371. Zervallua vs Heavenly Demon Cheon Ryuhwa
371. Zervallua vs Heavenly Demon Cheon Ryuhwa
***
Cheon Ryuhwa reached Zervallua in a single bound. She swung her sword in a great arc.
Zervallua raised a hand in response, a reckless move that looked as though it would end in disaster. But as a deep blood-red light began to coil around her hand, a strange result unfolded.
Because Zervallua had not raised her hand to block it in the first place.
Swish.
As the incoming blade itself was about to be seized, Cheon Ryuhwa twisted the sword's trajectory, slipping past the hand with near-divine precision and driving the blade toward the heart.
Blood-red hair veiled the pure-white naked body, but the white skin seemed ready to offer itself to a god.
Just when it seemed impossible to block.
Slither.
The white hand that had risen early to seize the sword suddenly shot forward.
Even while registering the sword piercing toward her heart, she reached out without hesitation, as if to seize the throat of the opponent who had closed in on her.
In the instant their moves crossed.
Cheon Ryuhwa kicked off the ground in a single motion.
THOOM!
The ground beneath her foot collapsed as she shot backward, widening the distance as swiftly as she had closed it.
"......?"
Zervallua, left clutching empty air, stared at her as though fascinated. A small bead of blood had formed on her chest where the blade had grazed her, but she paid it no mind.
Only a moment ago. The strange movement of appearing before her as if by magic, and then widening the distance once more. She wondered how such movement was possible.
The power she sensed was clearly inferior to her own. Yet the opponent displayed movements beyond comprehension.
How was that possible?
"Don't. Know."
Zervallua opened her mouth and released her energy in a great surge.
—————————!!
Countless blood-red lines burst outward from Zervallua, seizing control of the space. Then, as that energy began to envelop her, it painted her body in blood-red over the pure-white naked form, as if layering crimson over white.
Immediately after. The smile that had lingered on her face vanished completely.
Innocent eyes, eyes that had sparkled with curiosity at everything in sight, now blazed with a ferocity like that of a murderous fiend, radiating raw emotion.
Complete hostility. Faced with a gaze that went beyond killing intent, Cheon Ryuhwa narrowed her eyes and stayed on guard.
To rashly commit to attack or defense would be dangerous against such an opponent.
'It reacts to my killing intent, yet paradoxically shows not the slightest hesitation in sacrificing its own body.'
What did that mean?
Even though it had tried to seize the sword aimed at its heart, it had shown no sign of dodging or blocking, instead reaching for my throat.
The eyes I met in that moment. The look in those red eyes carried not the slightest hint of aiming for mutual destruction with me.
That was what made Cheon Ryuhwa cautious now.
Not because of the strength, but because the alien nature of the being was overwhelming.
Then the space shifted.
The moment Zervallua stepped forward, she kicked off the ground hard, and her blood-wreathed arm caught a nearby wall, bursting through it to accelerate even faster.
Her movements were linear, yet she darted through the space in all directions like a beast, as if adding variations.
Using all four limbs to propel herself, even Cheon Ryuhwa found the sight utterly bizarre.
Clang!
When she met the slashing hand aimed at her throat with her sword, the sound rang out as if striking massive steel.
The strength contained in that blood-tinged body was absurd.
And from that moment.
Cheon Ryuhwa's dazzling sword dance unfolded without pause.
Zervallua kept leaping and charging, as if surrounding her from all sides without rest.
And Cheon Ryuhwa held her ground, swinging her sword against her.
—!
The moment the jet-black energy slashed forward, she immediately swung upward, then brought the sword down again as if striking from above.
Each time, the blood-red energy surged and vanished, appearing and disappearing countless times. Even as she swung the sword in rapid, connected motions, Cheon Ryuhwa did not make a single light strike.
Because the gap in power was so great, she put heavy force into every clash, as if driving the sword down with each blow.
Clangclangclangclangclangclangclang!
Yet the thunderous sounds echoing continuously showed no sign of stopping.
Hands, legs—she attacked with everything without distinction.
Zervallua's movements, leaping and swinging as if to tear the woman before her to shreds, inspired immediate horror and dread in any onlooker.
She was a woman of beautiful appearance by any standard. She bore wings that most would call angelic.
Yet a woman with such a form moved grotesquely through the space, attacking with the visage of a murderous fiend.
Strange movements, as if a ferocious beast dwelt within a beautiful person's body.
Despite the ferocious assault, not a single small wound appeared on Cheon Ryuhwa's body. But the aftermath was plainly visible all around her.
BOOM! BOOM!!
The ground kept bursting and cratering under the force of the shockwaves. Though Cheon Ryuhwa's body was never struck, her position was being pushed back bit by bit.
Zervallua, who had been darting through the space, suddenly raised both hands and concentrated a massive force. She hurled herself forward and brought both hands down.
Cheon Ryuhwa's eyes twitched faintly as she watched.
'How dare she!'
She wanted to cut that throat as the hands came down from above. But for now, she chose to redirect the force.
A great flame blazed in her chest, but her reason was coldly seeking a near-perfect move.
Even if she cut that throat now.
Looking at those ominous eyes fully stained in blood-red, those hands wielding immense power did not seem as though they would stop. So she swung her sword directly, twisting the direction of the massive blood-red energy surging from the opponent's hands.
The immense force seemed to resist, but she flung it aside with a great swing.
BOOM!
The force erupted in a completely different direction, and the space was left in ruins.
After redirecting the opponent's hands in a circular motion, she thrust hard toward the head. The creature's hand shot out again, as if ignoring common sense.
She struck it away hard and kicked off the ground.
Through the ceaseless exchange of blows, this body had been pushed to its limit.
The thing wearing a human mask had stopped in place for some reason, staring at her. Meeting those eyes, her grip on the sword naturally tightened.
'...Not just eerie—its very existence is utterly ominous.'
The woman in her sight was clearly a demonic beast, yet also human; human, yet ironically not human.
A being beyond contradiction, impossible to name. She had realized the essence of its existence while exchanging dozens of blows.
It was a strange being that was nothing at all. It lacked what a living creature should possess, and possessed what it should not.
She had momentarily thought that upon completing its evolution, the demonic beast had reached a higher state and transformed into a transcendent being.
But the reality was completely different.
Its form was far too lacking to be considered as having reached the transcendent realm, yet it held power that could not possibly be dismissed as anything below that.
It was truly grotesque.
Moreover, nearly all living creatures possess a survival instinct.
When faced with a threat directly tied to their life, they all seek to eliminate it, struggling to survive in order to remove the threat.
There can be no instinct greater than the instinct for survival.
When one's life is in danger, one prioritizes life even at the expense of everything else.
But.
That thing wearing a human mask acted as if disregarding even its survival instinct.
The energy it radiated was unmistakably vast, like an endless sea. There was no way to feel that its existence was a lie.
Yet for it to act like that was incomprehensible in itself.
Not merely unafraid of death.
Movements that seemed not to consider death at all.
As they exchanged gazes from that not-so-distant range.
Swish.
Zervallua suddenly turned her gaze away from her and looked at her own blood-stained hand.
***
Why?
Why can't I reach her?
A single question kept captivating and bewitching her, as if seeking an answer from the woman with blood-red hair.
Why can't I reach her?
I clearly have more energy.
So why can't I tear her apart?
Amid the questions that kept rising.
She kicked off the space, swinging her hands, bringing her legs down.
This body was different from before, and the view was utterly alien, not easy to adapt to.
Yet as a short time passed, she was adapting quickly.
Emitting demonic energy to envelop a massive frame was fundamentally different from containing energy in this small body.
This body excelled in immediate reaction speed, and her cognitive speed rose sharply over time, as if catching up with her body.
At some point, she set aside the rising questions and simply began to think.
Body light.
Energy within strong.
If she couldn't reach, she would keep changing her energy until she could, letting it dwell in her body.
She kept charging, her thoughts stopping as she sank into instinct.
By the time she kicked off the space again, her hand was already reaching out to kill the opponent, stretching toward the being with silver hair flowing in the air.
But.
Still, she couldn't reach.
Even as she grew faster and poured more energy in, she couldn't reach the being.
As the silver-haired figure widened the distance, she stared blankly, then looked at her hand.
The thing it held was so irritating.
Even though the wounds on her wrists and knuckles were healing quickly, the marks clearly remained.
Then it suddenly came to her.
The reason she couldn't reach was clearly the difference between having that thing and not having it.
The moment the thought struck, it became action.
Zervallua condensed blood-red energy into one hand as if erupting with it. She then used hardening on the condensed energy.
Then, something dark red, different from the blood-red that wrapped her skin, burst forth and began to devour the blood-red energy fiercely.
Swish.
Zervallua looked at the dark-red thing and smiled as if satisfied.
She glanced aside and felt that it was exactly the same form as what she saw in her vision.
"Now. It'll. Reach."
Zervallua spoke with certainty.