Turns Out To Be a Genius Duelist

‘Fatal injury.’

It was similar to Arch Hunter’s Hunting Gloves. It wasn’t triggered by each attack made but only responded to life-threatening attacks. Of course, that alone was plenty enough, but Yoon-seok guessed there was another weakness in that ability.

‘It must be impossible to take damage when the ability is activated.’

Increased agility? Time stop? No matter what it was, the effect was good. In that state, the enemy couldn’t hurt you. In other words, the ability was to be used only as a tool of evasion or escape at first. However, the woman overcame her weaknesses through her synergy with the weapon she used.

「You were hit by Carton’s Punishment Hammer.」

「The existing punishment effect will become stronger.」

Like how spiders hunt. After putting the spider web in a safe place and waiting, it easily devoured the prey that lost its energy while struggling in the spiderweb. Well, now it was the other way around.

Slash-! Plorkk. Slashhhh.

Shoulders, thighs, arms. He abandoned his usual pursuit of one strike and persistently aimed at non-vital spots.

“…”

His foe grimaced. It looked like she didn’t expect her weaknesses to be discovered in just a few minutes, but… well, that was understandable. Even if most of her prey noticed her ability’s weakness, it wouldn’t have mattered because their stats had already been diminished.

“You went quiet.”

At Yoon-seok’s ridicule, the woman wielded her hammer violently. Yoon-seok couldn’t be hit by such an amateur, however. A sense of dismay deepened in the woman’s expression.

“Why? I guess it’s the first time you can’t self-heal?”

As long as the critical vital point was sealed, all her enemy could do was incur minor injuries. If she lacked a skill, it would’ve healed quickly with a high physical strength and durability stat. However, as minor injuries piled up, her body was covered in blood. It was all thanks to b Decapitation}’s characteristic of making wounds caused by a sword impossible to heal.

‘It would have been hard without this.’

The synergy was great. At this time, when he couldn’t use Lady’s Commandment, it would’ve been impossible to turn the tables without that.

“…I’ll kill you.”

Her voice was sharp, like a savage demon’s. However, Yoon-seok laughed.

‘Is she saying she’s going to do it openly since she got caught anyway?’

When he tried to cut her thigh to speed up her bleeding, his foe stuck out her neck at Yoon-seok’s sword. This kind of trick would work to intentionally induce fatal injuries and force the ability to be triggered. Or, maybe if he hadn’t known, it would.

Yoon-seok pulled back his blade as if he were teasing his opponent. Then, his foe overextended and tumbled to the floor. Thanks to the field-effect, it was a flower bed instead of hard dirt, but…

‘She looks angry.’

Her expression wasn’t good. Was her pride smashed? While clenching her teeth, magic poured out of her wings. It wasn’t the two wings at the top, but the wings located just below them.

‘Is she bringing out a new skill?’

Yoon-seok, who was playing with his opponent leisurely, quickly widened the distance. At the same time, the hammer’s glow turned a deep blue, making it look like a hammer made of water.

「Victim bears some of your sins.」

「Due to the punishment effect, your dropped stats will be transferred to your opponent until the battle ends.」

His stats had fallen by three levels, which meant that was enough for his foe to increase by a whole rank.

‘Is it absorption after the decrease in stats?’

The balance between skills and powers was no joke. Furthermore, the color of the hammer had changed, and unlike before, it was unlikely that it would end with his stats dropping after one hit.

‘Well, instead, she can’t use that ability anymore.’

As the color of the hammer changed, the wings emitting magic also changed. As a result, it was highly likely that the ability triggered by a fatal injury had disappeared. Of course, he wasn’t sure, so he had to check.

‘Lynn.’

At Yoon-seok’s call, the spacecraft waiting above fired again.

Boooooom-!

As he saw a shadow in the wavering dust, amusement filled Yoon-seok’s eyes. The opponent remained in place. If it were earlier, she would’ve avoided it and hit his head with her hammer. In other words, this meant that even if he aimed for a fatal injury in the future, she would not be able to achieve the same speed as before.

Though now the problem was something else.

「Maylin’s Guardian Hammer absorbs the attack.」

In the blooming heat waves that melted the floor, she stood upright, holding her hammer. The swaying blue magic wrapped like a veil around her.

‘Does she get a shield instead of speed?’

Increase in stats. On top of that, a shield was formed. But Yoon-seok thought the situation was better than before. First of all, the decline in stats at the first stage wasn’t that big, and at least now he could attack freely.

“I guess there’s a cooldown this time.”

As the shield disappeared, Yoon-seok fired a Skywrath Sword that was orbiting around him. She swung the hammer casually and bounced it away. However, there was no shield like before.

‘It lasts about five seconds. How long is the cooldown time?’

Yoon-seok rushed, swinging his sword recklessly. There was no more mercy in his blade as he aimed only for her vital spots, switching seamlessly between her head, heart, and lungs. But, perhaps because of the difference in stats, his foe endured better than expected.

Yeah, better than he thought.

Boooom-! Whikk! Whoosh!

The opponent brought out various kinds of skills and powers and engaged in a close-range battle with Yoon-seok. She was decent. However, she was no match for the real warrior type of challengers he’d battled with so far.

‘Opening.’

Yoon-seok, having experienced many life and death struggles, found a momentary opening. He responded with a sharp and appropriate move that Cheon-ma would approve. But it was then-

「Maylin’s Guardian Hammer absorbs the attack.」

She was able to survive by releasing the shield again. Yoon-seok measured the interval.

‘An absolute shield for five seconds every fifteen seconds…’

The ability was good. If an opponent of the same martial capability had that ability, Yoon-seok would have been quite troubled. Unfortunately, the opponent’s skills were lacking to utilize this ability efficiently. If the gap hadn’t widened due to the absorption of fallen stats, it might’ve been possible to kill her before she could use the next shield.

‘Three, two, one…’

Yoon-seok widened the distance for a second, and the moment the shield’s maintenance time was over-

He used his opening technique, Black Cloud Perforation. That’s what that woman arrogantly called a trick earlier. Posture, timing, and magic. There was nothing different from before. But, his foe’s face changed. That expressionless face clearly showed urgency, and those arrogant eyes were tense.

Whoosh-!

The moment when Yoon-seok’s sword fired through the dark clouds as if there were no way to stop it right now, the opponent took out a new card. The third set of wings activated.

‘Is there only one left?’

Magic emanated from the wings, and the blue hammer changed colors again to red this time. In addition to feeling a wave of heat, Yoon-seok felt a change in the flow of magic.

Swish! Swish! Swoooooosh!

On top of that, the hammer split. The number increased to hundreds and rotated around her in the air like Yoon-seok’s Skywrath Swords. The Black Cloud Perforation bounced off one of the hammers that were flying around her. No, the expression bouncing off was insufficient.

‘Did she get stronger again?’

As soon as it touched the hammer, the sword energy exploded around it, which a moment later fired at Yoon-seok.

Boooooom-!

Had she finally entered into combat mode? He pulled out the Judgment Sword to block the hammers, but the force was beyond what she showed before.

Creakkkkk.

Yoon-seok’s body was pushed back a few dozen meters. Yoon-seok turned his wrist, shaking off the tingling sensation. Without using Skywrath Energy to help absorb the attack, his arm would’ve been shattered. It was a little ironic. Each hammer was about the size of a toy, but they were capable of such power.

「 You were hit by Teslian’s Judgment Hammer.」

「Additional damage will be incurred equal to the amount absorbed by the protective hammer.」

Yoon-seok smiled bitterly.

‘I wondered why it hurt so much. Maybe that’s why.’

The guardian hammer absorbed the power of the Nuclear Plasma. At this point, Yoon-seok also wanted to complain. The wings’ abilities were fraudulent on their own and created a crazy synergy at every stage.

‘This is why she got a higher rating than me.’

She had no weakness except for poor martial arts skills. It might look insignificant in most battles, but it didn’t count as a disadvantage in dueling. Yoon-seok wondered what ability the remaining wings had. He thought it would be an annoying ability beyond imagination.

‘It would’ve worked if I had my skills…’

Yoon-seok smacked his lips. Many of his main weapons, such as b Demonify}, b Immortality}, and b Dark Knight} were sealed. If they weren’t sealed, they would have been of great help at this stage. No, it would have been much better if he at least had Light of End.

But, Yoon-seok quickly pulled himself together.

‘By the way, how do I pierce that?’

Hundreds of hammers were whirling around his foe with increasing speed.

‘I have no choice but to try.’

Yoon-seok approached carefully into the whirlwind the hammers were causing. Then, he dashed. It was like avoiding raindrops during a storm. But, Yoon-seok raised his senses to the limit and jumped around to avoid the incoming hammers.

However, even Yoon-seok had a limit. As he approached, the number of hammers increased, and soon, he missed one.

Boooooom-!

It hit his waist, sending pain shooting through Yoon-seok’s spine. Yoon-seok quickly regained his senses and checked his current condition. He had been thrown out of the whirlwind.

‘Damn it. Am I back to square one?’

He had reactively used Force Shield when the hammer hit, and if he hadn’t, his spine would’ve been shattered.

“…”

Yoon-seok didn’t rush to approach and waited for the magic consumed by Force Shield to recover. 10, 20, 30 seconds… it didn’t take long for all the magic to recover. However, even during that time, the opponent only watched Yoon-seok from the whirlwind.

‘Why is she giving me time? Without attacking me?’

He wondered if it was because of another constraint. Soon, Yoon-seok, realizing why, smiled.

‘Is she trying to get revenge?’

Although his stats weren’t absorbed much in the first stage, the jackpot exploded in the second stage. As a result, her hundreds of small hammers gained the power of a battleship. She was confident that she’d already won; that was why she decided to take this opportunity to pay back her previous humiliation.

‘This is fun.’

Apart from being delighted, Yoon-seok noticed that his opponent had some experience with fierce struggles. Well, not that he understood, given her power. If it were Yoon-seok, he would’ve taken out his opponent’s throat the moment he had the chance to win.

Like this.

Tadadadadadak.

Changing his mind, Yoon-seok stepped into the air and pushed himself into the wind storm. And as before, he avoided and deflected the hammers in his approach. It wasn’t easy; the storm was growing stronger as he went in further. However, Yoon-seok’s experience made him move forward. It wasn’t a significant difference, just a few steps, but he made it deeper.

Swishhhh!

Soon, three hammers flew to Yoon-seok. His honed instinct told him they were impossible to avoid or block, but Yoon-seok smiled.

‘This is enough.’

Information was extremely important in a one-on-one duel. Just as he didn’t expect the shield that absorbed damage to make such a formidable hammer, the opponent also didn’t know exactly what Yoon-seok had.

Yoon-seok used a power he had been holding onto.

‘Enhanced Speed.’

The effect of this power purchased by Elle was as concise as its name: moving to a spot within 50m. That was all. It was a simple effect, so it wasn’t an expensive power like Skill Synthesis or Lady’s Commandment. However, just like in chess, there were times when a very simple and seemingly trivial move turned into the best trick.

“…!”

Yoon-seok reached the center of the storm. Relaxation disappeared from his opponent’s eyes as she watched him struggle to approach the storm, but Yoon-seok neither criticized nor laughed at the carelessness brought about by her arrogance. Just as a beast crouching in bushes pushed its teeth into its prey’s neck, he swung his blade.

And that moment.

Whooooosh-!

Magic emanated from the last wing to push Yoon-seok away. At the same time, the woman shouted to the sky.

“The end of the world! Hurry up and judge evil!”

Saying things like the end of the world made it look like she was part of some cult. But, Yoon-seok had no time to laugh.

‘What is this…?’

Yoon-seok went blank. Suddenly, it was quiet. The swirling fire hammers had long disappeared.

Boom-!

Yoon-seok raised his head and looked up at the sky.

—…C-captain! P-please save me!

When he heard Lynn’s plea, it was too late.

Crackkk! Booooom!

The spaceship was smashed by a hammer the size of a comet. Fortunately, there was no damage incurred to him because it was far away, but the sound was deafening.

Whoooooooosh-!

What is that? It seemed like her lethal move. That was it? As he was feeling a little puzzled, several system messages appeared.

「Destructive Monarch’s Doom Hammer knocked on the ground.」

「You are the sacrifice chosen by the Victim.」

「If the ground rings nine times, you die.」

Yoon-seok looked up at the sky again. A second hammer was falling next to the remnants of the spaceship. And on top of it, a third hammer appeared through the clouds.

“…”

He didn’t know how, but he remembered a card game that he enjoyed in the past. In that game, some cards could win a match without any resistance, like the Destructive Monarch’s Doom Hammer. For some reason, Yoon-seok smiled at the skill’s familiar name.

*98th place, Theze (SSS-) – Koldium.

If the 98th place was like this, then how many swindlers would be up there? What about Cheon-ma, King of Steel, and Lavan Vargas? He didn’t know, but one thing was certain.

“…”

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. To survive and meet them, he had to cheat the same way.