Light of Arad: Forerunner

Chapter 49

Jinseong could see Michelle’s green eyes waver.

It was as if she was questioning how he knew, even though she hadn’t made a mistake with her words—how could the person before her call her a ‘Cipher’?

Jinseong didn’t stop.

“Did you think that, as the Emergency Measures Committee Member of the Mage Guild, I wouldn’t know? The reason why only this place hasn’t been infected must also be due to that. Whether it’s telekinesis or whatever, you must have been using that unpleasant power to fend it off. Am I right?”

“That’s…”

Michelle looked at Jinseong as if she had lost her words.

At least by that point, Jinseong was certain.

Why Michelle played the role of leader among the Ciphers of Grozny.

The green eyes that had been filled with fear and anxiety were now slowly transforming into anger.

Perhaps he had gone too far with his words, but Jinseong couldn’t stop.

This wouldn’t be enough.

And he needed to maintain balance, too.

‘It’s fine if Michelle resents ordinary people who shun her kind, but…’

She must not come to hate all humans.

Otherwise, she might outright refuse any cooperation requests from the users and ‘Poison King’ Louise, which could lead to even more tangled outcomes than the current situation.

Thus, Jinseong had to speak.

“It’s been known for a while now that witch hunt targets are hiding in Grozny. Until now, we chose not to interfere because there was nothing unusual—but I can’t let it slide any longer. I’m here to arrest you.”

To make her see him as even more of a villain.

“What did we do wrong? The Mage Guild?

What have you ever done for us that now you come to make such demands, spouting those shameless and immoral words?!”

“Oh, of course, you didn’t really do anything wrong. In fact, you’ve done well by proving you can fend off the epidemic.”

Jinseong shrugged, mocking her.

“What did you say? Then why—”

“But the adventurer made a mistake. The adventurer dealt with the epidemic for the Dark Elves in the Penes Kingdom.”

His feigned malice needed to reach her sincerely.

“Adventurer? What does that adventurer’s achievement have to do with us?”

“Are you that dense? That task was my jurisdiction. It was an opportunity to elevate my name, a feat that should have been mine.”

The villain had to shine.

So that the ‘adventurer,’ the hero Michelle would eventually face, could shine even brighter.

“In other words… Even you unpleasant folks might as well become my stepping stones~ that’s what I mean.”

Thus, Jinseong wore a sly smile.

Michelle trembled as she looked at Jinseong’s face.

There was no way she could suppress the boiling anger.

“That filthy, sly smile… So that’s how it is. ‘Normal people’ are always like that. They’re always filled with thoughts of using others!”

Jinseong flinched at Michelle’s words.

‘Ugh… Michelle is still one of my favorite NPCs. I loved her tsundere attitude when she came to help during the Eye of the Storm, and now she’s calling my smile dirty and sly…’

It was a wound, though not quite.

But there was no helping it. At this point, what’s important is correcting the corruption.

Jinseong lowered his voice and spoke.

“Fine, even if this all ends and you still hide in Grozny… I won’t just sit back and do nothing. Neither will the bounty hunters.”

Now Michelle didn’t just speak with her expression.

The green aura surrounding her, resembling shimmering heatwaves, signified that she was fully prepared for battle.

“Come at us, attack us as much as you like. We won’t submit to the likes of you ‘normal people.’”

“Haha, do you think you can take me on—”

Jinseong’s plan was to engage Michelle in a fight and then retreat.

“Mia! Deshang!”

“—on?”

As expected, Jinseong still hadn’t completely shed the habits from his days as a user.

If this were a game, he would only need to face Michelle Monahan, who would appear as the boss monster, but what about now?

With Michelle’s powerful shout, the surrounding bushes rustled.

“Cluck, cluck!”

“Damn it, !”

When the rustling quickly turned into vibrations of the ground, Jinseong had no choice but to evade swiftly.

Several sharp, pointed tree roots burst through the ground where Jinseong had been standing.

Jinseong knew it was the skill of another Cipher, the ‘Druid’ Mia.

“Cluck!”

“I see it, , !”

But that wasn’t all.

As if predicting where Jinseong would dodge, swarms of insects swiftly flew in his direction.

The swarms, moving as if they had a mind of their own, attacked in unison, forcing Jinseong to use his skills to dispatch them in one blow.

“Heh, that guy’s pretty good, dodging my bugs. I told you from the start to take him out, Michelle! Wasn’t I right?”

This was also another Cipher, the ‘Bug’ Deshang’s method of attack.

“Michelle, I’m ready too!”

Mia quickly approached Michelle and said.

Michelle glanced between Mia and Deshang, then firmly pressed down the fedora in her hand onto her head.

It was an act that was both a vow and…

A signal that the attack was about to begin.

The green aura surrounding Michelle swiftly gathered at her right hand.

“!”

A massive energy projectile, larger than Jinseong’s body, was shot fiercely.

‘I was only planning to rile her up and leave!’

Jinseong felt like crying.

* * *

Although Jinseong could narrowly avoid Michelle’s Psychic Bullet, the resulting shockwave was strong enough to blow his hair back.

If there was a silver lining, it was that the speed of the attack wasn’t as fast as anticipated; however, the problem was that Michelle wasn’t the only one he had to be cautious of.

“!”

Mia shouted as she placed her hands on the ground.

Rumble, rumble, the ominous vibrations weren’t the only concern. Predicting where and how the tree roots would burst from the ground was no easy task.

If he had to completely move away from the entire ground he was standing on?

“!”

It was as if Michelle was guiding Jinseong’s movements, firing Psychic Bullets at the spots where he dodged.

“!”

If dodging was too late, it was only natural to counterbalance with another skill.

There were two problems, one of which was that Jinseong’s level was still only 34.

───────────……!!!!

“Huh?”

“Did you really think you could just take an interest in us with such weak skills?!”

It was difficult for Jinseong’s skill to offset Michelle Monahan’s ability, as some skills still lacked sufficient damage.

The Psychic Bullet shattered the dark cross imbued with the dark attribute and continued its trajectory.

Jinseong hastily threw himself aside, only to find the second problem waiting there.

“Did you really think you could keep dodging my bugs? It seems the range attack you used earlier can’t be repeated continuously, can it?”

Deshang spoke with confidence, as if he had gauged Jinseong’s skill cooldowns, leaving him no room for rebuttal.

“Ho, !”

If there was a silver lining, it was that Jinseong had the skill , which temporarily nullified the Apostle Lotus’ attack, as part of his combo.

As soon as Jinseong received a ‘temporary invincibility’ judgment against the swarms of bugs clinging to his body, he immediately followed up with , , and combos.

At that point, Jinseong had to change his strategy.

Facing Michelle, Mia, and Deshang simultaneously was still beyond Jinseong’s capabilities.

His level, skills, and item tier.

If so, his priority should be on retreat, and to buy himself that opportunity, he needed to launch a threatening attack at Michelle, distract them, and seize the chance when their focus faltered.

“, , -.”

These were part of one of Jinseong’s main skill combos, with all three allowing a certain degree of movement.

Using a mobility-oriented combo, Jinseong swiftly closed the gap to Michelle and unleashed his next attack.

“-!”

Jinseong could feel it the moment he thrust .

While his powerful thrust might not penetrate all of Michelle’s abdomen, it was clear that it would at least be a highly threatening attack.

Sssrrrk…

“—Huh?”

But it turned out Jinseong had underestimated Michelle.

Michelle’s movement seemed to slip away, and in an instant, her figure disappeared from Jinseong’s view.

“Where are you looking? That’s my afterimage.”

When she reappeared, Michelle was already behind Jinseong.

Jinseong gritted his teeth.

‘Damn, I didn’t expect Michelle to know how to use a skill like !’

A dodge technique with invincibility, showing that such skills weren’t exclusive to users.

Michelle swung her arm.

In her hand was a long green aura, stretching out like a whip to strike Jinseong’s back!

“There’s no more room to dodge—ugh?!”

Michelle had to scream.

Swooosh-!

Several thick tendrils rushed toward Michelle.

A sudden attack that left both Mia and Deshang startled.

“Michelle!”

“Michelle!”

The one person who didn’t hesitate upon seeing the thick, reddish tendrils was, of course, Jinseong.

“I can do it too! Tako, strike!”

Creatures in the game Dungeon & Fighter have their own unique skills, and ‘Tako,’ Jinseong’s follower, possessed the skill .

‘But the damage itself is weak. If it were real Apostle Lotus’s tendrils, maybe, but it’s just an attack of a creature at its corresponding level. Still, if there’s just one opportunity—.’

Tako attempted to strike with its tentacles as Jinseong commanded.

As Jinseong feared, Tako’s attack, which was still at a low level, wouldn’t inflict much damage.

Swooosh-!

“I won’t be caught by mere tendrils—”

But Michelle couldn’t have anticipated this.

She had to respond to Tako.

And that was the opportunity.

, , , were merely ‘setup skills.’

The true power of the Dark Knight’s skills manifested in the fifth skill in the combo.

“!”

Jinseong rushed toward Michelle and activated the skill.

─────────────!

“Kyaaah!”

The dark aura exploding with the use of colorless cube fragments posed a significant threat to Michelle, enough to overcome the level difference.

“Michelle! Damn you, human!”

“<Six Root—ugh, what’s this light?!”

Deshang and Mia quickly attempted to counter Jinseong, but their movements slowed.

Due to the golden radiance striking Jinseong’s body.

The sudden level-up effect baffled even Jinseong, but he knew this was his chance.

“Tako! Let’s go!”

“Cluck, cluck!”

As Michelle briefly distanced herself, retreating backward, and as Deshang and Mia still hadn’t recovered their composure, Jinseong immediately began to flee.

“Wa-wait! You can’t just leave, not a ‘normal person’ like you—”

Michelle tried to grab Jinseong’s retreating back, but with skills like and assisting his swift movements, she couldn’t catch up to Jinseong who had quickly put distance between them.

“Haa, haa…”

“Cluck, cluck~”

“Good. As long as they’re not chasing, that’s enough. Hoo, hoo.”

After running for a while, Jinseong only stopped once he confirmed that the Ciphers were no longer pursuing him.

He immediately opened his [Inventory] and pulled out a teleport potion.

‘Haa, it’s lucky I reached level 35. But this isn’t enough. I need to equip the Arti Marpisa set as soon as possible—hmm?!’

Just as he opened the potion and took a sip, Jinseong saw them.

From afar, two silhouettes entering the green city of Grozny.

He recognized one as NPC ‘Poison King’ Louise, but the other?!

‘…A female Ghost Knight. Two swords at her waist, a Blade… I see.’

A Blade user from the female Ghost Knight class.

At that sight, Jinseong understood many things.

Jinseong and Tako vanished from the green city of Grozny, from the dungeon zone: Northmyre.

They reappeared in the back alley near the Moonlight Tavern in Hendon Myre.

“Shinda-sensei, Shinda-sensei!”

“Hehe, did you think I’d run away? You don’t need to call out like that; I’m right—”

“Is the Arti Marpisa armor fully crafted?”

Right in front of NPC Shinda Philip.