In the Name of God - vanish into fiction

Subsequently, Lee Sunho launched his body into the air, evading the wide-open maw of a third beast. Having leapt lightly, he slashed horizontally across the countless eyes staring at him from mid-air. The eyeballs, bursting like clusters of grapes, scattered grotesquely in all directions.

The forepaw of the monster, which was writhing and let out a silent roar, swung out as if to snatch Lee Sunho.

Bang, bang—!

I immediately fired two bullets in succession to shatter the forepaw heading toward Lee Sunho; in that gap, Lee Sunho split the beast’s head from top to bottom with a single strike.

Diving into the embrace of a fourth beast in a connected motion, Lee Sunho slashed upward with his blade repeatedly as if performing a sword dance, before pulling back as fast as a flash of light. Consequently, the legs of the beast that had been standing firmly shattered into pieces, and its torso crashed down with a thud.

While I fired a barrage of shots at another beast rushing toward Lee Sunho with bared teeth, the head of the one left with only a torso was cleanly severed by his sword without fail.

It was an attack that was frighteningly fast, precise, and destructive.

‘A remarkable guy, as always.’

I knew to some extent that the monsters made of Holy Land fragments wouldn’t be that strong.

Whenever the system gave me a quest involving my lifespan, it usually presented a difficulty level I was capable of handling.

However, no matter how low the monster’s rank seemed, I felt that if Lee Sunho was that strong, I might not even need to provide cover.

‘And it looks like there’s no need to worry about Seong Do-wan’s side either.’

I caught a glimpse behind me.

Just then, a single punch thrown by Seong Do-wan was pulverizing a beast’s head entirely. A purple energy seeped into the spot where the shattered head had fallen off, rapidly melting even the torso.

In truth, considering Seong Do-wan’s real abilities, this could be seen as a fairly passive attack.

Seong Do-wan possessed power great enough to conquer high-ranking dungeons alone, as well as the ability to dominate the field itself. The reason he wasn’t utilizing that was likely out of consideration for us, as we would be exposed to the “Corrosion” attribute.

At that moment, there were sharp briar vines flying in as if to assist Seong Do-wan.

Swish—!

Several strands of briar vines, flying in like whips with a sharp sound, lightly tore apart the head of one beast.

‘As I thought, that person is quite skilled too.’

The man who came with Seong Do-wan appeared to be a magic-type Awakener, as he was summoning sharp briar vines from the ground.

The thin briar vines rising from the earth wound around and bound the rushing beasts to make them easier for Seong Do-wan to attack, and they were also swung like whips to relentlessly strike the monsters.

It seemed like things would be cleaned up smoothly at this rate, but…

‘Of course.’

As expected, it didn’t seem like it would end easily.

The shattered beasts scraped the surrounding fragments together again and stood up as if nothing had happened. Even the ones hit by Seong Do-wan’s attacks shook off the corroding pieces themselves and absorbed only the clean fragments to rise once more.

‘This is just like…’

It was like looking at monsters surrounded by black energy.

As if hinting at an identical pattern, I was starting to see it too.

The central axis that would serve as their weakness.

‘Found it.’

If they were monsters made of Holy Land fragments, mana would naturally be flowing through them.

If that mana was winding around and controlling the monsters like black energy, I simply had to find the central axis of that flow and destroy it.

However, judging by the flow of mana, it seemed the central axis could not be broken by general physical attacks.

‘There’s something like a knot made of mana. Since physical attacks can’t cut mana… I have no choice but to cut it with the same mana.’

Charging each bullet with precise mana for an attack would bring about considerable fatigue, but it couldn’t be helped.

I glared at the monsters while activating Hawkeye imbued with mana to the extreme.

A very tiny central axis, close to a speck compared to the massive bodies, became clearly visible.

Bang, bang, bang, bang—!

Without delay, I fired four bullets containing mana. The launched rounds accurately pierced through four beasts.

One in the head, one in the neck, one in the right forepaw, and one in one of the countless eyeballs.

Though they pierced different parts, the result was consistent.

Crinkle—!

The beasts, whose central axes of mana were accurately pierced, fell without resistance and shattered into pieces. The fragments of the Holy Land no longer stuck to each other and disappeared as if melting away.

I felt the stinging, startled gazes of Seong Do-wan and the man fixed on my back.

<You have removed a fragment of the 99th Holy Land.>

<Lifespan is extended by 1 day as a reward.>

The system window with this identical message popped up four times in a row.

That was enough.

I immediately opened the cylinder, ejected the shell casings, and quickly pushed in new bullets.

Even though I hadn’t given any instructions, Lee Sunho bought time by quickly cutting down the surrounding beasts during that brief moment while I was reloading.

Click—

Hearing the metallic sound of the cylinder closing, I took a light breath.

Thirty-five days worth of lifespan.

I will take all of it with my own hands, right here.