The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All

Chapter 160: Skill Abundance (4)

One of Turbo’s peculiarities was his ability to use lateral movement.

It was a characteristic Kang-hoo had immediately noticed from observing the previous battle, so it was within his expected range.

However, on the contrary, there was something Turbo did not know: Kang-hoo could also use lateral movement.

“Huh…?”

Turbo was clearly startled to find Kang-hoo had disappeared from his rear, despite having moved behind him.

Since he had used lateral movement to move behind his target, it was only natural for Kang-hoo’s back to be visible.

However, there was nothing where Kang-hoo should have been.

Puk! Pukpuk! Puk! Puk!

“Argh!”

Turbo was helplessly struck by Kang-hoo’s attack from behind, which he had not anticipated at all.

The onslaught was so sudden and intense that he felt a burning sensation from his neck down to his waist.

“Ha ha! That’s our Kang-hoo hyung!”

Park Dong-jae, who was watching the situation, shouted out.

He felt triumphant because Turbo’s mockery while evading Kang-hoo’s attacks with lateral movement had come back to bite him.

Wasn’t it so?

Turbo had scoffed, as if to say, “I can avoid your attacks any time.”

But his proud evasion maneuver had been completely countered by Kang-hoo’s identical response, leaving him completely frustrated.

In the end, Turbo’s lateral movement turned out to be a foolish act.

He would have been better off engaging in a head-on fight. This was a loss like no other.

The only fortunate thing for Turbo was that his spinning maneuver had temporarily forced Kang-hoo to back off.

“Ugh… damn!”

Turbo, filled with rage, slammed his fist into the ground with all his might.

This was another of Turbo’s techniques that Kang-hoo had identified earlier, known as Ground Smash.

It’s a skill that launches the target into the air with a time delay, but since the projectiles could be seen coming, it was possible to respond to them.

“……”

Kang-hoo didn’t move, waiting for the Ground Smash projectiles to approach.

Since they had tracking and homing capabilities, dodging prematurely would be pointless and would only waste energy.

Kududud!

The Ground Smash projectiles flew towards Kang-hoo, shaking the earth and rocks.

Fwip!

He responded neatly with the Swift Evasion skill. Seeing it and dodging it made it impossible to miss.

‘As expected, focusing on the pattern rather than the appearance simplifies the response.’

Kang-hoo smiled with satisfaction.

This approach was also a method often used by the original Akiyama Takashi.

One of his theories was the ‘Universal Pattern Theory.’

The idea was that there was no monster you couldn’t defeat if you understood its pattern, regardless of the level difference.

Although Takashi’s rationale might have seemed far-fetched, it was highly persuasive to Kang-hoo.

The reasoning was that the creator of this world wouldn’t have meticulously designed every main boss monster.

This referred to the creator of the world, namely, the original author himself.

Of course, Takashi hadn’t lived with the awareness that he was a character in a novel…

He genuinely theorized about the creator. In the end, Takashi’s prediction was correct.

For now, Kang-hoo held back the Blood Flower skill.

He judged that Turbo hadn’t yet accumulated enough damage to be taken down in one hit.

Meanwhile,

Boom! Bang!

Pew! Pew!

A combined attack from a mage and an archer hit Turbo in succession.

Distracted by Kang-hoo, Turbo lost his balance and staggered without any countermeasures.

Another opportunity presented itself.

“Hoo!”

Turbo, seeing Kang-hoo approaching with hot breath, threw another punch.

Puff!

But this time, it was a decoy.

Turbo, having momentarily lost track of Kang-hoo’s position, wasted a lot of effort on nothing.

Turbo was haunted by the terror of his lateral movement being seen through, completely exposing his rear.

To block Kang-hoo’s approach, he resorted to his spinning pattern again.

He thought he could at least drive Kang-hoo away with this threatening move.

Certainly, it was strong enough to make Kang-hoo reconsider his approach.

He executed a spinning maneuver that generated far more projectiles than before, seemingly an enhanced version.

The Shadow Step was used appropriately.

Kang-hoo could easily change positions by using a shadow left behind.

The remaining shadows all approached Turbo.

They were just shadows, so it didn’t matter if they were all struck and disappeared. There was no need to hold onto them.

But Turbo, seemingly bothered by Kang-hoo’s shadows, spun even faster.

‘In that case.’

【Master of Manipulation – Ground Smash】

The calculation was set.

Kang-hoo had temporarily copied Turbo’s Ground Smash skill using Master of Manipulation.

He returned the Ground Smash to Turbo, who was overreacting to the shadows.

Turbo, focused on spinning, was unaware of his replicated skill flying towards him.

The next moment.

Kududud!

As the Ground Smash skill hit Turbo.

“Ugh!”

Turbo’s body was lifted into the air. Naturally, his spinning skill was interrupted.

At that moment.

Kang-hoo identified one shadow that had barely survived the spinning pattern.

Immediate position switch!

In an instant, Kang-hoo, who had been far away, moved right next to Turbo. It was the perfect position.

【Lightning Strike】

Kang-hoo enveloped Turbo’s entire airborne body with a refreshing surge of electricity.

Crackle!

Then, approaching Turbo while entrusting himself to the electrical spectacle, Kang-hoo drove a powerful strike into him.

Kang-hoo, unaffected by the Lightning Strike he had created, was not hindered by the electricity at all.

Finally, the decisive blow was landed.

Puk!

“Gah…!”

Hell had begun.

Turbo’s back and waist were already shredded, and blood poured from his abdomen exposed by the strike.

This was the first time Kang-hoo had used the upgraded Lightning Strike against a boss monster.

He hadn’t expected much since the previous Lightning Strike had been somewhat lacking against boss monsters.

“This is good.”

The effect was better than expected.

The frequency of the electric discharges was overwhelmingly high, and the additional damage inflicted by entering the wounds was significant.

The tough, dry outer skin wasn’t much affected by the electricity, but the moist flesh inside was a different story.

Especially when it consisted of blood vessels, muscles, and numerous organs.

“Ugh! Ugh!”

Even after falling from the air, Turbo couldn’t control his body, which was shaking uncontrollably.

Blood gushed endlessly from his wounds, like a leaking water balloon.

There was no need to drag it out any longer.

【Blood Flower】

Kang-hoo activated the most suitable skill for the current state of Turbo.

Then,

Boom! Bang! Bang!

Turbo’s body exploded mercilessly, ending his life as a living bomb.

Considering his confident start, his final moments were pitifully miserable.

【Your level has significantly increased to 170.】

Kang-hoo’s level shot up due to the massive amount of experience points gained.

Additionally, the skill plunder feature was activated.

Although skills like Ground Smash and Spinning were added to his skill list, he excluded them from the selection.

Ground Smash took time to attack the target, making it a skill that didn’t sync well with Kang-hoo’s pace.

As for Spinning, he excluded it for the same reason he hadn’t plundered Sammy’s skill earlier.

So, the final skill he chose was Push.

He decided to plunder the passive skill Push, which Turbo had used in conjunction with his spinning attack.

【Push】

【Proficiency: Lv. Max】

【Adds pushing force to projectile or object attacks.

If deactivated, no force is added.】

【The current list of skills where Push can be applied is as follows:】

【Blinding Flash. Black Moon Slash. White Sun Slash.】

‘Good. Using Push to disrupt and throw off balance will be very valuable.’

It was a skill he liked.

Skills that could create variables were always welcome.

Moreover, the skill performed the pushing process automatically, so there was no need to pay extra attention.

This was a highly useful option. It was too good an option to be possessed only by a monster like Turbo.

The cleanup proceeded afterward.

As prearranged, Kang-hoo and Park Dong-jae’s roles were split into demon and angel, respectively.

While Park Dong-jae checked the condition of the three hunters who had helped and tended to them carefully,

Kang-hoo stood with his arms crossed, glaring sharply at them.

The matter of the spoils from killing Turbo had yet to be settled.

Contrary to Kang-hoo’s expectation that they might have second thoughts later, they responded immediately.

“We have no desire to be greedy after barely surviving. We’re satisfied with just sharing some experience points.”

The three hunters said almost simultaneously without any hesitation.

The swordsman hunter, who had been severely injured, had regained some strength thanks to the potion Park Dong-jae had brought.

They all had various injuries, but none were life-threatening.

“It was an impressive battle. I’ve never seen an assassin dominate a boss monster like this.”

“And without support from other classes, it was practically solo tanking.”

The mage and archer hunters shared their impressions.

Honestly, it was enough to make them feel demoralized.

After all, Kang-hoo had taken down the boss monster they had struggled with as a trio, all by himself.

Of course, Kang-hoo believed Park Dong-jae’s continuous buffs and the support from the mage and archer also played a part.

But the hunters seemed to think Kang-hoo had done it all by himself, intoxicated by his performance.

“I’m glad it ended without any issues. We’ll gratefully accept the spoils.”

Kang-hoo replied calmly.

With the spoils matter resolved without conflict, the atmosphere lightened significantly.

In the hunters’ world, such matters often became seeds for further conflicts.

Helping or being helped often led to forgetting gratitude and conflicting over gains.

At that moment,

Kang-hoo noticed the familiar insignia on the hunters’ uniforms and asked,

“Which guild are you from?”

“We all belong to the Spitfire Guild. The Spitfire Guild of England, have you heard of it?”

He had sensed a British accent in their speech, and it turned out he was right.

Kang-hoo was well aware of the Spitfire Guild.

After all, the gold card with a 2 billion won monthly limit that he was using had been given to him by the Spitfire Guild.

“Of course, I know it well. It’s the guild that gave me this. It’s a precious connection for me.”

Kang-hoo naturally took out the gold card from his wallet.

It was a meaningful item given to him directly by Ganiere, the master of the Spitfire Guild.

At that moment,

“Wow… You received this?”

The hunters’ expressions showed astonishment.

It was proof that the man before them was someone of great importance to their guild master.

He was no ordinary person.