Chapter 222: Episode 222

The instant the referee shouted, Nightwalker charged.

His right arm was covered in black liquid, which then reshaped itself into a greatsword over two meters long.

That was Nightwalker’s Unique Ability, “Pluto.”

Simply put, it was a transformation-type power that allowed him to liquefy his body.

In Nightwalker’s case, he had gone beyond simple liquefaction to reach the realm of “hardening.” He could freely shift his body between liquid and solid.

’So he’s going for close combat, just as I expected.’

I couldn’t afford to let him close the distance easily. First, I created about twenty Fire Cannons and launched them at him.

“Hm.”

Nightwalker looked briefly surprised before willingly hurling himself into the barrage of flames. True to his status as a certified rank 2, he slipped through the fire with ghostlike movements, and whenever he could not evade, he simply cleaved the fireballs apart with his arm-blade as he closed the distance between us.

<Flame Taurus>

As he rushed in, I conjured an instant-cast magic circle at his side. Watching Nightwalker try to slam on the brakes in a panic, I clenched my fist.

Nightwalker’s body was swallowed by the explosion.

—Tower Master! I have a solid lock on him.

’Dump everything we’ve got!’

I tripled the number of Fire Cannons and unleashed them into the heart of the blast.

Deafening explosions erupted one after another.

BOOM!

RUMBLE!

In stark contrast to the arena, which roared with nonstop detonations, the stands were utterly silent.

“…T-That’s insane.”

“At this point, he’s basically a superior version of most fire-type user, isn’t he?”

The murmurs from the crowd washed over me.

I realized I didn’t have many allies here. The entrenched powers of the hunter world—namely, the combat-type Awakened—were feeling threatened by the emergence of magic.

My fire magic already outclassed that of most fire-type ability users, and on top of that, I possessed countless other techniques.

Naturally, some hunters were worried that their once-exclusive domains might be replaced.

Which meant they were all the more eager to see Nightwalker, the poster boy for traditional hunters who relied on Unique Abilities, take me down—the head of the mages.

’Of course, I have zero intention of playing along.’

I kept my guard up and stared straight ahead. Within the lingering smoke of the explosion, a vortex of black liquid was raging.

Soon, the whirlpool stilled, and Nightwalker emerged, sword at the ready.

He didn’t have a single scratch on him.

“Woooah!”

A wave of awe swept through the stands.

Nightwalker moved again.

His body turned liquid, bending backward like taut rubber before snapping forward as a storm of black spears erupted from him.

The spears shot toward the ceiling, then pivoted at their apex to rain down on me.

—Tower Master! That attack is fast, Ea warned.

I focused mana into my legs and launched myself into motion.

Spears slammed down with a rapid-fire crackle, striking the ground where I had been moments before.

WHOOSH!

Seizing the opening, Nightwalker lunged at me like a streak of black lightning and swung his sword.

The moment the blade reached my nose, Specter appeared in midair and blocked it. The three Sagittarius symbols engraved on Specter’s back flared to life.

Steel clashed against steel, and in that split second, I quickly slipped backward out of range.

Seeing me reset my stance, Nightwalker clicked his tongue and retreated as well, while Specter slid back behind my shoulders with a sharp swish.

“Yaaaaah!”

We had only traded a single exchange, yet the crowd’s excitement was already through the roof.

“How long do you plan on feeling each other out?” Nightwalker asked, swinging his sword once through the air.

I smiled faintly and stomped my foot.

“For a little while longer.”

<Gaia>

RUMBLE!

The ground around us tore itself apart as rocky walls surged upward.

Using Gaia, I carved the rock walls into jagged spikes, then inscribed Sagittarius into the stone behind them.

“Go.”

The stone lances shot forward with a vicious sonic boom.

It was a straightforward but brutally powerful physical attack. Nightwalker chose not to cut the rocks, instead throwing himself into the air and weaving through the barrage.

As he dodged, Nightwalker raised his hand. The spears that had fallen to the floor shot back into the air, then came pouring down toward me again.

We attacked and defended simultaneously, trading blows in a fierce back-and-forth.

The enthralled spectators kept leaping to their feet, throwing their arms in the air.

“Kill him, Nightwalker!”

“He’s going toe-to-toe with Nightwalker!”

“Hang in there, Kim Yusin!”

Every now and then, I even heard a cheer for me.

I tried every approach I could think of to break through Nightwalker’s defenses. In turn, he made a point of answering in kind, as if to show that anything I could do with magic, he could do with his ability.

When I hurled flames, spears came flying back.

When I raised the ground, a black tidal wave crashed down.

I even unleashed Prometheus of the fourth-order, but every time, Nightwalker simply turned into a whirlwind and rendered it useless.

In that state, neither extreme heat nor physical attacks had any effect.

“Impressive,” Nightwalker said, knocking aside my offensive spell. “Your control, your balance, even your mind games. I would never believe you were a hunter your age if I hadn’t seen it for myself.”

“I’ll gladly take the compliment.”

“In that case, let’s say the warm-up is over.”

His back swelled. Five arms burst out from behind him, each gripping a different type of weapon.

“From here on, I might start putting some personal feelings into my attacks.”

“…”

Nightwalker sank into an extremely low stance.

“If you intend to forfeit, this is your last chance. Based on what you’ve shown so far, you’ve already earned the qualifications of a certified Rank 2. But if you insist on continuing, you may get hurt.”

“Come on, that’s no fun.”

I rose onto my toes, scraping the soles of my shoes against the floor. Black smoke seeped out from under them.

“You don’t get a perfect score unless you take down the examiner, too.”

The training ground grew hotter.

Bathed in thunderous cheers, we stared each other down.

“Here I come.”

I reached back, grabbed Specter’s hilt, and brought it forward. A large magic circle formed across Specter’s blade.

Nightwalker watched it with a tense expression.

He seemed desperate to read my next move, but it was pointless. I sent Specter gliding around to his back.

“!”

His eyes flicked, tracking the sword.

As the magic circle on Specter began to glow, I bent my knees and dropped into a charging stance.

A simultaneous attack from the front and the back.

In this situation, there was only one move Nightwalker could make.

His body spun, transforming into a ferocious black whirlwind.

It was a kind of “invincibility move” that nullified and shredded any incoming attack.

However, his body remained fixed in place, and that was all the time I needed for the magic circle behind him to activate.

<Devastar—Chain Hole.>

A sphere of darkness emerged from Specter’s blade and began to pull in Nightwalker’s spinning form. Invincibility or not, it meant nothing in the face of spatial magic.

“Hmph!”

He hastily tried to stop spinning and escape the dark sphere, but it was already too late.

By then, strange black chains had already wrapped themselves around his body.

’He took the bait perfectly!’

The key to cracking Nightwalker was his pride in his own technique—and the arrogance of believing himself truly invincible. To be fair, his all-in-one offense-and-defense technique really was incredible, and up until now, I had never “managed” to counter it.

Or, to be precise, I had been pretending I couldn’t.

I stepped onto Devastar and appeared behind Nightwalker. Then I spun, driving a powerful kick into the dark sphere.

<Devastar>

Only another dark spell could move a dark spell.

The sphere that had swallowed Nightwalker slammed into my foot and rocketed forward at a blistering speed.

’Ea, dial the power down as much as you can.’

—Understood, Tower Master.

And just before the Chain Ball hit the fence in front of the stands—

A black explosion erupted. The shockwave blasted outward, shredding the magnetic barrier protecting the spectator seats. The sound was like some monstrous bird shrieking.

“Gah!”

“AAAAAAH!”

People screamed, dropping flat or throwing their arms over their heads. I lowered my leg and smiled.

’So this is what it looks like even when we hold back.’

The destructive force was vicious, but the backlash on my own body was not light either.

I carefully reined in the dark mana coursing through me. The side effects were about what you would expect after firing off a few Devastars in a row.

It was a good thing there was no next fight. If this had been a real battle, it would have been dangerous. Until my Dark Affinity trait leveled up further, I decided I should only use this when it was truly necessary.

When I turned my head forward again, I saw Nightwalker embedded in the fence, which now had a huge hole blown through it.

The masquerade mask he wore split clean in half and clattered to the floor. He looked younger than I had expected.

[Kim Yusin: 1,000/1,000]

[Nightwalker: 0/1,000]

The referee approached.

“The winner is—”

“Wait.”

Someone cut him off and walked over. It was Senator Collins, the very man who had proposed this test.

“I will do it myself.”

“Ah, understood!”

The referee bowed crisply and hurried off the stage.

I had a bad feeling. What was this guy going to say now?

“Then I will now announce the test results.”

Collins swept his gaze over the audience as he spoke.

’He’s going to do it right here?’

“The Hunter Rank Evaluation Committee has, until now, judged that hunter Kim Yusin’s accumulated merits were insufficient for promotion to certified Rank 2, and thus postponed his advancement. However, it is undeniable that his achievements—especially the liberation of Africa from the Calamity, Taves—are feats that no other certified Rank 3 has ever accomplished. In light of this, the Korea Hunter Association petitioned us to reconsider.”

People listened, holding their breath.

“Looking at his career, there was never any real debate about the expected value of hunter Kim Yusin’s future contributions. However, the three achievements he displayed after becoming Rank 3 were not enough to provide a definitive verification of his abilities, so the Hunter Rank Evaluation Committee arranged a match against an active certified Rank 2 hunter. The result is as you have all just seen.”

Nightwalker, who had gotten back to his feet, ground his teeth.

“Hold on, I’m not down yet—!”

“You lost, Nightwalker.”

Collins glared at him and spoke quietly, then raised the mic again.

“Therefore, the judgment of this Hunter Rank Evaluation Committee is as follows.”

My heart pounded like crazy.

The silence was so complete you could have heard a pin drop.

He rustled his papers open, a faint smile curving his lips.

“As of this very moment, I hereby proclaim that our hunter community has gained a new certified Rank 2 hunter.”

He lowered the papers and looked straight at me.

“Congratulations, Rank 2 Kim Yusin.”

An explosive cheer erupted.

Whatever the circumstances, the appearance of a new Rank 2 hunter was something to celebrate, and the spectators all rose to their feet at once and applauded.

Even the Association President, visible in the distance, was laughing loudly as she clapped.

“Tower Master Kim Yusin, I hope you will continue to fight for humanity.”

Collins walked up and personally pinned the medal to my chest. The shining number “2” gleamed there.

“I will do my utmost to live up to your expectations.”

My career, which had started as an off-the-roster nobody, had finally come this far.

* * *

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