I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 270

270.

Some time later.

‘I can’t believe it. Where did he get the talent to manipulate attributes so freely? Did he eat some kind of attribute-enhancing flower? Is there even such a thing?’

Elijah felt a growing sense of dread toward Shin-hwa as the battle intensified.

It was all because of Shin-hwa’s mastery over attributes.

Especially the alternating attacks, a fire fist on his left and an ice fist on his right, were proving incredibly dangerous.

In truth, the fire fist wasn’t much of a threat, except for its raw destructive power.

To Elijah, an incarnation of fire, the flames were more like nourishment, increasing his size and strength.

Shin-hwa, unaware of this, diligently kept spewing flames, inadvertently feeding him.

The real problem was the ice fist.

The ice fist, creating sharp gusts of wind as it flew, felt like a fierce, frigid strike.

It was so intensely cold that the flames surrounding Elijah visibly subsided whenever Shin-hwa’s fist approached.

Because of this, Elijah’s main body, usually hidden by the flames, was exposed several times and ‘steamed’ by the ice fist.

His injured hand made delicate control difficult, preventing him from completely blocking Shin-hwa’s attacks.

“Tch, freezing works to some extent, but he just devours all the flames. Elijah, isn’t this a bit unfair?”

Shin-hwa complained.

Then, he idly tapped the fire fist on his left hand with his right, a clear sign of dissatisfaction.

“Damn it, I’m completely caught in a trap. What did I do wrong in my past life to deserve this?”

“To be precise, it’s your future self who will do wrong. But I don’t want to explain it in detail. It’s meaningless anyway.”

“Are you saying I should be judged for something I haven’t even done yet?”

“Elijah, you’ve got the order of thinking backward. It means I’m going to stop you before you can do such a thing.”

“How can you be so sure of a future that hasn’t happened yet?”

“If I do nothing and time passes, you ‘will’ do it. Do you need another reason?”

“That’s sophistry.”

“Sorry, but I don’t think I should hear that from you.”

Shin-hwa took a deep breath.

Explosively utilizing the power of attributes put a tremendous strain on the body.

It wasn’t a matter of having magic or not, but whether the body could physically withstand this enormous power.

Perhaps if another EX-rank Awakener had consumed the flower of attributes, they wouldn’t have been able to use even 10% of the ability properly.

Every time he used the power of attributes, he felt immense pressure from head to toe.

Not only was there physical overload, but it also made him mentally exhausted.

It felt like every single cell was becoming hypersensitive due to the constant cycle of tension and relaxation. It was quite painful.

He could say with confidence.

It was because it was him, because it was Kang Shin-hwa, that he could digest this power 100%.

‘He’s definitely gotten slower. He doesn’t seem to notice the bait I’ve laid for Elijah.’

Shin-hwa’s preparations were steadily progressing.

Elijah believed Shin-hwa was fighting a reckless, headstrong battle.

In fact, it was understandable, as Shin-hwa’s combat style had always been like that.

From the beginning, there was never an ‘opponent’ who survived long enough to analyze the strategies and tactics hidden within the details of the battle.

Because they all died.

So, there was no one to look back at the results later and testify, ‘In fact, it was all Shin-hwa’s plan.’

Therefore, observers could only see fragmented pieces of the battle.

And Elijah, seeing Shin-hwa rushing in headlong without considering the consequences, was convinced that he was burning with some sense of duty or justice, recklessly fighting without regard for his own safety.

Of course, it was a complete miscalculation.

If it were Kang Shin-hwa from his past life, he would have moved only his body, completely excluding thought.

Complex strategies, tactics, and arrangements were entirely Nicholas Hagen’s responsibility. It was a perfect division of labor.

But not now.

The memories of his past life, where he saw, heard, and learned from the best strategist, became the foundation of his current life.

The current Kang Shin-hwa was close to a strategist-type warrior, partially merged with Nicholas from his past life.

Shin-hwa evaluated himself that way.

‘As much as I lay the groundwork, he continues to cleverly pretend to be at a disadvantage while hiding his true capabilities.’

He had seen through it from the beginning.

That Elijah had scattered very fine embers around while appearing to be struggling throughout the battle.

How fine were they? He had scattered embers that were smaller than tiny specks.

Because there were so many huge flames around that grabbed attention, it was nearly impossible to notice the tiny embers.

Perhaps anyone other than Elijah would think the same.

‘My eyes are special.’

The problem was Shin-hwa’s unique abilities.

His enhanced eyes, maximized senses, and a brain that could perfectly capture and analyze the surrounding flow.

To Shin-hwa, who had already far surpassed the limits of humans long ago, this was no longer a variable.

It was a constant that had already been calculated.

However, he only pretended to be ‘ignorant,’ and that strategy was working well.

‘Because he has so many artifacts, I can’t predict the full extent of his magic. An excessively long battle is not good for me either.’

Shin-hwa thought coldly.

It was true that he was fighting in a space isolated from the eyes of others with the Necklace of Darkness [an artifact that creates a pocket dimension].

But even at this moment, time was flowing, and perhaps group Awakeners from the Elijah Building were rushing to support him.

In that situation, what if Elijah used the necklace again to return to his original position?

Then he might be in great danger, or give Elijah a chance to escape.

If that happened, things would become much more complicated for Shin-hwa.

If a cautious guy like Elijah went into hiding, it would be difficult to find him again.

Then the result that Nicholas was trying to create at the risk of his life would fall apart.

“Hoo.”

He took what seemed like the first and last deep breath. It was a very short breath, but it contained a lot of meaning.

[Resolution – Transcendental Patience]

[Rapid Regeneration]

Shin-hwa had two more tricks up his sleeve.

Aside from the instant-death strike or the power of the beginning buff, he had two more things he was counting on.

‘Resolution – Transcendental Patience’ provides a full-body invincibility field for 5 seconds if health is below 3% but not dead.

It was a one-time buff, but it was also a valuable reward that the entire Team Mystic had obtained.

It was also a buff that Shin-hwa, who had been carefully managing his health, had no particular use for… until now.

Also, Rapid Regeneration was the mechanism of body regeneration obtained by defeating Limitless [a powerful monster].

Especially in the case of the first regeneration, it restores the body to its original, flawless state, that is, 100% perfectly.

Unless he loses the same body part again, it’s okay to have his body blown away once.

In other words, it was possible to perfectly regenerate any body part as long as he didn’t suffer damage that would lead to instant death.

‘An exchange of trump cards.’

This was the outcome Shin-hwa desired.

To deliver counter punches that he believed were critical hits to each other.

To see a definite win or loss. It was similar to an all-in gamble in a gambling den.

‘The calculation is complete. Elijah… prepare a final blow that won’t disappoint me.’

In Shin-hwa’s eyes, staring silently at Elijah, a confidence that was impossible to understand bloomed.

However, Elijah, unable to grasp the meaning of his eyes, wondered about the reason for Shin-hwa’s confidence.

But that was only for a moment.

“Haaap!”

Shin-hwa shouted and rushed towards Elijah again.

This rush contained a lot of meaning, and the key was that there was no more ‘next’.

It was Shin-hwa’s determined will to force a victory or defeat in this current battle.

Whirr! Whirr!

Clatter! Clatter!

“Tch.”

As expected, Elijah responded with ignition, but Shin-hwa easily blocked the attack using ice activation.

‘Keuk.’

Although he didn’t show it at all on the outside, Shin-hwa was suppressing the blood rising from his internal organs.

He was definitely being overloaded.

Because the saying that there is no ‘invincible’ in the world applied to himself as well as others.

In this form, if he used full-body freezing a couple more times, he would cough up a lump of blood.

That meant he couldn’t avoid internal injuries.

‘I’ll show you my hand. Show me yours too.’

Shin-hwa exploded with red eyes stained with murderous intent and stretched out his fist towards Elijah.

At the same time, he grabbed Wilson, whom he had taken out of subspace [a personal storage dimension]. What Shin-hwa was aiming for was a completely different combination than before.

Until now, Shin-hwa had been using penetrating attacks such as explosive punches, sword strikes, or hand-to-hand combat.

However, like Shin-hwa’s liquefaction talent, Elijah’s flame talent was very effective in defending against these attacks.

In other words, even if he used 100 firepower, only 30 was properly effective. The efficiency was poor.

So, he changed his thinking.

He focused on the ‘disadvantage’ of liquefaction talent: its vulnerability to explosive attacks.

The worst case is when the enemy’s attack only partially penetrates and explodes in that state.

To put it simply, it’s like an arrow that pierces the flesh and then bursts into dozens or hundreds of pieces in that state.

In this case, the liquefaction mechanism cannot respond to all the explosions, resulting in serious injuries.

However, until now, not a single Awakener knew or even suspected this workaround because Shin-hwa’s liquefaction talent was so rare.

Anyway, if this principle is applied to Elijah, his weakness would be the same.

Because the process of realizing and operating liquefaction or flaming is virtually the same in the end.

Kugwaga! Kugwaga!

A violently penetrating explosive punch.

And even Wilson, who cleverly penetrated behind the explosive punch.

Shin-hwa’s scheme was thoroughly designed, and the smart Elijah also read the flow.

‘He’s looking down on me too much?’

Elijah smiled.

It was a good attempt, but that was all it was.

He had been considering the possibility of using Wilson for a long time.

Now that he had found a good counter punch called ice attack, there was no way he wouldn’t try this combination.

‘So, the winner is me.’

Elijah was confident of victory.

No matter how he looked at it, this seemed to be a one-hit kill move that Shin-hwa had been racking his brains to create.

He must have intended to create cracks in the flaming by mixing penetrating and explosive attacks, and then finish off the weakened Elijah himself.

Well done.

He thought it was a very good attempt.

‘Everyone has a plausible plan until they get hit hard.’

Whirr.

Elijah moved both hands.

Great Ignition.

It was the seed of counterattack that had been scattered around in molecular and atomic units throughout the battle.

Even Shin-hwa wouldn’t be able to collect his bones after this attack that causes a huge explosion of flames.

Because it is an attack that does not leave even a trace of proper bone fragments of an SSS-rank monster.

‘My victory.’

Elijah smiled with satisfaction.

And.

Clack!

He snapped his fingers.

It was a signal to confirm victory.