Chapter 159 – Bodge (４)

Around that same time,

Inside the fortress, Klaim and Amalta were also fighting tooth and nail.

“These bastards… Our attacks aren’t landing.”

“Seems so. No matter what we try, we can’t get any damage in.”

They, too, were growing exhausted.

No matter what tactic they used, they couldn’t take down the Nuia warriors.

“Huuh, huuh….”

A rough breath escaped Amalta’s lips.

The Amalta who had brimmed with Strength was now steadily tiring.

The fatigue Amalta felt was easily several times greater than that of Klaim, a Player.

It’s not just that our attacks don’t work.

Klaim’s expression turned grim as he watched Amalta flag.

Blocking attacks pouring in from all sides is no easy task.

That was the core of the problem.

Their own strikes had no effect, yet the enemy kept coming, relentless.

At first, he’d blocked them skillfully, but as time dragged on, his body began to feel heavier and heavier.

He hadn’t let a proper blow land yet,

but the bastards, showing no sign of fatigue, kept pressing them from every direction, unending.

“Goddammit!”

Amalta spat a curse and swung his Spear in a wide arc.

CRASH!

Amalta’s Spear struck a Nuian warrior.

But it was no different.

The Nuian warrior, utterly unconcerned, thrust his Sword toward Amalta again.

CLANG!

“…!”

The sword flying toward Amalta stopped midair.

Klaim had intercepted the Nuian warrior’s attack with his own Shield.

“Thanks.”

“Just hold out a little longer.”

“Understood.”

Amalta narrowed his eyes.

It was a blow to his pride, without a doubt.

But right now, Amalta had no time to feel shame.

No—if anything, the shame only forced him to focus harder.

I can’t owe him again.

Once was enough.

How could he beg for his life a second time?

At the very least, I mustn’t do anything to disgrace myself in front of that guy.

In that moment, what came to Amalta’s mind was Gijun.

Hadn’t he made a vow?

He’d given up on surpassing Gijun long ago, but at the very least, he swore he wouldn’t become someone who held Gijun back.

But if he fell here to these Nuian warriors, he’d be doing exactly that—clinging to Gijun’s ankles.

“Rrrraaah!”

Amalta roared and thrust his Spear out with all his might.

Amalta knew it.

This was just a waste of energy.

As it had been all along, the bastard would block his attack and counter as if nothing had happened.

Yet he felt he had to do it, even so.

Otherwise, he’d truly become powerless.

Do you think I’ll lose?

Gritting his teeth, Amalta poured strength into his whole body and twisted his wrist.

SWISH!

The Spear, extending from Amalta’s hand, tore through the air as it shot forward.

A fierce blaze engulfed the Spear’s shaft, and it spun rapidly as it drove toward the Nuian warrior ahead.

BOOM!

Amalta’s Spear finally struck the Nuian warrior’s body.

Amalta hadn’t expected it to land, not even a little.

He was already preparing to pull his Spear back, anticipating the bastard’s counterattack.

But then, something astonishing happened.

“…?!”

“Huh…?”

Both of their eyes went wide.

WHOOOOM!

The Nuia warrior Amalta had struck exploded on the spot.

“How is this possible…?”

“What did you just… do?”

Amalta was stunned. Klaim asked how.

But to Klaim’s question, Amalta could offer no answer.

All he had done was grit his teeth and drive his spear with all his Strength.

“I—I’ve grown stronger!”

In that instant, Amalta’s mouth split into a wide grin as he shouted.

“That’s it. I’ve clearly overcome the hardship and grown even further!”

“…!”

Klaim’s eyes lit up too.

Of course, he didn’t take Amalta’s words at face value.

There was no reason for Amalta to suddenly become stronger here.

Something must have changed.

That was Klaim’s judgment.

Then…

The moment he made that decision, Klaim moved his sword.

His blade sliced through the air and struck down at a Nuia warrior’s arm.

At that moment—

SHLICK!

“…!”

“…Huh?!”

Once again, both men stared, eyes wide with shock.

“You—you’ve grown stronger too?!”

Amalta’s voice carried a hint of confusion.

Klaim, of course, knew full well that he hadn’t gotten stronger.

“It seems an opportunity has presented itself.”

He said this as he lifted his Shield.

KWAANG!

A brilliant corona burst from his Shield as Klaim charged toward the Nuia warrior, Shield raised.

CRAAAASH!

Got it.

The Nuia warrior, slammed into Klaim’s Shield, crashed against the far wall and began bleeding out.

*

Damn it…

The Darkness was flustered.

Was my prediction wrong?

He had believed the Seeker before him was someone who had never known failure.

And he intended to make such an opponent feel helpless.

By showing that no power he wielded would make any difference.

That would eventually break him.

The more he mocked and laughed at him, the faster he’d crumble.

That had always been his method.

Long ago, arrogant humans with swollen shoulders all fell the same way.

He reveled in watching them collapse—so absurdly it was laughable even to himself.

Human despair was his power, his fuel for growing stronger.

My mistake.

But it wasn’t that.

This bastard was different from the humans he had easily devoured.

Which meant his initial judgment had been wrong.

Thanks to that, he’d allowed the Seeker to land a strike.

Massive Damage wracked him with pain.

And the ones deeper inside have started running wild too.

That had created gaps among their ranks inside the fortress.

As a result, a fair number of Nuia had already been taken down.

But if you think this is the end, you’re mistaken.

Of course, it wouldn’t end here.

Just because the strategy didn’t land as planned—if you think this one mistake ends everything, that’s where you’re wrong.

‘If the strategy fails, I change it. That’s all.’

He’d only adopted the initial approach to make short work of his opponent.

It was never his only way.

[You might’ve gotten a little excited back there…]

His body had been riddled with holes, but he spoke and instantly regenerated all his wounds.

[Looks like I’m still in this.]

Wearing a noticeably lighter expression, he looked at Jun.

Shiiing—

He lifted his dagger again.

[Let’s fight properly this time.]

*

‘…’

Jun bit his lip.

He’d known it wouldn’t end easily, but he hadn’t expected the situation to flip this fast.

He’d thought the earlier attacks had at least dealt some real Damage, but no—not at all.

The bastard was watching him with a relaxed air, as if nothing had happened.

And then he drew his dagger again.

‘Back to square one.’

If Jun got caught even once, he’d be game over on the spot.

And he’d never log into this game again.

‘But that’s okay.’

This was still much better than before.

Compared to a situation where nothing worked at all, this was already a massive improvement.

‘Let’s go.’

Jun moved.

Sword in one hand—Sain-geom.

And of course, Fireball was still running.

The ten Fireballs he’d conjured alongside his Avatar surged toward the darkness in an instant.

[Where do you think you’re going!]

This time the bastard scrambled too, dodging the Fireballs.

At the same time, he closed in on Jun.

Fast.

In an instant, the poison-coated dagger aimed for Jun.

Too fast to dodge.

And dead-on accurate.

Jun didn’t panic.

Even if he couldn’t evade, that was fine.

Because Jun had another way to block that attack.

Craaack!

A fierce wind roared around Jun’s body, forming a barrier.

Kraaang!

The Strong Wind barrier deflected the bastard’s dagger.

The bastard’s Strength was too high to block it completely—but that was enough.

Because the dagger’s trajectory had been thrown off.

Tadadad!

Jun quickly backed away.

The bastard’s eyes went wide as he tried to close the distance.

That’s when Jun unleashed a torrent of Fireballs.

The bastard, mid-charge, had to veer sharply.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-KWANG!

The Fireballs didn’t touch him.

Once again, he wore an easy smile and shifted his gaze to Jun.

Their eyes met.

A thin, mocking smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

He had dodged Jun’s Fireballs and was already moving again.

Shwiiing!

Like an arrow, he closed back in on Jun and swung his dagger.

‘Useless.’

Already, a barrier of Strong Wind was spread around Gijun’s body.

A simple dagger strike like that would be more than enough to block.

But it wasn’t.

Light flared.

The instant Gijun’s focus locked onto the dagger, the bastard spread his other hand.

Black darkness burst from that hand.

“…!”

In a flash, the darkness swallowed Gijun whole.

[Got you!]

The bastard shouted, glee dripping from his voice.

At that cry, Gijun’s vision stained pitch-black.

Not just his sight — every sense went numb, and at the same time his breath choked shut.

But then—

‘…!’

Gijun’s heart blazed hot.

In the same instant, light streamed through his entire body, shoving back the darkness the bastard had spewed.

A soft hiss of dissipating shadow.

The darkness vanished in an instant.

Beyond it, he saw the bastard’s face.

The eyes held a flicker of surprise.

This time, Gijun smiled.

[Arrogant little….]

The bastard tried to move his dagger again.

But this time, Gijun moved first.

The bastard faltered for a moment, caught off guard, his balance swaying — Gijun seized the opening and thrust his sword at him with Illusion Sword.

Sswae-ak!

Gijun’s Sain-geom traced a bizarre arc toward the bastard.

The bastard twisted his body.

To dodge the Illusion Sword.

But it was pointless.

The Illusion Sword moved in a direction completely different from what his eyes were following, and it grazed his body in the end.

Chwa-ak!

[Kugh…!]

Black blood sprayed into the air.

And now, even light attribute had been added to Gijun’s Sain-geom.

A sizzling hiss.

Smoke rose from the wound as the flesh burned.

[Damn it….]

The bastard spat out a curse.

Raging, black darkness flared violently over his body.

[I’ll fucking kill you!]

Again, the bastard’s dagger aimed at Gijun.

Of course, Gijun didn’t allow the attack to land easily.

Gijun dodged it perfectly and, in the same motion, moved his sword again.

The Sain-geom sliced through the air.

For a moment, the bastard looked a little lost.

The same reaction as the Nuia Gijun had defeated before.

Whether to believe his own eyes or not.

He stared at the sword, his face saying he had no idea.

In that moment—

“Wrong.”

Gijun said it aloud.

The bastard’s pupils darted frantically.

“…!”

Only then did the bastard catch on to Gijun’s trick.

This time, Gijun’s attack wasn’t an Illusion Sword.

[Kha! Kha-ha-ha-ha!]

Kutama had appeared, without warning.

[Can you withstand this body’s scorching flames?!]

Kutama roared, unleashing its flames with all its might.

Kwaaaaaah!

The fire Kutama spewed devoured the darkness in an instant.

[Hrk, hrrrk… HRAAAAAAAGH!]

The creature’s roar hammered Gijun’s ears.