Chapter 185: A Man's Fight - 5
Chapter 185: A Man's Fight - 5
Even with his head feeling like it was about to explode, he ran a status check.
The shortsword was broken and unusable.
Only the gladius remained. His Mana was drained.
His physical condition: internal organs wrecked, internal bleeding present, but emergency treatment had let him barely move his body.
Shrrrk.
The dark blue shadow before him made a strange sound every time it breathed.
The spectators screamed.
"What is that thing?!"
"Referee!!"
Amid the chaos, Jiha frowned.
He had to be cautious.
'Call in a Unique to handle it? But...'
As if reading his thoughts, screams erupted from all around.
"Aaaargh!"
"Aaagh! What, what the hell?!"
Identical shadows burst out from various points in the stands and attacked the audience.
Jiha made his decision and shouted.
"Uniques! Scatter and catch them!! Protect the audience!"
The women who had been about to support Jiha hesitated briefly, then scattered out, moving to deal with the shadows that had appeared.
The shadow in front of Jiha shook its shoulders.
It was probably laughing.
"So it was you."
Jiha asked in a low voice.
The one who had incited Kamain to create an aphrodisiac that could even affect Uniques.
When that failed, the one who threatened Taigirl into manufacturing the drug and tried to feed it to Narsha.
The mastermind.
The one whose plot in Waris had been twisted out of shape because of Jiha.
At Jiha's question, the shadow's body undulated unnaturally before its chest area split open.
A single eye was revealed.
"I am an eye."
"Is that so, you shadow eyeball."
Jiha wasn't stalling for no reason.
He was steadying his breathing, recovering his stamina, and restoring his Mana.
But stalling meant Lungtao's condition grew more dangerous.
He had to gauge the timing between his own state recovering enough to defeat the enemy and the moment Lungtao's strength ran out.
"I am an eye."
"Whose eye?"
This bastard was a pawn.
Given the appearances all over the stands, there had to be multiple copies of the same creature.
'No, but how did they appear?'
They had risen suddenly, as if born from the shadows, and attacked Lungtao.
The principle was similar to Shadow Hand, yet the creature possessed a will of its own.
"I am the Night's Eye."
"So what? Do you have hands and feet too?"
Jiha sneered, but tightened his grip on the gladius.
The shadow's hand then stretched out and stabbed into Lungtao's shoulder.
Thuck!
Blood sprayed, and Lungtao's body convulsed. An ordinary person might have panicked, but Jiha showed no sign of agitation.
'It extends its body to perform piercing attacks. A covert assassination ability.'
Even as he faced forward, he watched the stands: Enril, Asira, and Yura were each separated and fighting.
But the audience was so massive and panicked that, focused on preventing bystanders from getting caught up, they couldn't use their abilities properly.
"Why target Lungtao?"
Jiha stopped the mockery and asked directly.
The shadow shook its shoulders as if laughing.
"Answer me."
Jiha gripped his sword and took a step forward.
The shadow, seeming to find this less fun, moved a sharp arm tip close to Lungtao's throat, but Jiha didn't care.
Getting pushed around by a hostage-taker never ends. Lungtao's life was in danger with every passing second anyway.
"What's the reason for pulling this shit in front of everyone?"
The Summoning War was a match held under agreement between Blue Seal and Purple Liberation.
There had been an armistice recently, and that too had been approved by the Uniques of Blue and Purple.
"How were you planning to handle the fallout after causing a shitshow like this?"
"....."
The shadow just laughed and gave no answer.
It was as if Jiha's questions about the consequences were laughable.
'So that means you're going to kill me too.'
If this was the mastermind, there was no way Jiha, who had ruined his plans, would be seen kindly.
'But he targeted Lungtao first...'
While he was mulling over the meaning, Jiha felt a gaze watching him.
A hot gaze. It wasn't the shadow's eye.
"Alright."
"....."
The shadow cocked its head.
Jiha smiled calmly.
"No, I mean you're going to die now."
"What...?"
Just then, Lungtao, who had been lying as if dead, spun on the spot and swept the shadow's legs out from under it.
Agility ill-suited for such a large frame. The surprise attack sent the shadow tumbling.
Jiha didn't miss the opening and leapt in, driving his sword into the shadow's chest.
"Wha...?"
The moment the shadow tried to speak, Jiha didn't hesitate and slashed upward to its throat.
The shadow transformed into black granules and crumbled away, vanishing.
Not that strong of a creature, but a nuisance.
As Jiha flicked the black dust from his sword and turned, Lungtao was standing there.
"Magnificent."
The tiger beastman, one arm lost, his stomach stabbed, blood flowing from his shoulder, spoke with solemn gravity.
Jiha replied flatly.
"I am pretty damn awesome."
Lungtao nodded and looked around.
The stands were a scene of total chaos from spectators scrambling to escape.
"So, what are these things?"
"Shadow race. They're Shades."
Unexpectedly, Lungtao answered.
"A race that once dwelt in Warsland long ago but was banished beyond the dimensions during the Thousand-Year War. They've been biding their time for a chance to return."
"How do you know that?"
It was a story completely new to Jiha, likely a piece of history hidden in the shadows.
"I heard it from Cheonho."
"What do you mean?"
Why was Cheonho, the Legend of Blue Seal, coming up now?
It was proof that Lungtao was more than just Narsha's escort captain, that his story ran deeper.
But Lungtao just watched him with deep eyes.
"There's no time to talk."
"True enough."
Jiha shut his mouth and waved a dismissive hand.
Standing shoulder to shoulder with Lungtao, Jiha looked out at the stands.
"You gonna be okay with that body?"
"Compared to you, I'm shipshape."
"You're talking a lot for a guy with his arm cut off."
"Because I still have Mana."
True to his word, Lungtao could still draw upon his Mana now.
The reason he could keep moving despite being ambushed by shadows and bleeding out was thanks to his Mana.
"In five minutes your battery will be dead, what the..."
Jiha grumbled but factored in Lungtao's condition.
Judging by the severity of the bleeding, two minutes was the best-case scenario.
If he fought any longer than that, he'd die, even for a tiger beastman.
"Then for the sake of the weakened Lord Tiger, shall we finish this fast?"
Lungtao drew a deep breath and let out a roar.
A tiger's roar.
"I am right here!!"
"Come on, you idiots!!"
The human shouted back with a voice just as strong.
The Shades, who had been attacking spectators or running from the Uniques, all turned to look at Jiha and Lungtao.
And then, they jostled past each other to leap down into the arena.
"Jiha!!"
Enril shouted, and Jiha replied curtly.
"Stay back! Hold your position!"
Asira, understanding Jiha's order, quickly moved and began guiding the spectators back slowly.
She was leading the panicked crowd to safety and pinning the Uniques in place in case the Shades attacked again.
Dealing with the thirty Shades right in front of them—that was a job for Jiha and Lungtao.
"Want to bet who kills more?"
"You seem to be pushing yourself too hard with that body, Captain?"
A surprising form of address. Jiha turned to see Lungtao wink at him.
"I lost, so isn't it correct to call you that?"
"Jeez..."
Jiha grumbled, but inwardly felt quite pleased.
The Shades slowly closed in on the human and the tiger beastman standing back-to-back.
Both were in tatters physically, their stamina and everything else depleted, bleeding so badly they needed immediate treatment.
But they had someone at their backs.
They had a friend to fight alongside.
With this guy, they wouldn't lose.
They could definitely win.
Before they began, Jiha asked shortly.
"By the way, can more of these things pop out?"
"No, they need magic stones."
Magic stones, the mineral used to summon Commons from other dimensions.
A precious, rare mineral. He filed that fact away and confirmed,
"So we're done once we handle just these things in front of us?"
"If no others are nearby, yes."
"Can't you give a more definite answer?"
"I'm not particularly well-learned, you see."
Lungtao bared his teeth in a grin.
Hearing the hearty laughter from behind him, Jiha also let out a comfortable laugh.
"The skull's not much use. Let's test if your fists are."
"I'll do my best, Captain."
The enemies charged at the two laughing men.
Mana was practically at zero.
He couldn't use Wind Blade. Shadow Hand seemed pointless here.
'Then mobility...'
Should he manifest his wings and move?
But while that might be fine solo, it was meaningless when fighting together.
"Lungtao, you fight without moving!"
Jiha made his decision and kicked off the ground.
Flames bloomed with every step.
Blaze Dance. He was about to unveil the Special Ability he had gained from absorbing Asira's blood for the first time.
As fire danced along Jiha's running path, a stir of confusion spread among the Shades.
But a few ignored it and rushed at Lungtao.
'Sure enough, they're more intent on killing Lungtao than me...'
The initial ambush had been aimed at Lungtao, and the Shades were prioritizing him as their target.
Jiha was the one who had foiled their scheme, so why?
Thinking this, Jiha kept running and swinging his sword.
"Hmmph!!"
Keeping Jiha's words, Lungtao swung his sword in wide arcs from his spot.
He parried with the Mana-infused blade and struck with his fist.
But his condition was terrible, with blood streaming from his abdomen and shoulder with every move.
'There's no time...'
Less than two minutes.
Ignoring the pain in his legs, Jiha kept running, raising flames.
The Shades clinging to Lungtao began to dodge or a few would intercept him when Jiha kept attacking.
But since Jiha's goal wasn't just to kill one or two Shades, he simply kept running, mixing in sword strikes.
Lungtao held his ground and attacked, but his armor was shattered and his condition was poor.
Even when his arm was pierced or his leg caught by their sheer numbers, he didn't let out a single groan, trusting Jiha and holding his spot.
Like a steadfast tower, unyielding to the storm.
Jiha felt his insides burning, but kept his expression neutral and continued to weave through the Shades.
The Shades, who had been prioritizing Lungtao, had initially dismissed Jiha's running. But looking around, they finally realized.
That the surroundings were completely engulfed in flames.
After deflecting an attack and falling back behind Lungtao, Jiha grinned.
"Thought it was nothing, didn't you?"
As if asking what the big deal was about weak flames that might only scorch an ankle, the Shades stared at Jiha.
Jiha snapped his fingers.
"Well then."
Whoooosh!!
The flames suddenly swelled and erupted explosively.
"Keeeeeek?!"
"Kwoaaarrr!!"
The Shades, suddenly engulfed in the fiery explosion, screamed as they burned away.
Blaze Dance was an area-of-effect skill that could sweep the surroundings even with little Mana.
The downside was the time it took to set up, but he'd succeeded thanks to Lungtao holding out.
Watching them burn away without a trace, Jiha caught his breath and then staggered.
His Mana and stamina were truly spent, leaving him unable to move a finger.
"The Captain's dignity would be ruined if he fell."
Lungtao grabbed his shoulder to support him.
Jiha turned and snapped back.
"I was just about to spit on the ground, alright?"
At Jiha's sharp retort, the blood-soaked tiger beastman grinned.
His armor was shattered, his arm was severed, and hardly a spot on his body was unscathed. Yet he was smiling with satisfaction.
The satisfaction of having met a man who had surpassed him.
"....."
At that refreshing smile, Jiha finally laughed too.
Jiha was about to stand straight again when Lungtao's face, which had been looking forward, stiffened.
"Narsha."
"....."
Narsha, who hadn't mixed in with the audience and wasn't tending to the other escort guards, stood alone, watching Lungtao.
Behind her, with a face on the verge of tears as she looked at Lungtao, a shadow—a Shade—was rising.
The final move of the schemer who had orchestrated this board.
The distance was too great.
Jiha realized it instinctively, but Lungtao was already running on reflex.
Without a care for his depleted stamina and blood-soaked body.
Drawing up every last bit of Mana that should never have been used for more than five minutes, Lungtao sprinted forward recklessly.
Letting out a scream.
"Narsha!!"
Wearing the face of a father who didn't want to see his daughter die again.