Chapter 93
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: Found You
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Found you.
"Han Suyo."
Before the words even finished, Ma Seon's space slash came flying at me again.
Shiiik-!
The space right in front of me simply tore open, and death itself bared its jaws.
A space slash lived up to its name—it was an attack that rent space itself. There was no point in dodging after seeing it tear. It was as foolish as trying to evade the blade after it had already touched your neck.
I had to predict it.
His gaze. The subtle angle of his staff. The flow of his qi. I had to read it all, foresee the "future" where the attack would manifest, and evade with instantaneous reaction.
Kwaduk!
The space where my shoulder had been just a moment ago was neatly sliced away. Ignoring the screams from every joint in my body, I twisted away. Every physical ability—dynamic vision, leg strength, and more—had been pushed to the absolute limit through self-hypnosis. Even so, it was a razor-thin escape.
Shik- kwaduk! Shiik- kwaduk!
Ma Seon swung his staff casually, as if out for a stroll. But every one of those light gestures turned into a killing blow raining down on me.
I raced across the battlefield, my steps frantic. Just avoiding his attacks demanded my full effort. My breath burned in my throat, and my heart thundered like it was about to explode.
At this rate, I wouldn't last long. Whether my stamina gave out first or my focus slipped for an instant, my body would end up cleaved in two.
Damn. That old geezer didn't even look winded. He just silently swung his staff.
But this was undoubtedly some kind of ultimate technique. The Extreme Zenith used by Gucheonin's Dongyoung. Alliance Leader Dokgo's Roaring Thunder Jade Collapse Slash. Like Squad Leader Byeok Cheonwi's Wall Heaven, it was a transcendental power granted only to those who had reached their limits.
Unlike Byeok Cheonwi, who poured everything into single blows, it was like Dongyoung and Dokgo—focused on sustained effects. No, it was different again. Less an active skill and more like a passive one.
His normal attacks were space slashes.
So how the hell was I supposed to take him down?
Hm.
Whoa. Almost died for real there.
A few strands of hair were sliced off, scattering into the air. Cold sweat poured down my back like a waterfall.
How to take him down?
While constantly moving to dodge the space slashes, I activated the Akashic Record to forcibly accelerate my brain.
Wiiiing-!
A mechanical overheating noise rang through my head, and my mental power began draining at a ferocious rate. The consumption was incomparable to normal. It had to be because I was maintaining extreme physical enhancement and brain acceleration at the same time.
Ignoring it, I pressed on with my jumbled thoughts.
The classic counter to space-based abilities was time manipulation—an established trope and truth. But I had no such power over time. Weren't those who dominated both time and space, spacetime itself, simply called gods? At the very least, I needed an equivalent ability to clash head-on.
My power was hypnosis. It couldn't latch onto anything without imbued intent. And things without will were inanimate objects.
That space slash was a phenomenon born from Ma Seon's intent. In that case...
What if I viewed the space slash purely as an attack tool, not a movement method? That black fissure, visible to the naked eye, was in a way a lesser version of the mind sword.
Like the Alliance Leader's formless sword, a mind sword carried the user's will. And will was intent.
Then, for this guy facing me, it could actually be a weakness. If the space slash was mind sword's inferior, it had to carry Ma Seon's intent too.
And spamming such insane normal attacks at zero cost meant this world's balance was utterly broken.
But no.
Whether it was the Gucheonseong folks, the Alliance Leader, or Squad Leader Byeok Cheonwi, every ability granted to those who surpassed the wall was rooted in balance. As if someone had fine-tuned it all.
My guess—no, my intuition—was that "someone" was probably the snide bastard from the clone ritual with Zhuge Seo and me. The embodiment of this world's laws, or something equivalent.
In that case, Ma Seon had to have a weakness too. Even that seemingly no-cost space slash came with a price.
Continuing like this would just drain my mental power first, leaving me sliced to ribbons.
So there was only one thing to do.
Strike the weakness I'd figured out. Nothing more.
One chance.
I kept dodging the space slashes hurtling madly at me. Every sense on high alert, tightrope-walking atop death's blade.
Then, I focused all my intent not on Ma Seon, but on the space slash itself—forming at the tip of his staff and shooting toward me.
'Stop.'
Not to control it with my will, but to hammer in a powerful suggestion: freeze in place right there. A makeshift Time Stop.
A form of hacking. Overwriting Ma Seon's intent-woven construct with my own to trigger a glitch.
All my remaining mental power got sucked into that black fissure.
And...
Kkigigik...!
The incoming space slash screeched to a halt midair like a car slamming on the brakes, emitting a nauseating friction sound.
Success.
Ma Seon's red snake eyes widened for the first time in his life.
The halted space slash neither closed nor faded—it hung fixed in the air as a black fissure.
Up close like this, it kinda looked... like a black pussy. Total chicken coop vibes...
Ma Seon stared at the frozen black fissure, his blood-red snake eyes brimming with curiosity as he spoke.
"Hoo... How'd you pull that off?"
"Would you tell me if the roles were reversed?"
Ma Seon let out a low, kindly-grandfather chuckle—heh heh.
Then the smile vanished from his face.
"I'll rip your mouth apart."
A moment of silence.
Han Suyo and Ma Seon launched at each other almost simultaneously, without a word.
Ma Seon swung his staff. This time, no ominous rip of space. Instead, dense pure-white inner energy condensed at the tip, shaping into a blade that hurtled toward me. A pure inner power slash, not a space slash.
I summoned demonic energy without hesitation. Pitch-black darkness coalesced in my hand into a long, sleek katana.
Kaaang!
I parried his slash with my demonic energy blade. A dull shock jolted through my entire arm, going numb. My joints screamed.
Even without space slashes, he was unmistakably a transcendent powerhouse.
'Try hypnosis?'
Stop. But I shook my head. My mental power was nearly gone. Attempting hypnosis now and failing would leave me shredded by that slash. Far too risky a gamble.
While barely dodging and deflecting his attacks, I focused on Paeng Dogae's energy pulsing from afar. He was still getting pummeled mercilessly under the bridge. His presence flickered unstably but clung on tenaciously.
As I leaped away from Ma Seon's strikes, I shot my intent toward Paeng Dogae.
'Come to me.'
His raging energy from the distance abruptly changed course, racing toward us.
Of course, the bastard beating him would tag along. Someone of that caliber was probably another Gucheonseong elite like Ma Seon. Still, I judged it was right to bring Paeng Dogae here.
Have him tank while I supported from range—our slim best shot. Going toe-to-toe with that monster old man was suicide. Worst case, I could always bolt. Shame Paeng Dogae lacked a self-destruct feature. Though forcibly detonating his inner power might work similarly.
I was batting away slashes amid such trivial thoughts when—
Whoa. What the hell!
I reflexively hurled my body sideways. The attack I'd assumed was a plain inner power slash twisted its trajectory right in front of me, shredding space.
Kwaduduk!
If my reaction had been a split second slower, my waist would've been bisected.
Cold sweat dripping, I glanced at the space slash I'd frozen earlier. It still hung there like a black scar in the air.
So, this guy had been hiding a second space slash ability.
After that, Ma Seon mixed slashes and space slashes. But he couldn't spam space slashes like before. The frequency was less than half.
Got it. He'd probably been alternating two space slash abilities, tweaking the speed to bypass cooldowns and fake unlimited use. Now that I'd sealed one, he couldn't rapid-fire with just the remaining one.
Good call summoning Paeng Dogae.
I sensed a massive energy mass charging fiercely toward us from afar. Paeng Dogae. Greatly backpedaling from Ma Seon's attacks, I watched him approach.
And the figure hot on his heels.
The one I'd pegged as a Gucheonseong member.
But... it wasn't.
'Black Elder.'
Why was he here?
The doubt flashed through my mind just as Paeng Dogae roared and charged at Ma Seon.
Kwaaaang!
Ma Seon's staff slash clashed head-on with Paeng Dogae's massive fist strike, unleashing a deafening boom. The shockwave upheaved the ground, uprooting the few remaining trees by the roots.
As the battlefield dynamics shifted with Paeng Dogae's entry, the pursuing Black Elder halted in place.
As if utterly uninterested in the Paeng Dogae-Ma Seon clash, he stared piercingly solely at me.
And mouthed the words softly.
I read his lips clearly.
Found you. Miss.