Chapter 179
Chapter 179
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 179
Chapter Title: The Hand That Burns Disaster
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Gigant's palm grazed past Lúctator by a hair's breadth.
The wind pressure made Lúctator's long hair flutter like a flag.
Lúctator twitched the tusk that pierced her upper lip.
A belligerent smile, characteristic of an orc, colored the corners of her mouth.
"Fast, and powerful. Enough to be dangerous even for me if I took a direct hit. But... with such wide movements, I couldn't let you hit me even if I wanted to, could I?"
Warriors who had reached a certain level of mastery could predict the path of an attack just by looking at their opponent's shoulder.
How, then, could Lúctator, known as the empire's finest, not know where Gigant was aiming?
To be blunt, in terms of technical skill alone, the difference between Gigant and Lúctator was comparable to that between an elementary schooler and a university student.
*Fwoosh!*
This time, a furious kick aimed for Lúctator, but it was useless.
Lúctator was like a mosquito teasing a child, seeming catchable yet never caught.
And that wasn't all. Her occasional counterattacks were so punishing that it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call her a hornet instead of a mosquito.
"I am a blade; nothing before me does not split."
[4th Stage Body Hardening Art, Single-Strike Style: Cleave in Two]
The 4th Stage Body Hardening Art, which had once torn Gigant's ear, was cast again.
A sharp edge extending from Lúctator's hand-blade left a long gash on Gigant's ankle as it brushed past him.
-Kuaaah-! How dare this rat-like bastard...!
Gigant roared and went on a rampage.
When he stomped his foot, the ground overturned, and a wave of earth swept away the surrounding buildings.
When he screamed, the glass windows of the buildings shattered, and ordinary citizens collapsed, bleeding from their ears.
Its very existence was a catastrophe, its every action a disaster.
At the sight of Gigant's truly nightmarish might, the few remaining survivors of the knight order trembled and retreated.
But Lúctator didn't even bat an eye.
A creature like Gigant might be considered a monster by the citizens of this world.
But for Lúctator, who had fought and triumphed over all sorts of monstrous calamities in the Main Dimension, it was a performance that failed to stir any particular emotion.
"Your little tantrum is quite a spectacle. Yes, to the point of being unsightly."
The essence of the Body Hardening Art could be said to be self-hypnosis through incantations.
If you believed you were the wind, you would become as fast as the wind; if you believed you were a rock, you would become as firm as a rock. That was the Body Hardening Art.
Therefore, the power of the technique depended on how steadfast the user's spirit was and how high their blind faith in themselves was.
For instance, just as the Sword of Chastisement wielded by the knight under Lee Si-woo, Solare Marguerite, grew stronger the more she blindly believed her enemy was evil.
So then?
What did Lúctator blindly believe in?
"I am invincible; above the heavens and below, I alone am the victor."
[7th Stage Body Hardening Art, Word Command Style: Victor's Path]
In that moment, Gigant cowered before the diminutive being in front of it.
And surprisingly, Gigant thought it was as natural as a mouse fearing a cat, or a frog fearing a snake.
A sense of defeat invaded Gigant's mind, and a feeling of inferiority brought Gigant to its knees.
It had been overwhelmed by the aura born from Lúctator's incantation, the Victor's Path.
-What... what is... this....
Gigant groaned, clutching its head with both hands.
No matter how hard it tried to muster its confidence, it was useless.
With every step Lúctator took towards it with her hands behind her back, a sense of crisis dominated its mind, its legs trembling with the urge to flee as quickly as possible.
-What are you? Where in the world did something like you come from...?
This was what made Lúctator's Body Hardening Art so frightening.
Marguerite's Sword of Chastisement grew stronger the more she believed her opponent was evil, meaning its power dropped abysmally if the target was a good person, but Lúctator was different.
She genuinely believed that there was no one stronger or greater than herself under the heavens, so no one could avoid having their abilities diminished by being consumed by her Victor's Path.
For this reason, the orcs of the empire called Lúctator's Victor's Path the Reigning Steps.
Because there was no one who did not kneel before her stride.
Yes, even if that person were the emperor of the empire.
-Kuaaaah!
Gigant struggled, trying to bolster its will with a scream-like roar.
But it was no use.
No matter what means it employed, the will to resist Lúctator simply would not arise.
In the end, Gigant fell helplessly to its knees and begged for Lúctator's mercy.
-...Please, just spare my life.
Drenched in feelings of defeat and inferiority, Gigant couldn't even comprehend what it was saying.
It was admitting its own defeat and inviting humiliation before the fight had even properly begun.
Lúctator wore an arrogant smile at the easy victory.
'Easy. Too easy.'
Lúctator was deeply satisfied with how effortless everything had become as soon as she regained her mana.
But intoxicated by her endlessly soaring self-esteem, Lúctator failed to consider the meager amount of mana she possessed as a newly-minted knight.
*Poof!*
Lúctator's form devolved from that of a formidable orc warrior, the kind one might see in myths, to the appearance of the 10-year-old girl she was when she first entered the virtual world.
"Huh?"
For a moment, unable to properly grasp her situation, Lúctator wore a dazed expression.
Gigant, on the other hand, was slowly rising to its feet, as if it had never been afraid of her.
As Gigant's massive body rose like a mountain, Lúctator's once-arrogant head and back gradually lowered.
"...Damn it?"
A single drop of cold sweat trickled down the side of her ear.
The moment that drop of sweat, hanging from the tip of her chin, fell, Gigant's enraged howl echoed throughout the entire city.
Lúctator clamped her hands over her ears at the bone-shaking sonic shockwave and scrambled backward.
But Gigant only looked down on her, not attacking rashly.
Being intelligent, it had recognized from the recent experience that the little kid before it was not to be underestimated.
Instead, Gigant pointed a finger at Lúctator and uttered a command.
-Go.
At Gigant's command, an army of white giants poured in from between the collapsed castle walls.
They were smaller than Gigant, but before the 6-meter-tall wave of giants, the citizens were swept away powerlessly, and the knight commander hastily rallied his few remaining knights.
"Retreat! Retreat—!"
Now in a position where they could only hope Lee Si-woo's group would somehow deal with Gigant, the knight commander shouted for a retreat, and Lúctator began to run for her life.
The empire's finest, who had just been proclaiming her invincibility and that she had no rival in this world, was nowhere to be seen. Lúctator, now looking like a little fox with its tail on fire, cried out with a grimace.
"What are you guys doing! I'm going to die! Save me! Quickly!"
Nearby, Lee Si-woo, who had been watching Lúctator's impressive display with satisfaction, let out a sigh.
'Did her mind regress along with her body? The person who was so dignified in the Main Dimension can't seem to escape being a nuisance here. I mean, how can a veteran who deserves to be called a master of a hundred battles mismanage her mana so poorly and make something easy so difficult? It's driving me crazy.'
Lee Si-woo, who had been pleased at the thought of easily dispatching Gigant, pushed aside his disappointment.
He glanced at Si-woo, who was heading for Gigant's rear, leaping from rooftop to rooftop like a flying squirrel, and then opened his mouth.
"Isabelle."
At Lee Si-woo's call, Isabelle looked at Gigant, which seemed like a living, moving mountain, then at herself, who was no bigger than an ant in comparison, and spoke with a terrified expression.
"Hey, can't you see the difference in weight class?"
"It's fine. You can do it."
At Lee Si-woo's subtle urging, Isabelle grew irritated and ran her hands roughly through her hair, grumbling.
"Damn it, why did I have to fall for someone like him and go through this hell... Ah, screw it. I don't even know anymore."
Isabelle shoved the chocolate from Plenitas that she was holding into her mouth and floated into the air.
Originally, she had planned to drag things out by whining a bit to Lee Si-woo.
It was obvious that if she cast a spell and exhausted her mana, she would be kicked out of this virtual world, or whatever it was.
'I wanted to stay with you a little longer.'
Sometimes, no, often, she felt hurt.
She was resentful of Lee Si-woo's heart, which didn't waver no matter how much she appealed to him or threw herself at him.
But there was nothing she could do.
In her entire life, she had never once failed to get what she wanted, and by the same token, she had never hidden her feelings out of fear.
So she had no intention of giving up.
'Allen spouts nonsense about how men lose interest when a woman gets clingy or that obsession looks desperate and is a turn-off, but that only applies to ugly ones. There's no tree that won't fall if a beautiful elf like me makes a move. So, Lee Si-woo, you. Just you wait. Bastard, I'm going to keep chipping away until you fall for me.'
So, she decided to let it go for today.
Today wasn't the only day, after all.
[5th Circle Dark Magic: Black Fang]
A fang born of dark energy formed before her two hands.
A massive fang, reminiscent of Fenrir tearing at a giant's throat, shot forward, swirling with a vortex.
*Crack!*
The black fang embedded itself in the side of Gigant, who was chasing Lúctator like a cat chasing a mouse.
Gigant screamed at the brutal blow of the fang, which mercilessly pierced its side and tore through its insides.
Having exhausted all her mana with a single 5th Circle spell, Isabelle spun around and said to Lee Si-woo.
"Hey, call me back again. Unless you want to get beaten up."
Lee Si-woo chuckled and replied.
"Good work. You can go."
"...You heartless bastard."
With those final words, Isabelle vanished into smoke.
Lee Si-woo's gaze, which had been fixed on the empty space where Isabelle had been with an inscrutable look, now turned to Gigant.
Consumed by rage, Gigant was charging towards them with ferocious momentum.
Watching Gigant rampage like a mischievous child destroying a city made of LEGOs, Lee Si-woo muttered.
"I think that's enough time bought... What is he doing?"
As if he had heard Lee Si-woo's words, Si-woo, who had been running vertically up the wall of a skyscraper as if gravity had broken, pushed off with all his might.
Leaping from the building's wall, Si-woo flew towards Gigant's neck.
'A Wish is the materialization of what one truly desires. Then... what is my ability? And what is it that I desire?'
At this point.
Si-woo had two desires.
To thwart the ancestral demon's plan and to meet Ha-yun.
'Ha-yun is alive. And she's in a safe place. So I can meet her on my own, somehow. That means my wish is... singular.'
Landing on Gigant's neck, Si-woo caressed the creature's skin with his palm.
A gentle touch.
However, the result of that touch was anything but ordinary.
As if rice paper had touched fire, the skin of Gigant that Si-woo's hand touched began to burn.
'The demon's project. To shatter the White Calamity to pieces.'
The flames that erupted from Gigant's neck soon began to engulf its entire massive body.
Even Si-woo, the one who had caused this spectacle, was at a loss for words at the horrific sight of its skin melting away while it was still alive, its blood vaporizing in real-time.
Like a human hit by white phosphorus, it took less than a minute for Gigant's mountain-like body to turn to ash.
It was a far too shabby end for Gigant, who had single-handedly annihilated the knight order and would have likely wiped out Lee Si-woo's party as well, given enough time.
And this was the power of Si-woo's Wish, 'The Hand That Burns Disaster'.
From now on, Si-woo possessed the ability to turn all of the ancestral demon's creations to ash with a single touch.
Realizing the value of his ability, Si-woo clenched his fist.
'Right, now things are doable. Now... I can finally face that bastard properly.'
Lee Si-woo was silently watching Si-woo's back, which was filled with burgeoning hope, with eyes as inscrutable as a lake at night.