I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 251

Chapter 251

Thwack! Thwack! Crunch!

“Th-this, this crazy…!”

Akeroth’s expression hardened.

Normally, when deploying Perfect Shield, even if one couldn’t counterattack, it was possible to steadfastly endure.

That was the characteristic and advantage of the shield magic known as the ‘Flower of the Shield’.

However, against Shinwa, shields were on the verge of being completely shattered if one only tried to endure.

Meanwhile, Shinwa, watching Akeroth’s eyes darting back and forth, sensed that he was timing his evasions.

Generally, mages were wary of close combat, and Akeroth was no exception.

‘If I use Akeroth well, I might be able to get closer to Lecheroth’s weakness later,’ Shinwa thought, looking at Akeroth.

He had a very useful buff called ‘Strategic Camouflage’ [an ability to perfectly mimic someone’s appearance and voice].

A great gift given by a dead VVIP, it was also specialized in disguise.

Shinwa continued to smash the shield, shouting at Akeroth.

“Does Lecheroth cherish you that much? Ricannella will take everything anyway!”

“Ha! Are you saying you’ll kill me and monopolize Lecheroth’s love? Is that what you’re saying!”

“Well, you can ask Ricannella yourself later! Ah, well… if you die here, there’s no way to ask, is there?”

“Y-you damned bastard… I told Lecheroth not to trust that Ricannella guy.”

“Everything is in our hands.”

“Hmph, that’s why you apostles are no good. Do you think Lecheroth didn’t consider even that betrayal?”

“What…?”

As Shinwa feigned embarrassment, Akeroth sneered even while struggling to block the attacks.

“Lecheroth has a way. No matter how much you struggle, you can never defeat Lecheroth.”

“…I see.”

Shinwa nodded.

Although he didn’t say it outright, it seemed that Lecheroth could use the ‘Great Transition’ [a technique to transfer one’s soul into another’s body] as Nicholas had said.

If there was an apostle who betrayed, he could possess that person’s body using the Great Transition.

He was thinking of it as a divine move. And that thought was definitely correct.

‘Of course, if all the apostles who need to undergo the Great Transition die, he will have no choice but to die in his original body.’

Lecheroth wasn’t stupid, so he wouldn’t have told Akeroth all the means and methods.

He didn’t want to drag out the battle any longer.

After gaining a clear advantage, he could torture him until he was on the verge of death to extract the necessary information.

No matter how strong one’s faith and fighting spirit, there was no match for torture that was done just enough to not kill, but was very painful.

And there was no reason to feel guilty about torturing a villain like Akeroth.

Right then.

Whoosh!

Shinwa retracted the sword form, made his right arm into its original fist, and poured mana into it.

Then, the output of mana from his heart soared to its peak, and tremendous power was loaded into his right hand.

‘Explosive Fist Chapter 9, Crushing Fist.’

He had grown so much in the meantime.

It seemed that his body could withstand using the ninth technique, Crushing Fist, out of the ten Explosive Fist techniques.

It was a technique that consumed a huge amount of mana, but now his mana capacity had increased enough to handle it.

‘Mana consumption 101%.’

The characteristic of Crushing Fist was that it consumed 101% of the user’s mana. In other words, a normal Awakener could not use it.

Even at the moment of consuming mana, the recovery amount must be supported to supplement 1% in order to use Crushing Fist.

Shinwa was the only one who could do this at the current time.

The reason why Mook-cheol was able to do it later was because a completely different mechanism was applied to him, a Mugang continent person, than to the Awakeners of Earth.

At least among the Awakeners of Earth, Shinwa was the only one who could follow Crushing Fist.

“Kugh.”

Shinwa bit his lip tightly at the pain felt from his shoulder.

It was a characteristic of Crushing Fist.

This technique, which had the destructive power to break and collapse space.

The characteristic was that the body part became unbearably heavy at the moment of use.

Even with simple sensation alone, it felt like putting a weight close to 200㎏ [440 pounds] on his right arm.

If it were a normal Awakener, he would have immediately dropped his arm, but Shinwa had the strength to withstand it.

And.

“Haaap!”

With a shout, he unleashed Crushing Fist.

Akeroth tilted his head for a brief moment at Shinwa’s decision to choose a fist instead of a sword.

Why bother with a fist that looked hopelessly weaker than the sword strike that had been driving him to the brink of collapse?

No matter how he looked at it, he wondered why he had chosen a fist that seemed far weaker than a sword strike.

‘He must be lacking mana.’

It was a plausible guess.

Well, it didn’t make sense.

A person who destroys shields by simply pressing down with a rough and steadfast sword.

No matter how many absurd things there are in the world, it was still impossible!

“Then…!”

This was a chance to counterattack!

Akeroth thought so.

Now that he had blocked the enemy’s all-out offensive, all that remained was to endure and show his own sword, which had been accumulating power.

The transition from offense to defense.

It was a natural thing in a battlefield full of numerous schemes and defenses, and he thought it was the same now.

So, using the remaining amount of Perfect Shield, he tried to block Shinwa’s attack and now launch a counterattack, but at that moment!

Crack!

“Ah…?”

Akeroth was flustered.

By Shinwa’s fist, or rather, by the wind pressure that occurred even before the fist touched.

The defensive barrier of Perfect Shield was shattered.

Before he could even feel that the numerous barrier fragments falling in the air, sparkling in rainbow colors, were beautiful.

Thwack!

Akeroth felt the feeling of bones and flesh collapsing and terrible pain from Shinwa’s Crushing Fist that struck his abdomen.

It wasn’t just a simple punch.

The shockwave that spread out from the point of impact, the abdomen, shook his entire body destructively.

It would have been much better if something had broken, torn, or exploded.

Because he could clearly know where he was injured and attribute the cause of the pain to that place.

But.

“Cough!”

He coughed once and vomited a greenish-brown liquid.

It was vomit with a strong stench made by mixing blood and bile.

Even he could see, or anyone could see, that Akeroth’s appearance was too intact. It was the same as before.

But the inside was completely festering.

He felt like the deep inside of his bones, the deep inside of his internal organs, was torn to shreds and destroyed.

Only the outside was intact, but the inside had collapsed in just one blow. Completely.

“T-this is ridiculous…”

Akeroth trembled.

Hands, feet, head, waist.

The appearance looked completely normal, but the inside was completely shattered.

Just in case, he carefully took a step forward, but.

Thud!

“Kuaaaack!”

He collapsed immediately without being able to withstand it.

Akeroth then realized.

That his right leg, the bones located inside, were all shattered.

Only the bones covering the outside were intact. The inside had turned to powder.

“This is ridiculous…”

“Do you wonder where the power is? It’s here. Akeroth, look at me.”

“…?”

At Shinwa’s words, Akeroth spat out more blood a couple of times and looked up with difficulty.

The moonlight pouring down from the dungeon’s sky was enveloping Shinwa like a halo.

“The difference between your and my eye level right now is the difference in skill and power.”

Akeroth, who was furious at Shinwa’s provocation, couldn’t stand it and started vomiting.

“Cough! Uwaaaack!”

Painful vomiting continued as if he was cutting and vomiting his internal organs.

But what was even more frightening was that despite that, his consciousness was becoming clearer, not blurred.

“Akeroth, you don’t know, but Crushing Fist is really the most painful attack for the person who is hit. Do you know why?”

“…”

“Because it doesn’t kill you right away and makes you die slowly. But do you live if you get treatment? That’s not it either.”

“Cough! Cough!”

So much blood was flowing from Akeroth’s mouth that he wondered if it was normal for blood to come out when he coughed.

“A true master never lets his guard down even when fighting a child. But you don’t seem to be.”

Shinwa transformed his right arm back into the form of a sword.

From now on, it was time for pain and torture to obtain the necessary information.

It would be a beneficial time for Shinwa, but a time of death for Akeroth.

From the beginning, Akeroth, who didn’t even reach the vicinity of the 9th class, couldn’t be his opponent.

Only Akeroth himself didn’t know.

He saw it as a battle worth trying.

His confidence was based on the fact that he had grown significantly more than in the past!

Unfortunately, Shinwa had achieved growth that far exceeded 4 times, or even 5 times, the growth that Akeroth had experienced.

“First.”

Squeeze.

“Kuaaaack!”

Shinwa pressed down on Akeroth’s left hand, which was lying face down, with his left foot.

And.

Stab!

He stabbed the ‘Keldia Dagger’ taken out of the subspace right into the middle of the back of his hand.

“Ugh!”

“From now on, no matter how much you try to escape, it will be impossible unless your hand is torn by the dagger.”

Shinwa said indifferently.

All these torture techniques were taught by Iosif Karach, a colleague of Nine Lord and a Russian Awakener.

At that time, he wondered when he would ever use the learned techniques, but now he was using them very usefully.

“Tell me everything you know about Lecheroth. Not the publicly known facts, but personal hobbies or habits.”

“Suck my d… Kkeuaaaack!”

Before Akeroth’s words, stained with animosity towards Shinwa, could even finish.

Shinwa stabbed another dagger taken out of the subspace into the middle of Akeroth’s right hand this time.

Then, at the same time, he grabbed both daggers and pulled them forward by just 1cm [0.4 inches], so subtly.

“Kkeueooo! Uooo!”

Akeroth screamed.

It wasn’t just twisting the dagger stabbed in his hand.

After pouring mana into it with all his might for a moment, he heated the sword to burn the inside.

It was extreme torture that would have made him faint long ago if he hadn’t screamed.

“Considering your karma for trampling on innocent people as Lecheroth’s henchman in the Nas continent anyway, this is nothing, right?”

“Keueooo…”

“I’m warning you this much now, but the next one will be more painful. I’ll tell you in advance, I’ll make it painful enough to not die.”

“F…”

“The expression of anger doesn’t help you endure. Well, I’ll allow that much swearing. So, tell me everything you know.”

As Shinwa tried to show the movement of twisting the dagger diagonally again, Akeroth’s face turned pale.

Subtle pain.

It was an unfamiliar experience for Akeroth and a chillingly painful pressure.

“Both hands split in half?”

“P-p-please…!”

“Tell me, everything you know!”

“What, what are you curious about! I can’t tell you unless you tell me! Tell me exactly what to say!”

After all, not many people could overcome fear.

In the end, Akeroth gave up.