Chapter 11

‘He must have a weakness. I need to find out more about his ability, somehow.’

Yoon-seok hardened his resolve. If he knew one thing about the Tower of Heaven, it’s that he would never be matched with an enemy he couldn’t defeat. Even a demon wouldn’t be invincible.

It’s just that this time, Yoon-seok’s sword and shield were meaningless against his opponent’s abilities.

‘Perhaps, he can be defeated by magic.’

The shop sold magic skills, such as fire, lightning, or freezing skills. If he had one of those, it might be easier for him to deal with this demon. However, Yoon-seok didn’t even take a second look at those options. His AP was limited, and so he decided to spend it on enhancing what he was good at.

Also, the opinion of those people in the chat room was that magic was disadvantageous in duels.

Pop-!

Pop-!

The drops of blood floating in the air exploded all around him. Yoon-seok, who had anticipated the attack, avoided the explosions with minimal movement. Then, he brought down his sword with all his might.

Huwook-!

He cut off the demon’s right arm in one swing. If it were a normal duel, it would be the right time to finish him off, but..

‘Backstep!’

Yoon-seok quickly stepped away as a fountain of blood spurted out of the arm’s stump. If any of that blood landed on him, the duel would surely end.

Puff-!

Pop-!

As Yoon-seok landed on the ground a meter away from the demon, the blood that splattered on his shield exploding with a clang.

‘It would have been painful if I reacted a little later.’

Yoon-seok calmly observed his opponent as he considered his next move. Before he could even dream about winning, he needed to understand the demon’s abilities. It was the first thing he was curious about.

‘Is it possible for him to heal a dismembered limb?’

Soon, he found out the answer.

“Damn human..” the demon grumbled as it picked up the severed arm off the ground.

With an annoyed expression, the demon placed the arm into the stump.

Chshhh-!

Smoke rose from the wound, and in an instant, the cut surfaces were joined together once more.

‘This..what kind of fraud is this?’

Despite his disappointment at the results, Yoon-seok realized one thing. Seeing the displeasure on his opponent’s face, he was sure that that the demon didn’t allow Yoon-seok to cut his arm off. It was because it couldn’t avoid his attack.

The demon’s martial arts weren’t that good. If his opponent had the fighting skill, it wouldn’t have chosen to have its arm cut off. Yoon-seok stared at the demon’s horns.

‘Could they be his weakness?’

His opponent said that his Unique Skills were the power it originally had, and the horns were a demon’s most unique characteristic.

‘Worth experimenting.’

Yoon-seok rushed in and cut off the demon’s horns at once. He used Weapon Enhancement just in case, but surprisingly, the demon’s horns felt soft against his sword. However, the demon then reattached his horns as easily as it did with its arm.

‘Does he have any real weakness?’

The only effect Yoon-seok’s attack had was that it made the demon’s anger erupt more ferociously.

“Worthless human being! I’ll tear you to shreds!”

Then, the demon began to attack with all its strength. However, it couldn’t hit him. While Yoon-seok couldn’t beat him because its wounds healed quickly, its combat prowess was different.

‘His attack pattern is too simple.’

The droplets of blood exploding were certainly a threat, but they didn’t travel as fast as arrows. Yoon-seok kept his focus on avoiding the droplets while maintaining a certain distance, experimenting with the demon’s body from time to time. No matter what he did, the demon’s body returned to its original state after a few seconds.

‘Is there really no way to win?’

Yoon-seok bit his lips. Ironically, his opponent did the same.

Pop-!

Pop-!

Droplets of blood exploded all around Yoon-seok, not one of them hit. They were at a stalemate.

“Let’s see how long we can last!” the demon yelled out.

It had already been ten minutes since the duel began. Yoon-seok, who had been rolling around to avoid the explosions, was now covered with sweat and dirt. He noticed he was now breathing heavily. His upper body trembled every time he exhaled.

His throat was dry, and when he swallowed, he could taste blood.

‘Damn it.’

Yoon-seok felt that defeat was inevitable. As his stamina continues to be exhausted, it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid his opponent’s attacks.

‘If I had known this, I would have taken stamina, not agility.’

Yoon-seok regretted his choice, but his regret could change nothing. After all, who could have foreseen such a situation? It was just bad luck.

Pop-!

Blood explosions filled the area around where Yoon-seok was standing. However, this time, his sluggish body failed to respond in time. His right arm, holding his shield, was caught in the explosion and torn off.

“Ah! Aaaaaaaah!”

Yoon-seok was engulfed in pain. It was a different kind of pain than getting beaten down by Kang Hyung-woo. Getting a limb torn off was a level of pain unimaginable to his past self.

The demon grinned as it watched him scream in pain.

“Ah hahahaha! Prepare to feel pain beyond that! I will show you a glimpse of hell!”

Fear grew in Yoon-seok’s eyes. Even an experienced soldier will face shellshock after a gruesome injury on the battlefield. Yoon-seok was even more unprepared, as a few days ago, he was just an ordinary citizen.

“Ah! Aaaaaah!”

Suddenly, the drive to win disappeared from his mind. All he could think about was dying comfortably.

‘Die..I need to die quickly..to end this...’

Strictly speaking, he wouldn’t die from this duel. As long as he had coins, he had the chance to resurrect. Therefore, it was an easy choice for him. The blade that should be facing the demon was now pointed toward himself. However, the demon who had been waiting for this moment wouldn’t allow him to leave as simple as that.

Pop-!

Blood sprayed toward Yoon-seok’s sword and exploded; the F+ rank court sword purchased for 1,500 AP was shattered in an instant. The shards scattered, and some penetrated Yoon-seok’s flesh, but he didn’t have time to feel the pain. In his panic, he continued to use Backstep without a break with the thought of escape.

‘Backstep, Backstep, Backstep.’historical

Yoon-seok continuously retreated until his back touched the outer wall of the stadium. The demon, with a bright smile, slowly approached him.

He had nowhere else to run. Yoon-seok stared at what remained of his sword. Although the blade had become the length of a dagger, the jagged tip was still sharp. In Yoon-seok’s eyes, it looked like salvation.

‘It’s not too late now..’

Like a possessed person, Yoon-seok held the sword in reverse. If he stuck it in his neck right now, the demon wouldn’t be able to stop it.

But then.

—I thought you had changed a bit, but you still have the habit of running away when something goes wrong?

Yoon-seok stiffened as he heard Kang Hyung-woo’s sarcastic voice.

‘How many times have I heard those words?’

Yoon-seok felt sadness and anger at the same time. Even though he knew it was just a hallucination this time, he couldn’t deny what Hyung-woo said.

—How many wins would it take for you to change?

Yoon-seok thought he had grown a little through the battles he had experienced. However, it seemed like, at his core, he hadn’t changed at all.

—You can’t win? Do you think it will only be painful to endure? So, you choose death with your own hands?

Yoon-seok knew that this is just a rationalization from his learned loser mindset.

—You’re kidding.

Suddenly, Yoon-seok saw his younger self back when he was standing at the rooftop railing. It was just after the fire broke out in his father’s factory. He knew that Hyung-woo was coming after him once more. But in the end, Yoon-seok stepped away from the railing because he didn’t dare to die.

Yoon-seok thought for a moment.

Could he say that he was different now from what he was back then?

‘I have..changed.’

—You think so? What’s different?

‘I no longer..I’m not going to run away.’

—Well then, prove it.

Yoon-seok raised his sword. This time, the broken blade was aimed at his opponent, not himself.

“..”

It would be impossible to win in this state. He would most likely cry out in pain later. But Yoon-seok was already aware of the consequences.

If he couldn’t face this demon now, he had no chance of standing up to Kang Hyung-woo.

“What are you going to do with that? Hahahaha!”

The demon laughed at him, but Yoon-seok didn’t care.

“First, I will tear you from limb to limb until you beg me to kill you...”

The demon proudly laid out the terrible things it would do to Yoon-seok. Yoon-seok listened through one ear and blew it out the other. The pain emanating from his severed arm was still throbbing, but he was no longer afraid.

‘Come on..’

He would surely die.

But he won’t ‘just die.’

Against an enemy that couldn’t be defeated, Yoon-seok would continue to fight with all his might. That would be the only way he could prove to himself that he had changed.