How was one supposed to avoid a guided bullet that wouldn’t stop until it reached its target?

Though the premise seemed unsolvable, Woohyuk unexpectedly found a simple solution.

“Then, I’ll just allow myself to get hit,” Woohyuk casually stated.

“… Are you serious? If it hits your heart or brains, you might die instantly, right?” Helena asked with a concerned expression.

“I’m not going to allow it to hit me without protecting myself. For example, there’s a method of covering and protecting one’s body with mana, like the Shaolin Monks,” answered Woohyuk.

Furthermore, he could also try to intercept the incoming magic bullet while it was traveling through the air.

Helena nodded as if his words weren’t as absurd as it initially sounded.

“If he targets me, make sure to protect me. My guardian defensive barrier will probably be pierced by the magic bullet,” Helena commented.

“I’ll consider it,” Woohyuk said offhandedly.

It wasn’t a situation where a joke should come out, but Woohyuk threw it out anyway.

It was because Helena had become unusually serious.

After the Abyssal Island, this was only the second time her serious resolve was outwardly portrayed.

‘No matter if she’s a Saintess, there are times when one’s heart is shaken.’

He didn’t really have any affection for Helena, but he needed her by his side at the moment.

It was also immensely enjoyable for Woohyuk to drag her around and annoy her from time to time. 

As Woohyuk was wrapping his body with mana, Logan’s overexcited loud voice came through the loudspeaker,

“Then, shall we start the hunt? Let’s conclude with the prelude and move on to the main stage. The main play starts now!”

Tang!

Logan fired off a crimson magic bullet from the top floor of the prison fortress.

It was impossible to determine who the target was.

Woohyuk expanded his mana defensive barrier a little to protect Helena.

“Even if it’s frustrating, be patient. It’s better than dying,” Woohyuk said as his mana barrier wrapped around Helena and brought her closer to his body.

“Whatever, just protect me well!”

Helena hugged Woohyuk as hard as she could from behind. She was definitely scared.

Woohyuk smirked at the cowering Helena and then followed the trail of the crimson magic bullet with his eyes.

‘Again, it’s using an unpredictable path to approach its target.’

If he were Logan, who would he aim for first?

Logan would already know that Woohyuk would protect his body like this.

‘Since Roan has a regeneration ability, he’s less likely to be a targeted…’

After considering everything, Woohyuk came to the conclusion that Logan would probably aim for Helena first since he’d have a high chance of sniping her.

The question was in what approach and way he would do this.

Even though the magic bullet was powerful, it was unlikely that it could easily penetrate his defensive mana barrier, which he had used to great effect against the Fallen Angel Cruella and the Ancient Devil Harpes.

As Woohyuk was pondering Logan’s approach, a black gap appeared in the air in front of him for an instant, and a female-type silver-haired Homunculus appeared next to Helena.

‘… So, it was this!’

Woohyuk recalled Brynhildr once mentioning that a forbidden Homunculus was sealed in the Aize Kingdom.

This was a variable he hadn’t considered.

Due to her sudden appearance, the situation drastically changed.

“…”

The female Homunculus immediately attacked Woohyuk.

Hwi-Eek!

Its abilities were illusion and distortion.

Its specialty was wide-area crowd control and temporarily disabling the opponent’s abilities.

The female Homunculus was also good at approaching its target using an unpredictable route by refracting and bending s.p.a.ce-time.

Bam!

The female Homunculus swung its walking stick and distorted the s.p.a.ce around it. Soon, it touched the defensive mana barrier that surrounded Helena.

At the same time, the defensive mana barrier disappeared in an instant as if it was never there.

Woohyuk was unable to re-form the defensive mana barrier for another 10 minutes due to the ability-disabling property of her strike.

‘This is ridiculous.’

He also possessed the skill to block the opponent’s abilities for a finite period of time, but because he was splitting his focus on the magic bullet, the female Homunculus was faster in getting off its disabling skill.

Additionally, Logan was too far away for Woohyuk to use his skill disabling ability in the first place.

Feeling the need to take countermeasures, Woohyuk asked Roan for help,

“You stop that Homunculus! You can use whatever ability you like!”

“…!”

Roan nodded vigorously with an excited expression.

Later, he summoned his Ragnar weapon in the form of a mace and ran towards the female Homunculus, who was similar to him in age.

“… Nuisance,” the female homunculus curtly murmured.

Hearing her words, Roan looked dumbfounded, moving his mouth up and down without saying any words.

‘Don’t fancy yourself, you artificial b.i.t.c.h! If it wasn’t for my Master, I would immediately hold onto you and ravage…’

s.e.xual insults and cruel expressions were silently conveyed to the female Homunculus.

‘Is there something wrong with this guy?’

Lisa, the female Homunculus, tilted her head throughout the battle as if she couldn’t understand Roan’s frustrations.

Unlike Roan, she was designed to be an emotionless a.n.a.lyst.

Thus, while the two Homunculus were battling it out, Woohyuk focused on observing the magic bullet’s path.

‘As I thought. It seems like it’s aiming for Helena.’

Considering that Lisa was also targeting Helena, the magic bullet’s target was certainly her.

However, as a result of the temporary disabling of his abilities, he had to maintain a holding pattern for the next 10 minutes or intercept the magic bullet.

Considering the various circ.u.mstances, Woohyuk felt that the latter was more practical and reasonable.

‘Since Roan is busy, I have no choice but to deal with the magic bullet myself.’

However, it was difficult to intercept the magic bullet in his current limited ability capacity, so he decided to make the most of his abilities as a necromancer. He summoned one of the undead crows that he had captured not too long ago.

“Corpse Explosion,” Woohyuk muttered. 

The summoned undead crow burst like a grenade nearby the magic bullet.

Pop!

Of course, Logan’s crimson magic bullet didn’t receive much damage.

However, Woohyuk didn’t give up and continued to use his undead skill.

“Corpse Explosion.”

Pop!

“Corpse Explosion.”

Pop!

“Corpse Explosion.”

Pop!

He had a large collection of undead flying creatures, so he had a sufficient amount to use for this strategy.

Seeing Woohyuk trying to get rid of the magic bullet in a somewhat ignorant way, Logan taunted him in a mocking tone,

“Haha… you’re struggling so much for just one magic bullet. Don’t you know that there’ll be another magical bullet loaded soon?”

Logan’s Evil Eye cooldown was 5 minutes.

If Woohyuk couldn’t deal with the first magic bullet before the 5 minutes was up, it would create a very troublesome situation.

At the moment, it would take another 7 minutes for his blocked ability to be released, so Woohyuk needed to hurry.

‘I think I’ll need to increase the intensity of the explosions a little more.’

Among the undead, there was a cla.s.s that contained flammable substances.

An example was a flame bat that breathed fire out of its mouth.

Woohyuk summoned the highly flammable undead and continued casting Corpse Explosion.

Kw.a.n.g! 

KwKwKw.a.n.g! 

KwKwKwKwKwKwKw.a.n.g!

The intensity of the explosions began to exert a multiplier effect when the highly flammable undead crowded together and exploded in unison.

As the magic bullet gradually lost its crimson light, Woohyuk pulled out a flask of Wildfire from his pocket for the final blow.

‘With this, the magic bullet should be neutralized.’

Wildfire’s explosive power was so strong that even a slight misjudgment of the distance could cause himself and Helena to get caught up in the aftermath blast.

However, he didn’t have the time to think about possible risks during this pressing time.

Even if he had to take on some risk, he had to get out of this crisis quickly.

Hwi-Eek!

Woohyuk controlled Pegasus with skillful horsemans.h.i.+p and threw the Wildfire flask in the magic bullet’s expected path.

Afterwards, he summoned one of the flammable bats and cast Corpse Explosion…

KwKwKwKwKwKwKwKwKwKwKwKw.a.n.g!

The surrounding air shook from the tremendous explosion.

Afterward, the crimson magic bullet completely disappeared.

Logan mumbled after seeing this absurd use of explosive force,

“Dang, I didn’t know you’d go all out and use Wildfire. I feel sorry for you.”

“That’s all the clowning around you’ll be doing, Marksman,” Altair sternly said, his voice coming through loud and clear through the loudspeaker.

It seemed he succeeded in infiltrating the prison fortress.

After a brief moment of tussling sounds, Logan’s complaining grunts could be heard over the loudspeaker,

“No! Not yet! The main stage isn’t over yet! It’s not the time for the curtain call yet!”

Tang!

Tang!

There were a couple of loud gunshot bangs and tussling noises.

While Logan was distracted, Woohyuk focused on defeating Lisa, the female Homunculus.

“Hurry up and defeat her. She’s not receiving any supporting or suppressive fire right now,” Woohyuk commented while looking at Roan.

“… I don’t really hit girls, but I guess I’ll have to since it’s an order,” Roan replied back.

Woohyuk summoned Astaroth. It swung its fist and smashed the back of Lisa’s head while she was still battling with Roan.

“Ouch!”

Lisa pa.s.sed out while foaming at the mouth. She had blacked out from an unexpected attack.

Astaroth secured her and handed her over to Woohyuk.

“Here you are, my Lord.”

“Well done.”

Astaroth was ranked a little behind the beings Woohyuk could summon, but he was still a formidable opponent.

When the battle in the air was over, Woohyuk and his party headed straight to the top of the prison fortress.

There, Logan and two other members of the Golden Rose Society were in a fierce battle against Altair.

Bang!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Instead of a long-barreled sniper rifle, Logan fired a series of handheld pistols. The other members of the Golden Rose Society murmured magic spells while holding magic books and crystal spheres in their hands.

However, once Woohyuk and his party joined the fray, Logan’s side was pushed into a corner.

Bam!

The head of one Golden Rose Society member was crushed by Roan’s Ragnar mace.

Meanwhile, the other member died after being pierced by Helena’s Lightning Spear.

Only Logan was left.

“Kekeke… I guess it’ll end like this?” Logan giggled and laughed as if he found this situation immensely interesting.

Helena frowned after seeing his unpleasant behavior.

“Is it funny? It’s now your turn to die,” Helena shouted out in disgust.

“I imagine my own end dozens of times a day. I’m not afraid of death. It’s inevitable. The question was how I would greet it.”

For Logan, the value of his death was determined by the scale of the stage and his role on that stage.

He seemed to have enjoyed his part in this ‘play’.

He had some regrets, but he didn’t despair.

“I also imagined how I’d kill you multiple times a day. In the past, you always managed to luckily avoid death,” said Woohyuk.

However, this time, Logan’s luck had run out.

After hearing Woohyuk’s words, Logan gave a meaningful smile and responded,

“Kekeke… you’re probably relaxed and satisfied because you still have a role in this ‘play’. Surely, you’ll remain on the stage. The script never changed.”

“Whatever script you’re talking about is meaningless in this world. The system has already been infiltrated with uncertainty. Only one manager with exclusive authority remains,” replied Woohyuk.

“Yes, our lives are meant to bring chaos. Still, don’t leave the stage just yet. The audience will be sad,”

Logan said before he stuck a pistol in his mouth.

Then, with one shot, a red, thick liquid flowed out from the other side of his head.

“I guess this was the end he wanted,” commented Helena.

“Maybe suicide was the only way to get off his stage.”

Helena and Woohyuk exchanged a few words while looking at Logan’s scattered remains on the ground.

The end of the psychopath, who was obsessed with being the Marksman, was less spectacular than they thought.