Chapter 152
Chapter 153
Christopher recalled the view of the city from a high vantage point.
It was indeed a beautiful city. Clean and orderly. Though there was darkness lurking behind, on the surface, it appeared utterly beautiful and practical.
The people of this city must be living their lives and singing songs of beautiful love, believing the surrounding fences were impenetrable walls of safety.
“…Is that really the case?”
There is no such thing as an invincible shield. Shields that couldn’t be pierced by anything could sometimes be shattered by a shabby spear left to rot.
“I guess I no longer need this.”
Muttering so, Christopher suddenly reached down to his feet. The rough hand of a man plunged into his shadow, grabbing hold and tearing it apart.
Unfortunately, it was likely the dark spirit that had contracted with that boy he had targeted.
He didn’t even need specifications on the boy; just walking around the city was enough to know. No matter how you looked at it, he was a celebrity in this town.
As Christopher leisurely raised his body, he shifted his gaze toward the Academy. The red-haired old man who had been guarding the boy momentarily stepped away, and the young man went off to fend off the wave caused by the immortal. What remained was the boy watching the entire Academy from a distance.
“…I’m getting bored, so…”
Eh, what should I do for fun?
Christopher muttered in a daze as he leapt toward the Academy.
*
“Let’s play a simple game, Choi Yeon-woo.”
Screech…
The jarring screech filled his ears, grating on nerves and making him feel ill.
Dust invaded the depths of his lungs, hindering his ability to breathe.
“Cough, you crazy, bastard…!!”
It was only a brief moment. A gap that was hardly even worth mentioning. Hyuk Mu-ryeon had ‘just briefly’ stepped away to organize the area, and Kim Hyun-soo had left the Academy for a moment to manage the wires.
In other words, it was the brief gap during which Yuri had sprinted from the Academy to here.
“In the short time it takes for your guardians to arrive, I wonder how many times I can kill you and whether you can survive from me.”
How about that? Sounds like fun, huh? the man said with a dry laugh.
“And then, you… will you survive?”
“Who knows… however, dying isn’t as bad as it sounds.”
Yeon-woo instinctively drew the Doppleganger weapon. Its form was that of a shield. The thought of at least blocking it once was conveyed to the weapon, revealing itself prominently.
In an instant, Christopher closed the distance and lunged a punch at Yeon-woo. With no special armament to speak of, the appearance seemed like he could kill with a mere extension of his arm, but Yeon-woo knew otherwise.
The punch thrown by Christopher appeared to carry no strength whatsoever. Yet, Yeon-woo swallowed dry every time the fist came closer.
Thud.
Boom!!
“Wheeze…!!”
It truly felt light, like a bird landing, as the sensation flowed across the shield. The tiny impact, just as small as a bird’s flap, swelled through his body, sweeping away half of Yeon-woo’s consciousness.
The problem was that despite shaking off the shock, it still ended up like this. The shield he held bounced away, and his body rolled along the ground multiple times. He almost lost consciousness several times, but he couldn’t afford to pass out because it was clear he’d die for sure then.
Christopher felt a sense of doubt at the fact that Yeon-woo had zero will to retaliate and was solely focused on enduring the attack.
Such a clumsy strike. Even with no defense to speak of, that boy reacted as if his fist were a missile.
“…You know, don’t you?”
[Ah, Dad!!]
Christopher murmured fiercely. Without the mind to catch what was said, Yeon-woo got up with a cough. Shar, who had been quietly watching the situation, jumped out in surprise.
“Shar… stay back, it’s dangerous…!”
“But, but…!!”
You said you knew. Yes, he knew. Before the regression, he had heard it often enough not to forget. The warning that one should never face the Gloomy Monster alone had been shared even with lowly beings like himself and S-Rank Hunters.
That man… if one were to express it, could be said to be the living embodiment of physical power. Even more intense than Richard’s body he had confronted before.
If he played a game of pushing against a sturdy wall, he would leave a handprint-shaped hole, and if he merely slapped someone’s back for fun, it would leave a hole in them according to the pattern of the blow.
Even if there’s a wall in the path to his destination, that man wouldn’t need to take a detour. Whether he hit the wall or not, he could walk straight through it.
That’s why one must never challenge that man alone. The Gloomy Monster wouldn’t care about being attacked, and if it came to a cross-counter, the victor would inevitably be the Gloomy Monster.
It was wrong to think one could win against a monster that merely cut the skin at the level of slashing with an edge filled with sword energy. One who often faced considerable trouble when dealing with such beings.
But that was all talk from before the regression. Before that, Yeon-woo had never actually met the Gloomy Monster, and could only understand him through rumors.
However, if those rumors were to be believed true, there was one thing he could affirm in the current situation.
Despite taking a hit, the fact that he was still alive told him that the Gloomy Monster also differed from what he knew before.
‘Anyway, this battle is a fight to endure and win.’
Thinking so, he had to use everything he could, including Shar, of course. However, this was not the time for that.
The physically revealed Shar was nothing more than a magical entity. No matter how close to death he was, he wouldn’t genuinely die but merely be recalled. However, that didn’t mean he wouldn’t feel the pain of death.
‘I’ll call on you when needed. But now’s not the time. I can still endure enough. Just watch my back and avoid getting attacked by that guy.’
[Ah, understood…!]
Of course, no matter how much Shar’s magic might work, it would be very hard to inflict meaningful damage on this guy. Yeon-woo’s mana heart didn’t have enough capacity to use high-grade magic.
As Shar, standing protectively, stepped back, Christopher and Yeon-woo locked eyes. Yeon-woo, retrieving the Doppleganger weapon from a distance, quickly changed its form from a shield to a sword.
“Are you not using the Dragon…?”
“Who are you to tell me whether to use Aether or not? Do you want to die?”
Yeon-woo swept his messed-up hair with his empty hands. While it was sincerely said, he had no intention of allocating any thought to conversing with him. Focus; he needed to concentrate or he’d get killed in an instant.
“So how did you find out? I hadn’t shown enough to let anyone know, nor had I made any careless mistakes in the cleanup.”
“What’s it to you? It’s already spread, so just prepare to die.”
Watching that overly calm face, he couldn’t help but doubt if anger was even a function he possessed, but Yeon-woo continued to grate on his nerves as usual. There was no reason to take an unfamiliar approach.
“…Fine. Asking is a bother, so I’ll just kill you now.”
“Go ahead, if you can.”
As the words ended, the two leaped toward each other.
*
Each strike from the Gloomy Monster wasn’t particularly fast. It could be dodged easily with enough caution. Of course, if dodging even once was the end of it, he wouldn’t have become the Order’s Great Warrior.
Yeon-woo observed Christopher’s incoming right arm and tilted his body to the right. Christopher’s right arm swished through the air, leaving a wide opening on his left side.
Yet, Yeon-woo didn’t take the opportunity to attack. Instead, he tilted his sword slightly toward Christopher’s left side in preparation for a much larger strike.
“…Strange.”
Muttering that everything was correct, Christopher opened and closed his right fist again.
Boom!!
The shockwave felt as if a grenade had exploded beside him, sweeping Yeon-woo away. Shar hurriedly weaved a spell to correct Yeon-woo’s stance. Just with that simple action of opening and closing his hand, an attack had been realized.
‘Thank goodness I gathered information before the regression…!!’
Had he not blocked his ears with magic, his eardrums would’ve burst. If he hadn’t heard about the Gloomy Monster’s favored combat style before the regression, Yeon-woo wouldn’t have imagined that could even be an attack.
Retrieving his right arm, Christopher stepped forward. He was closing the distance while simultaneously attacking. The powerful tremor shook the whole area. It was absurd to cause an earthquake with just a footstep.
In response, Yeon-woo took a step forward, gathering strength beneath him. If he intended to shake his balance with a ground quake, it was simply a matter of restoring his stability.
After that, they exchanged blows in such a manner. Though they exchanged, there hadn’t been many measures of attack. From Yeon-woo’s perspective, each of Christopher’s strikes had been pushing him beyond the line of defense.
Being able to endure it was only possible due to the synergy with Shar. If it weren’t for Shar filling in the gaps through magic, it was certain that Yeon-woo would’ve ended up in a crisis.
“Huff, huff….”
His stamina was depleting rapidly. He had wrapped everything around his body to evade Christopher’s attacks. He had no plans to switch to offense, but he was gradually losing the room to even think about attacking.
“Choi, Yeon-woo…? What are you doing here…?”
In such a situation, a voice that shouldn’t have been heard reached him. He couldn’t bear to turn his head, but simply hearing the voice and seeing the situation was enough to understand who it was.
“What are you doing here, Kim Yoo-min!!”
“I-I just came looking for you because you didn’t return for so long…!”
The Gloomy Monster’s body, which had been in front of him, suddenly accelerated. The speed was so fast it was hard even to track with the eyes, stretching out towards Kim Yoo-min in an instant.
Seeing the man who had suddenly appeared in front of him, Kim Yoo-min’s instincts screamed. The intense malice that transmitted through mere sight sent shivers down her spine.
(To be continued in the next episode)
