The moment I heard the sharp sound of something cutting through the air, the arrow was already close.

Kaang!

I barely deflected it with the Martial Arts Sword and rushed towards him. As the distance narrowed, it was more threatening than before, but I couldn’t stop.

‘The opponent is a long-range attacker. I have to get within striking range at least.’

To land a magic on a master with that level of reaction speed, I had to get within 30m, no, 20m.

I deflected the arrows that were getting faster as I approached, feeling a kind of novelty. I had always been in the position of attacking while dodging an approaching enemy. But this time, I had to chase the opponent.

In fact, in this wide forest, it was extremely difficult to catch a mountain keeper who was close to the level of a super-master with just the trajectory of an arrow.

But that was only in the case of a normal martial artist.

I concentrated my consciousness and spread my qi sense in all directions. When I could feel a clear sensation as if I could grasp it in my hand, I operated wind magic and read the air currents in the area.

Just then, I felt a fine vibration at my fingertips. At the same time, I twisted my body to the side.

Swish-!

Then, an arrow that pierced through the air without even leaving an afterimage. I had dodged his arrow for the first time.

‘Good, it’s working.’

Thanks to creating a detection area that felt like a kind of fiber optic cable with a thread of mana, I was able to grasp the trajectory of the flying arrow.

I immediately kicked off the ground in the direction the arrow had flown from. I was able to grasp his location by analyzing the shockwave that had twisted the sound of the air being cut and the trajectory of the wind.

A point about 250 meters to the northeast.

‘He used a curved shot. No wonder it was difficult to grasp right away.’

There was a point where the trajectory had bent in the middle. If it were any other martial artist, they would have thought the arrow had flown from the north. And they would have become a hedgehog without being able to close the distance.

In a mountainous area with many covers like this, an archer was a very tricky opponent.

I stepped on the Spirit God Step and narrowed the distance with Oh Bin-hu. It was a good thing that I was able to interpret the subtleties of the Spirit God Step better thanks to reaching the proficient realm.

Because the distance with Oh Bin-hu was gradually decreasing. I moved forward, dodging the arrows that were flying again.

I had secured both the ability to detect and defend against the opponent’s arrows and the mobility to catch up. The minimum requirements to face an archer were met. The only problem was the large-scale formation left by Zhuge Hyeonguk.

Zhuge Hyeonguk had reorganized the formation, and now, just by interfering, the news was linked to the bell that the mountain keeper had. Because of that, infiltration had become more difficult.

‘A long-range security alarm in this era.’

Although it was only possible in this area, and the cost was considerable because it used a consumable artifact, Zhuge Hyeonguk’s skill was beyond imagination.

Because of that, my location was being exposed to the mountain keeper wherever I went. It was literally as if I had stepped into the opponent’s palm.

Since it had come to this, a quiet approach was impossible. I swung my sword, dispelling the illusion of the formation that was additionally attacking me with mana.

Kaang!

An arrow flew as if it knew my location clearly. And on top of that, as I got closer, formations such as fog or flames were activated.

The aspect of the formation that Zhuge Hyeonguk had reorganized was not a centralized system like before, but a form where medium-scale formations in each individual section rotated like cogs to form a large-scale formation.

Even if I neutralized one, the other formations around it were fine, so the closer I got to the inside, the stronger the arrows and the more I had to face various formations.

But even so, I didn’t stop my feet. And so, at the point where the distance between us had narrowed to around 100M, arrows began to fly in pairs.

Ka-ga-gang!

I deflected the heavy arrows in succession and increased my speed. It wasn’t long now. I could tell from the fact that the opponent was shooting two arrows clad in qi, at the cost of consuming his internal energy.

It was tiring to fly a few sword qis, so it was bound to be difficult to fly a hundred or so arrows clad in qi.

This was why it was important to capture the location first to attack an archer. Because it was essential not to give a resting time to an archer who used a considerable amount of internal energy each time to maintain the advantage of a long range.

To prevent this, Oh Bin-hu was guiding me in the direction where the formation was laid, but no matter how much it was made by Zhuge Hyeonguk, a medium-scale formation couldn’t do anything to me.

As the distance gradually closed and the formations didn’t work, Oh Bin-hu seemed to have become impatient. It seemed he had decided to give up on interception and flee.

I could see him at the entrance of the mountain ridge ahead, hastily collecting the quiver he had hidden and running.

‘I just need to chase a little more.’

The distance was around 50M. The trees were in the way, but I was getting close to a distance where I could hit him with magic.

He must have thought that if he hid in the forest without attacking, his location wouldn’t be revealed, but he was wrong. By reverse-calculating the signal that went off every time an outsider entered a sectioned medium-scale formation, I could roughly track Oh Bin-hu’s direction.

Thanks to that, every time I moved to a new section, I could find the guy who had melted into the forest using stealth.

As if he had noticed this, his direction suddenly twisted. He had made a big detour and entered the medium-scale formation section that I had already broken.

It seemed he thought he could shake me off if there was no alarm from the formation.

And that was a complete misjudgment.

‘He’s fallen for it.’

I immediately activated the formation I had planted before. In an instant, vines soared around Oh Bin-hu and caught him.

The opponent, who was flustered for a moment, swung a dagger at the vines.

‘You’re not the only one who can set traps.’

Thanks to making the formation I had interfered with my own, I could use the trap in reverse.

When I lifted my head, I could see Oh Bin-hu looking this way with wide eyes from a point 30M ahead.

I gathered my mana in the rapidly closing distance. Oh Bin-hu, who had barely escaped from the vines, was raising his bow.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The distance between us was now 20M. There was only one method left for an archer who had lost the distance. To shoot the bow. In an instant, Oh Bin-hu’s hand, which had pulled the bowstring, disappeared, leaving an afterimage.

A rapid fire shot from a very close distance. But it was already within my range. I also shot the lightning strike I had prepared at the same time. It will hit. Without even looking at the flying ray of light, I drew the Martial Arts Sword.

All that was left was the arrow flying towards me. In the slowed world, I cut the arrow as if deflecting it with the sword I had extended, predicting its path. It was a powerful blow that made my hand ring. But beyond the vibrating blade, there was another arrow approaching at a high speed, hidden.

I twisted my wrist. The sword path swayed like a blade of grass and then clashed with the approaching arrowhead at an unbelievable speed.

Kaaaaang!

I gritted my teeth, gripping the Martial Arts Sword that was about to be bounced off to the side.

This was a curved shot. It wasn’t just shot with force in a straight line, but it was filled with a fluctuating energy that made it bend to the side.

I almost dropped my sword. Like a powerful snake, the power contained in the arrow finally reached its peak and then exploded. As a result, my sword was pushed to the side, and I took a step back.

In the middle of the bushes where a resonant sound was echoing. Before I knew it, Oh Bin-hu was rushing at me with a dagger. It was a sight of choosing a frontal confrontation rather than running away.

It was a pretty wise decision. But…

‘You should have been careful of what’s under your feet.’

I took another step back. In response, the moment Oh Bin-hu took a step for his final leap. I activated the large-capacity landmine magic.

Kwaaaang!

A flame of several meters high soared, and the opponent’s figure was greatly shaken. I dug into the bosom of Oh Bin-hu, who was staggering, having lost his balance, and thrust the Martial Arts Sword at his nape.

“I won the bet.”

Oh Bin-hu lowered his dagger in a half-crouched posture and gritted his teeth. Seeing that he had even withdrawn his momentum, it seemed he was admitting it.

The corner of my eye slightly went up at the satisfactory result.

With this, I had secured a training partner. All that was left was to roll him around for practical training.

“Then you have to keep your promise, right?”

I smiled, and Oh Bin-hu lowered his head with a face that looked like he was grinding his teeth. Since I had also gotten Geum Mi-ran’s understanding in advance, the training after that was smooth.

I learned how to deal with an archer while overworking him all day. Oh Bin-hu gritted his teeth at having to shoot his bow until his hands were raw and until dawn, but what could he do, he was the one who had accepted it.

Fortunately, I was a genius when it came to learning, and thanks to that, I was able to completely master the method of dealing with an archer at the peak of the peak in just one day and let him go.

And so, the next day, after finishing the repair of the large-scale formation, I prepared to return to the academy.

In the meantime, I had also developed a resistance to the arrows that flew in unexpectedly, and my qi sense had also been sharpened. I had prepared to some extent for the possible Red Demon Archer.

‘And I also found a clue about large-scale magic.’

Now, all that was left was to improve my skills.

For reference, I tried to get a financial gain by talking about the war-related information to Geum Mi-ran, but I only got a reply that such information was already reflected in the market.

Perhaps because I had been active with a focus on growth, I had missed the timing a bit. When I was disappointed, Geum Mi-ran smiled and gave me some advice.

She said that even if I had known about the war from a long time ago, it would have been difficult to see a huge profit under a structure where various merchant guilds monitored each other’s transportation volume and monopoly status.

In fact, since I could now get elixirs from the Golden Gate Merchant Guild, and the financial part was also roughly resolved, I headed to the Martial Academy without any lingering attachment.

When I arrived at the entrance of the Martial Academy, Zhuge Hyeonguk called me to a stop.

“Take this.”

It was a ring with a purple gem embedded in it. It was an object with an unusual energy at a glance, and it seemed to be a type of artifact.

“What is this?”

“It’s a defensive artifact. It will forcibly consume your qi, but it will block even a sword strike from a super-peak master once.”

I took it and expressed my gratitude. It was never a bad thing to get close to a powerful person. Of course, this was also something I could receive because I had declared myself as a successor.

When I put the ring on one hand, I felt a connection with my blood vessels. With this, I had one more spare life.

“Anyway, take care of yourself.”

“Yes, you too, master. I will definitely survive.”

After listening to Zhuge Hyeonguk’s words of blessing, I entered the academy. The first place I headed to was the first floor of the intermediate student hall.

It was to check with my own two eyes if the credits from the ranking competition had really been registered.

But as soon as I entered, the atmosphere I felt was unusual.

In the center of the student hall, where a tense and cold air was lingering, the gathered intermediate students all had serious expressions.

They seemed to be discussing and contemplating something with each other, and the reason for that could be found on the poster that was posted.

[Urgent Request]

[Request content secret. No limit on the number of participants. Top-tier 10 credits or more]

[10 credits for participation. Additional credits will be given according to contribution]

[Please decide by today]

‘A top-tier request… Don’t tell me?!’

While everyone was murmuring, I alone was sure of the purpose of the poster and swallowed dryly.

No matter how tricky the request was, it was unprecedented to get 10 points just for participating. And on top of that, there was no limit on the number of people. It meant that the more people, the better.

And at this point, there was only one matter that required a request of that level.

War.

And it was a righteous war with the Blood Cult.

(End of Chapter)

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep