Chapter 47: The Difference in Desperate Power

“Damn it, human. You think you’re special just because you managed to land a single surprise attack? How arrogant. I’ll torture you painfully before I kill you.”

Derthod spoke coldly while regenerating his arm.

Choi Joo-won replied, “If you can, go ahead. You bug-like bastard.”

-BOOM-!

In that moment, Derthod’s mana began to surge.

“Do you even know who I am, speaking back to me, you lowly human?”

Choi Joo-won ignored his words and raised his hand into the air.

[Absorb]

Mana was rapidly drawn in, and he released it immediately.

-BOOM-!

-SHICK-

Derthod moved quickly, dodging the attack.

‘Damn… That human isn’t an ordinary magician after all.’

Derthod thought back to the human magician he had just faced, who had also been exceptional in his own right.

Park Hye-yeon had impressed him with her quick spellcasting and ability to fire multiple spells in succession.

But that was all she had. Her strength was not enough to offset Derthod’s formidable defenses and regenerative powers.

But the human before him was different.

-BOOM-!

With each release of mana, the surrounding trees shattered into pieces.

‘No, that’s not just destruction. That’s annihilation.’

As soon as the trees touched the mana, they disintegrated into nothingness, their forms unrecognizable.

Even without experiencing it multiple times, Choi Joo-won understood immediately: those attacks must be avoided at all costs.

[Release]

“Damn it!”

-SWISH-

Derthod spun his body around to dodge the mana flying at him from the front. However, countless spears began to rise in the air. Choi Joo-won had cast the [Spear of the Goddess] spell.

[S] [Spear of the Goddess] – A powerful spear imbued with divine power that attacks enemies.

“Th-this is insane.”

Dozens of spears filled with potent divine energy floated in the air at once. Normally, the Spear of the Goddess could only be used one at a time.

But Choi Joo-won had repeatedly cast the spell simultaneously by using external mana.

“Rain down upon them!”

-SWISH-

From the sky, dozens of blades began to fall.

-BOOM-!

-BOOM-!

With each spear that struck the ground, a massive sound echoed. Each spear buried deep into the earth.

-SCRAPE!

Derthod, who had only been running away, seemed to decide that enough was enough. He drew his blood-soaked sword and attempted to counterattack. But it was a poor choice.

In order to slash at even a single Spear of the Goddess, he had to sacrifice his arm once more.

-THUD!

The severed hand from Derthod’s arm fell onto the pool of blood.

“W-what… Why isn’t it regenerating?”

-QUICK

Derthod’s severed arm was blocked from regenerating by some unseen force.

Choi Joo-won looked at Derthod and said, “You foolish idiot. The essence of your power comes from your mana.

What I used is the Spear of the Goddess. You could consider it a mass of concentrated divine power. Strong divine power prevents the accumulation of mana. Simply put—”

-THUD

Choi Joo-won grasped one of the floating spears of the Goddess in his hand and hurled it at Derthod’s body.

-BOOM-!

“Graaah!”

Derthod raised his arm in an X shape to guard against the spear. However, that arm was completely pierced through.

Choi Joo-won spoke softly.

“Simply put, the magic I use is superior to the magic of a lowly monster like you.”

Thud, thud, thud.

Choi Joo-won walked toward Dertod.

“D-Don’t think you’ve shown me all your power with this!”

Dertod began gathering his magic and created a gigantic sphere in the sky.

The sphere was a mass made of Dertod’s blood.

Drip, drip.

The sphere started to absorb the blood of the corpses around it.

Swish!

Choi Joo-won watched the scene.

‘A skill that absorbs blood from those it has killed.’

‘What a pathetic creature. It has to rely on skills that drain the blood and life force of others to grow stronger.’

Creeeak!

Choi Joo-won was enraged. Dertod wore an expression that showed no remorse after slaughtering countless people. He even babbled nonsense about torturing and killing Park Hye-yeon.

Teleport!

In an instant, Choi Joo-won stood atop the sphere Dertod had created.

And he coldly spoke.

“That is the resentment of the people toward you. Accept it sweetly.”

Absorb!

Hssssssssssssssss!

As soon as Choi Joo-won cast his absorption spell, the magic and life force from the sphere began to be sucked into him.

“How… how can a human like you control that power!”

Seeing the magic being drawn into Choi Joo-won’s body, Dertod was in shock.

He couldn’t help but be astonished. He had never encountered a madman capable of absorbing magic directly and using it.

Using magic merely meant borrowing the power of artifacts at most—like Baek Joo-seok using a dark artifact.

However, Choi Joo-won was directly accepting the magic into his body. This was something impossible for any human. Dertod had thought that controlling magic was a privilege only monsters possessed.

But now, that notion was shattered right before his eyes.

“Ah… no… this is…”

Shudder!

Dertod trembled as he looked at Choi Joo-won.

He had to move. He had to run. He had to respond. Countless screams echoed in his mind, but his whole body froze in the face of overwhelming fear. Dertod felt the desperate gap in power.

As he looked at the despairing Dertod, Choi Joo-won spoke.

“Dertod. Do you know what I hate the most? Weaklings. And even more than that, I despise trash like you.”

Release!

With those words, Choi Joo-won released his magic.

Baaaaaang!

The rapidly released magic pierced straight through Dertod.

“I…”

He attempted to defend himself, but it was obvious that Choi Joo-won would not just watch.

Dertod, exposed to the attack in a horrifying state, couldn’t even scream properly. He desperately moved his tentacles to absorb energy.

Swish!

Choi Joo-won held a sword in his hand. It was a legendary-grade item he had received from the past Hunter Association chairman: the Hell Hound’s Fang.

[Legendary]

▶ Hell Hound’s Fang

▶ Absorbs a portion of stats when it kills an enemy, causing the sword to grow. It suppresses recovery effects when hitting an opponent. ※ Some stats are sealed and will be unlocked as it grows.

Swish!

With every swing of the sword, a tentacle was severed.

“St-Stop…”

Dertod cried out, but Choi Joo-won did not relent.

“Don’t make noise. Even if you scream, I won’t stop. Luckily, I have a sword with me, so from now on, I’ll entertain you with this.”

Stab!

Stab!

Slash!

“P-Please… spare me…”

Even at Dertod’s pleas, Choi Joo-won continued. His calm eyes began to fill with madness.

“You pathetic piece of garbage. Do you know how many people died because of you? They shouldn’t have died like this.”

Stab!

“Repent. The only atonement you can offer is death. No, even death would be too good for you. Suffer as much as you can before you die. Pay for the sins of tormenting people with your pathetic power and stealing their lives as if you were something special.”

Stab!

Slash!

Choi Joo-won continued to stab Dertod, who had become defenseless, as if he were possessed.

Ding!

• You have hunted a high-level monster with the Hell Hound’s Fang.
• The stats of the Hell Hound’s Fang have increased.
• Some stats have been unlocked…

Dertod’s screams stopped. Multiple notification windows appeared in front of him, but Choi Joo-won did not stop.

Slash!

Slash!

“Die, you f*cking bastard!”

He continued to swing the sword relentlessly for a long while.

Thud!

Blocking Choi Joo-won was Park Hye-na, whose whole body was covered in wounds.

“Gasp… gasp… gasp…”

“Teacher… you can stop now… he’s already dead…”

Only then did Choi Joo-won check on Dertod.

What remained there was a broken mass that could no longer be called a monster.

Looking around, he was met with a horrifying sight. Over dozens of students from the Helmunt Academy’s practical magic beginner class had collapsed, drained of life force.

The shockwave caused by a single monster was beyond imagination.

‘To think something like this could happen because of a mere C-rank dungeon’s black gate…’

What if an A-rank dungeon transformed into a black gate? It could result in problems that even top-tier wizards or swordsmen would struggle to resolve.

‘I should prepare more just in case.’

Meanwhile, the girls and Baek Hyun-seo watched from afar.

Baek Hyun-seo murmured quietly.

“T-Teacher…”

But no one dared to approach him.