Black Badger

KAANG!

With a sharp sound, the Usurper’s claws and my sword collided.

Brutally strong power.

I strengthened my wrist and deflected the strike diagonally.

KAGAGAGANG!

There was poison on its claws.

Fatal to me as well, but especially deadly to the scientists. Without taking my eyes off the Usurper leaping upward like a startled beast, I took several steps back toward the men.

“Poison on the claws.”

What made the situation worse was that the mini Core had collapsed when the floor broke.

Originally, a Core assumes a solid floor and generates a hemispherical barrier.

Thankfully, Seunghyun used the mini Core like an ice-cream scoop and caught the falling scientists. Thanks to him, none of them seemed critically injured to the point of requiring immediate treatment.

For now, anyway.

“Watch the scientists.”

Staring at the monster floating in midair, I spoke to Seunghyun.

“A being that kills life for amusement.”

Fast and strong on top of that.

“Yes.”

A short answer.

The Usurper descended.

{Ah, so you are my opponent?}

KWA-A-A-A-AANG!

The Usurper did not rush toward me.

Instead, it landed before the pile of debris and hurled the debris toward the scientists.

“Uwaaaah!”

“Mom!”

“Ng-geugh!”

I couldn’t cancel that with a sword blast.

If I moved my right arm to send a cancelling strike, it would absolutely exploit the gap.

It would close the distance instantly and slit my throat.

Everything would end in a single moment. Then it would take Seunghyun’s and Yun’s necks in turn, walk outside, and bring catastrophe.

I did not move.

Standing like a blue flower bud, the Usurper let out a low laugh from beneath its hood.

It stood with its hands behind its back.

The long claws it used like blades were no longer visible. But there was no opening. If I charged in, it would twist its body the other way, slash my forearm, then slip out and sear my ribs.

Even when I was at my peak, facing this thing had been difficult.

The tension in the air was so taut it hurt.

{A rare, decent opponent.}

Sword blasts were too slow. It would dodge every single one.

I had to get close and slit its throat.

A greatsword was weak in a speed duel, but—

Growing bored with waiting, the Usurper moved first. I kicked off the ground a beat later.

Right before we met, I twisted left and swung right. The sword tip sliced diagonally across its robe and the skin beneath.

But not deep enough—

I had sacrificed my left arm in that angle, so the Usurper’s claws pierced my left arm.

I pulled my arm free and stepped back twice.

When I shook the Usurper’s blood off my blade, it laughed joyfully.

{A Swordmaster.}

“Mm.”

I answered indifferently and wrapped a [N O V E L I G H T] tourniquet around my bleeding arm.

The Usurper once again stood with its hands behind its back.

{A fine catch, after so long.}

Its center of gravity was invisible.

What looked like a center of gravity was only a decoy. I couldn’t predict from which direction it would strike. When still, it floated weightlessly in the air.

There was no way to see its center of gravity.

{Best to savor good prey later.}

...Ah.

Damn.

I sprinted toward the scientists and shouted:

“Lee Seunghyun!!”

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWAANG!

An energy cannon tore through the air.

Something even Seunghyun alone couldn’t block. Even five full-grown Badgers wouldn’t hold it back.

The cannon fired from the tip of the Usurper’s claw ripped the air apart, aiming for the scientists and Seunghyun.

I saw Seunghyun grab a scientist in the trajectory and hurl him away.

“Argh!”

KWA-A-A-A-AANG!

The building wall burst open.

Cold air slammed against my body. From outside, the screams of people on the street flooded in.

Scientists crawled over the rubble, crying uncontrollably.

Meanwhile, Seunghyun, who had rolled across the floor with Shawn’s head in his grip, shot up and began stabbing the approaching Creatures with sharp fragments.

The hole still wasn’t sealed. Creatures kept pouring in.

But I couldn’t worry about that now.

I stepped between Seunghyun and the Usurper, then charged the high-grade monster.

KAGANG!

The sword I swung to the right clashed with the Usurper’s right fingers.

With my left hand, I pulled out a dagger and drove it deep into its flank.

I thought I saw its eyes widen under the hood.

{You shouldn’t have any sensation on the left side with that poison. Impressive.}

And that was why I failed to stab its heart.

{Have you lived around two centuries, child?}

The monster didn’t give me time to answer.

{A prey I may never meet again. I’ll give it my best.}

I twisted the knife and ripped its flesh.

Something bright flashed before my eyes.

KWA-A-A-A-AANG!

“Kh—!”

I crashed into a wall.

The impact was so immense I couldn’t even force out a proper sound. Instead, blood surged out of my mouth.

I heard the sound of my sword slipping from my hand and hitting the floor.

Cold rising from the ground.

For a while, my body wouldn’t move.

It had been a long time since I’d been beaten this badly by a single creature.

Not surprising—this was the thing I hadn’t been certain I could defeat even at my peak.

If I didn’t get up now, my neck or a limb would be gone.

“Status.”

“Internal organ rupture.”

I tried to push myself up with my right hand, but then an all-too-familiar voice rang near me.

I jolted, seeing Seunghyun standing before me, and Yun kneeling at my side with a scanner pressed to me.

Idiots!

“Get—!”

My shout was hoarse and broken.

“Get the hell out!”

Naturally, the men didn’t listen. Yun flipped my collar and pressed something cold to the back of my neck.

Even feeling the device, I didn’t take my eyes off Seunghyun.

The one standing before us held my sword in his right hand.

{Your stance is identical.}

Even while dripping thick black blood, the Usurper looked delighted.

{Is he your apprentice, Swordmaster?}

BZZZZT!

Agony tore through me.

Nutrients surged inward.

In the rush of waves and pain, I saw Seunghyun swing the sword.

Heavy.

KWA-GWA-GWA-GWA-GWAANG!

A crooked, uncontrolled sword blast tore through rubble and floor.

Crazy bastard.

I never taught him that. Looks like he copied sword blasts from watching me before the Usurper appeared.

The Usurper seemed to realize it too and laughed happily.

Laughing, it adjusted its stance.

{You picked a fine disciple.}

KAGAGANG!

I barely managed to block it.

The moment the absorption finished, I shot forward and swung the dagger. Thanks to that, I prevented the Usurper’s left claw from driving into Seunghyun’s pancreas.

The right claw blocked by Seunghyun, the left blocked by me—an ugly standoff.

The scientists—

I was about to ask when a sphere of light formed inside the robe.

I cursed in Imperial and shoved Lee Seunghyun away.

KWA-A-A-AANG!

A chunk of flesh from my left arm flew off.

Good thing it was just the arm.

“Hey.”

I pushed myself up with my right hand and looked down at my disciple.

“Your right-side wounds just burst open.”

Seunghyun gave me a look that said, And what am I supposed to do about that.

My blood dripped onto his handsome face.

“Stay back.”

I sighed, stood up, and assessed the situation.

Behind where Seunghyun and I had stood, there was now a massive hole. Cold wind blew through it. Fortunately, Yun had escaped the firing line of the energy cannon.

Martin was protecting the scientists.

The shield was back.

{A child of the World Tree.}

The Usurper laughed, watching me take the sword from Seunghyun’s hand.

{With that skill and a World Tree child... you must have lived without fear.}

「Not always.」

Still, absorption was useful in moments like this.

「But now that you know, focus only on me.」

Even if I told him to fall back, he wouldn’t listen.

I pointed the sword tip at the Usurper’s throat.

The monster tilted its head once.

It lunged at my face. I deflected it and slashed its forearm.

Its claw sliced a long line across my cheek.

I retreated at the same moment, then met its blade-like fingers again.

When I thrust toward the Usurper swaying like a willow branch, it struck my arm downward and drove its claw in. The claw stabbed into my organs. Burst stitches sprayed blood from my mouth.

I grabbed the Usurper’s wrist—tight.

So it could drive the claw even deeper.

The hood lifted as if questioning me.

As I spat blood, I raised my previously struck right arm and severed its arm.

SERRRCK—

Black blood splattered onto the ground.

Grinning, I yanked out the arm lodged in my organs and hurled it aside.

{My.}

Ink-like fluids poured from the monster’s arm like a waterfall.

{You treat your own body like a rag.}

「Desperate moments call for desperate methods.」

Preparing to absorb again, I gripped my sword.

The monster had only one arm left now, yet I still couldn’t guarantee victory.

Drawing nutrients through my foot, I prepared to charge.

“Yun.”

Yun answered by rising to his feet.

“I’ll hold it. Seal the hole.”

I didn’t hear his reply.

***

So that’s what happens when someone absorbs voluntarily.

Yun spat blood, then kicked a Creature corpse.

He stood before the scientists. In front of Martin’s shield, beside Lee Seunghyun. In any case, none of them could join Hildebert’s fight with that monster. Their wounds weren’t fully healed, and their skill wasn’t enough.

The exchanges between those two couldn’t be properly seen anyway.

Hilde had absorbed three times so far.

The first was forced on him. The second and third were done voluntarily.

The second absorption was because he let his organs be pierced in exchange for cutting off the Creature’s arm. The third was because, after exchanging dozens of strikes, the Creature exploded its right arm and fired a powerful cannon straight into him.

It must have been the hardest hit he’d taken so far.

Even Seunghyun and I, who were focused solely on wiping out Creatures, had paused to check on Hilde.

“Why isn’t support coming?”

Someone whimpered from a corner.

“He’s going to die like that... Hilde’s going to die....”

He wouldn’t.

Nutrients were endlessly pouring in, and the monster didn’t seem capable of healing.

Though after abusing his body like that, there would certainly be aftereffects.

In any case, the monster now had no arms.

Only after it lost its arms did Hilde move on equal footing with it.

Where on Earth had such a thing been hiding?

“Support—”

As I punched an approaching corrupted-creature with irritation, an even more irritating voice replied beside me.

Yun answered curtly:

“Something must have opened outside too.”

A tongue-click followed.

That was all. He must have suspected it as well. If nothing had opened outside, support would have arrived long ago.

They probably couldn’t seal the hole out there either.

If not for the scientists behind us, I could have searched for a way to close it myself.

Thinking that, I picked up debris that could serve as a weapon—when a familiar voice came from behind.

“Figured it out.”

Yun snapped his head around.

“If you explode this liquid, it’ll work.”

John was standing behind him with a sinister air.

I had no idea how he got close. My senses were honed to their limit in the middle of battle, yet I hadn’t noticed him until he spoke.

Yun clicked his tongue inwardly and looked at the flask in his colleague’s hand.

Seunghyun, too, appeared not to have noticed John approaching; he turned his head with a dumbfounded expression.

Yun felt a subtle satisfaction as he grabbed the flask.

“Blow it up?”

“Right above the hole.”

“The activation conditions are too demanding.”

They couldn’t make a bomb right now.

Just approaching the spatial array was a trial. Hilde might be holding the blue-robed creature, which was definitely top-tier, but that didn’t prevent Creatures from pouring out of the spatial array.

And they had no guns or weapons.

They could punch their way through, but—

“We have to detonate it, right?”

“If we don’t, it won’t seal.”

Hmph.

Hands on his hips, Yun thought for a moment.

Then he turned to look at Lee Seunghyun.

“Do you have any explosives?”

“No.”

Short, low answer.

The moment he said it, he smashed the head of a reversed-creature.

BAK! With a crisp sound, the corrupted thing fainted.

Yun let out a sigh and ruffled his hair.

“The only option is to go down or up and fetch materials to make an explosive—”

[Wait.]

The AI’s voice tugged his ear.

[I will go.]

The spherical AI spun in the air.

It had created a second shield using reserve power, but even that had run dry, leaving it floating helplessly.

Martin slid forward toward Yun and John.

[Send me, Father.]

Both of Martin’s creators stared directly into its lens.