Chapter 84
Chapter 84
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 84
Chapter Title: Hell (4)
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The fox-pelt woman grinned back at Yuri's story.
"Heh heh, good on you. Since you're such a promising one, I'll let you in on a little secret."
"What is it?"
"Ten times. Just endure ten attacks. Do that, and those five million points are yours."
Yuri's face lit up at her words.
"Now that's a very hopeful story."
With that, Yuri's leg slammed down toward the ground.
Boom-.
The heavy thud shook his body.
Unlike the resounding noise, Yuri's movements were swift and silent.
Redner Family secret mana body technique.
Cloud Step.
Yuri moved like a ghost.
As he closed in on the fox-pelt woman, his sword whipped out like lightning.
Crackle-.
The blade flying toward the fox-pelt woman gleamed with luster and electricity.
It was the sword aura he had awakened not long ago.
The moment he unleashed the sword aura.
Yuri read the fox-pelt woman's eyes, which tracked his every move.
At the same time, chills ran up his spine, and alarm bells rang in his head.
He immediately deployed Cloud Step again.
Whoosh-.
Yuri retreated in an instant.
And in just over a second, a fist hammered down where he had stood.
Boom!
Seeing the ground explode like shattered earth, Yuri swallowed hard.
'She's strong.'
Even though he had sensed the danger and moved right away, the situation had been perilously close.
Meanwhile, the fox-pelt woman eyed Yuri, who had dodged her attack.
"Good instincts? Or sharp eyes? I went easy, but you still dodged it? Fine, whatever. That's one down. Nine to go."
With that, she casually cracked her neck.
Crack crack-.
"You seem pretty skilled, so I'll hit a bit harder from now on."
Yuri's face hardened further at her words.
In the meantime, the fox-pelt woman bounced lightly up and down before settling into stance.
Right leg slightly forward, right fist extended ahead.
Left palm lightly open near her heart.
Her metal gauntlets especially caught Yuri's eye.
'As expected, a bare-knuckle specialist.'
He had wondered since she had no weapon, but her punch that shattered the ground confirmed it.
The fox-pelt woman was indeed a fist-and-leg arts practitioner.
It was his first time fighting someone like this, so Yuri heightened his tension to the max.
'Distance is about three meters.'
The moment Yuri gauged the gap to the fox-pelt woman.
Bang-.
A sharp whoosh exploded from straight ahead.
Hearing it, Yuri moved immediately.
Yet somehow, the fist had already crossed the space and was right in front of his nose.
Crack-.
As the fist grazed his nose tip, a grotesque sound rang out, and blood gushed from both nostrils.
But even so, Yuri had no time to worry about it.
'Crazy!'
He had predicted the attack the instant he heard the sound and moved preemptively.
Given the distance to the fox-pelt woman, he thought Cloud Step would easily evade it.
But that was his mistake.
'It arrived at almost the same time as the sound!'
In other words, the fox-pelt woman's speed was comparable to—or faster than—the speed of sound.
That plunged Yuri into crisis in an instant.
But the real crisis was just beginning.
As Yuri barely dodged the first punch, the fist opened, trying to grab his collar.
Chill-.
'If she grabs me here, it's over!'
Yuri summoned mana with full power.
Redner Family secret mana body technique.
Thunder Wings.
Crackle-.
As Thunder Wings activated, the metal gauntlet's fingertips barely grazed Yuri's collar.
Just as Yuri started pulling away.
Whoosh-.
The fox-pelt woman's body spun like a top, her arm whipping like a lash as the back of her hand aimed for Yuri's chest.
Yuri gritted his teeth and unleashed Thunder Wings repeatedly.
Crack-.
One leap.
Crack-.
Another leap.
Only after two full activations of Thunder Wings could Yuri shake her off.
"Huff— huff—."
Yuri, who had now used Thunder Wings three times in a row.
He breathed raggedly, grinding his teeth.
Straight punches, palms, fingers, backhands.
Arms and shoulders.
Her erratic attacks freely used every part, things Yuri had never faced before.
Especially the 'punch intervals' instead of 'sword intervals' threw him even more off balance.
He glared at the fox-pelt woman standing five meters away.
'Thunder Wings ahead... even forcing it, two more is the limit.'
In the past, two was his limit for Thunder Wings, but now he could manage four or five.
It was definite progress, but in this situation, it still fell woefully short.
Meanwhile, the fox-pelt woman was surprised in her own way.
She alternated glances between her fist and Yuri.
"You're really something, huh?"
Just moments ago, she had attacked in earnest to knock him down.
Yet this kid had repelled it.
Not once, but fully four times.
"Six left. Guess I'll get a little more serious."
With those words, she clashed her fists together.
Clang-.
A sharp metallic ring echoed, and changes rippled through the metal gauntlets.
First, a transparent sheen spread across them.
Then, they glowed red as if thrust into a furnace.
Surpassing that, crimson mana flames finally enveloped the metal gauntlets.
Yuri's eyes flashed at the sight.
'Firm, Fluid, Flame.'
The transformations from certified first to third stage.
And then.
Roar-.
The mana flames shrank, instantly absorbed into the metal gauntlets.
Soon, the gauntlets seemed wrapped in a translucent red membrane.
'That's the Demonic Realm.'
The example from Johann's assignment loomed right before him, but Yuri couldn't rejoice.
He had to face it head-on.
Conflict flickered in Yuri's eyes.
'SShould I use the Demonic Style?'
But he quickly shook his head inwardly.
'Not now.'
His body wasn't in good shape.
Pulling out the Demonic Style at this point wouldn't prevent defeat.
In that case...
'I'll save it for later.'
Today was a lost cause anyway.
So he'd hold it back as a trump card for the next challenge, for a more perfect victory.
Yuri steeled his resolve.
Then, a faint smile of resignation crossed his lips.
"Ha... this is gonna hurt if it lands."
Muttering that, Yuri charged at the fox-pelt woman.
'Even without the Demonic Style... I haven't lost yet!'
Yuri advanced to seize the slimmest chance of victory.
Even knowing defeat likely awaited, his face strangely looked refreshed.
Crack-!
Boom!
Lightning shot into the night sky, followed by an explosion.
Then silence fell over the animal forest.
* * *
"Groan."
A pained groan escaped his lips.
Yuri's eyes, sunken and hollow, barely fluttered open.
'I... I'm gonna die.'
It wasn't hyperbole; the pain felt mortal.
From head to toe, nothing didn't ache.
Even each finger joint throbbed.
The price of pushing Thunder Wings to its limit.
'Now I get why the old man got constipated from not even being able to use the bathroom.'
He overused Thunder Wings so much he dealt with this pain constantly?
No wonder constipation hit.
This was pain enough to kill any thought of going to the bathroom.
"Hoo...."
Yuri took deep breaths, trying to push the pain aside.
Staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling, he recalled his clash with the fox-pelt woman.
'...One hit.'
Unlike his bold charge, Yuri went down in a single blow.
Even after two more Thunder Wings.
'Speed-wise, I'm not far behind.'
The issue was destructive power.
'Demon Sword... no, Demon Fist?'
No matter how he hammered, his sword aura couldn't pierce the fox-pelt woman's Demon Fist.
It felt like striking a steel mass.
And the destructive power was horrific, shredding his grip in one go.
If Whitey weren't a Baekgang steel sword.
And if he hadn't mastered sword aura recently, the sword would have shattered.
'Now I understand what the Demonic Realm is.'
The Firm, Fluid, and Flame realms simply enhanced the weapon's innate function.
But the Demonic Realm granted transcendent destructive power beyond mere enhancement.
A force completely beyond the physical realm.
Like magic from stories.
'That's why it's called the Demonic Realm.'
And the fox-pelt woman wielded that Demon Fist.
'The problem is... it doesn't seem like that's her limit.'
From clashing with her, Yuri realized her skill wasn't capped at certified fourth stage.
She had just matched certified fourth-stage level then.
Her true power remained unknown.
'How do you even catch someone like that?'
Even the whole 50th Cohort charging wouldn't take her down.
One punch would drop at least a dozen.
'I need a strategy if I challenge again.'
Thinking that, Yuri blinked.
His hazy vision cleared, refocusing on the ceiling.
"...Where is this?"
It was clearly a canvas ceiling.
'Barracks?'
But who brought him here?
Screw it, he didn't know. Time to sleep more.
As he thought that and started closing his eyes.
"You're awake."
"I'm hungry."
Two faces suddenly popped into Yuri's view.
Left and right.
Perfectly flanking him, the sudden intrusion startled Yuri into a fit.
"Shit, you scared me!"
Yuri flailed from his lying position.
Each twitch sent stabbing pain through his limbs.
"Gaaah!"
As Yuri let out a weird scream of agony, Arin and Ppobi tilted their heads.
"What's with him?"
"Hungry?"
Arin, still tilting her head repeatedly, poked Yuri's arm with her finger.
Poke-.
"Gack!"
Seeing him flop like a fish again, they finally realized Yuri's condition wasn't normal.
Arin's eyes narrowed to slits.
"Oh ho? Is that so?"
She raised both index fingers and began jabbing Yuri all over his body wildly.
Poke-.
"You."
"Gack!"
Poke-.
"Dare."
"Kyak!"
Poke-.
"To."
"Gwah!"
Poke-.
"Throw."
"Kiyak!"
Poke poke poke-.
"Me!"
"Gaaah!"
"The nerve of you!"
"Gweeeh!"
Da da da da-.
Each furious finger stab made Yuri's body jerk like he'd been struck by lightning.
Only when Yuri drooled from the pain did she finally stop, seemingly satisfied.
"Hoo... I'll let this one slide."
Of course, Yuri was already half out of it, unable to respond.
Meanwhile, Ppobi gave an awkward smile at her antics.
He placed his hand on Yuri's body.
Already tormented by Arin, Yuri flinched reflexively at Ppobi's approaching hand.
Ignoring it, Ppobi began massaging Yuri's arm.
Yuri's eyes went wide.
'...Huh? It feels cool?'
Just touching it before caused intense pain.
But where Ppobi massaged, the pain ebbed, replaced by soothing coolness.
Knead knead-.
Ppobi worked over Yuri's body thoroughly for a while before pulling his hands away.
Afterward, Yuri blinked and cautiously sat up a bit.