Only One Chance

The world flipped upside down.

Something approached in front of him.

That was all Grian perceived when he had just started gathering strength in his axe.

-Wham!

His body, struck in the face, flies across the forest trees.

It stopped when it collided with a huge tree with a ‘thud’ sound…

No, this wasn’t the first time he collided with a tree.

“Huh…”

Grian, regaining his senses, stared at the scenery in the direction he had flown.

A succession of trees severely bent and broken.

The path his large body, protected by mana, had passed through.

“Huh, hahahahaha!!!”

What burst from Grian’s mouth upon seeing that sight was none other than raucous laughter.

Not only flipping the surroundings from the start, but using that momentum to throw his body, which specializes in durability…

Isn’t it beyond surprise and even reaching the point of admiration?

“What are you, wench!! That just now…”

-Whoosh!

But before he could finish speaking, a resonance occurred in the air.

Along with that, the leaves of the trees planted where it flew violently shook, catching attention.

A pressure abnormally strong to be called wind.

The phenomenon, which could be said to be a harbinger of a storm in itself, made him swallow back his murmur filled with composure.

-Whoosh!

Between the trees.

A white afterimage quickly jumping between them was barely caught in his sight, approaching this way.

‘Surprise attack from above!’

Grian raising his guard with his axe the moment that presence arrived.

-Boom!

But what followed was not a downward strike, but a landing that narrowly missed that guard.

Even so, he perceived it.

Moreover, he anticipated that after landing, it would strike upwards from below.

‘Such a trivial feint…’

Before that awareness could lead to a counterattack.

-Wham!!!

A fist exceeding his perception speed hit his thick chin hard, and something flew in from the side, aiming at his body that was knocked upwards.

What was flying towards his staggering neck was clearly a blade…

No, an attack with sharpness beyond that.

-Slice!!

The moment he hastily rolled his body to avoid that attack, everything in the trajectory that blade passed through was completely cut away.

Not just trees.

Even the thick boulders rooted between them.

-Rumble!!

There wasn’t even time to confirm that scene.

Everything that was split flew up from the impact bursting from the ground.

Eventually, in the scene that became chaotic as if space was shattering, something white began to draw afterimages while repeatedly leaping.

-Whoosh!

Is what’s extending from there now a rope?

No, bandages imbued with mana.

The opponent who wrapped Grian’s arm with that manipulated the mana imbued in the bandages to temporarily alter its properties.

For that fleeting moment, as a material with elasticity rather than cloth.

-Bang!!

The woman sharply changing her trajectory in mid-air using that elasticity.

Eventually, Grian’s fist collided with the rapidly flying kick, and blood vessels violently surged up.

‘Strong.’

Without the help of any special armament or magic tool.

The opponent made him raise a guard with full power from that reinforcement.

“Kuha, hahaha! You’re strong, yes, truly strong!!”

Right after that, a fierce mana current arose from Grian’s body.

As his innate mana adaptability frantically absorbed the surrounding mana, the place where he stood his feet began to vibrate violently.

“But with just this much, to me…”

-Thwack!!!

Right after that, a low kick striking his leg.

As he staggered from that, a fist coming from the opposite side hit Grian’s chin, pushing his body back.

A time-lag attack targeting the lower body followed by the upper body.

Right after the mana operation was disrupted by that, all the nerves in his body went wild, inducing him to take one action.

‘Block.’

As if proving that intuition wasn’t wrong.

-Boom!

Even at this moment, attacks were pouring in.

-Boom, boom!!

Before the noise from the first hit even ended, subsequent attacks began to hit Grian’s body hard again, pushing it back.

Fierce pummeling continuing without discriminating between limbs.

As even the two legs planted on the ground slowly got pushed back, Grian’s expression crumpled violently.

Because he felt that at this moment, she was truly trying to overwhelm him.

“You, bitch…!”

Normally, he could have just endured and counterattacked.

Guys who rushed in like this would often attack arrogantly thinking they were winning, only to have their necks cut off by one sudden axe swing.

-Boom! Bang!!!!

But he couldn’t do that now.

Not just the speed, but each hit was a critical strike filled with killing intent.

He instinctively knew that if he disturbed his guard even a little in this barrage, a vicious blow striking his body hardened with mana would dig into his body.

‘So it’s not just surviving that’s a talent.’

Yes, if you survived the front lines, this much should be expected.

From pouring high-circle output into such a barrage, it was teaching him that the opponent was a strong one on a different dimension from those he had met so far.

“Don’t, underestimate me, wench!!!”

Nevertheless, Grian does not anticipate defeat.

Look even now.

While seemingly pushing him back, she hasn’t been able to land even one effective hit on his body, has she?

“I am Grian Kais!! I will soon reclaim my homeland through a blood revolution and achieve the work of a great king! Do you think you can break me with just this much!?”

While enduring the attacks like that, the mana circulation occurring inside his body eventually prepares to be released externally after passing its peak.

-Boom!!!

The terrain flipping over along with the foot stomp made at the end of that.

The ground unable to withstand the force splits along with the bedrock, and everything touched by that aftermath begins to shatter.

A wave of earth and trees beyond just collapsing like at the start of the battle.

The force even changing the terrain was no less than a disaster aimed solely at one human.

‘This is my power.’

Even in that collapsed scene, he engraved the figure of the one who had jumped into the air in his eyes.

‘This is the power of me, Grian Kais.’

While staring at that target, he thinks as he gradually gathers strength in the hand holding the axe.

He is one who inherited the bloodline of royalty.

The talent awakened while inheriting the finest blood made him born with overwhelming military might.

Having been born with such power, how could he hand over the royal authority to a weak brother?

How could he bow his head to a great power while grasping a kingdom that should be walking the path of hegemony?

After spending a long time in solitude and deprivation after being exiled, he finally realized.

In the end, even if you have talent, it’s useless if you can’t grasp the opportunity.

That’s why he has been cultivating his strength and honing for that day since the day he was exiled.

So that when the promised time comes, he can slaughter all the leaders of the kingdom, including that detestable brother, with his own hands.

‘That woman is just another sacrifice for that…!’

He’ll behead that woman with the axe grasped in this hand.

After that, he’ll kidnap the saint and use the high bounty placed on her to raise an army for usurpation.

Right after the axe imbued with such obsession accepted mana and gradually transformed into a blade like a guillotine.

-Whoosh!!

From amidst the chaotic scene where the aftermath of the collapse had not yet subsided, countless white lines began to fly towards his body.

Bandages imbued with mana.

By the time he perceived their existence, his body was already bound in every nook and cranny for a long time.

‘This damned woman, such futile struggle…!’

In the end, they’re just bandages.

Whether imbued with mana or whatever, they’re just things that can be torn apart with strength.

-Bang!!

But what she needed was just a moment of time.

“You know what?”

Right after one of the bandages binding his body was pulled.

Her whole body that closed the distance wrapped around Grian’s heavy arm as it was.

“Joint techniques can’t be guarded against with mana.”

A low whisper following before he could even undo the bandage’s binding.

Along with that, force began to be applied in reverse to Grian’s extended arm joint.

But what Grian did reflexively was just hardening his body through mana.

Even that, out of concern for dulling his movements, he had no choice but to unconsciously loosen the connections of joints even in full-body guarding.

In other words, as she said, ‘joint techniques are an exception to mana-based guard defense’.

-Crack!!

The moment his arm was twisted by the arm bar using her whole body.

“Kuhaaaaak!!!”

Grian, swung by that excruciating pain, thrashed violently.

He recklessly moved, converting the mana he was going to use for attacks into propulsion.

“You, damn bitch…!!!”

Breaking the bandages wrapped around his body happened in an instant.

Even though she broke his arm using that momentary restraint, it’s too early to seize the initiative with just that.

-Whoosh!

Yes, the fight doesn’t end just because one arm is broken.

The one who knew that better was not Grian but her.

“Now, wait…”

Boom!! His body sinking from the kick that hit his crown directly.

Before he could straighten that body, a fist with a storm at its back flew towards his face.

-Bam! Boom!!

The explosion of physical force still not slowing down.

But Grian’s guard facing that was gradually becoming unstable.

Because even just enduring the attacks exacerbated the pain of his broken arm.

Just by his mind being distracted by that pain, his will wavers, and the physical force of mana responding to his will also weakens.

-Boom!!!!

At the end of that, her fist hitting his body with the guard released burst compressed force while in contact with his abdomen.

The moment the fierce impact pressed down on his abdomen as if crushing it.

“Kuh, huk…!!”

His body unable to withstand the impact bends into a ‘ㄱ’ shape.

The mouth that should have been tightly shut opened forcibly and a groan burst out.

“Ah, aaagh!!”

Before that breath could turn into a scream of pain.

-Bam!

An uppercut striking from below hit his chin hard, making his head bounce upwards.

The moment his hunched body was forcibly raised.

What’s flying towards such a head is a kick with force put into its axis enough to dig deep into the ground.

‘Mu-must block…’

Clearly a kick flying towards his head.

-Boom!

But as if mocking such predictions, the kick that bent its trajectory in mid-air eventually struck his calf hard.

From upper to lower.

The moment his body staggered from the strange kick that bent its orbit, a rough hand extended towards his head.

He tried to raise his arm to block, but the arm that moved reflexively was the one already broken.

-Boom!!

With that, Grian’s back of the head was slammed into the tree behind him, bursting with a thunderous sound.

The moment his mind, which had been floundering in pain, became distant again.

“…You know what’s one of the things I hate most?”

Even in that state, the opponent was calmly looking down at him while pressing her body against his.

“Guys who pick fights and then scream when they get hit back.”

A low sigh exhaled from the mouth that smoothly removed the cigarette.

Along with that, the mockery that followed was teaching him that what had just knocked him down was by no means a fluke.

“Usually, such guys only think about hitting from the start, and are idiots who never think they might get hit themselves. You’re exactly that kind right now.”

Snicker.

The woman looking down at him while bursting into laughter.

The haggard smile visible between the fingers gripping the cigarette was clearly something to be called a sneer.

“You’ve lived without much hardship, kid.”

“You, son of a…!!!”

-Crack!!!

His back of the head digging into the tree as soon as a finger twitched.

The tree penetrated by the force applied to her hand broke, and Grian thrown onto the dirt ground hastily got up and gripped his axe.

‘No, I… To such a mere wench…!’

Grian Kais.

A man with such a name is destined to become king.

Beyond that, he was born with the destiny to achieve the position of hegemon in the future, or to raise bloodlines worthy of that and leave his name engraved on this land.

‘No one could stand against me. Even that Red Cross Unit guy who survived the front lines of the Great War ran away as soon as he saw me, it was practically a fight I won!’

A guy who focused only on saving lives without even thinking of fighting in the village he attacked.

Even though the situation could have been easily resolved if he had taken him down, he fled disgracefully, even dropping the necklace proving his affiliation in front of him.

Yes, in the end, all they did on the front lines was probably just running away with their tails between their legs like that.

It’s impossible for him, who even overwhelmed such a guy, to be pushed back so one-sidedly like this.

‘If I hadn’t been swayed from the start.’

Just because he was careless from the beginning.

If he hadn’t yielded the first move to the opponent, if he had been in perfect condition, surely he would have been the one overwhelming…

-Sizzle.

But the opponent didn’t assume such hypotheticals and only approached faithfully to the present.

Still bringing her fingertips to the cigarette in her mouth.

Causing friction as if striking a flint.

-Whoosh!

The edge of her hand being forged into flames using the heat that burst forth as a medium.

That in itself was a technique emulating a scalpel, a monopolar (electric scalpel) equipped with the function of performing incision and hemostasis simultaneously.

-Slash!!

The attack originating from that tore through the unstable curtain of mana and left a huge wound on Grian’s flesh.

One wound.

That much wouldn’t be a problem. Those skilled in utilizing mana can prevent bleeding using mana.

It’s entirely possible to counterattack her who has approached to close range while suppressing this pain.

-Sizzle!!

But what the current attack aimed for is not just cutting flesh.

In some sense, an attack more fatal to the human body than poison.

“Ho-hot!! Aaaagh!”

A burn.

The pain that occurs as flesh cooks due to heat is the most stimulating and painful among pains humans feel.

The moment it penetrates beyond the skin into the interior, that pain reaches the point of refusing comparison even to having flesh torn by countless needles threaded with iron hooks.

“My, my body! My booodyyy, aaaagh!!”

It’s not just about blocking a cut wound with mana.

Even at this moment, the heat that penetrated through the wound is digging into the internal components everywhere.

It’s impossible to maintain sanity and operate mana in such a situation.

-Bzzt!!!

As if aiming for that opening, a palm swung and struck Grian’s chest hard.

The current imbued in her hand dug into his flesh, eventually stimulating his heart and paralyzing his muscles.

“Kuh, heu…”

His large body collapsing as soon as that current-imbued hand was withdrawn.

The sensation returning after momentarily becoming distant created dizziness as if he had made a high-altitude drop from thousands of meters high.

As if he had been transferred to another world for a fleeting moment.

“…5 seconds.”

Even in such a moment, a voice was heard.

“How does it feel to have your heart stop for that long?”

Without even giving a chance for counterattack.

The voice of the person who pushed him endlessly to the brink of death with the attack right seized at the end.

Although even her appearance looked blurry, Grian still couldn’t straighten his reason.

“Uh, uaaaah!! Aaaaaaagh!!”

He belatedly realized.

If he doesn’t resist here, he’ll die.

He’ll end up dead.

-Crack!!

But his body whose heart had stopped even if just for a moment.

With his whole body’s metabolism burdened in the current state, his reaction speed could only temporarily become slower.

“Kuhak!”

Grian collapsing along with a light low kick that followed in that state.

The only thing illuminated in the shadow cast over him was the small ember held in that mouth.

But she must be clearly glaring at him.

“Wa-wait…”

The moment he realized that, his mouth reflexively opened.

-Wham!

Bitten by a mana-imbued punch.

-Wham! Wham!

Even his scream of pain was swallowed by the successive noises bursting forth.

-Wham! Wham! Wham!!

Fists swung at regular intervals.

The more that sound repeated, the more blood spread on the spot, but even so, she didn’t stop.

This is a battle of slaughter.

A desperate struggle where both stake their lives.

From the moment that was declared, there was no reason to show mercy to the opponent.

Attack if you can attack.

Seize the opportunity if there is one, create one if there isn’t.

If not, you must engage with the mindset that you’ll die, which was the attitude one should have in a life-or-death battle.

“Kuh, heu… Buh…”

The breathing sound heard when the beating finally stopped at the end.

His heart is beating and he’s still breathing, but that’s about it.

When even the movement of his hand begging for mercy changed to an unconscious action, the woman who had been straddling him withdrew her blood-smeared hand and stood up.

The moment silence fell after the fierce battle.

Even the cigarette ember, which had been the only light source illuminating them, was completely burned out, and the scene was eventually engulfed in pitch-black darkness.

-Sizzle.

A spark bursting forth in that situation began to burn the end of a newly placed cigarette.

She, who took a puff of that smoke, kicked the beaten body of the criminal and straddled her tired body over it.

“Phew…”

As soon as she exhaled a deep sigh, the clouds covering the moon gradually cleared away.

What was revealed in the place illuminated by that light was a chaotic spot in the forest due to the collapse of the ground.

And vacant eyes staring at such a scene.

Those eyes, devoid of emotion, were telling that she was a person for whom slaughter had become routine beyond mere familiarity.

That nature is slowly awakening as she inhales the cigarette smoke at this moment.

“…Now, our little friends.”

She said, scanning the surroundings with such eyes.

Towards those who could only watch in this miserable scene.

Those who followed the rag beneath her, who would be called subordinates or retainers.

“This big sis is in a very bad mood right now… but I don’t like wasting time getting tired either, so I’ll say this just once.”

Her voice was extremely tired, but ironically, that fatigue was even killing the killing intent she exuded.

An attitude that felt merciful in a way.

But the moment they heard the following words, they realized.

“If you don’t want to become a piece of meat that can only breathe without moving your arms, legs, or tongue like the guy here, you’d better quietly gather in a line next to me and keep your heads down.”

The moment they refuse, she will return to her previous state and pursue them.

Even if they scatter, she might not catch everyone, but someone will surely die.

The desire not to be that someone was enough to completely crumble even the thread-like loyalty and expectations they had.

“I’ll give you only one chance. Execute within 10 seconds.”

As the mercy flowing from her mouth was gradually eroded by killing intent.

-Rustle.

Despite the loyalty they had maintained all along.

Their bodies began to move in unison.