Ch.122EP.29 – King Kong and the Hybrid Clash (10)/Afterword.

-It started with a jab, thrown like a light exploratory attack.

Just a light punch.

But the result it created.

BOOM!

Was anything but light.

Is this really what you’d call a light jab?

CRASH! BOOM! CRAAASH-!

Power reminiscent of artillery shells.

Yet whenever these powerful strikes collided and hit each other’s guards, insane explosive sounds continuously rang out.

BANG!

But even when these shell-like blows landed on their opponent, they seemed to cause no damage whatsoever.

Clearly both were fighting bare-handed…

Yet whenever their fists connected, it only sounded like hitting something elastic, like a tire.

WHOOSH-!

Perhaps tired of the light exploration, Maximus Iron de Lionel was the first to go on the offensive.

KUUUNG!

Just changing his movements and stance created an oppressive pressure.

Anyone else would have to forfeit their life just from being grazed by that fist.

Logically, one should dodge or run away.

CRUNCH.

Unfortunately, he had no intention of dodging at all.

Ihan. He extended his fist in the same way, receiving the terrifying pressure head-on and planting his feet firmly.

The ground caved in as he fixed his entire body rigidly in place, and like that, he…

CRAAASH!

Received the punch with no guard at all.

“?!”

Maximus was surprised.

Probably because he’d never seen someone who neither dodged nor blocked his strike.

KUUNG!

“…That hurts.”

As he took the hit directly, his own fist accurately struck Maximus’s side.

Heavy.

It felt like a massive hammer had struck his ribs.

If an ordinary person had been hit, their internal organs would have ruptured completely.

“You don’t look hurt at all.”

“Haha, I’m genuinely in pain. How embarrassing. You withstood my strike, yet here I am, complaining.”

“…Withstood, you say.”

Ihan gave a bitter smile.

He had endured it with Geumgang, but the area that was hit still tingled.

Is this what it would feel like to take a charging bull’s impact directly to the center of the chest?

‘That was heavy.’

A shock that couldn’t be fully absorbed even by Geumgang, which easily blocks swords, spears, and even arrows.

Beyond the pain, he was dumbfounded.

‘This guy is withstanding it without even using a technique.’

While he had deployed a defensive technique to endure, Maximus had withstood the blow with just his pure body.

Ihan hadn’t thrown a light jab but a strike meant to knock him down, yet this man merely winced slightly in pain while remaining steadfast.

Literally an insane body.

He thought this must be what people meant by “human with the strength of a bear.”

‘Who was it in my past life who said that? Even a world champion’s punch is just a massage to bear-like beasts.’

A suddenly remembered example.

And Ihan felt his example was appropriate.

Just as a human’s punches or kicks might feel like a cat or dog’s struggles to a lion or bear, conventional attacks wouldn’t work on this guy.

Only full power.

Only a strike with his absolute full strength could possibly knock this guy down.

Not at the level of a light jab.

‘A strong single blow is important…’

Then.

How would he react to this?

Ihan extended his fist again.

‘Fun! This is insanely fun!!’

Maximus felt tremendous excitement and thrill.

Not just the weight of the blow, but the fact that someone withstood his strike without flinching!

‘For an instant, it felt like hitting plate armor.’

No, perhaps even harder.

Would you believe that the hand doing the hitting hurt more?

What an incredible technique.

Though unclear, his opponent had clearly mastered a mysterious art.

An art that instantly hardened the body like plate armor.

According to rumors, he could even make flowers bloom with his sword?

That meant the mysterious arts were just beginning.

‘Hehehe!’

Maximus couldn’t contain his excitement and laughter.

He had confirmed his opponent’s strength, and that mysteriousness was both unfamiliar and fascinating.

A truly formidable opponent!

But because of that…

‘He’s all the more valuable.’

This is what a duel should be.

A fierce clash with an opponent who presents a trial, where victory isn’t certain.

Through this, one feels alive.

‘Show me what else you’re hiding!’

THUD.

Maximus advanced forward again.

Toward the one who could receive his full power, or perhaps even gift him with defeat.

And sure enough…

WHOOSH!

BANG!

“??”

He rewarded Maximus’s expectations, or rather exceeded them, by presenting an even more mysterious technique.

…Maximus’s head spun.

His opponent’s fist hadn’t even touched him.

“It’s called [Gyeoksan Tau].”

“!!”

“You’ll probably be disoriented.”

With that kind warning, his opponent threw a punch with the same light one-two motion as before, and normally he would just block it, but…

BANG!

Maximus couldn’t block this time and had to allow the strike to land.

An invisible strike.

Dizziness and bewilderment as if touched by a ghost’s hand!

The opponent’s fist techniques and ghostly hands mercilessly toyed with him, confusing his senses.

Maximus acknowledged the confusion in his senses, feeling as if bewitched by a ghost.

‘Is he projecting pressure? Regardless of direction?’

It came from all directions—front, back, left, and right.

And even…

CLANG!

“…Fascinating. How exactly do you do that?”

From above and below as well.

A trick that transcended the laws of physics, coming from all directions.

Maximus was simply astonished.

“I’ll teach you later.”

“Haha, that’s unfair.”

BANG!

Maximus’s body went flying.

* * *

Gyeoksan Tau.

In some ways, it’s the original form of the Hundred Step Divine Fist.

While the Hundred Step Divine Fist simply extends power in a straight line, Gyeoksan Tau requires extremely precise control of force.

WHOOSH, and Ihan’s fist energy reflected off surrounding obstacles, targeting blind spots the opponent couldn’t see or react to.

Normally, such a technique would require mathematical calculation abilities.

To gauge the angle and direction of the fist energy in real time.

If wielded incorrectly, one might attack oneself or allies.

But.

THUD!

“Never misses a shot.”

“Would you please show some pain?”

Ihan’s sense.

His intuition, which could be called superhuman, resolved all those calculations by feel.

A mystical level of sensory skill.

Combined with technical precision and appropriate distribution of force, Ihan delivered strikes that were impossible to block even when anticipated.

WHOOSH! A single fist extended, deploying Gyeoksan Tau.

It was like compressed air bullets exploding, and these strikes continuously pummeled his opponent.

The fist energy created the illusion of having eight arms instead of two.

Plus the range-defying property of Gyeoksan Tau.

Even large magical beasts would have been turned into hamburger patties by now.

And yet.

CRUNCH!

“Oh, I see. So that’s how you block it.”

“……”

The opponent didn’t budge at all.

He was even starting to counter now.

It had been barely three minutes since Ihan brought out Gyeoksan Tau, yet he was already trying to counterattack.

Of course.

THUD!

“Ah, I was mistaken.”

He still couldn’t block everything, but…

Ihan couldn’t help but laugh wryly despite having the upper hand.

His opponent’s superhuman reaction speed was one thing, but…

‘This guy’s body is ridiculously tough!’

He couldn’t help but laugh bitterly at the unreasonably solid body he was facing.

How could anyone be this tough?

‘My hands hurt from hitting him—is this a joke?’

Though he prided himself on his own solid body, this guy was on another level.

In his case, endless training was part of it, but he’d also built up his endurance by getting beaten up by nasty Aura users and created Geumgang to avoid further beatings. This man, however, simply had an innately strong body.

Skin, muscles, bones.

Everything that made up his body was incredibly tough.

If Ihan’s body was like armor made of chains of steel bundled together in an extraordinary form of muscle, Maximus’s body was like diamond.

As if he’d been born a diamond in the rough and had been cut into an even more ideal form.

That’s why it wasn’t easy.

Mere small attacks would never break through.

Then.

‘If small won’t work, let’s go BIG!!’

BOOM, a small explosion occurred inside Ihan’s body.

He was layering energy, drawing power in real time.

– Layered Energy.

Originally, this was a technique that shouldn’t be used in the middle of combat.

The massive concentration required could leave him vulnerable.

But Ihan used it anyway.

Not because he was a reckless fighter, but because…

‘That man won’t dodge.’

Strangely, in this moment, Ihan trusted his opponent.

The certainty that this monstrous man would absolutely not interfere with his technique.

Why?

Why would he trust someone he’d just met?

And those from the North who know the answer would sympathize with Ihan’s feelings and say:

– Because that’s Maximus.

GOOO!

“Haha! What threatening momentum!”

Sure enough.

Even amid this ominous energy, Maximus remained jovial.

As if this moment was more enjoyable than any other.

As if the excitement of facing an unfamiliar technique stimulated his heart, making him utterly satisfied.

Looking at him…

‘…He really is a strange man.’

Ihan unleashed the Hundred Step Divine Fist imbued with Layered Energy.

WHAAACK!

The combination of the Hundred Step Divine Fist and Layered Energy.

This wasn’t simply adding them together.

The Hundred Step Divine Fist’s energy was already powerful in its linear projection, but now he was adding the bomb of Layered Energy to it.

When weight and explosive power combined, anyone taking this hit directly couldn’t withstand it no matter how tough their body.

As long as the opponent was a primate made of flesh.

Ihan finally expected to see that proud face crumple.

But.

“…Ah, I see. Now I understand. So that’s how it’s done.”

WHOOSH!

For a moment, Ihan wondered if there was something wrong with his head.

…Did that bastard just…?

Like looking in a mirror, or rather… Maximus took the exact same stance as him and shockingly—

WHAAACK!!

Unleashed the [Hundred Step Divine Fist].

RUMBLE.

With a similar…

No, an even more ferocious lightning-like energy.

‘Son of a… so this bastard was also pretending to be stupid while deceiving people…’

That was Ihan’s impression as he watched the two energies collide.

* * *

BOOOOOM-!

CRACKLE….

The tunnel, the underground world with a hundred years of history, was collapsing.

The explosion of the scroll.

The Mother Worm’s thrashing.

These major incidents happening one after another in a single day was already problematic, but beyond that, Level 8…

As one boy put it, the collision of legendary heroes with monstrous strength representing the era.

It was only natural that the underground world, having suffered such a massive impact, would collapse.

With explosions like artillery shells at every collision, it would be more impressive if the tunnels had withstood it.

But unfortunately, the tunnels were fragile.

Perhaps…

“Instructor, I think this place will collapse in 30 minutes at most. So, I’m going to escape first.”

“Alright. You’ve been through a lot, witnessing this rough scene.”

“…I’d like to deny that out of courtesy, but I can’t bring myself to.”

Taechang’s condition was a complete mess.

Having been at the center of two monsters fighting, it would be more surprising if he looked fine.

If others had such a rough experience, they would have cursed and cut ties immediately, but Taechang was unusually kind and diligent for someone his age.

THUD…

Despite his injuries, Taechang maintained an unconcerned expression as he asked the man embedded in the wall:

“Instructor, I’m just asking, but don’t you want to leave together? It seems like you’re just wasting time here.”

…Still, his tone was sharp like today’s youth.

But he wasn’t wrong at all.

“…I know.”

That this is all pointless.

In fact, the two knights have no reason to continue fighting.

Their purpose, whatever the reason, was to capture the suspicious group in the tunnels…

That is, to catch the fanatics and extract information from them.

In that sense, though the ending was a bit anticlimactic, they had found people proving the existence of the fanatic organization, and furthermore, succeeded in killing the giant Mother Worm being raised in the tunnels.

…As a bonus, they had also captured a former colleague who appeared to be a high-ranking member of the fanatic organization.

Now the sensible process would be to combine their findings, or at least report to their superiors to end this situation.

RUMBLE!

Especially in an underground space that could collapse at any moment.

If they didn’t want to be buried alive, leaving now would be the rational and wise choice.

And the two knights weren’t fools or idiots who wouldn’t understand this.

Rather, they were more intelligent than most.

However.

“You know, I ‘used to’ have a bucket list.”

“Bucket list?”

At this sudden confession, he blinked his eyes.

Though puzzled by this abrupt statement, he listened to Ihan’s foolish story.

“It’s nothing special, but it was probably ‘have a fistfight with a friend and laugh like an idiot.'”

“…?”

“I didn’t have friends in school. I thought I did, but thinking about it carefully, they weren’t really friends. Just acquaintances at best.”

“……”

“I envied that. Arguing over trivial things, doing stupid things together, and then just having a good clean fistfight. I might get upset during the fight, but I still wanted to experience it. It was kind of the romance of our era. Fighting and then becoming friends.”

“The Man from Nowhere was a good movie.”

“Yeah, that. …But how old are you to know that?”

CRACK!

Ihan wondered if this guy might actually be quite old as he got to his feet.

As he rose, the wall crumbled again, and pain shot through his cheek.

Seems he took quite a hit.

“That hurts…”

“…You’ve fulfilled your bucket list then.”

“No, that gentleman isn’t my friend. But still…”

CRUNCH!

“Haha! You flew quite far. Well, well. I’ve never thought my core strength was lacking, but this is embarrassing, hahaha!”

Ihan shook his head at Maximus, who was emerging from the wall far away just like him.

“He is a refreshingly straightforward fool though. Maybe I’ve fulfilled half my bucket list.”

“……”

“Sounds stupid, right? I know.”

Ihan stretched his body.

The aching body was gradually healing.

This level of bruising wouldn’t even count as an injury for either of them.

As Ihan moved forward…

“About that bucket list, I don’t think it’s bad. As long as no one’s feelings get hurt.”

“……”

SHING.

“But if possible, I think winning would be better. I… think that would look cooler.”

“…Ha.”

The guy handed him a sword.

When had he prepared it?

But before he could ask, the guy left carrying Number 4 on his back.

“…Right, that’s how it should be.”

Ihan belatedly responded to the departing figure as he gripped the sword tightly.

Even if you’re going to act foolish…

‘A fool who wins is cooler.’

Ihan smiled.

More freely than Maximus.