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Lee Ha-yoon’s fight was quite smooth.

“…Thanks to the Ice Spear, they can’t even think of attacking me.”

Normally, due to the Apostles rushing in before casting could even begin, long-casting magic wouldn’t be usable, and she’d have to rely on small spells to hit and dodge around. But Jeong Gyeoul’s Ice Spear was doing an excellent job as the vanguard.

Thanks to that, she could focus on providing firepower support from the rear like a proper mage.

A storm of frost and lightning relentlessly attacked the Apostles.

In the midst of it, she refrained from using fire-attribute magic to avoid melting the Ice Spear.

An endless barrage of magic.

The firepower of the Magic Category was on a completely different level compared to the Physical and Super Ability Categories.

“We need to take down that mage!”

“Is there anyone here who doesn’t know that?”

“Someone get rid of that Ice Spear! It feels like ten A-Class Awakened Ones are charging at us at once!”

“Why is there not a single Magic Category Apostle left among the remaining ones?”

If even one Magic Category Apostle had been left, they could have melted the Ice Spear in an instant and turned the situation around…

Unfortunately for them, all the Super Ability and Magic Category Apostles were dead, leaving only the Physical Category ones.

In the midst of this, Lee Ha-yoon’s magic slowed down, giving them a moment to catch their breath.

“…Has her magic power dropped?”

“Doesn’t seem like it. The magic power gathering is even stronger than before. She must be preparing a big spell.”

“Eruogens, if I hand the Ice Spear over to you, can you hold it?”

“I’ve gotten used to those ghostly movements. I think I can handle three or four of them.”

“Unfortunately, I can’t control the numbers. Here I go!”

Whoosh—

As soon as Fury finished speaking, she instantly collided the magic power inside her body, creating a shockwave.

As a result, all the Ice Spears were pushed back at once.

It was a technique that risked damaging the magic circuits inside her body.

Blood was flowing from her mouth due to the aftermath.

Her internal organs were clearly injured.

In that brief moment, rushing straight at Lee Ha-yoon would have been the best choice, but it was obvious she’d be blocked by the Ice Spear before she could get there.

Fury rushed toward Eruogens instead.

“One minute, just hold on for one minute. I’ll take care of that mage within that time.”

“That should be enough! I’m Eruogens, after all!”

Eruogens deflected the Ice Spears heading toward Fury, drawing their aggro.

This caused the aggro to shift to Eruogens momentarily, making it easier for Fury to move.

The Ice Spears were simply moving according to Jeong Gyeoul’s commands, imbued with magic power.

Since they weren’t being controlled individually, aggro ping-pong was possible.

The 30 Ice Spears moved so sharply that it was hard to believe they weren’t being controlled one by one.

Fury’s guess was spot on, and she immediately charged toward Lee Ha-yoon.

“…!”

Lee Ha-yoon was preparing a new spell.

She created two magic rails and placed them side by side, applying a high voltage to both.

When a conductive magic projectile was placed between the rails, a circuit would form, and the current flowing through the rails would accelerate the projectile at an incredible speed, firing it.

It was a magic version of a railgun.

The more current and the longer the rails, the stronger the spell, so she was gathering magic power to generate a strong current…

But Fury’s charge forced her to cut it short.

If Lee Ha-yoon had gathered as much as she planned and hit her target directly, she could have taken at least one Apostle out of the fight.

The spell was powerful but took a long time to prepare.

Such spells were essentially the ultimate moves of Magic Category Awakened Ones.

But without gathering enough magic power and using it midway, it was just a slightly stronger spell.

Whoooosh—

Lee Ha-yoon fixed the magic rails on the charging Fury and converted all the gathered magic power into current.

Boom!

The uncontrolled magic projectile raced down the rails.

Fury noticed something was being fired and tried to deflect it, but…

At over six times the speed of sound, there was no way a human could deflect it.

“Ugh!”

Fury’s shoulder was pierced by the magic projectile, and she grimaced, barely enduring the pain.

She then reached Lee Ha-yoon.

Lee Ha-yoon, like Fury had done earlier, generated a shockwave with magic power to perform an emergency evasion spell.

Since it wasn’t a collision of internal magic power, Lee Ha-yoon took no damage.

But Fury wasn’t an easy opponent.

“Kyaaak!”

Fury, flung by the shockwave, grabbed Lee Ha-yoon’s sleeve.

Lee Ha-yoon’s body was helplessly dragged along.

Just as Fury was about to slam Lee Ha-yoon into the wall by changing the direction of her force mid-air…

“If you don’t let go, your wrist is gone.”

“Tch!”

Jeong Gyeoul, who had just finished dealing with Rage, swung her Yodo at Fury’s arm.

Exchanging an arm for slamming someone into a wall once was quite unreasonable.

In the end, Fury had no choice but to let go.

Jeong Gyeoul gently caught Lee Ha-yoon and set her down on the ground.

“Thanks…”

“Don’t mention it. We’ve taken down one, and three are left. They won’t go down as easily as the dead ones. When will the support arrive?”

“Se-hee unnie is the closest. From Daejeon to Geumsan is quick. She should be here soon.”

Jo Se-hee, whose speed rivaled even S-Class Heroes, was the closest.

Right now, individual strength wasn’t as important as having someone who could quickly arrive and even the odds.

And the most suitable person happened to be the closest.

As Lee Ha-yoon and Jeong Gyeoul talked, the Ice Spears began to break one by one.

It wasn’t due to a lack of magic power or the ice melting.

The Apostles had adapted to the Ice Spear’s movements and were breaking them directly.

Even if they created more Ice Spears and used them like before, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.

“Let’s not split up. A 3 vs. 2 situation would be better.”

“…Is that possible? It’s almost like you holding off three by yourself.”

“I’m still not great at attacking. It’s better if I defend and you attack.”

Despite her words, Jeong Gyeoul found 2 vs. 1 much more comfortable.

But that would mean Lee Ha-yoon would have to face an Apostle one-on-one.

In an open space, it might be manageable, but in the confined space of the church, a Physical Category Apostle would be a tough match for Lee Ha-yoon.

She couldn’t just let Lee Ha-yoon die in a hurry.

Jeong Gyeoul smiled, telling a small lie for Lee Ha-yoon’s sake.

“Don’t worry. I’ve gotten much stronger since the seal was lifted. Maybe even stronger than Ha-yul unnie.”

“Okay, I trust you. Don’t get hurt.”

Lee Ha-yoon nodded and set up another magic rail.

Since this was a battle to buy time, the Apostles listened to their conversation quietly, but as soon as Lee Ha-yoon started setting up the rail, they charged again.

“We have to stop that!”

Fury, who had been hit by Lee Ha-yoon’s railgun earlier, shouted urgently.

Even with insufficient magic power, it had pierced her shoulder.

If it were fired at full power? At least one limb would be obliterated.

If it hit her head or heart, instant death.

The Apostles, having witnessed this, roughly understood the power of a full-powered railgun and were already moving before Fury even spoke.

“Where do you think you’re going!”

The intense battle began, with the Apostles rushing to stop Lee Ha-yoon’s magic and Jeong Gyeoul unleashing all her daggers to defend locally.

If Fury charged at Jeong Gyeoul head-on to tie her down, Jeong Gyeoul would push her back with immense force and deflect Eruogens charging at Lee Ha-yoon.

Gula wasn’t idle either, but all the daggers kept her in check, making it hard for her to move.

Effectively, it was a 3 vs. 1 fight.

While the Apostles’ strength and stamina were being depleted, Jeong Gyeoul, facing all three, was depleting much faster.

Boom!

In the midst of the evenly matched fight, Gula suddenly attacked Jeong Gyeoul simultaneously with Fury.

The telekinetic shield was completely destroyed.

‘Tch! When did she…’

Just as Gula had adapted to the Ice Spear’s movements, it didn’t take her long to adapt to the daggers.

If Jeong Gyeoul hadn’t sensed Gula’s stealthy approach with incredible perception, it would have been a move to end the fight.

Then, Eruogens’ figure charging at Lee Ha-yoon came into view.

“Hayan!”

With Gula and Fury attacking simultaneously, there was no gap to pull away.

She couldn’t go to protect Lee Ha-yoon.

The image of Lee Chae-song flashed through her mind, and a horrifying thought struck her.

‘No!’

Just as Eruogens’ body got close enough to block Lee Ha-yoon…

Whoooosh!

The magic rail rotated toward Eruogens’ torso.

Eruogens felt the spine-chilling magic targeting her.

‘If I get hit, I’m dead!’

Eruogens gave up attacking Lee Ha-yoon and dodged to the side.

Boom!

A deafening roar swept through the church.

“Tch!”

Lee Ha-yoon clicked her tongue, seeing Eruogens narrowly avoid a direct hit.

Even though Eruogens’ right arm was completely gone, she wasn’t satisfied.

Considering how hard Jeong Gyeoul had fought alone for this one shot, the result wasn’t great.

Even with the right arm gone, both legs and the left arm remained.

As Eruogens screamed and regained her senses to attack Lee Ha-yoon, Jeong Gyeoul was still struggling to fend off Fury and Gula’s relentless attacks.

Even if she allowed some attacks, the moment she decided to go save Lee Ha-yoon…

Jeong Gyeoul’s senses picked up an incredibly fast mass of magic power.

‘…She’s here!’

Crash!

Jo Se-hee burst through the church window.

Her hero landing crushed Eruogens’ torso.

A perfectly timed, flawless entrance.

 

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