128. The Hunt (8)
128. The Hunt (8)
"Raaaaaaaah—!!"
Rebecca charged with a roar, howling like a wild beast.
Her razor-sharp blade surged forward, dragging pitch-black Sword Qi.
Clang—!
The recoil jolted my hand as sword met sword.
I frowned for an instant.
Then, gripping her sword in reverse, she slashed down toward my arm.
Shik—!
The short sword carved through the air.
As I pulled my body back, Rebecca worked her swords at high speed, as if determined to give me no breathing room.
Swish!
FWIP!
Whoosh!
The two swords moved independently, as if each had a will of its own, disorienting my vision.
Two blades sweeping horizontally, targeting my upper and lower body at the same time.
I twisted my body sideways like an acrobat and wedged myself into a gap in the Sword Path.
A chilling killing intent sliced the air, grazing past my nose.
'......She's strong, that's for sure.'
I righted my stance, thinking to myself.
When she got serious, she was definitely strong.
Of course she was—the chick is the final boss of an entire episode. It'd be weird if she wasn't.
Of all the enemies I've faced so far, she had the highest stats.
And from my standpoint, with virtually no Growth Materials beyond the starting package, she was more than enough to call a formidable opponent.
Whoooosh—
A sword came tearing savagely through the air.
I turned my head and dodged.
FWIP!
The tip of her sword grazed my cheek, drawing blood.
'......Strong, sure. But.'
High-level dual swordsmanship wreathed in killing intent so blatant I could smell the metallic tang of blood.
Rebecca had clearly made up her mind to kill me, no question.
However.
I found myself frowning involuntarily.
'It's way too light.'
Yeah, light.
I didn't mean the weight of her swords or the depth of her swordsmanship.
It was her will.
The intent to kill—the murderous drive to absolutely end the opponent standing in front of her—was light.
A sword is, inherently, a tool whose purpose is to kill its target.
Any swordsman who wields one must carry the will to finish an opponent in a single stroke.
Yet, while the level, power, and experience of the swords Rebecca swung were considerably high,
her killing intent was far too light.
For example, if Instructor Baek Seol-hee's sword is like a 10,000 Scoville nuclear-hot Spicy Chicken Stir-Fried Noodles, then Rebecca's sword would be, at most, Jin Ramen Mild. No, the spiciness of tempura udon, maybe.
—If you fail to truly understand that, you will eventually be mastered by your sword instead.
'Ah.'
Something Instructor Baek Seol-hee had mentioned in passing during training finally started to click in my head.
"......Y-you goddamn bloodbag son of a bitch!!!!"
Perhaps reading my expression, Rebecca gnashed her teeth and lunged.
BOOOOM—!!
Sword met sword with an explosive roar.
The shockwave radiated outward, sweeping the surroundings.
Clang! Clang! Clang! CLAAANG!!!
In the blink of an eye, dozens of sword strikes were exchanged.
Rebecca pushed her blades even harder.
From the outside, it clearly looked like Jin Yu-ha was being pushed back.
But the truth was, the growing edge of impatience was seeping into the tip of Rebecca's sword.
'......We're on the same level.'
The judgment felt like it was flaying her sanity, denying every effort she had ever made, every brutal experience of immersing her body in pools of blood. But it was the truth.
Jin Yu-ha, a mere cadet, was already wielding a sword on par with hers.
Even his Mana reserves—something that normally took time to build—didn't seem to lag behind hers.
Fine, she could accept that much—his talent was simply overwhelming.
But even so, this shouldn't be such an even match.
A sword that had never killed a person.
A sword that had never fought a battle prepared for death against the strong.
A sword always swung half-assedly within safe, guaranteed spaces.
That kind of soft, sheltered sword—not losing to hers, a blade raised on real combat and fed blood?
'Why.'
'How.'
'HOW?!'
Swish!
Rebecca's sword split the empty air again.
FWIP!
Of course, it didn't miss entirely—shallow cuts opened on his body.
Wounds that could have been fatal with a moment's negligence.
But the boy before her unfolded his blade without the slightest change of expression.
If anything, that face was pressuring her instead.
'This can't go on.......'
Rebecca chewed her lip until it bled.
Then, explosively drawing up her Demonic Energy, she activated a skill.
《Blood Flow Acceleration》
The blood in her entire body began to race, and with it, Demonic Energy tore through her meridians.
Her body grew hot. Soon, white steam billowed faintly from her entire frame.
"Ghk—!"
Rebecca stifled a groan at the excruciating pain of a skill that devoured her own flesh.
But without using this skill, she couldn't gain the upper hand. She had no other choice.
Whoooosh—!
The tip of her sword, now at least twice as fast as before, hurtled toward his neck with murderous momentum.
This blade cannot be dodged.
And sure enough, Jin Yu-ha's expression hardened gravely.
'Haha! I knew it!'
Rebecca exulted inside.
'I'll admit it. You really are something else. Enough to make even me feel a sense of crisis.'
She offered her opponent candid praise.
Who could have predicted that a mere male cadet would corner her to this extent?
She had never, even in her dreams, imagined she would end up using Blood Flow Acceleration, a skill that wrecked her own body.
But,
Jin Yu-ha's eyes sank heavily.
And instead, he charged forward.
As if the thought of dodging the sword aimed at his neck hadn't even crossed his mind.
Rebecca's eyes flew wide open.
'Th-the pommel of his sword......?'
Jin Yu-ha braced the pommel of his sword against his palm, thrusting it straight forward.
A thrust maximizing the full length of his arm and blade.
'Th-this crazy bastard!'
The two blades extended as if engaged in a game of chicken.
At this rate, even if Rebecca's sword succeeded in slicing Jin Yu-ha's neck, she'd have no time to pull her body back.
In the end, his sword, unleashed a beat later, would still pierce her heart.
'Are you trying for Mutual Destruction?!'
Who makes a choice like this in a life-or-death situation?
Before their mutual attacks could land, it was Rebecca who pulled her body back first.
SHUNK!
FWIP!
As she pulled back, her wavering sword still dug halfway into Jin Yu-ha's shoulder.
And
Though she avoided the heart strike by retreating,
Jin Yu-ha never lost focus, extending his sword to the very end and succeeding in piercing through her abdomen.
"Ghk—!"
Rebecca's mouth gaped wide, her eyes bulging at the sword buried in her gut.
CRUNCH—!
Jin Yu-ha twisted the blade as if turning a key, then ripped it out.
"Ghk!?"
It was a glimpse of an obsession that refused to let go of an opponent until the bitter end.
Blood gushed from the punctured abdomen as the sword was withdrawn.
Clutching her stomach, Rebecca, too aghast to even think of hiding her expression, retreated further.
Bleegh—
Psychological pressure. And congestion rising in reaction to the punctured gut.
She couldn't hold back and vomited blood.
"......A f-fucking monster."
"Hehehe, what's wrong, chicken? Baldie?"
Jin Yu-ha bared his teeth and grinned.
"In the end, this fight ends with you dead, or me dead. One or the other. You knew that from the start, didn't you? So what's with the face?"
"......"
"You were planning to kill me anyway, right? So why are you making that face?"
A chill scurried down the back of her neck, bristling before the smile spreading across that handsome face.
"You...... you fucking monster......!!!"
Rebecca screamed in fury, cleaving her sword down from above.
But a sword gripped by terror inevitably loses its edge.
Jin Yu-ha lightly twisted his body aside, dodging the blade, and immediately dashed forward with a kick.
WHAM!
The ball of his foot rammed into her punctured wound.
"Agh!"
Rebecca clutched her injury and tumbled across the floor.
Thud.
Thud.
Approaching footsteps thudded heavily against her eardrums.
Rebecca looked up at him, her eyes trembling uncontrollably.
And on the face staring down at her, there was not a speck of warmth.
"Wh-why...... How on earth......."
Rebecca's voice shook like an aspen leaf.
Scrabble, scrabble.
Before she knew it, her two legs were alternately pushing against the ground in an ugly scramble.
As if trying to get as far away from him as possible.
In her mind, the humiliation and powerlessness she had felt not long ago superimposed itself onto this moment.
Rebecca lifted a finger and pointed at him.
"Y-you......."
Short black hair.
Yes. That woman.
That woman had looked down at her with the exact same expression.
—Is your leader inside there?
At that, Rebecca had nodded, curling up and pleading for mercy.
And as if saying trash like her could be dealt with anytime later, the woman had instantly withdrawn her interest and headed off to butcher the boss.
Why did that woman's face overlap with this boy's?
That was when a voice resounded in her head.
【 Do you need power? 】