Chapter 164

Countless black thorny masses surged from Rekalux’s form.

Ruska swung her sword multiple times in an instant and tore them apart.

Literally torn apart, not just figuratively.

‘What the hell is that?’

It was so absurd to watch.

I don’t know what she did, but every time her sword moved, silver lines followed, blocking all attacks.

‘…I don’t know if it’s just my imagination, but it feels similar to the golden energy Yoo Ju uses.’

The problem was its regeneration. It regenerated instantly after being torn apart, which was an utterly nonsensical sight.

“No matter how much you slash or stab, it’s useless. This body endlessly merges and regenerates. Isn’t this the destination all life desires to reach?”

Its form swayed mercilessly, with eyes and mouths laughing as if it were human.

‘It looks horrifying, but it’s a real headache.’

I’ve never seen anything with such regenerative abilities before. Ruska and Ha Yu-ri probably feel the same.

It would’ve been great if I could help, but unfortunately, Mutant Devourer can’t be used for 24 hours after reverting to seed form.

‘It’s useful, but in situations like this, it’s definitely a problem.’

It’s true that there are difficulties in prolonged or repeated battles.

“Give me back my sister, give her back!”

Boom!

Large chunks of ice slammed into Rekalux’s body, but it regenerated instantly.

“After this fight, I’ll personally remodel your sister. Mixing her with a few monsters might not be a bad idea.”

The creature was deliberately provoking Ha Yu-ri.

“How dare you!”

Whoosh—

As Ha Yu-ri stretched out her hand, an ice storm engulfed Rekalux.

Sssss—

I don’t know what’s happening in that ice storm, but its body is being torn apart in real-time, with black liquid splattering everywhere.

The problem is, the black liquid that splattered everywhere turned into tiny jaws and attacked us.

“Master, don’t leave my side.”

It was like a sword dance. Every time Ruska swung her sword, silver lines beautifully adorned the air.

But the beauty of the sword dance was filled with lethal force.

All the jaws approaching Ruska and me were sliced apart.

‘Sigh…’

Ha Yu-ri suddenly opened her mouth as if she remembered something.

“Ah, wait… I just thought of something.”

“What?”

“Freeze!”

Ha Yu-ri shouted and froze the pieces torn apart by Ruska before they could regenerate.

‘Ah…’

The parts that could no longer regenerate.

‘Does freezing stop regeneration?’

Ha Yu-ri seemed unsure if her idea would work, but when the frozen pieces didn’t regenerate, her face lit up.

“Good, with this, we can…!”

Crunch

“Huh?”

“Ha Yu-ri!”

The creature’s writhing body pierced through Ha Yu-ri’s abdomen.

“Guh…!”

Her magic scattered, and the ice storm began to dissipate.

“Ha Yu-ri! Freeze the wounded part immediately! Hurry!”

It was an urgent situation.

‘If this continues, Ha Yu-ri will die.’

Ha Yu-ri suppressed her groans and immediately used her magic to freeze the pierced part of her abdomen.

“Guh… Why did you tell me to freeze it…?”

Ha Yu-ri’s face was pale, like someone about to die.

The side effect of using too much magic while focusing on defense in the fight with her sister. And now, this injury.

I quickly explained to Ha Yu-ri while Ruska dealt with the creature.

“If you don’t freeze it, you’ll die. Never release your magic. Keep it frozen.”

“Die…?”

You can’t dismiss its attack as just a simple attack.

It doesn’t attack with weapons like swords; it attacks with its own body.

A chimera’s body that can split and transform into other monsters at any moment.

“If it had penetrated your body, a normal person would’ve died. What if the part stuck in your body mutated into tiny monsters right now?”

“Ah…”

“The reason you’re still alive is because you froze it immediately after being attacked. If you had been even a little late, you would’ve died.”

It’s not just dying. You would’ve been eaten alive by monsters, exploded, or died in various horrific ways.

Ha Yu-ri spoke to me in a weak voice.

“…I lost again. Thanks to you, I’m alive. Thank you.”

“Save the thanks. Stay in the back. No matter how hard it is, never release your magic. The moment you do, you die. Got it?”

Ha Yu-ri nodded.

“…Ruska, can you handle it alone?”

Ha Yu-ri was effectively out. Honestly, I didn’t expect to struggle with this lineup.

“Master, you don’t need to ask. Just order me to destroy it. I won’t betray your expectations.”

She closed her eyes and gripped her sword with both hands.

“I’ll show you how reliable I am.”

Her aura had changed.

Even I, with my weak military power, could feel it. Rekalux must have felt it even more.

“…What? What are you doing…”

Ruska didn’t answer Rekalux. She needed to focus.

‘It’s tough to deeply embed one’s will into an attack.’

Embedding one’s will into an attack is on a completely different level from simply swinging a sword.

Moreover, while she confidently spoke to her master, this old monster was one of the strongest opponents Ruska had ever faced.

‘No, calling it a person might be a stretch.’

A monster that had abandoned its humanity.

‘But whether it’s hard or easy, it must be done.’

Her master desired the death of this old monster. Then, that’s all that mattered.

As Ruska charged at it, attacks surged.

But not a single attack hit Ruska.

No attack could touch her.

If she had dodged even slightly wrong or moved a moment late, she would’ve suffered fatal injuries.

In the midst of attacks that seemed impossible to dodge, Ruska moved flawlessly.





They were trying to find a way to avoid it.

“Such a slippery eel…!”

If there was no way to avoid it, they could just swing their swords and create an opening.

“Do you think I’ll just take this lying down?!”

In an instant, black masses bubbled up and formed the shape of Medusa.

“This is…”

In that moment, unable to avoid Medusa’s gaze, their bodies froze.

‘Oh no…’

Immediately, countless snakes created by Medusa lunged at Ruska.

But silver threads wrapped around her body, slicing all the snakes to pieces.

Without even needing to move, she defended herself by controlling her mental state with sheer willpower.

Rekalux felt fear at Ruska’s military power.

“How… Among all the people I’ve met so far, no one has reached your level. How on earth…”

“It’s because the years I’ve lived are different.”

“What?”

“There’s no need for you to understand. It’s just that I’m different from you, who only moves for your own benefit.”

“…..”

“You, a monster who was born human but gave up on being human, the limits of your race cannot be surpassed like that.”

“Are you denying me? How dare…”

“The word ‘dare’ isn’t something you should be using in this situation. You still don’t get it, do you? Haven’t you noticed that something has changed?”

“What?”

At Ruska’s words, Rekalux suddenly realized.

The fact that his body, torn apart by that woman, wasn’t regenerating.

“Eternal immortality? There’s no such thing in this world. It means your regenerative abilities aren’t omnipotent either.”

“What…”

“My current mental state is to kill you. So, you will die. No regeneration or anything like that.”

Rekalux couldn’t understand what that woman was saying.

‘Is it because of her mental state that I can’t regenerate?’

It’s just that he knew about the realm of manifesting mental states but hadn’t reached it directly.

Ruska moved her finger. Medusa’s petrification ability was indeed powerful, but it was only effective against the weak or ordinary people.

For someone as strong as Ruska, it could only stop her for a brief moment.

Confirming that the petrification had been lifted, she advanced towards Rekalux.

“Damn it! Don’t come any closer! I said don’t come closer!”

As long as his regenerative abilities were ineffective against her attacks, every one of her attacks from now on would be fatal.

In an attempt to stop Ruska, he created all sorts of monsters from his body to attack, but it was useless in preventing her approach.

“Damn it! Block her for me!”

At Rekalux’s words, Ha Yul, who was confronting Charis, started running towards Rekalux to take Ruska’s attack in his place.

“Huh, huh?”

Charis, also not expecting this, was caught off guard and missed the moment.

If this continued, the scene of Ha Yul dying in Rekalux’s place flashed in everyone’s minds.

“… I’m sorry, sister.”

Squelch—

Ha Yul’s feet, running towards them, froze along with the ground.

Ha Yu-ri had squeezed out the last of her magical power to bind her sister’s feet.

Rekalux could only scream at the future that would unfold in a few seconds.

“No! This can’t be happening…!”

Squelch—

Ruska’s sword pierced through Rekalux’s body.

Crunch—

“Arghhh!”

Silver threads swirled around, tearing through Rekalux’s body.

Monster forms, human forms, and shapes of unknown origins.

Rekalux’s body split apart, and numerous forms screamed and writhed in agony.

“No! I, no, we can’t die like this…!”

“No, die like this. This is not where you belong.”

With those words, Ruska exploded her magical power through the sword, obliterating him.

Boom!

The remnants of Rekalux scattered in all directions.

Just as some were about to hit me, silver threads moved to annihilate the debris heading my way.

‘… Impressive.’

Watching the battle, I realized one thing.

That even among rankers, there are levels.

For example, comparing Ha Yu-ri and Charis to Ruska, Ruska clearly exists a step above them.

The distinction lies in the realm of mental states.

Ha Yu-ri and Charis couldn’t manifest their mental states in their attacks. The proof was their inability to suppress Rekalux’s regenerative abilities.

But I’m not sure about Yoo Ju.

‘In terms of ability, there’s a difference, but their realms seem almost the same.’

The golden aura Yoo Ju used. I might be wrong, but in my opinion, that was also a realm of mental states.

‘Not all rankers are the same. The difference between those who can manifest mental states and those who can’t is clear.’

As for Yoon Yeon and Yanagiya Riki… I think I’ll have to check later.

But at the very least, they should know how to manifest mental states or have taken the first steps.

“Ruska, you’ve worked hard.”

“No, master. Just a moment…”

“Huh?”

Suddenly, she approached me and hugged me.

I couldn’t help but be startled by the sudden physical contact.

“What, what’s this? Why are you doing this?”

Ruska answered in a tired voice.

“I’m exhausted now. I want to rest in your arms for a while.”

‘Well… It would be strange if she wasn’t tired.’

“I’ve accomplished what you wanted, master. Shouldn’t you reward me?”

“Reward?”

“I’d like you to hug me tightly. Then my tired body will recover quickly.”

‘Ah…’

… Honestly, after all this hardship, hugging her tightly once is something I can definitely do.

Just as I was about to do as Ruska said, I heard Ha Yu-ri’s voice.

“Yu, Yul!”

… And then, I realized there was still one important problem left.