Chapter 43
Chapter 43
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 43
Chapter Title: Closed-Door Training (4)
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*Swoosh!*
A wire, shot at near the speed of sound, wrapped around Riak's arm.
"Hmph!"
Riak made no effort to dodge.
Instead, he roughly yanked the wire coiled around his arm.
The overwhelming difference in strength sent Oh-jin flying toward him like a fish on a line.
"I'll give you credit for your courage!"
To think he'd break through my full killing intent and strike first.
Even Riak hadn't expected it.
"But!"
Courage without strength was nothing but recklessness.
"That's all it is!"
He lashed out not with his fist, but with his sharp claws at the helplessly approaching Oh-jin.
A strike filled with thick killing intent.
A fragile human body would be torn like paper if caught by his claws.
—Then.
"Hup!"
*Click!*
Oh-jin released the wire shooter on his left arm.
He used the momentum of the pull to slide forward.
Swinging his spear low, he aimed for Riak's ankle.
"Where do you think you're aiming!"
Unfazed, Riak let go of the wire and jumped.
*Whoosh!*
The silver spear cut through empty air.
"Ah."
A short gasp escaped Oh-jin's lips.
It was a critical strike he'd gambled everything on, even ditching his wire shooter, but it had been seen through so easily.
And in a fight against a powerful foe like Riak, the failure of a critical strike meant one thing.
"Let's see if that courage of yours lasts after you've experienced death!"
—It meant death.
*CRACK!!*
"Kuh-heok?!"
A kick devoid of any mercy.
Kicked in the stomach, Oh-jin's body bent into an L-shape and was sent flying.
The agony of his organs being crushed.
The sensation of his shattered vertebrae digging into his flesh spread vividly through his body.
[My child!]
"Oh-jin!"
The urgent voices of two women rang out.
"*Cough!*"
Dark red blood poured from his throat.
"...Ah."
His consciousness flickered.
A sense of powerlessness, as if his soul were leaving his body, consumed him.
And then.
-*Wooooong!*
Along with a silver halo of light, his consciousness, which had been fading to white, became clear again.
His wounds regenerated as if time had been rewound.
"Hah! Hah!"
He gasped for breath.
The horrific pain of his crushed organs and shattered bones lingered in his body like an aftershock.
"Ah, ugh."
*Tremble, tremble, tremble.*
He clutched his chest, his legs shaking.
He wanted to pick up the spear on the floor, but his body wouldn't move easily.
But.
"......"
*Grit.*
Gritting his teeth, he forced strength into his trembling legs.
"Well, now that you've experienced it once, you understand, don't you?"
Riak said with a sardonic smile, crossing his arms.
"From now on, don't spout such nonsense about wanting to experience real combat—"
Before he could finish his sentence.
-*BOOM!*
"Hraaaaaaah!!"
He let out a roar and charged toward Riak.
As he reached for the floor, a line of blue sparks wrapped around the silver spear.
The silver spear floated up as if it were a living creature.
*Clasp!*
He gripped the spear.
"Oh?"
A peculiar light glinted in Riak's eyes.
-*Clang! Kang! Clang!*
"So you're not all talk, after all."
He smirked, casually parrying the spear.
"But."
Riak bared his teeth fiercely.
His claws, burning with blue lightning, aimed for Oh-jin's neck.
*Shhhk!*
From his slit throat, charred flesh crumbled out like ash.
"—How long can you possibly last?"
The second time, the third, the fourth, the fifth.
Death followed death like links in a chain.
Vega's authority returned his body to its state just before death, but not his mind.
It was breaking, distorting.
Crumbling like a sandcastle washed away by the tide.
"*Gah! Kack!*"
He collapsed, spitting out the blood that had risen to his chin.
A tidal wave of unbearable pain washed over his entire body.
'Focus.'
He clung to the fading thread of his consciousness.
'This is what you wanted.'
A sensation that could never be felt in ordinary sparring.
The terror of stepping onto death's doorstep shackled his mind.
'Don't think.'
His body moved, following instinct, not reason.
'Don't judge.'
Just as he always had.
He entrusted himself to his intuition and instincts.
-*Clang! Clang! CLANG!*
"Hmm?"
Riak's eyes narrowed.
He parried the rapidly thrusting spear, a look of confusion on his face.
'What is this?'
Something.
Was strange.
'Why has he suddenly become—so difficult to deal with?'
Nothing had particularly changed.
He wasn't faster, nor was he stronger.
But.
-*Bzzt!*
"Kugh!"
As lightning shot up from below, Riak found himself taking a 'step back' without realizing it.
"What...?"
Riak's eyes widened.
With no time to solve the mystery.
The battle continued.
"Hah, hah, hah!"
Gasping for air.
He squeezed out every last bit of his mana, relentlessly unleashing Lightning Spear and Explosive Lightning.
'It's not enough.'
Lightning Spear and Explosive Lightning were powerful, but their attack patterns were too simple.
Against Riak, they weren't even particularly effective, making them nothing more than easy attacks to block and dodge.
'I need another skill.'
A more versatile attack that could pressure him more effectively.
'What is there?'
He lost himself in thought while continuously thrusting his spear.
But only abstract images came to mind.
He didn't know the specifics of how to use such a skill.
'What on earth do I have to do—'
*Crunch!*
"Krk! Gak!"
Another death was added to the count.
Within his consciousness, which flickered like a flame.
-Why are you thinking so hard about it?
A question arose.
-You already have all the necessary ingredients, don't you?
"Ah."
A short gasp escaped him.
Right.
Why had he been thinking so hard?
Why had he been making it so complicated?
'It's simple.'
He let out a dry laugh, his shoulders shaking.
He let his grip on the spear go slack and slowly raised his left arm.
'If the Stigma of Lyra alone isn't enough.'
*Wooooong!*
The Stigma engraved on his left chest emitted light.
Upon the brightly burning Stigma of Lyra.
'I just have to add another one.'
—The Stigma of Noctua overlapped it.
[The Stigma of Lyra and the Stigma of Noctua are connecting!]
[You have acquired the synthesis skill, 《Lightning Wings Lv MAX》!]
[A portion of the conditions for the fourth awakening of Black Heaven has been met!]
*Ch-ch-ch-chak!!*
Dozens of feathers made of blue lightning shot toward Riak.
"Kgh?!"
Riak swung his claws with a bewildered expression at the sudden attack.
The lightning feathers that slipped past his claws riddled his body.
Silver fur was sliced away, and red blood splattered.
"This is..."
His mouth fell open in disbelief.
There was no skill that utilized the Stigma of Lyra to create lightning feathers.
—Which meant.
'He... created a skill on the spot?'
Riak's pupils trembled.
Creating a new skill using a Stigma wasn't impossible.
The lightning claws he often used were a skill Riak himself had created.
But.
'How can a brat who just became an Awakened do that?'
A fact he had forgotten, no, had been trying to ignore, came to mind.
"This... is the Star of the Unrestrained."
A dizzying thrill ran down his spine.
"Hah, hah!"
After firing the lightning feathers, Oh-jin's body staggered.
As if it wasn't over yet, the clear sound of a bell rang out repeatedly.
[The 'Stigma of Lyra' has been upgraded to 4-Star!]
[The skill 《Lightning Lv4》 has risen to 《Lightning Lv5》!]
4-Star.
An Awakened who hadn't even been active for half a year had reached 4-Star.
A growth speed so fast it was unprecedented.
But there was no time to savor the joy of his advancement.
"Grrrrr! Insolent!"
Riak's ferocious attacks continued.
-*Shhhk!*
"Keok!"
Even after learning a new skill.
Even after reaching the 4-Star realm.
The gap with Riak remained.
"Aaaaaaaargh!!"
Sharp claws mangled his entire body.
Horrible agony shook him.
The sixth time, the seventh, the eighth.
Deaths piled up.
"Do you think talent alone can change fate!"
Riak pressed Oh-jin even more fiercely.
It was a one-sided battle, to the point where his explosive growth during the short fight seemed meaningless.
Just as the number of times Oh-jin had experienced death surpassed double digits.
[—Enough!]
*BOOM!!*
Vega blocked Riak's path.
"Hoo, hoo, hoo!"
Riak, who had been frantically attacking, came to a sudden halt.
Vega looked down coldly at the panting Riak.
[You have gone too far.]
"......"
Only then did Riak calm his excitement and check on Oh-jin's condition.
He had lost consciousness from the shock of the sudden onslaught of deaths and lay collapsed on the floor.
"Oh-jin!! Hey!! Kwon Oh-jin!! Wake up, you bastard!!"
Ha-eun embraced the fallen Oh-jin, sobbing uncontrollably.
"...I apologize!"
Riak knelt before Vega and bowed his head.
'A mistake.'
Riak squeezed his eyes shut.
The moment he realized Oh-jin's talent.
The moment he witnessed his potential, as vast as a star in the night sky.
He had unconsciously lost control.
'This fool!'
He bit his lip, cursing himself.
To be blinded by jealousy and make such a mistake.
[Riak. I understand how you feel.]
Vega continued in a low, somber voice.
[To you, who has been stagnant for ages, blocked by a 'wall', this child must have come as a great shock.]
That was accurate.
[However.]
*Flinch.*
Riak's shoulders trembled.
[Even so, I cannot hide my great disappointment in seeing you forget your duty and run wild.]
"......"
Riak kept his mouth tightly shut and bowed his head low.
Even with ten mouths, he would have no excuse.
"When that human... no, when the Star of the Unrestrained regains consciousness, I will formally apologize. If he does not accept, I will beg for forgiveness even if it means taking my own life."
He was serious.
[Huu... For now, let us wait until my child regains consciousness.]
Vega let out a short sigh and turned around.
There.
[Huh?]
—Oh-jin, who had gotten up at some point, was standing there.
[My child. Have you regained conscious—]
"Not yet."
*Stagger, stagger.*
Oh-jin took a step.
Looking down at the kneeling Riak,
"We can... do more, right?"
he smiled brightly.
"...What?"
Riak's pupils wavered.
"We can do more, can't we? Right?"
"What are you talking about..."
He raised his head, his expression filled with shock.
Blue eyes were looking down at him.
Like a moonless night.
Eerie eyes.
"You..."
*Shudder.*
Riak's shoulders trembled slightly.
"What in the world are you."
A stiff, hard voice echoed low.