"Guaaaaaaaaaah!"

"But you got what you wanted, right?"

"Yeah, I got it, but... Uaaaaaaaaaah."

When Lee Shin Woo and Jin were finished with their respective reinforcements and turned around, the Lightning Shadow General, Hansen Von Dorthe felt quizzical, even through the pain left behind by the Treasure Eater’s attack and his anger towards Lee Shin Woo.

’That guy... He feels different...?’

It felt like Lee Shin Woo’s strength had changed from before he defeated the Treasure Eater. But that was impossible if he thought about it with common sense. All Lee Shin Woo had done was take down a monster that he’d brought to near-death, so he shouldn’t have received much karma off of the kill! In fact, it seemed like it would be a negative karma to him instead.

While he did acquire the loot the Treasure Eater left behind, there was no way he could change so drastically. There was no way they’d become stronger as the treasures it had dropped weren’t related to combat.

"You’re really tired too, right? Let’s finish this, Hansen."

[You impudent bastard...!]

But upon seeing Lee Shin Woo’s confident attitude, Hansen discarded any such inquiries. That strength, which seemed to have changed, felt like an empty boast to him.

[How dare a mere ant try to reach the heavens!]

He was still a lousy level 6, and though he possessed a fast horse, that was all. While Hansen was indeed weakened from the Treasure Eater’s attack, he was still a high rank level 7 general!

The reason he looked ’weak’ was because the Treasure Eater hadn’t been a good match for him. This simpleton hadn’t even realized that simple fact and had become reckless; he would just cut him down with a single lightning sword strike!

"Dieeeeeeeeeeeeee!"

[That’s my line. I’ll kill you with a single strike!]

The Treasure Eater, who wasn’t affected by lightning, was already dead. Now there was no reason for him to hesitate using his lightning!

[Get lost, you insects!]

[Kuahk!]

[Revenge...]

Hansen paralyzed the Chimeras that continuously bothered him through a powerful electric discharge, and swung his bastard sword crossways, pushing all of them away. With this, there would be none who could interfere with him, albeit temporarily.

[Huaaaaaaaaaahp!]

Hansen raised his bastard sword, charged with powerful lightning, and slashed downwards at Lee Shin Woo, who was rushing towards him! The lightning sword attacked Lee Shin Woo with the power to cut both mana and space.

Seeing this, Lee Shin Woo hastily blocked it with a ’manufactured sword’, but the moment Hansen’s attack and his sword clashed, the manufactured blade shattered into pieces and a horrific amount of lightning spread through his body.

"Kuhak...!"

[To take heaven’s fury head on; what a fool. You’re just a greenhorn who doesn’t know his place! ...Huh?]

Hansen chattered on confidently, yet the man he expected to be burnt to a crisp was surprisingly enduring it unscathed.

Then again, he wasn’t unscathed. Both shoulders were destroyed immediately, and a few of his ribs were broken as well. But the moment Lee Shin Woo took damage, he began regenerating his body, and soon, his body was healed. That was like... like... the Treasure Eater, which had absorbed his lightning and healed its body!

[You, what is that... Keuk!?]

He was taken aback by Lee Shin Woo’s appearance, as he resembled the Treasure Eater he had fought a short while ago, and was careless for just a moment. In that moment, Lee Shin Woo aimed for that gap in his awareness and the Drake Horn Lances flew one after another, burrowing into Hansen’s stomach. Lee Shin Woo had struck where the Treasure Eater’s mana shell had hit him!

[How...!?]

’Even if it’s rotten, it’s still a herring.’ The moment he saw an indication that Lee Shin Woo was attacking, he instinctually swung his sword, but there wasn’t just one lance, there were three; and the moment the general was sure of his victory, Lee Shin Woo’s shocking appearance unnerved him, and of the three remaining lances, the general was only able to cut down one.

What’s worse, the moment he split the lance in half, a foul Acid Poison spewed out, and attacked him! As his blade was a treasure, it didn’t melt, but the powerful acid was enough to melt away the general’s armor.

"I guess you didn’t see Steve die. Right?"

[Tell me, you bastard! How did you stop my lightning...!?]

Lee Shin Woo had regenerated his body in no time, and provoked him. But the moment the infuriated Hansen attempted to yell something, the two Drake Horn Lances inside his stomach exploded simultaneously. It was an obvious sequence of moves.

[How foolish!]

The moment Hansen sensed an extraordinary flow of magic, he created a magical shield that blocked it, but he couldn’t block the Acid Poison created through mana that was concentrated to its very limit.

[You dirty bastard...]

Hansen’s armor and skin melted away, exposing the rotten flesh underneath, and spurted out rotten, black blood. His exterior had been damaged during the fight with the Treasure Eater, but not on the inside; but Lee Shin Woo, who’d properly taken advantage of the opportunity, was able to see his hideous appearance as a result of his elemental attack.

The injured region that was affected by the Acid Poison was especially severe. Because he’d been injured by a lower level opponent, it was a bitter injury in many ways.

"Hoo. As I thought, when it gets to the high rank level, it’s effective against a general."

[That’s only because I was weakened... It’s all because of your dirty tricks!]

Not only was Lee Shin Woo at a lower level, he remained unscathed after taking a direct hit from Hansen’s lightning; he’d even injected Acid Poison into him through a ridiculous trick!

[I’ll kill you!]

Lee Shin Woo’s provocation was truly effective. If he didn’t tear that bastard to pieces, then he wouldn’t be able to bear it. Hansen’s eyes rolled back and drew upon his last remaining mana to activate Lightning Shadow.

[You... mocked me long enough...!]

"Jin, can you do it?"

"Nope, I can’t. Not possible."

Jin, who’d already confirmed that Lightning Shadow sharply increased Hansen’s speed and reflexes, firmly denied Lee Shin Woo. It was so merciless that it sounded heartless.

[Die... What!?]

But it was ok. The Lightning Shadow General was only focused on Lee Shin Woo right now. And that meant...

[The Emperor’s hunting dog!]

[You insects!]

After he’d activated his Lightning Shadow and was about to charge at Lee Shin Woo, the Chimera Avengers attacked from behind! Of course, now that all of his abilities had improved significantly, even level 6 elites were mere flies to him, but the problem was the timing. Just maintaining this ability cost a tremendous amount of mana!

[Get lost!]

[And who are you to decide that!?]

[That’s our new lord!]

It was extremely simple for him to cut through the Chimera Avengers and move forward. However, the Avengers rushed at him, heedless of their own lives, and cutting through each and every Avenger got him closer to mana depletion.

Ultimately, the Lightning Shadow General became hasty. As all the blood rushed to his head, he realized that he’d made a rash decision, and was now beginning to accept that fact.

[You... you bastards! You fools that cannot understand His Majesty’s intent!]

[Remember that despair.]

The final obstacle was the level 7 Chimera Avenger. His palm had become a giant shield and he assumed a defensive position; Hansen even witnessed his resolve, that he wouldn’t let anything past him.

[That deep despair. That’s what made us like this.]

[Shut up!]

The lightning blade cut through the air once more. The giant and durable shield was cut into pieces in one fell stroke, while the Chimera Avenger sustained a deep injury and was powerlessly flung away.

Though the Avenger had sustained a severe injury, he didn’t die, and following that attack, the last remnants of the general’s Lightning Shadow vanished from his body.

However, there were no more obstacles in his path. Lee Shin Woo was right in front of him. Yet, Lee Shin Woo seemed unafraid and black goblin fire blazed in his eye sockets, as though he were ridiculing him.

"You don’t have any more mana, right?"

[So what?]

Hansen raised his sword and pointed it at Lee Shin Woo. It was a stance that seemed to convey a heavy strength.

[Even if I don’t any mana left, I’m still stronger and faster than you. My accumulated stats, as well as my level are proof of that.]

"So in any case, you’re out of mana."

[Die!]

Lee Shin Woo nodded his head and Hansen forcefully charged. In the connected state, Lee Shin Woo urgently moved his body and managed to dodge it, but was unable to dodge it completely; a part of his arm was severed. It was truly a powerful strike Hansen could be proud of.

[I’ll fight you like this for a little bit until I’ve replenished by mana. Perhaps you won’t even be able to last that long!]

"Kratia!"

As he dodged the general’s sword strike, Lee Shin Woo yelled boomingly. His shoulder was cut, and his lower jaw was a bit cut as well. One of his fingers went flying into the air. Even his hastily summoned Lightning Tooth was cut apart.

[Kratia...?]

The unfamiliar name caused the Lightning Shadow General to furrow his brow. Was it the name of a technique? An item? If not, then a person’s name? But aside from the scattered Avengers, no one else was here. Only he, the skeleton, and the horse covered in steel...

But he thought of it as a bluff, and intended to cut off Lee Shin Woo’s mouth so that he couldn’t talk anymore. He swung his sword once again, but at that moment, there was something that stopped him. Lee Shin Woo struck with his sword and cut through a layer of skin.

[Keuk...?]

At that moment, he felt as though his movements were messed up, and attempted to swing his sword, but once again, his movements felt unnatural. He couldn’t move very well, as if his joints were frozen stiff.

Lee Shin Woo took advantage of that opportunity and this time, his sword cut a part of his fingers! It wasn’t a coincidence. Someone had made him like this. Moreover, his opponent, Lee Shin Woo was entirely unscathed! But then, who was it?

[Ku...hahk...?]

"...Hoo."

His head creaked and turned around. At the end of his sight, he saw a young girl beyond the testing facility’s doors. She was much too beautiful and pure white, having the appearance of a girl in the winter.

"You really did it."

"I told you the request wouldn’t be so difficult. So how many minutes do we have?"

"5 minutes. If we take into account other variables, then three at most."

"Ok."

The winter girl spoke and Lee Shin Woo replied to her. That meant they were working together. It was a fact that the girl was the one making his body like this. But how?

"A level 7 magician."

Kratia cradled the Eternal Ice that was slowly rotating in the air, spoke briefly, and went back to being silent. It was as though that much of an explanation was enough. And in truth, it was enough.

’That girl cast such a powerful debuff on me? And that’s the reason this skeleton got me to use up all my mana?’

The more powerful one’s magic was, the less likely a debuff would affect them. Thus, debuffs were cast when one’s opponent was weak, so that their success rate was at its highest.

A debuff was especially effective when one’s mana is depleted... and if that’s the case, that meant that Lee Shin Woo provoking him into using Lightning Shadow was all part of a bigger plan.

[...Ha, haha.]

He was completely tricked. Hansen had thought that there was someone backing Lee Shin Woo, but when he saw him commanding the Chimeras, he thought it was Arema Steelworker... To think that a level 7 magician would appear at this time and cast a debuff on him from an unknown location!

[5 minutes. You can only be so foolish. If I just survive for 5 minutes, I’ll be able to kill you all!]

"Are you an idiot?"

Lee Shin Woo grinned and spoke.

"I prepared so much just to catch you... You don’t think she’s all I got, do you?"

[...]

To be honest, she was all he had left. If this didn’t work, then he would have to be prepared to die a few times and fight.

...But Hansen was intimidated, as he’d experienced all those traps that Lee Shin Woo had prepared, so this time, his lie was actually quite effective!

[I don’t know who you guys are, but... I’m one of the 12 generals, one recognized by the Emperor as the Lightning Shadow General, Hansen Von Dorthe!]

He gritted his teeth and tried to raise his sword with his unmoving arm, but as he was disheartened and debuffed, the sword’s edge shook finely. Seeing that, Lee Shin Woo grinned and likewise raised his weapon. His weapon soon changed into the shape of a lance, the weapon which first pierced through his body.

"I know. That’s why I’m trying so hard to take you down."

Lee Shin Woo was filled with a powerful green acid. The moment Hansen saw that, he instinctually predicted his own death, but even so, he couldn’t stop. That was the pride of one of the 12 generals.

And for the first time in a long time, one of the 12 generals was killed.