The hooded man didn't seem bothered by the fact they escaped his attack, only turning to face them at his own pace as if it was only delaying the inevitable.
"If it comes to it, take them and–"
"Comes to what, huh?!"
He was interrupted by a slap to the back of the head, though the abrasive hand definitely didn't belong to the meek, silver-haired girl.
Holding the back of his head, he looked back to see the familiar sight of the sleeveless-uniform wearing, black-haired woman who greeted him with that ever-fearsome smile.
"Myung-Hee…"
"You were just planning on doing something pretty reckless, weren't you?" She asked, "No, you've been doing reckless crap this whole time."
"I'm not being reckless without a reason," he told her as they both looked at the darkly-dressed player who was watching them curiously as well, "That guy is a monster. He's level twenty-five."
"Twenty-five…?" Kamou let out in surprise, overhearing the conversation.
The silver-haired woman was tending to the wound on Hyun's shoulder, who didn't seem to even have the energy to talk anymore past gathering his heavy breaths.
"Please, can you help him…?" Ara asked her.
Though Kamou was perplexed and worried herself, she gave the sister of the man a smile and a nod, "I'll do my best. He'll be fine."
With those three being left to that, it seemed it was up to Myung-Hee and himself to handle the problem of Jun-seo.
"...Twenty-five, you said? Just making sure I didn't mishear you," Myung-Hee smiled nervously.
"Sadly, you didn't."
"Part of me wishes you lied to me," Myung-Hee said, drawing her claymore out, "But, I don't roll that way. It doesn't matter if he's level twenty-five, or two-hundred, if he's coming at us, we just have to stop him, right?"
He held his daggers in his hands, breathing for a moment as he looked at the brunette, muscular woman, "...You know, for once I kind of get that rock-headed thought process of yours."
"Ha-ha! What's that supposed to mean?" Myung-Hee laughed.
The man was now approaching them once again, carrying that malicious, bloodlust-infused aura that made his skin crawl as he readied himself.
"It means I understand what we have to do," he told her, taking his glasses off as he set them in his pocket, "We have to give it everything we have–even if it doesn't mean anything."
[--[Unique Ability]: [Sage Period] Activated.]
I'm probably going to die. No…I can't think that way. Even if it surpasses all reason, all hubris, and makes little sense at all–I have to believe that I can do this. I have to believe my best is enough, because if it isn't–we'll all die, he thought.
"Let's do the usual," he told her quietly, so as not to meet the man's ears.
"Sure thing," she nodded, beginning to walk forward as she gripped her thick, daunting claymore, "I guess monster strategies should be used on monsters, right?"
"Exactly."
Without wasting but another moment–he was gone.
Pushing it further, beyond the limits he recognized previously, he used [Blink Step] consecutively, in ways meant to get around his opponent's insurmountable guard.
While he managed to take to the hooded man's side, catching his glance in that moment between moments, his opponent was then forcibly occupied by Myung-Hee.
The warrior-class woman charged in with a spinning swing of her heavy blade, forcing the man to raise his rose-designed greatsword with a single hand, blocking her attempted slash downward against his head.
Nice, Myung-Hee! He thought.
"He is only human,"--that was the center of his plan in this attack: if Myung-Hee clashed against him, what would he be able to do to stop his attacks?
[Black Ripper]
The onslaught of slashes first began by him allowing the steel of his daggers to be coated in dark, potent energy before he rushed directly behind Jun-seo, preparing to unleash the array of swift strikes against his unguarded back.
"Get 'em, kid!" Myung-Hee grunted out.
Against his raised sword, the short-haired woman found even her strength challenged as her veins pressed against her skin, her tan complexion reddening out of strain as she pressed down against his held sword with all of her might.
No kidding, this guy really is a level beyond us–! Even so…I'm not losin' in a contest of strength! Myung-Hee thought.
"Cast: Battle-Driven Might!" Myung-Hee called out.
The self-amplification spell granted her further physical strength, shrouding her in a faint, red aura that allowed her to push against the faceless man's lax guard against her.
"Is this the best you can do?" Jun-seo suddenly spoke beyond his quiet veil.
"Wha–"
Before Myung-Hee could process anything, she was knocked away as the man pressed his tightly-laced, military boot down, cracking the cement beneath as he simply pushed his arm to send the woman away.
He turned around just in time, to meet against Jeong-Hui, who widened his eyes in surprise to the man's unexpected turnover of his companion.
"Myung-Hee!" He yelled out.
Crap–! Head on?! He thought.
There was no other choice but to commit, holding those dark-trailing daggers in his hands as he was on the other end of the star-shaped gaze of Jun-seo.
By that indifferent, inhuman look present in the man's eyes, which were his only available feature, he could feel his body shaking as the immutable sense of dread began to take over.
–I can't…it'll fail–and I'll die…He thought.
But before such feelings could cement themselves in his heart, just before such dread clenched his gut–a fiery explosion blasted the hooded man in the back.
"Ghh…!"
He looked past the man, seeing at the other end of the garage, through sheer will, Hyun was holding a single, trembling hand up, having unleashed the spell. It seemed his shoulder wound had been tended to, but the exhaustion was getting to his body.
It managed to make Jun-seo stumble forward as flames clung to him, prompting him to snap his fingers, "Cancel: Magic…!"
Though he canceled out the flames, the damage had been done, and it was long enough to give him full reign on his attack.
"Cast: Haste! Cast: Amplify Strength!"
–It came from Kamou this time, granting him an amplification of his stats just before he came into contact with the hooded man.
Each slash came in an instant as he dashed past the man, leaving a trail of dark-infused cuts across the higher-leveled player's form. It was a skill that utilized a maximization of the assassin-class' swiftness and precision, unleashing a dozen strikes within a second, each with lethal intent–that was "Ripper". Combined with "Dark Edge", the combined skill "Black Ripper" etched into the swift onslaught of "Ripper" the devastating, potent power of "Dark Edge"--creating a viscous skill that hit much over its level.
[Spirit: -300. Remaining Spirit: 1650/2700]
I did it…! I finally reached him! He thought.
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