The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All-Chapter 260: The Chase (2)

Kwa-ga-ga-ga!

As the speed increased, strong winds struck Kang-hoo’s ears, and his hair was wildly swept back as a bonus.

Trusting his modified bike, he had planned to win with speed, but the deer’s pursuit speed was insanely fast.

Even though he initially created some distance by accelerating in a burst, the gap was quickly closing.

Kwaak.

Kang-hoo steered with one hand while twisting his torso and reaching backward with the other.

Rather than blindly running away, he needed to assess the situation accurately to respond properly.

Several deer were already dangerously close.

【Illusion Technique】

Kang-hoo activated the Illusion Technique.

His scattered illusions brushed past the deer as he remained on the bike. freewebnσvel.cøm

Gurook! Gurook!

Despite their excellent physical abilities, their intelligence wasn’t quite on the same level. Some deer were fooled by the illusion and veered off course.

‘They might actually believe I abandoned the bike.’

Kang-hoo’s eyes remained fixed on the herd of deer.

There were still many of them, and among them were three particularly dominant males that seemed like leaders.

Unlike the others, their fur gleamed with a glossy sheen, and more importantly, their eyes glowed red.

Right at that moment.

Wiiing! Wiiing! Wiiing!

The three alpha stags locked onto Kang-hoo and simultaneously fired something from their eyes.

It was a laser.

‘Deer shooting lasers?’

No matter what one imagined, this was beyond that.

He had expected them to be different since they were monsterized, but at this level, it was practically a complete re-creation.

Tuuung!

Kang-hoo switched hands on the handlebars and raised his left arm, deploying Immaculate Wall to block the lasers.

Fortunately, the attack didn’t carry overwhelming firepower. Next time, he figured he could counter it with a protective barrier instead.

Woohooouuuu!

One of the alpha stags let out a howl, and a red glow enveloped the bodies of the other deer.

Their speed increased further.

Not only was the leader guiding the herd, but it was also boosting their physical abilities with a widespread buff.

At this rate, the longer the chase dragged on, the more disadvantaged Kang-hoo would be.

There was a limit to how long he could drive single-handedly while keeping an eye on his pursuers.

The road conditions varied unpredictably, and he was beginning to notice large and small rocks scattered across the path.

One wrong move and he’d hit a stone, causing him to be thrown off the bike.

If that happened, getting away would be the least of his worries—he’d likely suffer severe injuries.

And then, he’d become nothing more than prey for the deer, torn apart and devoured piece by piece.

He needed a clever move.

【Shadow Step】

Paaang!

Kang-hoo scattered his shadows.

He left one shadow seated on the bike while swapping places with another shadow that rushed toward the deer.

Kuhiing?

The alpha stag’s eyes widened in surprise at Kang-hoo’s sudden appearance beside it.

But only for a moment.

Puk! Puk! Puk!

Kang-hoo mechanically stabbed the stag’s neck and immediately detonated Blood Flower.

There was no time to confirm the kill.

If a shadow moved more than 100 meters away, switching positions became impossible—so he quickly returned to the bike.

If he had been even a second slower, he wouldn’t have made it back and would have been stranded in the middle of the road.

Kuhek!

Glancing back, he saw the alpha stag’s body tilting sideways, blood gushing from its throat.

Whether it died or simply dropped out of the pack, the important thing was that now only two leaders remained.

【Hallucination】

【Shallow Chaos】

Kang-hoo split his skills between the remaining two.

One was trapped in a complete illusion, seeing things that weren’t there. The other had its sense of direction thrown into disarray.

And then.

Kuiiiik! Shiiik!

Thud! Crack!

The two alpha stags, now disoriented, crashed into a lamppost and a utility pole, collapsing to the ground.

With their leaders down, the rest of the herd stopped chasing Kang-hoo.

“Haa… Haa…”

That was dangerously close.

Not only was driving while looking backward difficult, but he also had to fight at the same time. The constant shifts in position made it hard to rely on his Third Eye.

He had never fought while riding a bike or inside a car before…

Now that he had experienced it, he realized how hard it was to fight properly.

If he had been an archer or a gun user, it might have been more manageable.

But as an assassin who relied on daggers, his movements were naturally restricted.

Still, he felt somewhat proud of how he had adapted Shadow Step to attack and retreat effectively.

No more hoofbeats behind him.

Kang-hoo slowed down his bike.

“Is it over now?”

Considering how abruptly the chase had started, it seemed like a pretty clean resolution. He was just about to sigh in relief when—

Puk. Huuk. Puk!

“Damn it.”

From a blind spot hidden by a building, another monster appeared.

A monsterized horse.

It looked like he had declared victory too soon. As if summoned by fate, a herd of horses began their pursuit of Kang-hoo.

Daga-dak! Daga-dak!

The crisp sound of hooves clattering against the ground sent chills down his spine.

Wheeeeng!

His bike groaned as he pushed it to maximum speed, pushing beyond its safe limits.

The only relief was that unlike the deer, these horses only had one leader.

The alpha male at the front was unmistakable.

Kang-hoo was curious about what kind of attacks it might use, but his curiosity was answered immediately.

Thud! Boom! Thud!

Every time the leader horse’s hooves struck the ground, it unleashed Qi Cannon attacks in front of it.

The same Qi Cannon used by martial artists!

And it was being fired from its hooves, just like that.

“What a goddamn nightmare…”

The words came out on their own.

Did this horse even realize it was mimicking a martial artist’s technique with its hooves?

Judging by how it just kept running mindlessly, it didn’t seem like it had any real strategy.

It was just an overly powerful ability granted during its monsterization, and that made it even more dangerous.

【Immaculate Wall】

Thud!

“Ugh!”

The impact from the attack was on a completely different level compared to the lasers fired by the alpha deer.

Had he not maintained his balance, he could have easily been thrown off the bike.

Wuwaaeng!

“Damn!”

The sudden force shook his grip on the handlebars, almost causing him to veer off course.

More than twenty horses were in pursuit.

Losing power or even slightly changing direction now would mean certain death.

【Shadow Step】

Without hesitation, Kang-hoo resorted to the same strategy he had used earlier.

The one fortunate thing about these creatures was that they wouldn’t continue pursuing once their leader was gone.

Since they strictly followed the alpha’s orders and movements, all he needed to do was eliminate the leader.

Paah!

Kang-hoo swapped places with a shadow and stabbed the alpha horse in the side of its neck.

This time, he ensured a fatal blow, driving the blade deep with Decapitating Slash instead of a regular attack.

Puh-puh-puh-pung!

As a bonus, he chained the attack with Blood Flower.

Though the creature possessed exceptional speed and the ability to unleash Qi Cannon, its durability was weaker than expected.

Pa-pat.

Kang-hoo quickly returned to his bike and glanced back.

The alpha horse was undoubtedly dead, but just as he was about to check for any lingering threats—

“Hm…?”

He noticed something drop from the corpse.

A glowing red stone. Even from a distance, its distinct characteristics were unmistakable.

It was Hematite.

‘So this is how I get it?’

【Greed – You can upgrade your dagger to Rank 1 by using three Hematites.】

The Greed feature had recently been added to his Corrupted Conviction Dagger.

According to this option, he could upgrade the dagger to Rank 1 if he had three Hematites.

Currently, Kang-hoo possessed two. With the one that had just dropped, he now had three.

At first, he thought it was an unexpected stroke of luck.

But on second thought, it made sense.

The monsters in this area had hardly been hunted by any hunters.

With the entire city of Pyongyang filled with dungeon and dimensional energy, these creatures had absorbed it and grown stronger over time.

Through this process, some monsters naturally developed rare loot, and this alpha horse had been one of them.

But there was a problem.

Although the alpha was dead, the herd hadn’t completely lost its intelligence.

The group of horses and deer that had been chasing Kang-hoo remained nearby.

They weren’t attacking outright, but their hostility was still evident.

Wuuuung. Wuuuung. Wuuuung.

Kang-hoo adjusted his course, circling around the merged herd of horses and deer.

The worst part—

The Hematite had dropped right in the middle of the herd, making it difficult to retrieve.

And then—

Kuruk-kuruk?

One of the deer stuck out its tongue, reaching for the Hematite.

If he left it alone, it would swallow the stone, and it would be lost in its stomach forever.

Kiiiik!

Kang-hoo slammed the brakes.

【Shadow Step】

He sent a shadow into the herd once more.

This time, unlike before, he couldn’t keep driving.

Earlier, he had been moving forward while momentarily stepping away.

Now, he was circling the monsters, meaning he had to halt his momentum.

It was risky, but the Hematite was too valuable to give up.

Paah!

‘Got it!’

Thankfully, he managed to switch places before the deer could swallow the stone.

The Hematite was now in his hand.

Immediately, he used Shadow Step again, swapping places with the shadow that had remained on the bike.

But this time, something unexpected happened.

Hiiiiing!

One of the horses noticed the bike’s location and leaped high into the air.

It was drawing a perfect arc, ready to land directly on Kang-hoo.

If he didn’t act fast, both he and the bike would be crushed beneath its hooves.

Whaeaaaaeng!

Full throttle!

The bike roared in agony, unleashing the destructive power of its illegal modifications.

Thick clouds of exhaust filled the air, but environmental concerns were the least of his worries.

Kwaang!

“Gahh!”

Thanks to the bike’s acceleration, he narrowly avoided getting trampled to death.

If he had hesitated even for a fraction of a second, this pursuit would have ended badly.

But in the end—

It was a happy ending.

At maximum speed, Kang-hoo deployed Thunder Shockwave, cutting off the monsters’ pursuit.

With their leader gone and a storm of electricity crackling in front of them, they hesitated and backed away.

“Damn endgame flag. Almost got myself killed for setting it up wrong.”

Even after confirming that the chase was over, Kang-hoo maintained his speed, wanting to exit Pyongyang as quickly as possible.

Though he was eager to upgrade his Corrupted Conviction Dagger using the Hematite,

Right now, he needed to find an open field where he could safely get off the bike.

This place—filled with the closely packed houses and apartments that once housed Pyongyang’s residents—was not suitable for stopping.

Still, thanks to acquiring the Hematite, he was now closer to upgrading Corrupted Conviction to Rank 1.

More than upgrading Martial God’s Play, this was the enhancement he had been waiting for!

A Rank 1 weapon, something he had longed for and dreamed about, was now within reach.