The Regressed NoBody

“let’s go!”

I shouted as I dashed forward.

A few meters away from me were Jiyoung and Jihoon, both matching my pace.

With our weapons held steadily in our hands we closed the distance between us and reached the demon.

Swish—!

With a swift movement the demon step forward and disappeared from his spot, then reappearing before me.

Jolting my right arm, I slashed swiftly at him.

His hand and my sword collided, and countless sparks came to life.

Activating Mind’s Eye, the time around me slowed down and world turned colourless. Sequentially, I looked closely at the demon’s body.

Then quickly deactivating Mind’s Eye, the time and the colourlessness of the world returned to normal.

I deliberately made an opening for the demon to attack me.

He took the bait and launched his arm at my abdomen, but that was what I was aiming for!

Tightening my grip on the hilt, I slashed my sword at his shoulder.

His right hand which was still regenerating, had only regenerated to his elbow.

He read my movement and drew his arm back and redirected it towards my sword.

But pausing my sword mid swing, I narrowed the trajectory of the sword downwards, and waited.

Slash—!

Then a flesh cutting sound reverberated inside the throne room.

The demon had his focus entirely on me. I knew that he deemed Jiyoung and Jihoon not even worth attack or taking hostage.

Their pride knows no bound.

Because right now he wasn’t thinking straight. I could see it in his murderous eyes that all he wanted right now was to kill me, and only me.

But emerging from behind his shadow was Jiyoung. She again swiftly slashed her sword towards the demon’s torso.

Putting weight on my sword I continued my mid swing and hacked at his shoulder.

I saw from the corner off my eye, that Jihoon was ducked down and had hacked his dagger in the demon’s thigh.

“Aaa...”

With a stiff moan, his face turned a shade even darker.

But what happened next was not something I had predicted or, I couldn’t predict!

He twisted his torso avoiding Jiyoung’s sword and elbowed her in her face, whilst kicking Jihoon in the head, sending both of them crashing into the wall.

His speed exceeded mine. I couldn’t react to his movements, even with my increased Agility stat.

I was able to see his attacks but I couldn’t follow them.

Then grabbing me by my face, he clenched my face tightly with his palm.

“Aahaa...”

With a muffled sound, I tired to break free from his grasp but it was all for not.

His strength was monstrous. He was still not using his full strength.

Even if I had levelled up and increased my stats, I was still not able to reach the strength to defeat him.

“Heh... Haaa...”

With a chuckle soon came a sigh!

“Let’s end this little game! You were pretty good for some human trash, but, in the end you are just an inferior being who can never overcome the adversities of this world!”

Tilting his head slightly he looked at Jiyoung and Jihoon's figures laid on the floor, unconscious.

“I was surprised that you had wounded me but...”

He thought off something giving a pause to his speech. Then with a satisfied look he looked at me with his devilish eyes.

His deep blue eyes which could sent shivers down anyones spine.

But I glared him straight in his eyes. My calm eyes looking straight into his deep ocean eyes.

Slash—!

“Uek—!”

I moaned painfully.

He impaled his arm through my chest. I felt my body warm up and going numb.

Loosening his grip on my face I slumped down on the cold hard floor.

In the end he was stronger then me. Even with Jiyoung and Jihoon helping me I couldn’t defeat him.

How far I have fallen!

Tap—! Tap—!

I watched him approach Jiyoung and Jihoon.

Forcing my body to move, to even take a single step, I tried to get up.

But... my body didn’t respond.

I was bleeding out. I knew I was dying but... I wanted to at least save those two.

If I am going to die anyways, I want to at least save them.

My vision blurred and darkness started to surround the edges of my eyes.

“Huff... huff...huff—!”

My breathing became heavy. I felt every ounce of strength leaving my body.

***

Jiwoo’s body laid in his own pool of blood.

The crimson colour dyed him from head to toe.

He bathed in his own blood. He was taking the last of his breaths.

The calm look he had since the start of the fight had now crumbled, completely vanished. He looked desperate, almost tragic now.

“Pathetic aren’t you, you brat...”

“Having your ass kicked!”

His mind began to reminisce about his old memories

“Just stut the... hell up... you old fart.”

In that desperate moment the old memories of his master came crashing in his mind.

Grabbing his sword and steading his body to get up, he barely got up and hurriedly took out a strength, stamina, healing and Mana recovery potions out of his inventory.

Chugging all of the potions down, his profuse bleeding started to stop with the exception of the gaping hole that still stayed there.

But it was healing, but not fast enough!

“Huff... huff...”

He took heavy breaths and took a step forward, then another and then another.

The demon turned his head and looked over his shoulder.

His arm had already regenerated.

His lips curled slightly upwards. He pursed his lips as he turned around and looked at the haggard figure of Jiwoo.

“Still live I see, just like a fucking cockroach.”

His voice sounded bloodthirsty.

“I don’t have much Mana left nor the strength to fight any longer.” Jiwoo whispered to myself.

‘System’

He inwardly said.

Then the interface appeared before him.

----

----

NAME: SEO JIWOO (???)

HP: 701 ---> 132

LEVEL: 24

STRENGTH: 42 ---> (52)

STAMINA: 45 ---> (55)

AGILITY: 39 ---> (49)

VITALITY: 37 ---> (47)

INTELLIGENCE: 27 ---> (37)

MP: 280 ---> (145)

PROFESSION: ????

POINTS: 817 ---> (47)

______

FATIGUE: 55

PERSEVERANCE lv.1

_____________

{SKILLS}

[{E} Acausality] (Sealed)

This skill allows the the user to tamper with the flow of time. Allowing the user to stop time for a brief moment.

Note: An equivalent amount of the host’s Mana will be drained as long as the skill is active, and as long as the host has Mana.

______________

【Returnee’s Privilege】 [Time: ???]

–MIND’S EYE (Sealed)

–????

–????

–????

–????

______________

【?????】

–????

______________

----

----

‘Add twenty more points to Mana’

The MP section on the interface increased.

____

MP: 300 ---> (165)

____

‘This much should be enough.’

With a nimble movement the demon approached Jiwoo and kicked him in his left leg.

Jiwoo almost lost his balance, but he twisted his body and grabbed his sword in his left hand and slashed.

“Uek...”

A stinging sensation enveloped his arm.

His arm had healed, but was still not completely healed.

But he persisted and slashed the sword close to the demon’s throat.

But the demon dodged and took a step back.

He grabbed his neck and caressed it carefully.

“I’m impressed by your pathetic will to live...”

He looked at Jiwoo’s figure with amusing eyes.

“... nonetheless, a cockroach is a cockroach, in the end a bug is squashed beneath the feet of those who are stronger!”

Jiwoo’s eyes turned emotionless and his face didn’t display a single emotion.

“But, even a cornered rat will bare it’s fangs to save it’s life.”

Jiwoo scoffed.

“Heh...”

“Hahahaha...”

The laughs of the demon reverberated inside the throne room.

“Human... sign a contract with me.”

The demon extended his hand forward.

“Ironically, I will have to decline!”

A look of pity flashed the demon’s face momentarily! His gaze never left Jiwoo!

“A pity... you would have became a good pet but... a pity it is...”

Jiwoo silently looked at the demon, his eyes lingering from the demon to Jiyoung and Jihoon.

‘This skill is my only chance at defeating him now.’

He contemplated.

‘But with a hole in my chest, I don’t thing I can beat him, not that I had a chance in the first place.’

Then the demon started to move.

With a swift movement he already approached Jiwoo, but Jiwoo had already been ready.

“Acausality...”

He muttered underneath his breath.

The world around jiwoo became colourless, as a dull shade of grey veiled the world, but this time the world didn’t slow down, rather it stopped completely.

Everything around him came to a halt.

The demon stood in front of Jiwoo like a status carved by the finest of craftsman.

Time had completely stopped.

“Uek...”

Coughing a mouthful of blood Jiwoo placed his hand over the hole in his chest.

His eyes shot wide open. The excruciating pain caused him to blank in and out of consciousness, but he barely kept hold of his senses and persisted.

“Mind’s... Eye”

[Notice]

[Mind’s Eye temporarily Unlocked!]

Jiwoo’s lips slightly curled upwards seeing the sudden system message.

Then another wave of pain hit him.

With now Mind’s Eye in work, he carefully examined the demon’s body.

“His core... where is it?”

His eyes glanced at each and every part of the demon’s body.

Only the ranked demons have a core inside their body, which is more precious to them then their lives.

Because if a demon’s core is destroyed, the demon in question dies.

And right now Jiwoo was looking for the demon’s core.

A demon can hide his or her core any where inside their bodies.

It’s almost impossible to find a demon’s core with the naked eye.

But for Jiwoo who had the Mind’s Eye skill, for him it was possible.

With the Mind’s Eye's power unlocked temporarily, he was able to see the demon's demonic energy and locate the core inside the demon's body.

“There...”

Tap—!

Putting weight over the heel of his foot, Jiwoo stepped forward.

With his sword grasped tightly in his hand, he steadily approached the demon.

Imbuing his sword with Mana he pierced the demon's throat with his sword.

Soon his sword thrust into the demon’s throat and his sword hit a hard surface.

Slash—!

The sound of flesh being cut reverberated inside the colourless world.

Crack—!

With a cracking sound, Jiwoo pulled his sword out and took a step back.

“Aahaa...”

Coughing another mouthful of blood, both of his skills deactivated and he fell to one knee.

Then the world around him started to go back to normal.

The grey shade which veiled the world returned to its usual colour and time again started to flow.

Crack—!

The core stuck between Jiwoo's sword cracked and a glass shattering sound echoed as it turned into fine dust.

Thud—!

The demon fell to his knees.

“What did... you do?”

His murderous tone felt really threatening.

It felt like only his words were enough to kill someone.

“You bastard!!!”

He shouted.

But a second later his body started to disintegrate and soon his body completely turned to dust, leaving only a small mount of powder, where the demon stood.

“Huff... huff...”

Jiwoo started to hyperventilate, his breathing became more and more labours.

Thud—!

He fell face first on the floor.

His breathing had stopped.

“Well done...”

A voice reverberated from in front of Jiwoo.

Soon from the shadows a figure emerged, and he marched toward Jiwoo.

With his nimble steps he reached him in no time.

His figure was overshadowed by the darkness of the throne room.

“You have done well!”

He bend down.

Placing his hand over Jiwoo’s head, soon Jiwoo’s body glowed with a bright white hue and the gaping hole in his chest closed and vanished.

“His strength has grown considerably!”

His voice echoed inside the throne room.

Standing up, he walked back into the shadows from where he had emerged.

“But his strength is still mediocre, it's not even a fraction of his'... for now!"

Then he disappeared into the shadows.