Genius Warlock

“Um… it doesn’t seem to be going well.”

Oliver gazed upon Ogre-man, who still stood tall despite being bombarded with bullets and explosives.

As the PinkMen dealt with enemies on the right, Oliver faced those on the opposite side, but the situation unfolded differently than expected.

The gangsters that approached Oliver were ill-equipped and few in number, armed only with trench clubs, shovels, hammers, and a few mutants. Among them was a greyhound walking on its hind legs, clad in nothing but pants, and an Ogre-man who towered over three meters tall.

Oliver's plan was to draw them in and unleash a flurry of firepower to defeat them, but, as always, things didn't go as planned.

One of the gangsters charged forward, leaving Ogre-man alone, shouting, “That bastard is stealing our stuff! Let’s f*ck this motherfu*ker up!”

Ogre-man glanced at Oliver before agreeing and dashing towards him, causing the ground to quake with each step.

THUD! THUD!! THUD!!!

It was said that Ogre-man possessed low intelligence but exceptional physical abilities, making him the perfect vanguard. This theory proved true, and Oliver's carefully planned [Grudge Trap] was triggered by Ogre-man alone.

BOOOOM!!

The trap exploded, soaring upwards like black lava, enough to blow off the lower half of most people's bodies. However, Ogre-man merely fell to his knees, screaming in pain.

Oliver now understood why Jonathan advised him not to face this monster if possible.

As Ogre-man stumbled in pain, the gangsters unleashed the second mutant hound, which dashed towards Oliver at an incredible speed, aiming for his neck.

Their motive was to approach in an instant and subdue the Warlock, who was vulnerable when it comes to close combat.

However, Oliver was quick to react, having prepared plenty of tricks besides the trap.

"Minion!"

Following Oliver's call, one of the minions suddenly appeared from the corner of the street, exploding instantly and hitting both Ogre-man and Hound.

The explosion caused a loud noise, accompanied by dust rising with it. Other minions followed suit, shooting bullets of hate towards the enemies, and Oliver joined in, firing his own bullets of hate.

The Hound, with its fast legs and sharp teeth, died in vain, unable to use its strengths against Oliver's well-planned attack. However, to Oliver's surprise, Ogre-man stood up, covered in dirt and scratches, angrier than before.

From behind, the voice of the District Y gangsters could be heard, "You must have come here trusting your measly skills, but that won't work here! Kill him, Happy!"

"Rawrrrrrrrrrr!"

Ogre-man, known as Happy, charged towards Oliver again, shouting recklessly.

The PinkMan guarding the other side of the street tried to help, but Oliver signaled that he could handle it, asking them to stay in position.

Although Ogre-man proved stronger than expected, breaking the front line was too dangerous.

[Shadow Vine]

As Ogre-man approached, he suddenly tripped over something and fell forward.

“Rawrrr?”

The ogre exclaimed as he looked down to see a shadow tentacle wrapped around his foot.

The sticky shadow tentacle clung tightly to the fallen ogre-man, crawling up his other leg, torso, and arms, gradually restraining him. The ogre-man struggled and kicked, but the tentacle only tightened its grip.

In most cases, the shadow tentacle would have strangled the person to death. But the ogre-man's tough skin, thick fat, and a muscular layer made it difficult. At best, it could only hold him down.

Despite this, Oliver remained vigilant, aware that the ogre-man's immense strength could break free the restraint at any moment.

So Oliver focused on the shadow tentacle while gathering, concentrating, and condensing the emotions at the tip of his index finger.

‘More… more… more…’

This was the first time he had used his Hate Bullet in this manner since dealing with Duncan.

Oliver looked at the gangsters behind the ogre-man, who stood motionless, stunned by the sight of the ogre-man struggling with the shadow tentacle.

He calmly condensed the Hate Bullet and aimed it at the ogre-man.

“Rawrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!”

The Ogre-man straightened his posture, exhaled a hot breath, and tried to stand up with his arms.

Then, surprisingly, the emotion contained in the shadow vine rapidly depleted, and the shadow tentacle tore apart little by little.

Duduk. Duduk…!

The ogre-man could have escaped on his own if left alone.

"You're truly amazing," complimented Oliver, amazed by the ogre-man's strength.

"Rawrr?"

The ogre-man looked up, surprised by the compliment, and locked eyes with Oliver, who aimed his index finger at him.

"I'm sorry," Oliver said before BAM! A dull sound echoed through the air as the ogre-man, who had been resisting the shadow tentacle, fell flat on the ground.

A large hole in his head emitted black smoke, and Oliver wiped the Ogre-man's blood from his face and body.

The two PinkMan, who were guarding the warehouse with Oliver, watched the scene silently, shining with emotions such as shock, surprise, and fear.

“… … By any chance, did I make a mistake?”

"ah… no. It’s.."

[All items have been retrieved. Heading up now.]

Jonathan, who had retrieved the auction items from the abandoned temple, came out and expressed his gratitude to Oliver and his team members who had watched outside.

“Thank you, you did a good job. Thank you, Dave, too… What the…?”

Without finishing his greeting, Jonathan asked while looking at the collapsed ogre-man in surprise.

He quickly grasped the situation, shifting his gaze between his team members and Oliver.

“…Did Dave catch him?”

"Yes, he appeared in my direction."

"Wow… that's amazing! To catch Ogre-man alone. When the team leader called, I thought there would be something, but damn, it's more amazing…! Do you have any plans to join PinkMan?"

Bear, who carried a heavy magic bag, asked with pure admiration and approval. He had no sinister intentions.

Oliver politely declined the offer. "Thank you, but I'm sorry."

Bear persisted, "Why not? We're the most respected place around here. If it's you, you could easily rise to the level of team leader, right? If it doesn't work out, the team leader and I can recommend you to the top. Then, we'll try to satisfy your conditions as much as possible."

Jonathan intervened, sensing that Bear was getting too pushy. "If he wanted to join, he would have said so first. Don't push him. Let's focus on our work. We have ten minutes left, and we can't be complacent. Especially here."

Bear sighed in agreement, unable to refute Jonathan's statement. "There's nothing we can do. Still, it's a shame. If we could take that, we could make some good money."

"That" referred to Ogre-man, which Oliver also wanted to take as a material, but its giant size made it impossible. Even Big Mouth couldn't swallow it.

Although the quality might be compromised if he cut it into pieces, he could still salvage something. However, time was running out, and they had to leave the place within ten minutes. Neglecting their duty for personal affairs was not an option.

Jonathan urged the team to focus on the mission, "Alright, then let's get out of here…"

"…Who said you could leave?" interrupted a third voice from the darkness.

Startled, everyone turned their gaze towards the source of the sound and held onto their weapons. The man in the darkness calmly clapped his hands as he watched them.

Clap.

Clap.

Clap.

His claps conveyed a sense of ease, disdain, and confidence in victory.

Out of nowhere, the mysterious man appeared, but Oliver sensed a familiar energy emanating from him – a combination of Life-force and emotions awkwardly bundled together.

Reacting impulsively, Oliver asked, "Are you related to Mr. Human-meat Chef?"

Jonathan and his team were taken aback, but the enigmatic man emerged from the shadows, unruffled as if he had already won.

"Hmm… I thought you were a worthless fool, but you're not that bad, are you?" he replied calmly.

"Do you know me?" Oliver inquired.

"We've never met face to face, but I've seen you through those imbeciles,"

"Those imbeciles… you mean the ones who raided the auction house?" Oliver clarified.

"Bingo! I thought they might come in handy, but it seems I was wrong. I shouldn't have trusted those meatheads," the man sneered.

Oliver was puzzled. "Meatheads?"

"They weren't that bad. They all had their own strengths," Oliver defended.

"Ah, so you were one of them after all. Defending those guys…" the man chuckled.

Just as the conversation was about to continue, Jonathan interrupted, "We're running out of time. Let's not waste any more of it."

Jonathan showed his watch attached to his combat uniform.

"We wasted two minutes with just one conversation."

"We need to hurry up and get out of here. If we mess up, the District Y pack could swarm over here," added Bear.

"He's just sitting there laughing! I don't know how skilled he is, but do you really think he can handle this group alone?" questioned Jonathan.

"Alone? Who?"

The man bared his sharp teeth and asked.

At the same time, he extracted a large amount of Life-force and emotions from his body and immediately cast multiple black magic spells.

[Revive]

[Obedience]

[Burning Life]

[Lay the Foundations]

[Muscle Up]

[Steel Bone]

[Fury]

[Endurance Skin]

The hands, which held a massive amount of Life-force and emotions, separated and drained into scattered corpses around, following the spell.

As the spell revived the corpses, they gained control and fortified their bodies with various spells, including muscle enhancement, bone reinforcement, and skin reinforcement.

Reviving dozens of corpses and overlapping multiple disease-related black magic spells was challenging, but the man in front of them performed it calmly and arrogantly.

His arrogant attitude seemed justifiable to the point.

"Shall I show you something more interesting?" he said before casting a new spell.

[Doll Making]

With the new spell, the shattered corpse pieces combined into a giant corpse golem, quickly reversing the situation.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Ugh…!"

"Get ready for the big one! The big one!"

The PinkMan, although confused by the sudden appearance of a zombie army, followed the instructions to form a circular formation. However, compared to the zombie horde surrounding them, they were pitifully weak and fragile enough to break apart with one swing of the arms of the corpse golem and the ogre-zombie.

"Everyone, throw away your weapons and run. That way, you won't die immediately."

Although the man suggested retreating, Jonathan did not give up and continued to gather information by asking questions.

"Manipulative Warlock? I thought the Human-meat Chef faction had only disease-type."

"That's a narrow-minded view. Well, I guess that's the limit at your level. Anything is possible when you reach the extreme."

"I see. But you're too stupid for someone who has reached the extreme."

Along with those words, a purple magic circle formed in the air next to the man's head, and a bullet flew and hit him.

The bullet, imbued with mana, not only pierced through his head but also shattered it.

His jaw was shattered to pieces.

"A manipulative Warlock is nothing special as long as you take out the one who gives the command, regardless of their abilities. That's why manipulative Warlocks fight while hiding."

Jonathan said to the man whose head was shattered.

It was a truly effective ambush. But something was amiss.

When the Master died, the zombies should also fall, but they were all still standing in their place.

"Kekkekkekkekkekkekkek! As expected, it's fun to beat up idiots. Do you think you can kill me with just one bullet?"

"Then how about this?" Oliver asked.

Along with those words, a blue flash shone from a distant building, and a huge clump of mana flew like a laser and struck the man.

Zzzzzzzingggg!!!

The force of the laser was tremendous, obliterating the body of the Ogre-man that stood in its path.

As the beam sliced through the air, it released a wave of condensed thermal energy that erupted into a deafening explosion.

Ziiiiiiing—Boom Boom!!

The blast's heat and shock waves engulfed the area, leaving no trace of the ruined street behind.

The group stood in awe of the devastating power, and Oliver stepped forward, saying, "…I think we can leave now."

(To be Continued)

OR

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