'Why is Malloch doing this?!' Rosaline asked herself. Everyone else was equally paralyzed by the sudden eruption of violence. Why were they fighting each other? How had the situation spiraled so far beyond control?
Rosaline shoved Charlwind away with all her might just as Malloch charged. He moved with a terrifying speed that far surpassed his earlier movements against the bat swarm. The iron hammer, wreathed in crackling black lightning, swung toward her with pure, murderous intent.
Her nerves screamed as her survival instincts flared. For a fleeting second, Rosaline's eyes flashed a predatory crimson.
'This bastard really intends to kill me!' she thought, leaping aside to lure him toward an uninhabited section of the cavern.
Malloch swung again. As the hammer was about to smash into the ground where she had stood, Rosaline caught the side of the weapon with her staff, parrying the force just enough to deflect the impact away from the cave's structural pillars.
She remained in a constant state of evasion, glancing back to see Professor Charlwind sprawled on the ground, seemingly safe for the moment. However, she couldn't get close to Malloch; the black lightning radiating from his body acted as a lethal barrier. Though her wooden staff was an excellent insulator, she could still feel the faint, stinging hum of electricity traveling up her arms.
'Long-range is the only option!' One of her mana orbs shot toward Malloch like a high-velocity bullet. She aimed with pinpoint precision at his wrist. Blood sprayed as the orb pierced the flesh, causing the momentum of his hammer to falter.
Seeing the opening, the others rallied. Amalin, wearing insulated gloves, moved in to strike with her pickaxe, while the lower-rank Hunters drew blades imbued with Leeching Edge, desperate to drain Malloch's mana before he could strike again.
But then…
"AGHHH!!!"
A massive shockwave of black electricity erupted from Malloch, throwing everyone backward. The wind in the chamber whipped into a localized storm of lightning. Some were slammed into the rocky walls; others used their weapons as anchors, driving them into the ground to stay upright. A few fell paralyzed, their skin and clothes scorched by the arcs of black bolt.
Amalin looked at the cracks forming where her pickaxe had pierced the floor. Even with the reinforced structure, the tremors were reaching a breaking point. "The floor!!" she screamed, her voice cracking with panic.
Rosaline and the others froze, barely daring to breathe.
Malloch panted heavily, his eyes wild as he scanned the room before locking onto Rosaline's face.
"You're just a pathetic little brat with big dreams, aren't you?!" Malloch roared. "But I... I want to reach the top! I've fought for everything I have! I tried to be a good senior to you low-ranks! But then you show up with your freakish skills!"
As he spoke, the wound on his wrist began to knit together, white steam rising from the flesh. It was Rapid Regeneration—and it was regenerating him at an impossible rate.
Malloch slammed his hammer into the ground, creating a deep crater in his rage. Lightning snaked across the floor, leaving charred trails in its wake.
"Do you know why I'm stuck here?! It's because of those punks in my guild! Those bastards who dared to outshine me! They look at me with such contempt!!!! I have to endure the mockery of rookies who wonder why 'the old man' is still stuck at Rank B while everyone who came after me made it to Rank A! Bastards! Those who dare to stand out more than me deserve to be punished for their lack of respect for their elders!"
'What is this lunatic rambling about?' Rosaline thought as she dodged another strike. His logic was twisted beyond recognition. It was almost pathetic that his murderous rage stemmed from a desperate need for unearned respect.
"They never did what I did! They never had what I have! So why do they get to succeed without me?! I should be a part of their success! Ungrateful brats! They don't know how to repay the seniors who looked after them!"
"...You—" Rosaline was speechless, her only urge now was to smash her artifact staff into his skull just to bring him back to his senses.
"Stop this insanity! You're a grown man, for God's sake!" Amalin screamed, unable to hold back. "If this floor collapses, I will report you so thoroughly you'll never hold a Hunter license again! You'll never use those skills for the rest of your life! With a mind as filthy as yours, you belong at Rank B—or lower!"
"You filthy woman!" Malloch shrieked, turning his fury toward Amalin.
"Who ever asked you to be our 'senior,' you piece of trash?!" one of the Rank E Hunters shouted back. "All you ever did was bully and bloat your own ego to feel superior! You spent every day mocking us, sabotaging us, and harassing the women in the guild—"
"Shut up! SHUT UP!!!!" Malloch gnashed his teeth. "You're all just parasites on the Hunter Association! I'll crush you! I'll show you the true power of your seniors!!!"
His aura surged with a sickening black light. Malloch's muscles bulged, veins popping across his skin, and a murderous, psychotic grin split his face as he swung his hammer at the low-rank Hunters.
CLANG!!! Amalin intercepted the blow with her pickaxe.
"You really are a monster from hell!" she grunted, her pickaxe erupting in flames as she pushed back. "You only pick on those who can't fight back. If you're so tough, fight someone your own size!"
The fire from Amalin's weapon exploded against Malloch, causing him to howl like a wounded animal.
"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP!!!!" Malloch, his face flushed a deep, angry red, continued to swing blindly.
Amalin took the brunt of the attacks, the ground beneath her boots beginning to crumble. "[Skill: Jolt!]"
The shockwave forced Malloch back a single step. He exhaled a ragged breath, the scorched skin on his body making him look even more demonic.
The low-rank Hunters fired their pistols at the first opening, but Malloch stomped the ground, sending a violent tremor through the cavern.
"[Skill: Lightning Nova!!!]"
Black lightning rippled across the floor, incinerating everything it touched. White smoke rose from the charred ground with Malloch at the epicenter. Amalin, as a Tank-Fighter, managed to absorb some of the damage, but the lower-rank Hunters were devastated. Even those with Tank roles lacked the skill levels to endure such a corrupted attack and collapsed to the ground, paralyzed.
Rosaline grabbed Charlwind by the collar and leaped clear before the black arcs could reach them. Alka had already retreated to the farthest corner of the chamber, his eyes narrowed.
As the Thunder's Mail faded, a bolt of white lightning struck Malloch again, instantly corrupting into black as it reinforced his armor.
"Aren't you going to join them, Hermit?" Professor Charlwind whispered her true codename. "I even feel like picking a fight with them. I don't know... I've felt this urge to provoke you for a while now. Strange, isn't it? I feel like I'm losing my mind. No... maybe I've already gone mad..."
Rosaline watched in horror as Charlwind pulled out a knife and began slicing his own hand, letting the blood drip. She grabbed his shoulders and shook him. "Snap out of it, Professor! Or I'm going to have to actually hit you!"
Charlwind went still for a second before dragging the knife across his palm again, a defiant look in his eyes. "Go ahead, Hermit!"
Rosaline slapped him twice, hard, to bring him back. "Did that work?"
"Just right... I like this side of you," Charlwind chuckled weakly, his cheek beginning to swell. "You truly have no respect for your elders, do you?"
Rosaline frowned, her patience at its end, and turned back to the battlefield.
'They're slaughtering each other... I have to stop this!' She sensed a foul presence in the air. She reached out toward Charlwind. "Professor, you have a backup plan, don't you?"
Rosaline fired another mana orb. It whistled through the air and pierced through Malloch's arm.
"You! GREY HOOD!!!!" Malloch screamed.
She fired another at his leg, forcing the giant to drop to one knee. However, his regeneration skill was working far better than expected—the wounds closed in a fraction of a second.
"You think that's enough to stop me!?" Malloch barked, turning his full attention to her.
But the Hunter girl wasn't finished. She was now holding a length of metallic rope, and she had equipped metal bracers and greaves.
"That's..." Amalin whispered before shouting, "That's metal! Are you trying to get yourself killed?! Grey Hood!"
Rosaline ignored her and screamed at the top of her lungs, "Malloch, you pathetic loser! A failure like you should be fighting me! Do you hear me?! YOU—PATHETIC—LOSER!!!"
Malloch's sanity snapped. "GREY HOOD!!!" He charged her with everything he had.