Heukgu was an elegant, handsome man with a noble air despite his thin face. However, his dark eyes didn’t match his appearance.
I can get it right this time. Seol-Hwi was pleased to finally have a chance to gauge his level.
“Can I start?”
First, turn-based. Seol-Hwi drew the short sword. He was quite excited to see what 980k combat power looked like.
Even when Seol-Hwi armed himself, Heukgu stood with his arms crossed. He seemed overconfident.
[A great opportunity! Found a weakness in Heukgu. How would you like to respond?] ▶ Attack ▷ Use Martial Arts ▷ Use Toolbox ▷ Approach the Opponent
There was no sense in overthinking it—going back three seconds certainly wouldn’t change anything. He went with martial arts.
▶ White Palm Demonic Martial Arts ▷ Fiery Bare handed Demonic Martial Arts ▷ Peak Flourishing Demonic Martial Arts
What? The White Light Demonic Martial Arts and the Four Peaks Demonic Martial Arts were missing. What happened? He definitely learned the Four Peak Demonic Martial Arts, and he used the White Light Demonic Martial Arts often. Maybe he couldn’t use the Four Peaks Demonic Martial Arts because he was only at the basic level?
First, I’ll use the White Palm Demonic Martial Arts.
<You have selected “White Palm Demonic Martial Arts.”>
Seol-Hwi’s body soared into the air and stretched out his arm. Not the sword in his right arm, surprisingly, but his empty left palm. His senses sharpened and it felt like his hand would explode. As his hand thrust forward, a cloud of ice arose around Heukgu.
I’ve won! Dozens of ice blades were stabbing towards Heukgu’s body.
But all of his efforts were smashed away with a single kick. All the ice that touched Heukgu’s body melted away and evaporated.
[Status] Heukgu [Hidden Truth Squad Leader] Expert warrior Health: 400k(↓1)/400k Internal Energy: 270k(↓1)/270k Combat Power: 980k
Oh… He hit Heukgu with his best martial arts…
[A great opportunity! Found a weakness in Heukgu. How would you like to respond?] ▷ Attack ▷ Use Martial Arts ▷ Use Toolbox ▶ Approach the Opponent <You have selected “Approach the Opponent.” Choose direction: North, South, East, West.”>
Heukgu was most vulnerable from the north.
<You have selected “North.” Proceeding.>
Instantly, Seol-Hwi was behind Heukgu. It seemed the man hadn’t noticed yet. Seol-Hwi swung the sword as hard as he could—it had to inflict at least a bit of damage.
“…Ugh!”
Heukgu snatched the blade with just his fingers.
“Are you kidding me?”
“Hik!”
Seol-Hwi let go of his sword.
[A great opportunity! Found a weakness in Heukgu. How would you like to respond?]
He didn’t even think this time.
▷ White Palm Demonic Martial Arts ▶ Fiery Bare handed Demonic Martial Arts ▷ Peak Flourishing Demonic Martial Arts
His opponent was still distracted by Seol-Hwi’s sword. This close, martial arts would give him the best results.
<Using Fiery Bare-Handed Demonic Martial Arts>
He was right. Seol-Hwi’s fist met Heukgu’s chest and a violent wave of gray energy flowed out of his fingers.
<Critical hit! The opponent took 1 damage.>
“Bullshit!” This was the Fiery Bare-Handed Demonic Martial Arts, at point-blank range. One damage? He actually doubted the system, for the first time ever.
Heukgu slapped him in the face.
“Ack!” Seol-Hwi fell backwards, clutching his nose.
“Fourth disciple,” Heukgu said, ignoring Seol-Hwi. “I don’t understand why you’d want to take this weak basta—”
“…Urk!” Seol-Hwi glared at him. He intended to pay back this shame a hundredfold.
Combat type: <AI> <AI intervenes and the battle begins.>
It would be different from now on—this was Seol-Hwi’s god of battle.
His field of vision gradually expanded to include both Seol-Hwi and Heukgu, about three meters above the ground.
How will the AI fight? Seol-Hwi would attack like crazy, but the AI carefully watched the enemy’s movements. However, seeing as his martial arts hadn’t worked even at close range, the sword was probably out too.
If there was any chance, it relied on the AI being able to use every martial art Seol-Hwi used, unlike how he could only use three martial arts in turn-based mode.
- Ah, you idiot. You want me to fight him with such a difference in power?
Huh? The AI was looking up at him.
- You hide in the land between the dead and just watch. You know what you really need right now? You need greed.
He’s talking to me. And not politely, either.
- I don’t need your fucking manners to talk to you! You need to grab on to those vicious, rotten bastards! You need to tear their bodies apart with your bare hands if you have to! Do you understand?!
The AI was right. The entire sect was filled with dangerous people who fought with that mindset—or maybe they fought so they wouldn’t be eaten by the strong. Only those at the bottom, like Seol-Hwi, can’t act like that.
“Have you given up?” Heukgu was clearly annoyed that he had to wait for Seol-Hwi.
- Watch and learn.
The AI lifted his head to look at Heukgu. His sword rose diagonally, an attack position.
This guy is all talk! Seol-Hwi was skeptical. This was a ten-fold difference in strength; no matter how good the AI was, confidence would only get you so far. In fact, Seol-Hwi thought he would admit defeat after a couple more attacks.
The AI roused Seol-Hwi’s internal energy, gathering icy force on the blade—the White Palm Demonic Martial Arts. Normally, the energy would be concentrated on the fingers and palm, hardening the flesh like a sword. However, with enough skill, the ice could be transferred to another object—just like the AI was doing.
“Hah!” The AI leapt forward, narrowing the distance in three steps and kicking off the ground.
Wrong… Too reckless. The AI used the martial arts masterfully, but its overall approach wasn’t much different from what Seol-Hwi did.
It first struck Heukgu. He blocked, of course, by snatching the blade with his fingers like before.
…Huh? From the tip of the sword, a blue light bloomed between his fingers. Concentrated ice energy exploded like a flame, bathing Heukgu’s body in energy.
However, Heukgu led the Hidden Truth Squad. A small amount of ice energy entered his body, but he quickly fed some self-defense energy into his hand and melted the ice. The AI’s attack was reduced to nothing.
But that wasn’t the real surprise—while Heukgu was covering his face, the AI drew back its sword and launched a series of attacks at his stomach.
No way! Seol-Hwi watched intently as the AI swung seamlessly into its next attack. An unaware opponent would definitely be hit.
But the AI’s sword was stopped, just as it seemed to pierce Heukgu’s body. Heukgu’s blade emerged to block the sword.
“Cheeky…” The man swung his sword, sending the AI bouncing off—or it looked like the AI bounced off, at least. Seol-Hwi saw the AI using another martial art while it somersaulted away.
Four Peaks Demonic Martial Arts!
This was no turn-based attack—the wild wind the sword created flew straight ahead.
“…Huh!” Heukgu looked mildly surprised. Not because of the attack, however; the AI’s sword turned out to be aimed not at Heukgu’s front, but at his feet. The awkward vector forced Heukgu to block.
The AI had succeeded in forcing Heukgu to move—and that wasn’t the end. Its next martial art was shocking.
[Using the Wind God.]
What? That was the special skill of the Four Peaks Demonic Martial Arts. The methodology was too technical for Seol-Hwi to understand, so he had no idea how to use it.
But here it was, right in the middle of a desperate situation—so easily, as well.
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