Lacking a Human Heart

Even in a one-on-one between melee classes, the probing phase is crucial.

A successful surprise attack allows one to start by shaving off a significant portion of the opponent's health.

Sometimes, that initial ambush directly dictates the outcome of the entire match.

The advantage of forcing the opponent into a broken stance at the start of the engagement and seizing the initiative is by no means small.

Especially on a map like the Bamboo Forest, which lacked major variables, comebacks did not happen easily.

Therefore, at this very moment, with the enemy Swordmaster having lunged forward and successfully landing the first blow...

...the flow of the battle should have been overwhelmingly against me.

...But why does this feel so winnable?

The enemy's attacks were certainly fast and clean.

His movements showed he knew exactly how to maintain his initiative.

He kept unleashing short, rapid strikes to prevent me from easily counterattacking.

The problem was that defending against them was surprisingly easy—even to my own shock.

Because he was focusing entirely on speed, his attacks followed a predictable, steady rhythm, and his targets were transparently obvious.

Combat in Infinity Realm is movement-based.

This meant that basic attacks did not automatically lock on and hit, unlike in the PC-era MOBAs of the past.

If you perfectly block an enemy's attack, you lose no health.

And in terms of raw strength, I naturally held the upper hand.

His strikes lacked the power to break through my guard, nor did his weapon actually touch my body.

Attacks that merely rushed in without substance carried no real weight.

Rather... with every exchange, bit by bit.

Very slowly, the turn was shifting to me.

In a fight that had started at a disadvantage, I was gradually accumulating "time."

I cleanly traded the skills that needed to be spent.

If we both used similar damage-boosting skills, the value was heavily in my favor.

The opponent's weapon was pushed back much further than usual, buying me even more time.

At first, I had been busy just trying to block his attacks.

I had to invest every single millisecond allowed to me into defense just to survive a single exchange.

But now, I had the breathing room to control the distance and set up preemptive blocks.

I placed my weapon at the exact spot where the enemy's attack would land before it even arrived.

In the remaining time, I adjusted my posture to maximize my leverage.

At the same time, I anticipated the direction of his next strike and repositioned my right foot in advance.

Four more times? Maybe five to be safe?

If I blocked his attacks smoothly, I would have a guaranteed window to counter.

Because I had something to rely on, I didn't feel rushed at all.

It was also my good fortune that the opponent's weapon happened to be a sword.

The person teaching me was, after all, rather exceptionally skilled with a sword.

In the entire history of Infinity Realm, there was only one person ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠who could be said to wield a sword "definitely" better than Hero.

My defense wasn't going to be breached by such simple attacks.

If I allowed even a single hit from a sword of that level... wouldn't my coach give me a massive scolding?

If I lost and got scolded, at least I could feel aggrieved. But getting scolded even after winning was something I absolutely wanted to avoid.

In any case, the time had come.

The clear ring of clashing metal echoed four times.

It was time to launch my counterattack.

"H-Hyaaaah...!"

Activating the skill consumed my accumulated spare time.

But the increased action speed would compensate for it in the next moment.

Out of respect for my opponent, I focused on defense one last time.

While banking a bit more time, I channeled strength into the toes I had positioned earlier.

Pushing off the ground, I lunged forward and shoved the enemy's torso with my lead foot.

My axe swung.

At the same time, the enemy's sword moved as well.

At this rate, we would trade blows, but I did not back down.

A Berserker's counterattack doesn't need to be perfect.

I just needed to be able to strike while the enemy was striking.

And I had to force the enemy to take more damage than me.

As long as these two conditions were met, a Berserker could claim a net profit.

A silent dialogue passed between the enemy Swordmaster and me.

I didn't mean we actually spoke.

Rather, since our options were limited, a sort of mutual understanding was reached.

"We can trade hits, or you can take a step back. Make your choice."

"With our difference in attack power, wouldn't trading hits hurt me more?"

"Probably, yes."

"I'll back off, then. I'm faster anyway. I can just reclaim the initiative later."

"Are you sure about that? Since I've saved my health up until now..."

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Naturally, there was no reason for that agreement to be fair.

I was certain.

I was stronger. I fought much better.

I saw no need to drag things out and trade skills.

I was confident I could end the game without giving him a single chance to do anything.

I activated the Frenzy buff by manually lowering my own health.

Relying on the shield from Blood Covenant, I launched into an all-out attack, completely abandoning defense.

The absurd 24% damage increase, combined with my passive finally kicking in, forced an unfair trade upon the enemy.

The enemy could not block my attacks head-on.

Since blocking was no longer an option for him, he had to invest much more effort into dodging.

Large movements consumed that much more time.

Thanks to that, I bought time to link into my next attack.

Twice, to let the enemy get used to the rhythm.

I threw simple attacks, then slightly threw off the beat.

It was a minuscule delay, but to the enemy, it must have looked like an opening.

His attempt to counterattack turned into a fatal misstep.

Oh. With that trajectory, I can actually dodge this.

Originally, my plan was based on the principle of "flesh for bone"—taking a hit to deal a fatal blow.

But whether he had shrunk back from my onslaught or the off-beat fake had worked, his thrust seemed a bit slow.

The enemy's thrust felt sluggish.

There was no need to take a hit I could easily avoid.

I dodged the thrust by slightly twisting my body.

At the same time, my axe swung in, tearing deeply into the enemy's flank.

The downside of a counterattack is that the risk of failure is much higher.

A strike that drew a spray of blood.

And the follow-up attack landed perfectly right after.

The hot spray of blood splattered against my cheek, leaving a warm sensation.

I had to give up a bit of my abdomen since I had no way to block his counter-thrust this time.

But in a trade of blows, I was the one who came out ahead.

Besides, the opponent's counter-thrust felt less like a choice and more like a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠desperate move because he had no other options.

My health bar filled back up through life steal.

The sheer stat difference provided by the Frenzy buff.

Normally, one would have to overcome this with skill and speed, but unfortunately for him, I held the upper hand in skill as well.

During this exchange, our two weapons briefly locked.

The enemy's intention was to deflect the trajectory of my weapon.

But because the direction of his force was so obvious, countering it was simple.

Crunch, slash!

Once again, I extracted the price of his reckless challenge in blood.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

At the moment Yu Nabi was calmly swinging her axe...

...the arena outside the game was erupting with intense reactions.

"That trade just now was a massive blow!"

"Every single hit is landing so heavily! The bleeding is no joke either..."

"Wait, both teams are on their first runners right now! If it ends in such a one-sided result, ACL is going to be in a very tough spot!"

"Is Open really going to lose this helplessly?!"

"Is this the sheer martial power of SnowWitch? Still, this is a shocking result!"

He was an easier opponent than expected.

That was why I chose to end it quickly with Frenzy.

From Yu Nabi's perspective, it was a rational decision, but the spectators couldn't possibly see it that way.

In the beginning, despite starting with the advantage, the opponent couldn't land a single clean hit.

His flurry of attacks was almost perfectly dismantled, and the moment the counterattack began, the game fell apart.

On top of that, she had even performed the stunt of manually cutting down her own near-full health bar!

From the outside, it looked as if Yu Nabi was completely toying with her opponent.

It was a one-sided beating, like twisting a child's wrist.

She didn't hesitate to trample all over her opponent's spirit.

"This is... honestly, it's almost painful to watch."

"Nabi's aggressiveness suddenly dropped a moment ago, didn't it?"

"It's not that she suddenly became cautious. The match is already decided, so she's just stalling to let her skill cooldowns recover!"

"Neither Blood Covenant nor Frenzy lasts forever, after all."

"So she's keeping him barely alive just to prepare for the next opponent... and in the end, Open chooses to forfeit!"

"That player has no human heart. She's a beast. A beast that only looks at victory!"