Chapter 299
Chapter 299
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Translator: crow
Chapter Title: EP.63 – A Knight's Valor Knows No Recklessness (9)
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Lee Han and Ninshubur's positions had switched high and low twice in an instant.
At first, Lee Han had been looking down from midair, but now Ninshubur was the one gazing down at him.
However, even so.
"For looking down so arrogantly, you look pretty pathetic, don't you?"
"……."
"That arm of yours... doesn't it hurt?"
"……."
"Hoo-."
"!"
Perhaps it was the mocking sneer at the end that finally got to him more than those few words. A crack appeared in Ninshubur's expression for the first time, and he opened his mouth.
"Insolent fool. You think your luck will hold out forever?"
"If it looks like luck to you, then that just means your level's that low."
"You talk too much. Not very warrior-like."
"Yeah? If that's how it looks..."
BOOM!!
"Ah, as expected, you blocked it?"
"...You're despicable, too."
In the middle of his words, Lee Han unleashed a barrage of five consecutive Extreme Mountain Fist strikes, but astonishingly, Ninshubur blocked all five punches with ease.
The fact that he so effortlessly defended against an attack meant to induce carelessness through taunting made it clear he wasn't the type to be shaken by mere words.
'So he's on a whole different level from that rabble ghost.'
It was time to stop with the sloppy probing attacks.
And that was because...
'He's the one who knows how to properly wield that ridiculous body...'
Despite Lee Han's countless blows, the great evil spirit only winced in pain, ultimately showing inhuman recovery and remaining completely unscathed.
No, it was hard to even tell if that thing was flesh or just a mass of energy to begin with.
But one thing was certain: whatever it was, it was insane.
Just looking at the ghostly energy it emitted made it clear its total power output was far beyond what Lee Han could match. If he had to compare it to someone, it would probably be that 400-year-old spellcaster known as the Tower Lord.
Truly absurd specs.
Yet despite possessing such a cheat-like body, its mental level had been no better than a four-year-old's, making it wildly unbalanced overall...
'Is that what they call the completion of a spirit god?'
Now, it felt not just balanced, but complete.
To use an analogy, it was like a driver who couldn't even distinguish between the brake and accelerator wildly flailing around in an F1 car, only for a racer with the skill and experience to match the vehicle to finally take the wheel.
And when someone with proper technique piloted that cheat-level divine body...!
Whoosh!
"Let's see how long you can keep up that arrogance."
KABOOM!
...it meant displaying skills on a whole other dimension.
Lee Han was sent flying again, unable to even react.
He'd failed to respond this time too, and even as he flew, Lee Han was dumbfounded.
'I can't even see or sense his movements?'
It wasn't a blow he couldn't withstand, so there was no panic or pain, but the astonishment remained separate from that.
His eyes—no, his senses—hadn't reacted at all.
Despite having senses superior even to most beasts, they couldn't keep up with that speed and movement.
'It's not just fast. The movements are so restrained and eerily calm that it's even harder to react.'
Not even those called masters could exhibit such water-like, controlled motion.
It had to be the combination of bodily functions and technique honed to the extreme. Lee Han admired it as he halted his flying body and turned to face forward again.
Whoosh-!
"──."
The moment his gaze faced forward, what he saw was a fist, which immediately covered his vision and...
BOOM!
"……."
"...You blocked it, huh."
Lee Han grinned savagely alongside his playful words.
Ninshubur's strike had landed precisely on Lee Han's forehead, but he didn't go flying.
Core strength.
By bracing with the power of his lower body and neck, he'd endured the blow, producing a sound like striking an iron wall.
"...I acknowledge it. You're truly sturdy."
The ancient warrior once called the God of War admitted it.
That Lee Han's body was truly tough.
He hadn't expected him to withstand his attack, and he was slightly impressed that Lee Han had analyzed and countered his strikes in just two attempts.
...However.
"So what?"
Whish!
Ninshubur's body leaped high.
Fast and precise—perfect to the point where even reacting was difficult.
Pa-pa-pa-pa-bam!
"!?"
"How many of these can you take?"
Lee Han's eyes twisted in agony.
He could endure two or three, but right now...
"T-Ten?"
...how many hits was that?
"Twenty, you fool."
KABOOM!
A kick reminiscent of a camel's powerful legs hammered directly into Lee Han's abs.
A strike sharp as a awl, enough to pierce straight through his gut.
"...Hm?"
...But what Ninshubur hadn't even considered was...
"Ha, you finally landed one."
...that his opponent was a madman who could not only withstand power that should pierce even an iron wall, but turn it into an opportunity.
Grip!
His abdomen—his abs—clamped down on Ninshubur's leg and wouldn't let go.
Like an alligator refusing to release its prey from its jaws, twisting it all at once...
Crunch-!
...Movements so swift that "swift" didn't even begin to describe it, as if air resistance didn't exist.
'It's not like I've suddenly turned into a slug...!'
Impossible to track with the eyes, and to his opponent, Lee Han's own movements probably looked even slower than a slug.
If his movements were at double speed, that guy's had to be at least ten times.
An astronomical gap.
'Can't mimic that.'
Lee Han had never thought his own speed or reactions were slow, but he admitted catching up to that was hopeless.
'It's not just speed. That's movement made possible by honing martial arts for hundreds—no, thousands—of years.'
No art achievable by humans, who barely lived a century.
'Ha, this guy's insane?'
Just the level of his technique was enough to proudly call it "top-tier [Mystery]." Despite being a contemptible rabble ghost, Lee Han couldn't help but admire it.
In other words, foolishly trying to match those absurd movements would just turn him into a punching bag getting beaten all day.
So.
'I shouldn't make a habit of this...'
Instead of responding to those movements, Lee Han chose his own "strategy."
An endlessly crude one, but the surest.
In other words.
Drip...
'Good thing my bones and organs are fine...'
Flesh-Severing Bone-Taking. Giving flesh to take the bone.
Not his preferred strategy, but he couldn't just keep taking hits forever. Lee Han smiled despite his torn abs bleeding, satisfied with breaking one of his opponent's legs.
"...Khm."
It hurt like hell.
Lee Han poured half a potion on his abdomen and drank the rest.
He'd already downed three today, way past the normal daily limit.
Thanks to the Demon King's heart, no side effects yet, but Lee Han couldn't help a wry smile.
And that was because.
Crack!
"...Impressive. I acknowledge it. You overcame your vast inferiority in skill, experience, and talent with sheer grit and ferocity. It's no wonder my lord god called you a hero."
Unlike his own fragile(?) self, the opponent was recovering rapidly without potions.
As if his leg had never been broken, Ninshubur nodded for the first time, speaking at length as if granting recognition.
"Bullshit."
"You have the edge in strength and defense. I acknowledge your boldness too. But..."
Whish, whoosh!
"...that's all."
"……."
As if repeating the same act, he moved again, unleashing a machine-gun barrage of strikes at Lee Han in an instant.
Kraka-boom!!
With even more power and sharpness infused.
BAM!!!
Lee Han endured it with his guard up.
Rumble-!
He hadn't used Indestructible. Wasting mental energy would lead to collapse.
But enduring forever wasn't feasible...
Slash!
Wounds were starting to appear.
One or two were fine, but too many and he'd be a bloody mess.
Yet there was still no way to block or counter the onslaught.
He wanted to use the same trick as before...
'He's on guard now.'
Obvious from his eyes. Trying the same move would just get him countered.
'Damn, this is when talent hurts.'
Even amid the blood spray, Lee Han thought of those in his top five for talent.
Roan, Derek, Iliad, and...
'Those guys probably would've handled this easily.'
The big northern brute.
He would've struggled at first like Lee Han, then countered with innate sense and skill.
The spearman with the dirty eyes might've managed with his special vision or techniques.
Hate to admit it, but true geniuses were those guys.
The kind who reached in a day what others needed ten or a hundred years for.
Talent like that, those called geniuses, defied common sense.
What was impossibly hard for normals was breathing-easy for them.
Truly...
'-What's the point of envying what I don't have anymore?'
Hmph!
It was a futile envy.
He'd envied it plenty in his past life, and realized in the end?
Comparing yourself to others only left misery and ugliness.
So what he needed to do now wasn't resent or covet others' genius and unreasonableness.
'Do what I, Lee Han, can do.'
The field where he excelled over others.
Pour his soul into maximizing it!
Vrrr!
'What's my advantage?'
Fearsome base stats and the sturdy body built on them.
And finally...
'A bit of ingenuity.'
Why had he obsessively drilled the basics like digging a single well?
Because solid basics alone became a massive advantage.
And now, with his fundamental stats even higher from the Wales journey, he could do it.
He already had the idea, and the sturdy, complete body to realize it.
Thus!
──There was no reason for him to yield.
Slash! Slice!
"!?"
......Ninshubur's attack was blocked for the first time.
...No, this was.
"How's this? It's a knockoff of Protective Aura Technique, but not bad, right?"
"...Cough..."
...being breached that was more accurate.
Drip!
Ninshubur, champion of the war god and ancient great warrior, knelt for the first time, crying out in pain.
Splatter!
His arms were both shredded horrifically, and intense agony like his insides were churning overwhelmed him.
"W-What did you...?"
But more shocking than the pain and arm wounds was not understanding what the human had done.
Sudden confusion!
For the first time, the one favored even by the goddess Inanna felt like a fool, when suddenly a sound rang out.
Viiiing!
"A bee's... wing flutter?"
From his body, a sound like bee wings.
"You bastard, don't tell me...?!"
"Why?"
"...Madman."
Ninshubur realized it.
What he'd done.
This guy right now...!
"Resonance on your body surface...? Vibrations?! You must be suicidal!"
Why focus Sword Resonance only on weapons?
Because the power could collapse the body.
Why had resonance been a ultimate secret technique from ancient times to now?
Because it wielded such overwhelming power.
Yet this fool had induced resonance on his own body surface.
His skin would shave away in real time, blood evaporate, fragile organs burn—!
"...Nah? I'm fine, though?"
Viiing.
"...?"
He wasn't just fine; he was still resonating.
Perfectly calm.
"????"
An impossible phenomenon unless veins, tendons, nerves, organs were all metal.
Ninshubur felt his common sense shake, dizziness hitting him.
Because he couldn't grasp why it worked.
However,
"And vibrations? How outdated. This technique isn't some boring old 'resonance.'"
The one who'd pulled off the impossible sauntered forward leisurely.
Saying this wasn't some dull technique defined as resonance.
"-Rebound Aura Technique. Call it that."
A challenge against the impossible, one humanity might one day use to leave footprints on the moon.