Chapter 56
Chapter 56
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 56
Chapter Title: Berserker Clash
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The mother of the two children stared quietly into my eyes before steeling herself and taking the hand I extended.
Since the children's mother was also in poor shape, I picked up the older of the two kids. They were so light. I was afraid to hold them too tightly, worried they might break if I wasn't careful. The adults supported each other, while those who still had some strength carried or piggybacked the children.
"Let's head to the exit."
I led everyone toward the building's entrance. Right in front of the door, I had the group wait.
"Ready?"
I signaled to Nayoung, who was on standby, and the Oh brothers.
"Yes, oppa."
"Yes, Hunter-nim. Just say the word."
"Go."
A few seconds later, Nayoung's Blind skill enveloped every building except ours. Spreading it out in a donut shape—her control over Blind was getting more skilled by the day.
Then came the sound of two large vehicles approaching rapidly. It was the Oh brothers and Sanghun.
The silent night, filled only with the chirps of insects until a minute ago, grew noisy in an instant.
"What... what's going on?! Who turned off the lights?! Is anyone there?!"
Blind blocked the five senses by interfering with the mind, not by actually eliminating sound. Thanks to that, screams and crashing noises echoed from all around.
Sleeping people wouldn't feel much from Blind and wouldn't wake unless directly disturbed. The village hadn't erupted into full chaos yet. We had to use this gap to escape quickly.
From beyond the barrier, I heard the bus accelerating toward us. It would arrive in one minute at this speed. But in the current situation, that felt like an eternity.
I expanded my senses to check for approaching enemies and sent the children out of the building. Approaching the barrier, I kicked it to punch a hole, then widened it by crumbling the debris with my hands.
Gigantifying, I braced the breached barrier with my head and shoulders to prevent it from collapsing.
Heechul and the others gasped in surprise at the sight of me gigantifying.
"Get out, hurry!"
Only after I shouted at the stunned onlookers did they finally scramble under me.
"There's never a dull moment with you around, hyung!"
Sanghun hopped off the Hwagok Retrieval Service bus, and the Oh brothers got out of their vehicle to load the kids. Familiar faces from Hwagok Retrieval came to help as well.
Tatata-tang!
Someone in a panic had pulled the trigger.
"Which bastard?!"
Soon after, a thunderous roar echoed from Shin Bukhan. The axe wielder had awakened. With Nayoung's Blind spread so widely, it apparently didn't affect someone of his caliber.
"Go, quick."
I loaded the last child into the vehicle and sent them off.
Then the axe wielder leaped onto a rooftop to survey the area. Spotting the bus, he hurled his axe without hesitation and dropped back down himself.
The instant his axe left his hand, I kicked off the ground and launched myself. Even a single axe at that speed would obliterate the bus.
I smashed the flat side of the axe with my fist, intending to shatter it. But the axe collided with my fist and spun back like a boomerang toward its owner. It must have an auto-retrieve option.
The wielder, who had leaped high, snatched the returning axe mid-air, vaulted over the barrier, and landed in front of me.
"It was you... What did you steal?"
He had rushed out without even putting on a shirt, wearing only pants.
"I'm taking the sick ones. You can't handle them anyway."
"What? Those retards? That's why you came? Hmm..."
For a moment, killing intent flared.
"Those... don't really matter much, but I can't just let someone who broke into our house and trashed the place walk away."
A red aura blade coated his axe—the same one that had cleaved the drake before. Last time, he'd backed off without fighting to assess the situation, but today he was unusually aggressive. Had he investigated me in the meantime? My plan to quietly take the kids and slip away was ruined.
He charged, swinging his right axe in a diagonal slash. Thanks to repeated level-ups and my fight with Helen, my agility had risen sharply, and my heightened senses let me read his movements and dodge. But he was a step faster than me. My raw stats were surely higher, but job corrections were clearly at play.
As I leaned back to evade and counter with a punch, he brought his left axe down on my lowered stance.
I retracted my thrusting fist, wrapped aura around both arms, and blocked his axe.
Kwang!
Fast, and the power behind it was immense. The clash of his aura and mine burst outward, shredding the skin on my arms and pushing me back. But his axe didn't stop—it sliced into my arm. I flattened myself to dodge, but not fully.
Using the force that shoved me, I fell completely to the ground, propped myself with my already regenerated arms, and swept his leg.
He jumped to avoid my kick and hurled both axes.
The scarlet-aura-infused axes flew straight at me, crystal clear in my vision. Having clashed once, I could feel their power even more acutely.
I wrapped aura around my fist and shot it out before impact, batting them away. The collision of auras exploded like a bomb, but damn it, the axes returned intact to their master.
Overall, I was at a disadvantage. I could barely block attacks, but he was faster, and his aura mastery was superior. Each block dispersed my aura, forcing me to pour in fresh life force to reform it. Burning life force like this was inefficient; I couldn't sustain the fight long.
I needed to dodge rather than block, but he'd used some skill like the one against the drake—his axe swings were accelerating over time.
I'd held back to avoid injuring him, considering the government's position and acting on my own, but I couldn't endure much longer. With no choice, when he closed in, I spewed poison mist from my mouth.
Sensing it coming, he retreated while swinging his axe wide. Instead of the usual sharp aura, it unleashed a broad-area aura, and repeated swings formed a hemispherical barrier in front of him. The mist touching it burned away completely.
"You damn bastard... I'll turn you into mincemeat."
His face twisted into a demonic snarl of rage, and his entire body turned bright red.
I'd seen allies use it on the battlefield in my past life. Berserker skill. It boosted strength, stamina, and agility by tens of percent instantly, but rationality flew out the window. I remembered dodging to avoid getting caught up with comrades on the field. Plus, the backlash after duration ended tanked life force and stamina for a while—the commanders had chewed them out never to use it again.
A skill with big drawbacks in group fights, but in a one-on-one like this, it couldn't be ignored.
He hadn't fully incinerated the mist—blood trickled from his nose and mouth—but unlike a mage like Helen, close-combat fighters like him had robust life force and took minimal damage unless hit head-on.
He alternated axes in a frenzy as he charged. At double his initial speed, I couldn't fully evade and barely blocked with aura-wrapped arms.
[Agility has increased by 1.]
[Agility has increased by 1.]
Agility rose in the crisis, but the aura on my arms shattered against his axes. From overusing it, with scant life force left, I had no time to reapply before his horizontal slash came.
What to do? Could my arms hold without aura? If severed, spray blood from the stump and flee? Could I even flee? Too late to dodge.
I couldn't just take it. No life force for full-block aura, but I maximally hardened my arms' exterior and scraped together what remained to coat them. My mind filled with the single thought: block somehow.
Kaang!
My right arm, which I'd thought would be sliced, was intact.
His axe was stopped by the black armor that had sprouted on both arms.
From shoulders to fingertips, black armor covered them. The plates were slightly larger than small snake or lizard scales, hugging my body tightly for free joint movement.
Nayoung often sketched weapon and armor designs for Regen production—one matched this exactly. I'd unconsciously remembered the cool design and manifested it.
The name of Nayoung's design was Dragon Scale Armor, and like the name, it wrapped my arms like dragon scales.
It didn't even scratch against his sharp aura. Not just unsevered—no marks at all.
In berserker state, his cognition dulled; he didn't notice my change and swung relentlessly.
I blocked his successive attacks with my now-armored arms. Still slower, but his berserker strikes were monotonously simple, making defense easier than before.
Berserker's duration was short. Hold out a bit longer, and he'd collapse from backlash and poison mist damage.
That's when Shin Bukhan hunters began slinking out from under Blind. Some emerged beyond the barrier; others climbed watchtowers.
"There!"
Soon, one hunter spotted Nayoung. He nocked an arrow at her, and others charged her way.
"Nayoung, drop Blind and run!"
I tried to reach her, but the axe wielder wouldn't let me. Blocking his nonstop swings left me unable to stop the other hunters going for her.
While parrying a flying axe, I fired aura from my right fingers at the hunters targeting Nayoung.
Days of training shone—life force bullets pierced the legs of those aiming at her precisely.
But paying attention elsewhere while facing the axe wielder cost me dearly. His axe sliced into my unprotected side, embedding in my ribs.
At least his aura wasn't enough to cleave through my reinforced bones in one go.
Before he could yank it free, I pinned it with my right hand, fixing it to my body.
Then I smashed his arm trying to pull the axe with my left.
"Kua!"
His arm bent unnaturally, yet he swung his other axe at my neck.
I whipped my hastily swung arm back to block, but a bit late. The axe buried a third into my neck.
As it pulled free, my blood sprayed everywhere. Knowing my poison mist, he abandoned the axe and leaped back.
I yanked out the axes from my side and neck, tossing them to the ground.
"Monster bastard..."
Seeing my side and neck regenerate, he spoke. Berserker's effect had ended, rationality returning.
But my life force depletion was worse. Pre-armor, I'd spammed aura and lost much blood. Regenerating the final major damage used nearly all remaining life force—my head spun.
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
[Stamina has increased by 1.]
Stamina up by 2, but nowhere near enough.
Sensing my abnormality, the axe wielder wrapped aura around his fist and closed in.
My arms wouldn't rise from exhaustion.
"Die!"
His fist wasn't as fast as before, but enough to smash my head. I struggled to lift my arm, but it was a touch too slow to block his descending punch.