I’M A Max-Level Regressor [EN]: Chapter 271

271

Papat! Pat!

“Kahaha!”

The conviction became reality.

Elijah burst into wild laughter as he watched ‘it’ flying towards him amidst the massive flames before his eyes.

Scattered body parts, clearly the arms and legs of a Myth [an exceptionally powerful Awakened One], were flying about.

The explosion caused by the flames seemed to have neatly severed the Myth’s limbs.

“Haha! Wahaha! How about that, Kang Shin-hwa? No matter how hard you struggle, you’re still in the palm of my hand!”

It was a joyous occasion that made Elijah, who rarely showed his true feelings, laugh heartily.

No matter how skilled an Awakened One might be, they couldn’t possibly be unscathed after losing their most important limbs.

“Kuk, hehe. Hehehe.”

Of course, the victory wasn’t won without shedding blood.

The trick Shin-hwa had just used had worked quite well on Elijah.

Wilson, filled with intense cold, had burrowed into Elijah’s body and exploded from the core.

However, it wasn’t a blow significant enough to threaten his life. To put it into perspective, it was just shy of a serious injury.

It was a more than reasonable price to pay for taking Shin-hwa’s life.

“You need to know your place, you son of a bitch.”

Elijah frankly spat out his emotions as he walked towards the smoke created by the flames.

He needed to see Shin-hwa’s severed head or some sign of his death to truly mark the end of the battle.

But right then.

“……!”

Elijah was aghast at the sight he could not possibly believe, even though he saw it clearly with his own eyes.

He had witnessed Shin-hwa emerging from the black smoke.

And that wasn’t all.

Shin-hwa’s limbs, which were clearly twitching behind him after being separated, were now perfectly reattached to his body.

To top it off, Shin-hwa was surrounded by a golden barrier that completely enveloped his body.

“What is this……”

This time, even Elijah, who had experienced all sorts of hardships, had not anticipated this outcome at all.

Time to prepare? Of course, there was none.

By the time the thought of doing something had even crossed his mind, Shin-hwa was already right in front of him.

‘I’m screwed.’

This phrase perfectly described the current situation and the fate that awaited him.

“Hap!”

Thwack!

“Kuaaaak!”

Shin-hwa’s fist, imbued with immense power and cold energy, struck Elijah’s right cheek directly.

Having given up his right cheek without being able to do anything, Elijah’s neck made a cracking sound as he spun in the opposite direction.

“Keuk, keheok, keuheok.”

A wind-escaping scream leaked out.

His neck bones seemed to have cracked as they twisted, and strength drained from his entire body along with a stinging sensation.

Unbelievable brute force!

Even though he was wearing top-tier suits, not just one but two, Shin-hwa had instantly reduced the durability of the upper part of the suit to zero.

The nightmare was just beginning.

Shin-hwa, having retrieved Wilson, once again infused it with cold energy.

Then, he launched Wilson at the staggering Elijah again.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

A storm of cold erupted, and countless shards of ice mercilessly tore at Elijah’s body.

Elijah’s body, which was so resistant to fire, crumbled helplessly before the ice.

If it were the usual Elijah, he would have created a large fire to at least achieve an equal exchange and reduce the damage.

But now, he couldn’t even properly gather his senses from the blow he had received from Shin-hwa.

“Keureuk, keureureureuk.”

His eyes, with more white than black, were proof of that.

Shin-hwa’s blow, which had perfectly struck the unguarded Elijah, created a fatal opening.

“It’s not over yet.”

Shin-hwa didn’t get complacent in advance and silently unfolded the traps he had prepared one by one.

The next trap was the final one that Elijah would never have expected.

Swish.

Shin-hwa created a large flame through his left hand.

It wasn’t as flamboyant as Elijah’s flames, but it was a flame that was more than sufficient to symbolize the attribute.

“Elijah.”

“……Keureureuk.”

Even as he listened to Shin-hwa’s voice, Elijah could only stagger and couldn’t speak properly.

Even in the midst of all that, he barely managed to focus his mind and create flames in several places.

“Dull. It’s dull.”

The flames, created blindly, were so crude and terrible that Shin-hwa couldn’t even bother to take the hit.

The reason why battles between masters are simpler than one might think is precisely because of this.

When they exchange tricks, it ends up being a game of rock-paper-scissors where there are no draws.

Elijah had clearly seen through Shin-hwa’s trick. Or, at least, he thought he had.

But that was just the hand that Shin-hwa had intentionally shown, and the real trick was this.

He had maximized the strengthening of his body while defending against the Great Fire attack, but he had deliberately loosened the defense of his limbs.

Just before being caught in the explosion, he had intentionally weakened the suit in those areas.

As a result, his arms and legs were neatly caught in the flames, severed, and sent flying forward.

From the person’s perspective, it was not only a moment of tremendous pain.

It was a truly grotesque sight, too terrible to even look at with one’s own eyes.

But Shin-hwa willingly sacrificed his body for the sake of the trick. Strategy and tactics are originally like that.

And Elijah Lowe fell for that trick beautifully.

He thought he was naturally a step above Shin-hwa, and he believed that he would never lose in a battle of wits!

That conviction and belief became a checkmate, resulting in a miserable outcome.

“Elijah, the fire energy of mine that you absorbed, I’m sorry, but it didn’t become yours. It’s just temporarily mixed in.”

“Keueue…….”

Elijah, who was just now regaining his senses, tried to move his body with all his might.

“You diligently ate the fire energy I gave you, didn’t you? I’m sorry to say this, but I can also use fire. Hey, you too? Yeah, me too!”

Swish!

This time, Shin-hwa flicked his fingers.

Then, the embers that had been mixed in with Elijah’s flames instantly began to blaze.

“Kuaaaaa!”

A scream erupted.

He had clearly thought it was the same ‘fire,’ but flames of a completely different nature were burning Elijah.

He was an incarnate of fire who could never be burned to death.

‘It definitely should be…….’

Contrary to his thoughts, Elijah’s body was rapidly being consumed by the flames and began to melt.

Perhaps because he had become an incarnate of fire while only maintaining a crude body.

His flesh and body burned even better than if oil had been poured on them.

“The flames that have passed through my body have a completely different nature. It may have looked like the same fire to you, but it’s actually a bomb.”

“…….”

Elijah realized that this entire sequence of events had taken place on a giant chessboard created by Shin-hwa.

For the final blow, Shin-hwa had saved the most important trick, and Elijah had missed it.

‘To think he even had the ability to completely regenerate his lost body……. This is too unfair.’

It was a meaningless lament.

Awakened Ones should naturally consider all possible scenarios.

The arrogance of thinking he knew too much had finally caught him by the ankle.

“Elijah, you’re finished.”

“Am I… dying like this?”

Thud. Thud. Thud.

Elijah’s body continued to flow down like ice cream, in a state where it was impossible to tell whether it was flames or flesh.

It was the lonely end of someone who thought of himself as an incarnate of fire and wanted to believe it.

The flames, no longer having the power to maintain their momentum, quickly began to subside.

Soon, they exposed Elijah’s naked body, leaving only a skeletal figure.

The body, turned to black ash.

The numerous artifacts and the Necklace of Black Darkness, shining brightly, contrasted with the black body, creating an even more eerie scene.

“Now, I hunt Leccero.”

Without giving him time to leave a will or a desperate final cry.

Slash!

“Keueok…….”

Shin-hwa, who had transformed his right arm into the form of a sword, cleanly severed Elijah’s neck.

Thud. Thud. Thud.

That was the end.

Shriiiing!

Shin-hwa then grabbed the Necklace of Black Darkness that had soared high into the sky from Elijah’s neck.

The preparations to catch the real Leccero were now complete. He had obtained an important means of distinguishing between the real and the fake.

Shaaaaa.

The buffs obtained from the dead Elijah seeped into Shin-hwa one after another.

And Shin-hwa quickly extinguished the flames still burning Elijah’s body with cold energy.

There was nothing to gain from Elijah himself, but all the artifacts he wore were useful.

The first thing he checked was, of course, the buff.

The red light that had started from Elijah’s cleanly severed neck had instantly enveloped him.

He was very curious about what kind of buff it was.

[Incarnate of Fire – Manifestation of Hellfire]

[You can now freely utilize flames.

Ignition using embers, turning the whole body into flames, creating rings of fire connecting embers.

……(omitted) You can utilize the above various fire talents.]

“Ah, Elijah’s fire talent wasn’t a talent as an Awakened One, but a buff?”

He realized why Elijah had been able to grow and become stronger faster than he had thought.

It was a buff.

Buffs are much more effective and have a much higher degree of freedom compared to other abilities of the same type.

If Elijah had obtained this buff in the early days of his awakening, growth would have been as easy as eating a piece of cake.

He had always been curious about the background behind his rapid growth, monopolizing many benefits.

Having a buff that was practically a cheat key, it would have been stranger if he hadn’t grown.

“Thank you. I’ll use it well. I’ve gained an ability that I wouldn’t have been able to have if it were a talent.”

Shin-hwa was sincerely happy.

The more buffs, the better.

When it was someone else’s, he could only suck his fingers [be envious], but now that it was his, there was nothing to hold back.

Swish! Swish!

Perhaps because he had become accustomed to handling the power of attributes, Shin-hwa easily turned his entire body into flames.

“Good. I’ve gained the best of the unexpected gains. It’s good even if it’s out of the blue, isn’t it?”

He felt like it was an even bigger gift because he hadn’t even thought that Elijah’s fire ability was a buff.

Shin-hwa immediately began to put on the artifacts he had obtained from Elijah, one by one.

Starting with the rings to put on his fingers, bracelets, necklaces, anklets, and so on……. There were so many different kinds.

How long had he been wearing them?

Just as Shin-hwa was shaking his body from the discomfort felt here and there!

[Judgment Grade: EX]

“This is crazy.”

Shin-hwa exclaimed once again.

Thanks to Elijah having decked himself out with artifacts that assisted with magic power, his magic power had greatly increased, and his grade had also risen!

Some of the artifacts also increased magic power by a percentage of the total amount, so the synergy with Shin-hwa, who had a vast amount of magic power, was too good.

“Wow……. The last Apostle was truly Santa Claus to me.”

Shin-hwa turned towards the ‘traces’ of Elijah, who had already become ashes sparkling in the desert night breeze and scattered.

Thwack!

He raised his thumb.

The most difficult battle!

But the reward was certain.