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[Chapter 163]

[Demon of Fireworks (5)]

"My sword..."

It was absolutely unintentional.

Eun-ha, who had destroyed Kang Hyun-chul's exclusive device, couldn't hide his bewilderment.

This wasn't what he meant to do...

Though only the tip of the greatsword had broken off.

For a player who cherishes their exclusive device, even a "small" damage wasn't something that could be dismissed as trivial.

Even Eun-ha himself would go berserk if his beloved sword got even a small crack.

In that sense─.

"─You're really dead."

Kang Hyun-chul's anger, who was known for acting emotionally, was understandable.

His eyes flashed.

The flames hanging from the corners of his eyes fluttered, and in that moment Kang Hyun-chul closed the remaining distance in one breath.

"...Kuk...!"

Kang Hyun-chul swung his broken sword violently at him without caring.

Eun-ha moved Winter Blooming Coldly to block the attack.

A force with weight behind it struck him. By feel, Kang Hyun-chul's attack seemed much stronger than before.

To think I'd be pushed back in strength even while using my gift...!

Eun-ha clicked his tongue.

Gift <Unknown >.

The power boiling up from inside his body was clearly raising his physical abilities.

So he thought he might be a bit stronger than Kang Hyun-chul, but.

Kang Hyun-chul, swept up in anger, demonstrated an explosive increase in strength.

Come to think of it, this guy was always like this!

The stronger the opponent became, the more stupidly he burned up.

His personality is like a gift in itself.

He shouldn't engage in a contest of strength.

Eun-ha took one step back, taking a stance to deflect the attack.

Ox Walk

He leaps through space in one breath.

He lands instantly at a distance from Kang Hyun-chul.

At that moment─.

─Whoosh!!

Flames rushed in.

Kang Hyun-chul had manipulated the flames, aiming for the moment he sensed Eun-ha's presence.

Eun-ha, swallowed again by the sea of fire, clicked his tongue and pulled at the hem of his cloak.

He reduced the damage by wrapping himself in the cloak made of flames.

At the same time, he charged.

Breaking through the wall of fire in one breath, he gathered mana in his sword bit by bit, avoiding Kang Hyun-chul's eyes.

Winter Blooming Coldly

With a screech.

Maengoseu held in his left hand cries out.

The sword advancing almost as if scraping the ground gradually bends the flames.

The blade shines red, and red again.

Eun-ha, as if holding a sword of flames in his hand, pointed his sword at Kang Hyun-chul.

Snap snap snap!

Kang Hyun-chul reacted too.

Finding Eun-ha beyond the raging flames, he lowered his stance and charged.

Kang Hyun-chul roared.

And Eun-ha's sword roared too.

Kuooooooo!!

The appearance of a dragon full of flames.

The dragon empowered by the gift had a form swollen to twice its size.

That dragon charged at Kang Hyun-chul as if sweeping the ground with its belly.

Kang Hyun-chul jumped up to counter the charging dragon.

Just as he was about to swing down the greatsword stretched back over his shoulder─.

─Ox Walk

Eun-ha used Ox Walk while passing by the side of the dragon.

Taking advantage of the moment Kang Hyun-chul focused on the dragon, he moved to his back in one breath.

Whoosh!!

Eun-ha, who had layered mana onto Winter Blooming Coldly, counted in his mind.

One, two.

When the number he wanted was completed, Winter Blooming Coldly was filled with platinum mana and raging flames.

Blast Cross

This is <Yama > Kang Hyun-chul.

He won't die from this much.

No, he mustn't die.

Eun-ha swung his sword at him with those thoughts in mind.

"...!!"

A dragon of flames in front.

A cross of flames behind.

Kang Hyun-chul's expression changed moment by moment as he was caught between the two magics simultaneously.

The moment he deals with one side, he'll be hit by the attack from the other side.

He fell into a dilemma.

He bit his lip and hesitated.

But the hesitation lasted only for a moment.

"─Don't get cocky!!"

"...!"

Kang Hyun-chul splits the dragon's head.

At the same time, he absorbed the flames forming the dragon.

And immediately, released them.

Boom boom boom!!

Heat energy that melts the surroundings.

Magic collided with magic.

Eun-ha gritted his teeth.

He tried to endure the explosion that turned his vision red.

Then the ground collapsed.

Unlike himself protected by Buldak, the arena floor melted unable to withstand the heat.

Also─.

"──!!"

The arena was under the influence of protective magic.

In other words, if the protective magic was activated, the arena would become a sealed place where oxygen couldn't enter or leave.

The oxygen in the space was limited, and the sufficient amount of oxygen that would have been no problem originally was consumed by the explosion just now.

Eun-ha, who momentarily couldn't breathe, realized this and quickly moved away.

Just then─.

"─Where do you think you're going."

A voice heard from within the explosion.

Soon Eun-ha widened his eyes seeing Kang Hyun-chul appearing in the red world.

He was sending a fierce gaze as if breathing in this heat wasn't awkward at all.

What a monstrous bastard...!!

Does he still have power left over?

His momentum hadn't subsided at all.

Eun-ha inwardly clicked his tongue at the sword strike falling in front of his eyes.

I'd like to feed him some deadly poison if I could...

Kang Hyun-chul was unleashed.

He was now attacking as if he really would kill him.

On the other hand, Eun-ha was focusing more on blocking attacks than attacking.

He had many ways to respond.

However─.

─That would cause a commotion.

Since there are people watching...

Even though the flames somewhat blocked people's view.

Eun-ha had no intention of showing all his power.

Also, he didn't want to use magic that would surely become controversial.

If magic like Stygian Eye or Phantom Eye were revealed, it would make people wary of him from now on.

Fantasy and fear arise from the difference in information between oneself and others.

Fantasy and fear are effective when others don't know about oneself.

Furthermore, in the case of Virulent Venom, it was very difficult to use because there was no antidote.

Though that guy might be able to detoxify it using <Flame Flower>...

If I use that, it'll really become a situation of you die, I die.

And when ambushing enemies in the future, my attacks will be predicted...

There were many problems.

Unlike Kang Hyun-chul, Eun-ha couldn't attack recklessly.

Thousand Steps

Moon Dance

Meanwhile, his internal mana started to drop gradually.

Buldak's power consumed a lot of mana, and it didn't work on Kang Hyun-chul in the first place.

Eun-ha was just swinging his sword while wearing the cloak.

"Yes, that's it!"

Battle maniac, crazy bastard.

Eun-ha, who had been maintaining a defensive attitude, counterattacked Kang Hyun-chul by swinging two swords.

Then Kang Hyun-chul spewed flames and enjoyed it.

Ox Walk

A battle of strength and speed.

Kang Hyun-chul swings down his heavy sword.

Eun-ha avoids the sword and aims for an opening.

Then Kang Hyun-chul uses <Flame Flower> to block the opening, and casually swings his greatsword.

Winter Blooming Coldly

Eun-ha gritted his teeth.

Kang Hyun-chul was a monster.

He was gradually reacting to the speed of Ox Walk.

If only I could kill him...!

I wouldn't have to struggle like this.

Causing a storm of petals.

Eun-ha, who made a moment to catch his breath, inwardly cursed at Kang Hyun-chul.

Damn...

It's getting harder to breathe.

Though his physical abilities were being activated.

He felt the oxygen that could activate his cells gradually decreasing.

In contrast─.

─Whoosh!

The guy called <Yama > wasn't experiencing any problems.

His body was adapting to the situation where oxygen was gradually decreasing as the battle progressed.

It was the power of <Flame Flower>.

Eun-ha couldn't hide his sense of deprivation seeing the petals he created instantly turn to embers and disappear.

This is why I didn't want to fight that guy...

The three Twelve Zodiac who were mentioned as Korea's strongest in his previous life.

<Thunder Emperor> Lee Do-jin was said to have no match in speed.

<Divine Spear> Ryu Yeon-hwa was said to be free in transitions in both offense and defense.

And <Yama > Kang Hyun-chul was unrivaled in persistence.

Mana Crusher

Madness

Just as fire meets material to burn and continues to grow until there's nothing left to burn.

He would burn up brightly when meeting an opponent, showing a figure that grew stronger as the battle progressed.

Conversely, the opponent would become overwhelmed and gradually weaken.

Moreover, as the battle with him progressed, the opponent would even have difficulty breathing due to <Flame Flower>.

If it felt like your lungs would melt from the heat at the beginning of the battle, as the battle dragged on, you couldn't breathe due to lack of oxygen in the surroundings.

If it was a fight to kill each other, you could just kill that guy before the battle dragged on.

But in a match where you can't kill, the longer it goes on, the more disadvantageous it inevitably becomes for the opponent.

This was the reason why <Undead > Noh Eun-ha only lost to <Yama > in matches in his previous life.

Of course, no match ever properly concluded.

Revolver

Thorn

Eun-ha gritted his teeth and gripped his sword.

Fortunately, this match had set victory conditions unlike before.

That is, he just needed to destroy the artifact Kang Hyun-chul was wearing on his neck.

It's not easy, that's why I'm doing this!

It's a part that's difficult to aim attacks at.

A part where you could accidentally kill if you're not careful.

But I don't know how long I have to wait for damage to accumulate.

Eun-ha kept focusing on Kang Hyun-chul's neck while blocking his attacks.

Of course, Kang Hyun-chul seemed to know this and didn't give him any opportunities.

Snap snap snap!!

Flames surge up.

Before he knew it, Eun-ha was surrounded by flames rising high into the sky.

Flames were everywhere.

He prepared for damage from the flames by infusing mana into his cloak.

─At this rate, I'll lose by suffocating.

Now gift <Unknown > was holding him back.

It was good that he got stronger in proportion to his decreasing internal mana.

The problem was that as his physical abilities increased, his breathing volume increased to supplement the increased power.

I never thought I'd be cornered because I can't even breathe properly...

Eun-ha self-deprecatingly looked at the wave of fire rushing towards him.

I might lose at this rate.

Nevertheless─.

─How could I say I lost because I couldn't breathe, how embarrassing. How could I face the kids if I did that?

Eun-ha didn't give up.

Just as he didn't hesitate in the past.

Just as he didn't settle for reality.

Even in this critical moment, he was still looking ahead.

Whoosh!!

A sea of fire rushes in.

Now swallowed by the sea of fire, he had two choices.

Give up and lose like this.

Or struggle without giving up yet.

Conform to reality, or defy it.

The future is determined by choices.

Noh Eun-ha─.

─I've only been beaten up constantly... I can't let that happen in this life.

Decided to defy reality.

Though he didn't know what would unfold at the end of the path he had to walk.

Nevertheless, he decided to take one step forward and seize a better future.

─Gift <Unknown >

At that moment, the gift activated.

Eun-ha, who came out of the sea of fire, ran towards Kang Hyun-chul rushing at him.

Sword clashes with sword.

The distance gets closer and closer─.

─Huh?

To the point where he wondered if it was his imagination.

The whole world looked slow.

No, not only did it look slow, but suddenly another world derived from the world he was looking at.

This is...

What on earth is this?

The derived world was translucent.

But unlike the existing world, time was flowing quickly.

While Kang Hyun-chul in the existing world was swinging his sword slowly.

Kang Hyun-chul in the derived world swung his sword very quickly and─.

─He activates magic by vocalization instead of snapping his fingers?

The derived world burst into flames.

Eun-ha was quite surprised by the magic Kang Hyun-chul had just used.

It could be said to be a strategy that completely caught him off guard.

But it wasn't impossible.

Somehow, Eun-ha felt Kang Hyun-chul would move exactly like that.

No, he was certain.

Therefore─.

─I don't know what it is, but let's believe in it.

An afterimage of less than 10 seconds later.

Eun-ha decided to believe what the derived world had shown.

In reality, Kang Hyun-chul opened his mouth while swinging his sword.

"Explode!!"

"Hup...!"

Eun-ha, who had been watching Kang Hyun-chul's lips, held his breath at that moment.

Immediately, an explosion rushed at him.

To this, Eun-ha─.

─Pride's Counterattack

Eun-ha decided to activate the necklace's magic to return the attack doubled.

"...Kuk...!!"

Kang Hyun-chul put all his strength into his sword.

As a reaction, he lost his balance.

Furthermore, the surroundings were in a state where the ground was melting due to the heat.

The necklace worn on his neck shook noisily as he tried to regain balance.

This was what Eun-ha intended.

He put strength into the hand holding Winter Blooming Coldly.

Mana Crusher

Eun-ha swung his sword.

The sword strike that flew curved like a whip soon destroyed Kang Hyun-chul's last damage measuring device.

With this, the protective magic sensing the end of the match will be released, and oxygen will fill abundantly.

With this, the match is─.

"─It's not over yet, you bastard!!"

Kang Hyun-chul didn't accept it.

As a result, the demon of flames went berserk.

☆

What is that, what on earth is that.

Hwang Jin-hee couldn't clearly perceive the phenomenon happening before her eyes.

She could tell that Noh Eun-ha's atmosphere changed along with the surging flames.

Seeing his skills increase dramatically right after.

She finally realized that Noh Eun-ha's gift had activated.

Is it some kind of enhancement type that increases abilities when internal mana drops below a certain level?

A gift that sees people's qualities.

While other people didn't seem to know what changes had occurred in Noh Eun-ha due to the rising flames.

She could clearly sense it using the power of her gift.

She focused her gaze on the scene unfolding at a distance.

And the conclusion she reached was─.

─Enhancement-type gifts like <Haste > have the power to raise a part of one's abilities.

There's also some limit to how much abilities can increase.

But Noh Eun-ha's gift is on a different level from that.

That Noh Eun-ha's gift wasn't a commonly seen gift.

Though it looked like a type of enhancement gift, as far as she knew, there was no gift similar to what he showed.

She didn't know all the gifts written in the Player Library, but judging by the visible effects, she could tell it was an extremely rare gift.

Typical enhancement-type gifts have a constant increase in abilities and a limit to the increase.

But that child is still continuously getting stronger, and not just one ability but multiple abilities are increasing.

It's as if he would endlessly get stronger if the mana serving as nourishment for the gift was endlessly fulfilled.

Moreover, proportional to the speed of getting stronger, it was rising dramatically.

To think such a gift exists.

That's almost like...

Like.

She couldn't voice the thought that immediately came to mind.

It was realistically impossible.

There's no way such a thing could be possible.

But it was happening right before her eyes.

It's a gift that shows growth like someone who has embodied myth.

...You could call it a degraded version.

And she finally organized her thoughts.

The thought she was reluctant to acknowledge made many things easier to evaluate once acknowledged.

It's just like how someone who has reached the realm of divinity endlessly grows in the process of embodying myth.

Embodying myth doesn't simply mean getting stronger.

It means overlaying your accumulated achievements and realizations onto the world.

In that sense, that child's gift seems to show the process of reaching the realm of divinity.

Humans become heroes.

Heroes become gods.

From her perspective, his gift seemed to capture the process of a human becoming a god.

But hasty conclusions are forbidden.

Without closely examining the gift, I can't grasp what kind of effect it has.

Can a gift similar to embodying myth exist in the first place?

Soon Hwang Jin-hee had doubts.

The situation where living legends embody myth and face the crisis of extinction unable to withstand myth was clear.

Humans are mortal.

Beings that must die.

Can an imperfect being that becomes a god truly maintain equal status with gods in the position of immortals?

We whose essence is human will inevitably perish unable to withstand myth.

In that sense─.

─That gift might be one that leads to the maximum realm a human can become strong in, not the realm of divinity.

Can a gift that brings one close to the realm of divinity really exist?

The moment it exists, the gift holder would inevitably perish due to the gift because they are human.

Yet Noh Eun-ha is standing so firmly.

Therefore, she thought Noh Eun-ha's gift might be one that makes one reach the threshold of becoming a god.

That way─.

─It makes sense how that child has grown until now.

She could understand.

If such a gift exists, of course one could show that level of skill at a young age.

But I can say with certainty─.

─He won't be able to embody myth.

Standing before the threshold and.

Entering through the door are different.

In the end, even if Noh Eun-ha uses his gift's power, he'll at best end up as the strongest within the human realm.

Unless his gift can lead to the realm of divinity.

But that would be impossible.

Again, such a gift couldn't possibly exist.

It's the same reason why 1st rank can't exist.

If monsters threatening humanity's survival existed, humanity would have disappeared without establishing any civilization.

The hypothesis of impossible existence.

She nodded recalling the hypothesis spoken of in mana studies.

However, she wasn't thinking that the hypothesis she recalled wasn't completely perfect.

Just the gift <White Silver> alone was a gift whose existence should be impossible.

According to that theory, someone with a gift that disperses mana naturally shouldn't be able to gather internal mana in their heart.

They shouldn't even be able to exist as a fetus in their parent's womb in the first place.

Nevertheless, the gift <White Silver> clearly existed in this world.

─Pride's Counterattack

Meanwhile.

Eun-ha, who seemed to be pushed back by Kang Hyun-chul, reversed the situation.

He counterattacked by taking advantage of Kang Hyun-chul's surprise attack.

At the same time, he used Mana Crusher to destroy the last device Kang Hyun-chul was wearing.

It's finally over.

An unexpected victory.

The majority who had predicted <Yama >'s victory couldn't help but admire Noh Eun-ha's victory all at once.

She too applauded the match that was quite worth watching from the latter half.

And so the match seemed to end peacefully─.

"─It's not over yet, you bastard!!"

""""...!!""""

Kang Hyun-chul went berserk unable to accept defeat.

He snapped his fingers to create flames all over the arena.

"─Crazy bastard...!!"

Hwang Jin-hee who hurriedly stood up couldn't help but curse.

The protective magic on the arena was currently released as the match had ended.

But with Kang Hyun-chul creating flames, the flames would inevitably spread to the spectator seats.

Whoosh!!

The flames rose high.

Hot heat enveloped people.

Smoke began to fill the air thickly.