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"I'm sorry. It's part of the job."

With an apology, Oliver swung his quarterstaff.

Bang!

The sound echoed as the opponent mercenary was sent flying far away, to an unnaturally extreme extent.

"Ha There's no such thing as an easy job after all."

Oliver mumbled, thinking about this job.

This mission was to protect the residents of the redevelopment site in District S during its demolition,

To be more precise, it was to stop the mercenary called Founder hired by the demolition company.

Essentially, they sought me out because of him.'

Although the request was sudden, he accepted it because the time and payment were most favorable. Oliver, however, realized anew that there was no easy money.

Despite being hit by Oliver's attack, Founder not only retreated and mitigated the impact, but also released mana in mid-air to move, securing a favorable position again.

He was said to be a veteran mercenary who participated in a double-digit number of wars, and he was indeed seasoned.

Oliver had the upper hand in firepower, but he could not suppress him, which was evidence of the stalemate.

"Your name is Dave, right?" asked Founder, who had landed on a higher rooftop.

"Yes."

"I thought people were talking nonsense when they said you were the second Shamus, but I think I owe an apology."

"You're too kind."

"No, no, I'm serious. It's been a while since I've been pushed in close combat by a warlock."

While casually continuing the conversation, Founder was cautiously manipulating something with his golem prosthetic.

Oliver observed him closely and replied,

"Thank you for the compliment."

"Huh! You're even polite it's really regrettable!"

"What do you mean?"

"That I have to kill such a polite young man with my own hands."

Along with his reply, Founder lifted one side of his prosthetic. At the same time, Oliver detected mana from his right side.

A small cannon of 10 cm in width and 50 cm in height was aimed at Oliver, manipulated by mana.

As soon as Oliver sensed the mana, he fired a Hate Bullet, neutralizing the small cannon.

Bang!

"Making the prepared person embarrassed!"

Even though his planned attack failed, Founder didn't flinch and extended both golem prosthetic arms to barrage mana bullets like a machine gun.

Oliver deployed his Black Shield to block the shower of mana bullets while firing back with Hate Bullet.

Then, while maintaining his offensive, Founder jumped using his golem prosthetic legs, easily avoiding Oliver's attack by moving to the next-door rooftop.

Indeed, he was familiar with long-distance combat.

As evidence, Oliver's attacks failed to even graze him and only broke the poor rooftop railings, doors, or mana bullets.

Especially, when the mana bullets clashed with Hate Bullets, they exploded like fireworks, illuminating the demolition company and the Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union fighting below.

The demolition company, which had hired Founder, was pushing forward with a golem, and the Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union was desperately stopping it with their professional union fighters.

"Your employer is fighting quite hard, but it's just a matter of time."

Founder shouted in mockery. His intention was to make Oliver anxious and to turn the fight in his favor.

But regardless of his intention, what he said was true.

Because the demolition company had brought a golem and was pushing hard.

The innate defensive power and mass of the golem were threatening just by moving, and the Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union, which lacked the firepower to suppress it, could only retreat according to the golem's pace.

All they could do was to buy as much time as possible.

If Oliver didn't join quickly, they would soon be breached.

"Don't you need to help quickly? If they lose, you won't get the balance payment?!"

Founder continued to provoke.

If Oliver couldn't control his impatience and moved, he would immediately attack his gap.

To this, Oliver replied,

" I agree that I should help quickly. So, I need to finish this quickly."

As soon as he replied, Oliver concentrated the emotions in his hand and fired dozens of Hate Bullets at once, as if exploding.

Like a shotgun.

The Bullets of Hatred formed a wide bullet pattern in a fan shape.

"It's useless!"

Founder extruded mana from his golem prosthetics, maneuvering in the air to avoid Oliver's attack.

However, it was fine. Oliver never intended to hit him in the first place.

"Huh?!"

The fan-shaped Bullets of Hatred flew wide to Founder's left and right, above and below, and then exploded.

It was just firework-level, but for Oliver, that was more than enough.

[Targeting]

[Hate Bullet]

Oliver cast two black magic spells at the same time.

A wave-like emotion extended and created a dartboard on Founder's body, followed by a Hate Bullet that compressed a substantial amount of emotion.

Thump!

With a heavy sound cutting through the air, the Hate Bullet flew precisely toward the dartboard.

"Such a petty trick!"

Founder, without panicking, extruded mana from his golem prosthetic again and twisted his body diagonally to evade.

Just as he had done so far. But this time, it didn't go the same way.

As the dartboard moved, the Hate Bullet also minutely changed its direction.

Because of the straight-line nature of the spell, it didn't accurately hit the dartboard, but instead, it hit one of Founder's golem prosthetic legs.

Thud!

With that impact, Founder lost his propulsive force and fell, rolling down the roof.

[Black Dart]

Taking advantage of the momentum, Oliver launched a dozen black blades filled with the bomb of rage.

Since targeting was still maintained, the black blades flew precisely toward Founder, albeit in different directions.

Seeing this, Founder immediately raised both arms like shields, spreading a magical barrier from his prosthetics, and the black blades collided with the barrier.

Kwagwagwang!

A huge explosion that shook the building occurred, raising a thick cloud of dust.

Oliver examined Founder's condition with the eyes of a warlock.

His Life-force and willpower have weakened a bit, but he's still in a state to fight.'

Oliver immediately stretched out his finger and poured Hate Bullets toward Founder hidden in the dust.

Since he could see through the exact location with emotion, mana, and Life-force, shooting wasn't that difficult.

Founder spread a magical shield again to block Oliver's attack.

Seeing that he couldn't escape like before, it was clear that there was a problem with his prosthetic leg part.

Just when Oliver thought he would easily win if he pressed like this, something sprang out from the dust.

It was a bomb. Not a typical grenade, but a bomb holding the energy of black magic.

That's-

-Boom!

The bomb exploded in mid-air. A substantial amount of black smoke spread around with the explosion.

Black Mist, a black magic spell, composed of emotion, Life-force, and smoke, could even blind the eyes of a warlock.

However, Oliver was fine. If he couldn't find him with emotion or Life-force, he could find him with mana.

Especially, the mana forming Mr. Founder's prosthetics is unique, so it's not that hard to find.'

Oliver focused his eyes, and immediately sensed something and spread the Black Shield.

Just then, a flying object came out of the Black Mist and shot a laser-like bundle of mana toward Oliver.

Ziiiiiiing!!

The identity of flying object was a part of the golem prosthetic arm, surprisingly falling off and attacking Oliver directly when the black mist spread.

Who knew it had this function impressive.'

Oliver blocked the laser with a black shield, marveling.

It seemed to have a considerable output; if it had hit, it would have delivered a substantial shock.

It appeared that the black mist was not to defend but to counterattack.

It was impressive. Thinking of a counterattack, not defense, in that situation.

ThumpBoom!!

A shock shook the ground, and something hefty fell near Oliver.

It was Founder.

Im quite surprised!

He used the golem prosthetics to cross a great distance in an instant.

Oliver wondered if the prosthetics were okay, but they were not.

There was a hole in the right prosthetic, and it was squeaking badly.

Still, Founder decided that dealing with Oliver was more important and detached another flying object from his shoulder to fire a laser, pressuring Oliver from both sides while he himself hobbled forward with a punch.

[Shadow Spike]

Oliver, whose hands were tied blocking the lasers pouring from both sides, created a shadow stake to block Founder.

The soaring shadow stake was about to skewer the prosthetic, but Founder quickly withdrew his arm and dodged, then swung his fist to break the stake.

Oliver used his shadow stakes again, and Founder, with sharp eyes, figured out the direction of the shadow's movement, dodging and destroying all the shadow stakes erupting densely.

Oliver tried to counter this by creating shadow stakes faster, but Founder swung his prosthetics faster and faster like a heated engine, smashing all the shadow stakes.

Aaaaaah!!

However, it was not fruitless.

The process of destroying the shadow stakes consumed considerable mana, and the flying object that fell from the prosthetic stopped attacking and returned to its original position.

With both hands free, Oliver aimed his fingers and prepared to fire Hate Bullets along with the shadow stakes.

Even Founder would have a limit to avoiding such a level of attack.

Ping-!

At that moment, Founder threw another bomb.

Bang!!

The bomb was a flashbang.

A strong light erupted, incapacitating Oliver's shadow and blinding him.

Founder didn't miss this opportunity and focused mana into the golem prosthetics and punched again.

He was aiming to decide the battle here.

[Earth Thorn]

Crack!

Along with a cracking sound, a high-density cement spear shot up from the ground, smashing the approaching golem prosthetics.

The golem prosthetics, which focused on attack, had weak defense and broke more easily than expected, and Founder, surprised this time, could not immediately respond and stepped back.

How? Surely his eyes!?

I've been practicing sensing my surroundings by expelling mana from my body recently. Its a good chance to use it in actual combat.

Oliver rubbed his eyes, which had been blinded by the flashbang, and spoke.

He felt somewhat satisfied, having successfully countered the veteran's counterattack.

"Damn!!"

Founder, like before, detached a part from his shoulder and launched another flying object at Oliver.

Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!

Looking at the incoming two streams of intense lasers, Oliver put forth his quarterstaff and cast a spell.

[Voracity]

Along with the spell, the black suit in the quarterstaff transformed, taking shape, and several toothless mouths formed at the edge of the quarterstaff, sucking up the long stream of mana.

Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup. Chup.

Founder was taken aback by this never-before-seen spectacle, but he didn't stop and charged at Oliver, who was tied up by the laser.

The attitude of fighting without giving up no matter what. It was truly admirable.

Minion.

At Oliver's words, the two minions that had been waiting inside Oliver flew in both directions, firing Hate Bullets at the flying objects pressuring Oliver at close range and shot them down.

With the explosion and his hands free, Oliver lifted his quarterstaff toward the approaching Founder.

Spew it out.

Oliver swung his quarterstaff filled with a cluster of toothless mouths and said, and soon a huge explosion occurred on the building rooftop.

Boom!!!

A large explosion was heard from a redevelopment site in District S.

It was so loud that the nearby buildings shook, and debris fell from the building where the explosion occurred.

"Take cover!"

The demolition company and the Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union who had been fighting for their lives were startled by the sudden situation and wisely scattered to their respective sides to avoid the falling debris.

That was a wise decision.

Stones as small as pebbles to cement chunks as large as a human head fell from the sky.

Thump- Thump-! Clang! Thump- Clang!! Bang! Thump- Clang! Clang!!

Soil, stones, rebar, and chunks of cement rained down like a storm.

Everyone swallowed nervously at the unusual scene, and a moment later, something came down from the sky.

It was Oliver.

He landed softly using black magic, holding his quarterstaff in one hand and a body with only its lower half remaining in the other.

"This one. is useless."

Oliver said while holding the half-body upside down like a fish.

Despite the casual remark, it sounded eerie due to the bits of entrails flowing from the severed half of the corpse.

Everyone was curious about the identity of the corpse, and soon, they could tell.

Oliver pulled out the golem prosthetics from the body.

"Founder? Founder was defeated?

No way. He has even killed War Wizards.

"But those prosthetics."

People from the demolition company looked at Oliver in astonishment and fear as they understood the situation.

Emboldened by this sight, the Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union shouted.

We won! Dave won!! It's our victory!

"Hahahat!! It serves you right, you thugs! We won!

"Damn, hurray!!

The cheering Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union looked ecstatic.

And why wouldn't they be, as this was the expiration of the demolition company's contract period.

Now the construction company, with its deadline looming, had no choice but to accept the terms of the Eviction Dwellers' Labor Union, and everyone would get a hefty compensation.

Of course, part of it would be claimed from the demolition company for failing to fulfill the demolition contract.

In this moment of contrasting emotions, the golem that had been still like a statue suddenly moved.

It seemed the leader of the demolition company had given the command.

"Crush them! If we fail this time, our company will go bankrupt!! Everyone, fight with your life on the line.

Along with a cry filled with desperation, the 4-meter-tall golem raised its house-sized hammer as per its owner's command, aiming it at Oliver.

Oliver responded by pulling his quarterstaff back, preparing to swing it.

Dozens of layers of rebar-like black armor formed around the end of the quarterstaff, creating a mace-like shape.

"No way?

People gasped in shock.

A warlock engaging in a power struggle with a nearly 4-meter-tall golem.

It was an unbelievable story, but it was reality, and soon, the golem and the warlock's weapons collided.

!!!!

An explosion far beyond the previous one echoed, causing a shockwave that shattered the windows of nearby buildings. Everyone closed their eyes and covered their ears.

Ziiing!

Along with the ringing in the ears, people writhed in discomfort as they looked forward.

There, unable to withstand the shock, the golem had fallen backward, and the warlock was carefully observing it.

The warlock asked quietly.

"May I take this golem?"

(To be Continued)

OR

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