Vs. the Pretty Good Eared Bastard (2)

An astonishing recovery speed. A skilled spearman. Those two traits alone made Fabian a sufficiently tricky opponent. True to his position as the second-ranked Elf Great Warrior, he showed almost no openings, and the reach disparity was too extreme to fight him with a longsword the way I usually did. Still.

Not on the same level as Uncle Kang Hyuk or Cheonma, though.

The pretty good eared bastard. That was the final evaluation of Fabian that formed inside my head. I walked forward slowly with both hands lowered, channeling mana into my mana tattoos. Both hands, mana tattoo, ten o'clock direction—wire. Right hand, mana tattoo, seven o'clock direction—long spear. I looped the wire around my wrist and let it dangle long from both hands before gripping the spear. It was shaped like a harpoon, similar to the one Fabian used.

"Ha! You dare challenge this body with a spear?"

"You're not even that big. Why the hell are you using a spear? Inferiority complex?"

"You son of a bitch!"

Unable to contain his rage, Fabian drove his spear in deep. I met it with my own blade, angling it to deflect the thrust, then twisted to hook our spearheads together and yanked back with everything I had. My plan was to seal off his spearmanship as much as possible. After all, I had already judged that fighting him with spear techniques would put me at a disadvantage.

"What a cheap trick!"

Fabian didn't resist the flow of power. He closed the distance and reached his left hand toward his waist. At that exact moment, a number floated above Fabian's head and a mirror fragment appeared. Through it, I observed his pre-regression future.

Ever since my eyes had changed to their current state, I could view the pre-regression future without penalty for roughly eight seconds. I burned every possible piece of information into my retinas during that window.

Fabian pulled a dagger from his waist and hurled it at 'me.' The instant the dagger bounced off the Defensive Coat, he manipulated something in his left hand and the glossy sheen of 'my' Defensive Coat vanished. Fabian immediately released his spear, pulled a grenade from inside his chest, yanked the pin, and shoved it roughly into 'my' coat. The vision ended with Fabian kicking 'me' with all his strength.

Returning to the present, my mind raced.

He did something and the Defensive Coat got neutralized.

Considering how prepared he was, he's surprisingly thorough.

Exactly as I had seen, Fabian pulled a dagger from his waist and threw it. The moment it bounced away and his left hand moved to manipulate something—

"Got a vibrator hidden in there or what?"

"What!!!!!"

I had already released the spear with both hands. I materialized a dagger in my right hand, gripped it in reverse, and slammed it down into Fabian's left hand with everything I had. The dagger punched straight through, and a small plastic fragment fell to the ground in two clean pieces. That must have been the device that disabled the Defensive Coat.

I yanked the dagger free and slashed diagonally upward toward his chest.

- Shaaak!

Fabian's clothes tore open, revealing the cluster of grenades hidden inside. He released the spear with his right hand to stop my advance, but my hand was faster. I used my left hand to pull the pins on the grenades and shoved him away.

But.

- Boom!

Fabian stomped my left foot hard with his right, preventing any distance from opening between us. At the same time his left hand clamped down on my right like a vise. He wasn't letting go no matter what.

"Hahahahaha!!! Unlike this body, you won't survive this!"

"Why blow yourself up along with me?"

"Exactly!"

Exactly, huh? Works for me.

"You too?"

"......What?"

I reached my left hand across to my right flank and yanked out a whole bunch of pins from the bundle of grenades Hye-ji had casually told me to carry before the fight. I never imagined I'd actually use them like this. Every time a pin clattered onto the ground, Fabian's smile faded further and the corners of his eyes began to tremble.

"Me too!"

"Y-you crazy son of a bitch!!!!"

Fabian tried to pull away in a panic. This time I stepped on his left foot with my right and twisted my hand to lock his left in an iron grip.

"Me too!!!"

"You fucking—!!!"

A red number rose above Fabian's head. In the next instant, countless explosions erupted between us, thick smoke swallowing everything.

The watching elves either screamed shrilly or simply stared in stunned silence. When the smoke finally cleared and they saw both of us still standing, each of them let out a mixture of sighs—some of relief, some of dismay. Relief that Fabian was still on his feet. Dismay that I was too.

Of course, neither of us was unscathed. My Defensive Coat had lost its luster and failed to absorb every impact; blood was trickling from my right side. Shrapnel had apparently grazed both thighs as well, because blood was slowly soaking through my pants. Fabian, on the other hand, had been blown apart so badly that he was displaying the 'Mysteries of the Human Body (Elf Edition)' in vivid, grotesque detail. His wounds were closing, but the regeneration was dramatically slower than before.

I stared at him and grinned.

"Ha, you fucking Mundo bastard. The healing reduction finally kicked in."

"Are you seriously out of your mind?!"

Then I noticed his lower body had been torn open too. While we stood locked together, I decided to shake his mentality a little more.

"You don't need it anyway since it's so small. Consider it a free cleaning service."

"Aaaaaaaaagh!!!!! It will definitely recover!!!"

"Don't worry even if it's gone. I'll take good care of your wives for you."

"Get lost! You homewrecker!!!"

Fabian glanced at my crotch and screamed his final retort.

"You 6.9-centimeter small-dick timid elf male insect. This is the difference in physical specs."

"Shut your mouth! This body does not have a small dick!!!"

Hey, you son of a bitch. He's a native, isn't he?

While Fabian spat and shouted his rebuttal, I busily worked both hands, manipulating the wires wrapped around them.

"Aaaahng! It's reaching places my husband's thing could never touch!"

"Will you please shut up!!!"

"I'm so sorry for losing to an inferior species' cock, honey."

"Aaaaack!!!!!"

"But... I... I'm so happy as a woman right now."

"Die!!!!!"

Having completely lost his mind, Fabian drew an arming sword in his right hand and a dagger in reverse grip with his left. He swung the sword horizontally at my head while stabbing downward with the dagger at the same time. My thighs were injured, making movement difficult. I raised my right hand and caught his left, resulting ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in the dagger punching straight through the back of my hand. With my left hand I seized the wrist of his sword arm.

When the elves watching saw the dagger pierce my right hand, they cheered as if the fight was already over.

"Kill him!!! You sapiens bastard!"

"Hey, leave the dick alone!"

"Where does an inferior piece of trash get off rubbing against him!"

Hearing their cheers, Fabian sneered at me and tried to pull both hands back. However.

"Huh...?"

"Got you at last, you son of a bitch."

His ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠attempt didn't succeed. If he had stayed calm, he would have aimed for my body—especially the bleeding right flank. That would have put me in real danger. But because he didn't, Fabian had to pay the price.

While I had been shaking his mentality earlier, I had also been scattering wires everywhere. Now my hands and his were hopelessly tangled in them, making it nearly impossible to separate. Adding my grip strength on top of that, Fabian's hands were completely trapped.

I ignored the pain of the dagger still piercing my right hand and condensed mana into both palms.

"Let go!!!!"

"Healing reduction on a Mundo is fucking useless!"

- BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!

The Cheonma Repulsor detonated from both hands at once. The right wrist and left hand I was gripping literally exploded. Only scraps of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠muscle and bone remained. The blade that had pierced my right hand shattered into pieces, but the wound itself grew even larger. It was definitely a critical injury, yet it didn't stop me from using my right hand right away.

The elves could no longer speak. Every last one of them watched our duel with eyes full of horror. Fabian glared at me with a mixture of rage and hatred and roared.

"There is no way this superior being could lose to an inferior worm like you!"

I squeezed his ruined hands until they felt like they would crush. Even as pain forced groans from his lips, his mouth never stopped moving.

"A short-lived species like you!!! Fighting this hard for a mere half-breed!"

"A mere half-breed?"

"Filthy-blooded inferiors daring to climb up to superiors is laughable!!"

With a face that still hadn't fully recovered, Fabian laughed like a madman and kept ranting.

"No matter how much you struggle, you filthy-blooded inferiors—!"

"Shut up."

- KAAANG!!!!

"Uwaaaaaagh!!!!"

Still gripping both his hands, I slammed my forehead into his. My skull, boasting insane hardness, made direct contact. Fabian's skull rang like a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠struck bell. The impact sounded exactly like metal smashing against metal.

At least, as the second-ranked Elf Great Warrior, he didn't collapse on the spot. He endured. But that was all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Looking at the screaming Fabian, I spoke.

"Blood alone doesn't decide superiority or inferiority."

- KAAAAANG!!!!

I slammed my head down again.

"The one who wins."

- KAAAAAAAAANG!!!

The sound grew louder.

"The one who survives."

- TEEEEEEEEEENG!!

Just go with it.

"That's the truly superior one."

"S-stop......"

I kept headbutting him over and over, ringing his skull like a temple bell. Since the novel's timeline was approaching the new year anyway, the timing felt just right. Each impact sent violent vibrations through his head, and before they could fade another one landed, causing them to resonate.

When I delivered the final headbutt, a sound like cracking bone echoed from Fabian's skull. That was the end. He lost consciousness and collapsed on the spot.

Looking down at the fallen Fabian, I said,

"And nowadays, the Shigorjab breed is the absolute best."

The first duel. My battle against Fabian. It was my victory.