The pitch-black shockwave swept across the entire National Stadium area. There were no fiery explosions. There were no blinding flashes of lightning. The Apocalypse Archmage magic manifested purely as absolute decaying energy that erased whatever it touched.The arena sand, steel barricades, and concrete walls crumbled into dust in a matter of milliseconds. The hundreds of Association Elite Guards standing on the front lines did not even have time to scream. Their bodies, their armor, and even their prized anti-magic weapons simply evaporated into particles of black ash.Up in the sky, dark clouds swirled wildly. Black ash from the destroyed objects and humans began to fall like snow from hell, covering the capital's morning sky."Run! It is the apocalypse! The world is ending!"The hysterical screams of tens of thousands of spectators shattered the air. People trampled over each other in the stands. Crying mothers hugged their children tightly, while men in expensive suits ran for th

The heavy iron manhole cover in a narrow alley of Sector Three was thrown into the air with a harsh metallic clang.Jihan crawled out of the sewer hole. His breathing was as ragged as a rusted grate. He had managed to collapse part of the concrete supports in the underground tunnel using the last of his physical strength, trapping Arthur's hellhounds down there. But he knew that mama's boy definitely had an emergency communication line to call for backup.Fresh blood was still dripping from his left thigh where he had stabbed himself. The putrid stench of sewage covered his entire body, even though his nose, which had been liquidated by the System, could not smell a thing."Hey! What the hell are you doing coming out of the sewer?!"A middle-aged man smoking next to a black sedan stared at Jihan with a disgusted look. The man had just finished urinating in the corner of the alley.Jihan did not answer. His dark, empty eyes locked onto the car. With a very fast limp, Jihan lunged forwa

The panic inside the VIP hospital lobby reached its peak.Several nurses who had been hiding behind the marble reception desk were now running around hysterically. They rushed toward Arthur, who was thrashing around in a pool of his own blood. The young genius's right arm was completely severed, and his breathing sounded like air bubbles escaping a leaking pipe."Call a healer! Master Arthur is bleeding out! Hurry!" screamed a senior doctor with a deathly pale face. His hands trembled violently as he tried to apply pressure to the wound on Arthur's shoulder, which kept spewing fresh blood.They paid absolutely no attention to Jihan. The terror instilled by the gray-haired young man was far too thick. Just looking into Jihan's eyes was enough to make the medical staff's legs go weak.Jihan didn't waste any time. He ignored Arthur, who was currently knocking on death's door. With his right hand still wet with his rival's blood, Jihan shattered the remaining glass on the medical pod. He

The screech of radio static echoed deafeningly inside the Hunter Association's armored command vehicle. Dozens of monitors glowed brightly, displaying live thermal drone footage hovering above the Rose Motel.Luna sat stiffly in her tactical chair facing the bank of monitors. Her right arm was still wrapped in a cast and hung pitifully in a sling. Her face was deathly pale, but her sharp eyes were fixed intensely on the main screen."Focus, Luna! Don't look away!" barked Commander Harris, the senior Association officer leading tonight's operation. The middle-aged man towered behind Luna, his breath reeking of black coffee and cheap cigars. "You're the one who built the analytical profile on this bastard from the start. You know how his brain works better than anyone. Find his weak spot right now!"Luna swallowed hard. It felt like swallowing sharp gravel. She cursed her luck in her heart.A few hours ago, she was ambushed by Association intelligence agents while looking for fake passp

This agonizing cold did not come from the outside.No matter how thick Jihan's leather jacket was, the freezing temperature radiated purely from within his own bone marrow. The Death Bank System penalty was absolutely liquidating his core body temperature. The blood in his veins thickened, refusing to flow. His vital organs began to slow down, preparing for death or a forced hibernation that would never end.On the concrete floor of the ice factory, still covered in the remnants of his own artificial blizzard, Jihan curled up even tighter. His body shivered so violently that his teeth chattered uncontrollably.In his fading vision, blurring white from severe hypothermic disorientation, Jihan started hallucinating. He felt like his body was being roasted over hot coals. The cold, surpassing the limits of human nerve tolerance, was actually translated by his brain as a burning, searing heat."Hot, please, so hot," Jihan whimpered hoarsely. His lips had turned a dark, purplish blue, as i