The Second Reconstruction

Kang! Kang!

Envy's attacks grew fiercer by the second.

I somehow managed to move my arms and deflect her blows, one after another.

Seven minutes now, huh….

There were still three full minutes before the two of them would break free of their bindings.

But I doubted this situation would last three more minutes. If I can hold out for one, that'll be a miracle.

Mismatching her at the very start had already wrecked my body. I was somehow keeping myself alive by deflecting rather than blocking, but my body was at its limit.

Kang! Kang!

The power behind my Palm Art was fading bit by bit. My mana was running dry.

I can't sustain my mana when all I do is defend.

I had to go on the offensive from here, if only to buy time.

"You let your mind wander when you fight me, huh?"

Swish!

Envy's attack grazed my arm. I had reacted and moved my body, but I was a step too late.

Do I have to throw out every card I have…?

No. If I played everything now, there would be no retreat afterward. Most of my skills had cooldowns measured in weeks, some in months. Use them here, and I'd have no next move at all. Those were cards to spend when I was at my very best.

"I guess I have no choice but to gamble…."

There was exactly one gamble I could place right now: Body ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Reconstruction.

Of course, Envy was hardly going to sit idle while I saw it through. Never thought I'd have to use it here.

The move I had available for it now—

"Invincible, activate."

Bang!

The moment my activation word left my lips, a golden dome of light rose around me.

Invincible — an S-rank one-time-use skill, a single-shot buff gained from the Supernova buff.

It had originally carried a level cap of 100, but the condition had changed when I went through this awakening trial. That bonus reward really was something.

I still didn't know what I'd done to satisfy Jeon Woo-chi, but the level restriction had been raised to 150 because of it. And who would've thought I'd burn it this soon.

At my activation, Envy's face twisted in rage.

"What the hell is this now!"

She hurled herself at me instantly — and was flung straight back. When her attack failed, her eyes rolled with fury.

"Uaaaaah!"

Apparently unable to stomach the fact that her strikes simply weren't landing, she kept hammering at the barrier, over and over.

I need to hurry while she's occupied.

I opened my status window at once.

This was the only means I had of artificially triggering Body Reconstruction: pouring stat points into mana.

Mana never rose through stat points. It had been the same before my regression, too.

What was I thinking back then…?

Whatever it had been, I had dribbled my precious stat points into mana little by little, hoping for a miracle. And at around level 500, the miracle had actually happened — the 5th Body Reconstruction. A reconstruction I'd thought would never come again.

I couldn't remember exactly how much I'd invested back then. This time I'd tested it early with about ten points and nothing had changed, so I'd simply hoarded them. There was no guarantee the same miracle would happen twice, after all.

One minute until the two of them are free.

That would be enough.

I began distributing my stats into mana at a furious pace. If the reconstruction failed, all three of us died here — that thought alone drove my hands across the window.

The points drained away at a terrifying rate. All the while Envy hammered at the barrier, but Invincible wasn't going to break for anything she had.

Then, at the thousandth point, a system message appeared.

The expansion of the vessel. The miracle I'd been praying for — the herald of Body Reconstruction itself.

Barely had I begun to rejoice when my body started to twist apart.

Crack! Crunch!

Arms tore away. Legs tore away. My bones warped grotesquely, and breathing became a struggle. But my mind only drifted in a haze — there was almost no pain at all.

Is this Invincible's doing?

The absence of agony was a blessing beyond measure.

As the severed limbs regrew and my bones snapped back into place, my mind cleared like water settling.

Kang! Kang! Bang!

"Stop interfering!"

Guildmaster Han Min-joon and Team Leader Woo Sang-shik threw themselves desperately against Envy's attacks.

"I don't know what you're up to in there, but I can't let anyone through to you right now."

The way the guildmaster said it reminded me of a grandfather.

"Not until that strange light ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠show of yours is over. My orders stand."

Team Leader Woo Sang-shik sounded tremendously dependable.

I had bought them time while they were bound, so now, presumably, they intended to return the favor.

Good thing I've still got Invincib— wait, what?

Without my noticing, Invincible had already run its course. Only later would I learn why: the moment I began the reconstruction, the golden light had seemed to pour into my body.

I can win. Right now.

I didn't know where the thought came from, but the feeling struck me all at once — that if I spent every card I held at this very moment, I would win.

The combat skills came online. I pulled armor from my inventory and put it on.

The Armor of the Nameless, bought in the Tower of Trials. When I'd inspected it after purchase, it had turned out to be an artifact that chose its own master. I hadn't been able to wear it since — but I'd gambled that now would work.

And just as I expected, the armor acknowledged me.

Every stat raised by 300%. That alone made me strong enough.

I'll hold the skills in reserve for now.

The Armor of the Nameless' Sovereign of the Battlefield, Jeon Woo-chi's boots' Shukuchi Method — too many of my pieces carried brutal cooldowns. The Ring of the Earth doesn't seem to be working either.

My Legendary+ items weren't functioning at all. If they had been, my mana never would have run dry in the first place. The Ring of the Earth is off the board for now.

Resolving to visit Sunny's Workshop later, I threw myself straight into the fight.

Kang!

I deflected the hand Envy had hurled at Han Min-joon.

"Appreciate it."

"Is it done?"

"Yes."

Even in the middle of that brief exchange, Envy's attacks kept coming.

"Let's go again!"

She seemed pleased to have me back in the fight, because she started swinging wildly, no technique to any of it.

Kang! Kang! Kang!

In this situation, I can't turn the tide with offense.

The attacks came without pause, and I could do little more than whirl my dagger desperately to parry them.

How on earth did I hold out earlier?

Envy's power was so overwhelming now that the version of me who'd deflected her attacks minutes ago felt like a stranger. As if she'd grown stronger.

She has grown stronger?

It was entirely possible. Envy's wellspring was emotion itself — the more ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of that feeling she carried, the mightier she became.

But why?

Envy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠arose when one fell short of another. And where, exactly, were the conditions for envy here? She fought on even terms or better with Guildmaster Han Min-joon. She was overwhelming Team Leader Woo Sang-shik outright.

Where is she getting the envy from, in a fight like this?

Kang! Kang! Kang!

Once I'd recognized it, the answer became unmistakable. With every attack she landed, Envy's power was climbing.

Bang!

Mid-block, I was sent skidding backward across the floor. She was growing faster than I was.

"That technique you used earlier — can you use it again?"

"Sorry?"

"The one that bound Envy for a moment."

The technique that had briefly restrained Envy. He almost certainly meant my footwork.

It's too early to reveal it….

But a man like Guildmaster Han Min-joon wouldn't bring this up out of nowhere. There had to be a reason.

"I can use it…."

"Good."

At my answer, the guildmaster exchanged a look with Team Leader Woo Sang-shik, who was holding Envy at bay.

"Then wait here, and when I give the signal, use that technique."

With that, Han Min-joon moved to join the team leader, and the two of them pressed Envy together.

I don't know what the plan is….

But we were in the middle of a team mission, and the leader was Guildmaster Han Min-joon. As a team member, my job was to follow.

First — find out why she keeps getting stronger.

If she grew any further, my Shadow Pressure wouldn't hold her for even a second.

Detection Footwork. Seek.

What I needed to find was the flow of magic energy. They called it the power of emotion, but at the end of the day it was magi. There was no way it would slip past my Seeking.

Found it.

Just as I'd suspected — there were threads of magi feeding Envy directly.

And they lead… upward?

The threads of magic energy ran up through the ceiling. Where they connected was directly above the chair Envy had once occupied.

Then I'll smash it.

I reshaped the broken sword hilt into a mace. It was an abandoned building, so its structure was weak — it had been shaking since moments ago, which said everything. The only reason it hadn't collapsed already was that the building itself was being sustained by magic energy.

Coat it with Palm Art, and throw.

The mace, saturated to the brim with the Palm Art attribute, sliced through the air and slammed into the ceiling.

Bang!

With a thunderous crack, the magi barrier shattered and the ceiling came down.

"O Envy!"

"Envy, our lady!"

And through that broken ceiling, zealots came raining down in droves.

A cult that worshipped the Demonfolk as the messengers of god. So they were the ones siphoning Envy's power.

The threads of magi flowing into Envy were anchored to these people.

Basic Footwork. Swift.

I swept through them, and the zealots dropped unconscious one after another. Because every blow carried the Palm Art attribute in full, the magi threads connected to Envy burned away entirely.

"No!"

Envy shrieked as she registered the loss of her supply. And in that exact instant, Guildmaster Han Min-joon sent his magic power toward me.

The signal.

I stepped into the footwork immediately. Shadow Footwork. Shadow Pressure.

Mid-swing at Team Leader Woo Sang-shik, Envy froze solid.

"Well done!"

As the guildmaster roared the words, a brilliant light began to pour from his body.