Unlike Kang-hoo, who used his evasion skill to swiftly leave the scene,
Moon Hyeong-seo was a half-beat too late in his reaction. He responded, but not perfectly.
He instinctively raised his spear to block the front, succeeding in this,
but he couldn’t prevent the ‘mysterious entity’ that suddenly appeared from touching him.
And then.
“Damn.”
Moon Hyeong-seo realized he was in a different space from Kang-hoo, despite it being similar. They had been separated.
There was a clear reason for using the expression “the same but different,” which is inherently contradictory.
“To think I’d be spatially isolated.”
It was spatial isolation.If the ‘Black Guide’ lived in Ground Zero, the ‘Black Shadow’ lived to the north of Ground Zero.
To be precise, it was a monster that could only be seen from the northern side.
This creature could hide and split its form simultaneously, making it a rather tricky entity.
It was hostile to the Black Guide living in Ground Zero and was immediately repelled upon approach.
Their territorial battles were fierce, and being significantly outnumbered, it couldn’t contend with the Black Guide.
Thus, it was a creature unseen in the southern part of Ground Zero, but it had entered Ulleungdo.
Now, the mystery of the missing incidents became clear. It was undoubtedly this creature’s doing.
The missing people probably weren’t just spatially isolated; they were likely devoured.
They were eaten so cleanly that not even their bodies could be found.
“Five minutes…”
Moon Hyeong-seo checked the five-minute debuff activated on his status window and bit his lip.
Spatial isolation was classified as a debuff. It rendered the target unable to do anything.
Although he could see Kang-hoo right in front of him, he couldn’t touch him, as if trying to grab smoke.
“Damn. I can’t do anything like this. The Master told me to ensure his safety…”
Moon Hyeong-seo gritted his teeth.
Unlike the Black Guide, the Black Shadow was much trickier to deal with.
Its exact level wasn’t fixed, but it typically boasted a power level exceeding 300.
No wonder hunters disappeared without a trace.
If you made even a slight mistake during the confrontation, you’d be devoured in the blink of an eye.
Knowing it had a much higher level, the Black Shadow deliberately isolated him.
It was both clever and powerful.
Could Kang-hoo endure?
Moon Hyeong-seo was doubtful.
He furrowed his brows and tightly closed his eyes, only able to stomp his feet in frustration.
Meanwhile,
Kang-hoo, noticing Moon Hyeong-seo had fallen into spatial isolation, immediately recognized the presence of the Black Shadow.
Spatial isolation was an ability that temporarily removed a troublesome enemy from the battlefield.
It was one of Jang Si-hwan’s frequently used abilities, though not unique to him alone.
Jang Si-hwan often used this ability to send dungeon boss monsters with tricky wide-area attack patterns into another space.
There, the monster would waste its efforts alone in the isolated space before returning.
Spatial isolation was one of the elements that Jang Si-hwan found quite enjoyable, making it a frequent feature in the original work.
Of course, Jang Si-hwan wasn’t likely to appear here. So, Kang-hoo thought of another possibility, which was the Black Shadow.
The Great Sage of Kangdong,
A constellation that can see through the unseen. If a target is designated, its form can be perceived as opaque even if it hides.
Kang-hoo designated the Black Shadow using the ‘Great Sage of Kangdong’ constellation.
This constellation, which he had plundered after killing Cha So-hee, proved incredibly useful in situations like this.
Thanks to this, even though the Black Shadow concealed itself through stealth, its movement path was clearly visible.
It resembled a clump of exhaust fumes coming out of an old truck.
Right then,
Kshhh!
The Black Shadow, which had been circling from a distance, suddenly charged towards Kang-hoo.
It didn’t lose momentum, even as it approached at an incredible speed, seemingly unaffected by air resistance.
Protective Barrier.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
A collision occurred immediately.
And then.
Crash! Crackle! Crash!
The Black Shadow collided with the protective barrier, causing numerous scratches in a short time.
The force of its attack was powerful enough to tear and shatter the barrier where it clawed through.
“What a damn nuisance.”
Kang-hoo expressed his hostility without restraint. It was a truly heart-stopping moment.
If it weren’t for the protective barrier, those torn fragments would have been his flesh.
This creature was tricky.
It transformed into smoke when evading or staying distant,
then materialized only when it needed to attack, launching a fierce assault.
This selfish damage exchange on its own terms was enough to make Kang-hoo curse.
Kshhh!
“Ugh.”
Without a moment to breathe, the Black Shadow charged again.
Kang-hoo considered pulling out the Solarkium from his pocket and consuming it, given the situation.
But it didn’t give him any chance.
The creature immediately surged forward.
Crash!
Kang-hoo barely managed to block it again with his protective barrier.
This time, the barrier shattered much more easily, as the creature seemed to have increased its output.
It was difficult to call for help due to the evening time. Even if he could, there was no one to rely on.
Even if a passing hunter saw the scene, they would likely pretend not to notice rather than help.
Moon Hyeong-seo’s spatial isolation lasted at least five minutes. Relying on his help was also unlikely.
‘Let’s keep it simple for now.’
He made a clear decision.
For now, he would focus on blocking the Black Shadow’s attacks with extreme defense, looking for a chance to counterattack.
Understanding the creature’s attack methods, patterns, and speed was essential before planning the next move.
Any elaborate strategy would be useless if it didn’t match the situation.
Combining assassination and defense was a contradictory term in any form.
But Kang-hoo was confident. He had diligently gathered skills for moments like this.
Now it was time to put them to use.
A while later.
“His skills are quite impressive.”
Moon Hyeong-seo, who had been watching the battle between Kang-hoo and the Black Shadow from an isolated space, admired.
Even though Kang-hoo was primarily on the defensive without significant counterattacks,
his response was flawless. It was much more solid than Moon Hyeong-seo had anticipated.
Kang-hoo’s protective barrier skill was the most impressive.
It was rare for an assassin to have such a setup-type and mobile defense skill.
Given the skill’s composition, durability, and utility, it could easily be considered a professional tanker’s skill.
And that wasn’t all.
Kang-hoo didn’t just rely on honest defense by building walls to block attacks.
Moon Hyeong-seo was impressed by the quick evasion skill that allowed him to leave the scene immediately.
This is a basic skill that can only be used when the evasion skill has reached its maximum proficiency.
Moon Hyeong-seo’s basic skills, obtained at level 1 and level 10, were just about to reach their maximum proficiency.
However, evasion is a basic skill for assassins at level 40.
Given the typical growth curve of assassins, reaching maximum proficiency in this skill was impossible at this point.
But Kang-hoo was using it very effectively. The Black Shadow wasted a lot of effort because of this.
The same was true for position switching using Shadow Step.
Kang-hoo skillfully dodged and changed positions while the Black Shadow moved like lightning.
Of course, the creature was so fast that it quickly identified Kang-hoo’s new position and attacked again.
However, even a brief delay was enough to tire the Black Shadow.
Moon Hyeong-seo thought Kang-hoo’s skill in handling the Black Shadow was far superior in terms of stability.
Kang-hoo’s responses were not impulsive or instinctual but thoroughly calculated.
In other words, he wasn’t just defending thoughtlessly.
As expected.
Suddenly, black energy began to rise from Kang-hoo’s body…
Kssh?
The Black Shadow, which had been attacking with all its might, suddenly lost track of Kang-hoo’s position.
“Could it be?”
There was only one reason for such a scenario: it happens when the opponent is undead.
So… does Kang-hoo have a skill to disguise himself as an undead?
Moon Hyeong-seo’s eyes widened in shock.
When the calculations regarding the Black Shadow were complete,
the skill Kang-hoo used to launch his counterattack was the Silence of the Necromancer.
Silence of the Necromancer.
It consumes 10 mana per second to disguise as an undead, exuding their unique aura, so it remains undetected.
Even with the ‘Age of Savagery’ skill reducing mana consumption by half, Kang-hoo, with a mana stat of 20, lost 25% of his total mana per second.
So, the skill’s overload increased rapidly, but its strategic utility was clear.
‘As expected.’
The Black Shadow lost track of Kang-hoo’s position.
The creature didn’t have separate vision; it identified positions based on its sense of alienation from humans.
It didn’t need to see eyes, nose, and mouth precisely, as long as it could identify the form.
He immediately deployed a veil of trickery and simultaneously sent out a clone using the duplication technique.
The plan was to make the creature believe that his reappearance was the return of the previously vanished self.
The clone wouldn’t be affected by the Silence of the Necromancer skill, making it feel like the original Kang-hoo.
Meanwhile,
Black Moon Slash.
He prepared a hidden skill.
To cleanly finish off the Black Shadow, this method was the best and only option.
Once identified, it was nearly impossible to ignore or escape.
Even if he managed to escape, he would eventually be caught again, facing either spatial isolation or inevitable combat.
He decided to end it here.
Kssh! Krssh!
Seeing Kang-hoo’s clone, the Black Shadow raised its offense again.
Even while gathering dark energy for the Black Moon Slash, Kang-hoo controlled the clone as much as possible.
If the clone was destroyed too early, the creature might start guarding its surroundings.
‘Good.’
The dark energy rapidly depleted, and the black aura of the Black Moon Slash began to heat up on his dagger.
Balancing both tasks was incredibly challenging, but Kang-hoo gritted his teeth and managed it.
Maintaining the Silence of the Necromancer skill brought on an earlier-than-expected headache.
This issue wouldn’t be resolved just by increasing the mana stat.
It was a problem caused by congenital mana hyperactivity, which absorbed mana at an overwhelmingly fast rate.
The issue wasn’t the total amount of mana but the abnormally fast recovery rate of mana.
Even with a high mana stat, skill usage still resulted in mana consumption.
This gap was immediately filled by the hyperactivity, making overload unavoidable in any situation.
Just then.
‘It’s ready.’
The energy for the Black Moon Slash reached its peak.
The dark energy bottomed out, and the Black Shadow still targeted the undying clone.
Everything was perfect.
In the darkness created by the veil of trickery, Kang-hoo prepared his first and last strike.
And then.
Shing!
The black-red sword energy cut through the cold night air with a chilling breath.
Swish!
It sliced the body of the cursed creature created by the darkness in half.
It was the moment when the seemingly uncuttable shadow disappeared.
Yes.
It was dead, cut in half.
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