Chapter 252: Episode 252

“The antidote, the infection warheads… everything’s been blocked. So what are you going to do now?”

“…There’s no helping it.”

A vicious voice slipped from between Albert’s lips, which were pressed into a hard line.

“I will eliminate the interlopers and proceed with the plan.”

“You’re really going to be pathetic to the bitter end, huh?”

With the plummeting castle as their backdrop, Yusin, Marcello, and Marie stood shoulder to shoulder.

Albert hovered in midair, looking down on them.

“Now.”

At Yusin’s signal, a warp gate opened in the air.

The instant Albert’s gaze snapped toward it, his body was swept up by a flood of light that burst through and slammed him straight into the wall.

It was the Magic Tower’s own offensive spell, Destroyer.

Furthermore, the closer the activation distance, the faster a warp gate opened.

The beam of destruction pierced the adamantium wall, already weakened by previous attacks, and blasted Albert out of the castle.

“Let’s go, too!”

The three of them bolted out after him. High above, Albert was flying along the path the beam had carved.

Yusin bit down hard on his thumbnail.

’Damn it! Is that bastard’s Unique Ability not the wings but some kind of zombie bullshit?’

Albert’s body, which had slipped out of danger again and again, soared past the top of the Sky Castle and up into the open sky.

A green gale erupted from his unfurled Icarus wings, crashing down toward the ground with savage force.

The wind tore up the earth and shredded the building debris into powder. His attacks were so ferocious it was clear he no longer cared what happened to the Sky Castle.

The hunters fighting outside recoiled in horror and scrambled for cover. Even the Ghost Corps’s proud ghost ship was turned into splinters and vanished in an instant.

“Kim Yusin! What do we do now?” Marie shouted, ducking behind a steel beam of the Sky Castle’s frame.

Yusin, hiding behind a beam on the opposite side, grimaced.

“There’s only one thing we can try right now.”

“What is it?”

“To be blunt, I don’t think we can take him down.”

Marie pressed her lips together, her face stiff, but she did not deny his words.

“So we find the otherworldly relic hidden somewhere in this castle and destroy it. Albert’s strength comes from the Icarus ability, so if we get rid of that, he’ll go back to being a normal player.”

“That’s a good idea, but…”

Her eyes swept around them. Everything that had once given the Sky Castle its shape had been blown away; only the bare skeleton remained.

“There’s nowhere left that could possibly hide a relic.”

“I don’t think the relic was ever inside the castle to begin with. It’s probably below.”

Yusin pointed at the ground.

“It’s got to be hidden somewhere under this island. Leave it to me. If I use fifth-order Earth Magic, Crevasse, and split this place in half…”

“So that is how you intend to play it.”

A chilling sensation ran up Yusin’s spine, and he spun around. Albert had appeared behind him like a shadow.

“I will not allow that.”

Just as Albert’s arm thrust toward Yusin’s back, a hook-like force wrapped around Yusin’s waist.

Whoa!

The moment Yusin was yanked backward, a broad machete came crashing down on Albert’s shoulder.

BOOOOOM!

Yusin, sprawled on the ground, jerked his head up.

The upper body of a pirate-shaped spirit had materialized behind Marie. Albert didn’t move his arm; instead, he raised one wing and blocked the blade.

“You intend to interfere to the very end, Spirit King?”

“Argh…!”

Strength surged into Marie’s arms. At the same time, the machete pressing down on Albert’s wing was driven harder, and cracks spiderwebbed across the ground under Albert’s feet.

Albert plucked a feather, gripped it like a sword, and slashed it through the air.

With a sharp shing, the pirate spirit was cleaved cleanly in two and vanished.

“Gah!”

Forced out of her spirit-fusion state, Marie coughed up blood. Just as Albert was about to lunge for Yusin again—

This time, a massive spear came barreling in and shoved Albert’s body back. Above Marie’s outstretched right arm, the armored upper body of a knight had appeared.

“Hah! Haah! Haaah!”

Eyes bloodshot, she glared and took a step forward.

The knight’s spirit unleashed a vicious barrage of thrusts, while Albert dodged into the air and sent feathers flying.

“No matter what spirit you summon, it cannot defeat me.”

Each time a feather struck, the knight’s shield crumpled like scrap metal.

“Sorry! Just hold on a little longer!”

Yusin ground his teeth and began preparing a spell. At that moment, Na Daeyong’s voice came through his earpiece.

“—Master! Are you all right? We’ll come help…”

“Don’t come! Absolutely not! Just deal with the Sky Castle hunters trying to get near the Magic Tower!”

This was not a fight anyone else could survive. More people would only mean more casualties.

Yusin began casting the fifth-order Earth Magic, Crevasse, on the underside of Specter.

Even as he unfolded the formula, questions kept hammering at his mind.

’Even if I split this island in half for a moment, can I really find the relic? Can I even break through Albert and destroy the relic in time?’

As every carefully planned attack missed its mark, Yusin felt his confidence plummet.

His brain raced, desperately searching for another solution.

There was only one way to capture Albert.

But Yusin quickly shook his head.

He was the type to gamble on a long shot when necessary, but this wasn’t just reckless—it was outright insanity.

’Ea. I’ll handle the fifth-order spell. You find me a route underground. There has to be a way to reach the relic without resorting to something that absurd.’

-Understood, Tower Master.

CRAAASH!

The sixth spirit Marie had summoned crumbled into dust. She coughed blood again and again before her knees finally hit the floor.

Albert walked toward her.

“I will send you off without pain, with all due respect.”

He plucked a feather, gripped it like a sword, and prepared to swing.

’Damn!’

Yusin stopped casting the fifth-order spell and started to rush in, but before he could, the largest cross he had ever seen came crashing down on Albert’s head.

The entire island lurched.

A cross of light, even larger than the Sky Castle itself, detonated, and the island’s center tilted sharply to one side.

’Marcello…!’

Judging by the sheer power, this had to be Marcello’s final attack.

Right on cue, Marcello was walking toward Yusin.

“Hunter Kim Yusin, let us get out of here.”

“What about Albert?”

“…It is frustrating, but he is an opponent far beyond our ability. We will leave him to the other certified Rank 1s.”

Escape.

Yusin truly did not want to admit it, but he found himself accepting that this was the best option.

They had stopped every part of the Sky Castle’s plan and put out the immediate fires.

Now that the antidote had been developed, Albert could no longer hold the Alliance hostage.

Once this catastrophe ended, the Alliance would classify Albert as a demonkin and issue an extermination order, and certified rank 1s from all over the world would descend on him.

Considering that future, retreating now and planning for another day seemed like the optimal choice.

“I will buy you time. Hunter Kim Yusin, take Marie and escape.”

“What? Then what about you?”

“Escape always demands sacrifice. I will draw his attention somehow, so…”

Marcello’s body jolted violently. Yusin’s eyes flew wide as the pure white priest’s robes were suddenly drenched in bright red.

The tip of a feather was jutting out from the center of Marcello’s chest.

“…Marcello!”

“Ah, do not worry so much.”

His complexion had gone deathly pale, yet he chuckled as he fingered the feather protruding from his chest.

“This much will not ki—”

Before he could finish, another feather punched through his throat and burst out.

Marie’s scream tore through the air, echoing like a wail.

Mana pulsed through the feathers. Albert could convert the mana imbued in his feathers into weight.

Six feathers drove downward, ripping his wounds open.

With a wet, tearing sound, the feather in his chest carved down through his abdomen and thighs, splitting his legs apart.

The feather in his neck sliced Marcello’s body straight down, continuing all the way to his groin.

Each time a blood-soaked feather fell, the floor shook with a metallic crash as rebar snapped and the ground sagged.

Marcello, shredded like a piece of paper, collapsed in a heap.

Marie could not bear to watch; she turned her head away. Yusin just stood there, completely vacant, as if his soul had left his body.

“What a waste of talent.”

Step. Step.

Albert approached.

“He still had so much to do for humanity. He was not someone who should have died like this.”

“…You sick bastard.”

Yusin’s bloodshot eyes trembled as his whole body shook.

“You killed him and then say he wasn’t someone who should’ve died like this? You think you’re fucking human?”

“I am a certified hunter. For the survival of humanity, I am prepared to do far worse than this.”

With a soft snap, Yusin felt the last shred of his self-control break.

He staggered to his feet like a zombie, and the fifth-order Crevasse he had painstakingly constructed scattered uselessly into the air.

He would not run.

No matter if he died or what happened to him.

He would kill that bastard right now.

“…Huuuh.”

Once he made that decision, the boiling blood and rage inside him cooled rapidly, and his brain iced over.

Everything became calm, and a firm, unshakable resolve settled into his body as its sole objective.

He would not stop until he achieved that goal.

Resolve hardened, Yusin rose onto the balls of his feet and activated Devastar on both shoes.

“—…Tower Master.”

“Sorry, Ea.”

Yusin ground his teeth.

“There’s only one way left.”

Albert spread his nightmare wings and faced Yusin.

“You must have realized the difference in our power by now. You still intend to fight?”

Feathers shot toward him like flashes of light. Yusin slammed his right foot down.

His body, trailing black smoke, slipped past the feathers and appeared behind Albert.

At the same time, he twisted his hips and lashed out with his leg.

Albert tilted his head and dodged lightly.

Just then, Yusin’s left leg, which had been passing by Albert’s shoulder, suddenly hooked back toward him, and Devastar activated.

BOOOOOM!

Albert hastily raised his arm to block, and his expression hardened.

The impact that traveled up his arm spread through his entire body, sending a sharp, tingling pain through him.

Without pausing to recover his balance, Yusin leaped straight into the air and swung his other leg.

’That technique doesn’t exist.’

Albert had already analyzed Yusin’s main skill, Devastar.

Yusin wore Devastar on both feet, using one for dashes and the other for kicks.

Albert casually raised his arm to block, but as Yusin’s right foot came in, Albert’s hand brushed lightly against it. That single touch was enough to make a magic circle with a clear skull emblem flicker on the sole of Yusin’s shoe.

…!

With a deafening boom, Devastar activated.

Albert frantically folded his wings to shield his face, but the shockwave still blasted him back dozens of meters.

By the time he lowered his wings and looked forward, Yusin had already vanished.

“Impressive.”

Albert murmured in admiration as his eyes darted around. Before he knew it, Yusin was behind him, swinging the greatsword.

CLAAAAANG!

He moved Icarus to block Specter, and in that instant, Yusin dropped Specter from his hand and slipped into Albert’s side.

CRACK!

Waiting for this, Albert smashed a kick into Yusin’s head. Yusin skidded back, dirt spraying, but he quickly reset his stance. His feet scraped along the ground until they locked into place.

CLICK! CLICK!

Ea had already laid two Devastar magic circles on the floor. Yusin lowered his torso like a predator and charged, burning through both Devastar circles in a single dash.

Moving at a speed the eye could not track, Yusin’s fist slammed into Albert’s face.

Albert’s body traced a wide arc through the air and crashed to the ground, rolling.

“Grr.”

Albert wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Yusin landed and immediately activated Devastar on his right foot, then lunged like a madman.

“You lunatic.”

Albert flung feathers at him, but once again, Yusin’s body slipped behind him in a trail of black smoke.

Albert blocked the swinging Specter with his wing and watched for Yusin’s next move.

A simple kick.

’That technique shouldn’t be possible. My hands are too far from his legs.’

This time, he could block and then move Icarus to land a counter.

Just as Albert raised his arms to guard—

SWISH!

Specter shifted through space to appear in the path of Yusin’s swinging leg.

As Yusin’s leg came down and brushed along Specter’s surface, it drew a trail of black smoke, like a brush picking up paint from a palette.

’Genius!’

Albert could not help but feel a sense of awe.

CLAAAAAAANG!

Like a hammer pounding a giant nail, Devastar’s power drove Albert’s guarded body hard into the ground.

Albert spat a mouthful of blood.

He had finally been hit cleanly.

“Heh… Hahahahaha!”

As Albert whipped up a green gale around himself, Yusin finally took a brief step back. Albert, sprawled on the ground, pushed himself up.

“Magnificent combat sense! What is this? If you could do all this, why have you been hiding your true strength until now?”

As he asked, Albert took in Yusin’s condition and stroked his chin as if he had figured it out.

“I see. It is a technique with severe risks.”

Black smoke was rising from Yusin’s body from overusing Devastar.

Anyone could see this was bad. Because of the backlash, the mana inside Yusin’s body was turning black, but he made no attempt to purge it.

[Your Dark Affinity trait has reached Lv. 9.]

Yusin wiped his mouth and dropped into a crouch. He once again activated Devastar on the soles of both shoes.

“Urgh…!”

He staggered, bracing a hand on the floor and dropping to one knee. His condition was clearly abnormal.

“I do not understand. You have a bright future ahead of you. Why would you shorten your own lifespan to fight me?”

“Don’t pretend to care.”

Yusin’s eyes flared.

From his right eye, not the usual blue haze but black liquid was streaming down.

“No matter what, you’re dying here today.”

* * *

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