Chapter 365 (1/2)
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Writhe, wriggle—
Chun Ha-jin barely managed to move his arms and crawl away.
Boom, rumbleeee—
Pow, kwa-wuuuuu—
Two massive auras were violently colliding against each other not too far from where he was. The aftermath of the clash flung Chun Ha-jin to some distance away, and from there, he began creeping away to a safer place.
“What kind of monstrous bastards are those two…?”
Shudder, shiver—
He almost lost his life just then.
Once the fear of death that came close enough to touch his face had receded away a little, he could objectively analyze the situation he used to be in not too long ago.
It was pure humiliation.
His pride had fallen to the ground to be trampled on. From the fact that he screamed in pain to how he got terrified by the enemy before his eyes—such things shouldn’t have happened to a heavenly demon like himself who was used to be worshiped by a million followers and was currently the “emperor” to 10 million citizens in this world.
Grit—
Chun Ha-jin gritted his teeth.
He was at least certain of who one of those two was, and that would be the “devil” with the pitch-black skin that had arrived last.
“The god that summoned us to this place.”
No, wait, he couldn’t be sure whether that creature was a god or a devil.
However, judging from the battle between those two, this existence that everyone thought of as a god definitely was not an omnipotent creature.
“That’s right, keep fighting like that.”
Stumble—
Chun Ha-jin barely managed to make his legs move and forced himself up.
“And when you show just a bit of an opening…”
He’d become the god of this world instead!
Crunch, crunchhh—
His bones, broken and twisted in unnatural angles, were reverting to their original positions.
Although he didn’t have a lot of opportunities during his life to try out martial art techniques that healed the practitioner’s injuries, Chun Ha-jin had mastered several types of them. He believed that they could become the lifeline that would save him during a critical moment in his life.
And as it turned out, his thoughts were right on the money.
“It’s done.”
Although he lost a lot of blood, he hadn’t suffered any fatal wounds.
In order to inflict as much pain for as long as possible, Su-hyeun deliberately avoided vital points and only stabbed or broke Chun Ha-jin’s body parts that would hurt the most.
Such torture was meant to break Chun Ha-jin’s mind but not an act to take his life.
Thanks to that, Chun Ha-jin didn’t have much trouble restoring his body.
“Just a little bit more, a little more…”
And so, he slowly strengthened the muscles on his legs that had gone soft earlier, but just before he could stand back up…
Swish—
Piii-iiit—
He felt a stinging and hot sensation coming from his neck.
“…Huh?”
Chun Ha-jin raised his hand and touched his neck. Crimson blood, still warm to the touch, stained his palm. He gasped out in shock and hurriedly clutched at his throat, but it was too late by then.
Splatter—!
Tumble—
Chun Ha-jin’s severed head rolled to the ground. His hands clutching at his throat went limp, and someone else’s foot extended toward him from behind.
Kick—
Crunch—!
Luslec kicked Chun Ha-jin’s back to shove the dead body away and began dusting away at his scorched clothing. “Gee whiz, I finally managed to get inside.”
Luslec faced a lot of trouble trying to enter the arena due to the territory of divine Flame spread out everywhere, and the first thing he saw after making his way inside was Chun Ha-jin, who somehow managed to keep his life after fighting Su-hyeun.
From the body of Chun Ha-jin, who looked half-dead initially but began recovering himself, Luslec sensed a lump of magical energy that seemed to be stolen from countless many people.
Luslec muttered, “So, it’s that guy? The quarry of this world, that is.”
The predator was waving its hand at Su-hyeun.
The black fog wrapped around Su-hyeun’s body and tried to restrict him like chains. He was pushed back by the predator’s aura, but he ripped apart the fog with his bare hands and flew up again.
The sequence of each engagement remained largely similar as before: Su-hyeun closed in, and the predator created some distance and continued to pile damages on Su-hyeun.
At a glance, he seemed to be at a clear disadvantage.
“Well, that thing does look pretty tough, but…”
Luslec pursed his lips a little and whistled.
Whistle—
“Well, I guess it’ll work out in the end.”
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Tu-hwaaaak—!
Su-hyeun’s figure was shoved powerfully back again.
The predator waved its hand around to control the fog. That was a type of unique “authority” called “darkness manipulation” that the predator felt most confident of using in a battle. The predator had created this ability by utilizing its impressive magical know-how.
This magic was about imbuing energy into the darkness that had no form and then using it to cause physical and magical damage.
This magic could be activated anywhere darkness existed, and in a limited space like this one, its power could be focused more and exhibit even greater strength.
“This fool doesn’t know when to give up.”
Pah-aht—
Su-hyeun rushed toward the predator once more, a process that had been repeating itself.
Nothing had changed, and Su-hyeun continued to rush in blindly like some kind of a wild animal.
“Compared to what I’ve heard before, a hound isn’t all that special, is it? He just keeps rushing at me without even thinking too much about it…”
The predator waved its hand again.
The darkness spread out everywhere rapidly gathered in order to snatch up Su-hyeun’s body once more.
He twisted his body this way and that. He also moved at an eye-searing quick pace to slice apart the gaps in the darkness before digging through the opening created.
“Blow away…”
In the middle of that, he held the sword with both of his hands. Flames and winds—two attributes that matched each other so well—swirled around the blade.
“Palm Leaf.”
Fwhoooosh—!
Ruuuumble—
A huge wall of flames rushed in, and a blinding light accompanied the flames to drive the darkness away. Meanwhile, the winds completely shredded apart the physically manifested darkness.
At first, the predator became somewhat flustered by this attack. But now…
“Darkness exists everywhere.”
Chwa-rururu—
The shredded-apart darkness quickly reverted to how it was.
“And there is plenty of it, too.”
Ta-da-dak—
Su-hyeun instantly closed the gap.
Of course…
Fwhoooosh—