I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 269

269. The Dilemma of the Skilled

The saying that battles between masters are a continuous exchange of schemes and mind games was by no means an exaggeration.

This is because one could lose their life with a single mistake or a single wrong judgment.

However, for me, who had experienced so many battles in my past life, this saying did not always apply.

Surprisingly, many ‘masters’ were often defeated by simple and straightforward methods.

The reason was simple.

They kept overthinking simple solutions, always trying to predict their opponent’s schemes one or two steps ahead.

Nicholas called this phenomenon ‘the dilemma of the skilled.’

Because they know too much and have experienced too much, they cannot think simply.

Elijah’s personality and actions, which I had thoroughly investigated in advance, were perfect conditions for falling into the ‘dilemma of the skilled.’

He was overly cautious.

And with overwhelming skill added to his caution, no one had been able to properly confront him until now.

This time was no different.

The moment I tried to counter the ‘Flame Spear’ that Elijah launched with my ‘Liquefaction Talent’ for the first time, Elijah smiled.

He had planned it from the beginning.

His thinking was that if he launched a tricky yet fast Flame Spear, I would try to avoid it simply by liquefying.

It was a clever scheme.

If I hadn’t been thinking, everything would have played out as he intended, as if everything was in Elijah’s palm.

But I introduced a complete variation.

I played a card that Elijah could not have predicted at all, even if he had foreseen one or two moves ahead.

[Immortal Spirit – Strong Endurance]

[Activated by your will, you gain invincibility for 5 seconds.

You become completely immune to all damage and harm, and you become steadfast against any interference.

Cooldown: 7 days]

It was the Immortal Spirit buff I obtained after killing Jucheonho [a mythical beast].

It was a buff with a long cooldown, but it was also one that certainly paid off.

I hadn’t had a proper opportunity to utilize it until now, but finally, a worthwhile opportunity came.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

The Flame Spear pierced through.

The Immortal Spirit buff activated ‘after’ the Flame Spear pierced my liquefied body.

In other words, I set the stage to make it appear to Elijah that the attack was successful.

And.

“Kahaha! You moronic fool!”

Along with Elijah’s triumphant voice, I saw him gathering his hands together and chanting a spell.

It was Ignition.

He was trying to create a large-scale fire using the Flame Spear stuck in my abdomen as a raw material.

‘The Trap of Conviction.’

I recalled one of the many strategies that Nicholas had repeatedly told me.

It is the trap that occurs when you believe that you are perfect and that your strategies and tactics are impeccable.

Because they do not anticipate the possibility of failure at all, they cannot prepare for anything.

Preparing consumes mental and physical strength, and it is also very annoying.

The more cautious a person is, the more severe it is, because they blindly believe in the conviction they have reached after much deliberation.

And right now.

Elijah fell into the trap of conviction.

Whirr!

The moment the fire caused by the ignition engulfed my entire body, Elijah smiled.

He clenched his fists with both hands and watched my appearance as if he were watching an interesting spectacle.

If I hadn’t been prepared at all, I would have been screaming and melting away at this moment.

Like the countless victims who had lost their lives in front of Elijah before.

However, the Immortal Spirit allowed me to transcend everything for the 5 seconds that the buff allowed.

And…….

Flash!

Using the Blink Ring, I instantly appeared right in front of Elijah.

Because the carefully maintained interference of magic power had momentarily faltered.

Shall we call it the confusion of the victor?

Elijah was also human after all.

The conviction of victory eventually created a small gap, and I never missed it.

“Ah……?”

“Grand opening, Fist Power 10th form.”

In that short moment when Elijah, flustered by the unexpected approach, hesitated and failed to respond properly,

Wooooong!

I unleashed the Fist Power 10th form, the Unintentional Fist, which I had never used before.

Unintentional Fist.

It is the culmination of Fist Power that Mookcheol emphasized should not contain any mysteries, meanings, or thoughts.

It is the final chapter of Fist Power, consisting of a total of 10 forms, but ironically, it was the simplest martial art.

What was needed to unleash the Unintentional Fist was not a sharp scheme, complex thoughts, or meticulous situation design.

It was simply to concentrate all your mind on the fist itself.

The moment you unleash the Unintentional Fist, you become one with the fist itself.

It is easy to say but really difficult to think and act… so it is also called the final chapter containing all the essence of Fist Power.

I don’t know how many years I suffered to receive the final chapter, the Unintentional Fist, from Mookcheol.

It took about 3 years to learn up to the 9th form, but it took a whopping 9 years to receive just one 10th form.

To that extent, the ultimate mysteries of martial arts were profound, and it required a lot of time for me, who was a hard worker.

The next moment!

Boom!

As if a balloon exploded, the sound of space exploding was heard, and Elijah’s body flew in a parabola.

The sight of Elijah flying with his whole body drooping at that moment was the weakest appearance I had ever seen.

Thud!

In the meantime, thinking it was a scheme of his own, he caused an ignition between my head and crotch.

It was a useful scheme that would have blown my head off and made me a so-called ‘eunuch’ if I didn’t have the Immortal Spirit.

[Immortal Spirit – Strong Endurance]

[Remaining duration: 2.69 seconds]

There was still plenty of time to utilize the Immortal Spirit.

In the world of top-level awakeners who split even a short time of 1 second and use it, it is a longer time than you think.

‘Magic power consumption is extreme.’

The power of the Unintentional Fist was enormous, but the consumption of magic power was also enormous.

In the first place, the Unintentional Fist was not a martial art that had a fixed magic power consumption.

Even with the same Unintentional Fist, there were cases where the amount of magic power used differed by more than 5 times, and the same was true for power.

And the Unintentional Fist just now used all of the magic power I had and all of the magic power that was recovered through my heart.

In terms of ratio, it was like using 200% of the total amount.

[Magic Power Overcharge]

[If you have a special means of storing magic power in your body, it triples the efficiency of that means.]

Of course, there was a backer I believed in.

The Magic Power Overcharge buff I got from Vargas. Thanks to this guy, I can utilize 400% of the total amount.

In addition, 100% of magic power is additionally stored in Wilson, so the ‘auxiliary battery’ is still solid.

Flash!

‘I won’t be fooled twice by a pattern I’ve been fooled by once.’

I quickly followed Elijah, who seemed to have lost consciousness for a while and was not even moving, raising the Transcendental Acceleration to the maximum.

He seemed to have momentarily lost consciousness at the same time as throwing a scheme at me with all his might.

Black Out.

If you miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it will never come again. I can assure you.

Swoosh!

I immediately attached the Paralysis Necklace to Elijah.

This is to prevent him from responding immediately even if he wakes up.

“Ugh…….”

As expected of an EX-rank awakener, the blackout time was not long, but unfortunately, the timing was bad.

“Ugh.”

I felt Elijah’s body stiffen with a short groan.

And.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Elijah’s body, which fell to the ground, created deep and thick lines along the sand of the desert.

I was straddling his stomach.

At first glance, it was a posture that was easy to misunderstand, but this is a place where no one’s eyes are.

Pow! Pow! Pow pow pow pow!

I struck down with my fists as if the players in a martial arts match were mercilessly pounding their fists on their downed opponent.

Each time, Elijah’s face was crushed, his body heaved, and thick saliva and blood burst out.

It was close to a mechanical crushing act with no emotion at all.

In my head, there was only the thought of how to ‘dismantle’ the enormous monster called Elijah.

But that was only for a moment.

Whoong! Thoong!

A reverse field that covered Elijah’s face was created, whether he had been training to respond unconsciously.

He doesn’t protect his face with a suit like me, but he creates a field by condensing magic power.

This was a high-level technique that only specially trained awakeners could do, creating a field with the power to push away, that is, repulsive force, to deflect attacks.

At that moment.

Flash!

Elijah opened his eyes.

At the same time, he bit his blood-dripping lips tightly and gave me a cold look.

“Tch.”

With a regretful exclamation, I jumped backward and temporarily moved away from Elijah.

I made Elijah pay enough for using the Immortal Spirit.

Elijah’s face was battered, and all of his left fingers, which the suit had not been able to protect, were broken.

Fingers are a key means of helping to control subtle ignition, so the accuracy of future attacks will be greatly reduced.

“……I was miserably defeated. Cough.”

Seeing Elijah trembling and coughing, I felt a strange sense of pleasure.

Is it because I gave a blow to the guy who was arrogant and arrogant with his nose held high?

I also felt a sense of incongruity that I had not seen before in Elijah’s shaking eyes and fearful appearance.

“Just as your current skills were not created out of nowhere, the same is true for me now.”

“It’s not over yet, Kang Shin-hwa.”

“Okay. You have to show all the tricks you can show so you won’t regret dying, right?”

I deliberately provoked Elijah.

Now that he is emotionally shaken, it is good to make Elijah reveal an important card.

Because the cards that are usually thrown emotionally mostly have bad results.

“I didn’t want to use this ability…….”

Where have I heard that villain’s regular line before?

As I tilted my head, Elijah stroked his left chest and initiated a fierce transformation.

That was.

Whirr!

Elijah transformed into the Fire Demon itself.

Elijah, who had been in the form of an ordinary person until just now, suddenly turned into a huge flame.

The flame itself was in the shape of Elijah, but everything was burning.

As if fire and body had become one, there was no clear distinction or clear outline in all parts of the body.

I thought the time had come.

To think he would turn into fire itself.

Then, from now on, I have no choice but to maximize the use of the attributes I obtained from the flower of attributes.

“I’ll put you to sleep forever, Kang Shin-hwa.”

Elijah warned me in a cold voice.

I also changed my body into a form suitable for combat.

It was a change in the attributes of the body that I had tested once after killing Vargas before.

“The Praise of Fire and Ice.”

The next moment!

Red flames rose from my left hand.

And blue freezing cold began to rise from my right hand.

It was the moment when all the preparations I had been preparing for this moment were completed.