Genius Warlock

The Black Shields swiftly surrounded the host, sealing off all six sides in anticipation of the explosion.

Everyone was stunned by the sudden turn of events. Exclamations of surprise and alarm filled the room.

“Shit…!”

“Fuck!”

“Security…”

BOOM——!!!

And then, with a loud boom, the host exploded.

Despite being contained within the Black Shields, the force of the explosion was still substantial, capable of causing significant damage if the Black Shields were not properly maintained.

‘It’s not normal black magic.’

All eyes turned to Oliver as he grasped the opponent’s attack.

Oliver, who had acted quickly to control the situation, was the center of attention.

People were in awe of his quick thinking and response.

But the admiration was short-lived.

As the reality of the situation set in, the guests at the auction began to stand up, disturbed by the close call with what appeared to be a suicide bombing.

It was a strange irony that in a city plagued by violence, the supposed predators were almost victims themselves. Such is the unpredictable nature of life.

“Fuking shit. I’ve got to get out of here! How in the world did you guys run this place?!”

“Sir, please calm down and follow our guide…”

“… Shut up, now!”

A hefty middle-aged man shoved aside an auctioneer and tried to leave with his bodyguard in tow.

He was in a state of utter panic.

“Um… you can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because…”

Before Oliver could finish his sentence, he saw why.

As soon as the man opened the door, something swift and nimble brushed past him.

“What the…?”

The man, unable to react due to the speed of the figure, made a bewildered noise before his head fell to the floor with a thud.

SPLASH!

A deathly silence descended upon the room, accompanied by a damp, squishy sound.

It wasn’t until someone screamed that the silence was broken.

“Kyaaaa!”

“Bossssss!”

The bodyguard, who had failed to protect his employer, was flustered and angry.

He prepared for battle by gathering mana and pulling out an ax and a heavy knife.

Looking at his Life-force and mana, Oliver could see that the bodyguard was capable of putting up a good fight, even against a formidable opponent.

“Sssssya…!”

With a soft hiss, a man stepped inside and swung both of his hands swiftly.

SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!

The man was wielding a pair of sharp French knives.

In just a second, the bodyguard’s head and body were separated, just like his employer’s.

The sight caused the guests in the auction house to scream even louder.

Fortunately, the dedicated employees at the auction house sprang into action, with a portion of them efficiently leading the customers to safety through a secret door, while the rest prepared to defend them with machine guns.

“Customers, this way!”

SLASH

Dudu dudu dudu!

The employees shouted, as they aimed and fired their weapons with precision.

They were well trained, not just a typical street-level gang.

However, the intruder was no ordinary being. With reflexes heightened to an inhuman level, the intruder gracefully dodged the bullets, effortlessly evading the staff’s fire.

But the employees were not deterred. They quickly shifted their aim and continued to fire, but the intruder was too quick. With fluid movements, he sliced through the auction house employees one by one.

SLASH!

SLASH!

SLASH!

“……!”

“Kkeu!!!”

“Ahhhhhhh!”

Employees were cut like meat on the cutting board in line with the knife as fast as a bullet.

Nevertheless, the employees were sincere in their work.

“Guests, please evacuate this way!”

While some of the employees shouted, directing the guests to safety. Others quickly swallowed a potion, ready to face the intruder.

Looking at the energy contained in the potion, it seemed like it was black magic, and it also seemed to be a disease-type related potion.

As expected, as soon as they drank, their clothes swelled to the point of tearing, and callus-like scales formed on their arms, legs, neck, and chest.

The employees who drank the potion rushed towards the intruder with their strengthened bodies.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

They waved their drug-stained hands like a beast, making a roar.

The intruder wielded the French knife to cut the flesh, avoiding the attack of six people rushing in, only to get scratched and failed to give a fatal blow.

Speed was an obvious advantage, but it seemed that his compatibility was not good.

“I’m glad you’re here.”

Amid the chaos, Crime Firm director Gordon appeared in front of Oliver and Jane, remaining calm despite the confusion.

“Follow me. We have a secret passage to get out in case of such an event.”

Jane expressed her doubts. “Is that possible with so many people?”

“The staff will hold out. They are people trained with the funds of the whole organization. They have that ability.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt, but I don’t think they can,” Oliver said, focusing his energy on his eyes. He saw two more people coming their way. Their levels were similar to the intruder currently dealing with Crime Firm employees.

‘Abnormal amount of emotions and mana…. like clumps of mud.’

BANG

“It’s strange. Originally, everyone should be killed by the explosion… Are there any guys who are capable of stopping it?”

“Seems so?”

Two more intruders appeared. One intruder was wearing a robe all over his body, and the other was wearing a luxury suit with torn arms like a slum gangster. They seemed confident in their skills.

“You’re having a hard time with these guys? I am ashamed of you.” taunted one of the intruders.

“You little shit….. These fucking idiots are just not my cup of tea. If I brought a butcher’s knife instead of this cutlery, I would have finished them…! What are you doing not helping me?”

“This fucker doesn’t even know how to ask for help.”

Although the tone was rough, the man pulled out his hand from his pocket, extracted emotions from his body, and performed black magic.

“Yeah, this would work better. This would be easier to pass the time…. Hypertrophy.”

Along with the chant, emotions dwelled in one arm, and it grew unrealistically like a giant’s arm with a dark red color.

Now Oliver understood why the forearm of the clothes was torn.

“Let’s do it!”

A huge arm stirred the interior, causing a storm with a faint roar.

BANG-!! BOOM!! BOOOOOM!

The right arm, which was swollen like a giant’s arm, smashed everything in its path, breaking the wall and crushing the chair, as if it were equivalent to a giant’s.

Not only Crime Firm employees who became huge after taking drugs, but also about a dozen employees who fought with machine guns in the back row were no exception. People burst out like bed bugs, and customers at the auction house were even more frightened.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

“Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

“What are the guards doing?”

The only ones maintaining their composure were Gordon, the Druid moneylender, and a muscle-bound man in a suit that barely contained his bulging muscles.

They weren’t scared, but rather calculating, thinking about the best course of action in this situation.

Indeed, even if they were strong, fighting against unknown intruders posed a significant risk.

Oliver turned his head towards the secret passage through which the guests were evacuating.

Unfortunately, he could see signs of people getting tangled up while the three intruders were quickly dispatching Crime Firm employees.

Intruder 1, wielding a French knife, lacked power but was one of the fastest people Oliver had ever seen.

Intruder 2, in a sleeveless suit, possessed high attack power and could kill a person enhanced with a potion in a single shot.

Intruder 3, wearing a robe, was also dangerous, with an abnormal amount of mana.

“Well… Mr. Gor… Mr. Director?”

“Just call me Gordon. I don’t want my guests to call me ‘Mr’.”

“I’ll take care of that side, can you protect Ms. Jane?”

“What?”

Jane looked at Oliver incredulously, as if he were a fool.

“At this rate, all the employees will die, and the intruders will come all the way here. Fighting with so many people around will be uncomfortable. So, I think it would be better to deal with them now. Could you help me?”

Gordon, with his sharp eyes shining, quickly came to a decision.

“If you help us, I will give my life to protect the young lady from harm in the name of myself and my family.”

“Thank you.”

“I should be the one to say thank you.”

Oliver immediately sprang into action after exchanging greetings, as if it had been planned in advance.

He pulled a test tube from his suit pocket, extracted emotions, and quickly donned a black suit in an instant.

Considering the number of people, he wrapped himself in three layers, causing the suit to emit black smoke and attract the attention of those around him.

But Oliver ignored the stares and jumped to where the intruders were.

BANG

“………”

“………”

“………”

“………”

Oliver stood in the center of his opponents. He didn’t make any sudden movements, and the intruders also remained still, unsure of what he was planning.

“… What the fuck are you doing?” Intruder 1 finally asked, sounding genuinely perplexed.

“Just stalling,” Oliver replied calmly.

“Heh, heh, heh. I’ve heard there are a lot of crazy people in Landa, and it looks like we found one,” Intruder 2 laughed.

“Oh, and I’ve also got your legs,” Oliver added.

“What?” Intruder 3 exclaimed.

As the intruders tried to move their feet, they realized they were trapped in Oliver’s shadow magic.

It seemed that Oliver was superior in his ability to handle black magic.

“Are you going to fight us alone?” Intruder 1 asked.

“No, I’m just going to hit you,” Oliver replied, before striking Intruder 1 on the head with his quarterstaff.

BANG

The sound of the impact was loud and brutal, and the intruder’s head split like a watermelon.

The power of the quarterstaff has been enhanced by enhancing its attack method, and this was achieved by adding a layer of black armor to it.

When wielded like this, the speed did not differ much, but the power increased.

‘And for the rest.’

[Flash]

The man standing at the back of the intruders chanted.

‘Is he a wizard?’ Oliver wondered. Although he possessed mana inside his body, it was different from normal wizards.

In any case, the intruders managed to escape Oliver’s shadow grip by cutting it off with the help of light magic.

They stepped back, wary of Oliver’s movements.

Oliver surveyed his opponents, studying their abilities.

One of them was a disease-type warlock who made his arms enlarge, while the other was a wizard who utilized magic in a peculiar way. They were both experienced in combat, evidenced by their seamless coordination.

“Two of you,” Oliver spoke.

“Three,” corrected Intruder 1, surprisingly still alive despite being defeated by Oliver earlier.

His head was bizarrely bent, with bones sticking out, and flesh reforming.

“You didn’t die?” Oliver asked, surprised.

“Fucking bitch, once dead,” Intruder 1 growled as he charged at Oliver with a French knife in hand.

With his extreme athletic ability, he charged toward Oliver like a bullet.

“Dodged?” Invader 1 exclaimed, surprised and angry.

“I’ve dealt with someone faster than you,” Oliver remarked, swinging his quarterstaff. “Oh, don’t get me wrong, you’re not slow.”

The intruder swung around in acrobatic movements, narrowly avoiding them, and rushed back to Oliver.

“Minion.”

At Oliver’s call, a minion popped out of his pocket and spat out a barrage of hate bullets at the approaching intruder.

Tututututututuutu

The bullets of hatred poured out at an unexpected time, landing two shots in the intruder’s chest and two shots in his head.

“This kind of attack……!!”

Despite being hit, the intruder managed to revive due to an unknown regeneration ability.

Just as Oliver was about to use Las Bullet to finish him off, Intruder 2 enlarged his arm and swung it at Oliver.

“Um…!”

—Bang!

Oliver was struck by a massive fist, but he quickly reacted by increasing the output of his quarterstaff and black suit to block the blow. He only took a slight step back as a result.

“This fucker is not ordinary. Blow him all at once with the money bugs!”

Invader 2, and Invader 3 moved at the cry.

Intruder 3 raised his arm and increased his mana output. At that time, the deformed, distorted figure hiding under the robe caught Oliver’s eye.

A disgusting appearance, as if several people were entangled together.

He gathered an unusual amount of mana in his arm befitting his bizarre appearance.

His mana-handling skills were crude and rough, but the amount of mana was the real deal.

He was at a level where he would blow up the whole interior.

Bump! Bump! Bump! Bump!

His arms swelled like balloons due to the excessive gathering of mana.

‘Um? Didn’t they come here to steal the auction?’

But that was a concern for later.

Oliver looked back. Jane was not there and it seemed she had escaped unharmed. Still, there were several customers who hadn’t run away yet.

“Hmm…”

Oliver took off a layer of the black suit he was wearing, put it on the quarterstaff, and reshaped it like a javelin.

[Black Javelin]

Remembering the fight with Merlin, he threw the quarterstaff tied with the Black Javelin at the Intruder 3.

Peung—!

The quarterstaff, which flew at high speed, collided with the mana just before the explosion, and the compressed power overwhelmed and neutralized the opponent’s mana.

It was so quick that no one saw it properly.

All they saw was Invaders 3 whose upper and lower bodies separated.

Intruder 3 wanted to revive like his colleagues, but a lump of human-like flesh popped out of his body and collapsed with an unknown scream.

“Um… What was that just now.”

Oliver asked the other two intruders, genuinely curious.

It seemed like black magic, but it didn’t seem like normal black magic.

“You fucking pigggggg…”

[Outcry]

Oliver used Outcry at Intruder 1, who had no intention of answering and charged toward him.

Black smoke quickly approached the intruder, merged into countless faces of angry people, and let out a roar of rage.

The shock wave, which was raised to the maximum output, not only shook the surrounding area, but also hit the inside and outside of Intruder 1 at the same time, damaging his senses.

The blood gushing from the eyes and ears was proof of that. He would recover again, but it brought some time.

“You’re not normal either…!!”

Intruder 2, who used disease-type black magic, enlarged his arms like a giant and swung at Oliver again.

He seemed to have thought that it was more advantageous because Oliver did not have his quarterstaff.

“Um…”

Oliver put on black armor over his black suit, remembering the last time he was training with Joe.

Honestly, he was a little curious.

Based on the black magic used, Intruder 2 also seemed to be a considerably good disease-type Warlock, and he was curious which was stronger, his fist or the Intruder’s.

A brief but long moment passed and the strengthened fists clashed.

“…. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

With a terrible sound of exploding flesh, one arm was torn, and intruder 2, whose arm bursted, screamed lying face down.

Oliver said, looking at him like that.

“I guess this side is better.”