Chương 108: THE FINAL EVALUATION (11)

How is this possible? His jaw clenched. I severed his right arm myself. Cut his ankles. He should be flat on his face bleeding to death back there. How the hell did he appear here, looking completely fine like he was never even injured? Meanwhile-"Jimin!" Yuna's voice cracked from the back, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and relief.

"You're back!" Beside him, Hye-jin had collapsed to her knees, holding Min-su. Tears finally spilled over her dirt-stained cheeks as her hands trembled around her bow.

"Jimin… Min-su and Yu-jun, they're…" she choked out, her voice broken and desperate.

"That man… He's a monster. He's too dangerous. We have to stop him, we have to-""I know," Jimin interrupted softly, his tone turning serious. He didn't need to look back to feel the absolute desperation radiating from his friends. He had already seen Min-su shivering while lying in his own pool of blood, barely holding onto his consciousness. He could see Yu-jun on his knees, writhing in pain. If that robed bastard initiated another chain of attacks, the party would be slaughtered in seconds.

I'm not letting anyone else get hurt. He summoned his last vial of healing potion and gave it to Hye-jin.

"Use it now," he said. Hye-jin wasted no time, immediately feeding it to Min-su. Jimin's gaze locked onto the assassin. Without a single word of warning, Jimin launched his attack, unleashing the full power of his 'Telekinesis' and activating 'Overtime', 'Weight Distortion', 'Pierce' and 'Poison' to buff his attacks further. The four daggers exploded forward. They tore through the fog like a volley of shooting stars. The speed and intensity of the attack caught the assassin by surprise. What's this?!

He immediately dashed backward. His boots skidded across the ground as he repeatedly deflected the incoming blades with his own dagger, keeping him occupied and forcing him to keep his distance.

"Retreat, everyone" Jimin shouted, his back remaining rigid as he kept his eyes pinned on the enemy.

"Take Yu-jun and Min-su and fall back. Focus entirely on healing and keeping them alive… I'll handle this bastard."

"What?" Gun-woo shouted from the side, his spear raised in a shaky stance.

"No way! We can't just leave you alone against this guy!"

"Are you insane, Jimin?" Yuna protested.

"He's dangerous! We'll fight together!"

"Move!" Jimin barked, his sharp tone cutting cleanly through their resistance.

"Now!" The absolute authority in his voice made them freeze. He didn't look back, but the raw intensity oozing out of him left no room for argument.

"If you stay here, you'll only get in the way," Jimin said, his tone turning gritty.

"Trust me. Get them to a safe distance and heal them. I'll handle this bastard by myself." Cough! Yu-jun let out a weak, ragged cough from the ground, his eyes meeting Gun-woo's.

"Do… what he says," he managed to wheeze out.

"He's right. Move now." Realizing the brutal truth of their situation, the party finally complied. Dong-hyun quickly ran over to Min-su, lifting his shivering body off the ground alongside Hye-jin, while Gun-woo and Yuna supported Yu-jun's heavy frame. Moving as quickly as their exhausted legs allowed, they began to slowly back away toward the Rift gate. The assassin noticed the movement instantly. You think I'll let you. The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

A malicious grin formed beneath his hood as his physical form began to blur, attempting to slip back into invisibility to hunt the moving targets. But he had no idea that the playing field had changed. Jimin was prepared this time. The moment the assassin's silhouette faded, Jimin's 'True Vision' saw straight through the invisibility, locking onto the killer's exact trajectory. The four daggers instantly changed direction mid-air, aggressively intercepting the assassin's path. But the assassin was fast.

He was smoothly dodging past the barrage. No, you won't. Jimin thrust his hand forward, launching a quick 'Fireshot' directly at him. Fwoosh! A condensed beam of flame tore through the fog. The assassin was caught off guard, forcing him to halt his stride and block it. As soon as he did, the invisibility wore off, revealing his exact position.

"Tch!" The assassin let out a harsh click of his tongue, as his grin instantly dissolved. He hadn't expected his stealth to be read so effortlessly. His expression twisted with pure irritation and bewilderment. Impossible! How did this bastard read my movement? Was it a fluke? Jimin recalled his daggers back to him. They spun aggressively in the empty air around him, a lethal wall of steel waiting for the slightest twitch.

"Go ahead, motherfucker. Try that again," Jimin threatened the assassin with a serious tone. The assassin's jaw clenched, his posture stiffening as he locked eyes with Jimin. Just a while ago, this same kid had been curled up on the ground like helpless prey, bleeding out from a shattered chest and a severed arm. And now the same person was standing in front of him like a wall, threatening him with the unblinking gaze of a predator. A regeneration type skill, ja? The realization didn't bother him at all.

In fact, he found it completely amusing. A twisted grin spread beneath his hood as his blood pumped with excitement. This is getting interesting. A sudden, crazed laugh escaped his lips, cutting through the silence.

"Try? You say?" he said.

"I don't need to try. I will. I will finish you properly this time. After that… I will butcher the rest of your party. Playtime's over."

"A dead bastard can't do shit," Jimin snarked back with a dismissive tone. The assassin's grin vanished immediately. He was thoroughly pissed. But he suddenly noticed something odd. This fucker… Why does he sound different? His English definitely sounded broken before. He couldn't make any sense of it. He shook the thought off his head, his grip tightening around his daggers. Whatever… I just need to kill him. The same strategy might not work. I should shake things up a little.

Suddenly- A cold, tingling sensation shot across the back of Jimin's head. He froze for a fraction of a moment, his skin crawling. It was his 'Danger sense' activating, tracing incoming threats from his two rear flanks.

"Danger behind you, Master," Mimi's sudden warning echoed in his mind. Yet, looking straight ahead, the robed assassin was still standing completely still in his position.

'True Vision' confirmed it wasn't a clone. Jimin instantly knew what was coming. His gaze didn't waver for a moment. Without even looking, he immediately put his barrier up in the incoming threat's exact direction. Two spinning vortexes of dark mist tore open out of thin air behind him and two jet-black blades shot out of it. But they were blocked mid-air by the barrier. Simultaneously, the assassin finally moved.

His body split, leaving a perfectly identical illusion standing in his place while he was in an invisible state, cutting sharply to the side. Jimin saw the entire thing unfold with crystal clarity. But he didn't attack. He didn't even react. He purposefully kept his eyes locked tightly onto the illusion ahead, playing the part of the blind prey. He just stood there, his four daggers spinning around him, while the assassin's two thrown blades remained pinned mid-air at the barrier behind his back.

He was waiting for the assassin to strike. He then telekinetically flung the trapped enemy blades away into the forest. Come on. His knuckles tightened. Take the bait. But the assassin didn't react either. Hmm… He did have sort of an invisible barrier. His eyes narrowed. Doesn't matter. That was just a distraction. Now, attack the illusion, ja? He stood completely still at a distance, in his combat stance, ready to attack any moment. Jimin noticed the hesitation. Why isn't he moving?

Is he waiting for me to attack the illusion? What is this? A damn bait-off? But the standoff lasted only for a second, as the illusion suddenly launched into a frontal charge straight at Jimin. Jimin let out a quiet sigh. Fine, then. I'll just walk right into it. He raised his hand, pointing his palm directly at the charging clone and launched a quick 'Fireshot'. But the moment the flames shot out, the assassin suddenly vanished from his field of vision.

And before Jimin could even react, his 'Danger sense' activated. An overwhelming sense of danger screamed from his left. The assassin materialized out of thin air just inches away to his left flank, his razor-sharp dagger already in mid-swing, rushing toward Jimin's neck for blood. At that moment, only a single word quietly escaped his mouth, "Shit."