Rematch 2: Tormented by Existence Alone
A ruined mansion where mere existence felt like torture.
—BOOM!!
Holy Sword Justia clashed head-on with the Dragon Slayer's claws. A single collision. The shockwave tore off the mansion's roof, and spiderweb cracks spiderwebbed across the surface of the barrier the Silent Elder had erected through doping.
"Urk…!"
Isha von Estel bit her lip. She was being pushed back. It wasn't raw strength, clearly. This was momentum.
How… how is this possible?
Her red eyes scanned Lee Han. The golden aura enveloping his entire body. The audacity born from subjugating the grudge of the ancient dragon Desolatus. Title: Dragon Slayer—the power of the one title she alone had possessed. Facing it was a novel experience for Isha.
Her intuition told her. He had committed that act to obtain this power.
"Just… for this power."
Isha's voice trembled.
"Did you… kill that child? Desolatus?"
My family. My friend. Used as mere material for your spec-up?
Rage surged, her vision flickering white. The light pouring from the holy sword grew more ferocious.
I deflected the plunging holy sword and barked in a cold voice.
"Cut the distractions and focus."
—Clang!
"Your head's about to fly off, and you're yapping about a dead lizard?"
"You… devilish bastard…!"
Isha swung her sword in fury.
—Shing!Clang!Clang!Clang!
Sword strikes flew at invisible speeds. Bolstered by the Noble Saintess title's buff, Isha had reached the realm of swiftness. Her blade was elegant yet lethal—exquisite technique exploiting gaps, absolute cutting power from sacred aura.
I crushed every one of her techniques with sheer force alone.
—Crunch!
As Isha thrust, I didn't dodge. Instead, I seized the blade with my left arm, covered in dragon scales.
"What…?"
"Too predictable, Saintess."
I immediately drove my right fist forward.
—Thud!!
The heavy impact slammed into her abdomen, transmitting through her armor. Isha's body was flung back. She scraped the floor, barely regaining her stance.
This can't be…
Isha's mind reeled in chaos. Even with the Dragon Slayer title, the gap in their leagues was immense. Dragon Heart transplant or not, a human body couldn't handle that output. Yet here he was, matching—no, overwhelming—her, a Transcendent-grade.
It doesn't run dry. His mana isn't just surging—it's exploding.
She could hear his heartbeat.
—Thump, thump, thump.
It sounded like two massive engines meshing and roaring.
"What're you staring at?"
I charged like a beast skittering across the floor.
"Told you—look away and you die."
"Kgh… Light's Binding!"
Isha hastily invoked her holy spell. Chains of light erupted from the ground, coiling around my ankles.
—Crack! Snap!
I shattered them with raw strength and barreled forward.
"Cheap tricks won't work!"
—Bam!!
My shoulder tackle smashed the protective barrier she'd formed with holy power. Isha rocketed like a cannonball, crashing through the mansion wall.
From the dust cloud, Isha staggered to her feet. Her noble armor was dented, blood trickling from her mouth.
"Haa… haa…."
Pain she'd never felt before. Humiliation slowly rising. Me… losing? To that third-rate thug?
I glared at Isha through the dust, breathing raggedly.
As expected of the saintess. Tough even after this thrashing.
My fist throbbed. Full power with Dragon Slayer activated, and no critical hit. World-rank number one, indeed.
She wouldn't know. Why I could fight her on equal footing.
I'm not just fighting with Dragon Heart power.
Deep in my subspace. The Demon King's Horn I'd just reclaimed from the Silent Elder vibrated wildly.
My chest's Dragon Heart. These two alien forces resonated.
Before regression, I'd learned this by chance. Thanks to Adel von Kraiber, of course.
"Lee Han! This is huge!"
"What now, another mad experiment?"
"This one's real. World-changing tech. Mix Demon King's Horn fragments with dragon blood, and energy multiplies infinitely!"
"What? Hey, that's dangerous! Stop it ri—"
—Deluxe Bomber!!
That experiment vaporized a city. Dragon power, apex predator. Demon King power, deepest abyss. Their clashing, devouring forces birthed infinite energy rampage.
I was containing that explosion in my body.
Dragon Heart devoured the horn's demonic energy from subspace, exploding with output in recoil.
Urk…!
My insides burned. Blood mandrake side effects piled on—my veins screamed on the verge of rupture. One slip, and I'd collapse first.
Have to push this far to face the saintess.
I clenched and unclenched my fist. Golden sparks and black currents mingled at my fingertips.
Isha wouldn't know. Her foe wielded the powers of two world-ending calamities.
"Haa… haa…."
Isha's breaths grew ragged. Not stamina—bafflement at her first true wall.
Her mind must be a storm. Exactly as I wanted.
Isha. You need to grow stronger.
She was strong. Humanity's pinnacle, God's proxy. In the final regression, she lost. Why? Limits. Born genius, always dominant, she knew no defeat. No desperation on death's door, no do-or-die grit.
She's no god.
As always, the world's top fell, apocalypse dawned. To stop it, she had to break here. Shatter against an insurmountable wall.
Only then would she learn from failure.
"Why stop? Saintess."
I brushed off my coat, taunting.
"That all you got? Disappointing. Desolatus is laughing from the afterlife."
"……Shut up."
Isha's eyes changed. Shaking pupils fixed, cold killing intent crystallizing in her red gaze.
"Fine… I admit it. You're strong. Far beyond my expectations. Off the charts."
She gripped the holy sword two-handed. Tip skyward. Air swirled around her.
"But this ends now. No more arrogance."
—Vmmm!
Saintess Isha deploys [Sanctuary: Absolute Judgment]
⚠️ Warning! All impurities in range will be annihilated.
❌ Evasion: Impossible | Defense: Impossible
Space whitened. Pressure tearing even the barrier. Hit this, and death. Dragon Slayer or not, no bones left.
Here it comes.
I grinned. I'd waited for this. Her all-or-nothing strike.
I took stance. Normally, defend or evade. System warned as much.
I stepped forward.
—Boom!
Kicked the ground, leaned in. Defend? Bullshit.
I assumed attack posture.
All mana concentrated in right arm.
Trait: [Dragon Slayer] output maxed to limit.
My right arm swelled unnaturally. Golden scales covered it, nails morphing into savage dragon claws.
"You die or I die. Let's see."
I laughed maniacally, charging her.
You slash me, I pierce your heart. Mutual destruction. I won't let you live while I die. Die together.
That was the lesson of this bout.
"Lee Han!!!!"
Isha swung down the holy sword. Light's cleave bisected the world toward me.
"Iyaat!!!"
My fist pierced the light, thrusting straight for her solar plexus.
Collision, and this area vanishes. One or both of us dead.
End it. This fight.
—Drip.
The holy sword halted. Inches from my crown, close enough to singe hair.
"……?"
My fist stopped at her solar plexus.
Gale momentum vanished like a lie. Blazing light melted away.
Only collapsing mansion debris sounds remained.
Isha panted, gazing down. Her hands trembled, eyes wet with rage.
"……Haa, haa."
Slowly, so slowly, she withdrew the holy sword. Lightless Justia clunked to the floor.
"……I… lost."
Isha bowed her head. The empire's strongest saintess knelt to a mere hunter.
"Why stop?"
I asked. My fist still hovered at her solar plexus.
"One more swing, you'd have won. I'd be dead."
Though I'd have burst your heart too.
Isha smiled bitterly. Hollow, resigned to her limits.
"You… weren't planning to defend."
She eyed my fist.
"How does a saintess win against a beast charging to die together?"
She saw through it. I'd abandoned defense for mutual kill.
And chose: defeat over annihilation.
Mercy as saintess? Or primal fear of death, first time felt?
Didn't matter. She admitted defeat aloud.
"……Wise choice."
I relaxed my fist, withdrawing power.
—Thud.
Tension gone, my legs buckled. I slumped to the floor.
Muscles screamed, pain flooding. Nauseous, skull-splitting. Pushed to absolute limit.
"Per our deal, you lost."
I staggered back, leaning against the wall. Relief brought a hollow laugh.
"Promises must be kept."
Isha didn't reply. Just stared blankly at her fallen sword.
Her small shoulders trembled faintly.
First defeat in life. Despair that her absolute power failed.
How this bitterness changes her—I watched, half expectant, half worried.
Don't break. Harden instead.
But now.
Time to savor this hard-won victory.
"Haa… wanna pizza?"
My out-of-left-field words snapped her head up. Absurdity crossed her tear-streaked face.
"……You madman."
Her tiny curse echoed through the shattered mansion.
I reached into my subspace.
"Gotta eat to live, right?"