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Chapter 317 Marionette (2)

Staring at him confidently for a second, she clicked her tongue and muttered under her breath.

“I did something unnecessary, and now it’s getting tiring. I should’ve killed you earlier.”

Seeing how she had a way and still said that, it looked like she had to face quite a large loss.

’But she’s confident that she’ll win? I’m growing more curious.’

What was the destruction method she mentioned? If there was such a thing, Yoon-seok must find out before the showdown began.

Under the assumption that he survived this duel, that is.

Swaaaaaaaaa-.

The opponent deactivated the useless Door of Sin. And..

“Infinite Repository.”

After putting away her swords, she took out a new one. As if the sword blade contained moonlight, it gleamed with a pale light.

‘Just one sword now. Is it an ability to take things out from storage?’

Yoon-seok soon realized one thing. What was b God of Martial Art}’s weakness she mentioned?

“It seems that the equipment effect doesn’t activate the ability.”

Skills and power were the only things he could become immune to, so equipment wasn’t included. But was that the only weakness she caught?

“Potential Power.”historical

She chanted another command. Like Door of Sin, it was a buff-type ability. However, it was different because it only increased basic stats, not special abilities.

’Is this the second weakness she found?’

Although b God of Martial Arts} looked invincible at first glance, it was difficult to benefit greatly from challengers who specialized in basic ability foundations.

’Well, rather than a weakness, it’s true that it’s not impregnable.’

Yoon-seok smiled. Was this all she had? This couldn’t be her plan..

“The condition is a one-time strike.”

“..?”

“It’s tricky, but it took three minutes and forty-nine seconds to activate.”

Yoon-seok suddenly hardened. It wasn’t that difficult to notice that it was an analysis of his skill. However, it was a little unexpected. He only used it once, but was she aware of the time in seconds?

’I think she’s far from a simple, ignorant warrior..’

She was completely different from the King of Steel and Cheon-ma. It wasn’t a random battle of strength against strength. Instead, she understood the system perfectly and used that to her advantage. In that sense, she was somewhat similar to Yoon-seok.

Efficiency was her top priority.

’Anyway, is that the third weakness?’

“Everything will end before that.”

Evoir Cartra, one of the twelve 1st place duel rankers. The minute she uttered her arrogant declaration of war, a cold wind blew over the sandy ground.

Swaaaaaaaa-!

There wasn’t any significant change, but Yoon-seok felt it. Something was about to come.

Whoooooosh-!

The moment adrenaline pumped into his body, his foe’s sword flew like an arrow. As he felt earlier..

’It’s fast.’

In terms of speed alone, Evoir held the upper hand. Before he took out his cards, that is.

「20 swords are being used. Magic increases by +1.」

When King of All Swords was activated, additional corrections were added to his abilities. Of course, it wasn’t a crazy stat increase like when he linked Yin & Yang and Last Command, but..

’I can finally see it now.’

He could react.

Tadak.

Yoon-seok quickly stepped back and widened the gap. But..

「By the effects of Pilgrim’s Law, the skill is exposed.」

「The distance from the instigator cannot be more than 20m away.」

A new ability hampered Yoon-seok. Heart of Liberty was useless because it didn’t have a direct effect like physical restraint or petrifaction.

‘..Looks like she’s planning to go all out.’

After three minutes, he would be immune to this ability. Therefore, she planned to finish up within that period.

「By Lady’s Commandment, the Pilgrim’s Law effects are offset within the realm.」

The intention was so obvious that there was no need to match it. Yoon-seok tried to widen the distance again by using Lady’s Commandment. But..

“Power Extortion.”

She responded by taking out a card he’d never seen before.

「Power Lady’s Commandment will be sealed for 5 minutes, and the consumed power is transferred to the opponent during the duration.」

It was a vicious technique that went beyond nullifying powers and took away the magic used. Without having time to react, the gray shield formed by Yoon-seok’s magic disappeared.

‘Yeah, that’s why she’s so confident.’

Yoon-seok gladly gave up on widening the distance. Buy time and suck the life out of his enemy? That wasn’t his way of doing things.

Now he was starting to understand what the destruction method she mentioned was. It wasn’t even worth calling it destruction. It was a blind frontal charge.

Tadak.

Putting strength into his legs, Yoon-seok leaped toward his opponent and raised his sword.

’One Change Thousand Changes.’

Thousands of lines branched out and sped forward like rain falling in a storm. However..

“..That’s a good sword.”

Evoir didn’t widen the distance even when One Change Thousand Changes was fired nearby. It looked like an act of suicide, but..

Swaaaaaaaaa-!

The opponent showed off her swift movements by dodging the storm of swords, narrowing the distance as if she were performing acrobatics.

‘So she’s that confident she can pass through this.’

After admiring his opponent’s artistic moves for a second, Yoon-seok smiled inside his mask. He never expected her to fall for this from the start.

「The attack missed.」

「Due to Unique Skill {War God}, agility level increases by +1.」

「The attack missed.」

「Due to Unique Skill b War God}, agility level increases by +1.」

..Twenty buffs stacked up in an instant.

「Actual stats of agility has reached MAX.」

「Due to power Transcendence, the limitation disappears.」

As Transcendence activated, everything slowed down. At this point, his senses heightened so far he could also dance in that blade storm.

Tak.

Every step was like teleportation the moment he kicked off the ground.

“..!”

Yoon-seok was already where he wanted to be. He felt his opponent’s gaze slowly approaching his way. Yoon-seok, who had crossed countless battlefields, knew instinctively. If he swung his sword now, she wouldn’t be able to avoid it.

「The number of overlaps is reset once you attack.」

Well, although the condition would be lifted the moment he attacked, at least he had one inevitable blow. So, now he only had to prepare a blow that she couldn’t survive. Right away, like this.

「Due to the effect of triggering Compressed Muscle, magic stats drops to F-.」

「Actual stats of muscle strength has reached MAX.」

「Due to power Transcendence, the limitation disappears.」

Vitality surged through him, replacing the fading magic. Yoon-seok smiled.

’Destruction method?’

Come to think of it; it was nothing new. No matter who he’d encountered so far, they all had at least one plausible plan.

Yoon-seok didn’t use his sword. The damage would be severe if he broke it here.

Booooooooooooooooooooom-!

The moment his fist connected

「The overlap of Unique Skill b God of Martial Arts} is initialized.」

The world returns to its normal state, and an eruption as if heaven and earth were opening rang through the stadium. However..

’..She survived?’

The expected victory notification didn’t appear. Yoon-seok flew into the air and stared down at his opponent stuck in the stadium’s outer wall. Once he pushed away from the dust with magic, he could see her.

Only then did Yoon-seok relax.

’Did she endure it?’

“G-Gasp!”

A large hole had been torn through her abdomen. She continued to cough up blood, and she couldn’t even mutter a single word. If she weren’t a rank No.1 challenger, she would have died already.

Thud.

Yoon-seok slowly approached his opponent. It suddenly occurred to him. As a No. 1 opponent appeared, he did his best to respond just in case, but..

’Should I heal her and train?’

Now that it was over, it wouldn’t be bad to do his best until the last duel. Didn’t he waste a month because of the incident in Cheonma-dong? If he could, it was better to do so. However..

’How long can she hold out..?’

After activating Compressed Muscle, Yoon-seok couldn’t use magic for the next ten minutes. In other words, he couldn’t heal her with Skywrath Energy. And right now, she’s in a condition where she might pass away at any second.

“Do you have any potions?”

“Keurgh, cough.”

“If you say that, I can’t understand.. ah, you don’t have any?”

Soon, as he saw her shake her head helplessly, Yoon-seok clicked his tongue.

“Hang in there for ten minutes. Then I can heal you.”

“W-why.. cough!”

In translation, she might be asking why he would do that.

“..”

Yoon-seok smiled awkwardly. Ignorance is bliss. If he gave her an honest answer, she might lose her will to live.

Swish.

Yoon-seok bent down and pulled away from the mask that covered the lower part of her face. The reason was that she looked uncomfortable breathing through it, given all the blood leaking out..

“..!”

Her eyes went wide. And while still vomiting blood, she accurately conveyed her intention. Was her pronunciation better now that her mouth wasn’t covered?

“F-for me to receive t-this kind of humiliation..!”

It seems like she misunderstood. Yoon-seok, who had faced a similar situation with Ragna Hambledon in the past, opened his mouth to quickly explain. But then.

—It’s not too late.

A strange voice rang out from somewhere.

—I’ll take you from this pain. So..

A somewhat eccentric voice mixed with static to be indistinguishable. However, as soon as Yoon-seok heard it, his skin prickled.

’Who on Earth..?’

As he turned to look, an object floating in the air caught his attention. It was an eye the size of a fist. What was this thing that appeared out of nowhere? Although he had no clue..

—Child, will you follow me?

The moment he looked into those eyes, at least one thing was certain: who this unidentified thing was talking to.

The eye was staring at the fallen woman, not Yoon-seok.

“..W-what about you?”

—Don’t you know who I am?

These two knew each other.

「An abnormal being’s approach was detected.」

「The dimensional firewall is initialized.」

Seeing how the Tower was taking immediate action, it didn’t seem like a normal occurrence.

—We don’t have time. Please nod your head. Then I will give you a new life and strength.

Yoon-seok was able to realize it soon.

’The Queen..?’

There was only one person who could do this.