I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 189

189

‘Keldia Arrow.’

It was an arrow made of Keldia, a mineral that doesn’t exist on Earth.

It’s the same type as the Keldia dagger I obtained when I rescued Han Seung-taek, the head of the KSA [Korean Special Ability Association]’s Daejeon branch, in the Black Zone of North Daejeon.

The characteristic of Keldia is that it is much stronger than steel.

In other words, a sword made of steel could be easily cut with a Keldia sword.

The same goes for Keldia arrows.

If Ju Cheon-ho uses this, I can no longer utilize my Steel Enhancement Talent because I will be penetrated.

He must have acquired the arrow somewhere in the dungeon… but I couldn’t figure out the source.

Moreover, the Keldia arrow, which had been artifacted, had one more advantage.

Each arrow had a dimension stone embedded in it, and the user could immediately retrieve the arrows using synchronized magic power.

It’s a similar structure to the way I hit an enemy with Wilson and then retrieved it by flicking my fingers.

‘He’s going all out.’

This time, Ju Cheon-ho, conversely, secured a means to tie up one of my talents.

Isn’t this the fun of battle?

A game of wits where we aim for each other, creating methods to erase or force choices.

Clatter, Ping!

Ju Cheon-ho’s attack began as he placed the Keldia arrow on the bowstring.

Now, I can’t use Steel Enhancement.

But if I use the Liquification Talent, the arrow would probably get stuck in a vague state.

If I restore my body to its original state with the arrow stuck in it, it will remain as a wound and injury.

Ju Cheon-ho probably anticipated this situation and took out the Keldia arrow.

‘I have no choice.’

The more distance I keep from Ju Cheon-ho, the more disadvantageous it is for me.

I’ve already used quite a few ranged attack methods such as Wilson, Magic Power Emission, and Advancement Fist in the previous battle.

However, Ju Cheon-ho, who is agile and quick, has never been hit by a ranged attack even once.

From the start, Ju Cheon-ho’s main weapon is keeping distance from his opponent, so there were no gaps.

So, I decided.

As always in every battle, let’s go my way.

What my way is, is not fighting while calculating everything from A to Z in a headache-inducing manner.

Equivalent exchange, or calculating that I’ve been hit this much, so I have to return that much, just gives me a headache.

‘What’s the big deal if it hurts? It’s not like I’ll die from it, right?’

I braced myself with a consolation that anyone who heard it would call me crazy.

I won’t be able to perfectly avoid the arrow attack of a guy called a divine archer.

Especially if it’s a Keldia arrow. There’s no way for me to hurt the opponent without getting hurt.

‘After this battle, my whole body will ache in some form.’

With a bitter smile, my battle with Ju Cheon-ho resumed.

* * *

It was a chaotic melee.

The defense facilities that Ju Cheon-ho believed in were no threat to me throughout the battle.

In the end, the key was whether Ju Cheon-ho’s arrow would pierce me or my fist would smash Ju Cheon-ho.

I wanted a war of attrition where we exchanged blows and bled together.

That’s because I had confidence in close combat, regardless of the fact that Ju Cheon-ho had taken the Black Serpent Elixir.

Ju Cheon-ho not bleeding meant that my attacks weren’t working.

Of course, that wasn’t the picture I wanted.

‘This is probably the first time I’ve experienced an Awakened who sticks to me so tenaciously.’

As I repeatedly fought with Ju Cheon-ho, I felt that he had lived like a flower in a greenhouse more than I thought.

It was clear that he was a top-tier Awakened with enough distance to unleash destructive attacks.

The two Keldia arrows stuck in my thigh and the one that tore my side were proof of that.

If I kept a little more distance than I calculated.

Dozens of arrows mixed with ordinary arrows would fly in and confuse my vision, inflicting effective hits on me.

However, when I caught my breath and approached him firmly, he struggled more than I thought.

It was as if he lacked a response manual or calculation for enemies who approached in close combat.

So, I relentlessly aimed for it.

The ‘kill point’ that determines the victory or defeat of a battle depends on how much you exploit the enemy’s weaknesses.

There was no need to perform stylishly or show off flashy but empty tricks.

You have to target the opponent’s weaknesses to the point where you are criticized for being cowardly, vicious, or petty.

And I was putting what I thought into practice against Ju Cheon-ho.

Thwack! Thwack!

“Ugh!”

You can’t inflict wounds on the opponent without getting hurt yourself.

The two Keldia arrows that flew from the front pierced my left forearm.

It was more painful than ordinary arrows.

It seemed to be because of the ‘poison’ that Ju Cheon-ho had applied to the arrows in advance.

If I received something, of course, I had to return more than that.

“Got you!”

I had aimed for it dozens of times, but I finally grabbed Ju Cheon-ho’s nape, which he had dodged nimbly.

“Cough!”

I heard Ju Cheon-ho’s deflated scream as he was caught off guard when I grabbed his nape while trying to draw the bow.

And.

‘Unless I get seriously injured here, I’ll beat Ju Cheon-ho half to death no matter what!’

I also made a gamble.

After grabbing the torn collar of Ju Cheon-ho’s suit with both hands.

I slammed him into the ground as if I were doing laundry on a sunny day.

It was quite an unsightly sight to see as a great battle between skilled Awakened, but.

I didn’t care.

What’s important is whether you can subdue the enemy or not, not the means, methods, or face.

Thwack! Thwack!

Flap! Flap!

I shook Ju Cheon-ho from side to side with all my might and slammed him into the ground.

No matter how high your combat ability and rank are, the fact remains that Awakened are also ‘human’.

So, this kind of physical attack that can inflict great damage on the body itself was fatal.

Whether you are S-rank or EX-rank, it is a pain that you have no choice but to endure with flesh and bones, not talent.

“Ugh! Woeugh!”

Ju Cheon-ho repeatedly groaned as if it were coming from deep inside his body.

It was a desperate groan that could never be made unless the inside of the body was completely twisted.

Thwack!

“Ugh!”

Even in the midst of that, Ju Cheon-ho barely managed to hit my shoulder with an arrow, holding on to his mental strength.

But fortunately, it didn’t affect my muscles or bones.

“Is that all you got, Ju Cheon-ho!”

I slammed Ju Cheon-ho down with all my might.

Thud. Thud. Thud!

The arrows poured out from his frantically shaking body.

There was no way that the quiver he was carrying on his back would be intact while he was doing aerial acrobatics.

Swoosh! Thud!

Ju Cheon-ho took out a dagger he was carrying for emergencies and stabbed me with all his might.

But this also failed to be an effective attack, only piercing the flesh below my collarbone.

Ju Cheon-ho may be good at handling arrows, but he was clumsy at using daggers.

If it had been another Awakened whose main weapon was a dagger, it could have been a threatening attack.

“Aim for it! Aim sharply for my heart!”

“….”

I shouted provocative comments at Ju Cheon-ho with all my might, but there was no particular reaction from him.

I didn’t stop and kept hitting Ju Cheon-ho.

Each time, the wounded areas were torn and opened, pouring out blood non-stop.

But it was still bearable.

I knew my condition best.

At this rate, even if the bleeding continued for another 5 minutes, there wouldn’t be a big problem.

Of course, if it continued after that, I could fall into a temporary shock state due to excessive bleeding.

This is the strength of a Regressor.

Due to the experiences of my past life, I can clearly foresee the variables that may occur to me in this life.

Also, even if I face such variables, I can remain completely calm!

It was my own privilege that others could not have, and it was also a variable that Ju Cheon-ho could not recognize.

“Cough… Cough.”

“Haa, haa.”

As much as Ju Cheon-ho, who was groaning as if he were dying, I was also panting heavily.

It was because I aimed to kill Ju Cheon-ho for sure, not just subdue him.

Every time I slammed him down, I used all the muscles from head to toe as much as possible.

“Sh, shiX……. St, stop, stop it……. Cough.”

Ju Cheon-ho slurred out curses and groans alternately, waving his hands in the air.

Judging from the dark red blood splattered everywhere, it seemed that the blood he spat out splattered every time I slammed him down.

“Haa. Haa. Ugh. Damn it, it hurts like hell…….”

Only then did I confirm the exhaustion of my stamina, which had reached its limit.

Wham!

I stopped attacking after slamming Ju Cheon-ho’s body into the concrete ground with all my might for the last time.

“Heh, am I a hedgehog……?”

And looking at Ju Cheon-ho’s arrows stuck sharply all over my body, I burst into a hollow laugh.

I thought I hadn’t been hit many times.

Even if I estimated it roughly, the number of arrows seemed to be at least eleven.

Fortunately, there were no fatal injuries because Ju Cheon-ho didn’t aim properly and fire.

Considering his usual skills, it was a result that had crumpled his image for a long time.

“Keuheo…….”

Ju Cheon-ho, who was stretched out on the floor like dried filefish, made a lot of deflated noises.

“Ugh.”

Only then did the pain and aches that I had been putting off with mental strength rush in all at once, and one of my knees bent on its own.

“I’ve been defeated in the most unsightly way in the world……. Keuhehe.”

Ju Cheon-ho spat out a thick lump of blood while lying down, and burst into a hollow laugh filled with frustration.

He must have been expecting a battle of strength against strength.

A great battle that anyone would have liked.

I’m sorry, but such a great battle is just an imaginary battle that exists only in movies or novels.

This is reality.

In order to win, you don’t care about the means or methods, and you face the end in the most embarrassing way.

The world of ruthless Awakened is a place with no romance at all.

“Rank is just a meaningless alphabet to you.”

“Everyone tells me that. I think so too.”

“What kind of enemy was I to you?”

“What do you mean what kind of enemy? Of course, you were just a guy to kill.”

“Just that?”

“Yeah. Ju Cheon-ho, you are just a stepping stone to me.”

“Ha, that’s a pity…….”

Ju Cheon-ho, who is unnecessarily romantic, must have wanted the battle to be one where I felt a warm connection with him.

It wasn’t.

Ju Cheon-ho was just a combat power measuring device to me.

In addition, he was a ‘means’ to remove and get a high reward.

“Any last words before you die?”

“No matter what you dream of in the future…… be sure to keep in mind. If you don’t become a monster yourself…… you can’t beat more vicious monsters.”

“Yeah, I’ll keep that in mind. In that sense, I think you were a pure monster.”

“I’ll gratefully…… listen.”

“Farewell. I’ll make good use of all the legacy you leave me, including your buff.”

“……I never thought I’d use the Immortal Will in the most embarrassing situation in the world……. Keuhehe.”

I nodded as I listened to Ju Cheon-ho’s self-deprecating laughter.

Even though it was a buff that could have clearly reversed the situation, I didn’t even give him a chance to do so.

It’s all in the past.

The winner is me.

The loser is Ju Cheon-ho.

And all the glory and spoils belong solely to me, the winner.

The dead have no words.

That’s all.