The Player Who Stands Above All

Chapter 269

-Alright, you three. Stop spacing out and listen carefully to what I say from now on.

While the Sword of the Earth and the Sword of the Sea were growling at each other, Lee Shin quietly sent a telepathic message to Mio, Rwen, and Bodra, so that the two wouldn't notice.

"What?! You, are you really Smiley?"

"Phew, looks like you were fine, just as I thought."

"As expected, that just now must have been an act."

The three, who had been disoriented by the rapidly changing situation, including Lee Shin's unexpected strange behavior and the sudden appearance of the Sword of the Sea, welcomed Lee Shin's telepathic message like rain in a drought.

So much so that they were so surprised they accidentally blurted out words.

Mio and Rwen, realizing they had gotten too excited, calmed themselves down once, then checked the movements of the Sword of the Sea and the Sword of the Earth, who were in the middle of a power struggle, through the gap in the wooden cocoon, and sent their own hand signals to Lee Shin.

Their efforts to convey their intentions were commendable, but the gap in the wood was too narrow to send such signals, so most of the hand signals were obscured from Lee Shin's view and he couldn't see them properly.

Even if he could have seen them all, Lee Shin didn't have the talent to interpret the meaning of a dance or hieroglyphs he had never seen before, so the result wouldn't have changed.

In the first place, Lee Shin wasn't even properly looking at the hand signals the two were sending.

The current situation was not leisurely enough to pay attention to every single signal they sent.

-Now, from now on, I'm going to start fighting those monster guys over there for real.

At Lee Shin's words, the two stopped sending signals to him with their dance.

Even though it wasn't spoken right in front of them but sent from a distance, Lee Shin's emotions were transmitted so vividly and strongly.

Lee Shin's blatant emotion, as if a beast that had starved for months was in front of a feast and was about to lose its self-control at any moment.

-And when I start fighting those guys, you guys could die just by getting caught up in it, you know?

Lee Shin had not yet reached the realm they stood in, and this was the first time he had seen someone who had reached the realm of LV. 7.

However, he could say so because he had information about how much power a human who had reached LV. 7 possessed, through a video he had seen before.

Why was the grand title of 'absolute' attached to someone who had crossed the wall of LV. 7?

It was because the realm they had climbed to possessed a power befitting the title.

'Those guys in the video were amazing.'

They were literally superhumans who could destroy mountains and split seas with a single attack.

Grin-

Therefore, Lee Shin was now about to move, assuming that the two in front of him were also at that level.

-So run away from here right now. And Bodra, you take Mio and Rwen with you.

'...Me, with them?'

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra thought so and reflexively lowered her head.

Then, Bodra's eyes met with the two who were looking at her with a gaze that said, 'I have to go with her again?'.

She hadn't seen it in a mirror, but Bodra was sure that if she could see her own face right now, she would have the same expression as these two.

Of course, they had fought against the same enemy until a moment ago.

But that was just a coincidence where their interests aligned and they hunted the same prey; they hadn't joined forces or anything, so there was not a shred of camaraderie between them.

'If they were helpful in any way, I'd be willing to drag them along, but from the looks of it, these two haven't fully recovered from the side effects of their rampage in the previous fight...'

The battle was still going on all over the forest, including here.

That was synonymous with the fact that her family and subordinates were still fighting the enemy, so if it would help the fight even a little, carrying these two would be no problem at all.

Therefore, she had no room to carry around two people who were in the state of fluttering paper dolls, having used up all their strength.

'No matter how I look at it, they don't seem like they'll be of any help.'

Just then, as if reading Bodra's thoughts, Lee Shin spoke.

-Don't you think you should at least pay for the potion you drank?

'Tsk, so you gave me the potion because you wanted something from me?'

Bodra grumbled so and naturally got up.

She was preparing to escape before Lee Shin became any more annoying.

She didn't know about normal times, but the current Lee Shin didn't have the leisure to chase after her, so there was no hesitation in Bodra's movements.

-Ah, and if you're thinking of not doing it because you think the two will be a hindrance, don't worry. I'll tell them to cooperate with you in the fight as much as possible.

'Even if they cooperate with me, their level is obvious.'

Bodra snorted inwardly.

The two she saw were not the type of people who could cooperate with others.

They were the type of people who moved as they pleased, like stray cats, and since they didn't attack their own side, it was called cooperation.

Just as Bodra was about to cloak her shortsword in aura, cut through the back of the wooden cocoon surrounding them, and slip out.

-It's true they haven't fully recovered yet, but in a situation like this, even their hands will be desperately needed, so they won't be unhelpful.

Hearing Lee Shin's meaningful words, Bodra's feet came to a halt.

Bodra's eyebrows furrowed.

It was too unsettling to dismiss it as just a threatening remark to make her take the two with her.

'What is he talking about? Did something I don't know about happen in the forest while I was fighting?'

As if answering the question in Bodra's mind, Lee Shin continued.

-A new group of uninvited guests has entered this forest. Thanks to that, fights are breaking out here and there, and blood is gushing like fountains.

Grip-

At Lee Shin's words, Bodra unconsciously tightened her grip on her shortsword.

Hearing his words, a fact she had been trying to erase from her mind to not worry about came to mind.

'A lot of time has passed since I entered the cocoon, but there's been no communication from sister Tafra at all.'

The geographical conditions were right, and there was plenty of time to send a message.

And yet, Tafra had not spoken to Bodra.

She had thought it was just because she was busy observing and coordinating other situations, but what if it wasn't that, but as Lee Shin said, she had been attacked by a newly appeared assailant?

"Haa, damn it."

When her thoughts reached that point, a low curse immediately escaped Bodra's lips, and her two arms naturally wrapped around Mio and Rwen's waists, holding them at her sides.

"If what that guy said is a lie, or if I think you're not helpful, I'll throw you into the forest right away, so you know."

After giving a notice that was not a notice to the two and herself in a sharp tone, Bodra slipped out through the tear she had made a moment ago, erased her presence, and stealthily climbed up a tree.

Without making a sound, Bodra ran toward the place where she was supposed to meet her subordinates after the fight with Noah.

"...This is really shitty."

As she raced through the forest, moving from tree to tree, Bodra naturally came to know.

Chaeng-! Kagak-! Kuung-!

Kill them-!

Don't back down-!

It's the heart! Stab the heart-!

That what Lee Shin had said was not a lie.

'What the hell is going on with the situation. I hope sister Tafra and brother Midra are both safe.'

Grip-

Bodra bit her lip and kicked off a branch even harder.

The unfamiliar changes that filled the familiar forest whipped Bodra, making her move her feet faster.

As Bodra was trying to grasp the situation unfolding around her.

Mio and Rwen, who were hanging from Bodra's sides, quietly looked at the place where they had been.

'A guy that annoying won't die so easily.'

'The master is there too, so there won't be a problem.'

Even while muttering so inwardly, the two's eyes remained fixed on that place, unmoving.

◎ ◎ ◎

Grin-

'They're finally gone.'

Confirming that the three inside the cocoon had left, Lee Shin smiled at the fact that the stage was finally set and released the killing intent he had been suppressing so strongly that it even killed his own presence.

It was to prevent the eyes of the Sword of the Earth and the Sword of the Sea from turning toward those who had left this place, and at the same time, it was Lee Shin's declaration to get into a stance because the fight was about to begin.

Lee Shin's blatant desire to take a stance and clash with all his might, a fight to gnaw away at each other's lives, was carried on the crimson-black killing intent and reached the two.

"Tsk, how annoying."

"I don't know where a guy like that popped out from."

At Lee Shin's killing intent, which slowly spread like a fog and stickily sucked everything in like a swamp, the two recalled the illusion of death they had seen a moment ago, stopped their own fight, and looked at Lee Shin.

"The real part hasn't even started yet, you can't be saying weak words already."

At that, Lee Shin smiled brightly and activated a skill he possessed.

[Demonic Ghost], a new skill that was created when the [Killing Ghost] he originally had grew after he succeeded in raising its level through closed-door training.

If [Killing Ghost] was a skill that stole the stats of an enemy who felt fear from the killing intent and continuously added power to Lee Shin, then [Demonic Ghost] was a skill that went one step further.

The basic mechanism was the same, but each time he brandished his killing intent and engraved the fear of death into the enemy, it would steal the power of their bodies even more quickly and greedily and add it to Lee Shin.

A skill that was perfectly suited for Lee Shin, who had become able to freely handle his much denser killing intent through his closed-door training, literally a skill that gave wings to a tiger.

"...It seems you have the skill to pick a fight with us while spouting some incomprehensible nonsense."

"It seems it would be dangerous to drag this out any longer."

The two, who had instinctively noticed the change that occurred when Lee Shin activated [Demonic Ghost], judged that there was nothing to be gained from dragging out the fight and immediately decided to pour all their power into killing Lee Shin.

It also meant that the two, who held absolute positions in Carnia, had acknowledged Lee Shin as a threatening enemy.

Grip-

An ocher-colored internal energy coiled like a snake around the huge greatsword the Sword of the Earth was holding with one hand, creating a rock-like sword ki.

But that wasn't the end.

The sword ki surrounding the sword, as if a huge rock were being slowly compressed by pressure from all sides, began to clump together and take on a deeper color.

The power that was being concentrated on the sword soon passed its critical point.

At that moment, the greatsword held in the Sword of the Earth's hand spewed forth a magnificent light and sound, and flashed with a sharpness that seemed to split the world.

The symbol that only a martial artist who had surpassed the peak and reached the realm of the transcendent could possess, sword aura, revealed itself.

And just as the Sword of the Earth had drawn the card of sword aura to deal with Lee Shin, the Sword of the Sea also drew a card befitting it.

An aura that flowed out from the Sword of the Sea's body like a wave enveloped his entire body and clumped together.

The clumped aura did not just take shape with its light, but began to materialize as a substance with substance.

A technique that symbolized the next stage that an aura user who had opened their eyes and possessed three eyes would step on.

It was armament through manifestation.

A blue aura wrapped around the Sword of the Sea's entire body like clothing, and soon transformed his existing weapon, armor, and entire body.

Sharp fins like those of a shark protruded from his normal skin, and scales like those of a fish were engraved on his sword, which had been a simple curved blade, and his blue armor.

As if to say that it wasn't just his outward appearance that had changed, the presence of a silent predator emanated from the Sword of the Sea.

Watching the two who had revealed their true intentions, Lee Shin quietly pulled out the [Yagong] that was embedded in the ground and held it in his hand.

'Ah, should I have told them to be careful not to get caught up in it? Well, they're not kids... well, they are, but they're quick-witted, so they'll probably manage on their own.'

With that as his last thought, Lee Shin turned all his senses to the fight and thought.

'It feels a bit different from when I fought those three monsters on Earth.'

It was fun to be able to run wild back then too, but there wasn't this kind of heart-pounding sensation.

Lee Shin enjoyed the pounding of his heart, which was screaming with excitement, and extended one foot forward.

[Flame] and [Lightning] wrapped around Lee Shin's body and flashed fiercely.

(End of Chapter)