Walter said no more and dropped the scythe. He tapped the cloak tied around his neck.

The cloak shot up like a tent and completely enveloped him. His body, now a long, cylindrical shape, tipped over and fell to the ground.

'What's he doing now?'

Just as Yusin was about to fire a spell, the massive jaws of a snake shot out from the front of Walter's cylindrical form with a loud 'snap!'

'Whoa!'

Yusin hastily activated Devastar and shot upward. The giant snake's jaws turned to follow him. Walter's body, still wrapped in the cloak, remained the core.

The surface of the cloak fused to Walter's skin, transforming into smooth scales. It then expanded like a balloon, becoming the body of a monstrous snake.

Yusin wasn't particularly surprised. He had seen Yoonjeong transform into a snake to escape before. It seemed her demonkin form was snake-related.

The intricate patterns on its purple scales were menacing. Deadly venom dripped from the fangs in its gaping maw, and its slithering tongue was deeply unsettling.

The snake's head, fixed on Yusin, suddenly drew back like a bowstring.

A stream of highly toxic fluid shot from its mouth. Yusin threw himself out of the way as Ea deployed a shield.

The attack melted through the shield instantly, forming a pool of poison where Yusin had been.

Even as he rolled across the ground, a magic circle unfolded, firing a counterattacking Ice Javelin. Walter coiled his sleek body, and the spear of frost bounced off his sturdy scales, doing little more than leaving a patch of ice on the surface.

'It's tough. I'd rather fight his human form.'

"Hisssssss."

Walter flicked his tongue; his eyes locked on Yusin.

'Think. Think.'

Yusin's eyes darted left and right, assessing the enemy. There was no enemy he couldn't defeat, and the fact that this one was a snake changed nothing.

As his eyes scanned the snake's body, they lit up.

<Fire Cannon>

Magic circles materialized, surrounding the snake from all sides.

Just then, a cluster of the snake's scales jutted out and shot forward like buckshot.

'Thwack!'

The venomous scales pierced the center of the magic circles. With their formulas shattered, more than half of them fizzled out.

"You're not the only one who can devise a strategy. That technique's weakness is its exposed launch point."

Walter pulled his head back to fire another stream of poison. Yusin quickly flicked his fingers, and layers of Earth Claymore rose to block the attack.

Three of the earthen swords melted at once.

The poison came in rapid succession. Yusin continued to summon Earth Claymores, hiding behind them as he cast a new spell.

<Water Veil>

The moisture in the air shimmered and gathered, creating a holographic clone of Yusin.

As the clone darted to the left, a stream of poison shot out as if on cue, swallowing it whole. Seeing this, the real Yusin ran to the right and activated Devastar.

In an instant, he was right in front of the snake's massive body.

'That was a mistake.'

All of Walter's scales could be used as weapons. Just as they began to rise, ready to fire, Yusin lifted his foot. As his leg shot forward, his left hand brushed past it, and black magic flared to life on the sole of his shoe.

His target was still the Spirit Dagger embedded in Walter's body.

Yusin placed his foot on the dagger's hilt and activated a magic circle.

<Devastar>

The force, exploding from a single point, sent the massive snake flying several meters before it crashed to the ground. Walter roared in agony as the dagger was driven deeper, buried all the way to its hilt.

"Sorry, but there's no opponent I can't figure out."

"You bastard!"

The momentum had shifted.

As Yusin raised his arm, magic circles once again surrounded the snake. Walter, writhing in excruciating pain, fired another volley of scales.

They pierced every magic circle, but this time, the circles remained stable, unleashing a barrage of Fire Cannons.

"What—! Aaaaaaaah!"

The flames clung to the snake's scales, and the stench of burning flesh stung Yusin's nostrils.

"That technique of yours has great accuracy. Pierced right through the center, didn't it?"

So Yusin had simply adapted. He had left the center of the magic circles empty and shifted the formulas to the sides, allowing the scales to pass harmlessly through.

"How is this even possible…!" Walter screeched.

While the Fire Cannons created a smokescreen, Yusin placed his right hand on the ground.

Four auxiliary magic circles spun to life, assisting the casting of a large-scale spell.

'This isn't enough. I'll add a spell for misdirection.'

-Tower Master!

'I can do it. Trust me.'

Yusin was confident in creating multiple spells of the same type at once by consolidating their overlapping formulas. That was the essence of Multi-Casting.

But preparing two or more 'different' types of magic simultaneously was another matter entirely. When different formulas entered his mind at once, they would tangle and break down. Currently, he and Ea could only manage one spell each.

'My condition is at its peak. I'll use this chance to break through another wall.'

Yusin gritted his teeth and simultaneously called forth four different types of magic.

'Fourth-order Gaia.'

'Third-order Water Veil.'

'Second-order Ice Javelin.'

'Second-order Fire Cannon.'

The formulas flooded his mind. Though they were from completely different disciplines, he integrated the four magic circles and divided them into parts.

'First, the output.'

Amidst the chaos of formulas, Yusin located the output components. As they blinked, awaiting his command, he simultaneously calculated mana consumption, projectile angle, and coordinates.

'Next, maintenance.'

'Next, calculation.'

The four spells were mixed, but he found their corresponding parts and processed them together. It wasn't difficult. He was just doing what he always did, but all at once. Over-immersion ignited his focus, and focus brought the flow of his mana to its absolute peak.

[You have obtained the Unique Trait, 'Elemental Master'. Casting speed for 4-element magic has greatly increased.]

A new trait was born—the kind of pinnacle that could only be achieved in a life-or-death battle. Feeling a thrill course through his body, Yusin finished the formulas.

"Gaaaah!" Fire Cannons continued to rain down around Walter, who was choking on the acrid smoke. It was a series of annoying jabs, but the real purpose was the smokescreen.

'His eyes are special. He'll definitely attack through the smoke.'

Just as Walter heightened his senses and waited, Yusin's body appeared from above, breaking through the haze. Walter, prepared, reacted instantly, but…

'This is a clone!'

There was no way he would attack so directly. As Walter's gaze darted elsewhere, he saw another Yusin rushing up from below.

'There!'

Walter charged and swallowed the body in one gulp, but he tasted only cold water.

'The real one was in front!'

The snake's body twisted with fluid grace, changing its posture in a continuous motion as it fired a stream of poison, melting the first clone.

<Gaia>

But both were feints. The real one was below.

The ground itself exploded upward, and massive shards of earth slammed into the snake's body. The real Yusin, bursting from underground, grabbed the dagger.

'Got it.'

He could feel the power of the dagger gripping the mana nerves. Having performed the surgery on Han Yoonjeong, he knew just how fatal this was.

Without a shred of hesitation, he ripped the dagger out.

He felt the sickening sensation of mana nerves being torn free.

"HISS!"

The giant snake's roar vibrated the world. It thrashed about, smashing its head into the ground, but the pain was relentless. After a few more agonizing impacts, its body finally went limp.

'Snap!'

Unable to maintain its form, the snake rapidly shrank. Soon, Armin Walter returned to his human form, clad in the cloak. He was back in the shape of the demonkin Han Yoonjeong, vomiting blood.

"Huff…! Cough! Agh!"

Yusin dropped the Spirit Dagger and equipped Devastar on both feet. Walter could only stand there, choking on his own blood.

"Alright, what are you changing into next?"

Walter stretched out an arm, his expression desperate. "Wait! Let's talk first—!"

'Thwack!'

Propelled by Devastar, Yusin's knee slammed into Walter's face. He coughed up blood and tumbled to the ground. But a veteran was a veteran. Even as he fell, he planted his right foot and swung the scythe, but Yusin easily stepped back and raised his fingers.

Walter flinched, expecting an attack from below.

'Boom!'

But an Ice Javelin shot him in the back.

"Don't think the attacks will only come from below just because I lift my fingers."

As the staggering Walter came to a stop, a magic circle appeared to his right. The moment he flinched and turned his head, Yusin's foot, accelerated by Devastar, slammed squarely into his face.

"And just because a magic circle appears doesn't mean the attack only comes from that direction."

'Crash! Thud!'

The serial killer who once terrorized an era, the master of a continent-spanning Disaster, was now rolling in the dirt.

"What was it you said earlier? I'm not the only one who's capable of devising a strategy?"

Raising his finger, Yusin smiled and declared, "You'll never figure me out. Not even if you died trying."

* * *

The three most important factors for a hunter are status, Unique Ability, and equipment.

That wasn't wrong. Low-rank hunters struggled against high-rank monsters because they lacked those elements, which was why most players focused on increasing their absolute power.

Because of this, a few other elements were often overlooked in combat.

Flow.

Combat has a flow. Every attack, from initiation to impact, has a time lag, and all attacks are predictive by nature, based on an opponent's movements. A powerful strike is meaningless if it only hits empty air.

High power and speed don't automatically make one the strongest martial artist.

It's not a question of who is stronger, but who is stronger at the decisive moment. The one who seizes that moment takes the victory.

Control. Pacing. Tactical planning. Psychological warfare.

Yusin's talents lie in these areas.

To gain an advantage in the battle of flow, he focused on increasing his casting speed and volume. Instead of specializing in a single spell, he learned a variety of magic and made them his own, backed by tens of millions of grueling mental simulations.

"You've probably figured it out by now." Looking at the fallen Walter, Yusin shrugged. "I was showing you all my moves on purpose."

Magic was an unfamiliar power. Any enemy facing it for the first time had no choice but to carefully observe his actions and search for weaknesses.

Yusin used that to his advantage.

He calmly showed them everything. Raise his fingers, and an earthen sword shoots up. A magic circle appears, and a projectile fires.

The moment they showed signs of exploiting his habits, he immediately changed the pattern, mixed in feints, and hit them from behind.

Yusin had far too many cards up his sleeve.

"Let's end this."

Yusin equipped Devastar to the soles of his shoes and walked forward. Walter gripped his scythe while vomiting blood.

'I don't know about anything else, but that technique has never changed. Not in the past, not now.'

Anchor it to the ground or the air, and it fires in a straight-line charge. Aim it at a foe, and it detonates in a shockwave. A crude, almost laughably simple weapon—but it's the very skill that got Yusin this far. He'll no doubt use Devasta head-on and come leaping.

'Now, what will you do?'

However…

Yusin didn't activate Devastar. He simply walked toward him, step by step. He had to know that approaching like this was suicide.

'Is this body a fake? Or is he turning my own assumption against me?'

Questions piled up, tangling Walter's thoughts until he couldn't move an inch.

Yusin suddenly leapt into the air.

'It's definitely a charge!'

Walter raised his scythe, bracing for the frontal assault.

But Yusin never charged.

He just brought his right foot down in a clean, unpretentious arc.

That was all.

Walter couldn't do a thing.

In that moment, what Walter's eyes saw was a black line being drawn across his vision. A jet-black rift that bisected the world.

"Oof." Straightening up, Yusin looked at Walter. "Why do you think I laid all my cards on the table like that?"

Walter's shoulder split apart.

"Ah…"

The line traveled past his shoulder, through his chest, and cleanly down to his waist, revealing a perfect cross-section of his body. The scythe clattered to the ground. Armin Walter, with a vacant expression, tilted his head back and looked at the sky.

The sea was split.

The clouds were parted.

The world itself was split diagonally.

<Devastar – Cutter>

Yusin smiled as he lowered his leg. "You play your joker at the decisive moment. That's the most basic of basics."

Along with the world, Walter's body split in two and collapsed.

[Child of Mana trait has reached Lv.4.]

[Magic Power increased by 20]

[Agility increased by 10]

[Strength increased by 5]

[Stamina increased by 3]

[Focus increased by 2.]

"Haaaah…"

Yusin let out a long breath and looked back at Walter. His twitching body soon fell still.

He allowed himself a moment to savor the victory. The feeling after a battle with a strong opponent was always exhilarating.

'He's definitely dead, right?'

-It seems so, Tower Master. However…

'However?'

-I detect no life signs, but I can still feel a magic reaction.

Yusin approached the body to check. He wasn't breathing. Definitely dead.

'Ea. Pinpoint the magic reaction. Where is it coming from?'

-Please wait a moment. Ah, could you move the corpse aside?

Yusin did as she said.

-It's the stone that was underneath it.

"…This thing?"

Indeed. With Deva's Eye, he could see magic stirring inside the small rock.

'He can transfer his soul to inanimate objects?'

To think Armin Walter was inside this. The flow of mana was certainly wriggling as if it were alive.

"Hmm."

Yusin tossed the pebble in his hand. The mana inside spun as if in protest.

This might be useful.

Just in case, he cast a fourth-order sealing spell on the stone and slipped it into his pocket.

'It's all over now.'

Yusin lifted his head, feeling the lingering sentiment. The dark sky, filled with storm clouds that had looked ready to burst, was slowly clearing.

[Seven Hours After the Classic Gate Opened, the Boss Monster Is Dead.]

[The Disaster, the Classic Gate, Has Completely Vanished.]

* * *

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