Ch.296EP.63 – A Knight’s Valor Contains No Recklessness (7)

……How?

Great Archfiend Inanna felt an untimely confusion.

It would be fair to say that a divine being who had lived for tens of thousands of years should never experience confusion, yet right now she was utterly bewildered. No, she was beyond shocked.

What was so confusing and shocking?

Everything…!

That’s what Inanna wanted to scream.

This human had no trace of divine power, spiritual energy, or even magical power or sorcery.

Yet such a human dared to touch the spiritual body of a “god.”

It should have been impossible.

But-.

[Ah, it hurts…! It hurts!!]

Pain. She felt pain that only worthless humans should feel, and Inanna rolled on the ground like a tantruming child, crying out in agony.

Having no tolerance for pain made her feel it more acutely, and she screamed uncontrollably, unable to endure it.

Yet despite her screams.

“For a god, you’re quite the drama queen.”

Whack!

[Aaaagh!!]

The human continued to strike her repeatedly, regardless of her pain.

…With mysterious strikes that she couldn’t understand how they were delivered.

Clearly, the human was about 3 meters away from her, standing still, yet somehow blows kept landing on Inanna’s face and body, delivering pain again and again.

Inanna couldn’t comprehend how a motionless human could attack her, and the pain was so severe that she had no time to think about it.

All she could do was whine and complain about the pain.

Yet even in the midst of her pain and confusion….

[That thing! Kill it!!]

She didn’t forget her hatred and contempt for the worthless human who had attacked her spiritual body.

Kikikikikik!!

Inanna expressed her fury and commanded the Celestial Bull, and the bull diligently moved to follow its master’s order.

Gugugugung!

The ground shook just from its movement, and everywhere the Celestial Bull passed was torn apart.

Everything that touched its body was completely pulverized, demonstrating the intimidating presence and destructive power of something far beyond a mere giant skeletal bull.

Whack….

“You’re pulverizing my Mountain-Breaking Strike?”

The human seemed to have delivered one of those mysterious strikes to the Celestial Bull, but unlike with Inanna, the bull easily crushed the attack.

With its enormous body already being a formidable mass, combined with such pulverizing ability, the Celestial Bull was truly unfair, to say the least.

However.

Kwaaang!

[!!]

“But my Internal Energy Strike works on you? How divine indeed.”

As if proving that its pulverizing power wasn’t absolute, an explosion suddenly sounded from the bull’s back from another of the human’s attacks.

Of course, it wasn’t powerful enough to seriously wound the Celestial Bull, but what mattered was:

[H-how could the Celestial Bull get even a scratch…?!]

A slight scratch. It was barely a wound, but the important thing was that a wound had been inflicted.

The cruel truth was that the Celestial Bull had been successfully attacked, and Inanna’s face turned pale.

[You, what are you?! How is this possible?!]

“……”

[Answer m-, aaaagh!]

Crack!

She had asked a question, but what came back was not an answer but an attack.

And it was an even more powerful attack than before.

Inanna was sent flying far away, bouncing three times across the ground like a skipping stone.

It was an attack with power incomparable to the previous ones, and Inanna…

[Ugh, i-it hurts! It hurts…!!]

She could only whimper and writhe in terrible pain.

Meanwhile, the one who was one-sidedly beating up the god Inanna:

“At least you’re as tough as a god should be.”

He merely narrowed his eyes fiercely with displeasure.

* * *

To be clear, Ihan had never in his life been foolish enough to underestimate or let his guard down against someone he recognized as an enemy.

That’s because his life’s difficulty had always been like walking on a knife’s edge.

Far from being careless, he had developed the habit of being more cautious than others when facing enemies, and when an opportunity arose, he would swing his fists or blade without hesitation, using full force from the start to kill his opponent.

Of course, this habit continued to the present.

That’s why Ihan was somewhat shocked.

‘I hit it with such powerful mental energy strikes, but it’s just complaining about pain?’

He had delivered over thirty full-power Mountain-Breaking Strikes with mental energy, intending to burst its head like a watermelon.

Yet the Great Archfiend endured all of it, naturally causing Ihan’s expression to harden.

As expected of an earth deity, even a corrupted one.

Its durability was extraordinary….

‘No, can this even be called durability?’

It was alien.

Though he could hit it with mental energy, it seemed difficult to inflict significant damage with ordinary methods.

At the very least.

‘Sword energy, or force with equivalent mass is essential.’

Kikikikikik!!

Boom!

…And would certainly be necessary to eliminate this giant skeletal bull.

[Aaaaaaah!!]

The skeletal bull responded to the evil spirit’s anger, and every time the bull rampaged, that absurd pulverizing power turned everything in all directions to dust.

If it continued to rampage just a little more, the entire area would likely become a desert.

And gradually….

Kugugugung!

As the pulverizing power ran wild, it didn’t just affect the immediate surroundings but made the entire secret realm tremble.

Moreover, the power seemed to be extending beyond the secret realm, and seeing this, Ihan…

“You bag of bones…!”

Kwaaaang!

He gritted his teeth and charged forward.

Because he knew that the moment that power spread outward, terrible consequences would surely follow.

He unleashed his full-power Palace God Flash Shadow technique, and his body collided with the bull at a terrifying speed.

[You stupid human! If a mere human like you confronts the ‘Mystery of Pulverization’ head-on, you’ll obviously be ground to dust, how could you be so foolish…-.]

Crack!

[…?]

Kikikik!?

The Celestial Bull, which had been rampaging without pause, suddenly seemed bewildered.

That’s how unbelievable what was happening was.

Because…

Crack…!

“Uaaaaaaah!!”

The human, letting out a mighty roar, had forcefully grabbed the Celestial Bull’s body.

Where did he grab?

Since the bones were too large to fit in his hands, all ten fingers dug into the bone, forcibly creating handholds, and this caused the Celestial Bull to stop moving.

The Celestial Bull, with size and mass comparable to a fortress, was rendered immobile by human strength—an unbelievable sight.

Was this even possible with human power!?

Even the ancient heroes who were said to have lifted fortress walls with their strength might not have been capable of such a feat.

But what was even more unbelievable was.

Kugugugung!

Kikikik!!?

The Celestial Bull’s body was being lifted.

Slowly, no, definitely.

Wooong!

Power radiated.

The power emanating from the realm of mental energy that only Ihan had reached in the South, no, in the entire continent—the Vajra Indestructibility!

As long as Ihan’s mental energy didn’t break, the indestructible durability and adamantine energy that could withstand even the mystery of pulverization.

But this skill was only a part of what he was demonstrating now; what truly mattered was the total amount of [Force] he was emitting.

Gooooo…!

The formidable physical strength incomparable to the past and the technique that even utilized the earth’s power was an art of the highest level that no one else could imitate.

It was something only he could accomplish—he who had created Force and understood his own body better than anyone else—and this allowed him to emit power that was impossible by common sense.

Yes, if one were to name it….

– Instructor, I noticed you have a new characteristic in your status?

– I told you not even two days ago that the world isn’t a game, you idiot. Live in reality.

– But, but I can see it…

– That guy never listens. …So, what appeared?

– …You’re curious too.

– What did you say?

– Just that something good appeared… Ahem!

– [Strength to Uproot Mountains and Spirit to Cover the World]. It’s at Lv.8, by the way.

The strength to uproot mountains.

That was the name of the realm Ihan had reached.

Whoosh!

The bull, the bull with the grand name of Celestial Bull, was lifted high into the air.

Crack!

Kikiki!!

The Celestial Bull struggled, trying to break free from Ihan’s grip immediately, but it wasn’t easy.

The formidable Force that Ihan emitted spread like a net, wrapping around the Celestial Bull’s body.

And in that state, soon.

Hung, whoosh! Whoooosh-!!

The Celestial Bull’s body began to rotate.

Using centrifugal force, he rotated his body, causing the Celestial Bull to rotate as well, and a terrifying pressure struck the Celestial Bull’s body.

-Super Giant Swing.

The only issue was that the target of this giant swing was a bull the size of a fortress, and because of this…

Wheeeeeng!!!

[Grrrrrr…!!]

[Keeeeek!!?!!]

[Gggggk?!]

The monsters gathering around were caught in the formidable gravitational pull created by this rotation.

Unable to escape, they were swept up, and each time, the monsters were crushed or burst apart.

Then, the next moment.

“Aaaaaaah!!”

With another powerful shout, he threw the Celestial Bull, and in the next instant,

Kwagwagwagwagwang!!!

…The Celestial Bull was embedded in the ceiling.