novelraw Chapter 179
Chapter 179
Gaia and the hero.
Even though he had heard the words for the first time, Lee Shin felt his heart pound and his interest piqued by the two words Raven had uttered.
'I just came for fun, but I've hit an unexpected jackpot. Is this why people buy lottery tickets?'
-I don't know about that, but this certainly far exceeds the expected range.
Not only was he LV.5, which was interesting, but he also had all sorts of unknown secrets… In Lee Shin's eyes, Raven already looked like a treasure goblin.
Lee Shin looked at Raven for a moment, wondering if he would say something more.
Kkuuk-
But Raven, as if he had realized his mistake, firmly closed his mouth as if he couldn't say any more.
"Well, if you don't want to talk, you don't have to."
Although Raven's reaction was a little disappointing, Lee Shin thought it was for the better and pointed at Raven with his Yagong, then smiled, pulling up one corner of his mouth.
"Because it doesn't matter if I hear what you know after I beat you down."
"…I will win."
Raven muttered in a small but firm voice and activated the magic he had been preparing without Lee Shin's knowledge.
Shuoooo-
Similar to before, the shadows moved and began to rise slowly.
But the scale was completely different from before.
Unlike before, the shadows that had risen into the air moved as if creating waves and slowly began to encroach on this space.
-It seems he's done with the checks.
'Then it would be polite for me to greet him properly.'
Lee Shin looked at the wave of black shadows rushing towards him and pulled the switch of [Mad Dragon].
Seuseuseu-
At that, Lee Shin's and Irehgue's minds were connected more strongly, and Lee Shin's body changed.
Kkadeudeuk-
As if an egg were cracking, his black pupils split and turned red and golden, respectively, and his pupils were torn vertically like a reptile's.
At the same time, a powerful force began to overflow from his whole body, as if his empty muscles were being filled with steel.
"Haaaah, it feels like it's been a while since I've done this."
Lee Shin, feeling the sensation of a huge gear in his body rotating at high speed, looked at the wave of shadows that had come right in front of him with eyes that were completely different from before.
Shuaak-!
He swung the Yagong, which was wrapped in a transparent spear ki, and split the wave of shadows in half.
"…"
Behind the split wave, Raven, who was in a stance and preparing to chant, muttered in a surprised voice.
"You weren't human either?"
"No, I'm human."
Seuk-
"Well, I'm not an ordinary human."
At Lee Shin's words, Raven frowned, and behind him, a thorn that looked twice as thick as the one that had aimed at Lee Shin before revealed its sharp edge.
Pajijik-!
"You should pay attention."
But Lee Shin unfolding the Lightning Ray Immortal Art and narrowing the distance between them was faster than Raven moving the thorn.
"Ugh!"
At Lee Shin's sudden acceleration, which far exceeded his expectations, Raven hastily moved over a hundred thorns to check Lee Shin from approaching him.
'Hoo, now I can see properly.'
But to the current Lee Shin, who had raised his physical and cognitive abilities to the limit, about a hundred thorns were nothing more than a light drizzle.
The transparent ki was dyed golden, and the Yagong flew through the air like a hawk aiming for its prey.
Just as the shadow that wrapped around Raven had become darker, Lee Shin's lightning also shone more strongly than before, making the spear flash.
Soon, Lee Shin, who had cut through the wave of shadows and approached Raven, added more strength to the hand holding the Yagong and continued the words he had stopped for a moment.
"It'll be easier if you just think of me as a slightly unusual human."
"Black Curtain!"
As Lee Shin came right in front of him, Raven hastily used magic to spread a curtain of black shadow between them.
And that was a mistake.
-Flame Lightning Tree God Spear
-Flame Lightning
-Reaching the Heavens
Because the move Lee Shin had brought out was not so light that it could be blocked by just a few curtains.
'It's dangerous!'
The spear, which had been dyed golden, was mixed with a burning red.
The flame and lightning repelled each other, and at the same time as they revealed their fangs, they harmonized and mixed, making the Yagong's fangs flash.
Raven, who saw that, also instinctively realized that he couldn't block Lee Shin's spear and that he had made a mistake.
Paching-!
And as Raven had thought, the Yagong easily tore through the ten layers of shadow curtains and revealed its fangs at Raven, who was behind them.
Taak-!
Raven hastily jumped up from his spot to avoid Lee Shin's spear.
"You can't just go up into the air so easily."
At that, Lee Shin twisted the trajectory of the spear by rotating his wrist and continued to thrust the spear at Raven, who had fled into the air.
Ttak-
"Trap."
At that moment, Raven said the activation word and snapped his fingers.
At that, the torn shadow curtain moved on its own and clung to Lee Shin, hindering his movements.
But Lee Shin, who had noticed with a glance of his eyes that the magic Raven had just activated had almost no killing power, ignored all the hindrances that were holding him back and focused only on chasing Raven.
"The attempt was good, but it's not enough."
With this, it was only possible to buy a little more time.
It might be impossible to catch the rising Raven, but then he just had to aim for the moment he came down to the ground.
While the Yagong was baring its teeth at the rising Raven.
"No, it's enough."
Raven said that.
And Raven's words were true.
Because the crow that had flown up into the sky had spread its wings to fly into the air to avoid the tiger.
Hwaaak-!
From within the black robe that was wrapping around Raven's whole body, huge black wings popped out and flapped greatly.
At that, Raven's body quickly soared up, avoided Lee Shin's attack, and landed on the railing of the second floor of the factory.
Looking at Raven, Lee Shin clicked his tongue with a disappointed face.
"For what you gained by revealing your hidden card, the harvest is a bit meager."
Saying that, Lee Shin threw the robe that was caught on the end of the Yagong to the ground.
At the last moment, the Yagong had not reached Raven.
But it had reached the hem of the flapping robe, and at that moment, Lee Shin had pulled the robe that was wrapping around Raven with the tip of his spear, and luckily, he had even been able to take off the mask that was covering Raven's face.
Lee Shin looked at the second-floor railing where Raven was with curious eyes.
"Ugh…"
There, a woman with silky black bobbed hair was standing on the railing, preening her wings, and looking down at Lee Shin with black eyes that were the same as her wings.
"Hmm…"
On the outside, it looked like an emotionless eye, but Lee Shin's eyes could notice that Raven's face, which was hidden in the shadows, was slightly flushed.
"What, are you embarrassed because you're not wearing a mask?"
"Ugh…!"
"Oh, it seems I'm right."
Lee Shin said that and smiled playfully.
"Well, what does it matter. It's a waste to hide such a pretty face and cool wings. Just think of it as showing off and show them."
"What? What does that…"
At Lee Shin's words, Raven's complexion changed slightly, and she said that in a trembling voice.
But Lee Shin, who was already properly started, interrupted Raven's words with an excited voice.
"And what's the big deal about showing your face a little when we're already fighting to the death."
Raven, who had noticed that Lee Shin was about to move again, hastily controlled the shadows.
Pabababak-!
Following the tips of Raven's fingers, thousands of shadow skewers popped out from the floor and attacked Lee Shin.
At the same time, the shadow that was filling the factory floor turned into a lake's surface and created ripples, and the shadow mist that bloomed above it filled the factory.
They hid Raven's appearance and at the same time detected Lee Shin's movements and informed Raven.
Woong-!
Raven, who had confirmed that her body was hidden, used the artifact she had to create several layers of protective shields and at the same time created 10 shadow dolls that looked exactly like her.
Although it was with the help of an artifact, the fact that she had activated such magic with a momentary judgment showed how outstanding a mage Raven was.
Raven had planned to hide while Lee Shin was avoiding or blocking the shadow thorns, and then create an opening by confusing him with the shadow dolls.
Puk-!
But Lee Shin destroyed Raven's plan by coming up with a completely different move than Raven had expected.
"Keol-leok!"
Unlike before, where he had consistently defended and evaded, Lee Shin moved minimally to avoid only the attacks aimed at her vital points and ignored the rest, rushing straight at the place where Raven had last been.
A one-sided attack that disregarded defense.
This was the variable Lee Shin had created to overturn the board Raven had thought of and create an opening in him.
Even though his body was continuously being pierced by the skewers, Lee Shin's body kicked the ground faster and stronger, stretching his legs as if nothing had happened.
Raven had definitely received that through the magic she had activated in advance, but she was calm.
Although the plan to ambush with the dolls had collapsed, the dolls had spread out, mixed with the mist, and she had moved her position and was protected by a protective shield.
So it was safe to be relieved.
"Found you."
But Lee Shin denied Raven's thoughts with a small mumble, turned, and rushed at the place where she was.
How?
That thought filled Raven's head, but now, even that short thought was a luxury.
Raven hastily added her magic power to the protective shield to increase its strength.
Grin—
And Lee Shin, who had come out through the mist with injuries, saw Raven's appearance and made his lips curve like a crescent moon, then swung the Yagong, which had been crying out for a while, at her.
Shuaak-
The Yagong drew a curve that contained both red and golden light in the black drawing paper Raven had created.
-Flame Lightning Tree God Spear
-Flame Lightning
-Twist
Jijijijik-!
The shadow shields in front of Raven split one by one.
Raven, looking at the Yagong being swung at her stomach, sensed her defeat and death at the same time.
Peok-!
Lee Shin was safe thanks to completely getting rid of the spearhead at the last moment using the Yagong's first ability, [Black Night].
"Keol-leok! Keol-leok!"
Although, due to that shock, several of Raven's internal organs had been greatly damaged.
"How… did you find me among the clones…?"
"I'm naturally sensitive to the smell of blood."
Lee Shin said that and pointed to the area around Raven's ankle with his finger.
There was a wound from avoiding the Yagong's attack at first, and a drop of blood was flowing from it.
Raven stared at Lee Shin with a dumbfounded expression, who was calmly saying that he had come, using the scent of blood from a wound so small that even the injured person herself wouldn't have known in this wide place, as a signpost.
"By the way, I'm a little disappointed. I had expectations because you're LV.5, but your lack of experience is too serious."
It's surprisingly common for people to not be able to display their full skills in a pressing situation like a real battle.
And that was especially common among mages, who spent a lot of time at their desks.
Tok- Tok- Tok-
Lee Shin quickly sealed Raven's movements with acupressure and then asked.
"Are you in the mood to talk now?"
For reference, if Raven said no, he was planning on immediately pressing her blood vessels and then resorting to rougher methods.
"…Alright. I'll tell you."
But Raven, who had been staring at Lee Shin for a moment, nodded her head and answered yes, as if she had noticed what he was thinking.
And the moment Lee Shin was about to ask something, Raven's mouth moved quickly once again.
"Breaking."
Pachang-!
Simultaneously with Raven uttering that word, the blue jewel that was in her pocket broke, and blue smoke rose from the broken jewel.
At that, Lee Shin, thinking that things might get annoying, hastily stepped back to avoid the smoke.
Kwoong-!
But the moment the jewel Raven had was broken, a blue dome-shaped protective shield that had been created with the smoke blocked Lee Shin's backstep.
Of course, it was a protective shield that could be broken immediately if Lee Shin simply swung his spear, but the current Lee Shin, who was dripping blood from being pierced by skewers all over his body, had neither the strength, the stamina, nor the time to do so.
"Agh, this is…"
Teolseok-!
At that fact, Lee Shin felt a deep annoyance, but before he could finish his words, his body lost its strength and he fell into a deep sleep.
And what appeared in front of Lee Shin, who had regained consciousness, was an empty, pure white space.
"You're finally awake."
"Irehgue?"
Unlike his usual spiritual body state, it was the huge form of Irehgue, whose whole body's color was vivid.
(End of Chapter)