That Ancient Power Raon sensed earlier had reminded him of natural disasters. The knight’s sword, containing the essence of hurricanes, hailstorms, and volcanic eruptions, easily dispatched these pale imitations.
The helmeted knight turned his gaze on Choi Han, chuckling as Choi Han spat out blood. His black aura rioted in a mirror of its wielder’s emotions. Their eyes locked.
“If you’d achieved pure darkness, maybe you would’ve had a chance. As it is, you’re still a long way off.”
The knight lightly swung his sword. The back of his hand was bleeding slightly—an injury inflicted by Choi Han’s black aura. Still, the knight showed no fear. Dwarven armor protected his body: the brainchild of dwarves who wished to kill dragons. It was sturdy enough to serve as a dragon catcher’s uniform. Still, I can’t lower my guard around him.
Their swords met again. Clang! The black aura abruptly materialized in front of the knight to nick his left cheek, and his volcanic Ancient Power slammed down onto the black aura.
Baaaaang!
The impact was loud enough to drown out the thunder.
With another laugh, the knight said, “I told you, you can’t win.”
Choi Han clenched his teeth. Even he knew the knight had a point. His black aura wasn’t enough. The battle would have gone differently if he’d accomplished total darkness. If only I’d managed to complete it!
Just what was that sword? It seemed to be on a completely different level; his aura couldn’t win against it. The knight was strong—stronger than Choi Han. If only he’d advanced a tiny bit further, he could’ve defeated the helmeted knight!
Choi Han stood on one of the few skeletons left, struggling to catch his breath. He heaved, winded from the fight. How long had it been since he’d been this short of breath? It had to have been at least ten years. He couldn’t even wipe away the blood that oozed out every time he inhaled. Coughing up blood for the first time in ages felt so strange.
In that instant, he realized something: Cale always coughed up way more blood than this.
Choi Han’s face crumpled. His foe was strong, but he shouldn’t entertain any thoughts of losing. His brows furrowed deeply as the helmeted knight continued mocking him.
“I came because I heard there was someone here with Ancient Powers, but I didn’t think he’d actually cough up blood like they said he would. His body is weak. You’re telling me he gathered those powers despite not having the vessel to support them? I can’t believe nature allowed that punk to gain access to them.”
The knight’s comments got on Choi Han’s nerves. He spoke as though Cale had taken things he had no right to touch, and it sent Choi Han spiraling into rage.
Deep down, the helmeted knight found Cale Henituse most fascinating. Only those who enjoyed nature’s permission—those who had the vessel to support them—could earn Ancient Powers. The people of this world believed that one needed heaven’s mandate to be lucky enough to find an Ancient Power, but nature itself calculated who obtained access. That being the case, the knight couldn’t fathom how someone like Cale could have two Ancient Powers.
He had sensed two abilities when he struck Cale’s shield: the power of wood and the power of regeneration. Did nature really hand this punk two abilities with a vessel as weak as his?
After Cale, the knight considered Choi Han to be the second most interesting person. This young man’s vessel was almost as impressive as his own. The knight found it bizarre that nature hadn’t bestowed any Ancient Powers upon him.
Taking advantage of the knight’s momentary distraction, Choi Han charged. Their blades locked for the umpteenth time.
Baaaaang!
The vibrations rattled the air and pulverized the surrounding skeletons. The translucent sword shoved against the black aura as the two men stared each other down. Choi Han could see a pair of brown eyes behind the helmet. The knight grinned at him.
This is dangerous, Choi Han thought. It had been a while since he’d experienced this sensation; it reminded him of Erhaven. He tried to take a step back.
Looking deep into Choi Han’s eyes, the helmeted knight whispered, “You’ve lived a long time too.”
Choi Han flinched. “Too”?
The knight’s smile broadened at his foe’s hesitation, and his hand snapped out.
“Ugh!”
He’d snagged Choi Han by the neck—and that was only the beginning. Even as Mary’s monsters hurriedly bit the knight’s wyvern to help Choi Han, the knight stabbed his sword into Choi Han’s shoulder. The blade pelted the wound like hail, battered it like a hurricane, and scorched it like a volcano.
The knight grinned, squeezing Choi Han’s throat. Choi Han looked pitiful as the knight relentlessly choked him. “This was fun. It was worth coming out for the first time in a while. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”
Choi Han’s distorted expression, twisted with anger and pain, made the knight chuckle. Without looking away, the knight slowly let go. The moment he did, however, all emotion leached from Choi Han’s face. His hand on the wounded side wrapped around the knight’s wrist. His other hand grabbed on to the sword stabbed into his shoulder.
Everything happened in the space of a heartbeat.
Kssshhh!
Choi Han’s palm burned as if he’d plunged it in hot lava. For a split second, he studied the helmeted knight with a completely blank expression. This was Choi Han’s true face. His earlier flinch had been deliberate, and now he revealed his real expression: the absence of any expression at all. After living for so long, his features had stiffened such that they showed no emotion whatsoever.
Pow! Choi Han kicked the wyvern’s neck with his foot and leapt down, keeping his grip on the knight and sword.
After a pause, the skeletons scattered. The now-riderless wyvern immediately suffered a lightning strike.
Ker-crack!
“Skreee!”
The final wyvern plummeted to the ground.
Having killed the last one, Raon emerged from within the silver shield he’d created. He was the only one left in the sky; Choi Han was tumbling down with the helmeted knight.
“Are you crazy?!”
The helmeted knight kicked Choi Han, trying to pry himself away. When that didn’t work, he drew upon more of his Ancient Powers. Yet Choi Han had no intention of opening his aura-covered hand and dropping that sword-shaped Ancient Power.
It wasn’t the fall that had the knight in a panic; the source of his concern was behind him. Dead mana—the antithesis of nature—was condensing into a giant orb, with a small monster skeleton at its center.
The knight scowled. Though the power he sensed was weaker than he was, it continued to build, feeling like a small arrow aiming for his back. The necromancer was gathering her strength; the dead mana surrounding the small monster took on a sharp edge, like a sword.
There was another power bolstering the dead mana: the same magic that produced imitations of the knight’s combined hailstorm, hurricane, and volcano Ancient Power. Still invisible, Raon used his power to support Mary’s efforts. The small blade of dead mana transformed into an arrowhead, which Raon’s powers expanded to the size of a ballista bolt.
Clutched in Choi Han’s hold, the helmeted knight could see the veins standing out on the backs of Choi Han’s hands. The young man’s eyes shone with his resolve to never let go.
If this goes on, I’m actually in trouble!
Grimacing, the knight shouted, “Hey, are you nuts? Getting hit by that thing won’t kill me—you’re the one who’s going to die!”
The dead mana targeted the helmeted knight’s back with precision, gradually assuming the shape of a full arrow. It looked as if it could easily pierce both the entwined fighters. Choi Han’s gaze shifted from the arrow back to the knight.
“I’ve been crazy for ages already.”
He’d lost his mind a long, long time ago, when he was in the Dark Forest. How could anyone avoid going mad after decades of living alone in that hellish place? Not only that, but Choi Han didn’t like how relaxed this knight was. To vent some of his anger, he needed to see this man suffer.
A slow smile brightened his dispassionate face. He was thankful that Mary had understood his intentions. People definitely were stronger together.
Then Raon’s voice reached Choi Han’s mind. ‹Stupid Choi Han. You definitely won’t die.›
The arrow fired.
“Son of a…!”
Boom!
That cacophonous noise harmonized with the helmeted knight’s shout, resounding outside the city.
When Cale bore witness to this newest blinding explosion, he snorted. “You unbelievable fools.”
One of his own Ancient Powers, the Energy of the Heart, was working to expel all of the dead blood in his body. Ever so slowly, he clambered back to his feet.
Cale hadn’t fallen just yet.