Swoosh!—
The wire shot out with blur and around Riak’s arm.
“Hmpf!”
Riak didn’t bother to avoid it and instead pulled on the wire.
Ohjin’s was pulled towards him like a fish caught on a rod from the overwhelming difference in physical strength.
“I’ll at least acknowledge that courage of yours!”
Riak didn’t expect him to be able to penetrate through the killing intent that he had been putting all of his effort into releasing.
“However…!”
Courage that wasn’t backed up with strength was nothing but temerity.
“You are nothing without it!”
Riak swung not his fist but his sharp claws at Ohjin, who was being pulled in without retaliation.
A strike filled with thick killing intent.
Mere delicate human bodies would be shredded like paper if they got caught in his claws.
—And then.
“Hmpf!”
Click!—
Ohjin released the wire shooter on his left arm.
He slid using the momentum that had been dragging him and swung his spear low towards Riak’s ankles.
“You dare!”
Staying calm, Riak grasped the wire in his hands and jumped up.
Swish!—
The silver spear split apart the air in vain.
“Ah.”
A short exclamation flowed out of Ohjin’s mouth.
It was a last-ditch attack made with the determination of unequipping his wire shooter, but it was seen through too easily.
And the failure of a last-ditch attack against a powerful being like Riak meant—
“I’ll keep an eye on you and see if that courage of yours remains after experiencing death!”
—death.
Boooooooooom!!—
“Kuuugh?!”
Riak’s kick didn’t contain a bit of mercy.
Ohjin, who was kicked in the stomach, bent into a ㄱ shape and shot off.
He felt the pain of intestines ripping.
The sensation of his crushed spine digging into his flesh was spread vividly all over his body.
[My child!]
“Ohjin!”
He heard the hurried voice of two women.
“Cough!”
Dark red blood rode up his throat and poured out.
“…Ah.”
His consciousness flickered.
A soul-escaping sense of helplessness took over his body.
And then—
Owooong!—
—his flickering consciousness became clear once again with rays of silver light.
His injuries started to regenerate as if time had reversed.
“Haa! Haa!”
The residual, dreadful pain of his intestines ripping and spine crushing was left on his body.
“Ah, uh.”
Shiver—
Ohjin grasped his chest while his two legs shook.
He wanted to grab the spear that had fallen onto the ground once again, but his body wouldn’t move easily.
However…
“…”
Clench—
He gritted his teeth and put strength into his shivering legs.
“Do you know now that you have experienced it once?”
Riak crossed his arms and jeered.
“Don’t speak nonsense of wanting to experience real combat from—”
Before he could finish his words—
Boom!—
“Huaaaaaaaaa!!”
—Ohjin roared out while sprinting towards Riak.
As he reached his hand out to the ground, a line made out of blue sparks wrapped around the silver spear, causing it to float up like a living organism.
Bam!—
He grabbed the spear.
“Ho?”
Riak’s eyes gleamed in interest.
Kang! Kang! Ka-gang!—
“So you weren’t just all talk.”
Riak smirked while repelling the spear with ease.
“However…”
Riak bared his teeth.
His fingernail blazing with blue lightning sliced towards Ohjin’s neck.
Slice!—
Black oxidized flesh came out of his split neck.
“—How long will you be able to last?”
The second time, the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time.
Each death connected like a steel chain.
His body was returned back to the state before he died with Vega’s authority, but his mind wasn’t.
It was broken down and twisted.
It collapsed like a sandcastle being swept away by a tide.
* * *
* * *
“Kuhk! Kak!”
Collapsing down, Ohjin threw up the blood that oozed up to his neck.
The unbearable tsunami of pain spread across his body.
‘Focus.’
He grabbed onto the string of consciousness that was fading away.
‘This is what you wanted.’
A kind of sensation you would never be able to feel inside your average spar.
The fear of wandering right in front of the gate of death pulled his mind together.
‘Don’t think.’
His body moved not with rationality but instinct.
‘Don’t calculate.’
Like he had always done, he moved on intuition and gut feeling.
Kang! Ka-kang! Ka-kakakang!!—
“Hmm?”
Riak narrowed his eyes.
He deflected the spear that was thrust towards him at a rapid speed with doubt in his mind.
‘Huh?’
Something…
Felt off.
‘Why—did he become this hard to face?’
Nothing special had changed.
He didn’t become faster or stronger.
However—
Crackle!—
“Kugh!”
—Riak unconsciously stepped back from the lightning that sparked out from below.
“What…?”
Riak’s eyes opened wide.
There wasn’t even a gap to resolve his question.
The combat continued.
“Haak, haak, haak!”
Running out of breath, he wrung out his mana and shot out Blue Lightning and Lightning Charge without rest.
‘It’s not enough.’
The force behind Blue Lightning and Lightning Charge was strong, but the direction of attack was too simple.
Even worse, with those attacks not being all that effective against Riak in the first place, they were nothing but skills that were easy to block and dodge.
‘I need a different skill.’
A fluid attack that could pressure him with more efficiency.
‘What is there?’
He was temporarily lost in thought while he jabbed out his spear without rest.
However, the only things that came up in his head were abstract images. He didn’t know the specifics of what he needed to do in order to use those skills.
‘Just what do I need to—’
Crunch!—
“Kurh! Kuk!”
Another death was added.
Inside his flickering consciousness—
-What are you thinking so hard for?
—one question surfaced.
-Don’t you have all the material you need already?
“Ah.”
A short exclamation flowed out.
That’s right.
Why was he contemplating so hard?
What was he thinking so much for?
‘It’s simple.’
His shoulders shook as he laughed out.
Dropping his spear on the ground, he slowly raised his left arm.
‘If the stigma of Lyra isn’t enough…’
Owooong!—
Light poured out of the stigma engraved on his left chest. From the distinctly blazing stigma of Lyra—
‘I just need to add one more from there.’
—he overlapped the stigma of the Owl Nebula.
[The stigma of Lyra and the stigma of the Owl Nebula are resonating!]
[Combination skill《Lightning Feather Lv MAX》 has been acquired!]
[You have achieved part of the conditions required for the Black Heaven’s fourth awakening!]
Chututututu!!—
Dozens of feathers composed of blue lightning shot at Riak.
“Kugh?!”
Riak swung his claws with a panicked expression from the sudden attack.
The lighting feathers that tunneled through the space between his claws sliced his body—silver fur was cut off as blood splattered out.
“This is…”
Riak’s mouth opened wide in disbelief.
Amongst the skills that utilized the stigma of Lyra, a skill that made feathers out of lightning didn’t exist.
—What that meant was…
‘He created a skill… on the spot?’
Riak’s pupils trembled.
It wasn’t impossible to utilize a stigma to create a new skill. Even the lightning claws he enjoyed using was a skill he had made himself.
However…
‘How did this newborn Awakener…?’
The truth that he had forgotten, no, the truth that he tried hard to turn a blind eye to resurfaced.
“This is… the Heaven-defying Star.”
An electrifying thrill ran down his spine.
“Haa, haa!”
Ohjin’s staggered left and right after shooting out the lightning feathers.
The sound of clear bells continued.
[Stigma of Lyra has been promoted to 4-Star!]
[《Lightning&Thunder Lv4》 has increased to 《Lightning&Thunder Lv5》!]
4-Star.
An Awakener who hadn’t even been awakened for half a year had reached 4-Star.
An unprecedented speed of growth.
But without the time to savor the ecstasy of the promotion—
“Grrrrrrr! You impudent human!”
Riak’s violent attacks continued.
Slice—
“Kugk!”
Even with the acquisition of a new skill…
Even with reaching the realm of a 4-Star…
The difference between him and Riak was the same.
“Ahhhhhhhh!!”
The sharp claws shredded him, causing the eruption of dreadful pain that shook his body.
Six times, seven times, eight times.
The death toll added up.
“Do you think you can change destiny with talent alone!”
Riak stuck closer to Ohjin and lashed out more fiercely.
A battle so one-sided that it overshadowed the fact that he had grown explosively during the short span of combat took place.
Around when the amount deaths he experienced were well over the double digits…
[—Stop!]
Boom!—
Vega blocked Riak’s path.
“Huuk, huuk, huuk.”
Riak, who had been pouring down attacks without rest, stopped.
Vega looked down at the breathless Riak with cold eyes.
[You have crossed the line.]
“…”
Riak, who had just regained his senses, examined the state Ohjin was in.
He had passed out and collapsed on the ground from the shock of deaths that had suddenly surged up.
"Ohjin!! Hey!! Gwon Ohjin!! Wake up!!"
Ha-eun poured out tears while clutching Ohjin’s collapsed body.
“…Forgive me!”
Riak got down on his knees and bowed down in front of Vega.
‘I made a mistake.’
Riak closed his eyes tight.
The moment he confirmed Ohjin’s talent…
The moment he saw his distant potential like that of the stars that brightened up the night sky…
He had unconsciously let go of his string of reason.
‘You idiot!’
Riak chewed on his lips and condemned himself. He had been blinded by jealousy, causing him to make a mistake.
[Riak. This lady understands your feelings.]
Vega spoke with a sunken voice.
[This child must have come off as a big shock to you, who has been stopped by a ‘wall’ for a long period of time.]
She was spot on.
[However…]
Flinch—
Riak’s shoulders shuddered.
[Even if that’s the case, this lady, who has seen you run wild and forget your duty, cannot hide her disappointment.]
“…”
Riak dropped his head with his mouth shut tight. Even with ten mouths, he would have no words.
“If that huma… no, if the Heaven-defying Star comes to his senses, I will formally apologize. If he doesn’t accept my apology, I will seek forgiveness, even with death.”
He was being serious.
[Fuu… let’s wait until my child comes to his senses for now.]
Turning her body, Vega let out a brief sigh.
In that place—
[Huh?]
—was Ohjin, who had gotten back on his feet before they knew it.
[My child. Have you come—]
“You can…”
Wobble, wobble—
Ohjin moved his feet.
While looking down at Riak, who was bowing down his head—
“Still… continue, right?”
—he smiled brightly.
“…What?”
Riak’s pupils trembled.
“You… can still… continue, right?”
“What are you saying…”
Riak raised his head with an expression full of disbelief.
Ohjin’s azure eyes were looking down on him.
His terrifying pupils were like a moonless night.
“You…”
Riak’s shoulders trembled.
“Just what are you?”
His stiff voice echoed out.
