전생검신 89권 13화

The moment Abraxas displayed his fighting spirit, I pondered how to make my opening move against him.

‘This guy’s no joke.’

I felt it instinctively as a martial artist. The strange calmness radiating from him, coupled with his overwhelming divine power! Even without being aware of his position as the executioner of the Archangel, it was clear he was recognized as a formidable being across all dimensional realms. I couldn’t gauge just how strong he was yet, but one thing was for sure: he was on a whole different level compared to the 5th or 6th-tier angels I had faced before.

How I initiated my first attack against such a strong opponent was crucial. I had learned from experience that sometimes, if the first move was misguided, it could make defeating them that much harder.

‘… No, wait. There’s no need to hesitate.’

But then I remembered that the Archangel Metatron guaranteed my survival. In that case, rather than combining moves with my opponent right away, it was far more important to observe what techniques he had. I thought it best to stay cautious and watch rather than rush into an attack from the get-go.

Trimurti!!

Zing –

As I activated the divine technique Trimurti, a powerful black dragon’s shield was conjured around me.

‘Nice. Just as I thought, I can’t use divine power during the trial, but I can still use Trimurti itself. This makes sense since it’s within the realm of techniques.’

I had expected this would work considering I could use it in a mechanical body in the real world, and confirming it put my mind at ease. This Trimurti shield was a combination I had used before, prepared to withstand at least one hit from the enemy without dying.

As I summoned the shield, the commissioner Abraxas let out a bizarre laugh.

“Ho ho ho, quite a predictable tactic you’ve got there! You must want to see my humble techniques!”

“Quit flapping your gums and try attacking already.”

“Of course~!”

Whoosh

With that, Abraxas lightly swung his whip.

‘Alright. Let’s see just how strong you are.’

Having witnessed many whip experts in the martial world, I focused and observed Abraxas’s technique, aiming to understand his level through the trajectory of his whip. However, as that whip twisted and morphed in its unpredictable ways, I was momentarily frozen in shock.

‘… This chaos in martial technique is impossible to read?! I’m alive!’

Infinite transformations!

If I were to summarize the realm of his martial arts, it could be done in one phrase. I felt chaos (混沌) extending from the whip’s path, with not a single constant rule to grasp, yet amidst that chaos, I sensed a fleeting intent to kill, culminating in a perfect attack from which I had no chance to evade.

Can such martial arts exist in this world?!

Boom

I tried to read the [flow] to preemptively block Abraxas’s assault, but no matter how quickly I had previously reacted to attacks, it easily proved ineffective this time. This was because Abraxas’s whip technique had reached a state of perfection amid countless chaos. Consequently, I lost track of parts of his trajectory before I could fully grasp the [flow], and the next instant, I was sent flying with a loud bang.

Crash!

With a thunderous boom, I was launched several yards away, but I didn’t sustain any serious internal injuries. I had managed to perfectly absorb the impact. However, even amid my relief, I could feel a cold chill running down my spine as the realization of Abraxas’s power struck me.

‘N-no way…’

If I hadn’t read the [flow] from the divine realm, I would have undoubtedly been killed by that attack!

Among the countless extraordinary masters I had met over numerous reincarnations and through hundreds of years, Abraxas was undoubtedly on the peak of the pyramid with his whip technique! The only one comparable to him would be Ha Eun-cheon in the Absolute Realm showcasing the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique, yet Abraxas’s technique was characterized completely differently.

‘While the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique calculates everything perfectly, he swings without calculating anything. It’s merely the chaotic whip that follows the flow of unconsciousness! Yet somehow, you can find order within that chaos… could this be considered an extreme opposing force to the Heavenly Unrestrained Technique?!’

How is this even possible?

What sort of path has he walked in martial arts?

With shock came immense curiosity. Rather than trapping the opponent in a future of calculated moves, he submerged us both into chaos, yet miraculously allowed for life paths to emerge without intent!

While it may sound easy, this was something that ordinary martial artists could never even conceive. Martial arts ultimately rely on bodily movement, and established martial law needs to harmonize within a specific framework to even form basic techniques, but this guy was breaking that framework from the start!

He probably didn’t even know how or when he launched his attacks, yet somehow in the last moment, they coalesced into a complete technique—this bizarre chaos! Defending against or dodging it was impossible.

While I was greatly flustered inside, Abraxas seemed to be equally taken aback.

“Ho ho ho… Seems you really are the peerless swordsman! Ever since becoming the executioner of the Archangel, not one has managed to block or evade my attacks until now, but you managed to do so?”

“… Your martial arts are astounding. What’s the name of that technique?”

“Technique? Ho ho ho… I’m afraid I wouldn’t know.”

Abraxas casually yanked back his whip, replying with a chuckle.

“I’ve fought ceaselessly against enemies beyond Arcana for over billions of years… and what I’ve achieved is my own flow (自己流).”

“…!!”

Upon hearing that response, I was struck with shock as I understood the essence of his martial arts.

‘A martial technique born from billions of years of experience… chaos flow (混沌流)!’

In theory, it’s possible. If one accumulates incomprehensible experiences over and over, they can gain many martial paths through that process, wielding them from an instinctual realm. Even supreme masters grow gradually through practical combat, and Abraxas before me, being divine, had accrued untold experience, using that to perfect a chaotic martial art into his own style.

But is that really possible?

No matter how much of a god he is, as a theory, gathering infinite experiences seems plausible, but can one truly manifest such realms imagined in their mind?!

‘This is absurd…’

While it can be described theoretically and organized, if I were to mention this to martial masters, they’d likely just laugh and think I’m joking. After all, humans can barely live a thousand years, much less fathom billions of them, and no one could ever truly imagine the magnitude of battle experience piled up over such time. Yet here stands a being who has accomplished such monstrous feats.

Actually, I have seen something akin to this. Yu Mang must have reached similar heights like Abraxas. However, Yu Mang was adept at handling many weapons and wasn’t fixated on a single one. Conversely, Abraxas, while not handling a variety of weapons, had clearly achieved a level aiming for the universe’s best with just the whip.

Seeming to bask in his pride, Abraxas declared, “Your realm is something I’ve never seen before… I hope you can entertain me!”

Whoosh –

With that, as Abraxas’s assault began anew, I gritted my teeth.

‘Damn!! My shield is already shattered!’

His hidden power was tremendous, shattering the shield created by Trimurti long ago. This meant that from here on, I had to block Abraxas’s attacks with zero room for error! I began to focus all my mind on reading the [flow].

‘I can’t block it with the Peerless Technique! This isn’t his secret technique, just a regular attack!’

No matter how difficult it was, I had to withstand it in the realm of basic moves!

It goes without saying that I couldn’t block it with my flimsy defensive techniques!

Boom!!

Is this what they mean with having the shadows of a single move scattering everywhere? Mobilizing all my thoughts to preemptively cut off the [flow], I began deflecting Abraxas’s whips. My hand shadows and palm techniques were engraved numerous times in the air, each time sending back his advances. Not only my hands, but my whole body moved with agility, maintaining balance meticulously according to the Three Treasure Technique to avoid any wasted motion.

“Ooooh!! Amazing!”

When all his attacks were thwarted, Abraxas couldn’t help but marvel. In that brief moment, I spotted an opening and without hesitation, unleashed a palm technique.

Soul of the Evil God

Thunder Spirit Seal!

Kaboom!

In an instant’s time, the Thunder Spirit Seal imbued with the power of the Soul of the Evil God accurately struck Abraxas’s solar plexus above his armor. A bizarre sound erupted from his armor as it cried out.

Kriiik!!

“What…?! I couldn’t even leave a scratch on his armor?!”

Or rather, what was that strange shriek from earlier?!

Swiftly retreating as soon as my attack failed, I caught sight of Abraxas laughing after taking the full brunt of my thunder technique.

“Ho ho ho… Did I just lose about a million? To think my armor would consume this much of my soul in one go, that’s a first for me. A splendid attack indeed.”

“What? The soul?”

“See for yourself.”

Abraxas proudly flaunted his armor as if displaying a trophy.

“My armor nullifies all damage by consuming the soul, you see. The souls belong to the Seven Thousand Angels.”

“…?!”

“Do take your time with this fight. As long as those seven thousand don’t perish, my armor is invincible… ho ho ho.”

What? Did that bastard just say…?

For a moment, I thought I misheard him, but a moment later, I realized that I was absolutely right.

‘If that’s true… then as long as I don’t kill all seven thousand angels, I won’t be able to damage him at all?!’

The number of angels I saw earlier surely exceeded tens of billions. No, that’s just my rough estimate; it wouldn’t be strange if the actual number was even higher. If the souls of those angels are consumed by Abraxas’s armor instead of taking damage from me, then theoretically, I could attack him all day and never land a hit!

I gritted my teeth.

“Is it even fair to use such a cheat? You sneaky bastard!”

How am I supposed to defeat someone equipped with such nonsense armor?!

Abraxas just chuckled.

“Ho ho ho! Even saying that, my position is that of a commissioner and executioner of the Archangels. To take down someone with the divine status of an Archangel, a bit of gear like this is definitely necessary. Also, this armor was handcrafted personally by Metatron.”

“…!!”

He made it himself?! Then that means it must also be laden with plenty of divine power!

How the hell can I break this thing?!

While I stood there dumbfounded, Abraxas, eyes now turned a brilliant blue, spoke.

“I hate to admit it, but it seems your martial arts skills surpass mine. So now, I think it’s time to show you my divine power!”

KooOOoo -!!

With radiant light erupting from behind him, 32 pairs, 64 wings soared magnificently. Simultaneously, a halo appeared behind his head, from which I could feel immense divine energy radiating. It was surely a level matching or surpassing my own divine power.

“Wait a sec. I need to…”

I hurriedly tried to activate my divine power. However, it felt as though it was being completely dismantled before it could even gain form.

‘Damn it!!’

The World Tree Sephiroth was breaking down my divine power! So why the hell can that bastard use his?!

I’m supposed to beat him with no divine power?!

‘Oh, no! If I give up!!’

Realizing the desperate situation, I still thought there might be an opportunity to fight back. With that belief, I immediately started to activate Trimurti.

‘What kind of combination can I use to endure that overwhelming divine power?’

Once divine energy is unleashed, there’s really no coming back. No matter how well I can cut off the [flow], divine energy is the ability to manipulate all laws, thus making it seriously hard to counter with martial arts. At this point, I needed to create the conditions to at least nullify his divine energy if I wanted to endure or retaliate.

The strongest combination would likely be to merge the three masks that Oze gave me, but all the powers were based on divine energy. The chances of Sephiroth dissolving such powerful divine techniques were high.

‘…!!’

In a flash, a brilliant idea struck me.

Divine Power of Commerce, Saitan’s Command, Clone Technique!!

For some reason, this combination seemed like the most fitting for this peculiar situation. Simultaneously, a large golden coin manifested, made of commerce’s power, and I softly spoke towards it.

“I wish to consume the coin of the accumulated law of causality to purchase the memories inscribed within Saitan’s Command…!!”

Is this gonna work? Can this trick even go through?

Feeling anxious, I wavered, but in the next moment, a spirit of commerce was summoned next to the golden coin, responding to my plea.

[ It is possible. ]

“…Great!! The memory I want is…!!”

As I finished speaking, the energies of Trimurti began to fuse with three mighty powers.

Zzzzzt……!!

The fabric of time and space twisted. Then, the instant my Trimurti combination completed, energies of the Clone Technique began gathering around me into shape.

Whoa…!!

In no time, shadows numbering a hundred materialized around Abraxas! Those shadows gradually started taking on a full form and suddenly crossed their arms, gazing down proudly at Abraxas. It seemed Abraxas was genuinely startled this time, flailing his head around like a chicken.

“W-wait, how could this be…?”

“Haah… How’s this?”

“What kind of technique did you use…?!”

Abraxas shouted in shock.

“How… did you summon so many Saitans!!”

Indeed.

What I had summoned were the remnants of memories imbued in [Saitan’s Command]!

I had successfully traded causality through the golden coin to summon Saitan’s remnants!

“I can’t believe this!! This must be fake!”

Moments later, Abraxas swung his whip forcefully to attack the Saitan shadows.

Boom!

With a booming sound, Abraxas’s whip infused with divine power tore through more than 30 of the Saitan shadows in an instant. The remnants couldn’t even retaliate, swiftly disappearing, yet I could see Abraxas wobbling from the hit.

“Gah!! Because of the contract of [name], Karma…”

Karma?

I had no idea why, but it seemed Abraxas suffered damage each time he eliminated a shadow. I thought I’d succeeded in restraining his movements somehow, but I still felt hopeless.

‘Hmm… I might be able to endure, but if I don’t find a way to break that armor… then I can’t win.’

But with Trimurti lacking divine power, there was no way to break through that outrageous armor which consumed souls of seven thousand angels. While the World Tree prevented me from using abilities based on divine power like that, what can I do?

‘… Wait… isn’t there an ability that could work against him within the Sephiroth tree?’

There is one.

Unconsciously, I muttered.

“Sephira…”

“`

 

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