Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: The Tiger Repays the Favor (2)
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When he first heard about the sacred realm, Yuri had wondered why it was called sacred.
But now he understood.
It was like capturing clear, transparent light within a gem and polishing it with exquisite care.
A paradoxical sensation—subtle yet intensely powerful.
If this wasn't sacred, then what was?
Having confirmed the sacred realm he'd aimed for with his own eyes, Yuri let out a wry chuckle.
‘Haha, this is something else. She's really grinding her teeth to crush me.’
Thanks to that, one thing was crystal clear.
From this point on, even a single hit would mean certain death.
The problem was...
‘It's not just one hit left—it's two.’
A heavy tension clouded Yuri's eyes.
Thud—thud—.
The tiger woman was approaching slowly.
Her gait resembled that of a tiger that had successfully hunted, closing in to tear out the neck of its dying prey and sever its last breath.
Every subtle movement of the tiger woman filled Yuri's field of vision.
‘Strong.’
The person who had opened Yuri's eyes to what true strength meant was Johan.
The strongest person Yuri had ever met was the Sword Lord.
And among those he'd clashed with directly so far, the woman before him was undoubtedly the strongest.
‘Certified sixth dan...’
He'd anticipated she'd be stronger than anyone he'd faced, but for her to wield sacred power?
At that level, she had to be a veteran even among the Black Sword Corps squad leaders.
With his current abilities, charging at her was pure recklessness.
Yet Yuri exhaled deeply and smiled.
“Huu... Let's go.”
With that, he began walking slowly.
Step—step—.
One, two, three.
His light footsteps gradually quickened until, at some point, Yuri was sprinting.
Straight toward the tiger woman advancing on him.
‘If I get hit, I die.’
In that case...
‘I just won't get hit!’
Tsssk—.
Demonic threads erupted from Yuri's entire body.
At the same time, he thought calmly.
‘Foresight already used four times.’
He could manage one more foresight at most from here.
Meanwhile, the tiger woman had two attacks remaining.
In other words, he'd have to weather one of those two without foresight.
An assault so swift it seemed like teleportation.
Especially if he burned foresight on the ninth exchange—the tenth would end with him collapsing before they even clashed.
Which was why Yuri drew forth his demonic threads.
‘Was planning to save it for a fatal strike at the last possible moment.’
That's why he'd endured their first fight without deploying them right up to the end.
But with the situation twisting out of control, he'd had no choice but to reveal them.
Now, without the demonic threads, he couldn't fend off the tiger woman.
‘More precise. Predict even faster.’
As he charged toward the tiger woman, Yuri focused on the demonic threads.
Delicate flows transmitted along the finely spun threads.
The flow of the wind.
Tremors in the ground.
Vibrations in the air.
Even faint ripples of mana.
Every single one became information streaming toward him, and Yuri absorbed it all, analyzing meticulously.
‘Chasing her movements with my eyes alone will be too slow.’
That's why he'd relied on foresight to predict her moves up to now.
Typically reading one step ahead of the tiger woman.
But he couldn't use foresight anymore.
Predicting just one step ahead wouldn't suffice against her speed.
In this scenario, the only option was to calculate every piece of information and forecast two steps—or more—ahead.
‘Distance: ten meters.’
Narrow the prediction zone below that, and even reading her moves wouldn't keep pace with her velocity.
He needed to anticipate from at least ten meters out.
The moment that thought crystallized, the demonic threads extending from Yuri contracted.
In their place, they wove an even denser net.
And right then—
Taht—!
The tiger woman directly ahead vanished.
Yuri's brain, processing dozens of data points per second, caught the signal rippling through the demonic threads.
‘Where... where are you coming from!’
Unable to track her visually, a vivid image formed in his mind.
At the same instant, multiple afterimages of the tiger woman flickered in his mental space.
Predicted trajectories drawn from the data he'd gathered.
Those paths began narrowing down, one by one.
Until only a single afterimage remained.
A glint flashed in Yuri's eyes.
‘Got it!’
The threads radiating outward compressed in a flash, converging around him.
They flowed like water, like wind, encircling Yuri.
And at the center, light bloomed.
Spot!
It was the tiger woman's sacred power.
Her fist already at point-blank range.
Yuri raised his sword while commanding the surrounding demonic threads.
The flows under his control interfered with her sacred power.
Ggrgrgrgr—.
This was the sacred power that hadn't merely deflected the immense physical force of the oncoming shield—it had hurled Poppi five meters along with it.
Forcing a twist to redirect that might, the ambient flows screamed in protest.
But Yuri poured everything into deflecting the sacred power's force.
The exchange lasted a mere one or two seconds, yet to Yuri it felt like dozens of minutes had passed.
And finally—
Kikikiking—slash—.
Sparks flew between Yuri and the tiger woman as she launched into the air.
She spun gracefully midair before landing lightly on the ground.
Meanwhile, Yuri—who'd been charging forward—pivoted 180 degrees and skidded backward.
Zuzuzuk—.
Kicking up clouds of dirt, he finally came to a halt.
Bent slightly at the waist, a gush of blood erupted from his mouth.
Cough—.
“Damn... you're filthy strong.”
During the Hundred Paces Rite, facing the Sword Lord's aura had taught him one thing: the stronger the flow to control, the harder it was.
And the tiger woman's sacred power exhibited a flow far more potent than the Sword Lord's aura, which Yuri had endured across fifteen paces.
It was only natural, perhaps.
After all, the tiger woman strode far beyond those fifteen paces Yuri had crossed.
Swipe—.
Yuri roughly wiped the blood from his lips and fixed his gaze on her.
A pleased curve tugged at his mouth.
* * *
Seeing the boy flash a blood-smeared smile from afar set the tiger woman's heart pounding.
Not in a romantic sense, of course.
It was the deep thrill born from a life-hanging fierce battle—the exhilarating rush of facing a worthy adversary.
Yet that sensation came from this young cadet.
Eleven years her junior, and leagues below her in realm.
Against such an opponent, the tiger woman felt the thrill of a true rival.
‘How the hell did things end up like this?’
When the fight began, she hadn't anticipated this in the slightest.
She'd merely thought a minor amusement had dropped into her monotonous routine.
Then a bizarre arrow curved midair toward her.
A giant popped out of nowhere and hurled a shield.
What started as mild entertainment escalated into something far more intriguing.
Now it had become the most captivating incident in recent memory.
Drip drip—.
The tiger woman turned her head to stare at the blood trickling down the back of her hand.
A gash running from her forearm to her shoulder.
A fairly deep wound.
Feeling the stinging pain, she gazed at Yuri in the distance as he wiped blood from his mouth.
‘That kid...’
She admitted it: deploying sacred power against a mere certified first-dan cadet had been her getting carried away in the heat.
Yet the kid had blocked it.
A flicker of doubt entered the tiger woman's eyes as she regarded Yuri.
‘What the hell was that just now?’
When she'd thrown her fist, some inexplicable force had interfered, twisting her sacred power.
In response, an unfamiliar itch stirred deep in her chest.
She wanted to know.
What that power of his was that had warped her sacred power.
And what this itching sensation inside her truly signified.
The way to find out was simple.
Just experience it one more time!
She called out to Yuri.
“You—what's your name?”
“Yuri Holland.”
“Right... that was it. Yuri Holland... Yuri Holland.”
Muttering his name softly as if to commit it to memory, she unfastened her breastplate.
Clang—.
The leather-and-steel chestplate tumbled to the ground, and she stepped forward with her right foot.
Lowering into stance, she thrust her right fist ahead while placing her open left hand near her heart.
Her most comfortable, most familiar posture.
The starting form for every technique of her house.
With a solemn expression, she declared.
“Black Sword Corps 17th Squad Leader, Greta Wigen.”
It was the first time she'd revealed her family name since leaving home.
A mark of respect from the tiger woman—no, from Greta—toward Yuri.
Meanwhile, sensing her shifted demeanor, Yuri let out a soft sigh.
‘They say there's a mountain beyond every mountain.’
He'd scraped the absolute bottom of his reserves to barely survive one exchange, only for something even fiercer to emerge.
The next attack wouldn't be easy.
No—the next would be harder than anything he'd endured so far.
But what choice was there?
To win, he'd have to survive it.
Shake—.
Yuri flicked the blood droplets from his sword and said.
“Fresh-faced newbie who's been in the Cradle for less than a month, Yuri Holland here—please go easy!”
His words were playful, begging for mercy, but his eyes burned with unprecedented focus and gravity.
Goooo—.
Their ages differed.
Their realms differed.
Yet between these two who had acknowledged one another, a solemn battle aura began to drift.
* * *
Poppi, who had smashed through trees only to revert to his original form before long.
Faint wisps of steam rose from his entire body.
Psshh—.
Staggering as he emerged from the forest, Poppi's eyes caught sight of Yuri and Greta locked in confrontation.
Unaware of the full sequence of events, he could tell from the atmosphere alone that their duel was drawing to a close.
In response, Poppi thumped his chest twice with his fist.
A gesture akin to the Yum tribe's prayer for victory, offered to warriors heading into battle.
Meanwhile, up in the tree.
Gulp—.
Arin swallowed the saliva pooling from tension.
‘That guy's already at his limit.’
It was obvious at a glance—Yuri had reached his breaking point.
The tiger woman, by contrast, remained full of vigor, her presence even more ferocious.
To any onlooker, this went beyond unfavorable for Yuri; victory seemed all but impossible.
Yet for some reason, Arin didn't think he'd lose.
Not during the Hundred Paces Rite.
Not now.
She harbored a vague expectation that this guy would pull off something entertaining.
Which was why she cheered for him from the heart.
‘Just this last one.’
She prayed he'd survive that final clash.
The instant Arin made her wish—
Tsspt—!
Yuri and Greta sprang into motion.