Hurriedly erecting barriers mid-flight, he couldn't block them all in time. Just before the barrier formed, a young scorpion rushed towards Hamin, biting into the boy's flesh. Crunch. With a grim sound, Hamin cursed and stepped back as the scorpion clung to his face.
A laborious transparent barrier barely held back the swarm of scorpions pouring in relentlessly. Clashing sounds filled the air. The persistent ones gnawing at one spot of the barrier seemed on the verge of breaking through any moment. Hamin reached out to the scorpion clinging to his face.
"Get off!"
Meanwhile, as he struggled to fend off the attacking young scorpion with its raised tail, Hamin got stung. Grimacing from the burning sensation akin to fire, he stubbornly ripped off the scorpion tearing at his face. A sharp sound echoed as flesh was deeply scratched, blood flowing. While Sihyun panicked and treated Hamin, Hamin grabbed the detached scorpion and smashed it on the ground, then stomped on it.
Only after Hamin fiercely kicked it several times did the resilient creature finally stop moving.
More than thirty scorpions, it seemed, menacingly surrounded the barrier.
"Hamin, are you okay?"
Sihyun, watching from above, descended. Seeing Hamin, with his wounds treated, glaring at Corpius crawling toward him, Sihyun sighed.
"Handle the kids and provide support."
With these brief words, Hamin rushed toward Corpius. Thud! Their collision reverberated in the air. Sihyun wielded his staff at the young scorpions left by Hamin.
Blue water entangled the scorpions. Sihyun, gathering the young irregulars together like a net, increased the water pressure.
"Gikigi, Gik!"
As the water surged, the scorpions, struggling to break free, emitted eerie screams. Clenching his fists to increase the pressure, Sihyun swiftly cut through the scorpions, turning them into debris.
Mana remaining: 60%.
Dealing with the young scorpions consumed 10% of the mana. If battles continued like this in the future, the odds were against them.
Sihyun infused mana into his staff. Meanwhile, Hamin successfully executed another attack against Corpius.
With a knife plunged into his abdomen, Corpius screamed. Opening his mouth, he shook his head from side to side, vomiting bodily fluids. As it was also a type of poison, Sihyun cast a flight buff on Hamin while wiping away the sweat streaming down. Despite several attacks, Corpius still appeared unscathed. As if the successful attacks so far were merely scratches.
In terms of both health and mana, they were at a significant disadvantage. Facing Corpius, there had never been a moment to catch their breath, so Hamin, with his labored breathing, immediately launched another attack, shouting.
"That thing is ridiculously persistent!"
Efficiently dealing with it required exploiting weaknesses. While ordinary opponents could be easily cleared with pre-researched data, their opponent was unfavorable. Meeting Corpius, whose weaknesses varied from individual to individual, was unfortunate. In this situation, they had no choice but to discover weaknesses through direct attacks.
As long as they had enough stamina.
While contemplating, Corpius charged at Sihyun as well. His massive body filled the field of vision. Sihyun, with narrowed eyes, stepped aside. A claw came straight at him.
Boom!
If he hadn't lowered his head, the massive claw passing over him would have struck his head and killed him instantly. When facing attacks at the level of instant death, healers and doctors were useless. Realizing anew the danger of their opponent, Sihyun glanced at Hamin, who was preparing for another attack while Corpius turned his body. His aura flared up. Since the range of his attacks was limited, they needed to finish quickly.
Was there no other way?
Although he wanted to avoid exhausting all his copies for unforeseen circumstances, there was no choice in this situation. In the end, Sihyun summoned his last resort.
Thud!
The moment Corpius's claw struck the ground on the left, Sihyun opened his mouth.
"Hamin!"
Rushing forward according to the signal, Hamin landed in front of Sihyun, drawing a line from Corpius's tail to its head in one go. If his reach had been a little longer or it had been another time, it would have been a fatal blow. As the attack was shallower than expected, Sihyun couldn't help but furrow his brows. They had to discover the weaknesses and then bind him at the right moment, so Sihyun, without knowing, raised his eyebrows at Hamin.
"Not bad."
"Here it comes!"
Without intending to leave room for idle conversation, Corpius's tail cut between Hamin and Sihyun.
Shiiik!
Then the claw attacked Sihyun. Hamin plunged his sword into the creature. Clang! Failing to pierce through the tough shell, the sword only left a mark on the surface.
Still, thanks to the recent attack, Corpius's attention turned to Hamin. With sharp eyes, he agilely evaded the subsequent attacks.
Twisting and turning, he retreated while attacking, then advanced again when he saw an opening. While Corpius and Hamin engaged in combat, Sihyun copied Hamin's skill of identifying weaknesses.
It felt like his vision suddenly sharpened, and a part of Corpius's body sparkled. Confirming the location of the weakness, Sihyun unknowingly frowned. Unfortunately, the weakness was under the stinger, making it difficult to attack.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
Corpius, failing to surprise Hamin, opened his mouth again. Unwilling to passively endure like before, Sihyun wielded his staff.
Swoosh!
When blue water surged into Corpius's mouth as he tried to spit out a young scorpion, his attack was blocked. Seizing the opportunity, Sihyun immediately copied the binding skill.
"The weakness is under the stinger!"
Shouting until his voice grew hoarse, Sihyun rotated the water inside Corpius's mouth.
"Kieaek!"
Corpius swung his pincer-like claws, letting out a scream. Sensing that he had diverted his attention due to his anger, Haemin immediately infused his two swords with his mana.
The swords, crawling up from the ground, grabbed onto Corpius's torso, anchoring him in place. It was a struggle due to Corpius's strength.
"Hurry!" Sihyun urged Haemin. In response to his urging, Haemin adjusted his grip on the swords and leaped forward.
The distance between the boy and the irregular quickly narrowed. Sihyun used more than half of his remaining mana to erect a barrier around Haemin.
Bang!
Corpius, realizing too late as he lunged towards them, lifted his pincer, but a solid barrier blocked his attack. Without slowing down, Haemin, trusting in Sihyun's barrier, continued his charge and leaped onto Corpius's back, swinging his sword towards the stinger.
Swish!
The sword, shimmering fiercely, sliced beneath Corpius's stinger. The creature screamed, attempting to strike Haemin with its stinger. Sihyun quickly used a purification skill.
"Keep going!"
"I know without you saying!"
Once was not enough to bring down such a dangerous irregular. Haemin continued to strike repeatedly until the creature screamed itself into exhaustion and collapsed.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The sharp edge of the sword moved swiftly under the stinger.
"Krrraaaak!"
Corpius let out a strange scream, leaping around wildly. Due to his intense movements, they missed the opportunity to use a binding skill on the creature. Freed from the binding, Corpius shook his tail to dislodge Haemin. Losing his balance due to the violent movements, Haemin staggered. Seeing him about to fall, Sihyun acted quickly.
Whoosh! As Sihyun swung his staff, the black hands crawling up from Corpius's tail restrained Haemin on top of Corpius's tail. With Haemin securely held by the black hands, almost completely immobilized, Sihyun twisted his wrist.
Crack!
A purple energy emanated from the tip of the sword, surging towards Corpius's stinger.
Once, twice, thrice, four times...
The aura of energy, moving so fast it was hard to follow with the eyes, exploited Corpius's weakness and severed it. Finally, the thick flesh was cut through and fell to the ground.
Thunk!
The fallen tail was covered by a whirlwind of sand. Sihyun shielded his face from the blowing wind, then cautiously observed the situation.
Is it over?
Due to the sand, it was hard to see clearly and confirm the facts. He listened intently for Corpius's movements. Then, suddenly, a thud, followed by another eruption of sand.
Sihyun released the binding skill amidst the swirling sandstorm.
In the midst of the swirling sandstorm, a boy emerged.
Crack.
The barrier I had erected shattered into pieces and fell to the ground. Sihyun looked at Haemin, who had emerged, covered in dust. Haemin, with a slight smile on his lips, gestured behind him. After a moment, when the sandstorm subsided and Sihyun checked behind Haemin, he gasped.
"He..."
A sigh of relief mixed with relief.
The corpse of the stubborn Corpius lay on the desert sand.
"...Is it dead for sure?"
When asked to confirm because the creature was so stubborn, Haemin nodded. Sihyun, feeling his legs weaken, sat down where he was. Only about 30% of his remaining mana. Although it was a consumption of mana, he had fought facing the danger of a top-tier irregular, leaving him completely drained. Haemin, who had faced the creature almost head-on, was even more exhausted.
Without showing any signs, the boy who naturally sat down with his staff in hand breathed heavily. Finally having a chance to catch his breath, he stretched out and took a deep breath. Sihyun, who had risen from his seat after his pulse returned to normal, brushed off the sandstorm and then used the Clean skill out of annoyance.
"Why."
"Why did you do it alone?"
Haemin grumbled at Sihyun, who had helped him by saying it would cost 50,000 won for one use of the skill. Sihyun, who had used the skill to take them to a place where there was a teleport gate, walked slowly towards it. Whether they cleared the assessment or not, they would automatically return to school once they stood on the teleportation gate. It was a minimal safety measure to return if they encountered a dangerous situation or wanted to give up the assessment.
On the teleportation gate, Sihyun let out a low sigh. It felt like he was using up half a year's lifespan every time he took the assessment.
As he waited for the teleportation gate to activate for sleeping as soon as he returned, something felt off. Although it was supposed to activate within a minute at the latest, it had been over three minutes and still wasn't moving.
"Hey..."
Sihyun, feeling something was wrong, looked at Haemin. Haemin, who also seemed to have sensed that something was wrong, looked at Sihyun.
"...Why isn't this working?"
"If I knew that, would I have called you?"
Answering Sihyun's troubled question with another troubled question, he looked out at the vast desert before him. Did I have to live here? It was at that moment.
A black light flashed over the drawn teleportation gate, and darkness swallowed their vision.
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