Iron Man (3)
Stealth works. That means his magic rank is close to the base stats. So why is his magic rank so low?
It began with that question. Choi Yun-seok deactivated Stealth and Weapon Enhancement, which he'd been using almost like passive skills, and swung his sword. He didn't even use One Flash, which consumed magic.
The strike was several times weaker than usual. And yet... it connected.
...Huh?
It was far too shallow to call it a proper slash. More like a light nick from a utility knife. But seeing the tiny bead of blood welling up along the line, Yun-seok glimpsed hope.
So the answer was to not use magic...
He didn't know the reason why. But it didn't matter. It must have been much the same when humanity first tamed fire.
A head-on clash relying solely on stats and skill, excluding any magic-based techniques. That was the breakthrough.
Yun-seok grinned. Hadn't he promised to shatter him over and over? Now it was time to throw those words back at him.
If one strike only left a tiny scratch, he'd slash again and again.
Clang!
The contradictory ring of blade meeting flesh persisted. But Yun-seok burned with even greater fighting spirit.
It was definitely different now. The steel harder than rock was beginning to chip away, ever so slightly.
"Insolent whelp!"
Perhaps irked by Yun-seok's bold expression, Steel King Keriksis thrust out a fist with a roar. Yun-seok didn't bother replying.
What words were needed in a duel where they sought each other's lives? If any were required, the outcome would speak for him.
Thud!
Yun-seok focused silently on the duel. All he had to do was dodge the incoming fist and swing his sword—at the exact same spot.
Thud!
The repetition of the same action. As it continued, the insignificant line gradually deepened. Like a ridgeline eroded by wind and water into a valley.
Suddenly, Yun-seok recalled a story he'd once heard from an old man. A tale of a man who, after losing his wife on the long detour over a mountain to the hospital, spent 22 years alone carving away the peak to prevent such tragedy from repeating.
Of course, Yun-seok had no such noble backstory. But the core principle was the same.
If once didn't work, try twice. If twice failed, try three times.
Of course, if Keriksis's durability had been just a bit higher, this method wouldn't have worked either. Even the old man in the story could chip away the mountain because repeated pickaxe strikes cracked the rock.
Thud!
Time passed like that. Thirty minutes? An hour? Maybe even longer.
In that span, Yun-seok and Keriksis exchanged fierce blows without a single moment's rest. Dizzying close calls were countless. A moment's lapse could have sent his head flying, and once he nearly let a punch through to his gut that would have shattered his core.
Yet Yun-seok had endured Keriksis's ferocious assaults up to now. And the result lay before his eyes.
Yun-seok eyed Keriksis's right arm, which he'd relentlessly targeted.
"......"
No stray wounds. Just one slash mark on the flesh. The fruit of dodging those bull-like punches thousands of times while precisely slamming his sword into the same spot.
It wasn't a serious injury yet, but with a bit more time, he could reach the bone. And Keriksis seemed to know it—his relentless offense had softened slightly.
When Yun-seok swung, he now tried to dodge, unlike before. The duel dragged on longer as a result, until a brief lull finally arrived for the first time.
Wary that the beastly man might charge again at any moment, Yun-seok stayed vigilant, attentive to every action.
Suddenly, Keriksis spoke.
"I'll take back what I said earlier."
"......?"
"Thou art no pathetic, cowardly swordsman."
It seemed like acknowledgment as a worthy foe. Typical macho behavior? His mindset was hard to grasp.
Yet why did his chest stir at being recognized?
"Thou art the second most swordsman-like soul I've met among all the swordsmen I've faced, I, Steel King Keriksis."
The specific "second" made it feel all the more sincere. But Yun-seok's eyes sharpened in response.
This wasn't a friendly gathering—it was the heart of a circular arena where victors and vanquished were decided amid sprays of blood.
"Kuhahaha! No need for flattery, eh?"
Even Keriksis, who'd lived his life on battlefields, admired the raw combat lust gleaming in Yun-seok's eyes. It made him question if what he'd done could even be called fighting.
Smashing what could be smashed, crushing what could be crushed—he'd repeated it countless times. But was that truly fighting?
He'd naturally learned efficient ways to pulverize foes on the battlefield, but the essence never changed from start to finish. Without special training, he'd only grown stronger as his blood thickened with age.
Invincible foes? They didn't exist in his life.
But Yun-seok? He'd slashed countless unslayable enemies. Just as he was trying to do now.
"More a warrior than a swordsman!"
If all continental swordsmen were like this, perhaps he wouldn't despise them so.
Keriksis laughed heartily at Yun-seok, who stared silently, fixated only on him.
"Good! Let us see true fighting, then!"
The duel shifted. When Keriksis attacked, Yun-seok counterattacked. Sword Mastery's post-action priority proved immensely helpful here too.
But the ferocity had escalated. He could dodge, but he didn't. Risking injury to inflict greater wounds on his foe, he poured everything into each exchange.
Keriksis let the incoming sword tear into his wound and thrust his other fist forward.
Whoosh!
Slash!
The blade sank an inch deeper into the wound. Simultaneously, Keriksis's punch tore off one of Yun-seok's ears. A bare fist, yet it pierced like massive fangs.
Yun-seok didn't heal. Such a wound wouldn't hinder combat. Better to activate the Berserker trait instead.
Whoosh!
Slash!
Faster attack speed from the trait? This exchange left Yun-seok unscathed. Having nicked bone and nerves, Keriksis's right arm dangled limply.
However...
Whoosh!
With one arm in rags, he compensated with a kick. Yun-seok leaped upward in haste, and Keriksis pursued without mercy.
The battlefield had shifted—from ground to sky.
Yun-seok crossed his dual swords and swung down at Keriksis rocketing up from below. Keriksis didn't block. Trusting his overwhelming durability, he offered his face.
Splurt!
An X-shaped gash bloomed on his face, blood bursting forth. But it wasn't deep. After the strike, Keriksis punched at Yun-seok's exposed abdomen.
Five meters in the air, no footing. Yun-seok realized he couldn't dodge this blow. So he offered something else.
Not flesh for bone. Just flesh to protect bone.
"Oh ho!"
Yun-seok twisted sideways to shield his abdomen. The impact shifted to his right arm, but his core was safe. Keriksis's eyes gleamed at the choice, reacting instantly.
No greed for a follow-up. Instead, he seized the sword flopping with the arm and snapped it like a twig with both hands.
Crack!
A measure to deny the sword, since the arm would regenerate soon. Using Keriksis's shoulder as a springboard, Yun-seok backflipped away, landing on the ground.
But unexpectedly, no regeneration. Keriksis soon understood why.
"Kuhahahaha! So an arm that can't grip a sword is useless to thee?"
Yun-seok didn't answer. But that was answer enough.
Keriksis laughed delightedly and tore off his dangling arm. For the same reason. A powerless arm was just baggage.
"Hahaha! Much better. Aye!"
The two one-armed fighters faced off. Blood dripped from their wounds, but no pained groans escaped.
"An arm for an arm! I look forward to what we trade next!"
A battle where he might lose. Joy filled Keriksis's face—the ecstasy of a true warrior discovering genuine combat.
Unlike him, ablaze with excitement, Yun-seok's mind was ice-cold.
Aim for the heart.
Keriksis charged with a ground-shaking boom. Yun-seok calmly tracked the fist's path to the end before moving. Yet part of his focus stayed on Keriksis's heart.
He hadn't expected a single severed arm to kill him. The reason for targeting it so doggedly was simple: to strike the far deeper heart, he needed to disarm one weapon.
The plan had half-succeeded. Keriksis's right arm neutralized—but Yun-seok lost an attack tool too.
No choice. Still have to do it.
At least the broken sword was the Frontal Palace Sword. Losing the left sword with +2 strength would have dimmed his odds further. And there was an unexpected boon.
Berserker trait's attack speed boost has reached maximum.
It scaled with lost health, so severing limbs counted heavily, it seemed. Yun-seok gripped his remaining sword tighter.
One sword gone? Fine. He'd swing the rest faster and more often.
He'd started with just one anyway.
Thud!
Defeat loomed, but the fight wasn't over. Yun-seok dodged calmly as always, stabbing at the heart the moment an opening appeared.
Stab!
He had no idea the durability stat, but that hide was too thick for one thrust to reach the heart. So once more.
Stab!
A bit deeper. But withdrawing slowly, he took another punch.
Keriksis's fist pierced Yun-seok's lung. He didn't use Blood Pact. Skipping breaths for seconds wouldn't kill him, but one second's distraction now would.
Stab!
The third strike sank the blade deeper, but still far from the heart. Yun-seok fell back to regroup, but Keriksis roared and closed in relentlessly.
"Kuhahaha! Lusting after my heart? Take it if thou can!"
Yun-seok's instincts screamed. Now decided victory or defeat.
Backstep.
He used Backstep—not to widen distance, but narrow it, facing backward.
Counterattack state available.
Double power counter judgment. The window was a split-second. But Yun-seok held back, sword extended, for the post-action bonus.
Soon, he felt the pulled-back fist incoming. No sight—just sense, back turned.
...Now!
Instinct signaled. Yun-seok twisted, thrusting at the heart. Simultaneously, Keriksis's fist shredded his lower abdomen, shattering the core.
But it was fine. He'd lose Blood Pact access, but a broken core wasn't instant death.
If his blade struck true, he'd win.
Bounced back by the fist's recoil, Yun-seok barely lifted his head to check.
"......"
Keriksis stood frozen, as if dead. But he wasn't.
Yun-seok had suspected as much when the blade hit. Short by a finger joint.
Keriksis numbly probed the wound with a finger, confirming it himself.
"...To call this fortune would insult thee."
One step forward.
"Just a little... short, nameless swordsman."
Two steps. Regret plain on his face.
"In that state, I cannot even hear thy name."
Three steps. Lingering attachment to the duel.
"Clash and shatter. Melt into the mold and clash anew! Such is the life of steel."
Four steps. He reached Yun-seok.
The fierce duel ended. Time to divide victor from vanquished.
Keriksis raised his foot high over Yun-seok's head.
"Today, I win. Therefore..."
Boom!
"...we meet again."
With those final words, darkness swallowed his vision.
1 Coin consumed.
Predation
One acquired skill randomly deleted.
He'd truly lost.