Beyond the Eternity

The man in black slowly approached while releasing massive waves of killing intent towards my direction. All king candidates must be defeated before one could hold the Holy Grail.

[Massive amounts of killing intent has been detected.]

[Exclusive skill, Omniscient Wall has activated.]

It was the worst scenario.

I had to face against the regressor in a direct confrontation. It's impossible to win on my own. Fortunately, I wasn't necessarily alone in this nightmare.

Lee Dokho muttered. "Shit! Why is that bastard releasing that amount of killing intent? It almost seems like he's upset."

"Yeah, I think I might be responsible for that."

"You met him before now? Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"It's a long story. In any case, we've to find a way to deal with him."

My gaze landed on Kagura who had been on edge this entire time and thought she would be a perfect match against the regressor.

We'll be able to win if she uses her authority of her divine constellation. The problem was what will happen afterwards. We won't be able to deal with the aftermath of her authority at this stage.

... Why does everything have to be so complex? I guess this is the only option I have now.

I opened my mouth. "Kagura-ssi, do you think you'll be able to fight against that person?"

"Honestly, I don't know if I'll win. But I'm confident I should be able to buy some time."

"In that case, hold that guy here while Lee Dokho and I will head to the altar."

"I'll try my best."

I nodded and left Kagura while moving with Lee Dokho.

"...!"

Song Jaewon must have noticed what was happening and lunged towards us like a bullet. At the same time, the spear was thrust towards my neck.

Clang!

Fortunately, Kagura who had anticipated his movement jumped out and blocked the thrust with her Japanese sword.

Song Jaewon frowned his brows as if he had encountered something unpleasant.

"Who are you?"

"You're not important enough to know my name."

"...!"

Sparks flew as she pushed his spear away and repelled him backwards. Song Jaewon looked as if he had seen something incomprehensible.

... Now that I think about it, this should be the first time Song Jaewon is meeting someone like Kagura.

Song Jaewon eyes suddenly glowed.

[The character 'Song Jaewon' has activated Eyes of Judgement Lv. 8]

"What?"

His eyes opened wider. He must have seen Kagura's private Information at this point. Which route would he choose now, I wonder.

Would he choose to kill the threat known as Kagura on the spot? Or would he choose to use her instead?

[The character 'Kagura Kuroi' has activated Lightning Manipulation.]

Crackle! Crackle!

Kagura's body became filled with the power of Lightning and held her Japanese sword with both hands.

Song Jaewon entered a battle stance upon sensing the change of atmosphere, and released a black power of his own.

Simply put, both parties were about to face each other.

Thud!

The body of both parties blurred like in a video game and appeared in the air.

Kagura's sword imbued with lightning clashed against Byakko which was wielded by Song Jaewon.

On one hand, there was a Saint. And on the other, there was a Regressor. The impact force between those two beings was devastating to the surrounding space.

Kwang! Rumble!

Sparks danced in the air and the shockwave rippled through the surroundings, shaking the ground underneath my feet. It seemed as though there was a distortion in the space around them.

Lee Dokho looked extremely worried. "Damn. They're going to rip this entire place apart."

"Let's move quickly."

We quickly sprinted towards the altar located at the center. At the same time, the battle between Kagura and Song Jaewon was getting more intense by the second.

Lee Dokho who glanced behind his shoulders opened his mouth. "Deputy-nim, do you think she will be alright?"

"I think she'll be able to hold out till we're done. At the very least, I don't think Song Jaewon will kill her."

"Is that so? It will be rather problematic if she gets killed easily."

Indeed, his words were correct. Kagura possessed the Saint attribute. As such, she has the reinforced physique and her overall stats should have increased since I first met her.

From their clash, It was evident that Kagura had the advantage in the physical department. Therefore, it made sense she would be able to give the regressor a run for his money.

... But what about the skill department? Who was superior between the two?

Certainly, her skills wouldn't match against Song Jaewon who had lived multiple lives already.

With that truth in mind, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.

KWANG!

A sound echoed and something crashed into the path infront. Therefore, we had no choice but to stop running.

... What was that? Could it be?

The dust cleared and the object's appeared was gradually revealed. Once I narrowed my eyes and looked closer, I realised that the 'something' that crashed infront of me was not an object.

Lee Dokho's eyes seemed to widen to the maximum.

"Impossible! What nonsense is this?"

The 'something' infront of us was not an object, but bloodied figure of Kagura Kuroi. It seemed she had received a heavy blow in the stomach and lost unconsious.

... No way. This should be impossible, right?

My mind failed to comprehend what I was seeing. In fact, I even thought it was an Illusion. Truly, it did not make any sense.

No matter how strong Song Jaewon was, he wouldn't be able to defeat a Saint relative to him this easily. Was he able to unleash the full power of Byakko somehow? No, that was impossible.

... Then what?

I awoken from my reverie and rushed over to the unconscious Kagura. I started slapping her cheeks and called out.

"Kagura! Hey, Kagura! Wake up! This is not the time to take a nap!"

"Deputy-nim, what are you doing?!"

"I have to wake her up somehow."

"You... Can't you see that it's not working?!"

Indeed. I slapped her cheeks to the point it became swollen, but she showed no signs of waking up. Was she enjoying sleeping this much?

I pulled out an elven essence and feed it to her. Her injuries weren't severe but it would be dangerous if it was left untreated.

Tap! Tap! Tap!

The sound of footsteps was heard.

I glanced behind me and saw Song Jaewon heading this way. His angry eyes had calmed down. He had taken out the main combat force of my party, so he wouldn't have a problem killing us and heading to the altar, that was why.

Or that's what he thought. How arrogant.

I whispered to Lee Dokho who had raised his sword and glared at Song Jaewon. "Let's head west."

"West? Isn't the altar in the center?"

"I know. But if we head there, that bastard will just follow us and we'll lose in a direct confrontation. Therefore, we have to buy as much time as possible."

Song Jaewon continued to walk this way with the spear in hand. His pace was slow as if deliberate. It was obvious he wasn't in a rush. It was understandable. After all, he believed he had the upper hand. In addition, It's not like he doesn't have the power to back up his arrogance.

But that arrogance will be his downfall.

Lee Dokho gritted his teeth. "Fine. But if we die because of this plan of yours, I'm haunting you."

"I can live with that. C'mon!"

I motioned for him to follow me. We headed west and ran away from the man in black.

Naturally, since Byakko was the guardian of the West, the guardian spirit wouldn't be able to attack in that direction. That also applies to Song Jaewon who is wielding the Holy Relic containing the spirit of Byakko.

Of course, there was one problem with that plan.

"Hey, are you looking down on me? Why are you turning your back to the enemy? You're just asking to be killed."

The cold voice of the regressor found its way into my ears. At the same time, there was a system notification.

[The character 'Song Jaewon' has used Black Wind Control Lv. 8]

"Shit."

Just because Byakko couldn't attack at the West, does mean Song Jaewon couldn't attack at all.

A strong gust sent me flying before I could take my next step.

"Kuh…"

The gusts interlinked and became a storm, raising me up into the air at once. Not just me, but Lee Dokho as well.

We were forcefully blown up so high that I could see the ruined scenery of Gwanghwamun.

An altitude of a few hundred meters.

"Ha...!"

Inadvertently, I made a gulp. Without a doubt, it would be impossible to survive if I fell from this height. In fact, anyone would become a splattered mess on the ground below.

"You're really persistent, huh? I thought you'd pass out from the air pressure."

I reflexively looked up over my shoulder, where Song Jaewon had already finished raised his spear, as he most likely rode an even faster wind up there.

"...!"

In the next instant, Song Jaewon descended with the blade of the spear pointed accurately towards my neck region.

... Damnit. I'm really going to die like this.

It would be impossible to block his attack while in mid-air. Even if I attempted to defend, I doubted my ability to react fast enough, and I lacked the strength to withstand the blow. More importantly, by some miracle, I managed to block it, the sheer force would send me crashing to the ground.

[The blessing of your attribute is taking effect.]

[Your thinking speed has increased.]

There was no time to check the system messages. My mind raced with numerous possibilities on how I could survive at this moment.

If I block, I'll die.

If I don't block, I'll die.

If I tried to move out of the way, I'll die.

Indeed. It was a situation with no silver linings. However, there was something else I could try.

... According to my calculations, there's a shopping mail approximately three kilometers west. If I position my body at just the right angle and block the attack, I would be able to escape my current predicament and I can save Lee Dokho too while I'm at it. Of course, I would also have to raise my defence stats to withstand the blow and the crash impact.

In a normal scenario, I wouldn't even consider that kind of crazy gamble, but I was left with no options. I had to hope for a miracle.

Without a second to waste, I began raising each of my stats using coins through a mental command.

[Strength Lv. 30 –> Strength Lv. 40]

[Agility Lv. 30 –> Agility Lv. 40]

[Physique Lv. 30 –> Physique Lv. 40]

[Magic Power Lv. 30 –> Magic Power Lv. 40]

[Your overall stats has drastically increased.]

[32,000 coins has been consumed.]

With my increased strength, I shifted my body weight and raised the Blue Dragon Sword to counter the incoming blade of the Spirit Lance.

Kwang!

Along with a heavy sound, my body powerlessly flew away and hit Lee Dokho, sending both of us crashing into the building a few kilometres away.

Thud! Thud!

The wall crumbled and gave way as we crashed inside and rolled across the cold ground.

"Hah...! Hah...!"

The impact knocked the air out of my lungs, and for a moment, my vision blurred. If I hadn't increased my stats at the last moment, I would have died without a doubt.

"Ughhh..."

Lee Dokho groaned and coughed as he struggled to raise his own weight from the floor.

"Damnit! Was this part of your plan too?"

"Not exactly.... but we're still alive, aren't we?"

I answered as I lifted my body from the floor as well.

"Aggh! Where is this place anyways? A shopping mall?"

"It seems. We'll fight the Song Jaewon here."

"What? Are you crazy? Didn't you see what he did back there? It's possible to win as long as he's in the picture!"

"Calm down, will you. Remember what I said before, we're only going to buy as much time as possible. Don't you think this is the perfect place to hold the line?"

"What?"

Lee Dokho's eyes darted around and assessed the abandoned shopping mall. Slowly, his eyes began to open wide as if he realised something.

"Ah, I see. So that's your plan."

Maybe he had truly realised my plan. The goal was to defeat the other king candidates. If one of them was still alive, It would Impossible to become the absolute king. Thus, Song Jaewon would continue to hunt us instead of going for the Holy Grail.

Song Jaewon thrives in open spaces where he can freely use his abilities. But here, he wouldn't be able to move as he wished. Plus, the powers of Byakko was limited in the West, so the number of attacks he can use would be limited as well.

Simply put, if we hold the line here for that person to arrive, It would be our win.

Grin!

A wryly smile formed on my face as I spotted a black silhouette approaching from the hole we came through.

It's time to put my plan into use.