Chapter 185: Sneak Attack

[Sixth Sense (Lv. 3) detects a fatal attack trajectory!]

[Target: Elisha Ravenscroft. Probability of death: 98%!]

What?!

My eyes snapped open.

My head whipped around. The projected trajectory line drawn by my Sixth Sense was aimed perfectly at the back of Elisha’s head as she walked away from the throne’s cover.

Blink.

I didn’t think. I instantly channeled mana into my legs and triggered my spatial footwork. My vision flashed, and I reappeared directly behind Elisha.

I didn’t have time to draw the Reaver. I ripped the Winchester rifle off my shoulder and raised it horizontally like a shield.

A streak of pitch-black light shot out from the far, unseen end of the dark corridor. It bypassed the entrance of the hall entirely and slammed directly into my rifle.

To me, the spatial jump and the impact happened almost simultaneously.

The heavy steel barrel of the Winchester shattered instantly, unable to fully absorb the massive kinetic force. The black projectile punched through the broken metal and buried itself deeply into my left shoulder.

If the rifle hadn’t absorbed the brunt of the impact, the attack would have blown straight through me and taken Elisha’s head off.

"Ugh!"

The physical pain hit a second later, sharp and burning.

Why was there an attack now? The Regent was dead. The automatic defenses were down.

No. Could it be him? Already?

"Cadet Lucien!"

Elisha spun around, her eyes widening in horror as my knees buckled. She didn’t freeze this time. She grabbed me by the collar of my coat and dragged us both backward, diving behind the massive stone throne for hard cover.

It was a good tactical call. Even if the ruin’s magic was fading, the Emperor’s throne was carved from ultra-dense subterranean rock. It would provide solid defense against a sniper.

Elisha’s face hardened as she examined the projectile lodged in my shoulder.

"This... this isn’t a normal arrow..."

Elisha reached out to snap the shaft. The moment her fingers brushed the black arrow, it reacted violently with her pure mana, letting off a hiss of corrosive black smoke.

This wasn’t human aura or elemental magic.

It was demonic energy. Pure

Magi

.

Damn it. The timing couldn’t be worse.

The enemy approaching down the corridor was the exact target I had been preparing to hunt. The hidden villain of this border camp arc. The one I had planned to kill

after

I secured the Regent’s crown and fully recovered my strength.

My head pounded. The corrupted energy was rapidly invading my bloodstream, making my thoughts sluggish. The pain in my shoulder felt like a jagged piece of burning coal was being twisted into the joint.

"Lucien! Stay with me!" Elisha yelled.

Ignoring the corrosive smoke, Elisha grabbed the black arrow with both of her hands.

A violent rejection reaction occurred between her pure mana and the Magi, sending a shock of agonizing pain through both of us.

"Ugh!" I grunted, gritting my teeth.

"Uht...!"

After five agonizing seconds, the sheer density of the demonic energy violently repelled Elisha’s hands, throwing her backward.

[The target’s Magi has been significantly destabilized. It can now be purged with Holy energy.]

That was all I needed. Her interference had weakened the arrow’s structural integrity.

I gathered my remaining mana and channeled it into the holy runes carved into my chest. A warm, brilliant golden light wrapped around my right hand.

I gripped the demonic arrow. The holy energy instantly overwhelmed the corrupted Magi, burning the physical arrow into white ash in a matter of seconds.

’Ugh...!’

I didn’t stop there. I pressed my glowing hand directly against the darkened, bleeding wound on my shoulder. With a loud sizzling sound, the residual Magi was burned out of my flesh, escaping as foul-smelling black smoke.

Did I stop the corruption in time?

In the game’s setting, if Magi reached your heart, your stats and abilities permanently corrupted. If it reached your brain, you became a mindless minion of the demons. A single moment of carelessness could cost you your entire character build.

I looked up, breathing heavily.

Elisha was staring at me in utter shock, watching me casually wield high-tier holy magic to purge a demonic wound without a catalyst or a prayer.

"Don’t space out. Keep your head down," I warned, drawing the Reaver shotgun with my good arm. "The enemy is a demonic contractor."

"R-Right," Elisha stammered, gripping her bow. "That’s your specialty, isn’t it?"

"...?"

Why would she think that?

"You’re a Holy Executioner. You don’t have to keep hiding it from me in a situation like this," she said with absolute certainty.

"...If I had a system point for every time I’ve heard that misunderstanding, I’d be a millionaire," I sighed, checking the chamber of the shotgun. "It’s a long story. Let’s just focus on surviving."

We stayed crouched behind the massive stone throne, watching the dark corridor entrance.

I was at a massive disadvantage. My rifle was shattered, meaning I had lost my long-range sniping capability. I was forced to rely entirely on the Reaver for close-to-mid-range combat.

I scanned the darkness, but the enemy was completely out of sight. From how far away had that arrow been shot?

"Do you know who it is?" Elisha whispered urgently.

It would be a hassle to explain

how

I knew, but it was better than her hesitating out of shock when she saw the culprit’s face.

"It’s Senior Cadet Leon," I stated bluntly.

"...What?" Elisha’s hands, which had finally stopped trembling, gripped her bow tighter. "The Club President?"

"Believe it or not, that’s up to you."

"I believe you," she replied immediately. "I didn’t mean I don’t trust your judgment."

That response was surprisingly quick.

"But... Cadet Leon is a senior in his graduating year," she continued, her brow furrowing in confusion. "He’s been at the Academy for three years. He’s an exemplary student with top marks. Why would he contract with a demon?"

"Demons are like an assassin’s blade hidden under a silk sleeve. They prey on the insecurities of the ’perfect’ students. No one knows they are there until the blade is already in your back."

At that exact moment, the dark corridor flashed with a sinister black light.

Another highly compressed, magi-infused arrow screamed out of the darkness.

It didn’t aim for us. It hit the massive stone throne we were using for cover.

BOOM!

The arrow detonated with catastrophic force. The ultra-dense subterranean rock shattered instantly, and the withered corpse of the ancient Emperor was blown into dust.

What incredible destructive power.

Elisha and I crouched low behind the heavy stone wreckage of the shattered throne, holding our breath.

The demon didn’t announce its presence with a grand entrance or a roar. It announced itself with a sickening, wet sound.

Scrape. Drag. Scrape.

It was the sound of something heavy and lifeless being pulled across the ancient stone floor, accompanied by the slow, deliberate crunch of boots.

’No way,’

I thought, my eyes narrowing.

I carefully peeked over the edge of the collapsed rubble to secure my line of sight down the corridor.

’As expected.’

A familiar blond youth stepped through the grand archway of the hall. His hand was wrapped tightly around the hair of another man, dragging him effortlessly. A thick trail of blood marked the path of the victim.

It was Leon Herman. And he was dragging his older brother, Professor Valerius.

Beside me, Elisha inhaled sharply. She clenched her fists so hard her knuckles turned white, her teeth grinding together in pure fury.

"Cadet Lucien... Cadet Elisha. You’re in here, aren’t you?" Leon called out, his voice echoing unnaturally in the cavernous room.

He stood perfectly still in the center of the hall, his eyes closed. When he opened his mouth to speak, a foul, corrosive stench filled the air. His tongue and teeth were stained pitch-black, as if coated in wet tar.

"I know you’re hiding. Come out. Don’t make this tedious..."

Pure, unfiltered Magi dripped from his gaping mouth like venom.

Valerius, who looked completely lifeless a moment ago, weakly twitched. He forced his bloodied eyes open and let out a faint, ragged whisper.

Leon’s eyes snapped open.

Instead of his usual bright blue irises, his eye sockets were filled with irregular, shifting masses of black sludge. The hand gripping Valerius’s hair suddenly jerked downward.

"Brother! Shut up!"

Leon slammed Valerius’s face directly into the stone floor with horrifying strength. The ancient tiles cracked with a sickening snap. Valerius went completely limp. Alive or dead, I couldn’t tell from this distance.

Elisha let out a muffled gasp and immediately shifted her weight, preparing to rush out from behind the cover with her bow drawn.

I immediately raised my hand and grabbed her shoulder, pressing her back down.

She froze. She looked at me, her eyes burning with anger, but she didn’t push my hand away. She took a deep, shaky breath and waited for my signal.

’Nice.’

The haughty, impulsive noblewoman had finally learned the value of tactical patience. She trusted my judgment.

I reached into my tactical pouch, pulled out a standard-issue Association recording crystal, and tapped the activation rune. It glowed with a faint, invisible light. Everything from this point forward would be recorded as undeniable evidence.

"...Cadet Leon," I called out smoothly, remaining behind cover.

"Lucien! You will address me as

Senior

!"

BOOM!

A massive shockwave of black energy slammed into the right side of the throne’s wreckage. But I was no longer sitting there; I had already combat-rolled to the left flank.

"Why are you targeting us?" I asked, keeping my tone perfectly conversational to keep him talking.