Chapter 132 (1/2)
Su-hyeun was angry, but his expression became composed once more.
Just like it had always been, the rational thing to do was to swallow his anger rather than letting it explode. Anger created openings and dulled one’s sword and body.
It was his habit. Of course, that didn’t mean he had forgotten his own emotions.
“You angry?” Thomas was tilting his head in confusion. “Why?”
He seemed to be missing something somewhere.
To look at him, Thomas must’ve been similar in age or slightly older than Su-hyeun, but the way he spoke and the looks he was giving Su-hyeun belonged to a child.
“You should….”
Swiiiish-
[Leap.]
Su-hyeun exploded forward. In the blink of an eye, he flew to a spot just above Thomas’s head and swung his sword down.
Claaaang-!
“….Think about it while I beat you up!”
Giii-iiing-
Thomas was shoved back. A curtain, a veil of some sort with visible cracks running on it, was spread over his hands.
Was it because of the unexpected force of the impact? Thomas looked quite surprised right then. He clenched and opened his fist repeatedly before raising his head.
At that exact moment-
Craaack, claaaang-!
Kwa-rummmm-!
Powerful sword strikes began raining down from all sides with Thomas caught in the middle. Even then, he didn’t panic. Instead, he spread out both of his arms and moved smartly to defend against Su-hyeun’s attacks.
“This is so cool! So cool!!”
Thomas was smiling brightly while blocking Su-hyeun’s sword as if this whole thing was just too entertaining.
The curtain spreading out from his hands regenerated immediately right after Su-hyeun’s attacks shattered it. Instead of the curtain’s defensive powers, it was Thomas’s control over his own powers that allowed him to quickly regenerate it, shining brilliantly for all to see.
Rumble-
[Flame.]
Boom, bang, bang-bang-!
Blue-colored divine Flames suddenly appeared and caused a chain of explosions all around Thomas. Previously, he had been focused on the sword so he hurriedly crouched, furrowing his brows.
The explosion of divine Flames blinded his sight for a short moment, and Su-hyeun’s sword exploited the opening by stabbing straight at Thomas’s shoulder.
Stab-!
Whiiiir-
Thomas’s figure faded little by little. There was no sensation coming from the tip of the blade. Su-hyeun instantly swung his sword behind him.
CLAAANG-!
[Doppelganger.]
A metallic noise echoed from behind Su-hyeun. His sword had caught Thomas’s hand, just about to stab him in the back.
From the sensation alone, Su-hyeun could tell what happened to Thomas’s hand that had changed color to brown.
<< Is that a skill that changes a portion of your body into a specific metal of your choice? >>
He only knew one light brown metal that was blessed with such hardness.
<< Adamantium. >>
The metal that could easily be called the best in regards to either magical energy conductivity or hardness and lightness.
Even if it only transformed a portion of one’s body, that skill was quite impressive to be able to change human hands into such metal in the first place.
Not only that, Thomas’s movements were rather remarkable, as well. Despite possessing several skills, he was wielding them freely, displaying his mastery over them. Normally, you’d be unable to deploy the right skills at the right moment if you had too many of them, and you’d eventually end up neglecting certain ones.
“Wow, so strong! You’re so strong!”
Clang, clang, clang, clang-
Thomas increased his distance from Su-hyeun and clapped his hands. His palms, modified to replicate the characteristics of adamantium, clashed against each other and produced hard-edged metallic noises.
He looked as if he had lots of leeway still.
“Are you having fun?” Su-hyeun asked.
Thomas stopped clapping his hands abruptly and raised his arms in sheer shock.
CLAAANG-!
Gu-gugugugu-
Su-hyeun’s sword, striking downwards, pressed on Thomas’s body. He crossed both of his arms to defend against the attack, and he finally stopped smiling. Before he could react, Su-hyeun had disappeared once again.
“Why don’t you keep at it, then?”
“Where…?”
Thomas hurriedly spun around. His opponent was definitely in the air above him just a moment before, but now, Su-hyeun was already right behind him.
Clang, clang, clang-
Piiik, pii-piik-
Chwa-aaahk-
Su-hyeun darted in and out non-stop.
From the front, then the back; from above, then left and right. Su-hyeun’s sword danced around disorientingly and without any set pattern, causing numerous wounds to appear on Thomas’s body one by one.
“Why….? Are you getting faster?”
Thomas’s voice trembled ever so slightly.
The more he blocked the attacks, the faster Su-hyeun got. He rained down more sword strikes, too many to be blocked or avoided.
[Spirit’s Grace.]
[Thorn Armor.]
[Reflect.]
Tiii-iiing-
Several skills overlapped and reinforced Thomas’s body, causing Su-hyeun’s sword to issue a metallic cry.
Even the previously-deep wounds changed into small scratches, instead.
Thomas began smiling again. “Doesn’t hurt anymore.”
“Nope, wrong.”
Splaaash-!
Blood spurted from Thomas’s back.
He was so sure he couldn’t be sliced up anymore that he didn’t recognize what had happened for a moment.
The confusion was greater in his mind than the pain. Thomas covered his head with both of his hands and curled up into a ball.
Piiik, pii-iik, pii-piik-
Slash, splaaash-
Wounds began appearing once more on Thomas’s body. Su-hyeun, in the meantime, grew so much faster that his silhouette couldn’t even be seen anymore.
It was at that moment that Thomas remembered what his opponent had said earlier.
“That wasn’t a fight, but a display of one-sided brutality.”
“Is that right? In that case… it looks like I’ll have to do the same.”
Not a fight, but one-sided brutality – this was exactly that situation.
Right then, Thomas’s smiling face distorted greatly.
“Euh… I don’t like it, I hate it, I HATE IT!!”
FWOOOSH-!
Pitch-black magical energy began whipping around him violently. At the same time, his curled-up figure grew blurry and faint, before melting into the surroundings.