Impermanence of all things.
The most powerful means possessed by Aslan.
This combat technique ignores the form and limitations of all skills, doubling the damage output while causing durability to decrease twice as fast.
A final special ability not present in the game, enabling Aslan to slay priests.
This special ability was undoubtedly powerful. It could slice through a priest’s body that couldn’t be scratched by ordinary weapons and turn even light attacks into fatal wounds.
However, because of its immense power, Aslan’s fighting style had become rigid.
Weapons would easily shatter upon defense, and there was the risk of missing critical strikes during crucial moments. Therefore, Aslan’s tactics were centered around thorough evasion—dodging and counterattacking.
But things were different now.
A blade burning with pure white fire, Purity.
This blade prepared by an ancient deity at the cost of their life would not fade as long as Aslan’s will remained unbroken.
It wouldn’t break as long as defeat wasn’t acknowledged.
The constraint of double durability consumption could be ignored.
Kaang!
Thus, Aslan met the attack head-on with his blade. A small dart heading toward his head, made of flesh and bone fragments moving at high speed with force surpassing even an average arrow, was deflected by Aslan’s blade.
Completely absorbing the impact without straining his body, he pushed it away.
After deflecting the fragment resembling sowbrain, countless lethal intents charged forward in succession. Aslan tracked them all with just his right eye.
The vividly perceived slow movements entered his bloodshot eyes. Aslan moved after comprehending every trajectory.
Clang!
The sound of shards meeting death. Twisting his waist, Aslan evaded the motion trying to pierce through his plate armor. Countless deaths rained down on him like rain.
Kagakang!
A diagonal downward strike. Two bone fragments were struck down. The following flesh bits were pierced upward, and he spun his body to shake off what clung to the blade.
Stepping back with his left foot, forward with his right, twisting his waist and bending his legs, Aslan swung his blade in the direction his bent body faced, severing the tentacle rushing from behind and clearing the blade.
Pajijijik!
Lightning falling from above. Aslan avoided it by instinctively bending his body, reading the trajectory before it was launched and dodging in advance, though escaping lightning itself was impossible.
Aslan’s gaze swiftly scanned upwards then swept around. His dilated pupils pressed against the whites of his eyes.
Sowgar!
A rising slash forming a half-moon. Cutting off the tentacle-like hand that fired the lightning, Aslan lightly leaped and flipped his body.
[LEVEL UP]
As the message appeared in the corner of his vision, Aslan somersaulted through the air.
“Seems you’re doing well up there. Your level has increased.”
Meanwhile, long tentacles adorned with bone shards passed both below and above simultaneously. Aslan sharply slashed twice upon landing.
Tjak!
Through the severed tentacles, a long bone shard aimed for Aslan’s head. It was a javelin thrown by a tentacle resembling a hand. Instinctively extending his blade, Aslan countered.
Ujijijik!
He thrusts, twisted the blade, slashed upward while twisting, and the sword that normally would have broken held firm due to Aslan’s determination. Burning with the resolve of a man who vowed to kill a quasi-god despite being one-armed and one-eyed, it didn’t break.
Instead, the bone javelin shattered. Before the force could transfer to his body, Aslan spun.
Aslan’s strength was merely 2.
Even with enhancement via wild magic, it was only 3.
The sole use of Impermanence of all things alone wasn’t enough to fell a strong enemy.
So, he rotated.
Since he couldn’t achieve it solely with brute force, he utilized everything he could—the centrifugal force, the enemy, and his own body.
A method only Aslan could execute, not Ereta or any other veteran. While evading or deflecting the enemy’s attacks, he used their momentum to rotate.
At the peak of avoidance and combat techniques, with the help of no-skill, Aslan delivered death with a single rotation.
Kwajik!
That death drew a white line. A diagonal upward strike. The intestine that tried to grab Aslan from behind was cleanly split in two.
Like cutting butter with a heated knife.
Between the severed intestines, a bone sowbrain rushed forward. Aslan flipped his wrist with a fierce glare.
Kagagagakang!
Striking down, bending his wrist to slash upward, blocking with the hilt, spinning to thrust and deflect, he flicked the sowbrain away with mere wrist movement.
In the briefest of moments, between the javelins flying through the air on different trajectories, Aslan’s lips moved.
“Shadow Manipulation.”
The tattoo flashed. Amidst the blue light, his mouth opened.
“Silence.”
With a roaring sound, the space was enveloped in silence. In this state, Aslan moved his eyes. The silent space directed the shapeless entity’s killing intent towards where Aslan had been.
Silent projectiles made of bone and flesh shot forth.
Aslan lifted his blade at the center.
Behind him, the shadow wriggled but was not immediately used. There was something Aslan needed to confirm. The shadow wriggling at his back strained and screamed.
The space was painted white. Aslan’s piercing strike, accelerated by adrenaline, was beyond the reach of human sight. In the white-painted space, countless sowbrains and javelins were deflected and shattered.
At the center, Aslan moved straight toward the heart.
Two wriggling giant tentacles emerged from the wall, targeting Aslan. Amid the silence, Aslan stopped after glancing up.
‘As expected.’
Aslan was certain. At the moment he stopped, the shadow wriggling behind him lunged forward.
It resembled Aslan. The corporeal shadow quickly leaped toward the heart.
Then the tentacles struck the shadow instead of Aslan. In the silence, only the crushed shadow was clear.
‘No sight. Sensory organs are tactile.’
The walls of flesh filling the entire room. How did these shapeless entities without eyes detect? Through touch.
With certainty, Aslan moved, covering for the crushed shadow. Clearly dead, Aslan’s movement caused the massive tentacle dragging its bulk on the floor to wriggle.
‘Regeneration is focused on the pillar. Definitely.’
The tentacles Aslan cut did not regenerate. With his brightly glowing right eye, Aslan stared at the giant tentacle and ran.
Reinforcing his legs with mana and pressing them firmly into the ground.
‘Thunder Calling.’
As his legs turned pale, Aslan pulled his right arm holding the sword toward his severed left shoulder.
‘Mooncutting.’
A simple piercing strike wouldn’t sever such a massive tentacle. To cut both, an equally massive piercing strike was necessary.
And the most suitable option for that situation was Mooncutting.
The next instant, Aslan shot forward with an inaudible thunderclap.
The surroundings distorted, and everything before his eyes blurred. But Aslan could fully perceive objects even within this distorted vision thanks to enhanced cognitive abilities from acceleration magic.
That cognition drew precise trajectories. Twelve years of experience, thousands of battles, hundreds of life-and-death situations, and the navigation between life and death—all the trajectories they drew were swept by Aslan’s sword.
The trajectory stretched long. So much so that it extended unnaturally, painting the space with a long white streak despite the sword remaining unchanged.
And the sound returned.
Kugung!
The sound of the severed giant tentacle falling could be heard. Amid the chaos, Aslan raised his blade with eyes shining brilliantly.
Moving forward slightly, Aslan placed the blade against his left shoulder again, glaring at the pulsating heart.
Perceiving this only through tactile senses, the shapeless entity panicked.
Regeneration was impossible. It was too risky for the pillar. Aslan was fighting directly above the heart chamber where a girl and a woman were struggling, cutting, and holding the pillar.
There was no room for carelessness; the pillar might be severed. Regeneration couldn’t be allocated solely to the heart chamber.
It couldn’t abandon the fight against a dying human either.
It couldn’t give up its own heart, but neither could it forsake the pillar.
It was unfamiliar with attacks from both sides.
Thus, the priest sought another means. The gray membrane encasing the surface of the heart inflated.
It swelled and mutated. Repeating inflation and deflation, its surface became thorny.
This process happened in an instant. Watching this, Aslan widened his eyes and followed the movement with his dilated pupils.
Tutututu!
A sound akin to machine-gun fire. Countless thorns were fired toward Aslan.
Chilling intent aimed to pierce Aslan’s head, pelvis, waist, chest, legs, and arms.
Almost simultaneously, this intent reached every part of Aslan.
Deflecting all of them was impossible. They were too close. Aslan’s mind rapidly decided which parts to abandon, which to evade, and which to protect at all costs.
Immediately afterward, sparks flew. Aslan moved erratically, swinging his blade, deflecting with his armor, and twisting his body at the last moment to reduce the impact of those aiming for his legs.
Among them, there was only one he couldn’t handle—or rather, didn’t need to.
One aimed to penetrate his orbital cavity and destroy his right eye.
Aslan intuited this. It was intended to completely deprive him of sight.
“Fine, let’s play along.”
A twisted smile. An evident mockery accompanied Aslan closing his eyes.
Closing his eyes while bringing up the system window, Aslan took a deep breath.
Eujik!
The skull surrounding the orbital cavity fractured, mashing the eye. Yet, the system window shone brightly amidst the pitch-black darkness.
The system window always did this. Whether his eyes were closed or he was in a pitch-black cave, it remained visible.
Now, despite his completely destroyed eyeball, it was vividly clear.
His accelerated body moved swiftly. Feeling the thorn stopping as it broke his nasal bone, Aslan quickly tapped his name.
[Aslan]
[Strength 2] [Agility ■] [Health ■]
[Mana 6] [Willpower 7] [Luck 8]
The stat points gained from leveling up were three. Aslan poured all of them into Luck.
Then he gripped his curved sword firmly.
An indescribable sixth sense. This subtle sensation transmitted information that should’ve been unknowable beyond the dimmed vision.
Thus, having lost both eyes, Aslan moved while bleeding from them.
‘It’s coming.’
Clang!
The approaching crisis. The distinct death. Aslan swung his curved sword to deflect the tentacle descending to crush his head.
Kagakang!
Subsequent sharp bone fragments flying in. The same tactic. Though it might seem tiresome, the unwavering figure reminded him of Cornil Ashuld. Lowering his left knee, Aslan turned.
Amid the deflected bone fragments, the confusion of the shapeless entity was palpable.
“Try it.”
Aslan’s lips moved. The words reached the shapeless entity through the fleshy walls as tactile information. Enraged, the entity swung its tentacles and fired countless bone fragments densely, like a curtain of blades enveloping Aslan. It formed a sphere.
At the center, Aslan extended his blade.
‘I can feel it.’
The sixth sense isn’t a superpower.
It’s the culmination of experiences and unprocessed sensory information, automatically computed to produce predictions.
Aslan’s experiences are countless, and his senses are vivid. Even without sight, there are other senses.
Hearing captures the wind’s sound, olfaction detects the foul smell from the bone fragments, and the skin and exposed scalp feel the warm breeze.
Without sight, one typically cannot fight. Sight is crucial in combat, so replacing it requires more than just heightened senses.
Through all acquired sensations, the finely honed ‘sixth sense’ and ‘experience’ generate results. Aslan merely swings his sword over these results.
‘I’m going.’
Aslan moved.
Kak
The sensation of a bone fragment catching the tip of the blade. Despite the vanished constraint of doubled durability consumption, Aslan found evasion suited him best.
Given that a single mistake equates to death now, Aslan believed choosing the most familiar and effective method was right. Precisely, his experience dictated so.
While deflecting the bone sowbrain, he redirected the force into twisting his blade, receiving the recoil with his waist, maintaining leg strength with mana, and without wavering posture, he didn’t hesitate.
Attacks following the precisely drawn upward trajectory were deflected. Aslan flipped his wrist, received the recoil with his waist again, and swung closely to his body.
The ivory-white sword strike forms a circle. Overlaying the upper layer of pale death, Aslan’s determination burns. Countless attacks descend like falling leaves.
In the midst of these cascading intents to kill, Aslan smiled. His grip, soaked with sweat and blood, his mind clouded by severe bleeding, remained steady.
Acceleration had already ceased, and adrenaline was returning as a backlash.
The nearly dying Aslan smiled and spoke.
“Is this all you’ve got?”
The mockery reignited a barely flickering self-awareness.
Anger is a strong emotion. The undiluted ‘Cornil Ashuld’ stirred, drawn by this mockery, extracting the longest and strongest tentacle.
The most powerful and fastest attack. The attack that had previously taken Aslan’s left eye and arm. A thrust. Using forcibly reduced regeneration, the massive tentacle flew toward Aslan.
An unstoppable strong attack against Aslan, who lacked sight, an arm, and was nearly dead, with acceleration also turned off. A cherished, potent attack.
Aslan sensed it with luck and moved his lips.
“Equalization.”
The tattoo burned blue. The moment it flared, the tentacle struck.
Kuaaaaaang!
Gururur
Rising dust clouds. The powerful strike that could split even the thick walls battered the basement’s stone walls and slammed into the ground. Amid the dense dust clouds, a light flashed.
“You idiot.”
Cutting through the dust, Aslan burst out.
Aslan, covered in blood from head to toe, clearly far from healthy.
Aslan, still possessing all four limbs and both eyes.
Strong attacks inevitably create openings. Aslan targeted those openings.
He prolonged the tension until it was almost unbearable, provoked, and made the opponent impatient enough to launch a strong attack.
He waited for impatience to bloom within the possibly existing self-awareness.
Finally, the bloomed impatience. An obvious blunder. Within this, Aslan evaded the attack using Equalization and aimed his blade at the heart, running atop the tentacle.
Remaining mana: 10. Remaining willpower: 2. Remaining magic: two. Scrolls: one.
Limited means were available, yet he had seized the advantage.
During his 12-year wandering, Aslan had never once lost an advantage once he’d gained it.
But a tentacle blocked his path late.
“Lightning Arrow.”
Pajijijik!
The electric shock emitted by Aslan’s outstretched hand illuminated the heart chamber and became meaningless. The tentacle hit by the electric shock writhed in pain, and Aslan leapt forward.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
The pulsating giant heart. The priest devoid of any remaining attack methods. Aslan clenched his teeth, inhaled deeply, and gripped his blade. Just as he reached the distance where the blade could touch the heart, the shadow wavering beneath his feet disappeared.
‘Shadow Reversal.’
Tjak!
An X-shaped cut across the heart. Thick blood spurted out. Aslan thrust his right hand through the gap.
Pow!
The mana-enhanced arm plunged into the heart where the blade had carved a wound. The quivering flesh startled by the intruding arm was too late.
Aslan released his clenched jaw.
This magic was symbolic of the Evocation school and invariably mentioned when discussing aggressive spells.
Its principle and method were simple: condense flames and detonate them—a straightforward yet powerful offensive magic.
This magic erupted from Aslan’s right hand.
“Fireball.”
The moment the tattoo flashed blue, a colossal flame erupted from within the heart.
