NOVEL NEXT Chapter 183
Chapter 183: The Ultimate Showdown
“What the hell are you yammering about!”
I-gwi couldn’t quite grasp what Lee Si-hyun was saying.
It didn’t matter what was said anyway.
Right now, words were the least of his concerns.
What mattered was that the Sword Master was charging towards him, and he had to respond in the best way he could.
I-gwi’s mind raced rapidly.
No, it wasn’t merely his mind, but rather a finely honed battle instinct that was kicking in.
That instinct was screaming at him.
Here, he had to take the initiative.
He couldn’t afford to be pushed back from the start.
Right, backing down against a Sword Master was meaningless. It would only put him in greater danger.
It was better to collide head-on right from the start.
The moment I-gwi made that judgment, his eyes widened like a predator eyeing its prey.
Never should one miss even the slightest movement of the opponent; that was the basic rule of combat.
“Come on, you bastard!”
I-gwi yelled as he kept his eyes peeled on Lee Si-hyun’s movements.
Si-hyun, who seemed to be moving slowly on purpose, had suddenly quickened his pace.
I-gwi interpreted that as the Sword Master getting serious about his movements.
But in reality, it was simply Lee Si-hyun’s ability, boosted by the Prisoner’s Mark, that had exponentially increased his speed.
‘He’s fast. It’s a speed I can handle.’
I-gwi thought.
As expected, he had anticipated that the opponent would be faster. And this speed difference could easily be compensated with training.
He didn’t have the ambition to finish off the Sword Master by himself.
As always, he planned to end it with his training triumph.
To do that, he had to hold on until his brother, Il-gwi, returned after taking the Hellfire attack.
A max of 30 seconds?
That should be enough.
I-gwi’s sharp gaze scrutinized Lee Si-hyun’s movements.
The target is…
The foot!
I-gwi’s eyes sparkled.
If he thrust his spear just a fraction faster before the opponent planted his foot, the opponent wouldn’t be able to respond properly.
He had had great fun with this attack so far.
Most couldn’t even dodge, their feet pierced and they fell.
Only a select few managed to leap into the air, but opponents who flew became prime targets.
Just how would the Sword Master respond?
I-gwi held his breath in anticipation.
And measured the distance.
Three steps.
Two steps.
One step.
Now!
Seizing that very moment, I-gwi executed a lightning-fast thrust.
The spear tore through the air, shooting towards the ground where Lee Si-hyun was about to place his foot.
It was a perfect and threatening strike.
But the moment I-gwi launched that thrust, he had a moment of puzzlement.
‘…My body?’
It wasn’t the usual smooth thrust. An unnatural, jarring sensation coursed through him.
Because of that, his attack came out slightly twisted.
Lee Si-hyun hadn’t predicted the timing or direction of I-gwi’s attack.
However, thanks to his increased ability, he could clearly see the incoming thrust.
At the critical moment, he pushed off the ground and leaped into the air.
Boom!
With a massive explosion, the ground shattered upon impact with I-gwi’s force. He barely managed to react in time to avoid a disaster.
But the critical moment was just beginning.
In the air, his options were inevitably limited.
The opponent would undoubtedly exploit that gap.
“I got you!”
I-gwi felt his heart race with excitement.
Certainly, it wasn’t a 100% flawless thrust.
It was about 90% in execution.
For an opponent like the Sword Master, that 10% difference loomed large.
Thus, he thought that his attack would undoubtedly turn out to be ineffective.
But then the Sword Master leaped into the air.
This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
There was no guarantee another chance like this would come again.
It was a perfect chance where even the slightest misstep would be unacceptable.
This was a decisive moment.
I-gwi escalated his focus to the max.
No need for complicated thoughts.
One point.
He would aim and strike at only one point.
I-gwi’s fierce eyes zeroed in on Lee Si-hyun’s abdomen.
There!
The moment he thought that, I-gwi’s spear moved swiftly.
Swoosh!
The spearhead sliced through the air with terrifying speed, the torn air screaming in protest.
A strike fueled by all his might.
‘What?!’
In an instant, I-gwi’s expression darkened.
Once again, he felt no satisfaction in his fingertips.
His muscles tensed and creaked in the final moments.
‘I can see it!’
Lee Si-hyun’s eyes widened.
He could see I-gwi’s attack in sharp detail.
Anyone would recognize the lightning-fast thrust as moving slowly and precisely in his eyes.
He even felt the slightest deviation in the spear tip.
Realizing that deviation, Lee Si-hyun’s mind raced.
At first, he had been solely focused on defense.
But the angle of the spear was subtly off. The speed of the spear didn’t seem quite right either.
It was evident that his body balance had broken at the moment of attack.
This was definitely an opening.
If he could dodge the attack and respond quickly with a counterattack…
However, the distance was a problem.
With a spear’s reach exceeding 2 meters, he faced a daunting challenge.
With not a single skill available to him—neither sword aura, sword energy, nor even a sword, he had nothing to use from this distance.
Plus, he was in the air.
What could he possibly do here…
As Lee Si-hyun pondered the incoming spearhead, inspiration struck him, and he bit his lip.
‘Let’s give it a shot.’
This was the moment of reckoning.
Before Il-gwi could re-enter the fight, he had to secure his victory.
Organizing his thoughts, Lee Si-hyun’s left hand gripped the hilt of the Acureruts tightly.
The surging spearhead was drawing near.
And.
Now!
Lee Si-hyun’s left hand moved.
The hilt of the Acureruts swayed precisely toward the thrust approaching him.
The Acureruts was the Sword of Legends.
He knew the hilt was as robust as Acureruts itself, making this gamble possible.
Almost simultaneously, Lee Si-hyun’s right hand also moved.
Gripping the handle tightly, he hurled the Acureruts with all his strength.
It was merely a throw, not a skill.
However, given his explosively increased strength, he knew it would be a formidable attack, thus making a bold decision.
The sensation of his fingertips as he threw the sword felt incredibly satisfying.
Swish!
A sound echoed as the sword sliced through the air.
Yet even now, Lee Si-hyun’s nerves remained fixated on the thrust headed his way.
Clang!
The spear and hilt collided.
A strong pressure surged through his hand. But it was a pressure he could certainly endure.
‘Got it!’
Just as planned, the spear could not shatter the hilt.
Defense was a success.
Then it was time to counter.
Thwack!
The sound of victory resonated in his ears.
◈ ◈ ◈
“What the…?”
Seomjeon groaned softly.
In a split second, Il-gwi dodged an attack from Hellfire and the Sword Master lunged at I-gwi.
And they clashed.
In just two exchanges.
I-gwi struck at the Sword Master’s foot, and the Sword Master leaped.
Then I-gwi thrust his spear toward the Sword Master’s abdomen.
The Sword Master blocked that attack with the hilt, then threw his sword at I-gwi.
An utterly unpredictable, daring attack.
No, it was more like an act of madness.
Yet, whether it was a successful distraction or not, I-gwi couldn’t react in time, and he found himself being pierced by the Acureruts in his chest.
All of this transpired in the blink of an eye.
And the surprises kept coming.
The Sword Master hadn’t even raised his sword aura or energy against the spear.
He had simply toppled I-gwi with an utterly nihilistic throw of a sword.
That made I-gwi’s fear of the Sword Master grow even stronger.
That was a clear indication that the Sword Master had surpassed the level of a Master.
A Master is one who has intensely magnified their attack power through their disciplined forms of energy.
He had easily subdued such a level of skill.
The state of merging body and sword, or the unity of mind and weapon, may have been reached.
…One thing was certain: this was not good.
Seomjeon’s expression darkened.
◈ ◈ ◈
“Kuh… Ku… Kugh…”
Blood gushed from I-gwi’s pierced chest like a waterfall.
With an incredulous expression, I-gwi gazed at the Acureruts lodged in his chest.
He didn’t find satisfaction in that thrust at all.
But that was all.
From that distance, he had believed there was no way the Sword Master could make an attack against him.
Yet suddenly, the Sword Master had thrown his sword. A movement he could never have anticipated.
He didn’t even have time to retrieve his spear. So he tried to dodge, but before he could, the sword was embedded in his chest.
Why…?
I-gwi couldn’t fathom the outcome of this split-second duel.
He wanted to ask how the Sword Master had made such a choice.
It was not an option that a seasoned swordsman would normally consider.
Thump!
His legs gave way, and I-gwi collapsed to the ground, kneeling.
He felt his strength ebbing away, succumbing to a torrent of bleeding.
Consciousness began to fade.
He sensed the Sword Master approaching from across the battlefield.
Coming closer and closer.
The Sword Master slowly withdrew the sword embedded in his chest.
With it came a surge of blood.
“…W-why…?”
I-gwi weakly murmured, trying to muster his final strength to understand the reasoning behind such an attack.
But what awaited him was—
Thwump!
I-gwi’s head was detached and flew through the air.
“Ah… Aaaaahhh!!!”
Il-gwi, who had been in shock at the loss, screamed as blood spewed forth.
“Brother! Brother! Brother! Brother! Brother!”
With every shout from Il-gwi, pure rage emanated from his eyes.
That fierce gaze pointed directly at Lee Si-hyun.
Suddenly, Il-gwi charged at Lee Si-hyun with unparalleled fury.
Il-gwi’s specialty was not close combat.
Yet, closing in on the opponent who had easily taken down his brother felt akin to a reckless act of desperation.
Lee Si-hyun intentionally remained stationary.
The effect of the Prisoner’s Mark had faded.
Making erratic movements now could lead to revealing his concealed weaknesses.
Nonetheless, he held the Acureruts firmly in a defensive stance.
Prepared to respond to any attack.
“I’ll chew your heart out, you bastard!!!”
Il-gwi shouted in a venomous roar.
He was fully aware that he would never measure up to the Sword Master in a one-on-one bout.
Yet, running headlong at him was solely driven by the single-minded determination for revenge.
His life was no longer of any significance.
Lee Si-hyun narrowed his eyes.
Il-gwi was closing in.
His head swarmed with thoughts of how to respond.
The opponent was in a heightened state of extreme excitement.
That had to be taken advantage of.
Then, here, he would let it out.
He would unleash a thunderous shout for the fearsome guard, momentarily stunning his opponent.
The enemy could never have imagined a Sword Master utilizing such a technique, seriously catching him off guard.
If he capitalized on that opening to attack, it would surely bear fruit.
Just as Lee Si-hyun waited for the perfect moment to shout…
At an excruciatingly close distance, Il-gwi suddenly came to a halt. Without hesitation, he opened his mouth wide.
What the…?
Lee Si-hyun glared skeptically, but nothing flew out of that gaping mouth.
Could it be he was about to unleash an attack from his mouth? Lee Si-hyun’s expression turned incredulous.
“…Ha! Hahaha!”
But then, Il-gwi suddenly bent over, bursting into maniacal laughter.
He’d taken the bait!
He had fallen right into Lee Si-hyun’s trap.
Il-gwi had always kept a sealed vial of the intangible poison in his mouth.
This poison was the utmost in toxicity, the formidably harmful “Invisiblity Toxin.”
It was a poison of unparalleled potency.
But the truly terrifying aspect wasn’t the poison itself.
It was that the invisible, odorless, flavorless poison left no trace, making detection impossible.
Yet, despite its terrifying power, it couldn’t be used carelessly.
Due to its complex manufacturing process and the extreme difficulty in acquiring the materials, even obtaining a minuscule amount was as challenging as reaching for the stars.
Thus, Il-gwi had carried it around in his mouth as a final resort for when he faced a genuinely formidable foe.
And at last, he had released that intangible toxin to avenge his brother.
Beaming with triumph, Il-gwi pointed at Lee Si-hyun, who stood in confusion, and declared, “You won’t last ten seconds before you’re dead!”