Chapter 328. Awakening, the Last Stand (2) (1/2)

Twisted Kindness’ aura changed in an instant. The energy enshrouding her like a fog suddenly materialized and began to blaze as though a bucket of oil had been poured on top of a fire.

Seol Jihu frowned, feeling a heavy pressure crushing down on his body.

Her intent was clear. She was saying she would no longer go easy on them.

Seol Jihu aimed the Spear of Purity forward and waited for an attack. Truthfully speaking, just confronting Twisted Kindness filled him with fright. He was very much tempted to just run away. But the moment he did such a thing, he knew that everything he had built up until now would crumble down.

In the midst of despair, lacking any semblance of hope, Seol Jihu focused to get hold of himself.

How would Twisted Kindness attack? It looked like she had a special ability other than her physical power.

But then again, could he deal with her even if she used her physical power alone?

All sorts of thoughts crossed Seol Jihu’s mind.

At that moment, Twisted Kindness lightly kicked off the ground. She closed the distance between them before Seol Jihu could even blink.

But despite being astonished at her speed, Seol Jihu managed to reflexively thrust forward, having expected this to a certain degree.

However, Twisted Kindness dodged the attack by turning her waist slightly and reached out with her hand like lightning.

”Your first move was very disappointing.”

The moment her voice reached his ears, Seol Jihu immediately ducked and dodged the hand that was trying to seize him. And at the same time, he cut up vertically with his spear.

With the short distance between them, he figured it would be impossible to dodge this attack. He had confidence that the Spear of Purity would hit its mark this time.

But in the next moment, Seol Jihu realized his preconceptions were all meaningless. It was because Twisted Kindness spread her wings instantaneously and flew up.

Her reaction speed was too shocking.

”Hmm. There is just no way Undying Diligence would have lost to this.”

The calm evaluation continued. As her shadow cast over Seol Jihu, he reflexively roused his mana. Electricity crackled beneath his feet.

His brain sent warning signals, telling him to get far away, but he shook them off forcefully. Now that he decided to fight, backing off was no longer an option. He had to clash with his enemy head-on without leaving behind any spare energy.

And so, he leaped up into the air in full force and stabbed with his spear. With an explosive pang!, Twisted Kindness’ figure disappeared.

Seol Jihu subsequently felt something approaching from behind him.

‘Shoot!’

Seol Jihu quickly swung the Spear of Purity behind him. However, Twisted Kindness worked her legs with an indifferent face, and she moved glidingly while drawing a crescent line. Just like that, she positioned herself at Seol Jihu’s flank.

Seol Jihu became dazed, feeling like he was fighting a ghost. He still turned his body and reacted, but Twisted Kindness moved her arm as well.

The moment he saw her forearm, his ribs were struck with a dull pain. And by the time he felt this pain, Twisted Kindness’ forearm had broken past the barrier around his ribcage and dug into it.

“Kuk—”

In that instant, something that burst inside him almost came out of his throat through his esophagus.

Seol Jihu barely swallowed it back down and tried to collect his thoughts, but before he could do anything, he was struck with another dull pain on top of his head.

“Cough!”

Blood spurted out from his nose and mouth. As his consciousness began to dim, Jang Maldong’s voice rang out in his head.

[Get it together!]

A frustrated scolding ensued.

[What happened to the log training you did!?]

[I told you not to hit after you see, perceive, and then think! Hit as soon as you see it! Move using your intuition!]

[A true expert will land a successful attack before you can perceive it! By the time you try to move, your head would already be in the air!]

It was just like he’d said. Seol Jihu couldn’t see Twisted Kindness’ movements at all. Since he couldn’t even see it, perceiving it and thinking about it was out of the question.

This meant he would have to predict her movements and move intuitively… but the enemy’s movements surpassed his expectations completely.

It was the same even now.

Before he could even attempt anything, a light flashed in front of his eyes. Since a burning sensation was spreading out from his nose, it seemed he just received a good punch in the face.

‘Damn it, damn it!’

Thinking that he couldn’t just take a one-sided beating, he followed his instincts and thrust his spear indiscriminately.

However, he couldn’t feel a single hit connect.

Even Intuition was ineffective.

The price of wasting his precious turns was, of course, a bitter counterattack.

He felt a sharp, stinging sensation on his neck. Although he used Flash Thunder and hurriedly rushed back, the impact still struck a blow to his shoulders.

Seol Jihu screamed internally as he felt his clavicles break.

‘This….’

His head tilted back. He unknowingly took in a deep breath, and the foul stench of blood flowed into his nostrils.

Seol Jihu’s body staggered. What was driving him even crazier was that consecutive strikes came pouring in before he could even find his balance.

Then, a one-sided pummeling ensued.

How many times was he hit in this short instant? Ten times? Twenty times?

He didn’t know.

But if there was one thing he knew for certain, it was that his senses were becoming faint.

‘No…’

Having lost its strength at a rapid rate, his body swayed. But as he was doing a double-take, he suffered yet another blow. This time, from the bottom to the top.

His faltering body returned to its standing posture following his enemy’s will.

”It seems…”

A disappointed voice rang out in his ears.

”This really is your true strength.”

Due to the pain of his internal organs buzzing, his vision became slightly clear. And what Seol Jihu saw in the next moment was a single palm accompanying an immense aura, slithering in like a snake.

He had no means to dodge it, nor the strength to do so.

Puk. The palm clashed with his chest. The front of his coat exploded, and a palm-shaped mark dug into his chest.

Lightning flashed in front of his eyes. Seol Jihu briefly lost consciousness as his body was sent flying from the impact.

‘…Huh?’

By the time he recovered his senses, a red sky was spread out before him.

His body was flying through the air. And soon, it slammed down on the ground like a used-up mop.

After a near-endless period of pain, Seol Jihu could collapse at last.

And at the end, awaited death.

Twisted Kindness appeared above Seol Jihu, who was gasping for breath with great difficulty. Looking down with a gaze that clearly lost all interest, Twisted Kindness slowly raised her foot.

”Exterminating the First Army Commander… I will chalk it up to a series of perfect circumstances, human.”

Speaking with a voice full of disappointment, she slammed her foot down without hesitation. It fell, shattering layers after layers of barriers like glass plates, until—

[Euuuuuu!]

Seol Jihu’s body was suddenly pulled back.

A cloud of black smoke was coiled around his armpits.

Before Twisted Kindness’ foot smashed Seol Jihu’s head, Flone had taken hold of him and escaped at full speed.

But she couldn’t help but gape her mouth in shock in the next moment, as Twisted Kindness immediately caught up to her.

”Don’t get cheeky and hand him over.”

[Hiik!]

Flone shut her eyes, seeing Twisted Kindness appear next to her in an instant. As a fist carrying a terrifying aura hurled out toward the two of them, a large, swirling green light cut in between them.

PANG!

Two auras clashed violently. The shockwave of the impact sent Seol Jihu and Flone flying while Baek Haeju was also pushed back weakly.

As for Twisted Kindness, she stopped chasing after Seol Jihu and paused when she saw the distinct green light wavering around Baek Haeju’s body. After carefully observing it, she let loose a chuckle.

”Awakening… No, you forcefully let it rampage. You would even bet your life on this?”

Baek Haeju quickly picked herself back up, then reflexively covered her mouth. She felt something rising from her stomach and wanted to vomit.

Seeing this, Twisted Kindness clicked her tongue with pity.

”I applaud you for wanting to save a comrade… But you should know. Even if you consume your life like this, you will only be dragging out the inevitable.”

Baek Haeju did not reply. She only glanced behind her and clenched her teeth.

”Hmm… fine. At least you’ll be able to entertain me for a bit.”

Perhaps not expecting anything from Seol Jihu any longer, Twisted Kindness took her mind off him and cracked her neck.

”To show my respect for your life-blazing fighting spirit, I will play along.”

Soon, two huge auras clashed fiercely.

On the other hand, Seol Jihu was lying in a dazed state. The red sky of the Spirit Realm had turned even redder from the fresh blood dyeing his vision.

And while looking up at the sky endlessly, he suddenly felt his body turn warm. A white light was enveloping him.

‘A healing spell…’

He felt his body recover slightly, but what followed was an indescribable pain. His sense of pain had returned as he healed.

‘Huuuuaaaaaaaaa!’

He would have screamed his head off if he could.

The sorry state that his body was in made him want to prefer death. While he had yet to take a closer look, he could tell easily just by seeing Seo Yuhui chanting a spell in shock and Maria splashing healing potions on him while crying.

By the time this pain barely subsided, he was overcome with dejection.

It didn’t even feel like he had a fierce fight. He failed to make a single proper attack. He was just… beaten one-sidedly.

Recalling the previous fight, fear crept up and crawled on his skin.

‘Insane… this is absolutely insane…’

He finally realized why Baek Haeju urged everyone to escape the moment Twisted Kindness appeared. He also learned the significance of fully absorbing a god’s divinity.

Twisted Kindness was simply an unparalleled monster. In his current state, he wouldn’t come out victorious even if he had a hundred lives.

At that moment, a brilliant light spread out from Seo Yuhui’s hand, which was placed on top of Seol Jihu’s chest.

“…up!”

His ears started working again.

“Get up! Get up, you son of a bitch!”

Maria was shouting while crying a river. She seemed to be getting angry to cope with the fact that everyone would probably die.

It seemed that his sense of hearing had recovered following his sense of pain as he could faintly hear loud ringing from a far distance.

“Why!? Why can’t you fight as you did back then!? Why are you getting beaten so miserably!? You overwhelmed three Commanders back then!!”

Seol Jihu blinked slowly.

‘Future Vision….’

A chuckle escaped his mouth.

If he could, he would have used it a long time ago. However, Future Vision was an ability that activated at random. Although it saved his life on several occasions, he knew it would be wishful thinking to expect it to activate whenever he was in danger.

“….”