Chapter 150: Elemental Property (2)
Shwaaaaaaa!—
Heavy rain poured down from the thick fog.
The downpour rained down like a monsoon and made it hard for one to open their eyes.
“Haa, haa.”
Rough breaths left of Sosuke’s mouth.
He looked at Ohjin, who was barely standing while taking in the rain with his body.
‘What’s going on?’
Something was strange.
If you thought about the way he was helplessly beaten up, he should’ve normally already been in an unconscious state right around then.
‘Why… won’t he die?’
Damage was certainly being inflicted.
His whole body was drenched in blood, and his twisted arms and legs were quaking as they were hit by the rain.
But… why?
“Haa! Haa! Goddammit!”
He spat out vulgar language and absorbed a little more of the ‘potion’ that was made by melting the stigma of 1,700 Awakeners throughout several years. Though, naturally, the efficiency fell behind substantially compared to potions made by Awakeners of Aquarius.
“Why! Just why won’t you go down!!!”
It didn’t make sense for him to be able to endure so persistently even after getting hit by an attack that contained the mana of a potion that was made by sacrificing an unfathomable number of lives.
“Huff! Huff!”
He had been shooting meaningless attacks at Ohjin for several minutes, but Ohjin just rolled with them like a roly-poly toy no matter what he did.
Sosuke gasped for air as he clutched his chest.
Even if he was able to get his hands on an enormous amount of mana using the potion, he was still the one who had to control it.
Once he used more mana than he could handle, Sosuke could feel that his mana circuits were tattered, and they felt like they were about to snap at any moment.
“Are you finished?”
After becoming a bloody mess while he pathetically yelled and got one-sidedly thrashed, Ohjin smiled and straightened his curved back.
His disgraceful face that was pale in fear just moments ago couldn’t be found anymore as he calmly moved his feet.
“…Ah.”
A short exclamation left Sosuke’s mouth.
He was then able to realize why Ohjin hadn’t collapsed and why he hadn’t died despite him having poured attacks strong enough to wear out his mana circuits.
“You… it was all an act from the beginning.”
The way he put on an frightened expression like he was on the edge of a cliff…
The way he pathetically screamed…
Everything was just an act to induce Sosuke to overexert himself with attacks that would drain his stamina.
“J-Just how?! How are you able to stand tall after getting hit by all of those attacks?”
Even if the opponent was a high-rank Awakener of Scutum, they wouldn’t be intact after getting hit by an attack of that caliber without evading or preparing themself to block in advance.
Nevertheless, not only was the Lightning Wolf he knew not an Awakener of Scutum, but he also was not a high-ranking Awakener.
“Just… what are you.”
Would it feel the same if a corpse that was stabbed over a dozen times, burned in fire, and crushed, stood back up in a completely fine state?
Looking at the scene that was straight out of a B-rated horror movie with his own eyes caused his legs to quiver and made cold sweat run down his back.
“What did you say about elemental property?”
With a thick smile, Ohjin raised his head up.
Injuries formed on his body every time the droplets containing mana made contact with his skin, but they would then instantly disappear like time was reversed.
The speed of his regeneration was even faster than when he’d fought with Arshad Khan inside the rainstorm.
Ohjin had already confirmed that he could use the skill ‘Water Affinity’ to absorb the water made by Awakeners of Hippocampus while fighting with them during the past three days.
‘My regenerative powers actually increase from their stronger attacks.’
As one might expect, he felt sharp stings during the short moment it took for his injury to get regenerated, but it wasn’t difficult to tolerate that amount of pain.
“As you said—I guess an inevitable advantage really exists.”
It was the reason he’d confidently told Ha-eun that he could beat Sosuke alone.
Whatever hidden card Sosuke had didn’t matter because, as long as his stigma was of Hippocampus…
‘Beating me is impossible.’
Ohjin was hit by the pouring rain water as he slowly raised his spear.
His plan of wearing out a fair bit of Sosuke’s stamina by pretending like he was taking damage was a success. All he had to do next was finish things up in a way that suited his tastes.
‘Lightning doesn’t work on him, but…’
It didn’t matter.
The stigma of Lyra wasn’t the only stigma in Ohjin’s possession.
Owooong!—
The stigma engraved on his left chest emitted light.
Nearly a thousand black feathers spread out of his body like wings.
“…The stigma of Noctua?”
Sosuke’s eyes widened.
“H-How do you have that stigma…?”
The fact that the Star of the Weaver Girl’s apostle was using the stigma of Noctua sent shivers down his spine.
Without even giving him time to find an answer to his questions, the wing made of black feathers flapped broadly.
“Ten Thousand Black Feather Blossom.”
The skill that Cheon Doyoon frequently enjoyed using was manifested by Ohjin.
Ttutututu!!—
The thousands of black feathers that were shot following the trajectory of the wings rained down on Sosuke.
“I told you those kinds of attacks won’t work on me!”
Sosuke turned his body into liquid and received thousands of feathers with his body.
The sharp feathers passed through his body in vain.
“I wonder… Will it really be ineffective?”
Ohjin smiled cunningly and ‘stopped’ the movement of the feathers.
“Argh!”
A groan left Sosuke’s mouth.
The thousands of fathers didn’t pass through his body, but started to twist inside his body while it was in liquid form.
“D-Damn it!”
He tried to get the feathers out of his body in the same way he excreted impurities to make pure water, but it wasn’t easy, as there were a substantial number of feathers stuck to him.
Sosuke’s body that had clusters of feathers inside it made him look like a duck feather jacket that’d torn inside of a washing machine.
“Well, isn’t it safe to say that the water is less pure now?”
Ohjin cackled out and activated the stigma of Lyra once again.
‘Charge.’
Bzzzzt!—
The blazing blue lightning started to condense.
Once. Twice. Thrice.
It gradually emitted more light as the condensed blue lightning gathered at the tip of the spear.
“Explode.”
Ohjin took in a deep breath and raised his spear. He stepped forward with his left foot and pulled back his right arm like it was the string of a bow.
Taking advantage of the elastic force of his waist, he threw his spear forward with all of his might.
Bzzzzzzzzt!!—
Blue lightning flew forward while splitting apart the air.
Once it hit the middle of Sosuke’s chest, all of the lightning that was condensed inside of the spear was released.
Rumbleeeee!!—
The explosion of lightning engulfed Sosuke with the sound of thunder.
“Ah, ugh…”
Sosuke looked down at his trembling body.
The right side of his torso was completely blown away by the explosion of lightning.
“M-Must hurry and regenerate…”
With a face that became pale from fear, he slowly moved his remaining arm.
The potion that was made through several years answered his call and started to congregate in order to heal his injuries.
“I can’t let that happen.”
Ohjin extended his hand out to the potion that was pooling toward Sosuke.
Like how dry earth sucks up water, the blue potion created by Sosuke started to get absorbed by Ohjin.
“S-Stop!” Sosuke shouted with a panicked expression as he saw the potion disappear at a rapid pace.
—It was the potion prepared in order to create an artificial ‘Dragon Vein’.
He couldn’t let the mass of mana created by sacrificing the lives of 1,700 Awakeners throughout several years get handed over to an inconsequential person.
“That’s… our hope.”
Sosuke desperately stretched his arm out at the potion that was being absorbed by Ohjin.
—The hope that would return their faded honor.
The one and only solution that would allow them to cast away the title ‘Star-forsaken Land’ was being stolen in front of his eyes.
“There really is no sucker like you.”
Ohjin put on a thick smile while enjoying the feeling of the potion permeating his body.
It went without saying, but that mana wasn’t of much significance to Ohjin, who had an unequaled amount of mana.
‘But even if it doesn’t hold significance to me, the same can’t be said for him.’
He smirked as he looked at Sosuke, who was stretching out his hand with a desperate expression.
Just like how the value of a million dollars was different for an ordinary civilian compared to a wealthy individual whose wealth accounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, the mana that didn’t hold much meaning to Ohjin couldn’t be more important to Sosuke.
“Ahhhhhh!!”
Sosuke, who had all of his potion stolen, lost his mind and sprinted to Ohjin. However, he didn’t have the remaining strength to face Ohjin, as most of his mana was already consumed.
Grasp—
Ohjin grabbed Sosuke’s hair.
It appeared that he ran dry of mana, as his body that had previously sloshed like water returned to its original form.
“Ah…”
Fear-struck eyes could be seen through the gaps of Ohjin’s fingers.
“Charge.”
Ohjin started to use ‘Charge’ on Sosuke’s head that was in his hand, and blue lightning started to condense.
“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!”
Sosuke wriggled in pain while trying to escape from Ohjin’s grasp, but there was simply no way he could break out of his destructive grip when he didn’t have much mana remaining.
“Charge, Charge, Charge, Charge, Charge.”
Bzzzzzzzzzt!!—
The blue lightning that condensed over its limit ran wild inside Sosuke’s head, causing it to swell abnormally while his eyes rolled to the back of his head as his pain threshold was exceeded.
Then…
Scatter!—
Cerebrospinal fluid, eyeballs, crushed cheekbones, and teeth shot everywhere.
“Tch.”
Ohjin shook off the blood in his hand and clicked his tongue.
The fight with Sosuke itself developed just as he expected, however…
“This was too easy.”
No matter how severely he was injured, he would be able to regenerate immediately as long as he had ‘Water Affinity’, which made the fight have no excitement.
‘There’s a reason he’s ranked 7th.’
Even if Ohjin was the absolute worst match for him, Sosuke’s prowess was nothing to mention compared to Cheon Doyoon.
‘If the gap between 6th and 7th is this wide… how powerful will the other Executors be?
“…”
After being lost in thought for a moment, Ohjin slightly shrugged and extended his hand out to Sosuke’s corpse.
No matter how powerful they were…
‘It doesn’t matter since I can get even stronger by devouring them all.’
* * *
* * *
Rumble—
The clouds of the Black Heaven covered the stigma of Hippocampus.
Mana rode through the wriggling clouds and entered his body.
{All conditions required for the Black Heaven’s awakening have been met!]
[The Black Heaven’s sixth awakening will start!]
Pzzzzt—
Ohjin’s sight started to fade.
He went along with the sensation he was then accustomed to and slowly closed his eyes.
The world disappeared as his eyelids closed, and the memories of another world unfolded.
In front of him was a dazzling night view.
It was the rooftop garden built on top of the Yongsan Auction House where Ohjin gave the Cursed Dragon Eye to Ha-eun as a gift.
-Khm! H-Ha-eun!
In that place was Lee Shinhyuk, who had an extremely nervous expression. He stood stiff in front of Ha-eun like he was taking a job interview to get into a large corporation.
He shouted out as he handed Ha-eun a small square box.
-I… I like you. I have ever since I first met you…
With his face drowned red, he spat out his confession of love that was straight out of an outdated romance comedy show.
‘This son of a bitch?’
Ohjin’s expression became heavily distorted while he was observing Lee Shinhyuk’s memories.
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