"[Skill Activation: Gravity Press]!"
Sloth was grinning to himself, glad he choice his most brutal Skill at the get-go.
In as much as he was confident of his victory, he knew his opponent was powerful as well. He would prefer a much safer, easy-to-win brawl that would end in with him on top.
As a result, using the unstoppable force of gravity to completely pummel his opponent seemed like the best course of action to take.
However...
"W-what?!"
... The target seemed completely fine despite the immense weight he was supposed to be under.
'How is this possible?!' He was using an S Class Skill, amped up by his Blood Stone.
Hunters generally couldn't learn Skills beyond their Ranks, and based on their Ranks, the number of Skills they could learn was also limited.
F Class Hunters couldn't learn any Skills.
E Class Hunters could learn only one skill.
D Class Hunters could choose to learn two E Class Skills or one D Class Skill.
C Class Hunters could choose to learn three D Class Skills or one D Class Skill and one C Class Skill.
B Class Hunters could choose to learn four C Class Skills, or two C Class Skills and one B Class Skill.
A Class Hunters could also choose to learn four B Class Skills, or one A Class Skill and two B Class Skills.
As for S Class, they could learn as many as three A Class Skills and even an S Class Skill to boot.
However, Sloth was different from mere S Class Hunters
He had advanced to a much higher Rank—a rank that wasn't known in the scaling system.
The SS Rank!
'I abandoned all my puny Skills and only focused on S Class Skills!'
At this point, he had three S Class Skills in conjunction with his Special Ability.
'If [Gravity Press] isn't working, then maybe he's resistant to gravity. Then—'
"[Skill Activation: Absolute Sub Zero]!"
It was the strongest cold-based Skill. It was absolute, just as the name implied, and most targets would due from the instant damage it gave, though it continuously gave the 'cold' damage that went over time.
However...
'What?! It's still not working?!'
At this point, Sloth realized he had to use the one Skill he was trying to avoid.
Not only did it take up too much of his energy, but also because it was an area of effect Skill that would cause a lot of commotion and draw a lot attention to the warehouse.
However, at this point, he was desperate.
His opponent was resistant to both gravity and cold. However, there was no way he would also be resistant to an element the opposite of cold
"[Skill Activation: Hellfire]" Purple plumes of flames rushed toward the opponent, like a.massjve flood seeking to consume everything in its path.
>BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!<
The roof of the warehouse was flung wide open, and the dark purple flames ascended to the sky thanks to the immense explosion it made.
Sloth had used a protective barrier—his Special Ability—to defend himself and the hostage he had from the attack.
Everything else in the warehouse was razed to the ground thanks to its intensity, however.
In the end, it seemed he had to go all-out just to defeat one of the two.
'Guess I underestimated them. The leader will reprimand me a little for going this far, but I'll also be praised for accomplishing my mission.'
Sloth smiled as he stared at Sung Han Soo, the hostage.
'Do I still need this brat? The partner of this one I just killed will come looking for me in order to exact revenge. When that time comes, I'll eliminate him too.'
Carrying a brat like this around was going to be troublesome, especially now that their cover was blown.
'I'll just kill him.' A wide, murderous grin spread all over his face.
"I was wondering why you were so confident of your victory..."
Sloth's eyes bulged the moment he heard the calm tone of his opponent emanating from behind.
'W-wha—?!'
"So this is all there is to it? How disappointing."
From the plumes of smoke emerged the one who was supposedly killed by the intense explosion.
Not only was he unharmed, but a very menacing grin formed on his face.
"Your subordinates got swept up in the explosion, though. I could have saved them, but since you wanted them to die so badly... I let that happen."
>VWUUUUUUUUSSSHHHHH<
A brilliant gust of wind suddenly swept away the stale smoke that had formed around them.
However, the wind did not eliminate the smoke. Rather, it formed a wall of it around Sloth, the stranger, and the hostage.
It felt like an inescapable wall that prevented any escape, even it was nothing but thick smoke and burned dust.
"I have to admit, though, you are absurdly stronger than the usual Hunters in this world. Even S Class. By my estimation, if the Shadows of Light want to take over the world, they could have already done so..." The boy took a step forward, and with each step, a terrible sense of foreboding approached Sloth.
"Ah, there's the Zenith, I suppose. However, surprisingly, the Zenith are hardly involved with the Shadows of Light affairs, considering most of them are domestic matters. The Zenith only get called to resolve the aftermath once the situation has spiralled out of control... an example being the triple S Class Dungeon Break that happened in this country not too long ago."
Sloth's was trembling down to his core. This young man... just how much did he know?
"The Zenith... the Shadows of Light... they're one and the same, aren't they?"
"KEUK!"
It was at this point that Sloth realized that he couldn't do anything anymore. He had grossly underestimated the opponent.
And the only payment he could give for his severe error... was death!
'Leader Chad... forgive me for my incompetence!'
Before the enemy could take another step forward, Sloth bit the poison capsule locked in his teeth.
"F-forgive m-meee...." Whispering in a hollow tone, he passed away.
Death. One would think that was the end of this man's life.
However, the one who towered above him had other plans.
"You really think you can die without my permission?"
A crooked smile occupied the blonde's face, and a single word was uttered that changed everything.
... Even death.
"[The Hanged Man]."
*
*
*
[A/N]
I have a new novel ongoing, and I would really appreciate your support.
The title is "Only I Can See The End"
Please support me by checking it out. Thank you all.
Join the Discord Server for character arts, interactions with the author, occasional giveaways, and many more.
Here's the link.
https://discord.gg/yMPNRURZJh
Read latest chapters at f(r)eewebnov𝒆l Only