âHm? Develop? I just touched up my technique a little,âLimon inquired. It was like he was asking why Lee Chun-gi was making such a fuss out of nothing.
But the Monarch couldnât accept it.
âHow can you describe it as just âtouched up a littleâ?â
âWhat? Actually, you should be able to do this too, since you stole my swordsmanship.
Limonâs adjustments werenât just countermeasures that simply refined a movement here and there.
They were vicious counters, reinterpreting ăDemon Slaying Swordă from its very roots â calculated so it can cut the opponentâs head off the moment they attack with certainty of their victory.
Even Lee Chun-gi himself would have died multiple times if it werenât for ăForesightă. That was how high its degree of completion was.
And thus, Lee Chun-gi gave in, assured that it was impossible for him.
If he devoted the rest of his life to swordsmanship, he still wouldnât have been able to make a single nullification technique against the Swordmaster.
ăDemon Slaying Swordă was just that perfect.
âGrip your sword right if you have the time to chat. I donât want to hear shit from you after you let your own guard down.â
This was the very man who reinvented that perfect swordsmanship dozens of times.
Limon didnât bat an eye.
As if he was allowing Lee Chun-gi to steal, he continued unleashing attack after attack.
Lee chun-gi ultimately had no choice but to use ăTechnique Acquisitionă as he fended off Limonâs attacks.
Although the newly gained technique would become futile in an instant, there was no other option to manage the new techniques Limon was creating at horrifying speeds.
[Acquiring ăDemon Slaying Sword Version 4.3ă......]
[ăDemon Slaying Sword version 7.1⊠11.5⊠19.8âŠă....]
[SYSTEM ERROR xi111a0o44âŠ]
Clang, kaclang! Slash slash slash slash!
It was an odd battle, no doubt.
They were using the same swordsmanship, but its very essence was infinitely changing.
With mind-breaking efficiency, monotony-crushing radiancy, blind, brute strength that cut off complexity, and high speeds that left the slow in the dust.
Even a momentâs rest was forbidden.
It may have been the same swordsmanshipâ no.
Because it was the same swordsmanship, falling behind meant getting crushed ruthlessly.
As a result, this was no simple sword fight â it was war.
One created swordsmanship.
An awful war based on pure skill, an endless loop of cat and mouse.
Ka-clash clash clash clash clashâ!
Generally speaking, this was an impossible face-off.
Creating a new technique, stealing that new techniqueâŠ
Both were things that should have been barely achievable, even after several years.
Yet, the fact this kind of fight was happening simply proved how devious Limonâs skills and Lee Chun-giâs ăTechnique Acquisitionă were.
And it was clear who had the higher ground.
There was no doubt it was much easier and efficient to steal than create, and to use skills than not.
And yet, at this momentâŠ
The one getting pushed to his limits as the fight went on was Lee Chun-gi.
âIâm at my limitâŠâ
Lee Chun-gi voiced in his head as he swung his sword with sweat-covered hands to deflect Limonâs blade.
It would be too much to continue like this.
At first, Lee Chun-gi was certain of his predominance.
Unlike himself, Limon had to constantly invent new sword techniques â one that could overthrow every single previous reiteration that was swiped, at that.
As long as Limon was human, he had to have a limit.
And so, he believed that Limon would self-destruct as long as he bore through the battle.
But the system messages popping up repeatedly showed him just how misleading his false hopes were.
[ăDemon Slaying Sword version 93.7âŠ.., 102.3âŠ.., 142.1âŠ..ă]
[SYSTEM ERROR xi111a0o44âŠ]
[SYSTEM ERROR, SYSTEM ERRORâŠâŠ]
New versions came up hysterically like a game overusing patches despite having nothing to update, just to dig up every last bit of their playerbaseâs money.
Not to mention, the pressure of having most of his vision covered from error messages.
All of it only meant one thing.
âHeâs getting faster!â
Rather than self-destructing, Limon was gaining speed the longer the battle raged on!
Heâd gotten so fast, using ăTechnique Acquisitionă became futile.
To activate ăTechnique Acquisitionă while fighting, there had to be a minimum amount of experience points.
But Limon was creating new techniques, even before the previous acquisition would gather enough EXP to complete.
There was no way for him to hold on any longer.
ââŠI guess I donât have a choice.â
And that was why Lee Chun-gi surrendered.
However, that didnât mean he accepted his defeat.
âNow, I will fight in earnest.â
âWhat kind of hidden OPMC trope nonsense is that? What, are you trying to say youâve been going easy on me this entire time?â
Limon jeered. Heâd just miserably fallen behind the battle and lost; what nonsense was he going on about?
âNo. It means that I will let go of my dignity if it means I can defeat you.â
But Lee chun-gi did not give in.
With an expression as cold as it was at the start of this brutal encounter, he slowly opened his mouth.
âăUrgent Evasionă.â
The instant he was going to cut lee chun-gi with his sword, his body disappeared and reappeared out of nowhere.
But that was only the beginning.
His swordsmanship became more accurate.
The speed of his sword increased.
A bright light seeped into his sword.
His muscles surrounded by armor started growing to the verge of bursting.
After strengthening himself with all sorts of skills, he struck his sword down like a lightning bolt.
The force behind that swing could crush entire mountains. It was completely in a different realm than the strikes before.
Deflecting it into the ground with a light twist of his sword, Limon asked calmly.
âWhat kind of joke is this?â
âDidnât I tell you I was going to give it my all?â
âAh, youâre assembling all your skills because you canât beat me with swordsmanship alone?â
âYou are worthy of it.â
It was the greatest praise Lee Chun-gi could give.
He was accepting Limon as someone who came close to him.
In the Iron Age where Monarchs were the Absolute Rulers, that was a great honor to brag about for generations.
But Limon wasnât happy at all.
â....I donât know how many times Iâve said this,â he contended in an eerily low, calm voice.
âWhy donât you tell me that after you beat me? Delusional dumbass.â
âI will, if you insist.â
Lee Chun-gi did not turn him down.
He simply used his skills with his free hand as he declared he would.
ăImperfect Doppelgangeră couldnât use skills, but he could still summon one that had 80% of his status replicated.
With ăRevitalizationă, he re-energized his worn out body.
With ăReflective Armoră, he surrounded himself with a barrier that reflected damage.
With ăShadow Bladeă, he applied an additional force onto his sword.
ăForesightă, ăCrystallizationă, ăPlacid Mindă, ăIron Mană, ăTertiary Handă, etcetera.
Having strengthened himself with a conglomerate of skills, he swung his sword to unfurl an onslaught.
Kang, ka-clash, ka-clash clash clash clash clash clash clashâ!
With an additional body, a far more superior status than before, and not to mention various specialized and supplemental skills.
Having an avalanche of skills applied to himself, Lee Chun-giâs attacks were the definition of a human calamity.
He was an overwhelming force, able to obliterate everything in his way â it was hard to imagine this was the same person who had been pushed to the edge just moments ago.
But that was only natural.
It was the true face of the Infinite Monarch, the ruler of infinite skills.
Heâd fought with swordsmanship alone up to the point for the sake of his dignity, and to acquire more skills.
Using a combination of countless skills was his true fighting style, and a way of demonstrating his true power as a Monarch.
âThis is really the end now.â
Was it because his swordsmanship was that exceptional by nature?
Limon fended off the massive onslaught with just a single blade.
It was truly awe-inspiring.
But Lee Chun-gi was certain it was only a matter of time.
âYouâve made a mistake, Limon Asphelder.â
An ant canât befall an elephant no matter how sharp its fangs were.
And Limonâs swordsmanship wasnât a match to his true power, no matter how outstanding it was.
After all, there was an overwhelming difference in status between them from the beginning â especially now.
âYou shouldn't have given me the opportunity to acquire your swordsmanship in the first place.â
Perhaps Limon would have gotten the upper hand if it was before Lee Chun-gi had acquired ăDemon Slaying Swordă.
Although he was unable to continue keeping up to Limon halfway through, Lee Chun-gi had already become frighteningly strong from just acquiring multiple versions of ăDemon Slaying Swordă.
The revision effects from his status amplified his power as well.
And with the increase in capabilities?
It wasnât an exaggeration to say he was twice as strong as he was at the start of the fight.
Furthermore, from the moment he acquired ăDemon Slaying Swordă to now, there was no way limon could win when heâd kept winning by a close caâŠ
ââŠâŠA close call?â
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Chills ran up Lee Chun-giâs spine.
âFrom the beginning up until now?â
Lee Chun-gi felt a sense of incongruity.
When he was only using skills before he acquired ăDemon Slaying Swordă, even when they fought cat-and-mouse with the swordsmanship swiping.
He and Limon had fought by close call after close calls this whole time.
He didnât think of it as strange until now.
After all, he was the one who didnât give his full in the beginning, and heâd purposely induced a tight match to acquire ăDemon Slaying Swordă.
But what about after he acquired ăDemon Slaying Swordă?
Had the Swordmaster spared his strength when Lee Chun-gi was frantically trying to catch up to his new sword techniques?
He didnât have the time to control his force while his status was rapidly increasing as he stole more sword techniques against limon, who was hysterically creating new sword techniques.
And yet, their dynamic never faltered.
âHow can that be possible?â
It was nearly impossible from the start for such an extreme fight where one wrong move would result in instant death to last this long.
There were only two ways it could be possible:
Either their capabilities were miraculously similar, or one of them was purposefully setting their pace down to the other.
Hence why Lee Chun-gi thought if he actually gave it his all, it would be easy for him to break this dynamic.
After all, he was the one who made this dynamic.
ButâŠ.. What if he was wrong?
What if he wasnât the one who led the scene from the start?
The instant he faced Limon after hearing his stoic voice,
Lee chun-gi realized it for the first time.
âYou said youâd give it your all, didnât you?â
Despite getting worked up, swearing, and jeering during the fight.
Despite his emotional fits,
The truth was that Limonâs gold eyes had remained cold and settled, not once wavering.
âThen show me your true skills. When are you going to stop testing me?â
Heâd been drenched with sweat for a while now.
But there wasnât a drop of sweat on Limon's face.
Lee Chun-giâs face went rigid.
Watching him, Limonâs lips curved into a chilling grin.
âShould I show you first?â