Chapter 63: Realize Your Own Shortcomings

“Don’t regret it. It’ll be too late to beg then.”

Choi Juwon said to Song Minchul.

He drew the Hellhound’s Fang.

**
[Legendary][Bound]
Name: Hellhound’s Fang
Effect: Absorbs some of the enemy’s stats upon killing them, allowing the sword to continuously grow. Suppresses the healing effects on the struck target. ※Some abilities are sealed. Unlocked upon growth.
Unlocked Abilities
▶Mana Absorption: Inflicting damage on an enemy absorbs a certain amount of their Mana.
▶Battle Frenzy: As the battle prolongs, the damage dealt increases.
**

Song Minchul began to laugh in a deep voice.

“So, the mage decides to use a sword because magic isn’t enough. You’re digging your own grave. How foolish. Do you really think you can take on hundreds of us with that pathetic sword?”

Choi Juwon laughed quietly in disbelief.

‘He calls the Hellhound’s Fang a pathetic sword? It’s a Legendary grade item, one of the few in the world. How absurd.’

It’s said that people see what they know. They think and act based on their own knowledge. Song Minchul was no different. He had never seen a Legendary grade item, so he could laugh confidently at the incredible sword in front of him. He probably couldn’t even imagine that someone like Choi Juwon could possess a Legendary item.

-Shing

He raised the sword and pointed it to the sky.

“You started this, so whatever happens next is on you.”

Song Minchul scoffed and gestured with his hand.

“Kill that clueless fool.”

-Fwoosh

At Song Minchul’s command, hundreds of mages around them began to chant.

‘They’re definitely not just a bunch of nobodies.’

The aura of each mage was not weak by any means. They were W, one of the few high-ranking guilds in the country. Although Choi Seunghyun of the Baal guild had such overwhelming power that he overshadowed others, if the Baal guild didn’t exist, the prestige of high-ranking guilds would be much higher.

‘But it doesn’t matter.’

Even if they were a high-ranking guild, he was an S-rank or higher mage.

‘There’s certainly a lot of them.’

In a battle between many and few, the few are at a disadvantage in terms of stamina and attack speed.

The many can distribute their attacks, conserving their stamina longer, and they can unleash hundreds of attacks at once, making their attacks overwhelmingly fast.

So, how can one overcome these disadvantages when fighting against many? The answer was simple.

[Emission]

-Paang-!

He instantly emitted Mana behind him, propelling himself towards the enemy.

Song Minchul shouted,

“He’s finally lost it. Charging in to commit suicide.”

Ignoring him, he chanted again.

[Emission]

-Kwaaaaaang-!

His body propelled forward even faster than before. Countless spells began to fly towards him.

-Fwoosh

Fireballs rained down from the sky.

-Thud

He raised his hand towards the magic flying above him.

[Absorption]

-Whoosh

The magic instantly vanished, and its Mana was absorbed into his body.

Song Minchul, watching from afar, shouted in shock,

“Wh… What is that…!”

[Absorption] could be used on magic, too. However, it required a significant difference in skill level.

The high-ranking guild seemed impressive as a group, but individually, their magic was no match for him. Therefore, he could absorb their spells.

‘Of course, I can’t absorb something like Hellfire or Meteor.’

What they had cast was just a barrage of fireballs for harassment. He didn’t need to absorb them, but he did it to demoralize the enemy.

As expected, the mages who were watching began to panic. This was natural. Absorbing someone else’s spell meant there was a significant gap in their abilities. They knew him as an A-rank mage. So, their panic was inevitable.

Song Minchul shouted,

“Cast…! Cast stronger spells!”

At Song Minchul’s command, the other mages began to cast spells haphazardly.

‘Hasty spells like that are bound to be weaker.’

Magic was intricate, requiring considerable mental focus, especially for high-level spells.

Imprecise casting led to diminished power.

-Whoosh

The surroundings began to be covered in a blizzard.

They were using cooperative magic to enhance and cast Blizzard.

‘Useless.’

He began to gather Mana throughout his body. He covered his entire body with a Mana barrier.

Hooooooong

Then, he quickly charged across the icy path they had created.

-Tap tap tap tap

His Mana-covered body allowed him to run on the ice without slipping.

Just then, hundreds of ice spears rained down towards him.

-Shaaaaaa-!

He slid down and rushed towards the densely packed mages.

He soon reached the mage at the forefront.

He whispered to him,

“Don’t blame me. You were the ones who tried to kill me first.”

-Shaaaaaa-!

-Ding!

-[You have killed a B-rank mage with the Hellhound’s Fang.]

-[The Hellhound’s Fang’s stats have increased.]

-[Special Ability: Mana Absorption has activated. Absorbing the opponent’s Mana.]

A message appeared after killing one person. The Hellhound’s Fang was growing even stronger.

-Thud

A body fell to the ground. Bleeding, dead. But he didn’t care. They had genuinely tried to kill him. And hundreds of them had joined forces to do it.

‘If I were weak, I would be the one dead.’

They had tried to kill him cruelly. Not in a one-on-one fair fight, but clearly thinking he was just an A-rank mage, they had brought hundreds of B-rank and A-rank mages to gang up on him and kill him.

‘There’s no need for mercy. I shouldn’t think of them as human.’

It was ridiculous to feel guilty about killing these fools who were trying to kill him just because they didn’t like him.

‘Haa…’

Thinking this, he moved on to the next mage, leaving the corpse behind.

“Ah… Aaaah…!”

-Shaaaaaa-!

The mage who met his eyes couldn’t even cast a spell before his neck was severed by the sword.

-[You have killed an A-rank mage with the Hellhound’s Fang.]

-[The Hellhound’s Fang’s stats have increased.]

The message appeared again. He began to slaughter without paying attention to the messages.

“Die-!”

Ice spears and powerful electric spells flew from afar.

-Whoosh

-Kwaaaaaang-!

He twisted his body, rolled, and used Emission to close in on the enemy. The closer he got, the harder it was for them to use wide-area spells for fear of hitting their allies.

-Shaaaaaa-!

-Shaaaaaa-!

“Aaaaaaaah-!”

Every time he killed a mage with his sword, screams echoed, and a notification about the Hellhound’s growth appeared. Its growth rate was faster than expected. He thought that the Hellhound’s Fang might grow faster when killing people.

-Thud

He continued to move even while thinking. This time, instead of using his sword, he grabbed a mage with his hand.

“P… Pl… Please spare me…!”

The mage trembled and begged for his life.

“Should I spare you?”

At his question, the mage nodded.

He decided to test them, to see just how despicable they were.

-Whoosh

He threw the mage far away. Then, he turned his back and ran. Just then…

[Lightning Cannon-!]

As expected, a spell aimed precisely at his head flew towards him.

[Teleport]

He instantly teleported above the mage he had just thrown.

“Ah… S… Sp…!”

“No.”

The mage tried to beg for his life again, but it was useless.

-Hooooooong

-Thuuuud~!

Falling from above, he split the mage’s body in two.

-Gulp

He could see the mages in the distance swallowing hard.

-Drip

His body was soaked in the blood of the recently killed mage.

The number of mages he had killed so far wasn’t that many. Hundreds of them still had the ability to cast. But strangely, no more spells were coming his way.

“
…
! What are you all doing? Cast your spells!”

Song Minchul shouted, but the mages just looked at each other.

‘They finally caught on.’

As expected of members of a high-ranking guild, they were quick-witted.

He was killing them in the order they cast their spells.

They had realized that if they cast a spell first, they would die horribly like the ones before them.

That’s why they were hesitating, waiting for someone else to cast first.

-Swoosh

He wiped the blood from his face and spoke to Song Minchul.

“Do you realize something’s wrong now?”

-Stagger

Song Minchul, meeting Choi Juwon’s cold gaze, unknowingly took a step back.

‘Why…?’

Song Minchul still had hundreds of mages. But his instincts were telling him to run, that he had to run to survive.

He couldn’t understand it. He didn’t know why a mere A-rank mage could wage such an incredible fight, nor why he was afraid of a mere academy instructor.

“Uwaaaaaaaaah~!”

Song Minchul screamed and cast a spell.

[Hellfire]

“Die, you arrogant bastard-!”

As befitting a high-ranking guild leader, Song Minchul cast the S-rank spell Hellfire.

While the Hellfire was flying, Song Minchul yelled,

“You arrogant fool. Burn in my spell and realize your own inadequacy!”

At his words, he let out a hollow laugh.

-Swoosh

Then, he sheathed his sword for a moment, raised his hand, and cast the same spell.

[Hellfire]

As the fireball flew, he shouted to Song Minchul,

“You should be the one to realize your own inadequacy!”

The spells collided.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaang-!