Chapter 113: Duncan (2)
Booom—! Boom! Boooooooom—Crash!!!!
"Oh ho...!"
Oliver stepped back quickly, marveling at the shattered multi-layered black shield.
Duncan, wielding an L-shaped club, was undoubtedly strong, befitting his reputation as Edith's close aide and a former Pinkman Office executive.
‘I was wondering how strong he was, and now I get it. Being a Pinkman is pretty serious.’
With that thought, Oliver retreated.
As soon as his feet touched the ground, Duncan charged forward with all his might, closing the distance in an instant.
"......!"
He was the fastest opponent Oliver had faced so far, and honestly, it was difficult to react.
Each of Duncan’s attacks was swift and threatening...
[Thrust]
Oliver launched a shockwave to strike Duncan.
Since Duncan had easily swatted away the Bullets of Wrath with his incredible reflexes, Oliver chose to switch from point-based to area-based attacks. Fortunately, this worked.
At best, it only managed to trip him up a bit.
"Hmph..."
“I hit him hard enough to break a cement wall...”
Oliver remarked, watching Duncan withstand the shockwave.
Duncan’s body was not only tough, but also reinforced with a vast amount of magical power, making it even harder to inflict damage on him.
However, Oliver wondered, what if he concentrated the force on a single point instead of a general shock?
[Shadow Spike]
Oliver's shadow extended forward, rapidly rising from beneath Duncan's feet.
The shadow stakes aimed for Duncan’s ankles, abdomen, chest, and jaw, but Duncan swiftly evaded by throwing himself backward with the shockwave and then shattered the shadow stakes with a swing of his club.
Oliver was frustrated.
He had hoped to seize Duncan’s ankles and blind his vision with the shockwave, and then finish him off with the Shadow Spike at the right moment. But it only managed to increase the distance between them.
Of course, it gave him a brief respite from the pressure of Duncan in close combat, but it was still vexing.
'Hmm...'
Oliver observed Duncan twirling his club in the air, as if warming up.
Duncan seemed rather relaxed. Or perhaps that was to be expected?
He had dodged or deflected the Hate Bullets, endured the Wrath Bombs with his magical power, and the shadow-based black magic wasn’t working on him either.
Engaging in close combat with just the Black Suit felt too risky.
In fact, it was the situation he needed to avoid the most.
Not only did Duncan possess overwhelming firepower, but his close combat skills were also exceptional. If Oliver got hit by that fast-moving club even once, he’d be stunned, and if Duncan followed up with a series of strikes, Oliver would end up minced.
The Puppet Oliver had fought in the Contaminated Zone was an opponent with no discernible end. Duncan, however, was a lethal and suffocating adversary.
One wrong move, and it would cost him his life.
In some ways, Duncan was even worse.
Unlike the Puppet, who had strange reversal elements like the Entrance to Hell and the Artificial Soul, Duncan had none of that.
So, if Oliver wanted to survive, he needed to find a way to victory using the emotions and circumstances he had at hand.
There was a method, but it required more time.
As Oliver pondered how to stall Duncan, the man spoke first.
“...Your skills are quite impressive.”
"....Thank you?"
"I'm not joking."
It was true. He was serious.
“I’ve fought close to a hundred Black Magicians, some of whom were renowned... Compared to them, you’re quite exceptional. Considering your age, you have a lot of potential. It’d be a shame to kill you like this.”
"Thank you for the compliment.”
"I mean it. It’s really a waste. It would be such a shame for you to end up dead here, scraping by on street scraps. How about this? Why don’t you come under me?”
A surprising proposal. Oliver was taken aback.
He hadn’t expected an offer like this in the middle of a fight, and what was even more surprising was that it wasn’t just a trick.
Duncan was sincere.
“Thanks to you, I lost two of my most promising men. You could fill their place. I’ll treat you better than them.”
Oliver, though still on guard, took a moment to ask.
"Hmm... By 'two men', do you mean Scott and Nina?”
“Yeah, it seems you’re not entirely clueless.”
“Really? That’s a relief. People usually say I’m a bit oblivious... Can I ask you a question?”
“What is it?”
"Is the reason you’re targeting Miss Jane because you want to set up a Pinkman Office?"
Oliver asked for confirmation.
Though it seemed likely, he still wanted to hear it from Duncan’s own mouth, but Duncan’s emotions answered before his words did.
".....Yeah, any problem with that?”
"No, I just don’t understand. I mean... Miss Jane seemed to trust you a lot, so why betray her?”
"Does that really matter to you?”
"Yes, it does. If you answer me, I’ll respond to your proposal.”
Oliver raised both hands as he said this.
While he wanted to buy time, he was also genuinely curious.
Jane had trusted Duncan, and Edith must have trusted Duncan enough to entrust Jane to him as well.
But suddenly, he had betrayed them. Why?
Duncan pondered for a moment before speaking again, as if he saw some value in Oliver.
“...To achieve my dream.”
"...To set up an office?”
"No, that’s just a tool to achieve my dream. Do you know much about the Pinkman Office?"
"Just a little?"
"Whatever you’ve heard, it’s only the tip of the iceberg. They operate in the open, but they’re even more active in the shadows. They serve politicians, businessmen, and capitalists who need them. Thanks to that, the Pinkman Office wields their clients' influence, and as a result, they’ve become another type of power in this city, in this country.”
“So... you want power?”
"Exactly. Just like everyone else.”
“Ah...”
Oliver marveled at how quickly he understood. In the past, it would have taken him longer to grasp this kind of conversation.
“I have no intention of spending my life as some organization’s lackey or anyone’s errand boy. I want to become a big player, even if it means taking risks... If Edith had left me a little parting gift after working for her for 20 years, I wouldn’t have done this. But she’s so afraid of dying that she’s throwing everything away, even the wealth we built together... I have no choice but to secure my own share.”
“So, that’s why you sided with her family instead of Edith?”
“...Are you, a Black Magician, trying to judge me?”
Oliver shook his head. Genuinely.
"No. I just wanted to be sure. I don’t think I’m in any position to judge... It sounds like a really important dream. Is there a special reason for it?”
“No, it’s my turn to hear your answer now. If you want to keep hearing the rest of my story, tell me whether you’ll join me or not. I’ll make sure you’re well compensated. I’ll show you a world that’s far beyond a life of poverty on the streets.”
A promise was a promise. Oliver thought seriously.
"Hmm... I’m sorry, but I’ll have to decline. I’m not really cut out for life in an organization. Besides, working in something like the Pinkman Office seems like I’d have to attack workers too. And I’m a Black Magician, after all.”
“Fool. That’s something you can easily overlook.”
“I see...”
Oliver thought again. He remembered Kent, who had formed a new group of beggars in the sewers.
“...But I still don’t want to. I’m sorry.”
"Fine... then die."
With fury at being deceived, Duncan wore a cold expression and charged at Oliver.
He was still fast, but Oliver was starting to get used to his timing. He immediately activated a dense formation of Shadow Spikes.
Thin shadow stakes rose densely, forming a wall, but Duncan, with his exceptional reflexes, stopped just short of hitting them. He then swung his club, snapping the shadow stakes like matchsticks.
The destroyed shadows lost their power and reverted to ordinary shadows.
As Duncan prepared to move again, he noticed something gripping his ankle—it was one of Oliver’s shadow tendrils.
Oliver had deliberately weakened the shadow tendril’s power to keep Duncan from noticing, and while it wasn’t strong enough to hold for long, it didn’t matter. It was enough for Oliver’s plan.
Click-click! [Black Cube]
Six black shields connected to form a Black Cube, trapping Duncan inside.
Duncan didn’t panic. He poured a massive amount of magical power into his L-shaped club, ready to swing with all his might.
“...Huh?”
Just before he swung, Duncan noticed a Minion inside the Black Cube with him and hesitated. Then...
—BOOOOOM!!!!
The Minion, filled with compressed Wrath Bombs, exploded.
It was a type of black magic Oliver had improvised when fighting the Puppet before.
The explosion was powerful, yet contained, limiting collateral damage while dealing concentrated damage to the enemy within the cube.
While it was unclear just how much damage Duncan had taken, Oliver knew it had definitely affected him.
But he didn’t let his guard down.
Even though Duncan was caught in the explosion, his will remained unbroken.
Without hesitation, Oliver extracted emotions and created four new Minions on the spot.
These Minions, imbued with Hate Bullets, immediately launched a barrage of red flames and black smoke toward Duncan.
Fufufufufufufu—Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Like a machine gun, the Hate Bullets rained down on Duncan.
While each bullet wasn’t particularly powerful, the sheer volume made them impossible to dodge.
"Uaaaaaaahhhhhhhh——!!!!”
Duncan screamed as he charged at Oliver.
He gathered the vast amount of magical power within him, forming it like armor around his body. Although it wasted a lot of energy, it was highly effective, allowing him to withstand the onslaught of the Minions’ Hate Bullets.
He resembled an armored vehicle, but Oliver calmly calculated and formed another Hate Bullet at the tip of his finger.
The most basic black magic: Hate Bullet.
Though fundamental, its power could far exceed basic levels depending on the quality of the emotions used and the skill of the caster. When facing a living target, it was an extremely deadly and efficient form of black magic.
Remembering this, Oliver compressed the emotion of hate as much as he could.
‘More... more... more...’
As the opposing force of hate grew stronger through compression, its power increased exponentially. And with that power, it also required more time.
A little more, and the bullet would be complete—capable of piercing Duncan’s magical armor. But the problem was that Duncan was slightly faster.
That’s why Oliver hadn’t used the Hate Bullet like this until now.
But this time, he had something to buy him the time he needed.
“Graaaaaaaahh...!!”
“Eek...! Eek...!”
“Click-click-click!”
“Kieeeeekkk——!!”
Oliver’s Corpse Puppet appeared, leaping over the wall.
This was why Oliver had saved the Corpse Puppet and faced the Pinkman alone.
Though only one of them was a close-combat type, the other Corpse Puppets were still heavily armored and large enough to serve as a temporary shield.
While the Corpse Puppets bought time, Oliver would unleash his fully compressed Hate Bullet and deliver a fatal blow to Duncan.
It was a foolproof plan.
However, it seemed that Oliver wasn’t the only one with a plan.
[Holy Light]
With Duncan’s incantation, a holy light enveloped the area.
"...Huh?"
Oliver was caught off guard.
It wasn’t just ordinary light. It was a pure, sacred light that quickly spread, engulfing the entire space.
The Corpse Puppets, momentarily halted by the brilliance, emitted sharp screams as they collapsed, their bodies breaking down under the power of the holy light.
Not only did it destroy the Corpse Puppets, but the light also nullified Oliver’s Shadow Spikes and Black Cube, instantly dispelling them as if they had never existed.
"That’s... holy magic?" Oliver muttered to himself, surprised.
Holy magic was the natural enemy of black magic, and it seemed Duncan had mastered it.
Duncan, now covered in holy light, moved forward with a heavy presence. The sacred aura surrounding him repelled the black magic as he approached Oliver, his club raised to strike.
“Now, die, Black Magician.”
The holy light imbued Duncan with an even greater speed and power, and he swung his club down fiercely.
But just as the blow was about to land on Oliver, something unexpected happened...