The battlefield was noisy.
The smell of blood, the crackling of fire, the beeping of broken cars — it was all too noisy.
Jinwoo hadn't been hit since. The top hunters were no match for that monster. He walked aimlessly across the open field, like a beast searching for its next prey.
His behavior was unpredictable. That was the thought that kept repeating in Seokjin's head as he lay on the ground, staring at Jinwoo.
He was injured — seriously injured.
"I think my rib is broken. Ugh... I have to be careful. The bones might pierce my lungs." He stayed prone, breathing heavily, trying to recover. But he wasn't a healer.
He glanced at Mira lying nearby. She was unconscious, but still breathing. Not as badly hurt as him.
"The healer's down... there's no way to win this. Even the backup got wrecked."
"...He's just too strong." The thought repeated like a curse.
Then, suddenly—someone appeared in front of him. Too fast. Almost like he'd teleported.
Seokjin forced himself to look up. White boots. White pants. Oversized white hoodie. The man's face was sharp—defined jawline, high cheekbones, slicked-back black hair. Sunglasses gleamed under the burning light as he adjusted them on the bridge of his nose.
Relief washed over Seokjin's face. "Ahh... you—"
Before he could finish, his face hit the dirt.
The man sighed. "He beat up everyone?" He glanced at Jinwoo strolling across the field. "Should've asked for at least five billion."
He picked up a stone, pulled his arm back, and threw it.
It left his hand like a bullet, slicing through the air, aimed straight for Jinwoo's head—
—or so it looked.
Jinwoo caught the stone effortlessly. Dropped it, then stared at the man.
That man was the top hunter. The strongest in the world.
An American with a special class.
The Teleporter.
The only man to ever clear an S-Rank dungeon solo.
Lucas Grant.
Just as Jinwoo continued to stare, Lucas immediately appeared in front of him and punched him in the face. He was sent flying and hit a wall, cracking it like a spider-web.
For the first time, blood splattered out of Jinwoo's mouth.
[Health : 9780/11000]
Jinwoo stepped out from the crack and rushed at Lucas. He charged up a punch directly at Lucas' gut, but Lucas disappeared.
Before Jinwoo could even move, Lucas appeared just above him and shot his legs on his head, striking Jinwoo into the ground.
"I guess he isn't rational." Lucas crouched and grabbed Jinwoo hair to take a closer look at his face, the most distinctive part was his eyes. They were black, like abyss. There wasn't a single reflection of light from them.
Before Lucas could analyse more, Jinwoo grabbed his head and struck him into the ground, but as dust settled, Lucas was absent. Only his sunglasses remained
Jinwoo turned his head up, just to see Lucas standing in front of him, unharmed.
"That was fast of you. No wonder you defeated Ryuzaki." Lucas said.
Jinwoo once again lunged onto him, but Lucas disappeared. He appeared behind him and kicked him in the back, Jinwoo was once again sent flying, striking a building wall.
[Health :8760/11000]
This wasn't a fight. It was a beatdown.
Jinwoo wasn't fast enough to even land a hit on Lucas.
"Strange. They were beaten up by this guy?" He scratched his head in sight confusion.
"He's fast, yea-" Before he could finish his sentence, Jinwoo appeared in front of him, charging up a punch and shooting it right on his face.
Fortunately, Lucas teleported backwards.
"What the- Is this even possible?".
"He just became.."
"Fast-" Jinwoo once again lunged, Lucas couldn't finish his own thoughts before Jinwoo's punch struck him.
For a heartbeat, the world froze—space bending around them—
Then a deafening boom shattered the silence as Lucas flew back, striking buildings one by one.
He couldn't teleport. The momentum he had would break him apart if he were to stop it immediately.
Lucas crashed through the last building and skidded across the ground, rubble scattering around him. His hoodie was torn, his lip bleeding.
"My goodness. Was he holding back or something."he wiped the blood from his lips.
At first, he struggle but got up. He looked forward to see a fist.
Jinwoo had already reached there. Not even in a blink, Lucas was once again hit with the punch.
Fortunately he teleported just in time to dodge the whole impact. Blood flowed out of his nose.
"Sheesh.. is he really a mage?". Lucas thought for a second, and his question was answered.
A fireball crackled in Jinwoo's palm. It slowly grew bigger—and bigger.
Lucas' head kept turning upwards till it reached to a point of terror.
The fireball was so big that it could destroy the radius which Lucas couldn't even teleport out of.
"Did he find out my reach of teleportation?" Lucas stood there, he stared at the ball as it had reached it's maximum size. It was as high as the skyscraper. Now that he took a closer look.
The sky scrapers, weren't affected. A ball of fire that big would produce insane amount of heat. What was that?
He had then realized. It was never a ball of fire.
It was energy. Red, chaotic and... Destructive.
Jinwoo brought down his hand, the ball moved. But stopped.
"Zero field". A familiar voice travelled into lucas' ears.
Suddenly, a white shield covered it whole. The ball started flowing inwards like a black hole and disappeared in the sky.
Then, from the building behind Jinwoo, appeared the man with the tenacity of the beasts.
Viktor.
"I guess, i would expect only you to be awake. " Lucas gave out a dry laugh.
"Of course i would be" Viktor said, before holding out his shield infront of him and lunging at Jinwoo from behind, Jinwoo stopped the shield. But it was just a distraction.
Lucas vanished from his place and reappeared behind Jinwoo and shot him in the head.
Jinwoo flew like a ragdoll and slid on the ground.
[5500/11000].
[Health points have been lowered to 50%.]
[The title "Battle Maniac" had been activated]
[You have gained 500% power up for 5 minutes. After the timer ends, you will return back to your original power]