“I’ve received your greeting, so I suppose it’s my turn to return the favor.”

Cliff scattered a chilling glare as he brushed a hand over his shoulder.

In that instant, his shoulder glowed, emitting a bizarre wave of mana. It was the prelude to an artifact’s activation.

‘He’s coming on strong from the start.’

It was an item that a person from the bottom rungs of society would find wasteful to use even once, but Cliff didn’t hesitate. Then again, in the Thorson Expedition, even his second-in-command, Chelsea, had used an artifact for personal reasons. It was only natural that Cliff, the expedition’s leader, possessed multiple artifacts.

Pzzt!

I immediately pulled the trigger.

The M2 Maximum drew a clear trajectory despite the surprise shot, but it didn’t have much effect. A transparent, spherical barrier had already enveloped his entire body.

“To put a scratch on a shield that would be fine even if hit by a truck… you’re pretty good for a gunman. Looks like you’re using special ammunition.”

“If all you’ve got are tricks to protect yourself like that, I’ll be very disappointed.”

“Don’t get so worked up. I’ll show you a satisfactory trick soon enough.”

Cliff, feigning nonchalance, threw a ring he was wearing.

Shwiiik!

The debris from the building and the desert sand rose into the air, beginning to coalesce around the ring. Thick pieces of wood that had served as pillars for the barracks formed a skeleton, and compressed sand took the place of muscle and skin.

Before long, the form of a giant, armored bull was complete.

“This is the guardian that protected an ancient king’s tomb. It’s a beast that annihilated dozens of ruin exploration teams.”

Bwooooo!

Its two horns, having absorbed the swirling dust devil, vibrated and let out a powerful roar. The beast, the size of a house, added a sense of weight to the atmosphere just by existing.

“That’s a wasteful thing to do. If you’d handed that artifact over to one of the city’s influential figures, you could have received a cart full of gold.”

“Isn’t this the privilege of a ruin expedition team? You seem confident in your skills, so why don’t you have some fun with it.”

The moment Cliff gestured.

Thududududu!

The bull, which had been pawing the sand with its hooves, kicked off the ground and charged.

The heavy weight shook the earth.

A dreadful pressure was delivered on the gust of wind.

I had experience stopping a truck head-on, but it couldn’t even compare to the bull before me.

「The World Tree commands the spirits.」

The World Tree, having accumulated numerous combat experiences with me, now acted like my own limbs without needing specific instructions.

Vines grew densely in the bull’s path, binding its feet.

Kwa-jijik!

Given the opponent, I couldn’t expect a tremendous effect.

And reality proved it.

The beast was a tank.

Its charge, driven by overwhelming mass, tore through all obstacles binding its feet like paper.

The vines failed to stop the bull’s charge, but they succeeded in slowing it down. It was exactly the result I had expected. The momentum, which felt like it could tear my limbs off with wind pressure alone upon approach, had been reduced to a manageable level.

「Synchronization in progress!」

Light erupted from the Guardian Hawk tattoo and spread throughout my body. My blood boiled with overflowing energy, and the sharp eyes of a hawk pierced through the enemy’s openings.

Grab!

I leaped into the air as if to fly, entrusting my body to the flow of the wind. As if being sucked in, the bull’s horn was caught in my grip.

Thudududu!

“Gaaah!”

“Wh-what is this monster!”

“It’s the captain’s artifact! S-save me… Keuk!”

Within the fierce sandstorm kicked up by the bull’s hooves.

The bull’s charge destroyed the tattered buildings and trampled all living things, making no distinction between friend or foe. The battlefield, which had already been laid to waste, turned into a scene of utter chaos.

Its might was incredible, but it was a half-baked success.

The target I was aiming for was not among the corpses the beast had trampled over.

I was already on top of its head.

Bwooo!

Only after rampaging around the battlefield once did the beast finally seem to sense my presence, roaring and thrashing even more violently. Maintaining my balance atop a house-sized beast was akin to acrobatics, but in this world, there were many superhumans capable of such feats.

And now, I too had earned the right to be counted among them.

Kwajik!

I pierced the nape of its neck with the aura that had sprouted over my nails and let go of the horn I was holding.

I landed on the ground as I was.

Chwaaaak!

The claw, buried deep through its sandy skin, drew a line down the beast’s spine.

Instead of blood, sand gushed out like a fountain from the bull’s gouged back.

[……!]

A soundless scream swept through the area as a wave of energy.

Even so, the massive body did not fall.

The guardian that protected an ancient king’s tomb boasted a toughness as great as its size.

For a moment, its four legs seemed to stagger, but then it straightened up again and sharply changed direction. It was a cleaner turn than a nimble racing car’s drift.

I took a few light steps back.

“……!”

The bull ran past me as if it hadn’t seen me this time.

At the end of its path was Cliff.

“Return to sender. It wasn’t a gift I was particularly fond of.”

“How…!”

The previous composure was nowhere to be found in Cliff’s voice.

The bull born from the artifact was not a weapon that Cliff controlled directly.

That’s why there was an opening to exploit.

The Totem of Hallucination.

A totem woven from the stems of Hypnos, which is used as a raw material for drugs.

The energy of the totem, which I had directly inserted into the gash torn by my claw, was now tinged red in the bull’s eyes.

It was the same principle as bullfighting.

The agitated beast could not distinguish between friend and foe and would simply attack the living creature before it.

Woooong!

Cliff’s pupils contracted to a single point.

An formless energy bound the bull’s entire body like the grip of a giant.

It was the ability that had blocked my first shot, telekinesis.

Of course, a bullet and the bull were different.

The heavy charge that destroyed buildings and burst human bodies was too much impact to block with telekinesis alone.

‘No, is it not just that?’

Pududuk!

It was a sound like splitting a block of wood.

The bull’s forelegs twisted and crushed, bending in the opposite direction of the joint. The massive bull’s body was mangled into a mess, as if a child were playing with a doll.

Kwaaaaa!

The bull lost control of its body and collapsed.

Its head was twisted, and its spine was broken.

The bull’s body, folded in half, slid to a stop in front of Cliff, accompanied by a cloud of sand that soared to the sky.

Within the sandy dust that scattered hazily into the air, I spotted a faintly flickering light.

“Distortion following telekinesis. A threatening combination.”

Cliff’s two pupils were painted in opposing colors, glowing eerily. That harmonious yet threatening combination seemed less like an innate ability and more like…

“Did you modify your own body with artifacts?”

“It’s a smarter approach than those idiots who replace their natural bodies with machinery.”

“A lot of people would be sad to hear that remark. Though personally, I agree.”

Artifacts were indeed better than machines.

Considering the value and abilities of artifacts, it was a worthwhile investment.

The successful case was right before my eyes.

Cliff, seeming to interpret my words as a sign of my own dismay, regained his composure.

I shot a sneer at him.

I wasn’t finished speaking.

“But you’re still an idiot all the same.”

The bull’s sandy skin and muscles scattered, and its wooden frame collapsed. The ring lost its power and fell to the ground, buried in the sand. The ring would never activate as an artifact again.

“Artifacts aren’t all-powerful. They have limitations.”

It could be a tricky activation method, a time limit, or a usage count limit.

Implanting artifacts into the body.

In my numerous game playthroughs, I had tried it myself.

However, it wasn’t an attractive enough option to repeat over and over.

“Those eyes… the Devouring of Vitality. The price for using an ability beyond your means.”

“……For a contractor, you have a wide range of knowledge. I suppose your abilities match your connections to the Mage Tower. How utterly disgusting.”

Cliff’s complexion looked as if a portion of something called vitality had been stolen from him. Every word he spat out while grinding his molars proved my guess was correct.

“It seems to be in your nature to do things beyond your means.”

Gathering a bunch of amazing artifacts and embedding them in your body doesn’t make you invincible. If such a shortcut worked, the heads of corporations or city governments wouldn’t be so desperate to gather underlings who could be more useful blades.

A shortcut was, in the end, just a shortcut.

The fall of Cliff and the Thorson Expedition was perhaps preordained.

“Your obsession with the ruins, enough to risk hostility with the Mage Tower, wasn’t just for the sake of achievements. You either wanted something to alleviate the side effects, or you were trying to find a new artifact so you wouldn’t have to use those eyes.”

“……”

“Did I hit the mark? You’ve gone quiet. If it was something you wanted to hide, shouldn’t you at least try to make an excuse?”

“……Contractor, you’ve just given me one more reason why I can’t let you live.”

“A satisfactory response. If I were to back out now and just spread rumors, it would be enough to screw you over.”

They were an expedition team where clashes with fellow professionals were a daily occurrence. What would happen if I told them about the weakness Cliff was hiding? Even without this fated failure, the Thorson Expedition’s winning streak was highly likely to become a glory of the past.

“In the first place, while you were engaged in this pointless scuffle with me, your expedition has already been annihilated.”

Even the state of the battle was against Cliff.

The fighting had reached a lull.

To call what remained a mopping-up of remnants was an overstatement. It could be called a cleanup.

Even before settling things with me, Cliff had lost everything.

“If you surrender obediently before things get uglier, I won’t take your life and will hand you over to the Mage Tower. Surrender.”

“……”

Cliff no longer had a future.

If the leader of an organization couldn’t admit that, he was unqualified.

I didn’t know if the Mage Tower would treat him humanely, but at least he would be able to keep his life. My suggestion to surrender was a rational proposal.

“That’s a very arrogant proposal you’re making, contractor.”

Cliff refused.

“You should say that after you’ve cut off my arms and legs.”

He undid the belt fastened at his waist. The dozen or so artifacts tied to it tore free from their restraints and floated into the air.

“The ruins, if only I can get my hands on the ruins, I can form a new expedition with stronger and more competent members. If I just kill you here! Everything will go back to normal!”

It was truly madness.

I didn’t know where his conviction that everything would turn out fine was rooted.

But you’re not supposed to listen to a madman’s story.

Woooong!

A distorted wave of energy was felt from my right hand holding the gun. Cliff’s two eyes were glowing so brightly they were dazzling, like neon signs on a night street.

‘Lignification.’

Kwa-deuk!

As bark grew over my skin, a swirling pressure simultaneously crushed it.

BANG!

From within the pulped bark, I pushed the muzzle forward and fired.

He can react.

The combination of telekinesis and distortion, while tricky, is not omnipotent. I had already calculated the means to deal with it.

Chwararak!

Cliff, unfazed, unfurled a parchment scroll that exuded a sacred aura. The special bullet instantly melted in the holy light that emanated from the scroll. Then, the scroll dissolved, and only a halo of light remained, seeping into Cliff’s entire body and glowing faintly.

Seeing as it melted the special bullet, was it an artifact with defensive properties? No, that halo of light that seeped into his body… it was an enhancement of physical abilities.

Swiiiiiik!

The moment Cliff kicked off the ground, his form shot forward like an arrow. The distance between us converged to zero in the blink of an eye. In his hands, a longsword emitting an unusually sharp aura had appeared.

He took a large step forward, firmly planting his center of gravity, then twisted his waist and sprang. The pure white blade shimmered with a vicious killing intent and struck down like lightning.

Sh-guk!

The Totem of Protection, the lignified stem of the World Tree, was torn apart like paper before the sword. It was a speed that my kinetic vision, synchronized with the Guardian Hawk, could barely follow. The sharpness of a famed sword that neutralized all my defensive measures.

And it didn’t end there.

Thududududu!

A staff that had risen into the sky split into eight stakes, which then shot out as if repelling each other and embedded themselves in the ground. A hemispherical barrier unfolded with the stakes at the eight cardinal points as its center. It was a type of barrier that separated the outside world from the inside.

Kwa-rurung!

What fell within it was a bolt of lightning.

The World Tree’s stems, spread out like an umbrella, were roasted golden-brown by the lightning. On the other hand, Cliff, despite being struck by the lightning without any protection, seemed completely unfazed. It was probably the function of yet another artifact.

“You’re not putting on a stage performance, but your preparations are quite flashy.”

He used artifacts, each boasting an astronomical price, just to deal with me alone. Each ability, its power, the combination. Not a single one could be ignored.

“This is the grave where you will be buried. I’m glad you like it.”

It was a waste of power to deploy it all against a single contractor. It was likely his hidden trump card.

“This is a courtesy to the enemy who threw a wrench in the grand plan that will lead me to the top of this world. Know that it is an honor, and die.”

“For someone with such a long tongue, you don’t seem to be used to lying.”

“……?”

“Let’s get it straight. You were just worried I might run away, weren’t you?”

He was feigning composure, but he couldn’t hide his anxiety from the sharp eyes of the hawk.

“Is this all you have in your arsenal?”

What is fearsome is not the revealed sword, but the hidden gun. A sword that has already been revealed is not scary at all.

In his anxiety, he had laid all his cards on the table. It was because he was wary of the possibility of my escape that I had mentioned.

“I should thank you for following my lead.”

The reality was the opposite.

It was I who was wary that he might run away.

To me, who was on guard for what kind of outlandish artifact he might use to leave the battlefield, he had prepared the perfect stage.

“……!”

As if his great intuition had realized something was wrong, Cliff tried to move, but the realization came too late.

“Domain Declaration.”

(End of Chapter)