Chapter 191
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 191
Chapter Title: Execution Holy Assembly (6)
Sword and spear clashed repeatedly, sparking tiny bursts of fire.
An exchange too fast for any ordinary player to follow with their eyes.
No ordinary person could ever keep up with the speed of Wi Hoyeon's sword swings or Baek Sihun's spear thrusts.
And it wasn't as if the sheer speed made their attacks any weaker.
Bang!
"Hup…!"
Baek Sihun swung his spear wildly before unleashing a barrage of sudden thrusts.
To Wi Hoyeon, it almost felt like the spear was writhing like a snake, its trajectory shifting mid-motion.
'Straight to the side.'
She blocked the thrust, but before she could catch her breath, the spear shaft was already closing in from the flank.
Clang!
"…Not bad? You blocked that?"
"Cough…!"
A thin trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Wi Hoyeon's mouth.
Right now, both Wi Hoyeon and Baek Sihun were infusing their attacks with intent.
Since Baek Sihun's intent was grander in scope than hers, every clash inflicted internal injuries on Wi Hoyeon, the damage accumulating with each exchange.
'No time to endure the pain.'
She couldn't afford to lose focus for even a moment. The man before her wasn't the type to grant any such mercy.
As the saying goes, the best defense is a good offense. She had to launch her own attacks to some degree.
Just defending wouldn't win her the fight.
The problem was that he held the initiative.
In a clash of arms, it was only natural for the stronger combatant to seize more offensive opportunities.
Wi Hoyeon's sword darted toward Baek Sihun's lower guard in an instant.
But—
"Ha!"
Ka-clang!
Baek Sihun's spear intercepted it.
'Ghost Spear…'
The epithet "Ghost Spear" came from his ghostly mastery of the weapon.
Even Wi Hoyeon had to admire the skill with which Baek Sihun wielded his spear.
No wonder so many had lamented his fall to outlaw status.
"Wi Hoyeon, you've definitely improved a lot since the old days. Honestly, it's surprising. Every strike is sharper now."
It might have looked like Baek Sihun was effortlessly parrying her attacks, but inwardly, he was shocked.
'Can't let my guard down, or I'm in trouble.'
Before they started, he'd thought he could toy with her. But he quickly abandoned that notion.
Wi Hoyeon gritted her teeth and pressed her attack. If battles had a flow, this was her moment to seize it.
Baek Sihun parried while letting out a sigh of admiration.
"You actually turned the tide."
"…"
Wi Hoyeon ignored him. Her eyes were locked on his breathing, his footwork, the twitch of his shoulders.
Slash—
"Tch…"
A shallow line appeared on Baek Sihun's cheek as he deflected her sword strike.
"Haa… haa…"
"Hmph."
Baek Sihun felt a thrill and excitement in this moment.
No matter his talent, if he didn't enjoy combat, he never would have honed it.
The reason Baek Sihun had risen to top-tier player as the Ghost Spear was his love for battle.
The thrill was an instinct born from combat.
And the excitement stemmed from Wi Hoyeon's very presence.
"You're the best, as always. No other woman compares."
How could he not claim a woman like her?
Gazing at him steadily with those calm eyes amid her ragged breaths—it was driving him mad.
Even knowing she was at a disadvantage, her gaze was like a serene lake.
No fear. No hesitation. Just clenched teeth and forward momentum.
Where else could he find such a gem?
A woman stronger than Wi Hoyeon? He'd faced a few.
But none shone in both looks and spirit like she did, at least not in his eyes.
That's why he wanted to taint her, make her his own color.
Ever since he'd known her, he'd been parched with thirst.
He was the type who had to possess whatever he desired to feel satisfied.
'And now's the time to pluck that fruit.'
Until moments ago, he'd been furious that even allying with the Execution Holy Assembly hadn't drawn her out.
But the one he craved most had walked right into his grasp.
It felt like fate.
"Hey, you looking at me like that on purpose?"
Wi Hoyeon shot him a puzzled look at his words.
"…What do you mean?"
"You're driving me crazy. With eyes like that, I won't be able to go easy on you later tonight."
"What…"
Wi Hoyeon looked confused for a second before realizing his implication, her face twisting in disgust.
"Ha, is that all that's in your head?"
"You're the one doing this to me, you bitch."
Baek Sihun accelerated, thrusting his spear infused with internal energy.
Kwabang!
"Hrgh…!"
Wi Hoyeon barely blocked it, but gasped at the overwhelming internal energy surging through the spear.
"How long can you keep blocking, huh? Your insides must be a mess by now!"
She had no room to respond amid the relentless spear strikes, her mind in chaos.
'Stay focused.'
Any lapse, and she'd fail to block.
She had to maintain this focus until the fight ended.
Meanwhile, Baek Sihun pressed her while growing puzzled.
'…What's this?'
Wi Hoyeon was adapting to his attacks.
Unlike their initial exchanges, her stance and breathing had stabilized.
'Is she… growing stronger mid-fight? In real time?'
It rattled him. He wasn't holding back; this was serious.
He wanted to subdue her now, so he'd been thrusting in earnest.
"Huh?"
Slash—
In that brief moment of distraction, she dodged his spear by a hair and sliced his left arm.
"…"
Not a grave wound, but far from superficial.
Baek Sihun glanced at it, speaking in a flustered tone.
"What the… you?"
She might have reacted to his stunned expression, but Wi Hoyeon didn't.
She just gripped her sword tighter and steadied her breath.
'This is…'
A path was opening before her. Not through the wall, but a new one unlike any before.
'Hold onto this sensation…'
No certainty, just instinct.
Her exhausted body and razor-sharp focus were enough to step into new territory.
"You crazy…!"
Baek Sihun charged desperately. No more room for leisure.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
Cleng!
"You mad bitch…!"
He cursed because Wi Hoyeon had now stepped into the same realm as him.
He could see it with his own eyes, yet couldn't believe it.
'Impossible…!'
Surpassing life-and-death thresholds to leap a stage higher mid-battle was rare but possible.
Among those with extreme talent, it happened occasionally. He'd experienced it himself.
But Wi Hoyeon had advanced once at the start and was doing so again—reaching his own level.
'Her talent… surpasses mine?'
Baek Sihun's own genius had been hailed by many.
They even said no one in Eras exceeded it.
Yet here it was, unfolding before him.
"How, how can you grow twice? In this short time…?!"
Wi Hoyeon barely heard him.
Intent was like pouring one's mind into attacks, manifesting will.
For Baek Sihun, it was desire: crush, kill, possess, ravage—primal urges.
She felt it bone-deep in every clash. His base lust for her transmitted through his intent.
The will to claim her.
'What I pour in is…'
Wi Hoyeon's intent differed fundamentally.
'I must protect.'
Her strength wasn't for herself. It existed solely to safeguard her lord.
Somewhere, he awaited her aid.
She couldn't collapse here.
"What…?!"
Baek Sihun felt crushed by something.
'No, this is…'
Not just a feeling. His body literally grew heavier. Proof: his spear swings lacked their prior speed.
"What… did you do?"
A faint tremor laced his voice.
Fear.
Not of her power, but her talent.
Baek Sihun, called a genius among geniuses, feared Wi Hoyeon's talent.
Craaack—
"Kgh…!"
He blocked her swing, but the internal energy felt stronger.
'No, she's stronger, but I'm weakened too.'
Her intangible aura suppressed him, preventing full performance.
"You… fucking bitch…!"
Her sword seemed to bisect him, but—
Shrr—
Baek Sihun had already activated his formless state.
Wi Hoyeon's eyes gleamed. Using one of his skills meant he was cornered.
At least, proof her sword threatened him.
'I can do this.'
The tide had turned.
Even just seeing fluster on his ever-composed face was progress enough.
But she couldn't stop here.
Equality was good, but she needed victory.
'Wait for the opening.'
His spear lunged to impale her.
Wi Hoyeon swung, wrapping his spear and redirecting it.
"Heh."
"…!"
Kwajik—
With his chuckle, she felt her leg pierced.
"Kkheuk…!"
Excruciating pain blurred her mind momentarily.
"Think a trick like that works on me, you slut?"
Wi Hoyeon had no intention of freezing from pain. This was the moment to embody her awakened intent.
Leg impaled, she gripped the spear with both hands and swung her sword.
Slash—!
"Guh…!"
Baek Sihun's abdomen was gashed; instinctively, he erupted his mana.
Craaang!
Kwabang!
Wi Hoyeon was hurled into the wall by the blast, but that wasn't his concern.
"Fuuuck… cough…!"
Blood poured from his gut.
"Kuh… you psycho bitch…"
Her final swing had looked glacially slow, almost boring.
But his body hadn't reacted.
For an instant, it felt compressed, immobile.
Baek Sihun's complexion worsened. Not fatal, but serious.
"Ha…"
He slowly approached Wi Hoyeon, embedded in the wall.
"…"
She was unconscious. Her accumulated internal injuries had long pushed her to the limit.
Surviving this far was astonishing.
Baek Sihun's brow twitched at her hand, still clutching the hilt.
"Haha! Damn bitch. You… cough… put up a hell of a fight, but you lost to me."
Unconscious, Wi Hoyeon couldn't respond.
"Heh…"
Baek Sihun chuckled involuntarily.
The abdominal pain was intense, but finally obtaining what he wanted lifted his lips uncontrollably.
Baek Sihun reached out toward the unconscious Wi Hoyeon.