Dark Warlock in the Apocalypse

Boom!

With a loud noise, Chad was pushed backward. It was close, but he managed to block the attack with his shield successfully.

Justin spoke with a slightly impressed look.

"Not bad."

"You bastard...!"

Chad gritted his teeth, glaring at Justin through the gap in his shield. By now, a reddish aura, like shimmering heat, was enveloping his entire body.

'Is that the level 10 Barbarian skill, [Rage]?' Justin thought.

It was a skill that drastically increased physical stats for a short time. Chad must have activated it before Justin's attack to block with enhanced reflexes. If he hadn't used it, his arm would have been useless, even if he had managed to block the hit. At around level 10, it would have been impossible to withstand the impact of Justin's Black Missile.

"I'll kill you!"

At Chad's shout, the others also began emitting the reddish aura, glaring at Justin's group. None of them were mages or paladins—they had all chosen to become barbarians. What was interesting was their choice of equipment.

"Why are all of you holding shields if you're not even paladins?" Justin asked.

"Of course, we bought them from the store, you idiot!" Chad roared as he charged at Justin.

Quickly, Justin began chanting again.

"Black Missile."

Boom!

Another explosion sounded, but Chad once again raised his shield to block it. The corners of his mouth curled up into a smirk.

"Is that what you've been relying on? What now? It doesn't work at all anymore."

"The shield's performance is impressive. I should buy one for Derek too," Justin said calmly.

"Are you laughing? You still don't understand your situation, do you?" Chad said, his eyes narrowing in annoyance.

Eight of Chad's men were already incapacitated by Justin's Cursed Lightning earlier. Still, there were eleven more pioneers left. And with Justin's trump card apparently rendered ineffective, Chad seemed to think the fight was over.

"Double Enhancement—Black Missile," Justin chanted.

"The skill [Black Missile] is being enhanced by [Double Enhancement]."

"For a single use, all effects are doubled."

Justin pointed his finger at Chad again. As he repeated the familiar motion, Chad smiled.

"Idiot, it won't work—!"

"Black Missile."

Thud!

"...?"

The sound of metal being pushed away wasn't heard. Instead, the sound of flesh being pierced echoed through the air.

People's eyes shifted to Chad, drawn by the strange noise. Chad still wore that obnoxious grin. If it weren't for the hole in his shield and his chest, he would have looked like the perfect victor.

A beat later, his body collapsed to the ground with a wet thud.

"H-Huh?"

The remaining pioneers stammered, staring at their leader's corpse. Justin repeated the same process again.

"Double Enhancement—Black Missile."

"You crazy—!"

"Black Missile."

Thud!

The spell finished, and another body, shield and all, was pierced and fell to the ground.

Only then did they realize the situation, their faces turning pale. They finally understood that their shields were useless and that they, too, could die.

"Sh-Shit!"

Clang!

The men who had been under Chad dropped their weapons and began running for their lives. The death of their leader was bearable, but the idea that they might die was something they couldn't handle.

Justin aimed at their fleeing backs, one by one.

"Black Missile."

Thud!

"Gah!"

Another man fell, his back pierced by an unenhanced Black Missile. What fools—they weren't even using shields, so there was no need for any enhancement.

Firing Black Missile at the retreating enemies, Justin shouted to his allies.

"Get them! Let's wipe them all out here!"

"W-What? Oh, yes!"

Justin's companions, snapping back to their senses, hurriedly grabbed their weapons and chased after them. The battle was already over, and all that was left was the hunt.

Finishing off the fleeing remnants didn't take long. Enemies who were difficult to face head-on became nothing more than distant targets when they turned to flee. Especially when their levels were low—if someone had ranged attacks or could close the distance, taking them down wasn't hard.

"Huff, huff!"

Derek was panting heavily, wiping away the sweat that streamed down his face. Since the enemies had used [Rage] first, Derek had also used [Rage] and had run himself ragged.

"Why was I... the only one... running... huff!" Derek panted.

"Because you don't have any ranged attacks?" Justin replied.

"Paladins... are warriors too... huff!"

"I told you,Ethan is in charge of healing, so he shouldn't overexert himself," Justin reminded him.

Derek looked dissatisfied for a moment, but it didn't last long. He was too exhausted to argue and simply collapsed on the ground.

"Is everyone okay?" Justin asked.

"Yes..." Ethan replied weakly.

"Yeah..." Nathan added, looking a little pale.

Seeing their uncertain demeanor, Justin spoke up.

"Is it hard fighting against humans?" Justin asked.

"...!"

Ethan flinched for a moment before giving a bitter smile.

"It is, but we have to get used to it. The world has become like this, hasn't it?"

"If you're feeling guilty..."

"That's not it. Seeing what they were doing just now, it's clear how scummy they were. Why would I feel guilty about killing those bastards?"

Ethan firmly denied feeling any guilt. Whatever else he felt, that wasn't it.

"It's just hard because it's the first time. It's like feeling a bit shocked after killing a chicken for the first time, so don't worry."

"If you say so."

Justin smiled at Ethan 's unexpectedly strong attitude. Nathan, who had been listening to their conversation, spoke up with a pale face.

"I-I'm okay too."

"You don't need to push yourself," Justin said.

"It's hard right now, but I'll be okay soon. Like you said earlier, this is the kind of world we live in."

A world where those who couldn't fight would inevitably be left behind. If Nathan wanted to keep up with Justin and the others, he had to get used to this. He seemed to understand that well enough without Justin having to tell him.

"Still, I think we're lucky," Nathan added.

"Lucky?" Justin asked.

"The first people I shot were villains. It's scary, but I don't feel particularly guilty."

Killing had a heavy weight, but he didn't feel any sympathy for the ones he had killed. That was a good attitude. Both of them seemed to be mentally stronger than Justin had expected, so it seemed fine to leave them be. With a day or two of rest, they would recover on their own.

After taking a short break, Derek, who had caught his breath, looked at Justin.

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