A giant cloud of dust.
Kim Tae-soo rose out of it.
A dark cloud of ants charging toward him.
He closed his eyes.
The core of mana within him.
Small.
A small capsule.
Draining.
The dust settled behind him.
His mind went back.
Flying through the air.
Hitting the drone.
Then violently crashing into the earth.
Digging a large pit.
The dust cloud consuming him whole.
He smiled.
The small core within him started to rise.
He grabbed both hands.
Tightened them.
Like wringing out clothes.
Then charged toward the dark smoke in front of him.
---
His sword sang.
Cutting through a large number of ants.
His body slowly turning.
His breathing following the rhythm.
Sword to the right.
More falling.
Black blood hitting the floor violently.
Hitting his armor.
He moved like a man in a forest carving a path.
Not fighting.
Just moving forward.
Clearing.
He pushed until there were no more ants around him.
---
Time faded slowly.
His hands numb.
His body numb.
His throat on fire.
Vision blurring.
Everything starting to shake.
He couldn't see it.
But he felt it.
The mana of the royal guard marching forward.
Heavy.
Ancient.
The powerful fist came.
He jumped.
The fist impacted the earth.
A powerful shockwave tore outward.
Dust and everything in its direction blasting back like a round fired from a moving tank.
His right leg found the ant's face.
He launched into the air.
Landed behind the creature.
It turned.
He jumped immediately.
Sprinting underneath its legs.
A powerful slash.
His sword consumed by brilliant white light.
Cutting both legs clean.
The creature fell.
The earth felt it.
---
He turned his sword.
Drove it into the ground.
Carved a deep line to slow his momentum.
Pulled it out violently.
Rushed the creature as it tried to rise.
Landed on its chest.
His blade digging in.
Violent cuts opening the chest cavity.
The creature screamed.
Then opened its mouth.
Blasting him with intense black and red energy.
The energy consumed him and the soldiers surrounding him.
All of them gone.
Kim Tae-soo on the other side of the bodies.
Weakened.
Seeing the creature's core exposed.
Screaming at the top of his lungs.
Bleeding.
He released a powerful slash.
---
The core appeared.
A giant soccer ball of blue glowing glass-like crystal.
Dark in nature.
Organs wrapped around it.
The blade met it.
Moved like a blur.
Cracked it in an instant.
The giant ant screamed.
One last time.
The system spoke.
*"Level 21 Royal Guard has been killed."*
---
Kim Tae-soo looked at the dead soldiers around him.
All of his weight held together by the large sword he leaned against.
Finding balance.
His mind going to one person.
Gun-woo.
That smile.
Those words.
*I thought I told him not to lie about levels.*
A pause within himself.
*The system doesn't lie.*
*He did.*