Chapter 364 (2/2)
The surroundings that had been eye-searing bright became dyed in darkness almost immediately.
Su-hyeun strode over to this wall of black fog that sent chills down one’s spine, before raising his sword up high. “I wonder about that. Why don’t we find out…”
Rumbleeee—
A massive flame rose up around Su-hyeun.
His arm gripping the sword transformed into a pure fire and brightly illuminated his surroundings.
“Who will realize what first?”
[Flame – Transformation]
* * *
[Indomitable Body]
[Spirit’s Grace]
[Armor of the Mage]
[Sky King’s Feather]
[Reflect]
[Doppelganger – Substitution]
[Ice Spear – Rain of Spears]
Su-hyeun utilized every means at his disposal.
He didn’t hold back on his magical energy consumption and activated all sorts of skills and even cast every combat-related magic spell.
And the result of all that was…
Tu-hwaaak—!
Pow, popopopopow—
Everything had been blocked off.
The spears of ice falling from above shattered into pieces even before reaching the predator’s body and lost their momentum. Meanwhile, Su-hyeun grabbed onto one of the ice spears and injected magical energy into it before throwing it, hard.
Pooow—!
The spear that was carrying considerable power flew accurately at the predator’s head, but when that happened, the black fog surrounding the predator rapidly shifted and wrapped around the incoming spear.
Swoooosh—
Pa-su-wuwu—
The fog stopped the spear and quickly corroded it before crushing it into powder. However, while that was happening, Su-hyeun had already appeared behind the predator while gripping onto another spear.
[Dragon Slaying Spear]
[Wave Spear – Explosion Style]
[Flame – Transformation]
Rumbleeee—
The flames traveled down Su-hyeun’s arm and quickly enveloped the spear. Out of all the abilities Su-hyeun possessed, the combination of the Dragon Slaying Spear, the Wave Spear skill, and the divine Flame was the best method to attack the widest possible area.
“For now, I’ll get rid of the fog surrounding it,” he thought.
PAAAANG—!
Su-hyeun threw his torso forward, and at the same time, the spear flew out from his grasp.
The spear boasting weighty power split into thousands of smaller pieces and transformed into fiery raindrops falling right on top of the predator.
The rain of spears and fire pounded on the black fog around the predator.
The spears turned into powder and disappeared, while holes were repeatedly punctured in the black fog countless times.
Paht, pa-paht—
Shu-aaaaahk—
And Su-hyeun’s figure, having finished with throwing spears, dug in among the open gap.
The agility of 100 points, the stat that had reached the three-digit mark, allowed him to move around so much faster than if he had activated some skills.
And when Su-hyeun got close…
Shu-ahk, shu-aaaahk—
The black smoke spreading out around the predator closed in on Su-hyeun to capture him.
When that happened…
[One Sword Cutting Through Everything – Cutting the Sky]
[Wave Sword – Explosion Style]
Su-hyeun didn’t bother to evade and simply got into position by raising his sword up high, and while dashing toward the predator, he powerfully swung the sword down.
Tu-kwaaaaaak—!
Craaack—
The black fog was sliced right open, and the remaining sword wind split the ground apart. Although his attack wasn’t enough to break through the black fog surrounding the predator, it proved to be sufficient enough to close the distance.
“I’m close,” he thought.
The distance had become close enough that he might touch the target if he took a swipe with his sword.
But just as Su-hyeun got ready to swing his sword…
Pu-hwaaaaahk—!
The black smoke wrapping around the predator coalesced in one point before shoving Su-hyeun’s body back.
Keuh…
Su-hyeun was pushed far back in an instant, and he could only bite his lip.
He managed to close the distance somehow only for everything to go back to square one.
“Spells belonging to the school of dark magic that the devils favor, huh? And judging from its outer appearance, it must be from the devil race,” Su-hyeun inwardly guessed.
During this exchange of attacks that lasted for around a dozen or so minutes, Su-hyeun analyzed the abilities and race of the predator.
The magical energy the creature used was turbid and contained a negative aura, just like what dark magicians would use. As for the black smoke, it was unknown whether that was magic or the unique ability of this creature, but judging from either its characteristics or the way it could be freely manipulated, it seemed to be quite similar to dark magic as well.
“It pretty much attacks and defends only with the fog surrounding its body. I can’t tell whether it knows other magic spells or not, but seeing how the predator is still maintaining this fog, it could only mean that the creature feels most confident of this ability, and it forms the basis of its combat style.”
Shu-aaaaah—
The fog extended toward Su-hyeun once more. It was as if he was staring at lengthy tentacles reaching out to him.
Su-hyeun flung himself to the side and dodged the fog before making another move.
“Although it isn’t fast, its speed and power increase the closer I get. It might be that this power can exhibit a stronger effect when in closer proximity to the one using it…It’s easy enough to get within a certain distance, but digging in even closer than that would be difficult.”
Su-hyeun circled around the predator.
He required quite a lot of magical energy in order to maintain his territory currently spread out in the surroundings. Therefore, a drawn-out battle would be disadvantageous for him.
Even though his previous battle against the different predator was built upon the foundation of the mind-numbing protracted warfare, the story this time was completely different.
“A blitzkrieg, then.’
Once he made up his mind on it, figuring out in his head how he should go about manipulating this battle proved to be quite simple.
After he was done computing what the abilities of his opponent were, how strong it was, and the potential variables that could show up, he immediately got his plan rolling.
“Alright.”
Pa-aht—
Su-hyeun’s figure continuously circling around and evading the fog suddenly began dashing toward the predator.
“I’m finished with planning.”