Chapter 177: Till the Heart Beats (4)

“…Why the hell is that guy transforming all of a sudden?”

Lee Han clicked his tongue, admiring the sight of Lake rushing at the monstrous magic freak like a madman with a body that was surrounded by flames.

It seemed like a powerful transformation at a first glance, but he couldn’t help but compare it to a mayfly.

His body can’t handle something like that.

Although Lee Han’s Martial Power managed to force Lake to have a body similar to his own, the guy wouldn’t be able to endure such a violent aura for a long time. It wouldn’t be strange if he self-destructed at any moment.

However, instead of giving any more attention to him, Lee Han just threw his punches faster and harder.

After all, right now, winning was even more important than their life.

Bang-! Bang-! Bang-!

“Kwaaaaak!”

“S-Stop…!”

He could hear screams rang out here and there, but he didn’t concern himself with those.

The reason he threw such chaotic and extensive punches wasn’t simply to hunt other magic freaks. As the number of his punches increased, they occupied more space and created more trajectories.

Blows that not only his opponent but even he himself couldn’t read were hitting the monster from all directions and creating unpredictable trajectories.

And among those punches…

Bang-!

There were blows that contained neither hostility nor murderous intent, but only intent.

The blow of an Arhat.

-Arhat Divine Fist!

It was the technique he gained from the enlightenment he got back when he fought against Marquis Jenimia. A technique that had the concept of ‘Intent’ behind it, similar to the magic freak’s magic.

Of course, it wasn’t as natural or powerful compared to it, but the point here was that there was no way for the magic freak to stop his blows.

However…

Stop-!

…He could tell that he wouldn’t be able to use Arhat Divine Fist for long.

It felt as if this wasn’t the power he was allowed to use yet. The more he used it, the more his head felt like it was going to split open.

Trickle-!

Regardless, he continued to unleash his punches, not even having the presence of mind to wipe away the blood flowing from his nose. He was so determined to not give that monster any time to do anything.

-Hundred Steps Divine Fist!

He clenched his teeth as he unleashed the Hundred Steps Divine Fist—not just a simple Hundred Steps Divine Fist though, but one that contained the enlightenment of the Arhat Divine Fist.

WIth it, he was certain that he could blow the bastard’s head off.

[Heavenly punishment.]

Rumblleeeee-!

In the next moment, lightning poured down from the sky. Not just a single bolt of lightning, but hundreds of it poured down like rain, sweeping everything in its wake away.

“M-Master…!!!”

One of the old magic freaks died from it. He was the one whose chest had been cut by Lee Han.

The old magic freak was already badly wounded to begin with, so he simply couldn’t endure being struck by hundreds of lightning strikes at once.

Woooong-!

Where the lightning passed, everything was erased.

…Everything without exception.

Divine punishment.

A mage’s spell was a means to turn words into reality, and the reason why spells were often long and winded with metaphorical expressions being used was so that the mages could minimize the risk as much as possible.

But Toure used words that were intuitive and clear. With his power that almost reached godlike’s level, the aftermath was overwhelming; anyone could see it clearly.

“Cough…”

Although, it wounded him in exchange, as he vomited out blood for the first time. No matter how strong he was, there was no way he could unleash something like that without paying any kind of price.

It was an obvious result.

At the same time, this meant that he was using magic while risking his life, proof that he finally acknowledged the two knights as enemies.

An Archmage who had lived for 400 years acknowledged as such.

But…

“…As expected. This is too much.”

Boom-!

Though the lightning bolts could even turn small hills into a wasteland, they still couldn’t kill the two knights in the end.

“…Still alive?”

“Barely.”

Their bodies were covered in pitch-black ash, and they had severe burns here and there, but they were alive.

“You two are persistent, I acknowledge that.”

Toure nodded, expecting that this outcome would happen. After all, they were enemies he acknowledged for the first time in his life, there was no way they would die just like that.

And so…

“From now on, I won’t wait for you guys to prepare any longer.”

He said confidently. That was the conclusion he reached after acknowledging the knights as threats.

Whoosh-!

Toure waved his hand.

Bang-!

Perspective Manipulation.

The Archmage’s unique magic was cast, causing the ground to shake, the wind to split, and a shockwave of enormous mass to hit the knights.

Previously, the knights were already sprawling to block his overwhelming attacks, but now after he stopped holding back, his attacks became something they couldn’t help but feel helpless against.

Crack-!

“…I can’t use this carelessly anymore either, I see.”

Toure’s fingers were snapped, the result of his own attack. Without much thinking, he healed his injuries.

-Infinite regeneration.

A magic that imitated the Mystic a [Phoenix], the divine bird, was said to have. Whatever injuries he received, he could infinitely recover.

Confident that he was fine even after getting hurt, Toure…

Sting-!

“…The pain is still there?”

In the end, the magic wasn’t perfect. This proved that it was just a copy, not the original.

…No, to be precise, the magic was perfect, he just learned that it had a limit on how many times he could use the magic for the first time.

And as if to prove that…

Bang-!*

Crackle-!

The more the two knights’ fierce attacks continued, and the more he used his manipulation, the more wounds were inflicted on his body.

As the knights had initially suspected, the catalysts for the Perspective Manipulation were Toure’s arms and eyes. But, even if they discovered the catalyst, it didn’t matter much.

Because exploiting that information was pretty much impossible.

After all, who could stand against his massive mass and magic power?

But now, that common sense was broken, and that information was being exploited.

Any mages would be shocked and be driven into despair in this situation.

However…

“Heh!”

Toure just cackled.

It had been so long since he had felt such a crisis and suffered some wounds. This sense of crisis that he couldn’t understand made his heart pound, and he felt a thrill as his breathing gradually quickened.

After living hundreds of years of empty, languid, and repetitive life, the stimulation that came into him was no different from drugs that stimulated the dopamine in his brain.

No, drugs can’t even compare to this!

For Toure, who had been addicted to drugs for about 50 years, he was certain that this fight was an exciting experience that no drugs could give him.

To put it in another way…

This situation, where his blood was spurting, his body was ruined, and his heart was beating so fast…

I feel alive…!

Made Toure feel alive.

It was a thrilling rush of dopamine.

“…Just a little more. Make it more fun!”

The next moment, Toure’s magic power which was as vast as the sea surged.

Rumble-!

─Then, a tornado descended.

Kururururung!

“He’s doing it again…”

The earth was turned upside down.

Once again, the disaster that left Lee Han helpless engulfed him. But this time, the scale was way bigger than before, and it made his head hurt to think whether he could escape from it like before or not.

That alone already made him dizzy, but…

Wooong-!

As if trying to say that it wasn’t all, the monster summoned something crazier. Manipulating the typhoon summoned by the old magic freaks, he formed a huge tornado.

A crazy disaster where a tornado—which was supposed to only exist in the ocean—and a chunk of earth getting turned upside down unfolded before his eyes.

Any normal person would have fainted if they saw such a horrific scene.

“…”

However, Lee Han was as calm as ever.

Of course, he wasn’t acting like this because he had resigned himself to his fate.

But rather…

Yeah, I can do it, I think…

After calculating the incoming tornado and earth getting turned upside down, Lee Han came to the conclusion that ‘I can handle it’.

If someone figured out what was in his mind, they would have cursed him, telling him that he was crazy, but this was the result of his extremely cool-headed judgment.

Whoosh-!

He was confident that he could do something ‘bold’ with the powerful Combat Energy stirring within him right now. While he might have never tried it before, since he could use Combat Technique right now, he thought that it would be possible to do it right now.

A strong aura rippled around Lee Han’s body.

This feels like a Demonic Technique.

Funnily enough, even in this kind of situation, Lee Han still had the leniency to analyze and define what kind of technique it was.

Demonic Technique.

Yes, the Combat Technique was similar to the Demonic Technique that appeared in martial arts novels. It was fierce,rough, and it also harmed the host. However, it was a strong give-and-take technique that gave great power to its user.

It was undoubtedly a Demonic Technique.

Which made it a little funny considering that the Martial Power that he learned was ‘Orthodox Technique’. After all, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that it allowed him to gradually increase his strength and at the same time, stabilize his vessel.

It was a technique that allowed those without talent to advance step by step with effort and perseverance, and allowed them to stand on par with those who have mastered the Combat Technique.

Although it would take a long time to learn compared to Combat Technique, the strength it gave its user was stable.

Hence why it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call it the Orthodox Path, similar to the Buddhist Scriptures or the Taoist Practice.

The more he compared his Martial Power with the Combat Technique, the more prevalent that thought became.

After all, Combat Technique didn’t grow stronger by drawing out someone’s natural strength but by burning their life force as fuel.

And Lee Han…

I see, there’s such an intense life force inside me…

Felt that a [Life Force] that was greater than anyone else’s was stirring inside him. It was an energy that seemed like it would even devour the large amount of Red Combat Energy that Lake had given him.

This energy was like evidence of the ‘history’ and ‘life’ that Lee Han had worked hard for.

It was also the result of him pushing himself fiercely while pouring out everything he could in his training, as if every day was his last day.

I did well by working hard.

Now that he found out that all the years he spent hadn’t been meaningless, he naturally felt elated. He raised his crouched body, exploding his ‘Combat Energy’, which responded to him eagerly, as if telling him, ‘I’ve been waiting for you, you should’ve called me earlier!’.

Wooong-!

The Combat Energy flow was already engraved on his blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and bones like a tattoo, so it wasn’t difficult for him to burn his life force. If anything, he found it really easy to do so.

Hwaaak-!

Though it was a shameful thing for a member of the Orthodox Faction to learn the Demonic Technique, there was nothing he could do. He couldn’t afford to be picky considering that he had to bring down the leader of a sect that threatened to put the Gangho in disarray—

“…Seriously, who did this thing take after?”

But, for some reason, the latent energy inside him was so displeased with the Combat Technique, as if it was showing its hatred towards Demonic Technique. Considering that he had been imitating martial arts from the Orthodox Paths instead of learning them proper, the fact that this lump of energy was acting all picky like this was a little funny.

Seriously, who’s this guy owner again? Such a troublesome thing…

Ah, wait, it’s me.

Is it because it took after me that it has such a strange disposition?

Lee Han chuckled at this situation.

Wondering if this was some kind of karma because everything that he had done after all this time.

However, he wasn’t worried.

Even though the energy itself was strange…

What am I doing? I need to kill that magic freak.

Wriggle-!

If the energy really took after him, then…

Wooong-!

It meant that, like him, it extremely detested magic freaks.

A strong wave of power emanated from Lee Han’s body. In that instance, the tornado that covered him, no…

Booooom-!

Everything that touched him exploded.

Wooooong-!

A large amount of Combat Energy shot out from Lee Han’s body. Then, it wrapped itself around him, as if compressing itself.

The energy resembled the mages’ magic field, but it was created with the intention of repelling and annihilating all attacks rather than for defensive purposes.

Its base was Combat Energy, while its power gathering structure was similar to that of the Sword Force.

Gathering energy around one’s body.

The name of the technique was…

“─Reinforced Energy Armor.”