CH 144

Vincent's Blood Poison skill was the secret weapon that had elevated him to the distinguished title of S-ranked Demon King Worshiper. It helped him secure his place as a Top 100 hunter.

‘The only drawback is that its usage requires self-inflicted harm, and it has a limited duration.’

Vincent boasted that even S rank hunters, who were at least one level above him in ability, could be turned into blood marrow if they were directly hit by his Blood Poison skill.

Helen Mirren's assistants, Choi Yu-Seong and Kim Do-Jin, quickly chose to dodge as soon as Vincent activated his Blood Poison Technique.

‘Did they know about my skill or are they just quick-witted?’

Vincent believed that it wouldn't be challenging to eliminate either of them if he pursued with full force, so he didn't concern himself with who would be the first to go. However, he soon faced a problem.

‘My injury is getting too big.’

In order to effectively activate the Blood Poison skill, Vincent had deepened the wound. He was starting to lose a bit of focus. He really wanted to make them both suffer horribly until they begged to die, but that now seemed impossible.

‘How humiliating... They're just mere A or B rank kids!’

Vincent clenched his teeth.

‘There’s enough blood.’

Vincent’s wounds were now gushing out a torrent of blood. At this rate, he would succumb to excessive bleeding in just ten more minutes of fighting.

'I never thought I'd hit rock bottom in front of these kids, but...'

Left with no other choice, Vincent extended his blood-stained arms toward Choi Yu-Seong and Kim Do-Jin, both of whom were carefully avoiding the drops of blood in a confined space. He shouted, "Let's see if you two can dodge this!"

The blood droplets on Vincent’s arms vibrated and twisted, changing into the shape of sharp needles. The number of needles rapidly increased. There were soon hundreds of them.

With hundreds of needles at his disposal, Vincent scattered them all around himself. He swung his arms wildly in the air.

Woosh-!

Powerful Blood Poison burned through the ceiling of the only five-star hotel in Pyongyang and penetrated the sky.

Vincent looked at Choi Yu-Seong, who had a horrified expression, and Kim Do-Jin, whose expression had hardened. With a slight smile, he lowered his hand and shouted, "Blood Rain!"

Papabapak-!

‘Exactly one thousand shots!’

The Blood Rain pouring down from the sky pierced through the entire Goryeo Hotel. In the rooms where innocent people were residing, echoes of screams and cries could be heard. Needless to say, dead bodies and blood were accumulating rapidly.

'These Demon King Worshipers are crazy bastards!'

In the midst of the massive carnage, Yu-Seong ground his teeth. He was aware that the villains would sacrifice human lives for their goals and means, but the current massacre caused by Vincent's Blood Rain exceeded his imagination. The issue was that he couldn’t protect the innocent people from this attack.

'How…'

With the Blood Rain pouring down on him, Yu-Seong couldn’t find a way to evade it himself. He looked over at Kim Do-Jin with a heavy heart, wondering what decision would the experienced returnee make in this predicament.

However, Do-Jin, who had been running alongside Yu-Seong just a moment ago, was nowhere in sight.

'What's going on?'

In a moment of disorientation, Yu-Seong felt a firm grasp on his back. He tried pulling away, but couldn’t resist the formidable strength in the end. Then, before he knew it, he was sent smashing through the glass window and hurtled through the air.

As he plummeted from the 30th floor, Yu-Seong gazed at the person who was holding onto him. He knew that he couldn’t survive the fall from such a height.

'Kim Do-Jin?'

With a cold, rigid expression, Do-Jin lifted Yu-Seong with one hand and attempted a freefall toward the ground.

'What is he planning?'

Yu-Seong widened his eyes as he rapidly approached the ground. He could feel the pull of gravity.

Just before impact, Do-Jin raised his index finger and sliced through the air. He then muttered under his breath, "Fly."

Once the magic was activated, both Yu-Seong and Do-Jin started to fall at a much slower speed. They were less affected by the laws of gravity.

After escaping from that moment of danger, Kim Do-Jin tossed Yu-Seong towards the roadside, which was beyond the reach of the Blood Rain, and turned to look back at the sky. He swung his sword, and high flames began to erupt in the sky to evaporate the falling Blood Rain.

In a mere moment, Kim Do-Jin had miraculously avoided the crisis.

Do-Jin fell to the ground afterward.

Boom-!

However, some droplets of Blood Rain remained in the air. They fell onto Do-Jin’s shoulder and between his hair.

"Keeeuuuu…!" Do-Jin screamed out in pain for the first time.

A part of his shoulder and his scalp were burning, with his flesh scorched. The stench of burning flesh lingered in the air.

Despite his injuries, Do-Jin managed to roll on the ground several times and rise to his feet again. Still with his sword in hand, he slowly turned to look at the collapsing Goryeo Hotel.

‘We're still in the danger zone.’

If the hotel were to collapse, Yu-Seong and Do-Jin would be buried and face certain death.

However, Do-Jin struggled to move as his vision spun, and he could no longer balance himself well. He was dizzy.

In fact, the Blood Poison that Vincent had spread through the Blood Rain was not just a simple poison. Once it seeped into a person’s body, it would cause paralysis and magic depletion, as well as affect the nervous system through its poison and acid.

'I don’t have enough resistance to B-rank poison.'

Do-Jin needed to use detoxification magic, but his magic had been scattered by the Blood Poison.

'I need to find another way.'

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Kim Do-Jin slowly raised his head and looked at the blue sky, which was now overwhelmed by black shadows.

'I might die.'

Do-Jin smiled weakly.

Just then, Yu-Seong rushed over and steadied Do-Jin by holding onto his waist. He began to run while supporting the injured Do-Jin.

"Dangerous…now that I am poisoned…”

“So don't talk; just endure.”

At that moment, the soldiers and police in Pyongyang began to shoot.

“Suspicious movement!”

“Fire!”

Bang-!

The sound of bullets firing echoed through the air, but that only lasted for a moment.

Banggg-!

The magnificent and historic Goryeo Hotel suddenly collapsed, casting a shroud of darkness over the downtown area.

"Ahhhhh-!"

Amidst the chaos of the collapsing building and crumbling city, Do-Jin had no other choice but to lean against Yu-Seong’s back as he was carried. He swallowed the blood that was filling up his mouth. If he spat out the blood in this state, he could potentially endanger Yu-Seong’s life.

‘...I never imagined I'd find myself in the position of owing someone my life.’

Feeling a strange emotion in this unexpected situation, Kim Do-Jin struggled to cling to consciousness. Unfortunately, his vision continued to fade away.

‘Damn...’

Eventually, Kim Do-Jin completely lost consciousness. He bowed his head and was limp on Yu-Seong’s back.

At that moment, a beast-like shadow with wounds across his whole body stomped against the collapsing Goryeo Hotel and fell in front of Choi Yu-Seong with a thud. He growled. “Where…do you think you're going?”

It was Vincent, glaring at Yu-Seong with his bloodshot eyes.

"Are you sure you’re okay? You don’t look very well.."

Vincent knew that his condition had reached its worst. However, that could also mean that the power of his Blood poison was at its best.

'Above all, if I can just aim for one of them… I don’t have to target them both.’

In Vincent’s eyes, Yu-Seong was a weakling relative to the unconscious Do-Jin.

“Fear not. It is just you now, and I have the ability to dispatch you with ease.” Vincent grinned and flung himself forward. He scattered the boiling Blood Poison toward Yu-Seong.

When the Blood Poison covered Yu-Seong at once, Vincent began expecting to hear screams and witness the terrible death in front of him. He wanted to see Yu-Seong's corpse melting into the floor.

Vincent quickly scanned his surroundings. Only then did he realize that Yu-Seong was fading away from right in front of his eyes.

‘An illusion?! I thought he was a Physical type, but he is a Psychic type player?’

At that moment, Yu-Seong jumped into a three-story building by the roadside.

"There's no use running away," said Vincent.

Yu-Seong was proving to be more nimble than Vincent had anticipated, but the building could hardly serve as his defense. Vincent forged ahead, melting through the walls in pursuit of his target.

The building was entirely silent on the inside. Those within had either fled in terror, taken refuge, or held their breaths in fear of the sudden assault.

At that moment, Vincent spotted Yu-Seong leaping up the stairs of the building.

‘Rat bastard!’

Vincent could have used Blood Rain again, but he didn’t have enough energy left. Clenching his teeth, he chased Yu-Seong up the stairs.

‘The injury…’

Vincent grabbed his ankle. His pride had been hurt for a long time because of this one unexpected injury.

Soon, Vincent was at the end of the building's hallway. Only then did Yu-Seong emerge alone with a spear aimed at him.

It appeared that Yu-Seong had left Kim Do-Jin in a safe location.

‘Did he give up on running away?’

Vincent considered this to be a blessing. He started to approach Yu-Seong with some leisure and ease, seizing the moment to recover his energy. He narrowed the distance, intent on finally capturing Yu-Seong with a single blow.

"What bravery. What's your name?" asked Vincent. When Yu-Seong didn't answer the question, he asked another question. "Have you suddenly become mute?"

"No. I don't have a name to give to a villain like you," said Yu-Seong.

"Cheeky bastard..."

"Seriously, I just cannot forgive you,” said Yu-Seong.

A change was suddenly occurring within Yu-Seong. The first sign was the unexpected appearance of a Third Eye in the center of his forehead. Then, his neatly flattened hair started to rise up, and lightning flared throughout his body.

That wasn't even the end of it. Wind began to blow into the hallway, even though the windows and doors were all closed.

‘This bastard... Did he still have a hidden power?’

Vincent, who had already suffered a great defeat due to his carelessness, felt a sudden jolt of caution in his brain.

The wind continued to blow, rising from beneath Yu-Seong’s feet and shining with a yellow light. At that moment, Yu-Seong pulled the spear backward.

‘The same technique from before?’

Vincent guessed that Yu-Seong was using Lance Charging once again.

The attack had great power, but it required a long preparation time. It also did not strike very quickly. If one could predict the attack, then one had a chance of avoiding the attack altogether.

‘But why do I feel anxious? No. After all, he’s still a young hunter who hasn’t made A-rank yet.’

Vincent shook his head inwardly and opened his eyes wide.

The moment Yu-Seong rushed towards him, Vincent swung himself to the side and used his Blood Poison skill. He thought that Yu-Seong should have hidden this “special move” like the very first blow he had struck him with quietly.

"Come on," said Vincent.

Vincent was trying to speed up the battle’s momentum. He was indeed an S-rank hunter who ranked 100th among the Demon King Worshipers. His pride kept him from stepping away from the lower rank hunter who did not back up.

"To be honest, I am just curious," said Yu-Seong.

"...?"

"I am unsure about the technique’s speed, so I want to give it a try.”

"Don't just talk, come at me. I need to hurry and get back."

Time was running out for Vincent.

"Wind Thunder Dragon God Art — Lance Charging," commanded Yu-Seong.

Blue electric shocks and the yellow wind swirled around Yu-Seong. Then, he vanished with a blurred smile.

Kwagwagwang-!

The thunderous sound struck Vincent's eardrum harshly.

‘It's coming...!’

If he concentrated, he could catch it. That was what Vincent thought as he turned his body…

He became entirely wounded. He could see his own body scattering into dust right before his eyes. Upon the sight of the thunderbolt burning him up and shooting out flames, he struggled to understand what was going on.

In the end, he could only laugh out bitterly.

'Did it just...move at the speed of sound?'

‘Mach’ was a common term used to measure the speed of sound. Even among the S-rank hunters, who were known as supermen, only a few were capable of matching this level of speed. The skill to do so was indeed rare, even among this powerful group.

'An assistant…? From the beginning, he was not someone who I could beat. What a damn monster.'

Upon realizing this, Vincent finally understood the dire situation he was in. He felt both despair and a sense of satisfaction. He felt relieved that he wasn't defeated by someone of a lower rank and believed that this would spare him from being teased in the afterlife.

With this misconception, Vincent's life was suddenly cut short.