Chapter 79

The Golem Car sped across the lush green plains.

As I drove, I felt the wind rushing against my face. Unlike its usual shape, I had transformed the vehicle into an open-top convertible. I was simply in the mood to soak up a pleasant breeze.

I fiddled with the controls on the dashboard and put on some hard rock. I turned the knob to max volume, drowning out the whistling sound of the wind. This heavy bass vibrating deep in my gut was exactly what I needed.

“…”

I reached toward the back seat and grabbed a bottle of liquor. With a flick of my finger, I popped the cork. Just as I was about to bring the bottle to my lips, Alice grabbed my arm.

She shook her head with a slightly reproachful look on her face.

“No drinking and driving.”

“…My bad.”

I had no choice but to put the bottle back. I had really been in the mood for a drink, but Alice was right. I wondered if this world even had traffic laws. I wouldn’t know, considering I’d done nothing but engage in high-speed car chases since I got here. Either way, I’d have to endure the sobriety for a little longer.

As I drove on without any particular thoughts in mind, I sensed a multitude of presences behind us. I checked the side mirrors to identify them. A pack of about a dozen wolves was fanning out and closing in.

“Wild animals?”

“We’re driving straight off the main road, so it looks like we’ve stepped into their territory,” Alice explained.

“I see. So they’re pissed about the trespassing.”

Accepting her explanation, I stepped on the accelerator. Since we were the ones who had intruded on their land, I figured we should just leave them in the dust. There was no need to go out of our way to fight them.

That was the plan, but the wolves increased their speed to keep pace with the car. They even began to surround us with exquisite coordination. I was honestly impressed by the sight.

“Not bad.”

“This species uses mana to enhance their leg strength. Their agility on flat ground is quite remarkable.”

While we had our leisurely conversation, one of the wolves lunged at us. It bared its fangs, attempting to leap into the car.

“Sorry, but I have a ‘no shoes allowed’ policy.”

I readied my shotgun and shoved the muzzle into the mouth of the leaping wolf. When I pulled the trigger, the back of its head exploded. Brain matter sprayed everywhere, raining down on its packmates. The wolf’s corpse was sent flying through the air and quickly vanished from sight.

“Hang on tight.”

I spoke as I jerked the steering wheel. Centrifugal force pulled at my body as the scenery spun at high speed. The Golem Car drifted into a sharp spin, slamming into the surrounding wolves with a dull thud.

In the midst of the spin, I swapped the shotgun for a handgun. Aiming carefully while rotating, I fired a rapid succession of shots. I gunned down the remaining wolves that were trying to keep their distance.

The moment I ran out of ammo, I cut the wheel in the opposite direction to stop the spin. I made fine adjustments to the steering to prevent the car from wobbling or crashing. As we sped away, I dropped a bomb as a finishing touch.

An explosion erupted behind us, scoring a direct hit on the wolves attempting to resume the chase.

“Phew. Case closed.”

I let out a thin breath while watching the wolves’ entrails scatter through the mirror. I pulled a pair of sunglasses out of the dashboard and put them on.

“Your driving technique is as impressive as ever,” Alice remarked.

“Thanks. That was a nice way to let off some steam.”

I gave a light laugh in response to her praise. We were currently on our way back to the Fortress City. We had departed immediately after the duel with Mihana was over.

The meeting between the Representatives—which was the original reason for our trip—had concluded, so there was no issue. Alice was now officially one of the Representatives of Eurea. I was there under the pretext of being her bodyguard. Apparently, they would contact us if anything came up in the future.

Because I lost the duel, I was obligated to take on one request from the Assassin King unconditionally. Until that happened, I planned to live a normal life.

However, I had been careless. I never expected to lose that duel. I had gotten impatient because a chance was dangled right in front of me. Thanks to that, I was bound by a contract that prohibited me from killing Mihana.

Hiring a third party to kill her would also count as a violation, so I couldn’t go that route either. Any action predicated on Mihana’s death was off-limits. The moment I tried to force it, the contract would be breached, and my soul would be enslaved as punishment. It was best to avoid that.

‘I should have been more cautious this time…’

Looking back, I had no choice but to reflect on my mistakes.

Well, I’d just consider it a valuable lesson. I had confirmed that Mihana possessed an ability that made her difficult to kill. That alone was a significant harvest. I fully intended to finish Mihana off with my own hands.

Everything has an exception. No matter how meticulously a contract is drafted, loopholes always exist. They are simply unavoidable flaws; it wasn’t a matter of who was at fault. It was just the way things were. Finding those gaps and exploiting them effectively would be the best course of action.

I had made up my mind to kill Mihana. I wouldn’t let a trivial contract stop me. Sooner or later, I would find an opening to strike.

To do that, I had to expose the nature of her skill. It was the biggest hurdle to her assassination. If it weren’t for that clever little ability, I would have dealt with her long ago. I had tried to ask her about it casually before we parted, but as expected, she wouldn’t tell me.

Still, it was certain that it wasn’t some half-baked power. Since a combat amateur like her could make a fool of me like that, there had to be some pretty ridiculous modifiers at play. It wasn’t a simple physical enhancement type. There were too many moments that couldn’t be dismissed as mere coincidence. It was a stretch to claim all of that was due to physical stats alone.

According to Alice, the possibility of it being an illusion-type ability was also slim. While there are spells that deceive opponents by showing hallucinations or shifting their perception, they apparently become harder to cast as the level gap increases.

My current Level is 391. I was Level 385 when I blew up the Imperial Capital, but it had increased slightly through various battles. Originally, once you reached this threshold, leveling up was supposed to be extremely rare. This is because the experience points required for the next level increase with each level gained.

When I had Alice look into it, it turned out that in my case, due to the Class modifier of “Bomber,” the experience points gained from explosive kills were amplified. It’s a bit late to mention, but a “Class” is essentially a reflection of a person’s talent or specialty on their Status in the form of a job title. My Class was apparently specialized in bombs.

I didn’t quite understand the details, but Status and Levels themselves are laws unique to this world. There was no need to overthink it. It was enough to recognize them as existing parameters. Even if I didn’t fully comprehend the mechanics, it wouldn’t affect the big picture.

Getting back to the point, my Level is 391. When I checked with the sunglass-style Magic Tool, Mihana’s Level was 89. With a level gap this massive, it should be nearly impossible to affect me with illusion-type abilities. It might be possible if it were a summoner-unique skill, but somehow, that didn’t feel right. That wasn’t a matter of illusions. Something else was clearly at work.

However, it was certainly not perfect. Even if it was just a graze, my attack had reached her. Mihana had been injured by my knife. In other words, she could be killed.

For now, the first task would be nullifying the contract. Next would be unraveling Mihana’s ability. Finally, I’d have to deal with the Sage and the Assassin King, who would likely interfere with her assassination.

There was no rush. I would handle them one by one, steadily and surely. As long as I didn’t die, I could try as many times as it took.

Once we returned to the Fortress City, I intended to resume the urban development. I’d also continue to manufacture new weapons one after another. I’d prepare powerful bombs and blow those targets to smithereens.

In the end, that was my specialty. Unfortunately, I wasn’t built for subtle maneuvers. I had to make the most of my best skill.