A skill that replicated other skills.
Its versatility was colossal, to the point it was called the most devious skill possessed by any of the ten Monarchs.
But there was something people didnât know.
Due to the nature of it being so exceptionally versatile, there were derivative skills that were in turn obsolete.
That was ăTechnique Acquisitionă.
A skill that allowed its user to acquire a âtechniqueâ as a skill.
Whether it was the performance of a renowned virtuoso.
A world-class actorâs acting,
Or a legendary gamblerâs tricks.
But no matter how incredible their techniques were, it was the Iron Age â it couldnât do better than any high-level playerâs skills.
Rather than acquiring those techniques, it was much more productive to replicate existing skills like ăInstrumentalismă, ăPerformanceă, ăArt of the Gambleră, and so on.
As such, after a couple of tries, Lee Chun-gi deemed them as useless, keeping them buried.
Lee Chun-gi was coming to a fresh realization that maybe keeping ăTechnique Acquisitionă all this time wasnât such a waste after all.
âThieving bastard! You dare steal my swordsmanship?â
ââStealingâ is a rather harsh word. I think of it as learningââ
He seemed to get heated up from having his swordsmanship swiped.
Hysterically, he swung his sword around with veins popping out of his forehead.
The swings were so vicious, the Lee Chun-gi from a few moments ago would have already lost more than a couple limbs.
Keywords: A few moments ago.
He pressed his blade against the sword that was targeting his fingertips. And with a flick of his wrist, he wrapped his own blade around Limonâs fingers like that of a snake, returning the favor.
Twisting his blade, he deflected Limonâs sword and turned his body to dodge the incoming attack heading towards his chest, and unfurled another blow.
Bending backwards, Limon ducked under Lee Chun-giâs blade.
As Lee Chun-gi dragged his sword down to attack the lower half of Limonâs body, Limon struck the ground with his sword, escaping with the recoil.
It was a long explanation, but what happened only took an instant.
It was a hypersonic melee battle that Lee Chun-gi should have barely been able to keep up with.
But things were different now.
His speed wasnât falling behind Limonâs!
It was all thanks to the ăDemon Slaying Swordă heâs just acquired from Limon.
âIndeed, your swordsmanship is fantastic.,â Lee Chun-gi awed.
He already knew Limonâs swordsmanship was exceptional ever since he fended off all of his skills.
But after acquiring it himself, he had no choice but to accept that he had misjudged it.
ăDemon Slaying Swordă was exponentially more incredible than heâd thought.
That was with its various revisions from the original in mind.
Of course, a swordsmanship skill would obviously have revised, more refined versions.
But the benefits of ăDemon Slaying Swordă were in another dimension.
Starting with revised strength, speed accuracy, to a significant increase to critical hit chance and resistance, those were the basics.
Then, there were more specialized effects, like in the case of additional damage or a critical hit to a demonic element or dragon kin, there was a high chance of activating instant death.
Not to mention, the various utility effects like danger detection and skill destruction were the cherries on top.
Even if Lee Chun-gi fused all the swordsmanship skills heâd gathered together, it still wouldnât add up to be half as good as ăDemon Slaying Swordă.
At this point, it was shameful to even compare anything to it.
That difference in power brought upon the dawning realization of how Swordmasters received their title.
Plus, the true threat of ăDemon Slaying Swordă wasnât just in its revision effects.
âI didnât know it was possible to have more accurate foresight than the actual skill with just swordsmanship alone.â
The changes in his fingers holding onto the sword.
The miniscule squirming of his muscles.
The movement and dilation of his pupils.
The location and angle of where he set foot, and so on.
Just as a grandmaster could see the end of a game with just a few starting moves on the chess board,
By simply observing his opponentâs every minute movement, he was able to anticipate their next move and attack accordingly.
It wasnât any simple discernment â it was complete mastery. A formula for a promised win that cut down the chances of losing. Limonâs predictions never missed their mark.
ăDemon Slaying Swordă was a sword technique that integrated that very formula into itself.
Realizing all of this, Lee Chun-gi came to accept why Limon was called an Absolute Ruler once.
With swordsmanship like his, it was natural that he would have been invincible in an age where there were no players.
In fact, even with a Monarch as his opponent, he would probably have somewhat of a tough fight.
If only Limonâs opponent wasnât him.
Lee Chun-gi was in ecstasy knowing this truth.
âThis is deserving of pride. Your swordsmanship has the worth of a thousand skills.â
âOh really? And when did I ask you to judge my swordsmanship?â
âIt is not judgment. It is merely acceptance.â
âThe fuck did you say?â
Lee Chun-gi was without a doubt one of the strongest men in the modern age, but even he still had limits.
He couldnât replicate unique skills.
It was beyond the limit of ăSkill Replicationă, as well as for Lee Chun-gi.
ăAbsolute Defenseă, ăDeificationă, ăConstitutionalismăâŚ
A unique skill that only one person can handle has power no other can imitate.
Although it was possible to achieve similar results by combining numerous skills, it is impossible to replicate its unique characteristics.
Thus, Lee Chun-gi was just one out of ten Monarchs.
In truth, he wasnât able to become a complete, dominant Absolute Ruler.
What made a skill absolute was its ability to single-handedly overthrow thousands of skills â that was a Monarchâs power.
But things were different now.
The effects of ăDemon Slaying Swordă were better than most unique skills.
It wouldnât have been an exaggeration to say it was halfway to being considered an absolute skill.
That meant that Lee Chun-gi, the Infinite Monarch, was now the first being to have two absolute skills.
And with this newfound power, he was confident he could even win against the Monarchs who had an advantage over him before, as long as he lured them into close combat â easily, in fact.
âNow⌠If only I can get my hands on the Black Dragon Clanâs treasureâŚ!â
His objective was the Black Dragon Princess â Limon wasnât even considered at all.
But who knew he would acquire a gem like ăDemon Slaying Swordă from someone he thought to be nothing but an old-age fossil!
While in ecstasy from the unexpected fortune, Lee Chun-gi formed future plans to get his hands on the Black Dragon Clanâs treasure.
All the while, with complete disregard to Limon, who was in front of him.
âThis little shitty lunatic⌠Are you seriously getting distracted in the middle of our fight?â
âThe results are already set in stone, you see.â
âYou already know. You are now absolutely unable to defeat me.â
âSay that after winning, you bitch!â
It seemed Limon wasnât aware that his movements had become simpler from agitation.
Calmly fending off his advances that had only become faster, Lee Chun-gi thought to himself.
âFoolish struggling.â
From the moment he stole ăDemon Slaying Swordă, he and Limonâs swordsmanship were equal.
And unlike a civilian like Limon, Lee Chun-gi had the enhanced stats of a player, as well as multiple other revised swordsmanship skills.
What will happen when they fight with the same sword technique, but with a difference in status?
To put it simply, the winner was already decided.
That was why Lee Chun-gi was only fighting Limon with a sword.
In any case, it was his winning fight â taking down the Swordmaster with his own sword technique was the most respectful thing he could do.
âThis will end in 17 blows.â
Lee Chun-gi foreshadowed the end of this fierce battle.
He predicted the entire process of him dodging the last jab and piercing Limonâs heart with his sword.
He was sure Limon was aware of this ending as well.
And he knew he could do nothing to change it.
Just as there wasnât a way for the king to escape a checkmate, this was no different than a definite conclusion.
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Or at least, that was what Lee Chun-gi concluded.
That is, until their swords clashed for what should have been the last time.
Lee Chun-gi failed to dodge Limonâs attack.
Successfully blocking Limonâs attack at the last second thanks to ăForesightă, Lee Chun-gi was confused.
From the timing of his attacks.
The speed of his swinging sword.
To the force behind his movements.
Not a single thing had gone astray from his predictions.
So how couldnât he dodge the obvious attacks?
Lee Chun-gi couldnât understand, but he still maintained his composure.
And yet why couldnât he dodge the obvious attacks? He couldnât understand.
Thinking that this was simply delaying the inevitable, he continued exchanging blows with Limon, and predicted its end again.
21 blows later, a cut to the neck.
34 blows later, a slash to the chest that would sever the arm.
79 blows later, a retaliation to the knee.
Each and every move was thoroughly calculated according to Limonâs swordsmanship. He was certain they would be fatal hits.
The perfectly executed retaliation, had been retaliated back.
It was a mystery how the results of his predictions werenât coming true.
And the longer they fought, the more errors in his predictions showed up.
The Monarchâs face was gradually starting to lose its composure.
As if to sympathize with the Monarch, Limon sneered as he swung his sword.
âYou said you stole my swordsmanship. Doesnât look like it though, does it?â
âWhat kind of buffoonery is this?â
âHm? Thatâs what you did, yeah.â
Seeing the Swordmaster act innocent, Lee Chun-gi became certain it was his fault his predictions were going astray.
Instead of focusing on ending the battle, he focused on Limon.
ââŚI see. Is that what it is?â
âBitch, whatâs âitâ supposed to be?â
âItâs no use playing dumb. I have already figured out your trick, you see.â
âThe fuckâs this little shit going on about?â
ăObservationă, ăAccelerated Cognitionă, ăDetectiveâs Deductionă, ăMaster of All Tradesă, and many others.
Finally figuring it out, Lee Chun-gi revealed a cold smile after clashing swords with the accompaniment of various skills dozens of times.
[Activating unique skill, ăTechnique Acquisitionă.]
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword Analysisă.]
[Combining the skills ăDemon Slaying Swordă and ăDemon Slaying Sword Analysisă. There will be a significant boost to the skill effects.]
The cause of why his sword missed at every critical moment.
Lee Chun-gi was honestly amazed as he replicated ăDemon Slaying Sword Analysisă.
âFear the old man in a profession where men die young.â
How could Limon have made a nullification technique that was discordant with ăDemon Slaying Swordă in preparation of his swordsmanship getting exposed?
It came from the thoroughness of a legendary hero who had experienced all kinds of battles throughout his long life.
âThe joke is over now.â
As long as heâd seen through his tricks and acquired his nullification technique as well, Limon was no longer his match.
There was no doubt in Lee Chun-giâs mind.
But after dozens of more exchanges, he felt a sense of doubt crawling in at the fact he still couldnât push Limon to his limit.
That is, until he re-analyzed his swordsmanship.
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword Revisionă.]
[Combining the skills ăDemon Slaying Swordă and ăDemon Slaying Sword Revisionă. There will be a significant boost to the skill effects.]
Up to this point, all Lee Chun-gi did was furrow his brows at Limonâs paranoid preparations.
But he soon came to realize that that was only the beginning.
[Acquiring ăNew Demon Slaying Swordă.]
[Acquiring ăOverthrown Demon Slaying Swordă.]
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword : Supplementary Editionă.]
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword EXă.]
[Combining the skills ăDemon Slaying Swordă andâŚâŚ.]
He stole again and again with ăTechnique Acquisitionă.
Limit to limit, counter to counter, nullification technique to nullification technique - Lee Chun-gi couldnât conceal his confusion at the endless stream of new sword techniques.
This had long past the point of thoroughness and paranoia.
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword version 3.7ă.....]
[SYSTEM ERROR NUMBER xi11a0o44 â SUBJECT HAS NO TECHNIQUES TO ACQUIRE.]
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword version 3.8ă.]
An error message popped out while he was frantically spamming ăTechnique Acquisitionă on the consecutive new versions of Limonâs swordsmanship.
It seemed like the system was too lazy to create new names anymore.
ââŚâŚNo fucking way,â Lee Chun-gi swored.
It wasnât like him to swear.
But it couldnât be helped.
Heâd just realized what was really happening.
Limon hadnât prepared any nullification techniques âjust in caseâ.
âYou⌠Are you developing new techniques in real time?!â