“Everyone, step aside! I’ll take on that guy! Now even monsters are mocking us, how can we live as Ilseom members?! Give me a chance. I will definitely show what I’m made of—”
“No, I—”
“Not you. You guys stay back, Hyeon Woo-seok, come forward.”
I thought if I delayed any longer, completing the quest would become difficult.
So I quickly charged at Hyeon Woo-seok and performed a move.
[Ilseom – Third Step]
───?!
It was a sword technique that I had seen from Park Jin-gon, and despite having only seen it once, I was able to replicate it surprisingly well.
‘Well, it was created by Uncle Jo Gi-man after watching some forgotten ancient sword techniques…’
The third step, which showed especially irregular movements in the refined and systematized Ilseom swordsmanship, was a unique sword formation that drew vertically from below towards the sky while maintaining an extremely low stance.
As I raised my sword and halted just under Hyeon Woo-seok’s chin, he simply closed his eyes tightly and said nothing, as if he knew I would stop.
‘Is it not working? I thought I’d see him panic and swing his sword like a rookie. Impressive, huh?’
Maybe Hyeon Woo-seok had higher patience than I thought—
Suddenly—
Hyeon Woo-seok’s lips trembled, and his face twisted grotesquely as he grabbed the tip of my sword and swung his arm.
‘─?!’
Before I knew it, I, who had been holding onto the sword with my whole body, was launched sky-high diagonally.
‘Wow— what kind of strength is that?’
He must have thrown me with all his might; I was close to hitting the high ceiling of the training dojo.
Just as I was about to crash into the ceiling, I activated [Adhesion] to stabilize my body and slowly began to descend from the sky using my military cloak.
– It’s levitation magic…
– Just how many types of magic can that skeleton use?
– Incredible… It’s not even at the level of a half-baked magic swordsman…? This guy is a monster, lacking nothing in magic or swordsmanship.
Without getting tired, people gasped as they watched me.
But it seemed those reactions provoked Hyeon Woo-seok even more.
“Keukekekek… Oh, if that’s what you really want. I’ll slice you into a thousand pieces and stomp you until you disintegrate. Lee Yeon-hee! Watch closely how your summoned skeleton gets destroyed!”
“Uh? Well… That sounds a bit problematic…”
‘This is always the issue. It’s not like Yeon-hee ordered me to do this.’
I nodded at Yeon-hee, who was looking at me worriedly, but I couldn’t hold back my anger at Hyeon Woo-seok, who stepped forward.
Noh Ha-yoon and Bae Joo-ah teased them like little kids.
“Anyway, the summoned creature will just come back to life~ There’s no need to waste your energy~”
“It can die a hundred, thousand times and still come back~”
‘Guys… I can’t come back after that much…’
Out of nowhere, Yeon-hee’s complexion darkened. I remembered her saying she was worried about how to increase my life points daily.
In the middle of the jeering, Noh Ha-yoon encountered an unexpected obstacle.
Kim Gunseob, who had defeated her in the first match, placed a finger on his lips and said, “Hey, Noh Ha-yoon. How about you shut up since you got wrecked by me? Isn’t it a bit embarrassing to act like that?”
“What? That damn toad? Want me to give you a proper thrashing?”
“You’ll never win even if we fight ten or a hundred times.”
“Ugh— that toilet-looking guy thinks he can just act tough because he’s got some magic? So annoying…!”
“How about a match then?”
“Bring it on!”
The two were ready to go for a second round, but Hyeon Woo-seok signaled Kim Gunseob to step back.
“I’m sorry…”
“Phew, good. Step back.”
‘I’m good too.’
– Completed the small mission granted on the path to becoming [King of the Undead].
– Obtained the recipe for ‘Killbard’!
– After the duel, Lee Yeon-hee’s reputation increases slightly!
Seeing the messages, I was sure the duel with that guy was confirmed.
‘As for the recipes… they’re all things I’ve never seen before. It’s clear that I’ll have to obtain them from a hidden dungeon.’
Once I got this recipe, everything else was merely small potatoes.
‘I hope it’s possible to mass-produce them…’
“Let’s fall back!!”
Jang Yu-chan, noticing Hyeon Woo-seok was completely losing it, called out as he pushed our members back.
“Everyone, use your magical barriers at maximum capacity! This duel won’t take long.”
‘It won’t take long… I’m sure of it.’
Although I hadn’t fought at full strength, it hadn’t been easy against Kwon Hyun-a, and now I was facing Hyeon Woo-seok, who would undoubtedly grow into one of Ilseom’s strongest.
‘I never planned to win anyway. But I need to hit him at least once… To do that, a normal confrontation won’t work. Gori, come out. This is a proper showdown.’
“Peep peep─!!”
Somehow, Gori seemed a bit bigger, brightened up with its single eye, and quickly nestled into my arms.
‘He’s a powerful enemy. When I signal you, split your minions in two and target his flanks.’
“Peep!”
I continued summoning my minions while suspended in the air, and those below looked up at me, dazed, as if they couldn’t believe what was happening.
‘Hiding my presence feels too wasteful. I’ll need to carefully manage it so the self-destruct won’t activate…’
Swoosh──
As I organized my thoughts, I sent a bat flying towards the ceiling.
The group led by Gori consisted of about thirty creatures. I could summon more if we had enough time, but I was concerned about the towering Hyeon Woo-seok below.
Watching the Hook Bats adorn the ceiling, no one dared to speak a word.
“······.”
“······.”
The sight of a summoner’s summoned creature calling another something was so alien.
But Hyeon Woo-seok didn’t mind whether I summoned bats or not; he was looking at the sword he had drawn with indifference.
From just a glance, the sword looked to be of outstanding quality. It even made my great sword look shabby.
The one gripping the sword remained motionless.
‘Hyeon Woo-seok. A key figure. I need to be able to track him down like Jo Gi-man does.’
Once I could pinpoint Jo Gi-man’s position, I felt my quality of life improving.
That guy could disappear to a far-off place in an instant or move at incredible speeds beyond my imagination. The information I gained from that alone was substantial.
In order to gain that advantage, I reluctantly revealed my minion card in front of everyone.
‘Soon I’ll see results combined with other monsters. Even if I let them know about the bats, I could surprise them using the other creatures. This much should be fine.’
At that moment, another message about an achievement popped up.
‘Hoo─ Finally, this achievement is activating.’
[Matching Rage]
– Your attack power increases in proportion to the difference in rank with the enemy.
– Damage dealt to [Hypocritical Swordsman] Hyeon Woo-seok triples.
‘Triple… that’s not bad at all. The issue is landing a hit; otherwise, the attack power is more than sufficient.’
[Warrior’s Roar]
[Combat type]
I activated [Warrior’s Roar] to slightly boost my strength and entered [Combat Type].
───?!
Then a horrific flame erupted from within, wrapping my body in a vortex.
– Woahhhh!! What is that!
– That’s a monster! That woman Lee Yeon-hee didn’t summon a creature; she summoned a monster!!
– I touched that summoned creature earlier a few times; that was utterly insane…
– So cool…
– That’s what you call cool?
As my appearance clad in magnificent armor transformed into the figure of a demon that had just stepped out of hell, even Hyeon Woo-seok, who was losing his sanity in rage, looked at me warily.
Come at me. Just a little touch, and you’ll taste the agony of burning flames.
“Hoo— you’re really… annoying in many ways. Is the show over?”
Chills ran down my spine as bone spines erupted from my back at random.
His sword seemed to be trembling?
I sensed something faintly with my senses.
The moment my feet touched the ground, I unconsciously activated all my movement techniques.
I instinctively leaped away, barely dodging the frighteningly close sword energy gashing through the air.
Swish──!
Hyeon Woo-seok’s single strike left a long mark on the ground.
It was such a clean attack that it felt almost beautiful.
‘To wield such power with just a single swing, without using any skills? Now I see why I highly rated this guy.’
At first glance, I felt he was stronger than the ‘Residue of Chaos,’ but in terms of overall combat power, including health and mana, they might not be that far apart.
‘Putting everything aside, it’s a one-hit kill. This sword technique is the problem. I couldn’t even see him pull out his sword.’
They say Ilseom swordsmen acquire a trait called [First Draw Technique] after reaching a certain level of mastery, which is one of the main reasons they are called formidable in direct combat.
While gazing at the slick scar on the ground that likely exceeded 10 meters, I began to unleash fireballs.
However, Hyeon Woo-seok effortlessly split the magic with his sword, steadily walking toward me.
After drawing his sword, he seemed to regain his cold composure, exuding an aura typical of an ideal swordsman.
‘I can’t let this drag on. He’s looking down on me several levels lower. I must seize this moment.’
There will be no second chance.
For a single attack…
I swapped out all the runes I had equipped with the ‘Rune of Swiftness.’
At the same time, I activated all my movement arts and pushed off the ground with all my might.
Crackle──!
A tremendous shockwave erupted behind me, pushing me forward.
Despite that, he was completely aware of my movements. The slight surprise on his face thrilled me.
It meant my speed was beyond his expectations.
But Hyeon Woo-seok didn’t lose his composure. His sword swung again.
I successfully closed the distance to just three meters in front of him.
Swoosh──!
The sword energy he unleashed grazed my shoulder again. I dodged, yet this was still the outcome.
With the second attack missed, no trace of nonchalance remained on his face.
But his attacks would continue.
‘How about this!’
“Hm?!”
I opened a space above his head.
Dozens of massive square stones came crashing down.
After a brief moment of contemplation, Hyeon Woo-seok chose to dodge the stones.
Given the unfamiliar material, he opted for safety rather than attempting to cut through.
But that played right into my hands.
Boom boom boom boom boom boom!
As he evaded the falling stones, a swarm of bats swooped in from behind.
My loyal minions split in two as I commanded, approaching him from both sides.
Swoosh──
The group led by ‘Gori’ seemed utterly fixated on drinking blood.
“Screech─!”
As they rushed to indulge in a feast of blood, ‘Gori’ energetically led the way for the others.
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