here?
"I'm doomed."
Grumble.
Before the 'thing' that had appeared in midair even touched the ground, I had already realized something was wrong.
Its aura was far too unnatural for me to simply ignore it and walk away.
Sssshkk...
At last, a black shadow descended from the sky.
The figure landed softly on the asphalt in front of me, almost as though it weighed nothing at all.
Crack.
The mysterious creature rose gracefully from its crouch.
As its body shifted, its bones creaked with a sound like an ancient, rotting tree splitting apart.
But now wasn't the time to admire the sound effects.
'What the hell is that?'
Startled by the bizarre creature that had suddenly dropped out of the sky, I instinctively took a step back.
'Magic?'
A moment later, the mysterious creature stretched one arm forward as though preparing to cast some sort of spell.
I didn't approach recklessly.
If it was about to use a spell that could blow up the surrounding area, I'd be in serious trouble.
'Stay calm. I made sure to bring my magic tools today. If I hit it with [Surprise Box!], even if all it does is knock the thing unconscious, I should still be able to escape somehow...'
I analyzed the monster's spell while reaching into my pocket.
'Right. Once it's unconscious, I'll use [Hydra] to stab out its eyes. That black stuff leaking from it looks like some kind of bodily fluid. Could it be poisonous?'
But immediately afterward, something completely unexpected happened.
"Huh?"
Whoosh—!
The magical energy that had been gathering around the monster suddenly dispersed helplessly in every direction.
"...."
...
...
What... was that?
Even afterward, nothing changed.
The creature repeatedly attempted the same spell, yet for some reason, every time it did, the magical energy drained away before the ritual could even be completed.
And it happened with remarkable precision.
'Nothing... happened?'
Blink.
I stared at the monster for a moment, trying to understand what was going on.
Then a memory suddenly surfaced in my mind.
'Ah.'
Kelumineto!
I'd seen this monster before.
It was the one I'd come across on the internet some time ago.
Back when I'd only recently learned how to use a cellphone, I'd searched the word 'soul' on a portal site. That was when I'd found information about an Earth monster that supposedly used a skill called [Soul Strike].
'Long live the information society.'
A monster that supposedly manipulated a concept which even I, someone who had reached the pinnacle of soul and magic theory, had only barely managed to interpret near the end of my previous life.
But now that I was seeing the technique firsthand, everything became clear.
As expected, it didn't actually touch the soul at all...
'Aha.'
After observing the monster's repeated failures, I understood the true nature {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} of its spell.
'This is [Mana Burn]!'
The technique Earthlings called Soul Strike had absolutely nothing to do with the spiritual concept.
[Mana Burn].
More precisely, it was simply a spell that forcibly evaporated the target magician's mana.
That explained why the boss's attacks couldn't be blocked even with excellent armor.
The magical tools found in dungeons generally created powerful defensive barriers around the user's body. Those barriers were resistant to external attacks, but they couldn't stop something inside the body from escaping.
'Phew. For a moment, I really thought shamans existed on Earth...'
King of the Dead.
Soul Strike.
All those grandiose names had made me worry for nothing.
Still, when I thought about it, the misunderstanding wasn't completely unreasonable.
For a magician, Mana Burn was undoubtedly a deadly technique.
'That's why I used it so often in my previous life.'
Without mana, you couldn't attack.
The protective barriers surrounding the body weakened as well.
Mana Burn was a spell capable of reducing both an opponent's offensive and defensive capabilities with a single strike.
Now, suppose the King of the Dead, Kelumineto, burned one hundred units of mana per attack.
A D-rank Hunter's total mana capacity was barely around seventy.
So what happened if a D-rank Hunter was hit by such an attack?
They died an untimely death.
After all, once humans awakened, even their internal organs evolved to make use of mana.
'A magician who loses all their mana suffers organ failure and dies.'
It was a powerful spell capable of burning away even the minute amount of mana necessary to sustain life.
From an Earthling's perspective, it was understandable that they would mistake it for an attack on the soul.
Every time that creature gestured, they must have felt a shock as if their very life force were being ripped away.
'The sensation of mana being evaporated by Mana Burn is completely different from simply consuming mana while using a skill.'
A primitive magician would probably die without ever understanding what had happened.
Unfortunately for Kelumineto, however, it had chosen the wrong opponent this time.
I knew that better than anyone because I'd used this magic frequently in my previous life.
[Mana Burn] was only effective against magicians whose ability to control mana was significantly inferior to that of the caster.
In other words...
It was a spell for bullying trash mobs.
"Hmm."
Unfortunately for this creature, the person standing in front of it had once been an archmage.
My control over mana existed on an entirely different level.
Why would I ever allow some lowly beast to seize control of something that belonged to me?
"Ga... eugh?"
The monster's technique didn't work.
Unlike the humans of Earth, I possessed complete control over every trace of mana inside my body.
"Greuk!"
Then the monster, black tears streaming down its face, suddenly changed its posture.
Thud.
The emaciated creature dropped to its knees and planted both hands against the ground.
With its head bowed like that, it almost looked as though it were surrendering.
In reality, however, it was preparing to unleash an even stronger attack.
By placing its hands against the ground, it could draw additional mana from the earth beneath it.
"Eurr... rrrr...!"
The King of the Dead, Kelumineto, groaned as it activated its third Mana Burn.
Naturally, that one was nullified as well.
Watching it struggle so desperately for absolutely no result almost made me pity it.
With such a flimsy spell structure, no matter how many times it tried, the outcome would remain exactly the same.
"Hmm."
Well, whatever.
The sudden attack had startled me at first, but considering how anticlimactically things had turned out, I supposed I should be relieved.
Srrrnk.
I drew Hydra's Blade from the sheath at my side and strode forward.
By then, however, I had already stopped paying attention to the monster itself.
Because this wasn't a real creature...
"Yeah."
It was someone's summoned servant.
"Let's see what kind of bastard is behind this."
The cold weight of Hydra in my hand was unmistakable.
After a brief warm-up, I broke into a full sprint.
***
Oh my God.
Oh my God.
Oh my God!
Sophia was horrified.
'This can't be happening!'
The summoned monster had definitely used [Soul Strike].
Even the strongest Hunters were helpless before the horrifying effects of that technique.
And yet Kim Giryeo had taken it head-on.
'He... he's just ignoring my servant's attack...?'
The blond, cold-faced man hadn't even flinched after being struck by Kelumineto's skill.
He merely stood there, staring down at the monster with an icy expression.
'Did I mess up the summoning? No. My skill worked perfectly. Just like always!'
Unable to accept what she was seeing, Sophia issued another command to her summoned creature.
She poured the rest of her strength into urging it forward, ordering it to attack the man again.
What happened next was even more shocking.
Thud.
The instant Kelumineto received the command, it dropped to its knees before Kim Giryeo.
'What the hell is this?!'
The King of the Dead.
A monster that had driven countless Hunters to despair regardless of rank.
A supposedly transcendent being capable of manipulating souls themselves.
How could something like that look so pathetic?
Sophia desperately urged her fallen servant onward.
'What's wrong with you? Kelumineto! Attack harder! Harder, harder!'
But the more she pushed it, the closer the summoned creature pressed itself against the ground.
"Geurrrr..."
In truth, the [Summoning] ability contained no function that allowed Sophia to communicate directly with the monster she'd summoned.
So she had no way of understanding what Kelumineto was actually doing.
From the monster's perspective, it was simply obeying its master's command and attacking with everything it had.
To a human observer, however, its posture looked entirely different.
It looked like a defeated soldier groveling in complete surrender.
'H-How could this happen?'
She had gone through hell to obtain that magic stone.
Sophia could only gape as she watched the summoned monster she'd worked so hard to acquire become completely useless.
"Huh?"
Then, at that moment, the blond man visible through her binoculars suddenly turned his head.
And looked directly at her.
His gaze was aimed straight at the center of the lenses.
'Hmm?'
That was strange.
She'd been using a stealth item this entire time.
The binoculars should have been rendered transparent along with the rest of her body.
There was no way he could possibly see them.
'Was that just my imagination?'
Just as she was about to dismiss the thought, Kim Giryeo, who had been standing far away, suddenly broke into a violent sprint.
Straight toward Sophia.
As a great magician, Kim Giryeo's abilities might have been crippled in most respects, but when it came to detecting magical power, he remained unparalleled.
The moment he'd realized the monster was a summoned creature, he'd also immediately detected the magician connected to it.
'Huh? Huuuh? Huuuuuh?!'
Sophia panicked.
How could she possibly not be terrified?
She had just witnessed with her own eyes what Korea's fourth S-rank had done.
Kim Giryeo had instantly neutralized the King of the Dead, a monster responsible for the deaths of countless Hunters.
That terrifying boss monster had bowed its head to the ground before him.
And she had dared to send something like that against him.
'If he catches me, I'm dead, right?'
Damn it!
Oh my God!
Sophia immediately turned and ran.
She was on the verge of screaming the entire time.
'Aaaah! What do I do?! Brooklyn, you damned bitch! This is all your fault!'
The fear she felt now rivaled the anxiety of sitting at a gambling table with ten million dollars on the line while holding nothing but a pair of twos.
Sophia ran for her life.
Strangely, however, her speed was pitifully slow for an A-rank Hunter.
There was an unavoidable price attached to her ability.
'Keeeugh!'
Unfortunately, [Summon] consumed an enormous amount of mana.
Put simply, it was horribly inefficient.
Not only did Sophia have to personally hunt monsters and recover their magic stones, but whenever she summoned a servant equal to herself in rank, nearly all of her energy was transferred into the summoned creature.
Naturally, that left her own body severely weakened.
This was the price paid by someone who imitated the act of creation.
Before long, Sophia's physical condition deteriorated so badly that even recovery potions couldn't compensate for it.
She staggered to a stop.
"Cough, cough! Cough!"
Her breathing was ragged.
Her heart pounded violently inside her chest.
But what frightened her most was one particular characteristic of that Asian S-rank.
'His presence! I really can't sense him at all!'
They said that Korea's Hunter Kim Giryeo always suppressed his mana.
Enzo had even described the sensation of standing before him as being no different from facing some insignificant F-rank weakling.
Unlike other S-rank Hunters, Kim Giryeo gave off absolutely no unusual presence, no matter how close he came.
His fighting style was different from theirs.
Kim Giryeo was like a silent assassin.
He could approach his enemies without revealing even the slightest trace of himself...
And kill them.
'Euuugh.'
How close was he now?
Could he already be right behind her?
On the verge of tears, Sophia barely managed to turn her head and look back.
And what she saw was...
"Huh?"
Her eyes widened.
The blond man had stopped at the far end of the alley.
He simply stood there, quietly watching her.
For some reason, he showed no intention of moving.
'What... is he doing?'
Sophia couldn't understand.
But she didn't have time to think about it.
The instant their eyes met, the Hunter suddenly started running again.
'Oh my God!'
The sight of Kim Giryeo charging toward her wiped Sophia's mind blank.
She immediately turned and bolted forward again.
"Heuk, heuk!"
What she desperately needed right now was a high-speed mobility artifact like Whitebird.
But how could a penniless gambler who had sold off nearly all her equipment to repay her debts possibly own something like that?
The moment that S-rank Hunter saw through her invisibility, this entire situation had already become hopeless.
"Heuk, heuk!"
Sophia continued running as hard as her weakened body would allow.
"Keugh..."
Thump, thump.
Eventually, she stopped again.
With tears brimming in her eyes like a cow being dragged toward the slaughterhouse, she slowly turned around.
She had been running so slowly that her pursuer should already have caught her.
Still, if she was going to die, she at least wanted to see where the blade came from.
'Ugh?'
Wait.
What on earth was going on?
Sophia stared behind her in disbelief.
...
Kim Giryeo was standing exactly where he had been before.
The distance between them hadn't changed at all.
For some inexplicable reason, the man had once again stopped at the far end of the alley.
One hand rested on his hip as he quietly watched her.
'No way...'
Only after making eye contact with Sophia did Kim Giryeo begin running again.
Naturally, Sophia responded by forcing her legs to move once more.
But by now, something about the situation felt terribly wrong.
An ominous suspicion crept into her mind.
'No way. No way, no way...!'
A few seconds later, Sophia abruptly turned around to confirm the thought that had just occurred to her.
There he was.
The Hunter had subtly stopped running again.
The instant Sophia saw him, her expression froze.
'Kkaaaaaaaaaah!'
It seemed she needed to take back the comparison she'd made earlier.
Not once—not even in the gambling halls where she'd repeatedly gambled between heaven and hell—had she ever experienced fear like this.
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