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While leaping back, his hand accidentally brushed by one of the red spores–

"--!"

It expanded instantaneously into a fleshy substance, bearing spikes that extended in every direction.

But, from the perspective of the Swine King, when the fleshy spikes should\'ve skewered the young man many times over, the black-uniformed assassin simply vanished from his sight.

"...Human…gone?" The Swine King grumbled.

Suddenly, he reappeared directly in front of the Swine King, landing on his upheld seat that was carried by the swine retainers.

"Regh-?!" The Swine King looked down in surprise.

[Misdirection]

The newly acquired assassin-class ability required no spirit, but certain conditions had to be met: the attention of his enemy had to be fully on him, and he had to find the split-second moment in which their focus was diverted onto a moment of sure victory.

This allowed him to bypass their own perception, moving as though he vanished and reappeared, but having simply been in their \'blind spot" the entire time.

The prisoners held in the cages watched in silence with their eyes filled with trauma and uncertainty as the man faced down the Swine King directly.

"...Kill…!"

Before the colossal swine, too fat to even stand on his legs, could wave his staff, he moved first:

Light Blade plus Dark Edge, he thought.

[Purgatory\'s Impunity]

With one blade clad in radiant light, and the other swallowed in shadows, he spun around, unleashing a number of swift strikes on the flesh of the Swine King, cutting through his scarlet garbs.

After bestowing the visceral slashes on the grotesque, wart-covered swine, which left the burning aftereffect of the holy blade\'s edge and the infectious decay of the dark blade\'s cut, he moved before the retainers holding up the throne could retaliate.

"Cast: Cataclysmic Tremor!" He shouted.

[Spirit: -350 | 2600/18000]

As he stomped down, he invoked the combined spell, invoking the wrath of a mighty tremor that swept outwards with a holy shockwave.

The powerful downfall of his boot forced the heavy king-carriage to slam down with the weight of the metal-built object itself and the Swine King atop of it, crushing the five retainers below with a brutal squish.

[EXP + 2500 | 9700/18000]

"--"

"Regh–?!" The Swine King squealed in fear.

Looking up at the abhorrent, man-eating demon, he realized something:

These are just stragglers. They\'re weak. I thought it was weird that demons had banded together, but it makes sense, he thought.

"You\'re nothing but cowards–and you\'re the king of them," he said quietly with a merciless tint to his eyes.

Before the Swine King could try to defend himself, the assassin unleashed a brutal swipe of his daggers.

In an "X" cross-slash, he embedded a deep gash into the swine\'s neck, watching it drop down with a resounding thud.

[Merciless Proficiency: +2 | 3/10]

["Swine King" Defeated. EXP + 3000 | Angel Coins x200 Acquired]

It turned out to be a profitable endeavor, experience wise and otherwise, as he opened the cages to free the people within. Though it hardly felt as if he was "helping" them as he could tell none of them were even close to level twenty, and the Tower was hours from opening.

"--"

They\'re dead anyway, he thought.

"Thank you…" One of the freed men meekly told him.

He looked at the man, who was constantly shaking and looking down, "...Yeah. Of course."

It hardly felt like a triumphant win for humanity. But, even in the end, it was better than being a meal for the swine.

…There are still so many people who have just been hiding out, not playing the game and simply waiting for the apocalypse to do its job. That could\'ve been me, he thought.

–

Finally meeting up, Korain and Xiaodan showed up, meeting him in the aftermath of the swine camp\'s destruction.

"This is…terrible…" Xiaodan said, looking around.

It was the simplest truth. With bodies strewn across the barricaded streets, a mountain of corpses piled high–it was indeed something out of a nightmare.

Korain sighed, "This is what you should expect from a world that\'s gone to complete shit."

"Still…" Xiaodan covered his mouth and nose.

"Why did you guys come in? I didn\'t say it was safe yet–\' He asked.

He was promptly knocked on the head by the burly man, who was hardly in any shape to do so as he smirked.

"Did you expect us to just sit around while you disappeared in here? Hell no!" Korain told him.

"Exactly!" Xiaodan added.

Sheathing his daggers, he sighed out, "...Well, I managed, somehow."

Xiaodan squinted at him, "You did…all of this?"

"Mhm," he nodded.

"You\'re pretty damn efficient when you want to be, lad," Korain told him.

He ignored their words, continuing forward with the path cleared for the three of them now, "Let\'s just get moving, alright? I don\'t know how either of you are still walking…"

Korain slapped his own chest, "I\'m made of strong stuff, you should know that by now!"

"Yeah, me too," Xiaodan accompanied Korain\'s boisterous words.

"Whatever you say…" He smiled small.

They marched forward towards the Tower once again, though they tried to keep the mood as high as possible, the dreadful atmosphere was thick and suffocating in its ever-present horror.

"Still, I can\'t believe something like that happened here…" Xiaodan mumbled, glancing back at the now distant, wiped out camp.

Most of the city seemed to be on fire now, with the purity of the air being a foreign concept as smoke billowed constantly. It was likely due to the efforts of the flying horseman–"War."

He kept moving forward, "I doubt it\'s a rare occurrence."

"Really?..." Xiaodan asked.

"This world is overrun with demons now," he replied, "...It wouldn\'t surprise me."

"Unfortunately, I have to agree," Korain sighed, "Having seen what Hell looks like, this ain\'t far from it. You\'ve seen it, too, haven\'t you, lad?"

The question was aimed at him, but he hardly wanted to remember the encounter with the Artificial Devil.

"Yeah," he nodded, replying quietly.

–

It was difficult to comfortably breathe in the oxygen in the air that was interlaced with thick smoke, supplemented by the flames that took hold of most of the city by this point.

"Holding up alright?" He asked the two of them.

Xiaodan nodded, "...I\'m fine, my body is just exhausted, but I\'ll pull through."

"Don\'t worry about me; my warrior spirit keeps me going!" Korain assured him, slapping his own chest.

It was difficult to believe such words, coming from the man covered in wounds, but his actions were more significant than his words–Korain had kept up this long, so there was no reason to doubt him.

Most of their march was spent avoiding prowling demons, Defects, and War, who seemed to be flying across the entire nation with the very concept of destruction inlaid in his being.

However, most troublesome of all was avoiding the burning, crumbling buildings, having to journey clear of their fall.

"It looks close now," Xiaodan pointed out.

True enough, the Tower seemed closer than ever; the luminescent essence of its pure-white, quartz form shined like an object truly crafted in the holds of Heaven.

"We\'re almost there," he said.

[Time Until Tower Opens: 5 Hours, 24 Minutes, 54 Seconds]

"Are you sure the others are waiting by the Tower?" Xiaodan asked, looking at Korain.

They were marching up an uphill part of the street, with a lot of asphalt having been dug up by what looked to be something only an excavator could do.

Korain glanced back, "I can\'t guarantee anything–and I won\'t. But, that group is in a helluva lot better condition than us. So, if we made it…"

"It\'s a safe bet," he finished Korain\'s sentence.

"Just about," Korain said, "Those tough bastards wouldn\'t give in at this stage."

Moving to the top of the incline of the street, he stopped, lifting his arm to make the two behind him stop as well.

"What\'s the matter?" Xiaodan looked at him.

Korain looked forward, "Huh."

Up ahead, there was a single person; a young girl, dressed in the unmistakable white uniform of an [Equip].

Sitting on the asphalt, she looked to be in trouble, holding her leg while wincing as if it was hurt. She looked around the same age as Eunji, with short blonde hair in a bob cut.

"Help me…!"

He watched from a safe distance for a moment while his two companions looked on as well.

"Shouldn\'t we help her…?" Xiaodan asked.

"I don\'t know if we\'re in any position to help strangers," Korain interjected.

"--"

While part of him did want to help, he also understood Korain\'s words as well. As they were, their own survival was questionable.

"The Tower is just up ahead…It\'s not too much to help her," Xiaodan said.

"It\'s because the Tower is so close that we can\'t risk it. Look, we\'re just at the finish line–risking it now is a sorry idea," Korain added.

"I\'ll go," he finally added.

His words took the two by surprise as they both looked at him. With the billowing flames surrounding them in the burning city, the light of the Tower sat beyond his resolve gaze while he looked on at the distressed girl.

"Huh?" Xiaodan let out.

"What?" Korain looked at him.

He glanced back at them, "If this is some sort of trap, I\'ll handle it. If it\'s not, then even better."

"But Jeong-Hui, you\'re the only one of us still in decent shape…" Xiaodan said.

"I have to agree, lad. Right now, you\'re leading the charge. But, I guess that means…it\'s also your choice," Korain told him.