Chapter 236: A Hero For The Little Things (6)

“Mister...” NT called out in a trembling voice, her eyes welling with tears.

Kwon Oh-Jin faintly smiled as he turned around. “Stay inside. Don’t come out.”

The barrier had weakened from the relentless attacks, but it still held for now.

It should withstand one or two more hits.

That was all he needed.

“

Hoo, hoo! Hoooo!

” A grotesque monster with the head of an owl and the body of a bear screeched, snapping its sharp beak.

The monsters who had survived the lightning storm staggered to their feet.

Around half of them survived, huh.

Kwon Oh-Jin calmly assessed the situation and tightened the grip on his spear.

Every monster here was strong as if they had just clawed their way out of the Demonic District. Just because his ambush worked didn’t mean he could let his guard down.

He took a deep, steady breath and circulated the mana condensed in his heart throughout his entire body. Mana spread through his mana circuits that ran through him like veins, awakening his cells with an electric rush. Then, he compressed his mana circuits and forced the mana to burst outward.

“Exceed.”

Crackle!

Blue lightning flared violently and enveloped him. Kwon Oh-Jin kicked off the ground and charged toward the monsters.

“This one first.”

Crunch!

His spear slammed into a monster’s jaw, cracked through its skull, and burst out through the crown of its head. With a fluid, almost dance-like motion, he yanked the spear free and swung it at a monster coming from behind.

Stigma of Pyxis.

Even though monsters surrounded him, his instincts told him exactly where to step and strike.

“

Krrrrk!

”

Their roars rang in his ears, and he could smell the stench of blood as sticky sweat clung to him.

Kwon Oh-Jin swung his spear again and again. He no longer knew how many he had killed or which one he was fighting now. The only thing he felt was his spear piercing through flesh as guts spilled out and released a revolting stench.

“

Haa, haa!

”

His number of wounds increased as claws and teeth tore chunks from his flesh, but he didn’t have time to create water with the Stigma of Seahorse to heal himself. He simply stabbed and slashed again and again like a machine.

“M-Mister! The monsters just keep on coming!” NT shouted urgently as she pointed somewhere. “That one! That monster looks strange!”

Kwon Oh-Jin followed her gesture and turned his head.

There, an owl-headed monster sat high on top of a tree and cried out annoyingly. “

Hoo! Hoo! Hoooo!

”

That one gave orders to the other monsters earlier.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes narrowed at it. Its necklace was gone, but it wasn’t hard to guess this owl-headed monster’s rank.

A red-ranked monster.

He had encountered green and blue-ranked monsters often while searching for the safety zone with NT, but had never seen a red-ranked monster even once. That meant they were rare and overwhelmingly strong like the black-ranked knight.

If the black one is the king... then is this one something like the general?

He scanned the owl-headed monster from head to toe.

Despite its bird head, it had a massive body with pure muscle as if on steroids.

An Owlbear.

He recalled hearing the name once. Among the monsters that weren’t the Named, Owlbears possessed one of the highest intelligences and could also freely control mana.

But it’s still just a monster.

Kwon Oh-Jin fiercely bared his teeth and gripped his spear tighter.

“

Grrrk!

”

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

“

Guoohhh!

”

Responding to the Owlbear’s cry, the green and blue-ranked monsters charged in from all directions.

He flipped his spear upside down and raised it high.

“Explosive Lightning!”

Kwon Oh-Jin aggressively slammed his spear down, causing the ground to crack and explode into the air. A thick cloud of dust rose, momentarily obscuring the monsters’ vision and forcing them back.

From atop the tree, the Owlbear shrieked sharply and ordered the monsters. “

Hooo! Hooooo!

”

The beasts that had retreated now threw themselves into the lingering cloud of dust without hesitation.

Kwon Oh-Jin retrieved his spear and readjusted his stance. He hadn’t expected them to charge again so quickly and grunted in surprise. “

Ugh!

”

A leopard-like monster leaped high into the air and sank its teeth into his neck.

“

Karrrrk!

”

Dark, crimson blood gushed out violently.

Splash!

Kwon Oh-Jin clutched his neck and fell to the ground.

“

Kugh!

”

Monsters swarmed over him, piling up like a little hill.

“M-Misterrrrr!” NT shouted.

The Owlbear looked down at Kwon Oh-Jin, soaked in blood, and pounded its chest while clicking its short beak as if celebrating its victory. “

Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!

”

“That’s what I thought, you bird-brained bastard.” Kwon Oh-Jin smirked and dissolved into the air like a mirage.

“

Hooo?

”

Just as the Owlbear turned around in confusion, Kwon Oh-Jin soared up onto a tree with a metallic sound.

Screech!

Positioned perfectly behind the Owlbear’s back, he quickly got into a fighting stance and took a deep breath. Mana poured into his spear as he visualized a bolt of blue lightning crashing through the cloudy sky.

Rumble.

As if responding to his imagination, the Black Heaven activated and condensed at the tip of his spear along with his mana.

What the...?

He hadn’t expected the Black Heaven to suddenly react like this, but now wasn’t the time to question it. Refocusing, he sharpened the image in his mind of dark clouds covering the sky and a single bolt of blue lightning plummeting down as if a god was punishing the wicked.

Only one name suited this skill.

“Divine Punishment.”

Crackle! Boom!

The spear left Kwon Oh-Jin’s hand and transformed into lightning, tearing straight through the Owlbear.

Ring!

[Kwon Oh-Jin has successfully combined the Black Heaven’s power with the Stigma of Lyra!]

[The proficiency of Lightning Lv10 has significantly increased!]

[Kwon Oh-Jin has acquired the composite skill, Divine Punishment Lv MAX!]

The unexpected gain of a composite skill pleasantly surprised him, but it was short-lived as the Owlbear roared ferociously and lunged at him.

“

Hooooo!

”

Clicking his tongue, Kwon Oh-Jin leaped back and created some distance between them.

“

Tsk

.”

So one hit wasn’t enough to kill it.

It could’ve been a clean kill if he had aimed for the head. Aiming for its body and playing it safe since he was using the technique for the first time turned out to be a mistake.

Still, it won’t last long with a hole in its gut.

Kwon Oh-Jin steadied his stance again to continue the fight, but it didn’t take long for him to realize that wasn’t necessary.

“

Hoo, hoo, huu...

”

The Owlbear visibly slowed down.

Rumble!

With a familiar sound, mana flowed into Kwon Oh-Jin. This sensation felt more than just familiar. The feeling of the Black Heaven absorbing mana practically felt second nature to him now.

Why...?

Kwon Oh-Jin narrowed his eyes at the Owlbear. He could see black clouds swarming around the wound where the spear had pierced it.

“

Ha...

” he lightly chuckled and recalled the message that appeared just moments ago.

It said this skill was a combination of the Black Heaven and Stigma of Lyra.

If the blue lightning came from the power of Lyra, then the clouds belonged to the Black Heaven. In other words, anyone hit with Divine Punishment would continue having their mana drained even if they survived the initial strike.

“

Hoo, hooo...

” Staggering and drained of its mana, the Owlbear collapsed from the tree and fell to the ground.

Damn, this skill is amazing.

Kwon Oh-Jin smiled in satisfaction as he felt the Owlbear’s mana steadily flow into him, but he didn’t have time to bask in victory with more work to be done.

“

Kraaa!

”

The monsters, gleefully tearing apart illusions, finally seemed to realize they had been tricked. They looked up at Kwon Oh-Jin, standing on top of a tree, and snarled viciously.

“Let me finish this now.”

He kicked off from the tree and dove straight into the pack of monsters.

Without their leader, the Owlbear, the monsters rampaged in disarray like a headless mob. Now the roles had reversed. The hunter and the prey had swapped places.

Kwon Oh-Jin tore through the horde and slaughtered them mercilessly.

“

Krrrk

.”

The last remaining monster, a leopard-like creature that had been growling, collapsed to the ground.

Thud.

Kwon Oh-Jin panted and leaned against the barrier behind him.

“M-Mister...!” NT burst out from behind the barrier and threw her arms around his waist.

Sticky blood smeared her clothes, but she didn’t care.

“

Hic... Waaaah!

” Clinging tightly to his waist, she sobbed uncontrollably.

He reached out to gently pat her head, but paused after seeing his blood-soaked hand and let it fall back down.

“

Sniff... Hehe.

I knew you'd come for us.”

“For someone who knew, you sure looked surprised,” Kwon Oh-Jin said with a wry smile.

He looked at the civilians still inside the barrier. The scared civilians stared back at him, soaked in blood, with wide eyes.

“First, we need to get out of here,” he said.

It wouldn’t be easy moving a group of around ten people, but staying here wasn’t an option either. The civilians huddled inside the barrier and glanced nervously at one another before slowly stepping out.

“Mister! Looks like another candidate showed up to help us!”

“

Huh?

”

“Over there, look!” NT smiled and raised her arm.

In the direction she pointed to between the narrow canyon walls, a dark silhouette was approaching.

Kwon Oh-Jin’s expression hardened the moment he saw it.

“Let’s call them over so we can all leave together!” NT said.

“NT, get back inside.”

“What?”

“Now.”

He pushed her gently back into the safety of the barrier as she cocked her head in confusion.

Kwon Oh-Jin deeply sighed and bit his lip. He clenched his spear tighter as the distant silhouette gradually grew clearer.

Dark blue armor covered the figure from head to toe, and it carried a rusty sword at its hip. From beneath its helmet, two ominous crimson eyes burned intensely.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

The blue knight was walking straight toward him.