297 – The Regressor’s Fight (16)
Surprisingly, ‘persuading the angel’, which I thought would be the easiest, wasn’t easy.
“Ah, you can’t!”
“No, I told you we’ll kill him? Archangel Raphael himself agreed to it.”
“But it still won’t work!” We
tried selling the Archangel’s authority, trying to coax and appease him, trying to threaten him, and tried every other means and method. Angel Jake stubbornly resisted.
“Our Archangel will come and solve this! You can’t!”
“What if he doesn’t come?”
“He will come!”
“…I told you, Archangel Raphael told us to.”
“Then it won’t work even more! The 28th floor is the floor that our Archangel is in charge of! If rumors spread that another Archangel solved our problem, we won’t be able to hold our heads up high!”
So, the problem has already arisen. They said that they had to solve it themselves for the sake of the situation to be resolved. If the ‘messenger of another archangel’ who suddenly appeared solved everything, the situation would not be resolved or something.
“Yeah, I lost, lost.”
In the end, I had no choice but to regress. In the next episode, instead of mentioning the archangel, I tried to say something like, ‘I saw it in a dream.’
“… You saw it in a dream? Does that make sense?”
“Because I know how to manipulate souls. My sixth sense is open. Every day when I fall asleep, I see strange images, and among them, I saw the future of the 28th floor.”
“…”
“The archangel… won’t come. The 28th floor will be destroyed by the Heavenly Demon. We have to stop that.”
I thought I would be persuaded if I got this far, but…
“Dreams are just dreams! Don’t try to fool me!”
“Oh, damn it.”
Angel Jake held on this time too. In the end, I had to regress again and change my approach.
“I saw it in a dream. The Heavenly Demon waking up.”
“…” “
“Of course, the Archangel will arrive, but he was a little late, and there was a lot of damage.”
“T-That can’t be…”
“But!!! We can stop it now! Let’s block the situation in advance, and don’t let it reach the Archangel! How about we take down the Heavenly Demon on our own!”
“…”
‘The Archangel did arrive just in time, but he was a little late, so things might go awry. How about we take care of it in advance?’ The plan worked better than expected.
Of course, an ordinary person would not accept it. Angels are not fools. Who would believe that they saw it in a dream right away? It would be fortunate if they didn’t sprinkle salt on it to tell it to go away.
“Th-should we try that…?”
However, Angel Jake is currently in a state of mental weakness. It’s a critical situation where he disguised himself as a human and entered the tower knowing that he shouldn’t. He must be grasping at straws. He must be in a state where he wants to do something.
“My colleague and I will fight first. If that doesn’t work, we will go and find the elixir and eat it. Of course, if the Archangel comes, we can solve it, but do we really need to use a slaughter knife to kill a chicken?”
“Sure…”
That’s right. We barely managed to convince Angel Jake.
It’s hard to believe that he ate it three times.
**
Did the Archangel give us a hint? Or did he modify the algorithm
in an incredible way? “The next target that Cheonma Guntar will designate is Choi Ji-won.”
“Are you sure?”
“I am sure.”
Cheonma’s next opponent was decided to be Choi Ji-won. Honestly, I wanted to attack him 2-on-1 instead of 1-on-1, but the arena management would not allow me to approach Cheonma, who was locked in his room. Even if they did, they would have prepared various countermeasures. (The arena management said that they consider Guntar to be the next-generation star.)
The only way to get Cheonma out of his room was to drag him out into the ring. It was a method befitting the arena. And
so the day of the match came.
“… Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.”
Choi Ji-won finished preparing for the fight.
Cheonma had never killed a human before. He had never shown anything impressive. The same goes for Choi Ji-won. In addition, since the arena did not particularly promote this match, it did not attract much attention. Only a few people who had heard rumors came to watch. The small arena was relatively quiet.
“… Hoo.”
I looked down at the arena, waving my hands in the stands. It would have been better if I had fought. Watching others fight, especially Jiwon fighting, was extremely harmful to my heart.
No, let’s trust her. Let’s trust Choi Jiwon. At least she is the strongest swordsman I know. If you were to pick the world’s strongest player, she would be one of the top five. Cheonma
at her weakest, who has yet to grow at all. Choi Jiwon in perfect condition, fully prepared.
The strongest swordsman on Earth. The greatest devil in the universe.
“…”
“…”
Drones flew around the sky. Choi Jiwon and Cheonma Guntar. No one opened their mouths. They just stood there quietly, looking at each other.
A master recognizes another master. Has the battle already begun? The eyes of the two strong men busily scanned their postures, magic powers, and weapons. From above, from below. From below, from above.
“… Ahem.”
“Ahem, ahem.”
The tension of this showdown soon spread to the audience, and even some of the spectators who had been chatting through their terminals fell silent. The sight of those two standing still… strangely drew their attention. Like a magnet, it attracted all attention.
– Sreung.
Cheonma. Guntar took a step. It wasn’t for an attack. He had picked up one of the weapons lying on the floor.
“Sword.”
The weapon Guntar picked up was a sword. Coincidentally, the weapon hanging from Choi Jiwon’s waist was also a sword.
“Ha.”
Choi Jiwon let out a short breath. Guntar didn’t respond. At this point, Cheonma showed no emotion at all. After a certain amount of fighting, he would burst into rage or show laughter. In the beginning, he was just expressionless. Perhaps it was because he hadn’t been able to fully take control of his body.
“Players. Are you ready?”
Since there was no separate commentator, a drone flying through the air acted as the referee. In the circular stadium that resembled the Colosseum, the only noise was the drone’s mechanical sound.
“…”
“…”
There was no response from the players. They just adjusted their weapons in their hands.
“Start.”
That was the signal.
-Jjaeaeaeaaeng!!!!
With a sharp metallic sound, the two figures that had disappeared in an instant reappeared on the outskirts of the stadium. Disappearing, appearing again. Disappearing, appearing. It seemed as if they were seeing a teleportation phenomenon accompanied by an intense sound and flying sparks.
“…!”
Everyone in the audience gaped. They had come to the stadium without much expectation. They had never imagined that they would see such a high-level engagement there.
“Oh.”
In the midst of all this, a tentacle covered in a turban-like cloth let out an exclamation of admiration. The tentacle’s momentum was stable, and a terrifying amount of magical power was seething within its body. It must have been a considerable expert. The tentacle that
had been constantly waving its tip between the cloth clothes commented at one moment.
“The human woman is being pushed.”
It was true. The general audience was simply amazed by the flashy teleportation, but upon closer inspection, Choi Ji-won was constantly being pushed back.
“The human woman’s balance is good, but Guntar’s sword is too heavy and fast.”
Choi Ji-won responded according to the book. There was no mistake. She always chose the best move.
It was just that Guntar was too fast and heavy. Just by clashing swords, Choi Ji-won was taking a loss. However, if she tried to dodge without countering, the sword’s path was too exquisite. Force. Force would be the right word. Cheonma was forcing her loss.
“Ahem…”
“Hmm…”
As the tentacles’ commentary was added, the other spectators who had been watching nodded for the first time. The spectators in the arena also began to see more as they gained experience.
“…”
On the other hand, I smiled inwardly. At the moment, it seemed like Choi Ji-won was being pushed back.
“Boom boom. Here we go.”
That was because she hadn’t used ‘Heart of the Lightning’ yet.
– Flash!
Blue lightning struck the stadium. Most of the spectators covered their eyes because of the intense light, but a small number of strong players were still looking at the stadium.
-Kaaang! Kaaang! Kaaang!
The situation had changed. This time, Choi Ji-won was pushing. The only reason Cheonma had the upper hand until now was because he was faster and hit harder.
But now Choi Ji-won was faster. Now Choi Ji-won was stronger. Cheonma’s heavy sword couldn’t reach Choi Ji-won, while Choi Ji-won’s lightning kept burning Cheonma’s fur. Now Cheonma was the one retreating.
“…!”
There was no way Cheonma wouldn’t notice the change in the situation. Cheonma, who had been holding his sword tightly with both hands, changed his posture. From a heavy sword to a fast and defensive sword. He used his magic power to block the collateral damage caused by the lightning. It was a surprisingly fast and swift change.
“You found the optimal answer.”
The tentacles commented. Yes, that Cheonma was no ordinary Cheonma. It was none other than the ‘Growing Heavenly Horse’. He possessed the talent to steal other people’s martial arts just by watching them, and he was a cruel slaughterer who wiped out all the humans on a planet. Heavenly Horse transformed into the most efficient form to counter Choi Ji-won.
Once again, an equal sword fight was exchanged. Choi Ji-won was the one who was faster and stronger, but Heavenly Horse’s swordsmanship was too solid. His intentions were obvious. He was trying to buy time. Perhaps, he had figured out that ‘Heart of the Battle of the Ice’ was a technique specialized for short-term decisive battles.
However, only six attacks were exchanged.
“?!”
“How?”
Choi Ji-won was the one who pushed. The wounds on Heavenly Horse’s body increased. The blade was seen being sharpened. Bloody fur fluttered in the air.
The reason was simple. Choi Ji-won had also transformed to match Heavenly Horse’s defense. ‘Transformation’ was not something Heavenly Horse had exclusive power over.
We already knew that Heavenly Horse was a monster. We knew that the techniques we knew were similar to Hahae’s. In order to win, he had to finish quickly, but he understood that Cheonma might be buying time.
“That woman… is she a genius?”
Choi Jiwon said he was confident. Although the opponent was a monster, he also said that he had devoted his entire life to the sword. Although it was only 20 years, he assured that his color was darker than anyone else’s.
Time flows differently for a genius. What someone could not do even if they devoted their entire lives, someone else could do in an instant. For someone, it was a battle that lasted only a minute, but for someone else, it was enough time to take a step forward.
Cheonma’s swordsmanship changed. For a moment, they seemed equal, but then they were pushed back.
A quick and nimble quick sword. A dazzling illusion sword. A swashbuckling sword that overwhelms the enemy. A heavy heavy sword. A soft relic sword. A powerful strong sword. A change sword that changed every moment. A true sword that imitated Choi Jiwon’s sword
. None of them exceeded five hits. It was meaningless in front of Choi Jiwon’s blue lightning. The bluff swung. Blood splattered. A long wound was drawn across Cheonma’s chest.
A human woman might win. Everyone thought so at that moment.
-Chae-Ang!
Choi Ji-won took a step back. Her breathing became shaky as she tried to block the sword that Cheonma had thrown at her unexpectedly. She could have forcefully blocked the sword and rushed forward, but Choi Ji-won didn’t. Cheonma had already pulled out a dagger from his bosom. If she had rushed forward, she would have been stabbed.
“I admit it.”
“…”
“You are… a sword genius.”
Cheonma said. Had Cheonma ever spoken this early? Did this bloody fight accelerate growth? Choi Ji-won’s expression hardened as if she had reached the same conclusion as I had.
“So.”
Cheonma picked up the whip lying on the floor. Dagger in one hand. Whip in the other.
“I will show you my due respect.”
The bloody water spirit declared. It’s just the beginning.