Chapter 95

“You are right. We must leave this place. Will you cooperate with me?”

“Your decision was faster than I expected. In that case, there is no need to hesitate.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Biryeong swiftly snatched Taewoon’s wrist.

In that instant, True Qi exploded with tremendous speed, and the two bodies began to soar into the air like the wind.

“I cannot let you leave like this, User.”

Aquila immediately noticed the movement and manipulated the Cylinder to emit an intense beam.

The beam sliced through space at the speed of light, aiming for Taewoon’s back. However, as if she had been waiting, Biryeong twisted her body in mid-air and drew several lines in the void with her fingertips.

Following her gesture, Internal Energy of pitch-black light stretched out, blocking Aquila’s beam. An explosion of power beyond imagination collided violently, splitting the boundary between white and black.

“…Tsk.”

Feeling that she couldn’t simply escape the battlefield as is, Biryeong flung Taewoon down to land on the ground and stepped through the air at high speed.

In an instant, the space before her eyes distorted, and Biryeong’s form had already reached right in front of Aquila.

“You are quite fast.”

Aquila calmly continued to manipulate the Cylinder, but faster than that, black threads extending from Biryeong’s fingertips surged and began to envelop her entire body in an instant.

Black Heaven Path Destruction.

The pitch-black palm power created by the twisting threads of silk soared through the air, soon winding around Aquila’s body like a giant vortex.

The Protective Barrier of the Cylinder, caught in the vortex, wavered and distorted. Yet, even within that, Aquila calmly waved her hand, emitting beams of light at exquisite angles.

Fragments of blue beams that broke through the black vortex and burst out rushed toward Biryeong, but she calmly pushed both hands into the air, unfolding another technique.

The energy surrounding Biryeong created a strange flow like a violent current, bouncing away all the beams. Taking advantage of that gap, Biryeong employed her Step Technique once more and dove in beside Aquila.

Aquila quickly manipulated the Cylinder to block her, but this time, Biryeong added another variation to her movement, sliding through the air to instantly take Aquila’s back.

Biryeong’s nails, wrapped in condensed Internal Energy, slashed across Aquila’s body, leaving slight wounds.

Having been wounded again, Aquila flinched and staggered, then stared at Biryeong with a weary gaze.

“…….”

Though Aquila manipulated the Cylinder from her twisted posture to radiate intense energy in all directions, Biryeong had already leisurely widened the distance, planting her feet on the ground and readjusting her stance.

A cold yet seductive smile appeared on Biryeong’s face.

“Haven’t your attacks been a bit predictable for a while now?”

Aquila checked her wounds and fixed her gaze on Biryeong. From that moment, the blue energy of the Cylinder began to burn more intensely.

“Error margin correction complete. Readjusting resource allocation.”

As soon as Aquila finished speaking, a massive energy storm erupted from the Cylinder.

Swept away by the storm, the surrounding earth split apart, and countless stone fragments and dust soared into the air.

Biryeong stood without a single flaw even in the center of that disastrous storm, but seeing that her clothes were damaged, it was clear that she was less composed than before.

“…….”

Biryeong maintained a calm gaze and steadied her breathing.

Faced with Aquila’s overwhelming power, she had to acknowledge that superiority, but having experienced countless bloody battles, she knew better than anyone that a gap in power did not determine everything.

“I should probably give up on the idea of facing her head-on.”

Quickly judging the situation, Biryeong instinctively moved her body, calculating the minute gaps between attack and defense.

When Aquila manipulated the Cylinder to trigger another powerful energy wave, Biryeong became blurred like a mist, evading every trajectory.

As if reading the future just an inch ahead, she narrowly avoided the attacks and quickly launched a counterattack.

Infinite Phantom Steps.

Creating dozens of phantoms simultaneously, Biryeong dazzled Aquila’s eyes and concealed her own movements.

However, Aquila floated the Cylinder into the air without any hesitation. In that moment, the Cylinder rotated on its own, pouring out hundreds of beams in all directions.

Biryeong’s phantoms were shattered and vanished. In that brief moment, Biryeong leaped out from a blind spot in the bombardment and began to rapidly approach Aquila.

Void Heaven Breaking Palm.

When the palm power containing powerful Internal Energy struck the Protective Barrier, a strong impact hit the surface of the Cylinder, causing slight sparks to fly.

Aquila frowned slightly and stepped back. However, even that gap was not long.

After checking the status of the Cylinder and judging that there were no problems, Aquila began to showcase powerful attacks in succession, disregarding the waste of energy.

Without even being able to catch her breath properly, Biryeong threw herself forward again. She knew well that Aquila’s attacks were terrifyingly fast and powerful, but shrinking back would only reveal more openings.

As she repeatedly and persistently dug in, narrowly deflecting lethal attacks to find an opportunity, a voice that sounded like a reproach came from Aquila.

“This is a meaningless war of attrition. Most of the analysis is already complete.”

Along with Aquila’s calm words, the Cylinder emitted radiance once more.

However, Biryeong accurately predicted the flow of energy emitted by the Cylinder and pushed her body into the space behind Aquila once again.

The Weapon Aura extending from Biryeong’s fingertips left a deep mark on one side of the plain, but it failed to reach Aquila.

Biryeong steadied her breath and charged toward the enemy before her once more with an intense aura.

Power and technique, overwhelming firepower and seasoned experience collided, and a fierce struggle continued for some time.

As the battle progressed, Biryeong’s attacks became more precise and sharp, but Aquila’s adaptation speed was clearly faster.

Even at this moment, as an Artificial Intelligence, Aquila was evolving by accumulating data.

The blue flashes bursting from the Cylinder tore the earth to shreds, and before long, the surroundings had been completely devastated.

Yet, amidst that scene of overwhelming destruction, Biryeong desperately endured, deflecting every attack.

Infinite Phantom Steps.

Once again, dozens of phantoms scattered from Biryeong’s footsteps, confusing Aquila’s vision.

But as Aquila gestured, hundreds of beams densely filled the air, sweeping away everything in all directions.

Light and shadow clashed, and loud explosions rang out.

Biryeong’s phantoms scattered like smoke, and unable to find a gap in the bombardment, she retreated, maintaining a silence mixed with displeasure.

“…….”

While Aquila no longer felt threatened by Biryeong, the number of large and small wounds on Biryeong’s body was increasing.

Biryeong steadied her ragged breathing and quickly scanned the surroundings, and soon her gaze turned toward Taewoon.

Meeting his eyes, Biryeong let out a short breath and smiled.

“This should be about right.”

Just as Aquila was about to take an attacking stance again, Biryeong instantaneously changed direction and threw herself toward Taewoon.

A hint of bewilderment briefly flashed in Aquila’s eyes.

“It is useless. I have no intention of letting you go.”

Beams poured out in haste, but Biryeong’s body had already perfectly escaped the trajectory of the bombardment.

She gripped Taewoon’s arm firmly once more and exquisitely manipulated the Internal Energy loaded into her toes.

Leading Taewoon, Biryeong kicked off the air and began to escape the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

A thunderous roar erupted from the spot where she stepped on the air, and the surroundings were covered in a dazzling flash; in that moment, a very minute gap appeared in Aquila’s movements.

Biryeong did not miss it, employing her Step Technique to sprint through the air with Taewoon.

“She probably won’t be able to chase us for a while. I secretly flowed Internal Energy into the Cylinder to disrupt the circulation of its energy.”

Just as she said, they looked back for a long time, but there was no pursuit from Aquila.

Taewoon, admiring Biryeong’s surprisingly outstanding skill, asked her a question.

“Did you intend to do that from the beginning?”

“Of course. You saw it with your own eyes, didn’t you? From the middle onward, not a single one of my Martial Arts reached her. If we encounter her again, even stalling for time will likely be impossible.”

That was truly unfortunate news.

Taewoon needed to find an opportunity somehow to reclaim Yerin from Aquila or make it so that her body reached a state of death.

‘Right. She has only just awakened, and even now, she must be far from her optimal state.’

While Taewoon had prepared as much as possible, the opponent had entered the battle without any preparation. Despite that, such a gap existed.

“When we face her in the future, will there be a way to oppose that thing?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell right now. Perhaps this was the last chance.”

“…….”

It was a desperate situation, but there was not a shred of anxiety or worry in Biryeong’s eyes.

Perhaps she simply didn’t care what happened to the world, or perhaps even this situation served as a kind of amusement for her.

“…Seeing the battle just now, I wonder if I could even catch up to your shadow even if I trained for ten years.”

“…….”

“Does there exist anyone in the Martial World of the Central Plains who has reached a higher realm than you?”

Biryeong fell into a rare, deep silence, pondering. She seemed to be recalling the experts she had encountered one by one.

“I’m not sure. There is no one in this generation who has firmly established themselves as the strongest under heaven, and I myself have never lost since reaching a certain realm.”

“…….”

“But, one never knows.”

For some reason, Biryeong seemed to be enjoying this moment.

Even the tragic event where numerous experts were slaughtered by a transcendent being might have been, for her, merely an occasion to broaden her world.

“…….”

Leaving his body in Biryeong’s hands, Taewoon looked at the fading battlefield and chewed over a faint regret.

‘Damn it……’

He could not yet imagine what kind of horrific world Aquila would create. Nevertheless, for now, there was nothing he could do other than survive.

‘…Get it together.’

If he waited, the time would surely come.

With firm resolve, Taewoon engraved the will for his next step into his heart once more.