Chapter 53

[Sam Quad. The One Thing I Can Never Lose!]

"Kwahahahaha!"

Even before the thunderous roar had fully faded, wild laughter echoed in all directions.

"Khk!"

—Master!—

The martial art known as Lion's Roar was something I'd heard about plenty in martial arts novels.

I always thought it was just a technique where you shout loudly with some internal energy to irritate your opponent's ears. That notion shattered completely.

It wasn't just loud. It shook my skull, rattled my chest, churned my stomach, and worst of all, it agitated the energy nestled quietly in my lower abdomen—my dantian.

With all the internal energy in my body suddenly boiling over, the energy flowing to my legs naturally became unstable as well.

Teetering, Seowoon barely managed to regain his balance and stop himself. He clamped his hands over his ears and tried to stabilize his internal energy as best he could to protect his body.

But the true Lion's Roar wasn't some lightweight technique you could escape just by blocking your ears.

Its strange reverberations were felt throughout the body—it was impossible to fully resist.

'Kayer Barrier.'

A faint golden barrier shimmered briefly around Seowoon before vanishing.

Thanks to the Kayer Barrier, which blocked physical attacks, it was at least somewhat bearable.

As he thought, "I guess sound counts as a physical force too," Seowoon opened his subspace, pulled out Cameron's necklace, put it around his neck, and sat down cross-legged.

He had to stabilize his internal energy before this damn Lion's Roar ended.

If he moved carelessly now, he could suffer fatal internal injuries and die without even managing a single counterattack.

'Where the hell did that monster come from?!'

Gritting his teeth, Seowoon began stabilizing his energy. As he synchronized his breathing with the rich natural energy of Cloyd, his internal energy gradually calmed.

Timewise, maybe a minute passed. In just that brief moment, loud combat sounds began ringing out not far behind him.

—Fwoosh! Boom!—Fwaaah!—Kkadadak!

As the Lion's Roar died down and its echoes dispersed into the distance, Seowoon opened his eyes. Just as he was about to dash forward, a middle-aged man with flaming red hair—clearly not in his right mind—crashed down in front of him, arms spread wide.

Is this what a madman's gaze looks like?

The phrase "eyes bursting with light" felt completely accurate.

"A new face, huh? Kwahahaha!"

Just hearing the madman's laughter made Seowoon flinch, reminded of the power of the Lion's Roar.

Behind him, four enemies had just arrived—wary of this new presence. And now, the madman who'd leapt ahead to intercept them was standing directly in Seowoon's path.

Is this what it means to be caught between a rock and a hard place?

'Damn it, my luck's been too good up till now.'

There was no longer any choice. He had to fight.

No matter how he looked at it, he wasn't fast enough to shake off this lunatic and run away.

He never thought the absence of a good movement technique would come back to bite him like this.

A quick glance back showed the four enemies—worn out, clearly just as startled by the situation.

He was one. Behind him, four enemies.

Calculating whether they could buy enough time if he fled, Seowoon shook his head.

The lunatic before him, grinning like he was enjoying every second, clearly had no intention of letting him go.

"Hoo."

Taking a deep breath, he steadied his ragged breathing.

He bounced lightly in place to shake off the stiffness in his body—only now realizing how tense he had been.

'Mujul Fist, Muryeong Phantom Steps, Ice Lance, Kayer Barrier, Kayer Resonance, Basic Barrier.'

He recalled and mentally checked through the skills at his disposal.

At the same time, he forced himself to clear the endless combat scenarios flooding his mind.

All of them were defensive—only thinking about how the enemy might act.

'If I let fear win, I lose.'

As White Void Surrounding Technique surged through his body, Seowoon's gaze settled into a cold, emotionless focus.

Seeing this change, the madman's expression shifted.

"How interesting! So interesting! This world is just full of fun! Kwahahahaha!"

At that moment, a voice called out from behind Seowoon.

"Hey! I know we're enemies, but how about teaming up—just for now—against that lunatic?"

"Sure."

He replied without even looking back.

From now on, he couldn't take his eyes off the opponent for even a second.

His qi sense immediately picked up the change in the madman's energy.

—He's coming!—

At Hamit's warning, he leapt backward.

The madman charged in like a beast, arms dangling, face thrust forward in an utterly unorthodox posture.

—Clang!

A sharp blast of fist qi flew from the madman's casual swing, and Seowoon barely deflected it with a reinforced fist. His hand throbbed from the impact.

Just as Seowoon gritted his teeth and the madman chased him down again, a wave of mana surged and a fireball blazed past him toward the lunatic.

—Fwoosh!

The fireball merely singed the tips of the lunatic's fiery red hair and beard. Still grinning like a maniac, he didn't flinch.

The man's outstretched fingers, aimed at Seowoon's face, looked enormous—like a giant tiger pouncing.

Seowoon prepared to step forward with both fists charged with internal energy, but just then, a knight with a shield and a martial artist with a short sword rushed in beside him.

—Clang!

The short sword struck the madman's fingers squarely as they flew toward Seowoon's face.

Could a human finger really make that sound when hit by a blade?

'Insane…!'

Cursing silently, Seowoon threw his punch.

The martial artist who had blocked the attack coughed up blood and was sent flying, but there was no time to be shocked.

He could only trust the Limitless Fist that had always protected him.

Piercing Strike.

He drove it directly into the madman's exposed chest—but something felt wrong.

He had anticipated resistance from the opponent's internal energy, but the impact was oddly soft—like hitting water.

Gritting his teeth, he followed up with another punch.

The shadow of the madman's hand loomed over his face, already too close to dodge or block.

—Thunk!

The next full-force strike buried itself in the man's chest.

'Kayer Barrier. Basic Barrier.'

He cast both barriers at once.

Even as he twisted his body as much as possible to avoid the lunatic's grasp, he struggled desperately to get away.

—Wham!

Just as the lunatic's hand was about to touch his forehead, a knight radiating a golden aurora slammed his shield forward and sent the lunatic flying backward.

"Huff... Huff..."

Who knew how much stamina that single skill consumed—his shield trembled as the knight gasped for breath.

The crazed man lay flat on the ground for a while, sprawled out after being blasted away.

Thankfully, during that time, the martial artist popped a pill—probably for internal injuries—and tore a scroll to recover, then returned to Seowoon's side.

"You okay...?"

The knight asked, still watching the enemy, to which the martial artist, holding his breath and keeping his eyes fixed on their opponent, replied,

"You're the one who looks worse. Are you alright?"

"Not even close. I won't be able to use that skill again for a while."

Just then, the madman, who had been lying down, slowly got back up, causing the martial artist to shut his mouth.

That beast-like ferocity that had surrounded him earlier—vanished completely, as if it had never existed.

With wide eyes, the man looked at the knight with an expression full of childlike curiosity and asked,

"What was that just now? It wasn't Gyeoksan-Tao's secret technique, nor Pathong's... What was it? Why did I get blown away like that?"

To ask such a pure and direct question, with no hostility, to enemies prepared to fight to the death—there was no way this guy was sane.

But behind them, a teammate was generating wave after wave of mana as they charged a spell into a staff.

If they could buy even one second more, they had to try anything.

"That's the strongest skill I can use from Faidor's arsenal. It's a finishing move that can obliterate even a full-grown ogre weighing close to a thousand kilos. But you look completely fine."

The knight looked at him bitterly, but the lunatic didn't care. He simply crossed his arms and fell deep into thought.

"Skill? Technique? Are those different?"

Muttering to himself, lost in thought, the lunatic rambled on. Seowoon whispered to the martial artist next to him.

"Why in the world did you engage that lunatic?"

Anyone else might not know, but there was no way a martial artist like him couldn't sense how dangerous the madman was.

That horrifying, spine-tingling presence...

Even catching a whiff of that aura in the wind from a distance was enough to make his hair stand on end—there's no way someone like him couldn't have noticed.

"You think I wanted to? While searching for items, I felt that twisted aura and immediately grabbed my teammates and bolted out of the city. He followed us—it wasn't our choice! And of all things, it had to be the Lust Demon!"

The Lust Demon. Clearly, the martial artist knew him.

Those four syllables were undoubtedly the lunatic's infamous title.

"A famous expert, huh?"

"'Famous' doesn't even begin to cover it. Countless high-level fighters have fallen to that perverted freak."

Just hearing the word "lust" confirmed what Seowoon feared.

'That bastard's a sexual predator.'

He glared at the lunatic with pure contempt. What came next from the martial artist made the hairs on his neck rise again.

"He's a degenerate obsessed with men. If we lose here... we'll live with a humiliation we can never erase. If defeat feels inevitable, it's better to take your own life."

'Men... So that means...'

—It means, Master, your chastity is in serious danger.—

"Ah..."

Hamit's dead-serious warning nearly made Seowoon's knees buckle.

—Master! You must never lose strength in your lower body!—

Just then, the lunatic's expression twisted again, regaining that deranged grin from before.

"Kekeke... Hahahaha! KRAHAHAHAHA!"

His laughter, bending at the waist like a madman, roared through the forest once more.

"What are you standing around for?! Hurry up and get over here!"

Looking back, Seowoon saw a robed man driving a long rod into the ground. A translucent blue barrier spread outward at once.

The martial artist and knight, already inside, urgently waved him in.

Clutching his thundering chest, Seowoon stepped inside—and felt nothing from the Lion's Roar anymore.

"This is..."

"Him. The guy who made it. He's an alchemist."

Maybe it was the looming threat of the powerful enemy, but the knight casually revealed his teammate's identity.

Or maybe, more likely, the appearance of a lunatic degenerate who preyed on men had created a shared bond among all the guys here. An unspoken pact.

"If only I'd had a little more time—I could've finished the item that would've sealed that lunatic!"

Grinding his teeth in frustration, the alchemist pulled out a potion from his subspace and handed it to the martial artist.

The martial artist took a gulp of the reddish potion, then passed it to the knight. After he drank, it was handed off to Seowoon.

Holding the bottle, still sloshing with a little liquid, Seowoon took it awkwardly. The knight clapped him on the back.

"Don't make that face. This may be Cloyd, but when it's time to help each other, we go all in."

Somehow, that line struck a chord in his chest.

He swallowed the potion. The moment he did, a notification chimed and his body felt remarkably light.

—For a short time, powerful energy surges through your body. Your Strength stat increases dramatically.—

'Dramatically?'

Checking the numbers, his Strength stat had gone up by 20 points.

Nearly a 40% increase.

Staring at the boosted numbers, Seowoon reevaluated his image of alchemists.

'So they're not just weaklings who make items and chase gold.'

Just then, the lunatic—who had been laughing with his Lion's Roar for so long—abruptly fell silent. His gaze shifted to the group.

"Try that again!"

The lunatic, who'd been laughing like he was having the time of his life, suddenly twisted his face in fury and lunged at the knight.

At the same time, all three charged toward him.

Ignoring the martial artist's slash and Seowoon's punch, the lunatic reached straight for the knight's shield.

"I'LL SUCK OUT EVERY LAST DROP OF YOUR LIFE!!!"

Those words struck Seowoon like lightning—his mind raced as a clear plan began to form.