205. Second Only to One, Above Ten Thousand (一人之下 萬人之上) - (7)
205. Second Only to One, Above Ten Thousand (一人之下 萬人之上) - (7)
***
"Is it not the same for you, that you have yet to show your full strength?"
Serin was momentarily at a loss for words at Daji's manner, as if asking whether she had really thought Daji wouldn't know.
But soon a laugh slipped out.
The Legendary Dancer, Daji.
The category of "Great Hero" was like the peculiar existences she had encountered once or twice even back in Black Ark.
Daji was a being who possessed power on equal footing with such existences.
And since she was even of the same Dancer class, it was only natural.
There was no way she wouldn't know that skills could be used while an Awakening Skill was active.
Even the attacks she had shown until just now were ultimately a kind of technique, nothing more than releasing the immense power dwelling in her body through gestures and movements as she danced.
She had not used a skill while in the Awakening Skill state.
And Serin had never once used a skill while in the Awakening Skill state.
Simply by swinging or thrusting, releasing the immense power dwelling within her carried destructive force akin to a skill on its own, and attacks delivered with technique possessed power surpassing most skills.
Moreover, with all her physical abilities vastly enhanced now, even her ability to parry and read her opponent's movements rose dramatically.
Against ordinary users, the very situation of using an Awakening Skill was more than excessive.
'Final Performance.'
The Awakening Skill, whose nature changed according to the Dancer, was in itself like a cheat key to her. Serin had clearly been feeling that without realizing it.
A state possessing the omnipotence of being able to feel her original power from Black Ark.
The moment she entered that state, even if only temporarily, by using the Awakening Skill called Final Performance—even if it wasn't a perfect match, it was certain that she reached a similar level.
So there had been no reason to use skills, nor had she ever felt the inclination.
That there was no need to go that far.
Because she had considered it excessive.
But now, facing Daji, the situation was different.
"..."
Daji's appearance, gazing at her with calm eyes, seemed to flaunt her composure.
Even after receiving the attack, she neither counterattacked nor went on the offensive, only waiting for me to act first.
The composure that only the strong can possess.
Or was it the composure of one who was of the same class, the founder of the Dancer class, and a Grandmaster?
'Whatever it is, it doesn't matter.'
So there existed a reason to use skills,
and thinking that it would be excessive against her was close to arrogance.
An opponent truly worthy of showing her full strength.
Not only had she shown the Dance of the Heaven-Filling Slaughtering Ghosts, which she had never brought out against anyone before, but now she was in a situation where she had to show this opponent something even greater.
A formidable foe against whom victory could not be assured even after showing all of that.
"...I don't care about the reward."
As Serin uttered those words, the corners of her lips twisted without her even realizing it.
Creeeeak.
Along with the sound of the cord stretching taut, Serin slowly parted her lips.
"Let me ask just one thing, Daji. Are you currently in an Awakening Skill state?"
Daji, who had been slowly waiting for Serin to act, idly took in Serin's upturned lips and smiled a bewitching smile.
Then she slowly shook her head.
"I am not in an Awakening Skill state."
At Daji's voice calmly delivering such an incredible answer, Serin's lips curved into an even deeper smile.
She had fought on equal footing against Serin, who was using an Awakening Skill, while not using one herself.
She was truly a being of overwhelming power and skill.
Even if that was due to system adjustments or traits, her visible movements were never below Serin's own.
"Good."
After that, Serin, having spoken in a voice of utmost satisfaction, deployed a skill while in the Awakening Skill state.
—Divine Blood (神血).
*
————
Divine Blood is awakening.
Time remaining: 1 minute 59 seconds.
Skill restrictions are lifted.
————
*
A hologram adorning her vision.
Divine Blood.
In Black Ark, after overcoming various crises, she had awakened Divine Blood and the very rank of her existence had risen. And in Another World, it existed as the same trait.
—Divine-Blood Dancer.
Originally a state attained at the end of Black Ark's vast story when reaching a high rank of existence, but within Another World it existed as a single skill.
Fwoooosh.
Serin's body, which had been dyed red, slowly returned to its original snow-white skin, and her eyes no longer held a red glow.
Her eyes, now a vivid blue, began to hold a pure and lofty light, and the Crescent-Moon Weight, which had been ringing with its distinctive sound, no longer emitted that strange noise.
In a fleeting instant, a scene flickered through her vision.
A white lake, tranquil and mysterious.
"You truly never cease to amaze me."
Daji said this as she gripped her Crescent-Moon Weight with force. Her appearance had changed, but the Awakening Skill had not been released.
Because her instincts clearly felt the same pressure.
As her red-stained body returned to its original form, her faintly glowing blue eyes evoked an incomprehensible loftiness.
And that was a skill even Daji could not understand.
'It appears as though Final Performance is vanishing, yet she still carries the same presence.'
Afterward, Serin's eyes sank into calm, carrying the indifference of a tranquil white lake.
Swish.
The moment she clenched her hand around the Crescent-Moon Weight, space itself rippled violently.
—Jeolyeon - Break (破).
In an instant, Serin's hand drew a diagonal line and slashed down with the Crescent-Moon Weight like a flash of light, and a massive burst of blood-red energy erupted.
"...!"
Daji, who had been taking in all of Serin's movements, widened her eyes sharply.
It had certainly looked like the posture of the skill Jeolyeon.
But what emerged from its end had transformed into something that could no longer be called the Jeolyeon she knew.
What should have formed a single line burst apart at the end, sending countless blood-red fragments shooting toward her.
Daji hastily pulled up her Crescent-Moon Weight and deployed a skill.
—Moonlit Threads.
Following her gesture, which drew a clean white line, a brilliant light that would illuminate the world burst forth once more and collided with the massive blood-red energy.
FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP-FWIP!
A strange noise resounded as they clashed countless times.
The white light and the massive blood-red energy collided fiercely, neither side yielding.
Swish!
Then suddenly, Daji instinctively turned her head.
But even so, she clearly felt the sensation of something grazing her cheek.
Daji blankly raised a hand to her cheek and confirmed the bloodstain left behind.
Looking at the bloodstain, Daji broke into laughter.
"...You are truly wondrous."
Although the blood-red energy had not faded as before, she had thought she could certainly block it with Moonlit Threads. But the mass of energy that had seemed enormous rather than a single line was in truth no different from forcibly hurling shattered energy.
The number of energy fragments, divided beyond hundreds into thousands—even Moonlit Threads, which wove countless lights, could not possibly block them all.
With a single exchange, Daji had pierced through to the core of the skill Serin had deployed.
Immediately after, amid the fading light, Serin deployed another skill in succession.
—Bloodstained Constellation - Full Sky (萬天).
The blood-red Crescent-Moon Weight, swung along with Serin's hand, seized the grand banquet hall's space and filled it with blood-red trajectories.
If the skill she had previously deployed had drawn dozens of stars in the air, the Bloodstained Constellation she now unfolded was generating well over hundreds of stars in the space.
Daji, sensing at a glance that this skill was not ordinary, hardened her eyes completely.
'Has the essence of the skill changed yet again?'
The posture was certainly that of Bloodstained Constellation, a skill she herself had created.
But the sight of it carrying a completely different power at its end prevented even Daji from maintaining her composure.
Before she knew it, blood-red stars filled Daji's surroundings.
The star-like shapes, glowing eerily, held destructive power that an ordinary person could not counter in any way.
And Daji was not such an ordinary existence.
Daji, having planted herself loftily in place, launched her Crescent-Moon Weight high into the air.
——!
Like a streak of light, the Crescent-Moon Weight soared beneath the dim moonlight, tracing a white trajectory.
Then, focusing on the Crescent-Moon Weight positioned in the air, Daji deployed a skill.
—Moonlit Mirror of All Under Heaven (月下天下鏡).
The vast sky that illuminates all the world.
No matter how that sky tries to hide everything that exists below within its embrace.
When the great and bright moon illuminates that very sky, how could the sky dare hide it from the moon?
From the white Crescent-Moon Weight burst forth a massive light like radiance illuminating the world, and the Crescent-Moon Weight, holding the full moon, began to swallow every light existing on the ground.
Even the hundreds of blood-red stars began to lose their color, like faint flames dying out.
Watching that sight, Serin let out a hollow laugh without realizing it.
"You really are... a monster."
Even while using a special skill after awakening Divine Blood, her opponent was countering even that.
And she had only allowed a light scratch at the very beginning.
After that, she had shown nearly perfect responses.
At Serin's words, Daji, wearing a radiant smile, retrieved her falling Crescent-Moon Weight and slowly parted her crimson lips.
"In my view, you as well seem to have surpassed the bounds of humanity."