299 – Returner’s Fight (18)

Choi Ji-won declared that if it were me, Kim Jun-ho, he could defeat Cheonma.

“Wait. I think I know.”

“Huh?”

“Destruction.”

I also watched the fight earlier. I could roughly guess what Choi Ji-won was trying to say.

“First of all… Cheonma’s goal was to buy time. Is that right?”

Cheonma grows while fighting. It constantly becomes stronger. It absorbs and learns from its enemies’ techniques. The problem is that the trigger for that strengthening is the battle itself.

“That’s why we have to take him down before he becomes strong enough.”

A fully grown Cheonma is unstoppable. I am confident that I will not dare to fight him unless a ‘Archangel’-level munchkin comes. From my perspective, who regresses when he takes damage, the deadline is the moment Cheonma can use his magic. If you are exposed to that crimson magic, you will be issued a ticket to regress immediately.

So the best thing to do is to kill him as soon as you see him. The situation you encounter is when Cheonma is at his weakest. We are not the main characters of a comic book, and there is no need to drag the fight out. You can just use his ultimate attack as soon as you see him.

However, as my thoughts have reached this point, a thought suddenly occurs to me.

It may seem a little irresponsible, but I have to say what I have to say.

“But… can’t you do it?”

Choi Ji-won can regress with me. Therefore, Choi Ji-won can also use this method of destruction using regression.

Theoretically, I can use ‘Heart of Cold’ to pull out a crazy high point… but my body can’t handle it right now. Choi Ji-won is stronger right now.

If I could do it, I would do it. Just watching doesn’t suit my personality. However, I think Choi Ji-won can do it better than me,

so I insist that it’s better. Choi Ji-won, who was listening to me, said

, “No?”

She shook her head. No.

“First of all, there’s something you’re mistaken about. Cheonma regains his strength. He doesn’t grow.”

“… I know what you mean. Isn’t it similar?”

“No. The speed is different.”

Choi Ji-won is a genius. She came up with a method of destruction for every new technique Cheonma used. First of all, it’s a feat that I absolutely could not do, and most of humanity could not even reproduce.

“But that’s forging a new path. Cheonma goes back to the path he’s already been on. You can’t compare the speeds.”

“Hmm…”

However, Cheonma’s strength increases even faster than that. It’s similar to ‘regression.’ If you look at the main characters of the original possession story, they start out weak, but then one of the seals is released during the fight. When two are released, they become incredibly strong. Cheonma’s case can be seen as similar.

“And above all else. From the time I fought, Cheonma was saving his strength. At least that’s how it looked.”

“… What?”

Choi Jiwon finished what he was saying, my mouth hanging open.

“But if I had been a little stronger and more skilled, there were a few attacks that would have been fatal to Cheonma. I keep getting confused about that part. Is it within the realm of expectation or an act of God?”

“… What do you mean? I don’t really understand because I wasn’t the one who fought him.”

“I’m having doubts right now.”

Choi Jiwon tapped on the terminal and roughly drew a picture of a very vicious-looking wolf.

“Okay, this is Cheonma. From what I felt while fighting, he was saving his strength.”

“Oh, okay.”

Cheonma hid his strength. When I think about it, it’s not surprising. People like Cheonma are used to hiding things.

“But if you look at the battle, I definitely pushed forward.

“Isn’t that right?” “I

think this was Cheonma’s plan.”

“What do you mean?”

“I think he thought swordsmanship was the most suitable for facing me. That’s why it actually dragged on for a long time. After that, he took out his whip and dagger, right? Swordsmanship itself was much more difficult. Whips and daggers were relatively easy. But the fight was evenly matched?”

“Cheonma’s techniques got weaker, but his body got stronger, so it was balanced?”

“That’s right.”

So according to Choi Ji-won, the previous fight seemed to be Cheonma’s highly designed plan. When his physical ability was at its weakest, he would use his most confident sword, and as his physical ability gradually grew stronger, he would use weaker techniques.

“But there were two moments when I had doubts.”

I’m just a spectator, so my memory is vague, but Choi Ji-won, who fought directly, remembered every moment.

“At the point when I cut my arm, if I had been a little stronger, it could have been a fatal wound. I could have cut my armpit instead of my arm, and that’s not a part that heals easily even with Suin’s regenerative powers. It’s a joint, so it has nothing to do with physical strength.”

“If I cut there, would I be unable to use my arm at all?”

“Yes.”

Cheonma barely dodged the attack, which almost hit that fatal part.

“But thinking about it again, if my condition had been a little better. If I had been a little faster, it would have been a fatal wound at that timing. It had nothing to do with Cheonma’s response; it was just that I was weak and couldn’t reach him.”

“Hmm…”

I understood what Choi Jiwon was trying to say. He was confused as to whether Cheonma anticipated Choi Jiwon’s weakness and didn’t dodge, or whether he couldn’t dodge.

“But if you say that he ‘couldn’t’ dodge, that doesn’t make sense in general. Right now, Cheonma is hiding his power.”

“What if he’s not hiding his power?”

Choi Ji-won was the one who said Cheonma was hiding his power. But this time, he’s not hiding his power? It’s hard to follow. What are you trying to say?

“The second strange thing was when Cheonma held his spear.”

This time, she was drawing a spear on her terminal.

“When Cheonma held a new weapon, I consciously forgot everything I had learned before. It was a different weapon, and he used a different method of operation.”

“Is that possible?”

“It was hard, but it was possible. Because it was just Boongboong and me.”

Choi Ji-won, who was casually saying something incredibly great.

“But when Cheonma used his spear, I made a small mistake.”

“Mistake?”

“That’s right, a gap. By my standards, it was definitely a gap. It was a weakness that had already been stabbed when Cheonma used his sword.”

A bad habit Choi Ji-won showed when Cheonma used his sword. A bad gap. Because of that, I lost a breath and thought I fixed it right away. In the process of clearing my head to deal with the spear, Choi Ji-won said that he made the same mistake again.

“But Cheonma just stayed still. Even though he repeated his previous weakness.”

“… So?”

“So what?”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“Is this too strange?”

Choi Ji-won drawing a sword next to the spear.

“Even though the weapons are different, the trick is the same. Most things that can be done with a sword can be done with an axe or a spear. There are movements that only those weapons can do, but the ‘concept’ of fighting is free from that.”

“So what you’re saying is.”

Cheonma is a master. It’s strange that such a master didn’t hit the weak point that he should have hit.

“This is strange. I’m in the position to deal with Cheonma’s techniques, so even if I clear my head. Cheonma doesn’t need to do that, right?”

“Hmm…”

“Cheonma can’t mix techniques. You can consider this almost certain. But do you know what’s connected here?”

A sword next to the spear. An axe next to it. A whip next to it.

“Maybe Cheonma… can’t use a technique he’s used once again. It’s strange, if you think about it. Understanding a technique just by looking at it is one thing, but using it yourself is another thing. Cheonma uses too many techniques too skillfully.”

All of them, Xs are drawn. On the sword. On the spear. On the axe.

“Junho. Try to recall your memories. You said that Guntar used 71 weapons during his time in the arena. Cheonma is the same. Cheonma intentionally used a variety of weapons. At first, I thought he was trying to buy time, but…”

“…”

“Maybe it wasn’t some kind of ‘restriction’?”

“… Restriction.”

“That’s the point I’m making.”

Choi Ji-won circles a roughly drawn picture of a bad wolf.

“Cheonma isn’t ‘not’ using his power, he might just be ‘unable’ to use his power.”

“…”

“And he’s not intentionally using a variety of weapons. Maybe he has to use a variety of weapons. I think we need to delve into this part to attack Cheonma.”

It’s possible. It’s just a possibility for now.

“I can check that out by fighting again.”

However, as long as she has ‘Regression’, she can check it out. Choi Ji-won still had plenty of opportunities left.

But the thought comes to her again.

“So… why do you think I have to fight?”

Why me of all people? Not Choi Ji-won.

“Of course, it’s because of Han-gi?”

Choi Ji-won says casually. No, what does that have to do with Cheonma’s limitations that I’ve been talking about so far and my Han-gi?

“Cheonma doesn’t use magic power. I’ll have to check to see if it can’t use it or doesn’t use it. In any case, it doesn’t use it at all until it’s strong enough.”

“Right?”

“But your Han-gi… isn’t it half-impossible to resist unless you resist it with magic power?”

“Ah.”

… Really?