The Heavenly Demon put his hands behind his back and looked around.

"Didn't your friend come with you?"

"He should be hiding by now."

“…”

The one who came was most likely the sniper, Gilberto Green. However, the Heavenly Demon couldn’t feel any sign of him.

‘He’s good enough to escape my perception... He must have a special ability to hide his presence.’ 

The Heavenly Demon gave a wide grin. "There must be a rat hole around.”

When he was done speaking, he nodded lightly.

"Come."

The Heavenly Demon gave up the first strike. This was something no one would do unless they had absolute confidence in their skills.

‘He completely sees me as trash.’

It was something to be thankful for. Since he had a chance to go first, Specter slowly recovered his breath. He breathed in, exhaled, inhaled, and exhaled. By showing this series of processes, he brought the Heavenly Demon into his rhythm.

"...Aren’t you coming?"

The moment the Heavenly Demon asked a question after being unable to resist the boredom, Specter’s breathing suddenly distorted. Before the Heavenly Demon could even take a breath in, Specter was now holding a heavy spear in his hand.

‘Quick...’

His figure was very fast as he pushed off the ground.

‘It's not enough. Faster.’

He activated Overclocking, and a tremendous amount of magic power raced through the magic circuit in his body.

‘Raise to the limit in one go.’

He abandoned the preheating process as Overclocking’s output went up to seventy percent in an instant. Perhaps because of that, his body began to feel hot like lava.

‘My body… it feels like it’s about to explode…!’

He wanted to open his mouth and take a mouthful of the cool air to the fullest, but he bit his lips tightly. Persevering with the heat, he accelerated once more.

"Hoh?" the Heavenly Demon exclaimed ever so slightly.

‘He’s fast.’

Specter was young in the Heavenly Demon’s eyes. It was known that Specter had only been on the 1st floor so far.

‘He wouldn't have had the time to raise his level...’

If so, didn't that mean that he was at the same level as he was twenty-six years ago? the Heavenly Demon’s eyes bent like a half moon.

"How fun!"

Flutter!

The Heavenly Demon casually rotated his body with his feet as the axis, with his hands still behind his back. A pitch black spear passed through the fluttering white robe.

Wiiiiiing!

A moment later, the sound of a fighter jet passing by, not a spear, hit his ear.

'It's off the mark.'

Specter didn't dwell on what had already happened. As soon as he realized that his attack had failed, he boldly put down the spear. At the same time, a small pistol came out of his coat sleeve.

"I'm glad you find it fun."

Clack!

The size of the pistol fit his palm, and it was commonly referred to as a ‘sawed-off shotgun.’ It was a portable shotgun with a long stock characteristic of the shotgun and a cut barrel. As the gun barrel was cut off, its range was very limited. However, if it was fired right in front of your nose like right now, the destructive power...

‘...Is no different from actual shotguns.’

Bang!

The sound of a small hill collapsing rang on the mound. The 12-gauge ammunition fired from the gun exploded and scattered tens of thousands of lead pellets into the air.

‘Hmm, is it a bullet?’

The Heavenly Demon was a trained warrior, so he wasn’t easily frightened by the sight of a bullet. He was powerful enough to receive a bullet with just his body.

‘The power to disregard.’

But when the Watchguard of Darkness covered every lead pellet, the story would change by a hundred and eighty degrees. From now on, those hundreds of attacks would ignore all defenses and dig into the Heavenly Demon’s skin.

“…!”

For the first time since the battle began, Heavenly Demon undid his hands from behind his back. He flung himself with a slightly flustered look.

"Hmm…!"

The Heavenly Demon landed on the grass a little away, not on the mound. But before he could come to his senses, the next attack arrived.

Thud!

An eerie ax blade was stuck where he had been standing. It was the hand ax Specter had thrown.

"…You won’t even give me time to breathe.”

The Heavenly Demon tried to talk, but Specter was conversing with his body.

‘I'm going to drive him back.’

His stamina had improved beyond recognition after his body transformation. If there was only one thing that he was better than the Heavenly Demon at right now, it was probably stamina.

‘I can’t give him even the time to breathe.’

Slither.

The darkness that leaked out from Specter colored the floor of the baseball stadium.

"It's very... fun."

With a sword in his right hand and a shield in his left hand, Specter rushed in like a gladiator in a colosseum.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

A sharp sword was swung at the Heavenly Demon’s vitals. The Heavenly Demon avoided this lightly and suddenly reached out.

"Got you."

Crash!

The Heavenly Demon directly flipped Specter’s body and followed up by trying to step on him. But by that time, Specter had already disappeared into the darkness.

“…”

The Heavenly Demon slowly turned his head, and he became wary of all directions. It was very quiet. The tens of thousands of spectators didn’t even dare to breathe. All that could be heard were the propellers of the helicopters.

'He's completely gone. Did he become one with the darkness?'

The Heavenly Demon grinned.

It wasn’t empty talk, but he really did find it fun. He had met many Players with good skills. However, it was rare for someone to be this proficient with their skills.

"Now, how else are you going to entertain me?"

Swoosh!

As soon as he spoke, a figure shot up from the dyed floor.

Crash!

The Heavenly Demon stomped without delay. Demonic energy rose up ominously and tore the body to pieces.

'A dummy…!'

It wasn’t Specter, but a doll he had made out of darkness.

Swoosh!

This time, the darkness that rose like a whip wrapped around the Heavenly Demon’s legs. The demonic energy rose naturally and cut it into strands.

‘Petty tricks. What about the real thing?’

The Heavenly Demon hurriedly bent at the waist. The moment he felt a sharp sword brush over his head, a hard shield smacked him in the ribs.

"Hmm…."

The Heavenly Demon was slightly pushed to the side as he scattered the impact using tai chi. At the same time, dozens of spines rose from the floor.

Whoosh! 

The Heavenly Demon frowned; he had just kicked the air, narrowly escaping the attack.

‘Is it time for a bow?’

Specter had finally reappeared and in his hands was a bow being pulled to its full extent.

'What an annoying way of fighting.’

It was a battle with so much variation, and Specter never continued to fight with just one style. When one was just about to adapt to the battle, Specter would immediately change the tempo. In other words, the initiative of the battle was always with Specter throughout the fight.

‘Is this why I was told not to let Specter have the first move?’

The Heavenly Demon had read many notes left by other fiends. That was why he gave up the initiative on purpose. It was because what his predecessors said not to do seemed crazy fun to do.

‘It’s more fun than I thought.’

Really, aside from the momentary ‘plays’ he had enjoyed, he was having a lot of fun today.

"Let's stop playing around."

The moment the arrow left the string, the Heavenly Demon had already arrived in front of Specter. The arrow caught between the Heavenly Demon’s fingers was snapped in half.

“…!”

Bewildered, Specter was about to step back…

Crack!

However, the Heavenly Demon’s demonic energy struck him hard in the ribs. Bloody bruises formed, and his ribs were broken as Specter spat a mouthful of blood.

"Uwaaack!"

It was just one shot. Specter had been pushing back his opponent all this time, but he couldn’t endure even a single attack from the Heavenly Demon.

"That's too bad."

Mind-boggling pain was flooding in by the minute. However, Specter remained standing even as he staggered.

'…No, is it because he can’t fall down?'

The Heavenly Demon looked at him with a sad look.

"If only you had a little more time.”

He could have fought well enough for the Heavenly Demon to fight with all his might.

"…It's a futile delusion."

The Heavenly Demon swallowed his regret. Today, Specter’s blood would stain this ground, and he would die.

"Then it's time to...”

The Heavenly Demon checked the time on the electronic display. After playing with Specter for a while, it was time for Specter to play the Heavenly Demon’s game.

"Time to start the game."

***

“…”

The head of the Korea Players Association, Shim Deok-Gu, was looking at the hologram screen with a detached look in his eyes

[Magic barrier A-2 has been destroyed.]

[Magic barrier B-17 has been destroyed.]

[Magic barrier G-4 has been destroyed.]

…

With modern architecture, it was only natural that the buildings where the presidents, prime ministers, and heads of the Players Association were staying were being protected by magic. Dozens of defenses protected them around the clock—unauthorized beings couldn’t even directly teleport in.

‘Are they coming?’

The Players Association's magic barrier was being breached in real-time. The defenses were being breached so fast that it that would shock and send the mages maintaining and repairing the magic barriers into a dizzy spell.

"I'll have to get ready to welcome the guests.”

Shim Deok-Gu drank an espresso strong enough to leave his tongue numb before he pressed the button under his desk.

Clack!

A wall on one side opened and revealed a long gun. It was a gun named Moby Dick K-30, a combination gun with four barrels that could kill even whales. A weapon devised by Kwon Noya and the Ministry of Science and Technology of Korea, it had the effect of forcibly dispersing the opponent's magic.

“…”

Shim Deok-Gu started loading the bullets without saying a word. Once he was done loading, he sat in a chair with the gun and waited for someone.

[All the magic barriers have been destroyed.]

[Warning! Please evacuate.]

The moment the security A.I. of the Players Association let out a warning—

Crack!

The space in front of him opened like a beast's mouth.

"I wonder if a humble man like me is allowed to step into a place like this...”

From there, Isaac Dvor walked out with a smile. But before his body could even pass halfway through the portal.

Baaang!

Three shotgun shells pierced his body.

"Ack…!"

A body was sent flying into a wall after it received an impact that didn’t seem to have come from a bullet. Shim Deok-Gu slowly walked over to Isaac wriggling on the floor.

"Anyone who wants to kill someone must also be prepared to die."

"W-wait a minute...”

"Goodbye."

Baaang!

Once again, the heat had turned the fired gun red. Shim Deok-Gu sighed lightly while looking at the blood-soaked meatball.

‘It doesn’t matter even if they’re a Heaven, if they receive an attack from Moby Dick at this distance…’

Death was just a matter of course. Things had gone better than he thought, but the moment he walked back to his seat and drank espresso, he heard a voice.

"Was your dream very sweet?"

“…!”

As soon as the playful voice tickled his ears, Shim Deok-Gu reached for the gun. However, Isaac had picked it up first.

"Wow, you have prepared a scary weapon. I would have been in trouble if I hadn't prepared for it just in case." He shook his head and acted like he was afraid. "Even if it’s someone like me, it still hurts to get shot unprepared. I might even die.”

"You, how…!”

"Why, aren’t dreams usually sweet? Dreams allow you to achieve something you can't achieve in real life.”

Clack.

With a big smile, Isaac loaded the Moby Dick. The gun stopped exactly in front of Shim Deok-Gu’s face. The latter could feel the heat from the gun barrel, which hadn’t cooled down just yet, on his face. On the verge of death, Shim Deok-Gu stared at Isaac with his eyes wide open.

"Kic, you are braver than I thought," said Isaac as he bent the Moby Dick and slammed it into a trash can. "I'm going to do a simple social experiment from now on."

He stole the espresso from the desk and frowned.

"Oh, bitter. I'm going to give your friend a bitter option like this coffee."

“…”

"Hmm, you look much calmer than I expected.”

"You. Have you ever thought about how you'll die?"

"No, but I don't have any intentions of dying."

"Careless and arrogant." Shim Deok-Gu glared at him and said, "They'll kill you, Isaac Dvor."

“…”

It was an evil curse poured on by a weak, powerless man. However, Isaac Dvor felt a chill in his spine.

‘What’s this? This feeling...’

The moment he was gripped with an indescribable feeling, a man pulled the trigger on the roof of a building three kilometers away.