The Silent Duel
Yu Jinho stood alone with Karla in the center of the training ground. The sudden match had come together without warning.
Lee Jiyoung and Hong Yunsu looked displeased, but he calmed them both.
“If she wants to get humbled on her own, why stop her?”
“If that’s your judgment, Team Leader, I’ll follow it.”
“Master, please beat her up good.”
They seemed close in age, yet their reactions differed sharply from Ping Lei, whose eyes sparkled with undisguised interest. Of course he was enjoying it—he wasn’t the one about to get hit.
After being thoroughly beaten during the promotion match, he’d probably need plenty of extra training once he joined the guild.
Once the match was finally arranged, Nyx stared at Karla and spoke.
“That child is unusual.”
“What do you mean?”
“I can barely read her emotions.”
“She does keep a blank face.”
“You misunderstand my words.”
Nyx let out a short sigh. This goddess really had no sense of tact when it came to speaking in front of others.
“The child suffers from a severance of emotion. The cause is unknown, but she lives by obeying others’ commands rather than her own will. In short, she lives like a doll.”
Even Ellen in the distant future had never mentioned this. Now that Nyx pointed it out, Yu Jinho recalled how impossible it had been to read any feeling from Karla’s expression or tone.
“We’ll talk about that later.”
He shook his head. Right now, he needed to focus on the opponent in front of him. Whatever problem Karla carried could wait.
“Three, two, one.”
The moment Ellen finished counting, a crescent-shaped scythe flashed toward him at point-blank range.
Wait—he’d missed the very first move?
He immediately activated Dragon Eyes. Reading the flow of Karla’s muscles and mana, he saw the scythe aiming straight for his neck.
Going for a vital point right from the start?
Thorn Carapace
Stone Skin
He activated both skills at once. Stone Skin carried a penalty of reduced agility, but since it didn’t overlap with Thorn Carapace, it was useful for boosting defense.
He ducked slightly and stepped forward. The scythe grazed his shoulder with a sharp screech.
Thorn Carapace lost a third of its durability in a single strike. The impact still transmitted some force inward, but Stone Skin absorbed it.
“Care to swing that scythe again?”
A scythe was similar to a spear yet used differently. Spears specialized in thrusting; scythes were meant for sweeping. Both shared the weakness that once an opponent closed the distance, they became difficult to handle.
So this was the promising talent Ellen had raised. Let’s see how she responded.
Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts — First Form
Responding Dragon Emperor Fist
His inner energy enveloped his forearm like dragon scales. The technique explosively rotated the user’s qi to crush whatever stood before it.
Just as his fist was about to connect with her right shoulder, Karla’s lips moved.
“Refraction.”
The scenery warped. The fist carrying the might of a responding dragon veered off course against his will and struck empty air. A loud boom echoed as the qi slammed into the atmosphere.
“Ugh.”
A pained groan escaped Karla. She had deflected the Responding Dragon Emperor Fist, yet the swirling qi still struck her shoulder. Frowning, she yanked both arms back, pulling the scythe with her.
Because he had slightly altered the scythe’s trajectory to close in, the weapon now flew toward his back.
Dark Dominion
Dark Shadow Soul-Chasing Sword
He manifested the power of Polar Night into a solid blade and blocked the blue-tinged edge aimed at his back.
“Not happening.”
Closing the distance again, the thorns on his Thorn Carapace left shallow cuts across Karla’s body. At this range, he held a clear advantage.
“……Transfer.”
With a flash of light, Karla vanished and reappeared fifty meters away.
“She’s more troublesome than I expected.”
“An ability that manipulates space.”
“You figured it out right away.”
“I can see through the principles of all things.”
He ignored Nyx’s boast. The disciple of his former comrade was far stronger than anticipated. In the age of destruction she had already ascended to the gods’ realm, so he had only heard stories. Experiencing her strength firsthand after regressing made it clear—she was a genuinely annoying opponent.
Space manipulation. Like his own unique ability Devour, it was both rare and difficult to handle.
“Looks like neither of us plans to hold back our trump cards.”
“Would you like to receive my blessing?”
“That would be cheating.”
Troublesome didn’t mean he would lose. He had never fought a player with space manipulation before, but he had battled gods of similar caliber among the Old Gods. More importantly, space manipulation wasn’t an absolute cheat that could deflect any attack. As the exchange continued, its range and limits would become obvious.
“This should be fun.”
He stared into Karla’s transparent, emotionless eyes.
* * *
Karla’s face remained expressionless, yet inwardly she felt bewildered.
‘That man is strong.’
She wielded space manipulation with near-perfect control. She could distort the direction of force or create gaps in space to inflict fatal wounds. Since mastering the ability, she had never been pushed back by anyone of the same tier. Even her master Ellen had acknowledged it.
‘Jin-ho Yu reacted to my attack speed.’
She had sliced through the space between them to accelerate instantly and swung her scythe in a surprise attack, yet it had only grazed his shoulder. The fact that her empowered scythe failed to wound an opponent wearing no armor was already surprising. Then he had closed the distance and counterattacked while inside her reach.
‘I can’t give him any opening.’
Even her signature space manipulation wasn’t flawless. Just now, she had failed to completely deflect the Responding Dragon Emperor Fist. Any force exceeding the allowed threshold would still land even if space was warped.
Another weakness: because the axis of space manipulation was Karla herself, using Transfer to move her own body consumed a massive amount of mana. It was a technique she had to restrain unless the situation was truly dire.
She raised her scythe and kept her distance. At that moment, a strange light flickered in Jin-ho’s eyes.
Mark of Weakening
A curse triggered by sight. The Mark of Weakening was the signal for his attack. Flames gathered at his fingertips and a Fireball flew straight toward her. The distance was great enough that she didn’t need to use Transfer to dodge—
Skull Hand
Bones erupted from the ground and grabbed her ankle.
‘This kind of restraint is nothing.’
She tried to shake it off with force, but it refused to budge. While casting magic, Jin-ho had activated the Blessing of Greed to reinforce the bones. For a brief moment, Karla’s movement was sealed.
The Fireball reached effective range.
‘Cut it.’
Accelerate
The air around the scythe’s blade distorted. The skill vibrated countless times to disassemble anything it touched. As the crescent blade sliced through the Fireball, the impending explosion was redirected sideways by the distortion.
“You’re not erasing the Fireball itself with space distortion.”
Jin-ho’s voice lingered in her ears.
‘He’s analyzing me?’
This was dangerous. She had sparred with many guild members, but no one had ever tried to dissect her unique ability like this.
“How about something with physical force? Earth Spike!”
The ground trembled as sharp rocks erupted in succession. Karla poured strength into her foot and kicked away Skull Hand. With her foot free, she moved beyond the range where Earth Spike could change direction and charged at Jin-ho.
Fierce Charge
Jin-ho rushed forward along her path.
‘I’ve been had.’
She realized too late why he had used debuffs and magic from range. He had deliberately created the impression that keeping distance would put her at a disadvantage.
Karla used Transfer once more. Her body moved just before collision, traveling the maximum fifty meters again.
Thud! The instant she relocated, Jin-ho slammed straight into the training ground wall.
His body trembled.
‘Stun?’
Karla swallowed her regret. She had sensed danger from Fierce Charge and created distance, only to miss a golden opportunity because of it.
“That escape skill consumes quite a bit of mana, doesn’t it?”
Her shoulders flinched.
“How did you—”
“My eyes are pretty good.”
Thousand Eyes
Eyes that read muscle and mana movement. It barely qualified as a Dragon Eye, yet depending on the user it could display power beyond its original ability.
‘No. I’m learning about him too.’
Karla steadied her mind. She had only been momentarily shaken by the unexpected situations. Her true nature was closer to nothingness.
Clang! Clang!
Fist and scythe collided, ringing with metallic echoes. The power contained in Hundred Beasts Emperor Martial Arts was difficult even for Karla to block head-on. Each exchange forced her to distort part of his strength with space manipulation.
Even utilizing her space manipulation ability, she could barely maintain parity. No—she couldn’t seize the initiative and was being dragged around throughout the entire spar.
‘Heavy.’
She had never felt her scythe this heavy before. Even when training against Bronze-rank players, it hadn’t been like this. She couldn’t even breathe freely. She swung the scythe mechanically just to avoid collapsing.
If she hadn’t trained under Ellen, she would have exhausted herself and fallen long ago.
“What, already tired?”
“I… can still continue.”
Karla recalled the guild master’s order to defeat Jin-ho. Had her will been clearer, she wouldn’t have continued a match whose outcome was already decided.
Meanwhile, Ping Lei, watching the duel, barely managed to keep his jaw from dropping.
‘Yu Jinho is one thing, but what the hell is that girl?!’
He hadn’t missed a single exchange, yet he couldn’t understand the principle behind Karla’s ability.
‘She can actually hold out against that monster Yu Jinho.’
Blood dripped from Ping Lei’s clenched fists. It was frustrating. After receiving the top-tier unique ability Clone and numerous elixirs from the Nine Dragons Syndicate, training under an excellent master and learning various martial arts, he still couldn’t imagine defeating even the woman with the scythe, let alone Jin-ho.
It felt like seeing yet another sky above the sky. Frustration weighed heavily on his heart.
‘I have to learn the secret to getting stronger here!’
Ping Lei’s eyes widened. The emotions born from watching the two fight exploded in an unexpected direction. They said frustration forged a man—and so it was for Ping Lei.
While he burned with motivation, the duel between Jin-ho and Karla raced toward its conclusion.