The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 259

-By now, they should have met the enemy.

Irehgue muttered that and stared intently at the direction where Mio and Rwen had disappeared.

Irehgue's eyes, as he looked there, were furrowed with anticipation and curiosity towards the two, as well as annoyance at the current situation where he couldn't watch their fight.

If Irehgue had wanted to see, it would have been entirely possible to watch their fight.

Just as Irehgue had greatly increased his body size before, it was entirely possible to increase the distance he could be from Lee Shin by increasing the consumption of his internal energy.

However, that was only a story for normal times; right now, Irehgue was not in a situation where he could prioritize his own feelings.

Irehgue turned his head and looked at Lee Shin, who was sitting in the dark underground prison.

Lee Shin was sitting quietly with his eyes closed, concentrating on his meditation.

The only movement was the slight rise and fall of his chest, and the only sound was his breathing, which was so faint it was hard to hear even if you listened closely.

Swaaaa--

And yet, Lee Shin's presence was intensely fierce, like a flame that devoured everything and burned wildly in the darkness where there was not a single ray of light.

Just as a flame burns and fills its surroundings with light, Lee Shin was fiercely emitting internal energy and killing intent from himself, filling the underground prison where he was with his own existence.

Because of that, the underground prison where Lee Shin was now had turned into a den of demons where even a person with a sound mind would turn into a madman in an instant if they entered.

If it were an ordinary person in this place now, they would have felt fear or caution upon seeing the current Lee Shin, who was leaking an indescribable killing intent.

However, in the eyes of Irehgue, who was mentally connected to Lee Shin, the current Lee Shin looked exactly like a water balloon that was constantly sloshing and could burst at any moment.

Normally, Lee Shin could control the killing intent within him as he wished.

After receiving the [Blessing of ■■■], he had found it difficult to control his killing intent again, but he was at least able to control it to the extent of confining it within himself.

The reason Lee Shin had confined his killing intent within himself was not for others, but for himself.

Because even to suppress the murderous intent surging within him, it was more comfortable to control and carry the killing intent rather than leaking it out.

In other words, the fact that he was leaking so much killing intent was, conversely, proof that the current Lee Shin could not control himself in the slightest.

Irehgue had told Tafra, Midra, and Bodra that he had surrounded the village with killing intent for the sake of their smooth operation.

However, that too was just a plausible way of putting the happening that had occurred because Lee Shin couldn't control himself.

Irehgue looked at Lee Shin with a frown.

Just as Irehgue had done before, Lee Shin was also going through the process of completely dismantling and reconstructing himself.

In such a situation, if Irehgue were to distance himself from Lee Shin and draw on his internal energy, it was obvious what would happen to Lee Shin.

A hundred out of a hundred times, his internal energy would flow backward, and he would vomit blood and die.

Therefore, Irehgue remained in this place, operating his cultivation method with all his might and assisting Lee Shin.

-Tsk, if those two get seriously injured or die, I will not forgive you, no matter who you are.

Irehgue's voice, as he said that, was filled with annoyance at the current situation, which was not going as he wished.

-So hurry up and get up, you.

Even at Irehgue's words, Lee Shin, like a sleeping child, did not answer and was quietly lost in his own imagination.

◎ ◎ ◎

Mio and Rwen came down from the tree and stood facing Noah, each taking their stance.

Bodra, on the other hand, went deeper into the forest, found a suitable place for hunting, and then aimed her arrow at Noah.

Sreureung-

"Just in case, I'll ask to confirm."

Noah, with an expression that said he couldn't hold back his laughter, slowly drew his sword.

"The woman with the light blue hair... are you one of the illegitimate children of the noble who, without knowing his own place, manages the village of the unbelievers?"

Noah's eyes, as he looked at them, were glistening with a greed that said he would never let them go.

"And the Dragonkin with the pure white hair, pure white eyes, and the pure white single horn... are you two the gang of the noble's murderer who killed the lord who managed Domain 519 and ran away?"

At Noah's words, Bodra quietly rolled her eyes and looked at the two, sending her voice through her aura so that only they could hear.

-Noble's murderer? You guys committed such a thing and then brazenly came to our village and spread your shit?

"We didn't do anything, we just watched from the side."

"Our master killed the noble, we didn't do anything."

Since they hadn't learned the technique of telepathy from Irehgue yet, the two retorted Bodra's words with their voices.

At that, Bodra, unable to reveal her presence, quietly gritted her teeth, and Noah, who had heard their answer from the side, smiled brightly and was delighted at the fact that his thoughts were correct.

"It seems I was right. And from what I hear, it seems you even know the whereabouts of the guy that person is interested in..."

Grin-

"Alright, I will bestow my mercy and not kill you. You will live and tell me the location of the village and the noble's murderer."

At those arrogant words, the three glared at Noah with eyes full of hostility.

"Who says?"

"Who says?"

Mio and Rwen said that and simultaneously kicked off the ground, rushing at Noah.

It wasn't that they had fallen for Noah's clumsy provocation.

The reason the two had come to this place was, as Mio had said, for a match with Bodra.

But that wasn't the whole reason.

That was just one of the reasons.

And the other reason they had come here was because they had judged that facing an enemy like Bodra would have the highest chance of survival and would be a good opportunity to test what they had learned from Irehgue.

It was a judgment based on the calculation that as long as there was a common enemy called the Church, Bodra would have no choice but to protect them.

"For now, shall I cut off an arm and a leg so that you can't put up any useless resistance or run away."

Thump-!

At Noah's murmur, the hearts in their bodies beat simultaneously.

With that as a starting point, their movements meshed together like gears.

The formation that Irehgue had named 'Twin Dragon Dance' unfolded, countering the momentum that Noah was emitting.

Woooong-

In time with their movements, Bodra, with a third eye made of aura drawn on her forehead, shot arrows with the purpose of checking Noah.

Bodra had accepted Mio's bet that the one who took Noah's life first would be the winner.

But Bodra, with her hunter's switch turned on, was not so easily consumed by her emotions as to lose sight of her original purpose for coming here just for that.

The arrows that Noah had released from his hand secretly followed the wind and pierced Noah's blind spot.

Ting- Tiing-

However, Noah, as if to say 'don't look down on the position of a paladin commander', deflected all three arrows with a single swing of his sword.

The arrows did not cause any damage to Noah.

But they had done enough to disrupt his posture.

Woooong-

The two, who had entered the beginning of the peak realm through this training, wrapped their hands and feet in internal energy and tried to enter the opening Noah had shown.

"How clumsy."

But when Noah moved his body slightly, the wall that had been open with a gap turned into an iron fortress and greeted the two, and when he twisted the hand holding the sword, a barrier of thorns rose from the iron fortress.

Mio, Rwen, and Noah's realms were all the same peak.

However, even if it was the same peak, the level of the grown two was at the beginning of LV. 4, and Noah's converted level was at the middle of LV. 6, a significant difference.

Although the world they were in was not a world with the correction by Gaia, so there was no absolute difference between levels as there was on Earth.

But that didn't mean there was no difference in specs between levels at all.

Between them, there were two walls like mountains.

Woooong-

And the two tried to fill that difference in realm by using their physical specs.

Thump-!

The Dragon Hearts beating in their chests made the dragon's blood and magic flow throughout their bodies, gifting them with physical abilities that were unbelievable to come from such small bodies, a huge amount of internal energy, and the ability to control that internal energy.

Thud-!

And they intended to forcibly break through the wall they couldn't overcome with the Twin Dragon Dance and the techniques they had.

Mio put her left hand on her side and, with her right hand clenched into a fist, stretched it out towards Noah.

At that, Noah swung his sword with the intention of cutting off Mio's fist.

But the moment it was about to touch Noah's sword.

Fwoosh-

-Fire Dragon Scattering Claw

Mio's fist hid among the brilliantly blooming flames and scattered.

'What...!'

Noah's eyes widened at Mio's attack, which had deceived his senses and hidden its form.

He had failed to see through the move of Mio, whom he had been looking down on.

That fact became a waver, creating a ripple in Noah's heart and a shake in his movements.

Crackle-

-Lightning Dragon Flashing Fang

And Rwen did not miss that shake.

The lightning that had wrapped around her foot and shot up from below avoided the barrier of thorns and struck the iron fortress.

Noah was surprised by the shock that rang through his abdomen, but he used it to come to his senses and hurriedly swung his sword to block Rwen's follow-up attack.

"Where do you think you're going!"

But Mio's fist, which had disappeared, reappeared from within the flames and grabbed Noah's sword.

Compared to the white sword ki wrapped around Noah's sword, the red fist ki wrapped around Mio's hand was unstable in form.

Fwoooosh--!!!

Mio covered that with the output from her Dragon Heart.

The moment Mio's hand, wreathed in flames, grabbed Noah's sword, Rwen's feet, wreathed in lightning, crossed and struck Noah's arm.

Fist and foot techniques already had a smaller attack space compared to weapon techniques.

But since Mio and Rwen had short limbs, including their height, that space was even smaller, and therefore, the current situation was even more advantageous.

The two, with the intention of continuing this opportunity that had come to them, poured out a torrent of attacks.

Fwoooosh--!!!

Crackle--!!!

Flames and lightning cross, striking Noah's entire body.

Flames grab the sword, and lightning strikes the sword, neutralizing Noah's attack.

Just the two's relentless combination of attacks was enough to make one's eyes spin.

But just as he was about to concentrate on their attacks, Bodra's arrows, as if to say 'don't forget me', rode the wind and flew in with unpredictable trajectories.

His attacks are blocked by the two, and his movements are blocked by the arrows.

A situation where an ordinary person would have had their head smashed by a fist or a kick, or their heart pierced by an arrow long ago.

"Hooooo..."

In that situation, Noah endured the shock, slowly rebuilt his shattered composure, and caught his breath.

At the same time, he observed the three and came to one conclusion.

"They're guys who know how to use their bodies."

Unlike Earth, where various techniques for supernatural abilities were popularized and a lot of knowledge was exchanged, in Carnia, all knowledge about supernatural abilities was for the nobles and the Church.

The regulation was so strong that even the nobles' knights could not learn high-level supernatural abilities.

The reason Mio and Rwen's first attack could reach Noah was also because of Noah's carelessness, who had not expected them to have learned such high-level martial arts.

But that carelessness was now completely washed away.

"Our master taught us."

"Is that so? But it seems that master didn't teach you other important things."

Woooong-

The moment Noah said that, the sword and armor held in his hand began to tremble slightly and shine.

"Che!"

"Chiit!"

At that, the two, who felt that something was unusual, increased the speed of their attacks even more so that Noah couldn't use any tricks, and Bodra increased the number of arrows she was firing.

But Noah laughed, parrying their attacks.

"If you're going to fight, you should have at least used good weapons and armor.”

(End of Chapter)