Chapter 528: The Dam of Emotions
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 528: The Dam of Emotions
Unbearable was the only word for it. It was the literal truth. I felt that if I kept suppressing what was inside me, something would burst. I had to let it out, to vent it. One way or another.
In that sense, Han So-Hye, the Queen of the North, standing before me, seemed like an excellent outlet—a massive release valve for the emotions I held.
I couldn’t understand why she was here. I even considered that she might be a hallucination. But the question of whether she was real or not had already vanished to the far corners of my consciousness. Right now, dealing with my splitting headache was more important.
The sensations from that time began to revive, overlapping with the desire to fight, the urge to clash, and the memory of being unable to hold back my tears. It was like setting a match to my already explosive mind. I felt like I was being consumed by flames. It was a wonder I was even conscious.
“Grrrrr.”
A sound I hadn’t made in a long time escaped my lips. My eyes grew redder, and my vision sharpened. It wasn’t that my surroundings became clearer. The only thing in my sight was her and her alone: Han So-Hye, the Queen of the North.
The Queen of the North.
The genius who had established a city and unified the North in the short time since she’d arrived on the continent. A warrior whose martial prowess was considered the absolute peak. The fact that she was the strongest was a story from a distant past I could no longer see, but what mattered more was that I remembered that fact.
The moment the desire to fight completely dominated my thoughts, my body was already lunging toward the woman in the distance.
“Good.”
As she faced me, gripping her spear, there were no openings in her stance. But a fundamental difference in our physical specs existed. This was an undeniable gap. I was faster, stronger, and tougher than her.
What she possessed was finesse, technique, and the art of combat—things I believed I could never have. In an instant, her distant face filled my entire vision. There was no need to control my strength. Even if she took a direct hit, she wouldn’t die.
KRAKOOM!
I saw her twist her body, dodging the downward strike I brought from above.
The impact gouged the earth and sent cracks spreading across the ground, but my target was still unharmed. She created distance and thrust her spear with swift precision. It was likely just a simple probe, but it was sharp. Its speed was incomparable to the spear thrust by Gabriel the Dove—no, to be precise, it was of a completely different caliber. The spear seemed to bend as it came at me, making it difficult to block.
But rather than dodging, I chose to block it with my tail. The more impact she had to absorb, the more it favored me. I still knew exactly how to fight.
“Grrrrr.”
CLANG!
As the spear and my tail collided, Han So-Hye came into view, losing her balance and creating more distance. Even though she stomped the ground and immediately launched herself forward again, her expression remained unchanged.
It was different from before. Different from the past, when I had to struggle to catch up to her, one step at a time.
“Die!”
Now, I could catch her with a simple movement. If anything, she was the one who had to dodge. I put my full weight into a kick, and with a deafening roar, the Queen of the North’s body shuddered. The sound was tremendous, but I felt no real impact. She had deflected the attack, preventing the shock from reaching her core.
But the distance between us was now close enough for an all-out brawl, and I wouldn’t let her escape. She was already within range. It would be easier to shatter both her legs first. I could unleash my anger after that. I swung my tail toward her lower body to keep her from getting away.
“Hoo.”
What I hadn’t expected was for her to close the distance herself, planting her spear in the ground.
“Grrrrrrrrr.”
The first sensation was my tail slicing through empty air, having lost its target.
The second was a sharp impact in my chest.
POW!
The sound seemed to arrive with the blow. What had struck my chest was none other than her small hand.
“I haven’t been idle, either.”
Unwilling to lose her advantage, she closed in again and threw another punch. Her stance looked like something out of a Chinese martial arts manual. My formless punches and kicks either met empty air or were deflected.
As I swung my arm, she moved in even closer and struck my solar plexus with her elbow.
POW!
My body shuddered once more.
As my body naturally bent forward, a fist flew toward my face. I could see it clearly. I could definitely see it, yet for some reason, I couldn’t dodge it.
Her posture was like something out of a cartoon. I hastily pulled back, but with a crunch, I saw her stomp the ground. She had stomped on my foot. There was no pain, but in that instant, her fist slammed into me.
POW!
The sound rang in my ears again.
My punches were blocked by incomprehensible hand movements, and my menacing tail continued to whip through empty air. From her perspective, a single hit would be critical—absolutely critical. I could end this queen with my own hands. The risk she was taking to do this required immense concentration, and what Han So-Hye was displaying was exactly that.
POW!
CRUNCH!
THUD!
Her stance as she stepped, the way she shifted her weight—everything flowed organically.
But there was no damage. It didn’t even tickle.
I could understand her intent—to chip away at my durability, bit by bit. But even if her attacks were unavoidable, they were meaningless if they couldn’t inflict any damage.
“Weak.”
“You never know until you try.”
There was no need to try. This wasn’t me being careless or underestimating her. The difference in our specs was undeniable. Even with a body trained to its absolute limit, this was all she could do. Just as my past efforts had been so absurdly crushed, her efforts might be crushed as well.
But still, the breed of genius was an unfair one.
It felt utterly preposterous that she could train her body to this level in such a short time. She had grown far stronger than the last time I’d seen her fight. It probably hadn’t taken her long to learn how to use her body like this, either. And yet, she possessed a level of skill that could completely disregard any other physical fighter on the continent.
Despite all that, she was overwhelming me now. She was fighting with a perfect understanding of close-quarters combat. She had already grasped how I would attack, knew the timing of my tail swings, and anticipated when I would kick.
She wasn’t moving by sight, like me. She wasn’t heightening her focus to see and dodge.
It had to be some kind of sense.
It had been the same when I first clashed with her. It felt as if she was reading my movements.
Precognition.
It had to be something similar. The Queen of the North could feel it. Perhaps she could even see how things would unfold.
Whether it was an innate talent or an ability that blossomed in battle, the fact remained that her senses were extraordinary. If I took one step back, she took one step forward. If I swung my arm without form, she would spin and evade as if she’d been waiting for it.
It was annoying. Her organic movements, the fact that she was doing things I couldn’t, was infuriating. I stomped my foot.
BOOM! My foot slammed into the ground.
‘Like this…’
I had a memory of seeing something like this done. It wasn’t perfect, but I could at least copy the stance.
I bent my knees and thrust my fist forward. The posture was awkward and unfamiliar. I nearly lost my balance and collapsed, but I managed to steady myself with my tail. This must have been the timing to release magic.
KRAKOOM! A boulder in front of me crumbled to dust—the result of me forcibly shoving magic into the attack.
The Queen of the North’s expression soured. It was a clumsy imitation, but its destructive power surpassed her own.
“How unfair.”
That’s what she said, but the problem was that my attacks still couldn’t reach her. I had changed my approach slightly, but Han So-Hye was still standing strong. The smile playing on her lips was proof of that.
POW! CRUNCH! BOOM!
Because I was focused solely on the Queen of the North, I couldn’t properly see what was happening around us, but I figured the terrain was gradually changing. I could feel fragments of wood and rock pelting my body.
POW! POW! POW!
A meaningless exchange, with one side attacking and the other blocking. A change was obviously needed.
[Weapon Integration - Levatain]
—Huuu… Take it easy, will you?
A great flame instantly began to envelop my body. It seemed she tried to stop the integration somehow, but she couldn’t prevent it after I ignored her attack. Tearing the integration apart with brute force like Goff did before was impossible for her. From the moment she couldn’t stop the integration, she had no chance of victory.
She might have realized it by now.
The fact that she couldn’t damage me without her spear.
Flames covered me from my tail to my back, all the way to my head. Heat radiated from my body, and my already reddish vision turned an even deeper crimson.
It felt like dropping a bomb into a cauldron overflowing with emotions. My mind was constantly spilling over.
With rage.
My head and chest burned with a rage whose source I couldn’t identify.
“Aaaargh!”
An unidentifiable roar burst from me. As if in response to my cry, Han So-Hye also grabbed her spear and let out a shout.
“Hah!”
I swung my hand, and massive streams of fire shot out.
“Die!”
BOOM!
The Queen of the North stomped the ground. A deafening roar echoed. Seeing that she wasn’t trying to dodge, she must have been confident she could deflect it. And she would, without a doubt. As her magic-infused spear swung once through the air, the streams of fire I’d unleashed converged in an incomprehensible way and shot past her.
I couldn’t even begin to understand the principle behind a technique like that.
Prowess.
That must be what they call martial prowess.
I raised my hand, and a giant hand of fire began to materialize in the air. As I brought my hand down, the massive flaming palm descended upon her.
CRACK!
CRUUUUNCH!
Even before it landed, I could hear the surrounding environment being affected by its sheer pressure. Holding her spear, she too seemed to realize she couldn’t deflect this attack and quietly stared up at its descent.
‘She’ll pierce it.’
She might just be able to. As if proving my prediction correct, she chose to break through the hand of fire, accepting a certain amount of damage. She was making her entire body sharp. The Queen of the North herself was a single, well-honed spear.
It was an integration, in a different sense than mine.
‘Integration.’
She had undoubtedly integrated. She hadn’t become one with her weapon, and her appearance hadn’t changed like mine, but Han So-Hye, holding her spear, looked as if she and the spear had become one.
‘Divine Spear Unity.’
‘A new realm.’
It didn’t matter what it was. I would just destroy whatever came at me.
“Aaaargh!”
KRAKOOM!
I poured out everything inside me. I unleashed fire in all directions, sending a constant barrage of flaming swords and axes toward the single spear aiming for me.
CRUNCH!
KRA-BOOOOOOM!
Her entire body was singed, but with an expression that said she’d taken no real damage, Han So-Hye swung her spear. I whipped my tail, which was wreathed in colossal flames, and the area before me became a complete sea of fire.
—You’re doing well. This is a good way. Hahaha. You okay? Whose idea was this?
I didn’t know what he meant. I didn’t even understand what Levatain was saying. The only sensation that remained in my mind was the desire to burn the woman before me. Her form was ideal as she dodged my tail, feet, and fists, all while launching attacks at me.
In that realm only geniuses could enter, I unconsciously saw Ha Yuri in Han So-Hye’s form. The anger I thought had faded now blazed fiercely. The flames that maintained my form erupted from my entire body once more.
“Aaargh… AAAAAAAAAARGH!”