Eclipse — Ten Minutes to the Hunt

Ten minutes until the eclipse.

Hoo, it's about to begin.

A replica or not, it would still be more than I could handle right now. Divine beasts were, quite simply, a category beyond the rules. Of course, Omann was the kind of being who could hunt down rule-breaking divine beasts like they were child's play.

I hunt Hati's replica here and take Sköll's essence.

With Sköll's essence, I could forge a powerful weapon. The only reason I wouldn't simply devour it was that, for who I was now, it would be too much of a good thing.

Then the sky began to darken.

"It's started."

The eclipse — the only anomalous phenomenon visible from the Tower of Trials. And when an eclipse occurred, the sleeping Hati revealed herself.

"Awoooooooo!"

A wolf's howl shook the air. The villagers had already shut every door and retreated into their homes.

Where is she?

I was standing in the village square. Since leaving the village was impossible, she would surely appear somewhere within it. But no matter how long I waited, Hati never showed herself.

Did I get something wrong?

My case-counting was almost never off. As long as the premise held that I couldn't leave the village—

"...Can't leave?"

The reason leaving was impossible was that powerful guards stood watch at the exit. But now that every soul was inside a building, surely the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠guards had abandoned their posts too.

Then Hati is outside the village.

Basic Footwork.

Sok — Speed.

Stepping into the rhythm of the footwork, I hurried toward the exit. There was only one way out of this village. I ran a short while before the exit came into view.

Just as I thought — no guards.

I ran straight through and out of the village.

The moment the messages appeared, a colossal silhouette in the distance began charging toward me.

With the message, a gigantic wolf materialized before my eyes. Silver fur the exact opposite of Sköll's, with blue-tinted tail hair and blue eyes.

I checked the message and tested my body, but thankfully nothing felt wrong.

So it is weaker than the real divine beast, after all.

Not that the Sköll I'd seen was the real Sköll either — just an image engraved in a heart. Compared to that, this was nothing.

I can hold my own against this.

I pulled a dagger from my inventory. It wasn't an expensive one, and the blade was chipped all over. But in a fight like this, every tool had to earn its keep.

"Inventory."

I ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠immediately took out every buff potion I had and downed them all in one go.

As the potions hit, the stats I'd lost to the penalty began to claw their way back. On top of that, Fighting Spirit activated.

I rolled the dagger in my grip and set my mana moving.

"Krehung!"

That was when Hati launched her attack. A massive paw swung down at me.

Basic Footwork.

Sok — Speed.

I stepped straight into the footwork and slipped beneath Hati, then swung the dagger at all four of her legs.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound was nothing like steel meeting hide — the blade bounced right back out.

"Kkh."

The impact left my hands numb. At least the mana shielding my body had dulled the shock somewhat.

So this dagger really won't cut it?

With what I was holding, I couldn't so much as scratch Hati's hide.

Basic Footwork.

Hwan — Illusion.

"Fight of the Gladiators."

The Illusion step induced vertigo, and Hati staggered for an instant. I didn't waste the opening — I scrambled up onto her back.

"Kyeng!"

Hati began resisting with tremendous force, thrashing this way and that, bucking violently to throw me off.

"Hold still, you damned mutt!"

I channeled mana into my fist and hammered it down onto her back.

WHAM!

But it was all noise and no substance — the blow didn't deal nearly the damage the sound promised.

"Awoo!"

"Tch!"

Every single action a divine beast took carried a powerful debuff. Still, if I kept this up, I could hold out until phase two.

If it stayed like this, that is.

Even a rough estimate put Hati's remaining health above ninety percent. And she was slowly regenerating.

I need something stronger.

I had to land damage heavy enough to outpace that regeneration. The only advanced footwork I could currently use was the Pabaek Footwork.

Which probably won't be enough….

And I didn't have the mana or mastery for anything else. A technique you couldn't handle properly was more likely to be poison than salvation in a real fight.

Gambling in a battle like this is as good as begging to die.

I knew that better than anyone. Which was exactly why I never gambled in combat.

"Hoo."

So the answer was simple: hit her with the strongest technique I actually possessed, over and over.

Basic Footwork.

I — Alterity.

There was exactly one skill I needed to use here. Fighting Spirit was a fine skill, but wrong for this moment.

"Krrrung!"

Then Hati lunged at me. She'd ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠sensed the mana gathering in my legs and rushed the attack out of desperation.

And seeing it, I immediately stepped into my footwork as well.

Fight of the Gladiators.

The skill I'd woven into the step was the C-rank skill, Fight of the Gladiators. Its effect was simple: attack power increased in a head-on clash.

A perfect fit for this exact situation.

I stepped without restraining my mana at all. No — there was no need to. This skill's effect was directed not at me, but at the enemy standing in front of me.

The instant my foot touched the ground, the surrounding mana began to clump together like sharpened spears. Then they flew at Hati.

WHAM! THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!

The spears of mana pinned down Hati's movements and punched through her hide one after another. Before long, a new message appeared before my eyes.

The moment the message appeared, Hati's resistance intensified.

At this rate, my mana will run dry.

I hurriedly drank a mana recovery potion from my inventory.

About a third recovered?

Enough to hold out until Hati entered phase three. The problem was what came after.

"Let's hope this works…."

I murmured the words as I fingered the other dagger at my waist. We fought a while longer, and then the message came.

Reading the message, I stopped my footwork at once. The instant my attack ceased, Hati put distance between us.

"Awoo!"

With Hati's howl, the sky itself shifted. The black moon gradually bled into blue, growing brighter.

So this is the Domain of the Blue Moon.

True to its name, a fixed area all around us had been dyed in blue light.

"Awoo!"

As Hati howled, the surrounding mana began to gather — and then it took the shape of wolves.

Those are vargr.

Weak as they looked, every single one was an elite-grade monster. The vargr charged straight at me.

Basic Footwork.

Am — Shadow.

I masked my presence and pulled away. If I were the me of before I'd gained the Taehyeosimbeop, I would have been spotted here with one hundred percent certainty.

Before my regression, Hati had appeared in the Tower of Trials five times in total. And of those five, I had failed to subdue her in four phases. On the fifth appearance, Hati was finally brought down by an awakener.

By this dagger.

I drew the dagger that hung at my waist.

Modest effects for its rank — but this dagger held a hidden power. And the condition for awakening it was precisely Hati's third phase.

With the message, the blue light all around began pouring into the dagger like water down a drain.

The way to break the third phase was simple: gather the blessing concentrated on Hati and redirect it elsewhere.

The Hati of this moment is nothing but a big wolf.

A replica that had drawn the moon's power outside her body could no longer wield her true strength. She was nothing more than a stubbornly durable monster.

I activated my skills immediately. The potion effects had already worn off. Now I had nothing to lean on but my own techniques and skills.

I can step into footwork five more times.

It had to end within those five.

Basic Footwork.

Sok — Speed.

I stepped in and ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠burrowed into Hati's chest.

Basic Footwork.

Pa — Destruction.

Next, I shattered the ground beneath Hati's paws.

Three left.

I — Alterity was off the table now. I'd have to handle the rest with the other basic steps.

Basic Footwork.

Pa — Destruction.

I concentrated my remaining mana into my legs. And I stomped the ground.

WHAM!

The floor burst apart, shards scattering into the air around us — and every one of those shards was laced with my mana.

THUD-THUD-THUD!

The shards began slamming into Hati.

"Kwaang!"

Hati wailed in pain.

Not much mana left.

Everything that remained had to go in, right here, right now.

The movement of my mana suddenly smoothed out. I hurriedly gathered every last thread of it into my foot.

Basic Footwork.

Pa — Destruction.

A single strike fueled by everything I had left.

WHAM!

Every blow was saturated with mana. Even Hati could not withstand this.

"Just die already, damn it."

The last shard buried itself in Hati's body, and a moment later, the system message appeared.