Chapter 461: Surpassing the Wall (3)

Clang! Clang!

A sword enveloped in blue light ripped space apart. Kim Tae-Hyun barely blocked the sword with his dagger but was blown back from the impact.

"Haaa." Kim Si-Hun momentarily stopped attacking and took a deep breath in.

'I'm vanishing.'

Si-Hun felt like he was melting away into thin air like ice cream on a hot summer day. The feeling of his sword in his hand as well as the sensation of swinging his arm and stomping his feet felt different from usual. It was like he was controlling a game avatar; it felt like his soul had left his body and was controlling his body from above. His body felt nonexistent, leaving him with only his consciousness.

Clang!

"Kurgh!"

There was no point in using martial arts. As soon as he thought of attacking, the Qi around him responded to his will. His Qi which had been depleted before was overflowing; it was like the ocean was his energy source.

'This must be... Deific Essence.'

It was the absolute power that separated gods from mortals. Si-Hun trembled from the power filling him to the brim. However, he did not know that this power was not given to him because he acquired Deific Essence.

Deific Essence was merely a byproduct of the power that he had realized. He had reached a realm that beings such as Zeus and Thor, who had been born with Deific Essence, could never reach. The overpowering majesty of one who acquired Deific Essence on their own was pouring out from Si-Hun.

Clang—!!

"Haaa, haaa," Tae-Hyun panted heavily.

'How?'

The situation changed from the moment that blue energy burst from Si-Hun.

'I can see the future, so how am I getting pushed back this hard?'

Tae-Hyun aggressively bit his lip. He gripped the dagger that he was holding in a reverse grip harder and activated Foresight to its limit.

'I can see it.'

He could see every single one of Si-Hun's movements as well as how and where he would attack.

Wham!

"Kurgh!"

However, knowing the future was not enough to deal with Si-Hun's attacks. The moment that Tae-Hyun blocked with his dagger, the massive impact destroyed his stance.

"Why, why, why?!" Tae-Hyun shouted as if he couldn't understand.

Although Si-Hun had powered up in the moment of crisis, it did not change the fact that Tae-Hyun had the upper hand. Tae-Hyun himself did not know it but his Deific Essence was not normal. It was that of the Titans, power that not even those who had acquired Deific Essence on their own could ever possess. Tae-Hyun was objectively faster and stronger than Si-Hun, and he even possessed the ability to look into the future.

'But I can't block his attacks.'

Tae-Hyun panted heavily as he frantically swung his dagger. There was a fundamental difference in skill between Tae-Hyun and Si-Hun. No matter how strong the power that Tae-Hyun possessed was, he was unable to use it to its full potential because he lacked the skill to.

'At this rate...' Tae-Hyun's expression was dyed with anxiety. 'Again...'

He recalled the day that he awakened as a Player and excitedly went to the Player Registration Office. He recalled the gazes of disdain and the voices filled with pity, telling him that he wouldn't amount to anything and that he should give up.

'Kang-Woo hyung.'

Tae-Hyun clenched his dagger almost to the point that it could break. Kang-Woo was the one who relighted his dream that he was about to give up; Kang-Woo was his idol as well as his messiah.

'I...'

Tae-Hyun's dagger was blown away from his hand and he tumbled backward.

"Fuuu."

Si-Hun caught his breath as he stared at Tae-Hyun collapsed on the ground. His body was screaming at him that he had not yet managed to fully realize his enlightenment, but he couldn't attack someone on the ground.

"Let's end the d—"

As Si-Hun was about to end the duel, Tae-Hyun stood back up as he staggered.

"Haaa, haaa."

Whoooom!

Tae-Hyun's necklace began to burn brightly.

"Wh-What's happening...?" Tae-Hyun, who did not seem to know what was going on either, grabbed his necklace in perplexity.

Crackle.

"Ah."

The scenery changed.

'What is this?'

The world was filled with gray static as if Tae-Hyun were staring at a broken TV monitor. He saw ruins of destroyed buildings. The sky was burning red and the land was distorted.

There were countless corpses around him. A thousand? Ten thousand? No, there was an entire mountain's worth of corpses. It was as if he were looking at a sea of corpses.

'A-Aaaahh.'

Tae-Hyun's expression turned pale. A chilling sense of fear took over him. There was someone atop the sea of corpses.

'Who's... there?'

Crackle—!!!

The gray static filled Tae-Hyun's vision again.

"Gasp!" Tae-Hyun gasped for breath, still grabbing the necklace.

Whoooom!

The light pouring out from the Eye of Nostrian entered his body before he could even think about what he had just seen.

Riiing.

[Strengthening the effect of the 'Eye of Nostrian.']

[Strengthening the ability of 'Foresight.']

Blue message windows popped up at the same time that blood vessels bulged around Tae-Hyun's eyes.

"H-Haha."

Great power filled him to the point that Tae-Hyun forgot about what he had just seen. He leaped toward Si-Hun as he reveled in the overwhelming power.

"Ngh...!" Si-Hun grunted.

Just like how Si-Hun awakened Deific Essence during their battle, Tae-Hyun also powered up all of a sudden. Tae-Hyun, who had been on the defensive this entire time, went on the offensive.

"Kuh!"

The problem was that every single one of his attacks was dangerous. It felt as if Tae-Hyun had a complete understanding of Si-Hun's movements.

'Five seconds? Seven? No...'

Tae-Hyun seemed to be predicting Si-Hun's movements up to at least ten seconds forward in time.

"Fuuu, fuuu," Si-Hun exhaled heavily.

He gripped his blue sword tightly and closed his eyes.

'There's no need to be flustered.'

Whether or not Tae-Hyun could see five or ten seconds into the future, it did not change what Si-Hun needed to do. Si-Hun slowly opened his eyes again and dragged into him as much of the infinite Qi around him as possible.

'It doesn't matter if he can see the future.'

He would attack Tae-Hyun with something that he wouldn't be able to block even if he knew that it was coming.

Rumble—!!

The entire training room shook. The blue light around Si-Hun grew larger. Si-Hun trembled in ecstasy. His enlightenment was melting into his sword at an extraordinary rate.

Riiing.

[Raising the stage of Mind's Sword!]

[Promoting Player Kim Si-Hun's Deific Essence rank from Upper Intermediate to High!]

Si-Hun possessed a deep understanding of martial arts. He had reached a realm that could not be reached by those who were born with Deific Essence. And now, he had an opponent whom he could unleash his martial arts understanding against. These three things were accelerating his growth at an exponential rate.

***

'Jesus Christ... His growth is as uncontrollable as an eight-tonne truck with its brakes broken.'

Oh Kang-Woo was watching the duel between Si-Hun and Tae-Hyun with his mouth agape. Tae-Hyun also grew stronger during the duel, but that was ultimately thanks to his item; he could not be compared to Si-Hun, who managed to grow by surpassing his limits.

'Yes! That's it!!'

Kang-Woo clenched his fists as he watched Si-Hun's explosive growth and closed his eyes.

'I knew I was right.'

It was the right decision to bet on the Si-Hun Coin than the risky Tae-Hyun Coin.

'There have been tons of tropes where protagonists get stronger by pure luck lately, but they can't hold a candle to a traditional protagonist.'

Kang-Woo had no idea who gave Tae-Hyun that absurd power, but in the end, the power was not Tae-Hyun's. Just like how someone who got rich overnight from winning the lottery couldn't compare to someone with a successful business, Tae-Hyun could never surpass Si-Hun.

Bang! Rumble—! Boom!!

The training room was falling apart— No, it would have already been obliterated if Kang-Woo hadn't set up a protective barrier of demonic energy in the middle of the battle.

"Mm..." Kang-Woo groaned as he watched the battle that was getting more violent.

'They're starting to get a bit too aggressive.'

Both Si-Hun who was going past his limits and Tae-Hyun who was enveloped in the light pouring out of the necklace were exuding bloodlust as if they were trying to kill each other.

'And Si-Hun's body looks like it has reached its limit.'

Although Si-Hun had surpassed the wall blocking his growth, it did not mean that he had fully recovered his health like a game character after leveling up. Si-Hun's body was at its limit— no, it had passed its limit and was falling apart little by little.

'This is enough.'

It was dangerous to let the battle go on any longer. In the worst-case scenario, he could lose both Si-Hun and Tae-Hyun.

'I should step in.'

Kang-Woo had already decided on his lines to say to Si-Hun, so all that remained was to barge into the training room and stop their battle. Kang-Woo waited for the right time.

"Cough, cough!"

Just then, Si-Hun put his hand over his mouth and began to cough up blood.

His body was unable to handle the excessive load and was falling apart.

"Shit!" Kang-Woo cursed as he was waiting for the right time.

It was not the time to wait; Si-Hun's body was in far worse condition than Kang-Woo had expected.

Slam!

"Si-Hun!!" Kang-Woo slammed open the training room door and ran to Si-Hun.

"Hyung... nim?"

Si-Hun's eyes widened as he watched Kang-Woo who suddenly appeared. Kang-Woo embraced Si-Hun as he collapsed. He could feel the abundant Divinity within Si-Hun.

'This is...'

It was at least High-rank Deific Essence; not just that, it was one that Si-Hun acquired himself!

'Hell fucking yeah!'

Kang-Woo knew that Si-Hun had awakened Deific Essence, but he had never expected for its rank to be so high from the start. Kang-Woo shed tears as he held Si-Hun.

"The Si-Hun Coin has gone through the roof!!"

'Who gives a shit about Deific Essence?!'

"Pardon?" Si-Hun asked.

"Huh?"

Error! Error!

"Wh-Who gives a shit about Deific Essence?!"

"Umm... Hyung-nim?"

"Why are you trying to get stronger to the point that you're destroying yourself like this?!"

"Hyung."

"Si-Hun..." Tears trickled down Kang-Woo's cheeks and fell on Si-Hun's face. "Even without that... you're my precious little brother..."

Kang-Woo's tears did not stop as he held Si-Hun in his arms.