Chapter 99: The Spear of Judgment
I wondered if they were confident in their skills or if they were just relying on their numbers. The Chinese men approached me with an air of arrogance.
“Hmm.”
Well, I didn’t mind them coming closer. But...
“God, you smell awful,” I instinctively covered my nose and muttered. “Wow, the stench of blood... it’s worse than the poisonous mushrooms I just ate...”
This smell... This was the scent of people who had killed a few others within the past week at least.
Murderers.
I instinctively raised my guard. At the same time, I felt a strange sense of realization that I may be becoming a veteran now, seeing that I could tell just by smell whether someone was a killer or not. It was a bitter realization, nonetheless.
“Hey.”
When I spoke bluntly without hesitation, one of the men called out to me, his expression intrigued.
“You’ve got a sharp nose like a dog’s, huh? But your ability to assess the situation doesn’t seem good enough.”
“Assess the situation, you say?”
“You said you smelled blood on us, didn’t you? You didn’t think that blood could soon be yours?”
—Spit!
The man spat on the ground and chuckled. “Well, I guess necromancers like you might have confidence in their abilities, sure.”
“...”
“But here’s the thing, buddy. Have you ever thought about this?”
“Thought about what?”
“Why do you think we showed up here knowing you’re a necromancer who’s immune to dozens of poisonous mushrooms? Think about that for a second.”
“...Hmm. You’re right. Why would you do that?”
—Vwoom!
As I responded, I slowly drew upon my energy.
—Rustle! Clack!
At my signal, the scattered skeletons around me formed a circular formation.
“Because I wouldn’t have if I were you.”
Eldrin and her underlings emerged from the treetops, and the others stepped out from between the tree trunks.
—Thud! Boom!
Shield soldiers led by Boney 4.
—Clang! Slash!
Melee fighters led by Boney 1 and Sunny. And Boney 7, the healer, provided support from the rear. All of them were A and B-rank monsters.
“This feels surreal.”
Seeing the four hunters before me, who looked like A-rankers, brought back memories.
Assassin Ko Jaeyoung, was it?
That was the name of one of the Shadow Lurkers who had tried to kill me.
I barely survived back then, thanks to Gi Soyul.
At that time, A-rank hunters had felt like an insurmountable wall for me. But now, I could face them with ease. I’d grown a lot since then.
“H-Hey, look here,” one of the men stammered, seemingly shaken by the murderous intent radiating from my summons. “Before we fight, how about we have a little talk? There’s a reason humans have mouths, right? Why so hasty?”
“...I was thinking the same thing. But one of you seemed eager to see my blood.”
Clearly they had been the ones to make threats first.
“Wow, are you Korean? Is that why you’re so quick-tempered and have this smart-ass vibe? It was just a greeting, man. A tough guy’s greeting when men meet, y’know?”
Well, in my country, we didn’t call that a greeting; we called it a complete lack of manners. But let’s chalk it up to cultural differences.
“So what do you want?”
“Do you want to join our team?”
“Your team?”
Now that was an unexpected approach. After seeing me consume poisonous mushrooms, I figured they came to steal my points, but a team invitation was not expected. Or perhaps they were planning to betray me when I let my guard down.
“Suddenly proposing to join your team? That stinks of ulterior motives.”
“Fair enough. It might seem funny for us to show up and make such an offer out of the blue. But you wouldn’t want to take unnecessary risks coming here, would you?” The Chinese guy, who had initially acted tough, suddenly became talkative. “Let me be honest. Just tell us how you’re able to eat poison without dying. Do that, and we’ll guarantee your safety for the rest of the trial. As you might’ve guessed, we were murderers long before coming here. Killing people is just like having another meal for us. But that also means we’re willing to do all the dirty work for you.”
Yikes. Killing people was their pride, it seemed.
“And if I refuse?”
“Well then, we have no choice. We’re not the type to back down after making an offer like this.”
—Swish!
The murderers brandished their weapons, filling the space with a sticky, menacing aura.
So it’s inevitable, huh?
When I turned my gaze, Zhang Wei was gracefully wielding his spear.
—Clang!
He deflected one murderer’s weapon and planted his foot into his abdomen.
—Thud!
“Guh!”
His movements flowed seamlessly, every strike following another like a perfectly choreographed dance.
“What remarkable skill.”
“Oh?”
I was surprised to hear Sunny say that. Sunny, who had once stood as an absolute being of a world with just a spear in their past life, rarely praised others. It was very unusual for someone like Sunny to call someone’s level remarkable.
“He’s still inexperienced, but I can clearly see the ultimate form of the spear technique he’s aiming for. Moreover, his understanding of spear techniques is profound enough to potentially achieve it. I’m curious to know who his master is.”
“Is that so?”
The spear techniques continued.
The murderers, who had initially seemed so confident, were gradually losing their resolve under the relentless ferocity of the Spear of Judgment’s movements.
“Sh-Shit!”
“H-Hey! We’re sorry, so just stop already! There’s a reason for everything!”
Despite their desperate pleas, the Spear of Judgment didn’t pause for a moment. His strikes targeted unpredictable locations—head, chest, legs—leaving the murderers scrambling to defend themselves.
—Thunk!
Before long, one of the murderers had a gaping hole in his neck.
“Grr... Grrrk!”
Clutching his throat with both hands, he looked utterly disbelieving as blood gushed out.
“Damn it!”
“B-Boss, shouldn’t we run for it now?”
The remaining murderers panicked. Despite the loss of a comrade, there was no anger among them. Their only concern was their own survival.
“B-Boss?”
—Thunk!
The Spear of Judgment’s shin hit another murderer’s calf, causing instantaneous paralysis and making him lose his balance. As the murderer slumped to the ground, the spear pierced through his throat.
—Thunk!
“Ack!”
Two were already dead. The entire sequence had taken less than a minute, highlighting the overwhelming gap in power.
“Th-This isn’t right! Boss, I’m out of here!”
Finally, one of the underlings threw down his weapon and began to flee.
“You bastard!”
The eyes of the Chinese man in charge widened in shock, but before he could respond, the Spear of Judgment already stood before him.
“Shit...”
There was no way he could win a one-on-one fight after he had already lost in a four-on-one. The leader quickly raised his weapon to deflect the incoming strike, but...
—Thunk!
The spear pierced his heart. Even though he’d tried to avoid it, the spear’s trajectory was impossible to predict or dodge.
“Guh...!”
The Spear of Judgment showed no hesitation as he took the man’s life. Expressionless, he pressed his foot against the murderer’s stomach and yanked the embedded spear free.
—Splatter!
Bright red blood sprayed into the air. Simultaneously, using the murderer’s stomach as a foothold, he hurled the spear with immense force.
—Whoosh!
The spear flew in a straight line with barely any arc, piercing the fleeing murderer squarely in the back.
“...”
It was like a scene straight out of a movie—a dazzling action sequence.
—Rustle.
The Spear of Judgment casually turned his gaze to me after finishing all four in an instant.
Wow.
His gaze was sharp and lethal.
I thought to myself, If anyone here besides me is likely to become a ranker, it’s this guy. And I’d love to see what would happen if we fought each other.
He walked toward me with a composed expression and said while I sat there, “Are you all right? I hope I wasn’t unnecessarily intrusive.”
Huh?
For someone who had just brutally slaughtered four people, his tone was unexpectedly sweet and polite. Indeed, he lived up to his reputation. He was terrifying only to those he deemed deserving of judgment.