Chapter 65
Chapter 65
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 65
Chapter Title: Aura Blade
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He didn't seem to be bluffing by pretending it didn't hurt.
It was a technique that even S-rank Hunters couldn't endure without screaming, so even if it was all bravado, it didn't change the fact that the youth was an impressive figure.
"Surely this isn't the end, is it?"
The youth released the baseball bat he was gripping and raised his sword overhead.
"If you have any hidden tricks up your sleeve, you'd better bring them out now."
Kang Jin-hyuk swallowed his rage at the youth's words.
Hearing that after unleashing such a powerful technique wounded his pride.
But there was no way left for him to salvage his damaged pride.
'Alraune's Reversion Pill wouldn't make a difference even if I used it right now.'
With the gap in skill as vast as heaven and earth, doubling his stats wouldn't turn the tide.
At best, he'd hold out a little longer before shattering.
Kang Jin-hyuk had no desire to waste the Reversion Pill on such an ending.
Having completely ruled out using the pill,
All that remained for Kang Jin-hyuk were the mountain of potions he'd prepared.
"Fine, it's do or die!"
Kang Jin-hyuk gathered his aura, intending to burn through his remaining MP in one go.
There was no need to wrap his entire body in aura to block a straightforward attack.
Focusing his aura into both hands, Kang Jin-hyuk swung his bat to deflect the youth's vertically slashing sword.
He barely avoided having his head split open, but the one being pushed back by the overwhelming force was Kang Jin-hyuk, not the youth.
Before he could lose his balance and fall, Kang Jin-hyuk concentrated aura into his legs and kicked off the ground with all his might.
Using the recoil, he put significant distance between himself and the youth.
"Are you running away? If you want, I can end the trial here."
"Shut up and give me a second to think!"
The youth stared in bewilderment as Kang Jin-hyuk shouted in irritation.
It was the first time anyone had reacted to him like that.
"What an insolent human."
His attitude showed no trace of manners, no matter how hard you looked.
Even so, the youth didn't entirely hate it.
He was content with the rare freshness he felt.
"Only you humans cling so desperately to hopeless causes."
From an objective standpoint, Kang Jin-hyuk had no chance of winning.
Dropping his weapon and begging on his knees right now would offer better odds of survival than fighting back.
Kang Jin-hyuk was well aware of that fact.
Yet he had no intention of surrendering.
If he failed this trial and didn't gain power here, he'd be killed by whichever of Jo Won-chul or Kang Jun-tae survived.
That do-or-die situation stripped away any option of giving up.
For Kang Jin-hyuk, it was either die or win—nothing else.
Having come this far, stopping midway wasn't allowed.
The blond youth could read Kang Jin-hyuk's resolve in his eyes.
He didn't know the full details, but the man's will came through loud and clear.
"Very well. If that's your choice, I won't bother with any more tedious procedures."
"What are you suddenly rambling about?"
"I'm saying I'll hit you with one strike—try to block it."
What he added was that he'd only use a tenth of his power.
As soon as the youth finished speaking, a dazzling radiance poured from his body.
A brilliant golden aura.
It was the same color as the aura Kang Jin-hyuk had used before acquiring his hidden class.
"Holy power...?"
The youth was impressed that Kang Jin-hyuk had recognized it.
"You're sharp to identify this. Then you must know how to counter it?"
"How the hell would I know that?!"
"You'd better start thinking now. Otherwise, you'll die."
The youth's aura concentrated into both arms.
Gathered in one place, it shone even more brilliantly, illuminating the surroundings.
Kang Jin-hyuk let out a scoff at the sight of the youth mirroring his own aura concentration.
"Didn't you say that focusing aura like that makes your attack path obvious?"
"Exactly. That's the point."
"What?"
"Wouldn't it be too harsh without giving you a handicap? I have to show some consideration."
Kang Jin-hyuk's anger surged.
In other words, he was saying he'd telegraph his attack from the start—dodge if you can.
No man's pride would allow him to just take that treatment lying down.
Kang Jin-hyuk gripped his baseball bat with a grim expression, like a batter facing two outs in the bottom of the ninth.
"Fine, let's see it."
Kang Jin-hyuk planted his feet directly facing the youth.
The distance was about 20 meters. It seemed fairly far, but both he and the youth could close it in an instant.
"Don't get cocky. Blocking is easy if you just dodge—why face it head-on?"
"Whether it's cocky or not, we'll see."
The youth clicked his tongue at Kang Jin-hyuk's response.
"I thought you were a decent human, but you're just ignorant of your own limits."
With his expectations dashed, the youth held nothing back.
The aura he raised flowed from his hand along the blade.
"This might be the last sight you see. Etch it well into those eyes."
The golden light fully enveloping the blade resembled a lightsaber from the movies.
The form of the aura the youth had created didn't feel unfamiliar to Kang Jin-hyuk.
As someone who'd read his share of fantasy novels, he knew exactly what it was.
"No way... that's not an Aura Blade, is it?"
"If you know, that makes things quicker. Do you now understand how foolish it is to block this head-on?"
The technique the youth demonstrated was indeed that legendary one from imagination.
The symbol of sword masters, said to slice through anything effortlessly.
In every story, the Aura Blade was depicted as a technique of immense power.
Seeing it with his own eyes, Kang Jin-hyuk could feel why it was portrayed so overwhelmingly.
'I always thought that one day, with aura, something like that might be possible...'
But encountering it sooner than expected.
And not by his own hand, but someone else's.
Rather than fear, curiosity welled up in Kang Jin-hyuk first.
"Hell, it's just shaping your aura like a sword, right?"
Infusing a weapon with aura wasn't that hard.
Kang Jin-hyuk downed the high-grade MP Potions from his inventory and raised his aura.
His red aura extended to the baseball bat in his grip, flickering like flames.
"You're not thinking that crude thing is on the same level as an Aura Blade, are you?"
"Why not? They look pretty much the same to me."
At most, just a visual difference.
Kang Jin-hyuk dismissed it as no big deal.
But a massive wall separated the two.
"Unlike an Aura Blade, your aura is just spewing out wildly without any control."
The youth kindly explained the difference.
Kang Jin-hyuk didn't grasp the implication right away.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Even after chugging those potions every time, you still haven't realized? Just blasting aura like that is extremely inefficient and weak."
Kang Jin-hyuk's aura vanished quickly without constant MP infusion.
But shaping aura precisely like the youth allowed maintaining it with minimal mana.
No waste, pure concentrated power—that's what gave it monstrous cutting force against anything.
"Better to experience it yourself than hear it talked about."
Some truths held across worlds: Seeing once beats hearing a hundred times.
The youth raised the hand gripping his sword to shoulder height and immediately kicked off.
One step was all it took to cover 20 meters.
Launching with enough force to crater the ground, he closed into Kang Jin-hyuk's range with his Aura Blade-wrapped sword.
Thanks to being prepared, Kang Jin-hyuk didn't freeze at the terrifying speed.
Calmly, he extended his bat along the symmetric trajectory to the youth's swinging sword.
Boom!
An enormous impact echoed through the pitch-black space.
At its center, red aura desperately clashed against golden aura.
"What are you doing?! You thought you could stand against me with this pathetic level of power?!"
Each time the youth bellowed, the red aura chipped away bit by bit.
The fierce blaze that had roared like a wildfire dwindled to a mere ember.
In contrast, the youth's undiminished Aura Blade soon touched the now aura-stripped baseball bat.
Kang Jin-hyuk's bat, which had blocked attacks effortlessly before, couldn't handle this one.
Scratches began appearing where the Aura Blade made contact.
"Damn it!"
At this rate, his upper and lower body would part ways along with the bat.
Kang Jin-hyuk had no intention of dying such an ugly death.
But willpower alone changed nothing.
If he didn't want to die, he had to act to escape the crisis.
Kang Jin-hyuk had already thought of a method.
He just wasn't sure if he could pull it off.
"Raargh!!"
Tossing aside his doubts, Kang Jin-hyuk unleashed his full power aura, concentrating it into one point.
A single point.
The tiny contact where the Aura Blade met the bat—that's where all of Kang Jin-hyuk's aura focused.
Seeing this, the youth widened his eyes in genuine surprise for the first time.
"You can concentrate aura to this degree?"
The power spreading wide, now focused to a point, erupted with unimaginable force.
It was enough to momentarily push back the Aura Blade.
However, the full-power aura rapidly drained Kang Jin-hyuk's MP like water from a bottomless jar.
Unable to drink a potion mid-clash, his aura visibly faded.
"Not bad improvisation."
Seizing the weakening resistance, the youth thrust forward to slice the bat.
At that moment, a sharp crack rang out as the youth's sword shattered.
Staring at the cleanly bisected blade, the youth let out a hollow chuckle.
"So even a normal iron sword couldn't withstand it."
The broken sword didn't end his attack entirely.
He could easily replace it with an Aura Blade if he wanted.
But the youth didn't.
He simply dropped the sword and retreated.
"Huff... huff..."
Kang Jin-hyuk wanted to strike the defenseless youth but couldn't.
Excessive MP consumption had sapped his strength; even standing was precarious.
Continuing the fight now would mean certain defeat.
"Don't glare like that. You're the reckless one who chose to clash head-on, not me."
The youth had planned to pass him if he'd just dodged from the start.
Charging in with defiance was purely Kang Jin-hyuk's choice.
"By the way, that aura of yours... it's not purely mana-based, is it?"
During their clash, the youth realized Kang Jin-hyuk's aura was rooted in holy power.
When the youth pointed it out, Kang Jin-hyuk was puzzled.
"So what?"
"Hey now, don't speak so carelessly."
Putting on a stern face, the youth blinked, reverting to his elderly form.
He then tapped Kang Jin-hyuk's forehead with his staff.
"From now on, this is the body you must serve—show some proper respect."
"What nonsense is... Aagh!"
Agonizing pain shot through where the staff touched, forcing Kang Jin-hyuk to one knee.
"Since your power is based in holy power, strengthening it will be simple."
The old man watched Kang Jin-hyuk writhe in pain with a smile.
"How does it feel to be directly connected to a god?"