"Playtime is over, Jack! Why don't you just give up?"

"You're so stubborn, aren't you?"

The captain of the judgment unit, Irelina, right now corners the mastermind of tonight's incident, Blackjack.

Her clothes were tattered by the previous explosion. But strangely enough, her fair skin didn't seem to be damaged at all.

"Good grief. You're a full grown adult. Stop clinging to me,” said Blackjack.

"No, that's not right. I'm still a spoiled child.” The captain, who usually looks fierce, suddenly looked pitiful. "So, please spoil me more-"

"Stop it. You can't fool me with those pitiful eyes this time."

"Tch. Then die."

Sparks fluttered on an abandoned market.

The two of them moved very fast.  However, even amateurs knew the captain had a clear advantage.

It is impossible for Blackjack to win in a fair contest against Irelina.

However, no one ever said that Blackjack would fight fairly.

Suddenly, a purple light appeared on the ground. The light grew brighter and brighter until it finally formed runes in the mid air.

"You know why I lured you here?"

“... Wait, a trap?”

"You are so careless tonight, my dear.”

After the light dimmed, dozens of tentacles appeared from the ground.

Screams of terror spread throughout the city. For a moment, people all over the city were dominated by fear. 

Seems like Blackjack tries to summon something unimaginable to this world, but not to avail. Just a little part of its body was able to manifest into this world.

The tentacles moved fiercely and erratically. Each attack creates an explosive impact, causing instant death on a hit.

A person of Irelina's level could easily avoid tentacle attacks. However, if there were ten to a hundred of them, she would also be in trouble.

Moreover, their mucus greatly reduces physical and magical damage. Expelling this monster wouldn't be an easy task.

Blackjack tried to run away. Of course, Irelina wouldn't let him escape again.

“JACK!”

The Captain threw her sword which was almost impossible to dodge. The sword smoothly shot through the air until it finally pierced Blackjack's shoulder.

The old man didn't budge and kept running away.

Since she was so busy fighting her enemy, Irelina could only observe Blackjack escape.

With a monster of this level blocking her way, it was impossible to immediately run after Blackjack. She also couldn't leave this monster to act as it pleased.

"Ha..."

Annoyed.

Irritated.

Frustrated.

An immense power erupted from Irelina's slender body, creating the momentary illusion as the world was shaking.

"AAAAHHHHH! OLD MAN! JUST YOU WAIT!"

****

Huft, huft, huft.

On the abandoned streets of the commercial district, old man Blackjack ran while ignoring the blood splattered on his shoulder. The wound was the result of forcibly pulling out the sword. 

No matter what method he used, this wound would not close. That might be because Irelina's ability caused the wound can't be healed unless with some very, very specific method.

Regardless, even though it sounds like a bad idea to pull off the sword, it was still better than his position revealed via the sword.

Huft, huft, huft.

If he looked behind, he could see a bright light soaring high into the night sky.

He was reminded again,

"I've raised a monster."

Just to know that the creature he summons can be classified as an S-class monster. Even if just some parts of its body materialized, it can destroy a big part of the city.

However, without a doubt, that crazy ass monster will be exterminated by a stronger monster in that place.

As someone who had always watched her closely, Blackjack couldn't help but feel emotional and proud. The little girl who used to say Jack this Jack that, now had grown into a beautiful and great woman.

It would be even better if she didn't run after him, though.

Unfortunately, his reminiscence time was interrupted by an arrow shot which he luckily managed to dodge in time.

After that, two huge men appeared and blocked his way.

Blackjack glanced at the place where the shooter was. Right now, he is in the narrow alley and the archer stood exactly on the left building rooftop along with a beauty who didn't seem to fit in the scene.

The woman sat gracefully on the edge of the roof and then said, "Professor Hymne Blackjack, Head of the Imperial Research Association. This would be our first meeting. Can you give me that thing?"

"... Lady, may this Old Man be pleased to know your name?"

"Oh, how rude of me. Anna, just call me Anna. Well then, Professor, how about give me that thing, and who knows, I might give you merciful death."

Blackjack didn't answer. He focused on two buff men who blocked his way from both front and behind.

"No answer? Very well then." 

She still had the same sweet smile from before, yet for some reason, this smile looked so terrifying in Blackjack's eyes.

Without further ado, the big man from the front charged toward Blackjack. But suddenly, his movements became unstable, and then fell to the ground.

Blackjack had secretly put mana threads on the surrounding area. The threads then wrapped around the big man's body to stop his movement.

Narrow alleys tend to give Blackjack a lot of advantages. Not only is the archer unable to display his full potential, but the enemy's numerical advantage is also greatly suppressed.

In addition, this location is also very suitable for Blackjack combat skills that use threads.

He swiftly took advantage of the situation to escape the blockade.

"Uwaa!"

Of course, his enemy wouldn't allow that. When Blackjack wanted to pass him, the buff man made an inhuman move attack, forcing Blackjack to leap back.

The old man was surprised. An ordinary person would have already broken several bones and joints if they did what this man did.

A few arrows were fired but were again can be dodged.

Another big man approached him quietly from behind but Blackjack had noticed. 

The buff man number 2 had fallen with the same trick. This time the thread wrapped his body more tightly.

Then instead of trying to escape like before, Blackjack hit buff man number 2 with his claw weapon. The attack managed to penetrate the man's stomach, though not that deep.

"Hmm?"

The big man 2 grinned.

Blackjack was unable to pull out his weapon. Seems like the buff man stopped it with his abdominal muscles. The old man quickly decided to abandon his weapon and leap backward.

Unfortunately for him, buff man 1 was already freed from the thread. He waited at the place where Blackjack would land and struck a blow that would be impossible to avoid.

"Gah!"

The old man's body bounced off before hitting the wall. 

The buff man's raw power left Blackjack's hands numb from trying to block the attack. He also may have broken his backbone.

"Huft..."

Due to the combined damage of this and previous battles, Blackjack was on the verge of death.

He needed to quickly escape and treat his wound. But… Everyone knew that wouldn't be easy.

"Professor Blackjack, let's stop this pointless battle. Just give up already."

Nevertheless, the old gazer didn't listen. His perception sharpened, it was as if time had slowed several times.

Two people with commander-level power blocked his way out.

Moreover, two more people like them and the last boss stood on the rooftops, waiting for a chance to attack.

There was no way out.

This was Blackjack's defeat.

… Or did he?

The old man reached behind his suit and felt a metallic sensation. This was his trump card that might turn the table… or not.

The chance was low but still better than doing nothing.

"Bring it on…"

As if to acknowledge his determination, both buff men rush toward him while at the same time, Blackjack uses his ultimate attack too. 

Bang! 

Bang!

Multiple shots were heard from the streets of Denia.

The unexpected attack succeeded in hitting two big men.

The Trump card, revolver, that Blackjack uses was produced by the empire's most prominent arms manufacturer. It is lighter and easier to conceal than the other versions and can fire eight large-caliber bullets rapidly with almost zero recoils.

Nevertheless, what made this thing Blackjack's trump card wasn't the revolver itself, but rather the bullets he used. These bullets had a piercing property and were enchanted with a powerful instant death curse.

A person hit by this bullet would likely die on the spot. That was the normal outcome, of course. However, many unbelievable events happened tonight and this was just one of them.

"You have an interesting toy, Professor," said Anna.

"Toys, huh."

Two people who were being shot only had minimum injuries with some convulsions. They even can still stand up.

Blackjack also noticed an abnormality in which no blood flowed from the wounded part of their body.

"You monsters."

Those who interacted with monsters too much would become monsters by themselves.

These words proved to be true because the average adventurer was stronger than your average knight.

Well, he didn't have time to leisurely think about these abnormalities. Without hesitation, he ran away from these monsters.

The archer tried to stop him but the arrow he shot was stopped by Blackjack's thread.

The Old Man used the magic stored in his shoes to briefly increase his movement speed.

He ran as fast as he could, leaving his foe in the dust.

Huft, huft, huft.

After enough distance, he stopped to catch some breath. Looking back, it seemed that they had no intention of pursuing him.

Blackjack doesn't know who they are or what their true intention was. They might even be the legendary vagabond or something.

And the reason for letting him escape would probably never be known to him.

After taking enough breaths, Blackjack continued to run aimlessly until found a safe spot for treating his injuries.

****

"Welp. He escaped. Are you satisfied now, Erick?"

There are only two people on the rooftop where the battle began some while ago.

"Honestly speaking, I don't really care if he escaped or not. But this is too early for the main villain to be caught," said black-suited man, Erick.

"Boo. Right here, officer. This man helped a criminal to escape."

"Cut it off. If you still want to have fun, there are plenty of battlefields in this city."

"Boring. They might be over soon enough… by the way, did you know where other criminals were running?"

"I know. But you would owe me a favor if I tell you about them."

"Boo! Did you forget how much favor you owe me?!"

"Fine, fine. I will tell you..."