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The ‘Wandering Wife’ fired from Edgar’s shoulder.

Ian urgently twisted his body and dove into the depths.

He remembered how Leon had been critically injured by that small missile before.

-Beeeep- Shwaaaaa─

The current Wandering Wife was an upgraded version compared to the previous one.

It was an automatic tracking missile enhanced with ‘pursuit’ and ‘target’ spells.

-Kwaaaaanng!

In the end, Ian also tasted the power of the Wandering Wife.

He couldn’t dodge the missile and was caught directly in the explosion.

Along with a tremendous blast, his body was left in tatters.

There wasn’t a single spot untouched by critical injuries.

“Damn it! Since it’s come to this, I’ll go all out!”

With that, Ian’s subordinates all rushed at Edgar in unison.

All of them were trained sea hunters, their movements swift and their attacks threatening.

Attacks filled with various spells poured onto Edgar.

-Kwaazzz! Kwang!

The intensity was enough to damage titanium alloy.

Not just amateurs, but trained soldiers, so their destructive power was considerable.

Had he faced them individually, there would have been no damage, but their joint assault and formation meant that even titanium couldn’t escape accumulating damage.

“You bastard! I’ll kill you!”

At that moment, a recovered Ian also joined the battlefield.

Equipped with the ‘Armor of the Sea God’ just like Leon, he was able to recover quickly even from devastating strikes.

【20 to 1 is too much. I better get serious.】

Edgar was surrounded in an instant.

Before entering the fight, Edgar conducted a final check of his systems.

Repulsor Beam, Plasma Blade, Crucible, Double-Barreled Shotgun, Mana Chainsaw, Plasma Mana Shield, Underwater Jet Engine, Leviathan Mode, Black Water, various utility devices, and so on.

He checked all the power at his disposal.

【Well then, let’s go.】

Everything was in perfect working condition.

Edgar swiftly transformed from his ‘standard suit’ to the ‘Leviathan Suit.’

He modified the suit into its optimal form for underwater combat.

“Attack!”

But Ian would not simply stand idly by.

As soon as his command was issued, a mana net was launched toward Edgar.

The mana-boosted net also possessed electrical properties, making it impossible to escape once caught.

-Paah!

But at that moment.

Two canisters were launched from Edgar’s suit, and upon breaking, a smoke screen began to spread.

It colored the area entirely in black water.

“W-what is this?!”

The black water obscured visibility in an instant, like ink.

While everyone was flailing in confusion, Edgar cut through the net with his Plasma Blade and slipped out of the encirclement.

Then he switched to ‘thermal detection visor’ mode and began hunting down Ian’s flailing subordinates one by one.

-Kiiiyiiiiing! Bang!

“Agh!”

A Repulsor Beam flew from an unexpected direction.

However, being a trained Betarang sea hunter, Ian had enhanced his body as soon as he sensed the sound, avoiding a fatal injury.

-Pooook!

“Cough!”

Nevertheless, he couldn’t dodge the ensuing Plasma Blade that pierced through his abdomen.

No matter how much he enhanced his body with mana, he couldn’t block the ultra-high-temperature Plasma Blade.

“Khuh…”

In the end, the sea hunter, pierced through the abdomen, sank to the sea floor.

Desperately clinging to consciousness, he attempted to cast a healing spell, but he failed as sea monsters charged at him from all directions.

His flesh was torn apart by various sea monsters, and screams echoed.

“Activate the Blue Eye to locate him!”

As one of them fell, Ian commanded to use the Blue Eye to hunt down Edgar.

Several hunters who reached high levels activated their Blue Eye to locate Edgar.

“There he is!”

Thus, seven sea hunters locked onto Edgar’s position.

Soon, Ian and the seven sea hunters began to pursue him with underwater techniques.

But at that moment, Edgar switched his power source to ‘electric propulsion,’ causing his figure to vanish in an instant.

“You little rat!”

In the meantime, Edgar pulled out his weapon.

Using ‘electric propulsion’, he could avoid detection from the enemy’s Blue Eye, but he wouldn’t be able to use mana or spells, rendering functions like the Repulsor Beam inactive.

-Clack!

Thus, Edgar took out a conventional weapon.

He drew a double-barreled underwater shotgun and loaded it.

However, no matter how much it was designed for underwater use, its destructive power would be cut in half at long range, so he needed to get in close.

Edgar approached the flailing enemies with his underwater jet engine and began to shoot at close range.

-Thwaang!

“Kuhh!”

The results were most satisfying.

Bullets from the double-barreled shotgun, focused solely on firepower, pierced through the mana-reinforced skin, creating massive holes in the enemies’ bodies.

He had no obligation to show mercy to them, as they were making vile attempts to corrupt him into a minion of the Demon Church.

“Kuhh…”

As another one began to sink.

Using this method, Edgar roamed through the black water, sending a total of seven sea hunters to the depths with his double-barreled shotgun and chainsaw.

No matter how seasoned they were, with their visibility blocked, they had no means to stop Edgar.

“You bastard!”

But the smoke’s effect wouldn’t last indefinitely.

Due to the relentless fighting, the fluid had started to scatter and thin out.

“There! Form up and kill him!”

Again, the scenario turned into a multiple vs. one situation.

This time, the numbers had decreased to 12 to 1.

【Power switch.】

Now, it was a full-on battle.

Edgar switched from electric propulsion to mana propulsion to activate the previously disabled Repulsor Beam and Plasma Mana Shield.

“Attack en masse!”

At that moment, with Ian’s shout, ten subordinates charged forward at once.

Edgar activated the Plasma Mana Shield to block their approach and began to fire Repulsor Beams to push them back.

【Let’s go for a little ride.】

Having driven off eight of them, Edgar embedded a glass filled with CS gas into the foreheads of the remaining two, abducting them while they writhed in agony.

Holding onto them as they struggled with the CS gas entering their bronchial tubes, he fully activated the jet engine and dragged them down to the seabed.

-Tick. Tick.

Then he attached a sticky bomb to their chests and fired a Repulsor Beam to push them down further.

Eventually, when Edgar pressed a button, the sticky bombs detonated, causing a tremendous flow of blood to erupt.

Thus he dealt with two more.

“Surround him! Don’t let him escape!”

Just like that, the circumstances changed from 20 to 1 to suddenly 10 to 1.

At Ian’s fierce shout, the subordinates moved in unison to surround Edgar.

Now they attempted to restrict Edgar’s movements with boundary spells as well.

“I won’t go easy on you anymore!”

Moreover, Ian’s gaze had turned desperate.

He brought forth his trump card, the Aura Blade.

His Aura Blade gained heightened power in water, making it a weapon that even Edgar had to be cautious of.

“Catch that little rat! I’ll finish him off.”

Thus, the second round began.

As multiple harpoons flew in, a strong telekinetic force began to restrain Edgar’s movements.

Two spellcasters restrained Edgar using advanced telekinesis.

-Crack! Thud! Crack! Kiing!

With the two spellcasters blocking Edgar and the rest started to attack the Plasma Shield.

Soon, the Plasma Shield began to crack, covered in dozens of fine fissures.

With the corners of his mouth curling up, Ian drew the Aura Blade and started to approach Edgar.

[Charging… 94%]

But Edgar wasn’t without a way to respond.

On the contrary, he was preparing for a big counterattack while the enemies poured their attacks into him.

He concentrated mana into the laser cutter mounted on his palm, gathering power to unleash a significant burst of energy.

-KaGak!

However, at that moment, the Plasma Mana Shield shattered.

Simultaneously, a message appeared on Edgar’s visor: [Charge 100%].

A bright red light illuminated on the palm section.

“Die─!”

At that moment, Ian charged at Edgar with the Aura Blade.

The spellcaster using telekinesis pushed Edgar down to prevent resistance.

-Clack. Squeeeek──.

But then, six chambers, each with holes, sprang out from Edgar’s side.

Babababang! Smart bullets inscribed with spells shot towards the two spellcasters.

“Ugh!”

In response, the spellcasters gathered some mana back to their bodies for defense.

During that process, their concentration wavered and their focus diluted, greatly diminishing the telekinetic force.

-Paah!

As the pressure restraining Edgar vanished.

Edgar crossed his hands into an X and clenched his fists.

With a clicking sound, the lights on his palm ignited red, and lasers burst forth.

Edgar spun his body widely, swinging the scorching laser in all directions.

“Kuh…”

In an instant, the laser cutter penetrated through.

Intricate veins emerged on the bodies of the sea hunters, and as guided, their bodies crumbled away.

The cross-section where the laser cutter passed sliced right through their bodies.

“That… that’s impossible…”

Only two adversaries survived the laser cutter intact.

The priest of the Demon Church disguised as the Church of Salvation and Ian clad in the Armor of the Sea God.

As Ian’s expression grew increasingly filled with terror, Edgar, having removed the one-time-use rechargeable laser cutter, glared at Ian and spoke.

【Now there are two left.】

 

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