Ch.391386 – Sparring

The intensity of battle is like a drug, often becoming so addictive that you can’t escape it.

That peace I once desperately longed for now feels strange, and impulses to solve everything with violence keep surging from within.

To use an analogy, it feels like I’m getting fewer yellow cards and more red cards.

During that sensitive period when I was affected by Corrosion, I punched five fist-sized holes in the stomachs of each drunk who tried to harass and violate me.

Comparing now to when endorphins were flooding my system as I hovered between life and death, all that remains is a pathetic, powerless version of myself.

Perhaps because my brain was cleanly reset through the reincarnation bonus, my battle-crazed tendencies have diminished significantly compared to before.

But I still haven’t found anything besides fierce combat that gives me not happiness, but simple pleasure.

“NoName? Is it just me, or do your eyes look really dangerous right now?”

Cheon Saet-byeol, standing in the center of the training ground, shuddered.

“Huh? No, it’s your imagination. We agreed to have a light match, remember? It’s been a while since I checked your skills.”

“No magic!”

“I’ll only use aura.”

“No aura either!”

“…? Then how am I supposed to fight? If you’re not confident in hand-to-hand combat, should I give you a weapon? Like the dagger you usually use.”

I crouched down and drew a small magic circle on the ground.

[Conjuration: Stainless Steel]

[Cast: Forging]

I pulled out two temporary daggers and tossed them to Saet-byeol.

The sharp blades spun in an arc as they flew toward her.

Swish-

Cheon Saet-byeol caught both knives simultaneously with one hand.

She closed one eye and stretched out her arm to assess the weight and material of the daggers.

It was a habitual motion.

“Not bad. Fine. Since it’s come to this, I’ll resist with everything I’ve got. But after this sparring match, you have to let go of whatever’s been bothering you, okay?”

“When did I ever say I was bothered?”

“Sis, you know you’re not good at lying, right? Acting all childishly upset like a 9-year-old and now trying to back out?”

“Hey, Cheon Saet-byeol.”

I warm up my Aura Heart.

My vision expands enough to read martial flows, and I gain control over all my muscles and joints.

I channeled all the golden aura I externally manifested into my fists.

“What?”

Saet-byeol twirled her daggers and responded indifferently.

Without the Demon King’s horns, calculations become complex, so I planned to lead this into a chaotic brawl that wouldn’t require numerical calculations.

Saet-byeol would prefer that too.

I flipped a coin high into the air to signal the start of the match.

And I whispered an embarrassing truth that I hoped she would immediately forget after hearing.

“Thank you for always being with me.”

“Huh?”

“So I hope that you, at least… won’t leave my side. Because you’re truly precious to me, okay?”

Ting-

The moment the coin hit the ground, I maximized my aura and wrapped it around my arms.

I charged mercilessly toward her with aura fists as large as my body hanging from my arms.

Cheon Saet-byeol, momentarily dazed, came to her senses and scrunched her face.

“You crazy kid! Making me all emotional and then what are you doing?! What did you say at the end?”

“Haaaaaah!”

“If this is a strategy, I’ll acknowledge it! Thanks to you, I completely forgot what I was going to do!”

Crackle-!

Aura against aura, two different worlds collide.

In that brief moment, Saet-byeol grew fluffy ears and a lush tail as she reached me.

The giant aura fist was blocked by her daggers crossed in an X.

During that momentary power struggle, auras that lost their target scattered in the form of sparks.

Cheon Saet-byeol took a step back.

She held both daggers in reverse grip.

In an instant, her swaying tail stiffened, and she approached with animal-like speed.

A high jump with no thought of defense whatsoever.

Her eyes, transformed into those of a fierce predator, burned intensely.

The two daggers stabbed into the ground like snake fangs, causing an explosion in the area.

BOOM!

The attacks didn’t stop there.

Reminding me that the best defense is offense, Adela rushed at me relentlessly.

If I dodged left, she followed left; if I spun around to avoid her, a sharp blade flew from her other hand.

Whoosh-

The blade tip passed dangerously close to my face.

My eyes widened.

Time seemed to flow more slowly.

I could feel my expression gradually soaking in ecstasy.

My facial muscles moved on their own, beyond my control.

Tap-

I struck her wrist with the back of my hand to disrupt her grip,

Whoosh-

Ducked my head to clearly avoid the knife flying from the opposite direction,

“No!”

And when a perfect opening was created, I drove my fist into Saet-byeol’s solar plexus.

[Kaizen Imperial Martial Arts: Siege Punch]

BANG!

My arm tingled as small muscles under the skin twitched.

“Ughh!”

Cheon Saet-byeol’s body floated up.

With a groan, she rolled backward and hit the opposite wall.

She was covered in dirt from head to toe.

The attacks continued.

Every time I swung my fist, numerous golden lines left afterimages along the trajectory.

Saet-byeol’s daggers, slipping through the gaps, could never break through these lines.

Her blade paths were insufficient to fill the space.

“Oh come on!”

After repeatedly getting hit in the same spot on her abdomen, Cheon Saet-byeol took off her outer clothing and looked down at her stomach.

Under her black tank top, well-defined abs were visible.

She frowned as she rubbed the red bruise around her navel.

“Damn… that hurts.”

I shrugged and said:

“I can’t hit that pretty face of yours. Besides, taking hits to the abs builds strength.”

“Then why don’t you try taking a hit yourself!”

“No thanks?”

“Do you seriously want to die?”

She seemed properly irritated now.

Adela’s hair defied gravity, fluttering up and down.

Her previously translucent ears and tail took on color and form as if they could be touched.

She bared her sharp teeth and charged straight at me.

“Haaaah!”

Contrary to my expectation that she would swing her daggers at close range, Saet-byeol suddenly changed course.

Swoosh-

One dagger barely grazed past my head.

Cheon Saet-byeol had somehow approached in a low stance.

She threw her remaining dagger and dove at me parallel to the ground.

Thud-

She committed to a dive that scraped her face against the rough dirt ground.

Then she suddenly reached out with both hands and firmly grabbed my ankle.

“…!”

“Got you, you little rascal!”

“Eek!”

She instantly pulled my arm, destroying my balance.

Thud-

I had no choice but to land on my butt and sit down right there.

Seeing Cheon Saet-byeol’s defenseless upper body, I immediately got up.

I wrapped my legs around her neck in a chokehold.

“Haa… haa…”

Cheon Saet-byeol, unable to open her eyes, drooled sandy saliva as she caught her breath.

Seeing her in such a disheveled state, I couldn’t bring myself to apply full force with my legs.

I released her neck and combed through her silver hair, now dulled with dirt.

“Saet-byeol, you still have a lot of barrier left. Normally, we should continue fighting.”

“Hack hack… cough cough! Achoo! *sniff* Really? I don’t have the strength to stand up anymore. How do athletes compete for a full 30 minutes? I feel like I’m dying.”

“What was that ridiculous attack at the end? Some kind of quick suicide move?”

“Even if I go down, making you fall on your butt once is worth it! How about that? Surprised you, didn’t I? You never saw it coming! Nyahaha!”

I can’t help but laugh at the absurdity.

I roughly brushed off the ground and lay down right next to her.

When we first left home, the sun was setting, but now it was nowhere to be found.

Large LED lights turned on one by one in the training ground, and small insects gathered around.

Saet-byeol also flipped over and lay down looking at the sky, just like me.

I placed my hand on her stomach and asked:

“Does it hurt?”

“No.”

I pressed down firmly and asked again:

“Does it hurt?”

“Ow ow! Of course it hurts when you press like that!”

“Right? I’ll give you a cold compress.”

[Reverse Cast: Heat Transfer]

“Eek! Cold!”

Her squirming from the cold didn’t last long.

“Can you use a cleaning spell too?”

“Nope. I’m planning to shower when we get home.”

“We need to eat dinner.”

“Then we’ll shower after dinner.”

I picked up my phone from the ground to check if there were any messages.

“Huh? Dad wants us to go out for dinner? For lamb skewers.”

“Oh really? Then we should go home and shower soon.”

“The reservation is in an hour, so I think we can take our time.”

“Really? Then let’s stay a bit longer. I have no strength in my legs at all. See how they only come up this far? I’m going to have serious muscle pain tomorrow.”

Cheon Saet-byeol pointed to her trembling thighs.

“You’re always so dramatic.”

“By the way, is it… okay to touch your hair now?”

“I guess. It’s fine when you touch it.”

“Ooooh…!”

Saet-byeol’s eyes sparkled.

Then she gently stroked my hair.

“Hey, with your dirty hands!”

“What’s the big deal? Hehe, it’s so soft. I’ve always wanted to pat a real younger sibling like this.”

“Younger sibling? I’m older than you, you know? Stop trying to climb the ranks. Until you beat me in a match, I’m still your big sister.”

“Fine, be the big sister all you want! Oh, you’re so cute!”

Saet-byeol’s silly smile was annoying.

I removed the magic circle that was providing the cold compress and lay down on her bruised stomach.

“Ugh!”

“There, now you can stroke all you want, right?”

“Ah, don’t move your head, it hurts! I’m going to mess up your hair completely!”

My glossy hair was completely disheveled by Saet-byeol’s hands.

The fight we had today and the jokes we’re making now had no purpose or meaning.

And I realized anew how blessed this was.

I really did enjoy fighting.

I just didn’t like fighting to kill someone.

My disheveled hair now looked like Medusa’s.

Professor Cheon would be horrified if he saw me like this.

Just as I was about to get up, Saet-byeol grabbed my head and put it back on her stomach.

“Huh?”

“Wait, sis.”

“What?”

“Can I ask you something…”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“I’m really curious why you don’t like having your hair touched. Is it… some kind of trauma? You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

Memories flash by like a panorama.

Men roughly grabbing my hair.

A huge, hideous saw grinding as it cuts off horns.

Fainting and regaining consciousness repeatedly.

Later, the nerves in my horns died and I couldn’t feel anything, but the terrifying memory continued to occupy a corner of my mind.

I try to part my lips while controlling my rough breathing.

At that moment, the phone rang.

Ring ring-

“Yes?”

“It’s Dad calling. I’ll tell you about it another time when I get the chance.”

“Oh, okay.”

I still lacked courage. Just a little.