The being in the dark crimson robe, Sanguine, looked at Ashen with red eyes.
Outwardly, he was a greenhorn no different from anyone else.
But the resonance he felt from within him was something he could never forget.
‘How did the Saint’s legacy fall into the hands of someone like him?’
It was something all the faithful had failed to find despite searching for long years.
The only place they had been unable to search was the tomb of the Saint, Seonhyeolgyeong.
But that was because of the seal placed upon it, not because they were ignorant.
And yet now, the man who carried that relic within his body had come to them of his own accord.
‘He is guiding us.’
If luck was with them, they might obtain two of the Saint’s legacies today.
“I shall retrieve it this instant.”
The moment Sanguine spoke and was about to walk toward Ashen, countless attacks aimed at him unfolded simultaneously.
The woman who seemed to be of the Kurdan tribe sent an arrow imbued with mana toward him.
Its power itself was nothing remarkable, but the precision with which it targeted his heart was astonishing.
The small-built man fired numerous mana bullets at once.
Their power and accuracy were both lacking, but with such a wide net of fire spread out, evasion was impossible.
The silver-haired woman aimed for his face with the pure white flame used by heretics.
And the auburn-haired woman created a massive chunk of ice above his head, difficult to notice by sight alone.
‘For students, they are quite impressive.’
Seeing this, Sanguine inwardly marveled.
If it were possible, their attacks were precise enough that he would have wanted to make them believers.
However, they were accomplices of the thief who had stolen the Saint’s relic.
Regrettably, he could not leave them alive.
Red mana stirred within his body, and his nerves accelerated.
At the same time, the scenery in his vision slowed.
He called this technique Sanctuary.
Within it, Sanguine slowly swung his dagger at the arrow nearest to him with an unhurried hand.
Crack.
As the dagger touched the red blade, it shattered into hundreds of fragments.
He struck those broken pieces away, placing them in the path of the mana bullets aimed at him.
The heretic’s sacred flame was sent shooting into the air by the sword wind created with a swing of his dagger, while the lump of ice was engulfed in white fire and lost its form.
It took long to explain, but in reality, not even a second had passed.
Then the world began to move at its original speed once more.
Boom!
With a roar, the attacks canceled one another out.
Sanguine, without suffering so much as a slight wound, leisurely moved his feet toward Ashen.
Seeing this, the children around him unleashed another barrage of attacks, but the result was the same.
If it had been a proper combined-attack formation, that would be one thing, but attacks poured out in such disarray might as well not exist.
The one thing he could not understand was that the one who had stolen the Saint’s relic was not moving.
‘Has he lost his nerve? If so, how disappointing.’
He had wondered if perhaps the Saint had chosen him with some intent, but was he merely a simple thief after all?
Thinking so, he took another step.
“Now I’ve figured it out.”
Ashen’s eyes gleamed as he charged.
**
The moment I first clashed with him, I realized it.
‘I can never beat him head-on.’
It was not simply a matter of swordsmanship or martial skill.
Strength, speed, and even the sense with which he used them.
Everything about him existed on a different level from us.
Trying to compete against such an opponent was foolish in itself.
Then what we had to choose was simple.
‘We analyze him thoroughly and hunt him down.’
Even as I watched my companions rain attacks down on him, I kept my eyes fixed on the movements of the dark crimson robe.
Unlike the transcendent speed he had shown at first, the speed at which he moved was not all that fast.
‘It’s probably a technique similar to Theodora’s instantaneous acceleration.’
If so, there was no way he could use it consecutively, even if he was willing to strain his body.
‘And he said he would retrieve Jeokhyeol.’
Therefore, in order to retrieve Jeokhyeol intact, the opponent would have no choice but to limit his own actions.
Taking all these conditions into account, if we aimed for the right moment, we could launch an attack he could not avoid.
Yes, if it was right now.
Boom!
With the sound of the ground shattering, a spearhead imbued with crimson blood became a flash of light and shot toward the enemy.
At the same time, dozens of tentacles unfurled.
From different directions and at different speeds, every tentacle stretched toward the opponent’s heart.
The opponent responded by swiftly swinging his dagger.
Each time a red flash flickered, one tentacle was knocked away.
Not one of them had been struck by an attack powerful enough to shatter it.
‘Just as expected!’
He could not make a full-powered attack against Jeokhyeol.
With a smile on my lips, I swiftly swung the spear.
If the opponent could not strike me with his full strength, then there was only one thing I had to do.
‘Draw his eyes to me.’
And when his senses were focused on me—
A sunset-colored arrow slipped through that opening and aimed for his torso.
Was he flustered by the sudden arrow?
Rather than directly knocking it away, the opponent chose to take a step back.
Aimed at that very step, a wall of massive icicles rose from beneath his feet.
The ice imbued with Cecilia’s mana, each piece possessing the sharpness of a spear, targeted his lower body.
In the end, the cultist had no choice but not merely to step back, but to throw himself away and open the distance.
What greeted him there were Brandon’s mana bullets, prepared in advance.
Individually, each had only the force of a pebble, but attacks capable of covering his entire body closed in on him from every direction.
From the ground, spears of ice still aimed at his feet.
From the sky, pure white sacred flame was falling like lightning.
Every direction had been blocked at once.
At that moment, what the opponent chose was to raise his speed once again.
For an instant, the figure in the dark crimson robe vanished from sight and appeared a short distance away.
As I had expected, the technique did not seem to be something he could use often, and a slightly weary breath escaped his mouth.
‘Did we fail?’
To think he could use acceleration faster than expected. That was outside my calculations.
‘Still, this is enough.’
With this, I had figured out his combat pattern.
If we continued to target that, we had a sufficient chance of winning.
Then, from beneath the hood, the opponent’s voice rang out.
“To think you managed to fluster me, even if only for a moment. Not bad.”
His attitude was like that of someone praising an inferior.
That irritated me slightly, but I made no reply and observed his movements.
‘The instant he moves, I’ll respond.’
Perhaps he found my reaction amusing, because the opponent let out a faint laugh.
“Splendid. Judgment unlike that of the young people these days. The Saint did not choose you for nothing.”
“……”
“Do you not even wish to converse with the likes of me? That is truly unfortunate.”
With those words, the opponent slowly began walking toward us.
Unlike moments before, there was no killing intent in his movements, and the dagger in his hand merely remained where it was.
“First, allow me to introduce myself. I am Sanguine. Though I am lacking, I am in charge of the martial forces of the Blood Demon Hall.”
“The Blood Demon Hall!”
As if she knew the name, Theodora shouted loudly.
But as though he had no interest in such a reaction, Sanguine slowly moved his gaze across all of us.
“You are all remarkably skilled. Had your realms been just a little higher, I would likely have been at a disadvantage.”
“So? I doubt all you wanted to do was praise us.”
“You wish me to get straight to the point? How impatient. I like that about you as well. Very well, then I shall offer this to you now.”
Sanguine said so and extended his hand toward us.
“Would you consider becoming believers of our god?”
At the sudden proposal, silence fell for a moment.
He wanted us to join their side?
“After showing us something like that in the village, are you saying that seriously?”
“The village? Ah, you mean the place where the Wendigo was.”
The man in the dark crimson robe clapped his hands as if he had remembered, then tilted his head.
“What was wrong with that village?”
“What?”
“Was it not merely a village where people who were a little different lived? Is that wrong?”
His words felt far too calm to be taken as an attempt to provoke me.
His attitude was truly as if he did not understand what they had done wrong.
“To you, they were nothing more than people who were a little different?”
“They were alive, they breathed, and they possessed the same bodily parts as humans. Aside from their appearance, were they not all the same?”
“You don’t even consider the pain those people felt.”
“Everyone experiences pain in life. To overcome it, we offer prayers to God.”
The moment I heard his answer, a hollow laugh escaped my mouth before I knew it.
I had gone along with the conversation in case I could obtain some sort of information.
‘This bastard is completely insane. He’s not someone I can communicate with.’
With a slightly appalled expression, I signaled Senior Lena with my eyes.
It was a signal that, just as before, if I created an opening, she should shoot without hesitation.
Senior Lena, understanding, gave a small nod.
Just as I was about to step forward—
“It seems these negotiations have broken down.”
Sanguine’s hand moved slowly.
Boom!
With a roar, Theodora’s body was suddenly slammed into the wall.
The attack had been so abrupt that not even a scream escaped her mouth.
“Theodora!”
The moment Brandon cried out in shock at the sight—
Slice.
The staff in Brandon’s hand snapped, leaving a hideous wound on his hand.
‘I didn’t even see it!’
Before I even had time to be shocked by that fact, Cecilia’s head was slammed into the floor this time.
Had he grabbed and pulled her by the neck? A red mark remained on Cecilia’s throat.
“Damn it!”
Senior Lena, without losing her composure, fired an arrow at Sanguine, but at the same time the arrow was smashed in midair, her bow broke.
“Sorry, Ashen.”
With those words, blood flowed from her mouth.
She had barely managed to block the attack with her bow, but she had undoubtedly suffered internal injuries.
“Damn it!”
In rage, I wrapped Jeokhyeol around my entire body and charged toward Sanguine.
I did not know what kind of attack he was attempting, but the fact that he could not destroy Jeokhyeol should remain unchanged.
‘I have to buy time.’
Thinking so, the moment I kicked off the floor—
Halt.
My body stopped as if fixed in midair.
‘What is this?’
I frowned at the unknown substance seizing my entire body.
It was no thicker than thread at most.
But its strength was beyond steel.
“It seems you never thought to apply it in this way.”
As if he had noticed my confusion, Sanguine waved his dagger at me.
From the dark crimson blade, the same color as Jeokhyeol, countless tentacles as thin as thread were extending.
“Now then, this is my final offer, so listen well.”
Letting a dark crimson glow spill from beneath his hood, Sanguine looked straight at me.
“Do you now feel inclined to become one of our believers?”