Blades in the Blizzard
—Whoooosh! A howling blizzard whipped around them.
Standing atop the mountain peak, he faced the warrior. The man gripped his sword with both hands, assuming a stance.
...Roughly 70cm.
The length of the blade. Neither long nor short. With his tentacles extended to ten in number, stretching dozens of meters, Han Seongjin held the advantage in range.
Control the distance and strike from afar—
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the warrior's figure vanished from sight.
"!!"
A thin line sliced through the air toward his throat. He immediately jerked his head back to dodge. The sword tip grazed his neck ever so slightly.
Insanely fast. Unmatched by any opponent he'd faced before.
—Whoosh!
The blade pressed forward in a continuous slash. Too late to evade. He raised his right arm to block.
—Sching!
"Kuh!"
The curving downward stroke cleaved through his arm and tentacles. His right hand and three tentacles flew off in a single blow.
No time to register the pain. He retreated hastily, swinging the tentacles from his left arm. The warrior dodged them and fell back as well.
—Kakang!
"Grgh..."
A searing pain throbbed from his right arm. Having widened the distance, Seongjin glanced at the blood pouring from it. A clean cut, so precise that without the blood, it might have looked like a flat plane.
He looked up at the warrior. The man flicked the blood from his blade and resumed his stance. A ferocious aura prickled his skin even from afar.
I can't win like this.
Berserk!
—Kududuk.
His muscles swelled and hardened. Immense power surged through his body, filling him with an omnipotent sensation that he could do anything.
And that feeling lasted less than a second.
As if sensing the change, the warrior charged. Another strike aimed at his throat.
—Shuuuak!
"Kuk!"
The blade sliced a chunk from his neck. Warm blood sprayed. Faster than the previous blow. Without the boosted speed and reflexes from Berserk, his head would have been severed!
He swung his tentacles again to create distance, but the warrior closed in relentlessly.
—Kang! Shuak! Sching!
The man deflected the whipping tentacles like flowing water. Seongjin mobilized every remaining tentacle from his severed right and left arms. Seven tentacles shot toward the warrior.
In response, the man's body rocketed forward with a sonic boom.
—Sching!
He twisted his body minutely to dodge and slice the first tentacle, then swept his sword upward from below. The second tentacle split effortlessly.
Third, fourth. The blade glided along the tentacles like silk before cleaving them. Fifth. He kicked off the ground to leap over a tentacle rising from the snow, landing on it mid-air.
The fifth, sixth, and seventh tentacles surged toward him. Twisting in the air—
—Shiiiik!
A crescent slash rained down like arrows, shredding the tentacles in an instant. Fragments scattered everywhere.
The warrior landed lightly and charged at Seongjin.
—Pak!
Seongjin kicked up snow to blind him and retreated immediately.
The warrior was far stronger than imagined. Overwhelming compared to every enemy he'd faced combined.
Especially that sword. His bodily durability surpassed most enhancement-type superhumans. Even bullets struggled to scratch him. The same went for his tentacles.
Yet how could it sever his body and tentacles in one stroke?
Upon collision, he'd confirmed the sword was ordinary. No artifact, no mana infusion. Just a worn blade.
Attacking his body with such a sword should have shattered it long ago, not the other way around. Yet it bore no damage.
"......"
Blood from his severed right ear soaked his shoulder. Wounds from the warrior refused to clot even after minutes. Normally, he'd have begun regenerating by now.
Does he have a way to block Demonic Body's regeneration?
All tentacles severed. No more could be summoned. Wounds wouldn't heal, and the warrior's speed was overwhelming.
He pulled up his status window and glanced at it.
Name: Han Seongjin
Race: Human (Half-Demon Latent? Caution)
Age: 25
Abilities: [Super Senses], [Demonic Body lv.2]
Traits: [Advanced Martial Arts lv.2], [Intermediate Marksmanship lv.3], [Intermediate Dagger Skills lv.3], [Stealthy Steps lv.3], [Swarm Tentacles lv.6], [Berserk lv.1] (Unavailable - Cooldown: 23:58:02)
Berserk's cooldown started immediately upon activation. Roughly three minutes remained until it ended.
Once it wore off, he couldn't match the warrior's speed. Without regeneration or tentacles, victory was impossible.
He has to go down in three minutes.
...But how?
Now unarmed. Right arm severed, tentacles in pieces. Super-regeneration nullified.
Was there a way to win? Even if so, could he execute it?
Truly no path?
—Whoooosh.
The snow cleared, revealing the opponent. His expression unchanged from the start. Those emotionless eyes pierced through him, like gazing down at a beast facing death.
"...!"
His mind snapped alert.
"Tentacles... ha, haha."
What am I doing? He'd grown over-reliant, lulled by the certainty he wouldn't die. When had his mentality grown so fragile?
He eyed the cross-sections of the severed tentacles briefly, then dismissed them.
"Since when have I depended on this?"
Before gaining this power, he'd fought countless stronger foes—and emerged victorious each time.
That swordsman would be no different.
He extended his left hand, drawing a knife from his thigh sheath. Gripping it, he took stance, pointing it at the foe.
The cold metal against his palm cleared his mind like ice water.
"Huu......"
He exhaled deeply, ignoring the nagging pain in his ear and right arm.
—Pak!
Clutching the dagger, he kicked off the ground toward the warrior at full power.
—Shiiik!
A line etched into his retina. He twisted his head aside. Not fully evaded—his cheekbone sliced off.
No matter. He closed in, thrusting the dagger. The warrior dodged by tilting his head, then countered with a slash.
Previously, Seongjin retreated while the warrior advanced. Now reversed.
The warrior swung his recovered sword.
—Kiiing! Kang! Chwaak!
Dagger met sword. The warrior deflected attacks subtly, flowing into counters like water.
—Pushuk.
Each swing added wounds to his body. Blood flowed ceaselessly, staining the snowscape red.
No matter.
—Kang, chang!
Upward slash from below. Immediately reverse-grip and downward slash. Slash, thrust, parry—the exchange continued.
"Ha......"
Breath escaped his lips as white mist, dissipating slowly. His mouth curved upward unwittingly.
Why this bizarre elation amid the pain of dismemberment?
Right now, it was simply exhilarating. Death looming, yet he'd never felt so vividly alive.
Something momentarily forgotten. Fighting a superior foe, staking his life, pouring everything in.
That tightrope sensation amid the storm. That was the proof he lived.
This was his reason for living.
—Kang, kak!
Thump, thump.
Each heartbeat meshed the world's gears, time slowing. The world receded; snowflakes sharpened into view, even the weave of the warrior's worn fabric.
Muscle twitches on swings, crumpling cloth, rippling air. All signified one thing: the opponent.
Only he and his foe existed here.
Eyes narrowing, he focused. The man in sedge hat, sword drawn. Beyond the shell—layers stacked like a living cross-section of hundreds of paper sheets.
—Kang!
Deflect the sword, press forward. The cross-section pulsed endlessly.
The raised sword stance revealed it. Grains visible. Fissures in the layered structure.
Ah. So that's it. Your senses.
—Sweek.
The blade arced diagonally at his throat.
He readjusted his grip. No need for force. He slipped the dagger's tip into that minute fissure.
And finally, blade met blade.
—Sshuk.
The dagger sliced through the sword, advancing. No resistance. A smooth sensation like parting waves rippled from wrist to brain.
He met the warrior's eyes. Surprise cracked the impassive face.
The dagger cleanly bisected the sword and continued. Past the blade, it veered unerringly straight into the warrior's chest.
—Puhak!
Crimson blood gushed, soaking the warrior's robe. No scream.
Silence, as if time froze.
Even the blizzard seemed to part around them.
Spitting blood, the warrior toppled backward slowly.
His sedge hat fell, spilling long hair across the snow.
"......!"
And Seongjin saw it.
In the final moment, the man's lips curved faintly upward. Like relief.
—Thud.
The warrior collapsed into the snow. Upon hitting the ground, his body crumbled to dust and scattered on the wind.
Where he vanished, only the severed sword he'd clutched till the end remained.
"......"
With that, the battle ended.
He had won.