Chapter 533
Chapter 533
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Translator: Ebonarch
Chapter: 533
Chapter Title: Trial (2)
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-Clang!
The sharp sound of two iron orbs clashing fiercely.
It was the scream of the red branch twisting like a serpent in mid-air.
Thrusts from above, mid-level strikes, and low stabs aimed to seize the initiative.
Behind those three strikes, too fast for ordinary humans even to perceive, only a single grotesque roar erupted.
The contract of the King of All Diseases embedded in his stigma revealed it all.
Which spot to target, at what precise timing, to claim that one-second window deciding life or death.
What form of attack would prove most effective.
-Claaaaang!
In that split second where one second fractured into countless instants, the entangled spear tips began writhing like vipers in the air.
Red barriers burst forth instead of sparks.
Distortion fields exploded in place of thunderous booms.
To overwhelm with technique, to deflect the savage onslaught.
The ground beneath their feet shattered as the two engaged in a wrestling match at the spear tips amid piercing high-pitched clashes.
-Clang!
The locked spear blades, biting tail to tail, suddenly broke free.
A pair of red arcs unfurled like butterfly wings in their wake.
-Boom!
A battle transcending human limits, utterly surreal.
He gritted his teeth against the dizzying shock that blurred his vision.
"Urgh!"
It wasn't just the impact that was the problem.
The red branch was inherently a cheat weapon that dominated close quarters with overwhelming superiority.
Even his master, the strongest martial artist Si-woo knew, had struggled against it.
Now, the distortion shockwave from their merciless clash rippled toward him.
He had wrapped part of the spear shaft with a ribbon inscribed with the control formula he and the Yesod Count had developed, dampening the backlash—but it was little more than a stopgap.
"......"
Still, it was worth it.
In that full-force clash, the black knight had been pushed back farther.
Even its grasp of the subtle art of channeling power into a single point fell somewhat short.
Which made sense.
Perhaps Lurye could have handled it differently, but the "Shin Si-woo with maximized potential" Si-woo faced was another personality altogether.
A body optimized solely for magic, forsaking all other functions.
But spear arts weren't magic.
Si-woo, on the other hand, had honed his martial prowess to the limit through regular spars with his master.
Even sharing the same King of All Diseases contract, their proficiency levels differed vastly.
He saw an opening.
"Hup!"
-Boom!
That was why he swung wide once more.
Fighting at an advantageous range.
It was the first lesson Eloa had ever taught him.
The ground exploded beneath his advancing foot, and in that instant, all that force channeled purely into the spear shaft.
-Whoosh!
Black ribbons swept across the space between Si-woo and the black knight like a descending curtain.
He had anticipated it.
Realizing close combat was disadvantageous, it would pull back distance.
He had even predicted it would use the ribbons for that purpose.
No need to learn it all through trial and error with his body.
The black knight was none other than Si-woo himself.
The Virgin's Loom was magic specialized for mid-range combat.
A superb physical-series spell, but right after weaving, gaps inevitably existed.
At this range, the red branch held the edge in both power and speed.
He tore through the less agile ribbons compared to spear strikes, forcing his way in.
"...!"
As the ribbons shredded like petals in a single blow, Si-woo sensed the aftermath of mana rippling blue.
Residual traces of the coordinate shift formula.
-Screeech!
Whirling around, he saw the black knight, now dozens of meters distant in an instant, twisting the ribbon's end into a sharp lance while unfurling black wings.
Power rivaling heavy machinery loaded into a single strand.
Yet it moved with free trajectories and unbelievable speed.
And their number—hundreds at least, five times what Si-woo could handle.
If combat stalled at this distance, he'd be pinned down indefinitely, battered without recourse.
"Bloom!"
Forcing repeated amplifications to attempt the coordinate shift anyway.
That's when Si-woo felt an indescribable chill.
A gut instinct born from battles teetering on the edge of life and death, perceivable without sight.
Ignoring the immediate crisis sense and the inner whisper screaming "Don't look away," he turned.
Sure enough, the red branch, bound to the ribbons around the spear shaft, hurtled toward his back.
Using ribbons as a feint to buy time, circling behind with the coordinate shift.
All while concealing the red branch amid them.
Right now.
Anticipating Si-woo would force a close by using the coordinate shift.
The enemy wasn't limited to magic-only combat.
Just as Si-woo schemed against strong foes, the black knight waged a battle of wits against him.
Why hadn't he considered it?
This wasn't one-sided intel; the black knight knew Si-woo's arsenal too.
"Bloom."
The black knight's repeated amplifications, its incantation flat and emotionless.
At once, the fan-shaped ribbon strands swelled with mana.
A barrage of ribbons poised to unleash ahead.
The red branch relentlessly boring into his back from behind.
Priorities were clear.
Cancel the coordinate shift, twist his body to deflect the branch.
Then deal with the ribbons while devising an escape from the deadlock.
The fight wasn't over yet.
As he steeled himself—
-Ting
A clear, crystalline chime rippled past Si-woo's ear like a wave.
The sound of lightly tapping a half-filled glass with a spoon.
"Wha..."
The world tilted sideways in tandem.
Not the world tilting—it was him.
That vibration spreading heedless of the din was something Si-woo had experienced firsthand.
Jemernai's sound-based autonomic magic.
The vibration transmitted via mana rattled his semicircular canals, bringing nausea and loss of balance.
As Si-woo braced a hand on the ground to rise—
A sky-darkening torrent of needle-sharp ribbons poured down like a heavy cavalry charge.
Too late for anything now.
All Si-woo could manage was mutter a low curse.
"Fuck, this guy's no joke."
Then his consciousness blacked out like an old CRT tube powering down.
2.
"Hah...! Heuk...!"
His eyes snapped open.
A clear view showed the ceiling, then Lurye's face filling half his field of vision.
Her curious blinking gaze let him know he was back in reality.
"Art thou well?"
"Ah... yes."
"Drool floweth from thy mouth."
"Thank you."
He wiped his mouth with the handkerchief Lurye tossed onto his face, and while at it, mopped the greasy sweat from his brow.
His mana utterly drained, leaving his body fatigued.
"How much time has passed...?"
"Some three minutes."
"Three minutes..."
About a minute inside to encounter the clone.
Waking immediately upon death still left two minutes.
Defeated in a mere two minutes.
He knew the gap existed and hadn't taken it lightly.
He had approached it with utmost seriousness, no room for complacency.
Yet his subconscious clone vastly exceeded Si-woo's imagination in strength.
The number of ribbons it handled simultaneously was worlds apart.
Near-zero intervals on coordinate shifts, wielding even the latest Jemernai autonomic magic.
Moreover, with identical spells between them, the pure spec difference made it hard to create variables through matchups or momentary ploys.
"Thou art the first besides Us to use the Dream Cradle. How was it?"
"...Dazed."
"Did it hurt?"
"Ended before I could even grasp what was happening..."
Aside from the lingering ache from the distortion field, he wasn't sure if it even hurt.
Had it been real combat, he'd have been torn apart before feeling pain.
The thought sent another chill down his spine.
"Rest a bit. 'Tis now Our turn. Today, We shall claim a grand victory against the fake and inherit the kingdom!"
Lurye declared energetically, hands on hips, firing her cheer forward like a battle cry.
His mind still foggy from the fight's aftermath, but her forced bravado was obvious.
"Why no applause?"
"As expected of Your Majesty! Splendid!"
Lurye placed her hand on the Dream Cradle amid Si-woo's enthusiastic claps and cheers.
"Launch!"
With an odd shout, mana flashed.
Mana capacity varied by stigma storage, unrelated to hierarchy—and Lurye possessed a staggering reserve.
-Whoooong!
A deep, wave-like surge rippled, the black orb glowing brilliant blue.
Lurye promptly collapsed to her knees and keeled over.
With time to wait anyway, Si-woo reviewed the battle.
Though it ended anticlimactically, there was much to learn.
Regaining his wits, he realized this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Unlike his own imperfectly integrated spells, the clone's magic flowed seamlessly, fully embodied.
The formulas and mana flows he'd observed with his left eye were etched into his mind.
It was like cheat sheets.
Data normally gained through endless trials and real fights, previewed firsthand.
Repeating the trial would surely bring leaps in progress.
And far quicker than expected—about thirty seconds later.
"Puh-haaaaa!!!!!!!"
Lurye shot upright like a marionette with snapped strings, eyes wide and hair standing on end like a soaked cat.
"Our trial is complete! We return!"
"Already?"
Si-woo had been fast, but Lurye was on another level.
It felt like she'd lain down and sprung up instantly.
At this point, he'd believe she sprinted off a cliff the moment it started.
"Insolent! We lost, but fought well! To dismiss Our struggle with 'Already?'"
"M-my apologies."
Lurye fumed, even mimicking a poor impression.
But was it his imagination?
She looked refreshed, like she'd dashed off an unwanted homework assignment.
A trial, she called it.
Seemed he'd taken it far more seriously.
"Upon return, We shall watch a film."
"Your Majesty."
He grabbed Lurye as she stretched proudly, as if she'd accomplished something grand.
"Hm? What business?"
"If I may humbly request... might we attempt this trial once more?"
Her half-doubting reaction, as if questioning what she'd heard.
Beneath it, thinly veiled reluctance.
"Granted. 'Tis no object that wears with use. Next time, We shall honor thee with Our company."
"Not that... Could we try again right now?"
"......"
Lurye stared blankly.
"Is thy mana not depleted?"
"I can refill it quickly."
Using repeated amplification—one of his aces—he fully restored his drained mana.
He could manage five or six times like this without issue.
Lurye nodded dazedly, too stunned to reply.
Wasting no time on such things, Si-woo clashed with his clone a total of four times.
Twenty minutes of combat in all, but still.