Chapter 28
Chapter 28
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 28
Chapter Title: Power vs Technique
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This guy's body was still in its prime, but most of his accumulated experience and memories had vanished.
I was the opposite—my experiences and memories remained intact, but my body had weakened.
"In that case..."
I swallowed dryly and muttered to myself. This might just be manageable.
If I played my cards right, I might even find a way to survive. No wonder that hooded guy had managed to capture this terrifying monster alive and slap a collar on it.
It was the matchup of the century: raw power versus skill. To beat this thing, I'd have to draw on every ounce of experience and know-how I'd built up over the years.
My opponent would try to crush my technique with brute force.
"It's like a bullfight between the matador and the bull."
Or, more like a newbie who just got their license driving a Porsche 918 Spyder against a Formula One champ piloting a Kia Morning in a race.
Either way, I started pulling out every tool in my arsenal.
Like a clothing store holding a going-out-of-business sale, I was emptying my entire toolbox. Otherwise, I couldn't handle that monstrous strength.
"Krha!"
I absorbed the impact as best I could and bounced back, smashing through five sliding doors before finally coming to a stop.
"You planning to wreck your own house?"
Sleeping in the cold at his age would warp your mouth, but hey, he's a corpse—probably doesn't care. I pressed my hand to my shoulder and forced it back into place. With a crack, the dislocated bone popped in.
Even when you deflect force perfectly, sometimes it still happens like this. The opponent was just that strong.
"It's fine. It's fine."
I muttered to myself as I stared him down. The Paradox Flame clung to his grudge, burning fiercely. Normally, if it grew beyond my control, that'd be a serious problem.
But this was inside an Erosion Core. Time was still on my side, as always.
"I'll endure."
Even if a few bones shattered today. I'd hold out until every last bit of his grudge burned away.
"You're being such a nuisance!"
Once more, he charged at me, raising his sword high overhead with insane momentum. Black grudge poured from his body, blotting out the sky.
It was a strike loaded with irritation, but it didn't hit me.
"Kuhak!"
Still, to fully escape the shockwave's range, I'd need at least a hundred meters of distance. Fat chance. Part of the blast from his downward slash whipped into me, and I spat up blood.
The building shook with a thunderous roar, then groaned as it began to tilt.
"Crazy... bastard."
I wiped my mouth and launched myself into the air. The castle, having taken the full brunt, was collapsing.
"Begone! This is my clan's land, and I am its rightful lord. No one who refuses to serve me has any place here, nor are they welcome!"
Unable to land a solid hit despite his overwhelming power, he was fuming from the top of his head down. The black grudge billowing from his body grew even thicker.
"Still got that much fight left in you."
He looked ready to cleave the entire castle in two. He wasn't even swinging the sword properly anymore. A mere slash through the air sent grudge in the form of black mist howling toward me as slashing waves.
And those slashes carved straight through building walls before flying on for quite a distance, fierce enough that they didn't dissipate easily.
"Ah, this is getting real deadly."
As danger closed in, my mind cooled like it had been dunked in ice water. A single mistake could send me to eternal sleep, and the threats never let up.
Yet I clawed for an opening, desperately. This was doable. Nothing compared to what I'd faced before.
"Burn. Burn it all away."
A chill ran down my spine from the grudge he'd scattered everywhere, but this was actually perfect. The Paradox Flame reignited at my spear tip, using the ambient grudge as kindling to spread in all directions.
And as it devoured the grudge while expanding, the flames leaped onto his body too.
Black mist and black fire intertwined indistinguishably now, writhing like twin dragons as they rampaged across the heavens and earth like a rocket brigade.
"No, wait... it should weaken on the way... at least!"
The crescent-shaped black slash hurtling toward me was burning away in the Paradox Flame, but its power hadn't diminished much. I raised my mana-reinforced spear to dodge the onslaught as best I could.
"..."
But one of them was unavoidable. Gritting my teeth, I thrashed desperately, wielding the spear to blunt its force and block it.
A grinding kagagak echoed as mana-reinforced spear clashed with the slash. I could see the shaft slowly being sliced away.
It's getting cut.
The spear wouldn't hold; it'd snap in half, and the slash's aftermath would engulf me.
One, two—now.
The instant it halved, I shoved my shoulder guard into the slash and poured in mana.
With a pop, the slash obliterated the guard—and my shoulder. My arm went limp from the shattered joint.
"Bring it again."
No time to falter from the pain. Amid the dizzying agony, I dodged another incoming slash. I wanted to burn the pain away, but that would extinguish all the Paradox Flames right now.
Just endure it. I discarded the broken shaft and gripped the remaining half with the spearhead in my good hand.
"Krhum..."
The guy staggered mid-swing for his next attack. Yes—now the entire massive castle was ablaze with Paradox Flame. No matter how top-spec he was, something had to give eventually.
"Looking tired."
Even after that first stagger, I had to hold out for a full ten more minutes. My body was covered in wounds large and small, blood pouring from them in rivulets.
The castle had collapsed into rubble. And I, guarding this Erosion Core's nucleus, continued the fight amid the ruins.
"Burned down to this much leftover. Unreal."
The Paradox Flame had died out—it had consumed everything. All that remained of his grudge was the residue it left behind. And even that was on par with the four Headless Samurai I'd fought outside.
Just scraps left!
"Monstrous bastard."
That was high praise— I rarely called anyone a monster.
"Does this end your petty tricks?"
"A walking corpse using words like 'petty'?"
Like a domestic abuser scolding a simple assaulter.
He approached, sword raised toward me. I readied myself with my half-spear in one hand.
"You think you can win in that state? A total wreck!"
He shouted and charged. His sword swung down—but my foot slammed it into the ground.
The blade buried deep, staggering him. In that gap, I drove the broken spear into the back of his head.
"Piece of cake, asshole. See ya."
In the end, an undead's specs were determined by the grudge it carried. The leftover scraps were impressive, sure.
But impressive was impressive, and...
A guy who'd already lost most of his memories and couldn't fight properly, now stripped of his insane specs too? I'd have to be the weirdo to lose here.
"I... I longed for this even in this state..."
"Don't care. Quit dragging it out so pathetically and die."
He seemed to have something to say. But I had no hobby of listening to dying men's last words or sob stories.
I twisted the spear in his skull hard, then yanked it out. That silenced him for good.
"Whoa, this sword..."
I checked the scabbard and blade on the fallen corpse. Even after I'd stomped it, it was pristine—no bends, edge still razor-sharp.
"Normal blades would've bent under that force."
This must be what they call a famed sword. Not that it had a name or anything. There was an inscription on the blade.
[This charcoal too was once a tree branch laden with white snow.]
A haiku, I think. Japanese poetry form.
"Engraved later, looks like..."
The inscription didn't seem original—too clean. Did he pick up some Japanese poetry book and get inspired?
I stared at the words briefly, then sheathed the sword. Then came a thud.
"Oh, a chest."
I took it down solo, so only one reward, right? With some anticipation, I opened the large chest in front of me.
"Heh, salt in the wound after the win."
Inside was a spear—or more precisely, a partisan. The blade was blue, about 45cm long.
With the shaft, it had to be nearly 230cm total.
Squinting at the weapon, I burst out laughing in disbelief.
"Whoa, this thing."
Leaving my broken arm be, I gripped it with the other hand and channeled mana. The shaft's length and weight shifted. Shortened to the max, it became little more than a sword hilt.
"Let's see."
Extended fully, the whole spear stretched to about 7 meters in a flash.
"Now that's a feature."
Way better than gimmicky junk features. Spears excel at unilateral attacks if you maintain distance, but screw up and let them close in, and you're in trouble.
Sure, you can club with the shaft and it hurts, but compared to the blade?
No weapon's perfect, especially in the spear category.
But a freely adjustable shaft meant no more distance failures.
In short, this spear's ability erased its inherent flaw. If weapons were people, it'd be giving a bald guy a full head of hair.
I fiddled with it a bit, then felt a wave of dizziness and sighed.
Ah, the pre-faint feeling.
I knew the sensation before blacking out. In my blurring vision, I confirmed—thankfully—my body was teleporting out of the Erosion Core.
The Erosion Core sealed shut after Yoo Chan-seok entered. Han Sang-ah stared blankly for a moment, then rummaged through her supplies.
"..."
She pulled out the first-aid kit and organized it, passing some time. Slumping down, she gazed vacantly at the sky, then dug through the supplies again.
She set up a burner, pot, and bottled water, boiled some, made a cup of tea, draped a blanket over herself, and sipped slowly.
One yawn. Then she pulled out her smartphone and started browsing. None of her actions showed much worry for Yoo Chan-seok inside the Erosion Core.
Han Sang-ah drank four cups of tea, relieved herself three times, killed time like that, and began dozing off with a nod.
"Ah."
In her half-sleep, a faint light appeared with a thud of something collapsing. Rubbing sleep from her eyes, she confirmed the fallen figure and slowly stood.
"Passed out."
Han Sang-ah used prepared saline to clean Yoo Chan-seok's wounds, disinfecting around them.
She applied tourniquets where needed, sterile gauze and pressure bandages elsewhere.
Shoulder was dislocated, so she fixed it with a sling.
Hunters got hurt often, so this was Academy basics. Sure, there were fast-recovery agents for hunters, but...
They were safest after full first aid, to accelerate healing.
Inject or apply them blindly here, and you'd get sepsis nine times out of ten, or bones healing wrong—tons of side effects.
As she worked emergency care, Han Sang-ah contacted the Hunter Association via smartphone, requesting medical team support.