Chapter 64
Chapter 64
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 64
Chapter Title: Heavy Rain (6)
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“Haaah.”
I took a deep breath.
*CRASH!*
I slammed my spear into the ground and launched myself into the air.
At the same time, I raised my right arm and fired the wire shooter.
My target wasn't Ashad Khan, but the subordinates standing beside him.
“Wh-what?”
*Fwoosh!*
The wire, shot at supersonic speed, wrapped around the subordinates' bodies.
With a flick of my right arm, their bound bodies flew toward Ashad Khan like cannonballs.
“Hoh.”
Ashad Khan's eyes glinted with interest.
But only for a moment.
*SLASH!*
“Aaaaargh!!”
Without a hint of hesitation, he sliced his subordinates in half with the scimitar in his hand.
Guts and blood poured from their bisected bodies.
A curtain of blood sprayed from the curved blade.
'Now!'
I never expected Ashad Khan to hesitate in the first place.
What I was aiming for was the crimson curtain created by the splattering blood.
Taking advantage of the brief moment his vision was blocked, I extended my left arm.
*TWANG!*
The wire shot from the shooter latched onto a nearby rebar.
As I focused the Stigma's mana into the shooter, my airborne body plummeted with explosive speed, accompanied by a sharp mechanical whine.
'Lightning Strike.'
Gripping the spear with both hands, I aimed for Ashad Khan's head.
Blue lightning sparked from the tip of the spear, engulfing the entire silver weapon in a violent blaze.
'Not enough.'
The gap between Ashad Khan and me, as analyzed by Canes Venatici, was greater than I'd imagined.
There was no way I could damage him with this level of power.
'Fivefold Thunderbolt.'
The blazing lightning converged at the tip of the spear.
My mana circuits screamed from having too much of the Stigma's mana poured through them at once.
Sharp, stabbing pain, as if needles were coursing through my veins, ravaged my entire body.
'I have no choice.'
I bit my lip and endured the agony.
Right now, my circuits were absurdly narrow for the amount of mana I possessed.
It was like trying to draw water from a huge bucket with a tiny straw.
I couldn't land a proper hit without risking damage to my body by squeezing my circuits dry.
*KRA-KA-KA-KA-KOW!!!*
The blue lightning concentrated at the spear's tip was unleashed all at once.
A torrent of lightning burned through the crimson curtain and surged toward Ashad Khan.
*Fwoosh!*
Black feathers enveloped Ashad Khan's body.
He looked as though he were wearing sturdy armor made of feathers.
“Hah.”
He let out a short breath and raised his scimitar at an angle.
The tip of my spear struck the scimitar, slid down the blade, and plunged into the ground.
*KABOOOOM!!*
A massive explosion erupted, sending lightning flying in all directions, but it couldn't reach Ashad Khan, who was clad in the armor of Black Wings.
'Damn it!'
Realizing his attack had failed, Oh-jin instantly focused all his lightning into his legs without a second's hesitation.
'Thunderbolt!'
Using the lightning erupting from the soles of his feet as propulsion, he hastily put distance between himself and Ashad Khan.
“…Impressive.”
Gazing at the fiercely blazing lightning.
Ashad Khan's eyes widened in feigned surprise.
“It's hard to believe you're only a 4-Star.”
He'd had some inkling when he heard the report that the plan to awaken the 'Fragment of the Black Star' sleeping beneath Sokcho had failed because of the Lightning Wolf alone, but...
The Apostle of Vega was exuding a destructive aura that far surpassed his expectations.
“—But.”
Ashad Khan's eyes gleamed coldly.
Black mana surged around the scimitar in his hand.
It was an undeniable fact that the Lightning Wolf was an Awakened who had grown at an unprecedented rate, but...
“That is all.”
A declaration as sharp as a descending blade.
He slowly swung the scimitar in his hand horizontally.
*Swoosh.*
It was slow.
So leisurely that even a ten-year-old child could see it and dodge.
A languid sword strike, like drifting into a sweet nap.
'...What?'
Oh-jin narrowed his eyes and gripped his spear.
The distance between him and Ashad Khan was about fifty meters.
Even if he swung his sword from that distance, there was no way it could reach.
No, a strike that sluggish could be dodged even if swung right in front of his face.
Surely.
That's what he thought.
*KRA-KA-KA-KA-BOOOOM!!!*
“......!!!”
A deafening roar slammed into his eardrums.
A chain of explosions erupted along the slow trajectory of Ashad Khan's swing, sweeping through the surroundings.
Dodging was impossible.
He reflexively thrust his spear toward the approaching explosion.
An action driven more by instinct than reason.
*BOOOM!!*
“Kuuuugh!!”
The blue lightning and the explosion clashed.
The palms gripping the spear shaft were torn apart by the intense impact.
An overwhelming difference in power.
“Your reflexes aren't bad. Or is it just good intuition?”
Ashad Khan smiled leisurely and slowly raised his scimitar once more.
From top to bottom.
The scimitar swung down slowly, like a dewdrop falling from a leaf.
“Haaah.”
Oh-jin tightened his grip on the spear and took a deep breath.
He had no time for clumsy provocations.
'Calm down.'
He needed to figure out the true nature of Ashad Khan's ability.
Focusing the Stigma's mana into his eyes, he could see countless black feathers, smaller than a fingernail, shooting out from the blade of the slowly swinging scimitar.
'So those are what's causing the explosions.'
He spun his spear and used Blue Lightning.
Streaks of lightning spread out in a fan shape and touched the black feathers.
*KRA-KA-KA-KA-BOOOOM!!!!*
An explosion so intense it was blinding.
Even though he'd detonated them from a considerable distance, the shockwave was still strong enough to push him back.
'So these feathers were what destroyed the factory.'
He was astounded by their ridiculous power.
“Did you think it was over?”
*Pfft.*
Ashad Khan's lips curled into a cold smirk.
“…What.”
Just as Oh-jin frowned.
*KRA-KA-KA-KA-BOOOOM!!!*
The black feathers he thought had already exploded set off a second explosion.
He hastily created a wall of lightning, but...
“Keuk!!”
The explosion effortlessly tore through the lightning wall and slammed into Oh-jin's body.
*Thud! Thump! CRASH!*
Oh-jin's body skipped across the ground like a stone on water, flying backward.
His body, which had been flying for some time, finally came to a stop after crashing into a pile of rebar and concrete debris.
Gray smoke billowed up.
“Cough!”
Red blood gushed up from his throat.
“Your body is absurdly tough, too.”
A voice spoke right in front of him.
“Kgh!”
He hurriedly gripped his spear and pushed himself up.
He saw the scimitar swinging toward his neck.
*CLANG!*
The spear and scimitar clashed.
*CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CL-CL-CL-CLANG!!*
Sparks flew with the deafening sound of metal on metal.
For over ten seconds of exchange, the spear and scimitar remained in a tense balance.
“Ha.”
Ashad Khan let out a disbelieving chuckle.
“If this continued for a year... no, even just half a year, you would have become an unstoppable monster.”
Was this really the skill a 4-Star Awakened could display?
A cold sweat trickled down his spine.
“However.”
That won't happen.
The Lightning Wolf dies here today.
*CLAAAANG!!*
The scimitar shot up like a flash of light and struck the spear shaft.
The silver spear spun and was sent flying.
“Damn it!”
Oh-jin quickly scrambled backward and barely managed to catch the flying silver spear.
“Hah, hah!”
In terms of weapon skill, he wasn't outmatched.
But.
“Kgh...”
The skin on his palms was completely peeled away.
His hands, now just raw red flesh, trembled.
'Not enough strength.'
It wasn't that he lacked mana.
Thanks to the Stigmas absorbed through the Black Heaven, he still had mana to spare.
His pure mana capacity was probably even greater than Ashad Khan's.
However.
'The amount of mana I can release at once... the difference is too great.'
Mana circuits that were absurdly narrow for his mana capacity.
His body, still only at the 4-Star level, was holding him back.
“......”
*Grit.*
Oh-jin bit his lip and gripped the spear with his blood-soaked hands.
Since it has come to this.
There was only one option left.
'I really didn't want to use this.'
There's no other way.
“Have you finally realized the difference in our power?”
Yeah, yeah. You're the man, asshole.
“—Exceed.”
*Crackle! Kra-ka-ka-kow!!!*
Red warning windows popped up one after another before his eyes.
He ignored them.
“No matter what you do, you...”
*KABOOOOM!!!*
He charged.
Footprints of blue lightning blazed like torches.
“—Kgh?!”
Ashad Khan's eyes flew open as he swung his scimitar.
Destructive explosions followed the path of the scimitar.
“I'm sick of this shit.”
He focused his mana.
Like crushing the mouth of a hose.
Mana shot like a bullet through his distorted circuits and gathered at the tip of his spear.
*Kra-ka-kow!!!*
The lightning gathered at the spear's tip condensed into a blue flame.
*Ting!*
[The skill 《Lightning Lv6》 has risen to 《Lightning Lv7》.]
[You have acquired the skill 《Lightning Flame Lv1》!]
-《Lightning Flame》 is a powerful skill equivalent to 《Sword Ki》. Its destructive power exceeds that of 《Sword Ki》, but its mana consumption is just as high.
[《Lightning Lv7》 affects the proficiency of the skill 《Lightning Flame Lv1》.]
[《Lightning Flame Lv1》 has risen to 《Lightning Flame Lv2》!]
[Warning! Your current physical level is not suitable for using 《Lightning Flame Lv2》!]
[Mana consumption will increase drastically!]
A flood of messages poured in.
One thing after another.
“So damn chatty.”
*KABOOOOM!!!*
The blazing lightning clashed with the scimitar.
“Keo-heok!!”
Ashad Khan's body was violently thrown back.
He skipped across the ground just as I had, crashing disgracefully.
“What is this.”
Ashad Khan wiped the blood from his lips and stared at Oh-jin with eyes full of shock.
He could feel an intense mana radiating from the man shrouded in blue lightning, something he hadn't felt until now.
“......”
Ashad Khan's eyes darkened.
“Half a year... even that was a complacent thought.”
He was already a significant threat to the Black Star Organization.
“I cannot allow someone who obstructs our plan to live.”
*Stagger, stagger.*
Ashad Khan pushed himself to his feet.
The Lightning Wolf had played his hidden card and turned the tables, but...
“Oh, great star of the Owl.”
It wasn't as if he didn't have a hidden card of his own.
“Grant your humble servant the blessing of the Black Star.”
*VWOOOOOM!!!*
Black mana churned violently.
Black light erupted from the Stigma engraved on his left chest.
“Worship, praise, and extol.”
*Fwoosh!*
An innumerable number of black feathers swirled around him.
“—The time of the Owl has come.”
From within the storm of black wings.
Ashad Khan slowly walked out.