Chapter 39 (Continued)

 

It was already too late.

 

The beast was charging at Deok-soo.

 

Deok-soo turned around in surprise. The beast’s skull, wrapped in purple magic, was already within close range.

 

In that moment, time seemed to slow down.

 

There wasn’t enough time to swing his truncheon.

 

He thought he was doomed.

 

At that moment.

 

Crack!

 

Lightning struck the air.

 

Someone had enveloped their weapon in lightning magic and swiftly leaped.

 

It was the black truncheon, ‘Iron Dragon Staff,’ made of the armor of the Iron Dragon.

 

Boom!!

 

Crack!!

 

The shockwave of the lightning blast shattered the beast.

 

The intense force scattered electricity in all directions.

 

Bone fragments flew, and a pressure wave spread momentarily.

 

The heavy magic emanating from the person filled the students with a chilling sensation.

 

Thud. The man who had shattered the beast with a single blow landed, touching the brim of his cap.

 

Deok-soo and the student stared at him in shock.

 

“Leader…!”

 

Ahn Woo-jin, the Disciplinary Committee Leader of Ahsung High School.

 

He looked at Deok-soo with sharp eyes.

 

To Deok-soo, Woo-jin seemed as composed as ever. He appeared unaffected by the terror the beasts conveyed. That cold gaze instead boosted Deok-soo’s morale.

 

Woo-jin said nothing. He just lightly tapped Deok-soo’s shoulder as he passed by, as if entrusting the situation to him.

 

“……”

 

Remembering how close he had come to being overwhelmed by the beast, Deok-soo bit his lip.

 

The leader was tirelessly fighting to protect the students.

 

He couldn’t afford to display such ineptitude anymore.

 

“Follow me! We need to evacuate!”

 

“Yes, yes…!”

 

Deok-soo quickly moved, leading the student he had saved.

 

* * *

 

‘I didn’t hear about this…!?’

 

This is a serious problem.

 

The situation was much worse than expected.

 

The sudden deployment of the barrier rendered smartphones useless and location tracking impossible. Only radio communication remained functional.

 

Moreover, the barrier was significantly larger than a soccer field, with a palpable density of magic power rarely seen in Neo Seoul.

 

Even Oh Baek-seo would struggle to break through it.

 

For now, the only option was to fend off the threat with available Disciplinary Committee members and security robots.

 

‘Expressionless… was it really you?’

 

I looked toward the center of the barrier. I had pinpointed who was there before the tracking app went offline.

 

The expressionless junior, Han Seo-jin.

 

Based on the location information I saw on the app, she had remained in one place for some reason. I had been observing carefully.

 

Ultimately, the barrier had been deployed with Seo-jin at its center.

 

There was no doubt she was one of the Six Sinners.

 

‘This is strange.’

 

My brow furrowed.

 

My mind was a chaotic mess.

 

‘No matter how powerful the necromancer, they can’t create a barrier of this magnitude. How did she summon minions in multiple locations? In the game, she could only summon them around herself.’

 

Even though necromancy was an exceptional unique ability, it wasn’t supposed to cause such severe balance disruption.

 

The density of magic power and the scale of the technique were at least at the 7th tier or higher.

 

I didn’t understand what was happening.

 

The situation didn’t align with the game information I knew.

 

‘And the magic beneath the ground…’

 

What concerned me most was below the ground.

 

I sensed an unusual magic force from below.

 

‘What is this magic…?’

 

Since the necromancer activated her unique ability, I had felt a heartbeat-like pulse of life.
Unidentified magic was rising from below.

 

‘It’s clear that this isn’t something Seo-jin could do alone. There’s some enormous catalyst underground. Something very dangerous…’

 

Whatever the catalyst was, it clearly shouldn’t be awakened.

 

Seo-jin seemed to have known what lay beneath the ground.

 

A human?

 

No.

 

A human couldn’t survive being buried alive.

 

Something.

 

Something beyond the 7th tier was assisting Seo-jin from beneath the ground.

 

If so, Seo-jin’s motive for committing this massacre was likely linked to what was underground.

 

She wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to prepare for a meaningless slaughter.

 

The reason she awakened the minions and targeted students must be to kill as many as quickly as possible.

 

Why?

 

‘…To awaken whatever is underground? To offer human corpses or blood as a sacrifice?’

 

I didn’t know the exact cause and effect, but it seemed possible.

 

Otherwise, Seo-jin wouldn’t have prepared so thoroughly and carried out the slaughter here.

 

I bit my lip.

 

The barrier’s area was excessively large.

 

The magical beasts’ strength varied, and the students were scattered everywhere. It was uncertain whether the security robots and the Disciplinary Committee members within the barrier could protect the students.

 

What to do?

 

How could I protect the students and survive?

 

First, I needed to find Han Seo-jin.

 

Even though I couldn’t defeat her with my current abilities, I had to somehow stop her to end this situation.

 

I didn’t know if she had moved or if she was still in her previous location.

 

In any case, I kept running towards where Seo-jin was. As fast as possible. My clothes fluttered continuously.

 

Boom!!

 

Crack!!

 

I smashed every beast I saw with the Iron Dragon Staff.

 

When I saw a beast in the distance, I launched the Lightning Rod, discharging lightning. Seo-jin’s minions, swept by the dozens of lightning branches, lost their magical skin and were incapacitated.

 

My heart pounded incessantly, urging me on.

 

Every time I took down a beast, somewhere else, another attack was happening.

 

At this moment, someone might have already fallen.

 

‘Just a little… faster!’

 

Faster.

 

Faster.

 

I channeled magic power to its maximum output for physical enhancement and shot through the test site like an arrow. Tension gripped my entire body. My teeth clenched.

 

Suddenly, I spotted another beast.

 

And.

 

“…Ah!”

 

The beast’s sharp claws raked a female student’s side.

 

Her eyes widened, her breath caught, and my heart sank.

 

The student, clutching her side, stumbled back. Blood gushed through her fingers, soaking her uniform.

 

She collapsed backward.

 

I recognized her face.

 

─ ‘You’ll get better with practice. Keep it up.’

 

─ ‘Leader, I’ll do my best…!’

 

She was a new Disciplinary Committee member I had advised while monitoring hair and dress code at the school gate.

 

She didn’t wear her committee armband since she was here for the practical evaluation as a first-year student.

 

Meanwhile, a security robot, possibly protecting her, struggled to fight the beast, half its body blown away, sparking and smoking.

 

The beast casually swiped its claws, finishing off the robot. Its lamp extinguished, and the mechanical hum ceased.

 

Whoosh!

 

I charged forward.

 

Complicated thoughts didn’t enter my mind.

 

Right now, I only wanted to kill that huge beast.

 

I infused more lightning magic into the Iron Dragon Staff. By the time the beast noticed me, my staff was already cutting through the air.

 

Boom!!!

 

Crack!!

 

[Grr…!]

 

I delivered a powerful strike. The lightning-wrapped Iron Dragon’s Staff pierced the beast’s torso, shattering it with a shockwave.

 

Purple magic dispersed, and bone fragments scattered.

 

The beast’s dying scream was abruptly cut off.