***
I turned my back on Samuel, who was looking up at me with a worried look, and walked towards Terias.
As I did so, I took out a high-level mana potion from my arms and drank it.
That’s because all my mana had been consumed after using Position Exchange and Absolute Stealth in succession.
Then I looked around.
‘What a disaster.’
The corpses of demons and humans were scattered everywhere.
The bodies were severely damaged, probably due to the aftermath of Samuel and Terias’ clash.
As expected, he’s a monster.
My hand, which was holding the Fang of Darkness, tightened.
Smolder, smolder-.
Darkness surged with each of my steps.
“The bugs have doubled?”
Terias walked over from the other side.
He must have noticed that I was a dangerous being, because he was coming alone, leaving Sylvia behind.
Crackle, crackle.
Every time Terias moved, frost began to form on the floor.
Immediately after.
Bang-.
The Fang of Darkness and the hammer clashed fiercely, scattering darkness and ice shards in all directions.
“Wow, you can withstand this?”
Terias stuttered as he watched me block his hammer with my trembling arm.
My arm was shaking from Terias’ attack, but I didn’t feel any tingling or anything.
Since my sense of touch was already gone, my sense of pain had also disappeared.
However.
Rather, this was to my advantage.
Not only did I not feel pain, but it also didn’t hinder me in battle.
Even without my sense of touch, Adel’s body could read the changes in Terias’ muscles as he moved.
An astonishing level of dynamic vision.
Terias’ lips curled up at this.
As if he had found an amusing toy.
And thus, the fierce battle began.
Kwa-kwak-kwak-kwak-.
The hammer and dagger repeatedly clashed and fell.
Naturally, my physical eyesight couldn’t read the trajectory of Terias’s hammer.
I could only act based on my wild instincts and by detecting the subtle movements of his muscles.
That was when it happened.
Splat-.
Blood splattered across my cheek.
My hand, which couldn’t withstand the full force of Terias’s attack, was torn apart.
If only I hadn’t lost my sense of touch as the price for Absolute Stealth.
The pain would have prevented me from even holding my sword properly.
For now, I needed to create some distance.
Just because I couldn’t feel pain didn’t mean my body was invincible.
Pak-.
I manifested Sword Lacquer and roughly knocked Terias’s hammer away.
A brief gap was created.
As soon as I confirmed it, I stretched out an arrow.
‘Designation.’
I designated the hammer that Terias was holding as the target.
The purpose was to dig into his arms and disarm him at the same time.
‘Move.’
I initiated a Position Exchange.
My vision flipped, and in an instant, my new body reached right before Terias.
The moment Terias flinched and his shoulders trembled at the sight of his hammer that had fallen to the ground.
I created countless daggers out of darkness.
‘Black Blade Rain.’
Dozens of daggers generated through darkness were aimed at Terias and shot out.
However, there was something I had overlooked.
Terias’s hammer that had fallen where I once stood.
It was one of Terias’s ‘Exclusive Artifacts.’
A hammer that, in addition to its ability to support ice attributes, could instantly move and return to its owner, even if it was far away from them.
Tak-.
Right before the blades rained down on Terias.
The hammer settled into Terias’s hand.
Tang-tang-tang-tang-.
Terias deflected the daggers at an impossible speed.
My ultimate attack had been rendered useless.
However,
'I just need to attack again.'
My mana, which had doubled or even tripled, allowed me to sustain another attack.
Even after using Black Blade Rain, my mana hadn’t run out.
However, the difference in our strength was clear.
‘Position Exchange has been sealed.’
If I were to get a certain distance away from Terias, the hammer was designed to automatically return.
Even if I used Position Exchange to throw it far away, it would end up back in his hand.
Since I had already used Position Exchange once, Terias would react even more sensitively.
If I were to use it again, there was no other way than to use it as an Evasion Technique.
‘For now.’
I had to defend against Terias’s next attack.
Swish-.
Terias’s hammer swung towards my head.
I tried to block it by swinging my dagger, but it wasn’t enough.
My arm, which couldn’t overcome Terias’s strength in the end, was bent in a grotesque shape.
Thud-.
My right wrist bone pierced through my flesh and stuck out.
Even when I tried to move it with force, my wrist wouldn’t budge.
It was a good thing I couldn’t feel pain, or else I would have fainted from shock on the spot.
A situation where I was completely unable to fight.
I raised my relatively intact left arm and shot out a black blade.
Clang-.
However, Terias simply swung his hammer and deflected the blades.
The scales of victory had completely tipped.
Towards Terias.
The darkness surging from my body had been completely devoured by Terias’s ice crystals.
Bam.
Terias kicked my abdomen as I collapsed.
“Tenacious little bastard.”
Insulting words poured out of Terias’s mouth.
Bam, bam.
The kicks didn’t stop.
My body shook accordingly, and blood clots began to spew from my mouth.
I definitely couldn’t feel any pain, but…
My body wouldn’t get up.
‘Ah.’
I had to get up.
I understood that in my head.
However.
My body refused my brain’s orders.
My vision began to fill with darkness.
I thought about using Position Exchange to escape, but I realized that my mana was already depleted.
Even though I had obtained the elixir from Besaha, I couldn’t defeat Terias.
He sneered and exhaled an even thicker chill.
“It’s over now. You maggot.”
Soon, Terias’s kicks stopped, and a giant hammer was raised above my head.
My eyelids slowly began to close.
‘…Am I dying?’
Was I going to end like this, without putting up a fight?
I hadn’t rescued Samuel yet, and I hadn’t even managed to land a proper attack on Terias.
Just as Terias’s hammer was about to crush my head.
Flash-.
My vision flickered.
With an unusually loud sound effect.
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Well, that was kinda lame. I hope this novel will improve after this arc, if not - not much will be lost at dropping it.
ReplyDeleteI agree, his specialty was assassination but decides to fight head on even knowing he was weaker.
DeleteMeanwhile I'm just enjoying reading.
ReplyDeletePretty disappointed to see that eye still being useless, he uses the ability to see the past on samuel while in a rush but doesn't consider killing sylvia to get stronger from the eye
ReplyDelete