Here's an Opportunity-Chapter 224: The Duels (6)

Both Lee Ji-Yeon and Yoo Seh-Eun charged Mammon at once, attacking in perfect unison. To avoid getting in each other's way, they struck from opposite directions, one slashing down from above and the other sweeping up from below. It was a rhythm born from countless battles side by side.

Mammon's eyes flashed as he poured a large portion of his remaining mana into his demonic sword. Only about a fifth of his mana reserves remained. Sacrificing another five percent of it, he reinforced his blade even further, extending its shimmering aura outward.

With the expanded aura, Mammon swept aside their simultaneous attacks and watched as the two women kicked off the ground, tumbling backward. Then, as if sensing something, he pivoted on his left foot and twisted his body to the side.

In that instant, Jeong Man-Kook arrived beside Mammon, swinging his hammer in a broad horizontal arc with a sudden shout. "Hah!"

Sizing up the weapon's length and weight, Mammon swiftly stepped back, raising his sword defensively. Angling his blade, he used its aura as a shield. The hammer slammed into it, a shockwave rippling down the length of the sword. Mammon's face tightened as he felt the force scrape across the blade.

It's one of those mana-resistant weapons, Mammon realized.

It wasn't a mana-conductive mithril armament like some others, but in Jeong Man-Kook's massive hands, the heavy, mana-resistant hammer was more than enough to be dangerous. With his raw strength behind it, the weapon could smash through mana defenses with ease.

Mammon hastily pushed off the ground and leaped back, glancing quickly at his demonic sword. The crack from his earlier clash with Kim Ki-Rok—more importantly, with Guardian—had widened even more. From long experience, Mammon knew that even with more mana, the sword wouldn't survive this duel.

So this will be my last battle, he thought with a low chuckle as he landed.

Deflecting a flurry of blows from other Hunters, Mammon pressed forward toward his real target. He had already accepted that he would die here. Only a minute and thirty seconds remained. After that exchange, less than a minute remained.

A faint smile crossed his lips as he parried mithril weapons and dodged Pastera blades, edging ever closer to his true opponent. No matter the duel's outcome, with so many Hunters swarming him, Mammon knew he wouldn't survive.

"In that case..." he muttered.

He channeled another three percent of his mana into his sword and spun, hurling the nearby Hunters backward. As the front cleared, a smiling man stepped into view. Crouching low, Mammon dashed toward him, this time burning barely half a percent to boost his speed.

Nam Dong-Wook's arrows ripped through Mammon's image, pinning it to the ground, only to reveal they had struck an afterimage.

Nam Dong-Wook clicked his tongue and yelled, "He teleported away!"

"He used Blink!" other Hunters shouted in warning.

Lee Ji-Yeon and Yoo Seh-Eun reappeared in front of Kim Ki-Rok, bracing to intercept Mammon.

"We just need to slow him down as much as we can," Yoo Seh-Eun reminded her partner.

"Right," Lee Ji-Yeon replied with a determined nod.

Yoo Seh-Eun gathered her strength and pushed off the ground with a powerful charge, shouting, "Mana Blade!"

She had poured out most of her remaining mana with this attack. There was no need to hold back because the battle would end the moment Mammon was dead.

Multiple blades of shimmering energy formed above her, then shot at Mammon in a frenzy. Some flew straight while others spun like whirling scythes.

As two mana blades descended on his head, Mammon slowed and parried them with his sword. Fatigued, he struggled to match the relentless pace and couldn't dodge every attack. He twisted his body roughly, barely evading the final thrust.

Suddenly, he sensed a surge of mana erupting beside him. Instantly, he spent another chunk of his mana to cloak himself in Aura Armor. However, the last mana blade was disguised as a forward thrust and exploded right next to him.

"Hah!" Yoo Seh-Eun shouted, satisfied as the blade detonated right where she wanted.

She gathered the last of her mana and swung again at Mammon, who was faltering now but still moving.

"You haven't been studying swordsmanship long, it seems. Still, you clearly have a good teacher," Mammon remarked with a faint smile, slipping past her attack with relative ease.

He could have countered, but he slipped past her and sprinted for Kim Ki-Rok. Before he could reach his target, however, Lee Ji-Yeon appeared in his path.

"Ine!" she said, summon her Greater Fire Elemental, who in turn conjured a wall of flames instantaneously.

With time bought, Lee Ji-Yeon prepared the combo techniques she and Ine had developed at Kim Ki-Rok's suggestion: Flame Armor and Flame Sword. But before she could act, Mammon crashed through the barrier with his bare body. Unlike with Yoo Seh-Eun, the Greater Demon attacked first this time.

"Twenty seconds," Mammon muttered, draining almost all of his mana to create six black swords that floated in the air, then sent them flying at Lee Ji-Yeon.

The swords didn't come all at once but shot toward her in rapid succession, each slightly behind the last.

Lee Ji-Yeon hesitated. Should she block? Dodge?

—Go ahead and dodge.

Kim Ki-Rok's voice came from behind her and through her earpiece. Frustrated but obedient, Lee Ji-Yeon threw herself aside. But as she dove, she refused to simply flee, lashing out at the black swords as she passed. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

She shattered four of them where they floated. The last two, under Mammon's command, veered around her and Ine, streaking straight toward Kim Ki-Rok.

After bypassing both Yoo Seh-Eun and Lee Ji-Yeon, Mammon was blocked yet again by the flash of someone teleporting in.

"Tsk." Mammon clicked his tongue, realizing it was one of the most troublesome humans.

Landing firmly from the teleport, Kang Seh-Hyuk let out a battle cry. "Vanguard's Shout!"

Mammon was instinctively agitated by the skill, his focus torn to the caster. He immediately used a sliver of his remaining mana to neutralize the effect. He had to be careful not to waste his remaining strength on Kang Seh-Hyuk rather than Kim Ki-Rok.

With a light hop, Mammon sprang into the air, planting a foot on Kang Seh-Hyuk's shield. He meant to use it as a springboard, but he'd underestimated his opponent, who was a master at using his shield to protect allies.

Just as Mammon prepared to leap off, Kang Seh-Hyuk bent his knees and tilted his shield back. Though the shield blocked his view of Mammon's movements, he was able to sense his opponent by spreading his mana into the air.

Sensing his intent, Kang Seh-Hyuk shifted his shield a heartbeat before impact. Mammon's footing faltered mid-leap, forcing him to twist awkwardly in the air. He barely cleared the Hunter and hit the ground short of Kim Ki-Rok.

As he raised his head, Jeong Man-Kook was already charging. Mammon lunged forward, an arrow slicing through the air just behind him. But crouched and off-balance, he couldn't dodge the hammer in time. He had no choice but to meet the blow with his demonic sword. The impact shook the ground as hammer and blade collided in a violent burst of power.

"Thirteen seconds," Mammon gasped.

Jeong Man-Kook pinned him with brute force, but Mammon wrenched his left hand free and drove a blow into the Hunter's gut.

He used the last of his mana to blast Jeong Man-Kook away.

"Five seconds now."

At last, there was no one between him and his target. Mammon hurled himself straight at Kim Ki-Rok, who was now within arm's reach.

***

Before the Gate to Hell appeared, the Gates that had cost the most Hunter lives in all of Kim Ki-Rok's previous Attempts were the Dwarf Mine, the Last City of the Patera Dimension, and the final Gate of the Yuashiel Dimension: the Capital of the Black Kingdom, which was slated to appear far in the future.

That last one was infamous for its demons, and that's why so many Hunters had perished there. The battles inside weren't duels like the ones fought recently, but an all-out war. Demons, monsters, and undead swarmed together, bolstered by Black Wizards.

But if that was true, why had the Dwarf Mine and the Last City of the Patera Dimension—both cleared quickly in Kim Ki-Rok's latest Attempt—once taken so many lives?

The Dwarf Mine had appeared during a shortage of S-Class Gates, catching Hunters off guard. That lack of preparation led to heavy casualties during the first clear. The Last City of the Patera Dimension was worse. It also appeared during a Gate drought, and no one knew the mechanical monsters' weakness until Kim Ki-Rok and the dwarves uncovered it. Many Hunters died before then.

That must have been the deadliest Gate of all, Kim Ki-Rok reflected.

He flashed a grin at Mammon and poured mana into an artifact. "Clear. Limit Release."

Mammon let out a burst of laughter mid-strike, though Kim Ki-Rok paid it no mind. Regaining his focus, he lifted his clenched fists and stepped forward.

He caught Mammon's demonic sword with his left gauntlet as it came at him, then twisted, throwing Mammon off-balance. In the same motion, Kim Ki-Rok drove his right-hand sword into Mammon's chest. He turned again, shoving Mammon back with his left arm to put space between them.

Mammon stood like a statue, the blade now buried in his heart.

As their eyes met, Kim Ki-Rok saw a calm, unburdened smile on Mammon's face.

"I surprised you, didn't I?"

"That's right," Mammon replied without hesitation. "I completely forgot about Limit Release."

"It has some nasty side effects, but in a situation like this..."

The 4th-Circle spell boosted physical stats and instantaneous mana output fivefold for five seconds, but left the caster unable to use mana for an hour afterward. Although it was a serious drawback, it proved invaluable in a pinch.

"Weren't you worried I might have something up my sleeve as well?"

"Not at all. I was sure I had five seconds left, while you had only three, Sir Mammon."

"Kukuku..." Mammon chuckled, blue blood trickling from his lips.

He looked at Kim Ki-Rok with serene eyes for a long moment, then used the dregs of his mana to stay alive a little longer, enough to ask one last question.

"Are you really going to keep using such formal speech with me, even now?"

"It's a habit, I'm afraid."

This was far from the first time Kim Ki-Rok and Mammon had met. With each repeat of his life, Kim Ki-Rok had clashed swords and exchanged greetings with the Greater Demon enough times to form a strange sense of familiarity. Throughout their countless exchanges, he always kept his language formal.

"It's a habit I picked up to remind myself to keep my enemies at arm's length," Kim Ki-Rok said quietly to the motionless Mammon.

***

At the Capital of the Black Kingdom, the special task force from the Continental Alliance, comprised of twenty Hunters and six Tower wizards, raced toward the city.

One wizard, riding on the back of an Aura Master, reported, "Undead at our eleven o'clock, monsters at three o'clock."

"Leave them to us."

Two Aura Masters from the human kingdoms peeled off, each intercepting a group of enemies to the left and right, singlehandedly holding off the undead and monsters to shield the task force's advance.

The wizard called out again, "The palace is ahead. A group of Black Wizards led by a Sixth-Circle caster awaits us."

With that, the twenty Hunters surged forward.

"Dark Spear!"

"Bone Spear!"

"Dullahan, block them!"

Low-circle Black Wizards ordered undead to attack while the high-circle caster began weaving deadly spells. But the Hunters pressed their advantage, closing the gap before the enemy could complete their magic.

"Ready your Pastera weapons," the leader of Team Two barked as he led the charge.

Everyone complied, drawing their dwarf-forged weapons. Thanks to their high mana resistance, the blades cut through magical barriers and summoned creatures alike. The Hunters tore through spells and carved down the undead as they advanced on the Black Wizards. Some wizards didn't even finish their incantations before they were beheaded or stabbed through the heart.

"B-blink—"

"Dispel!"

The Black Wizards in the rear tried to flee using teleportation spells, but a Tower Wizard countered their magic on the spot.

After helping clean up the last of the wizards, the Aura Master from the Aians Empire raised his sword and reminded his team, "Once we breach these gates, we head straight for the palace."

Though these large, sturdy city gates had been reinforced by demonic mana, it didn't prove to be much of an issue for the special task force. Before teleporting over to attack the capital, with the help of some other Hunters, they had all been strengthened with all sorts of buff spells.

The Aura Master easily cut through the heavy doors with a single slash.

"We will withdraw after purifying or destroying anything that gives off a sense of demonic mana," the Aura Master commanded as he stepped through the rubble.