Chapter 94: The Sum of Evolution?

‘Acceleration.’

Muno used his secret art the moment the spar began.

He had no other choice.

It was the only way to catch up to Karina’s speed, which must have improved since their last encounter.

Thump.

An intense stimulus shot through his entire body, and he felt as if his fat and muscles were burning away with the rapidly depleting mana.

‘Here I go.’

A feeling of his own body moving at its original speed in a world where everything else had slowed down.

However.

Even faster than him was the movement of the female knight in red armor before him.

Pabak.

Her body, which had momentarily stretched into a long afterimage like an optical illusion, instantly closed the distance to him.

‘What the……?’

When he had used Acceleration in their spar right after he awakened, he had been roughly the same speed as her, who was a 3-Star.

Now, with only one stage of difference between them, the gap had widened even further.

- As a Corporeal Arts user continues to evolve, their limits and abilities increase by a greater margin.

A feeling of that common knowledge about Corporeal Arts being driven home.

‘Tch!’

Thwang.

In that instant, he swung his sword, putting his weight into it from his charging stance.

The massive two-handed sword, bisecting the space in front of him horizontally, was swung wildly, as if to shatter everything in its path.

However.

Paaaaaaaaang!

The massive sword cut through empty air in vain.

He barely managed to stop the sword he had swung from right to left and regained his balance.

But in that time, Karina’s body was already closing in on him.

‘This is…….’

His body was momentarily stiff from swinging and stopping the two-handed sword.

In that gap.

Spat.

Karina’s skewer-like practice sword shot straight for his neck.

Even a dull practice sword, with this much speed and power, could easily pierce a person’s neck.

But a cold smile played on Muno’s lips as he watched it.

‘Heh.’

Taaaaang!

The iron chain that shot out from his left wrist struck her sword from an unexpected angle.

Her eyes widened slightly. Her balance wavered a little.

‘Now.’

Thump.

He stepped forward with his left foot and charged, ramming her with his left shoulder.

His armor, with its surface mostly covered in sharp, horn-like protrusions, was an excellent weapon in itself.

But in that moment, he had a strange feeling, as if Karina’s body was floating slightly backwards.

Thwang!

‘Hmm?’

Karina's body was sent flying by his body slam, which was surely much heavier than it looked.

Much farther than expected.

‘As expected…….’

As if she hadn't taken any damage at all, Karina effortlessly regained her balance in mid-air even as she flew back over twenty meters.

He had no intention of just letting that opportunity go.

‘Tsk.’

Pabak.

Muno's body began to charge from the same stance he had been in.

Chwareureuk.

In that very brief moment, his chains moved first.

Two strands shot out from his ankles, aiming for Karina’s legs as she landed.

The two strands from his wrists were fired as if to wrap around her body and sword.

Even as the four chains moved independently, Muno maintained his balance and charged forward, ready to swing his sword according to her reaction.

‘Checkmate!’

However.

Smirk.

‘She’s smiling?’

He thought he saw a smile flicker across Karina’s pretty face.

Tadak.

Just before touching the ground, she lightly lifted her foot and stepped on his left-hand chain, charging forward.

Flash.

In that time, the practice rapier, swung like lightning at a speed invisible to the eye, struck the other approaching chains.

Tadadadang!

The chains, struck by an assault of an unknown number of hits, broke free from Muno’s will and bounced off into the air.

Through the now wide-open front, Karina, with the chain from his left wrist still attached, came rushing in.

She reappeared before his eyes as if she had shortened the distance in an instant.

Muno reflexively raised his right hand to block her left foot coming at his face.

Thwang!

It was a kick with acceleration and body weight behind it, so his raised arm should have broken or he should have been sent flying after being hit in the face.

“Hup!?”

Due to Muno’s unusually heavy weight, this time it was Karina, who had intended to follow up the kick with a swing of her rapier, who lost her balance.

‘Opportunity.’

His right hand raised for defense. His body swaying awkwardly due to the disarrayed chains.

Swinging the massive two-handed sword in this situation would normally be impossible, but.

Woddeuk.

The left arm of the Demon Devourer, a 3rd characteristic Corporeal Arts user who had evolved three times, created a lightning-fast sword strike with its arm strength alone.

Paaaaaaaaang!

A sword strike that was a little light because it didn't have his body weight behind it, but it was still not to be ignored.

But in that moment.

Thwang!

Ppeok!

“Ugh!”

“Ugh!?”

Wudangtangtang.

The two were thrown back and rolled to opposite sides.

And they sprang back to their feet at almost the same time.

Ptooey.

“As expected, you’re amazing.”

Muno spat out the blood from the corner of his slightly torn lip and smiled bitterly.

‘Does this even make sense?’

He couldn't help but be flabbergasted.

It was an attack aimed at her completely undefended side, but Karina had stopped the greatsword with her elbow and knee and kicked his face with her other foot.

It’s easy to say, but this…….

“Does your body move exactly as you will it, no matter the situation?”

Even if one wasn’t a Corporeal Arts user, anyone who had exercised even a little would know how absurd that was.

He looked at her with admiration.

But his opponent looked even more impressed, no, flabbergasted.

“That's my line. How can you have improved so much in just a few months? And what’s with that ridiculous weight? That armor, can a person really wear it and move?”

Crossing satisfied smiles.

The two, showing bright expressions that revealed their true feelings, could confirm that they were both enjoying this very much.

“I’m moving, so I must be able to. But, could you really have blocked it like that if it were a real sword just now?”

“Of course. Did you think it would have been different if it were a real sword?”

“If it were my ‘Blade’……. No, no it’s meaningless. For now.”

The penalties were already agreed upon. The outcome might have been different if she had wielded the artifact sword she originally used or if he had fought with his ‘Blade’, but.

Such an assumption was meaningless now.

“Yes. It’s meaningless. In that sense, I gained an advantage this time, didn't I?”

At those words, a slight twitch appeared on Muno’s smiling lips.

“Tsk. This can hardly be called an injury.”

A cut on his lip from being hit by a metal boot.

It was a kick delivered with only the strength of her right foot after she had lost her balance blocking his attack, so it could hardly be considered a valid hit.

Even more so considering he wasn't an ordinary person but a Corporeal Arts user who had evolved three times.

However.

“But you bled.”

Karina’s mischievous smile lit a fire in Muno’s chest.

“If you say so, Sir Karina’s sword is completely shattered, isn’t it?”

Muno pointed at the practice rapier, which was already riddled with cracks, and smiled.

It seemed the sword’s life had already ended when it had struck the chains countless times.

“The side with a tiny little cut on the face and the side whose weapon is shattered. Which one is superior?”

He smiled with such composure.

Karina lightly stroked the cracked rapier and wagged her index finger from side to side.

“No, no. I could have stabbed with this instead of kicking at the end. Do you really think I couldn't have killed a person in this state? The mouth or the eyes……. You know?”

At that rebuttal, Muno’s eyebrow twitched again.

He closed his eyes for a moment and replayed the final clash.

Come to think of it.

‘Damn it…….’

There certainly was an opening for that.

“Hmph, well let’s just say so.”

“It's not ‘let’s just say so’, it is so. You have to admit what you have to admit, right?”

This woman…….

Tsk.

“Yes. I admit it. I was at a disadvantage. But you’re not going to end it like this, are you?”

“Surely you don’t have more to show?”

“……Of course.”

Muno smiled murderously at the provocation that even gave him a sense of déjá vu.

Wuuung.

Muno’s only real artifact, the ‘Red Heart’, vibrated again, replenishing the mana consumed in the previous clash.

On top of that, he spread a shimmering gray mana over his entire body, armor, and sword.

“This is a technique I recently discovered, but I haven't practiced it enough yet, so its activation is slow.”

With the Red Heart, ‘Acceleration’ could be sustained as long as his stamina allowed.

‘At least 30 minutes.’

Furthermore, the mana that began to shimmer over his armor, body, and sword would grant him even greater strength, speed, and defense than before.

“Oho……!?”

“What do you say? Shall we continue?”

He looked at Karina with a provocative gaze.

She smirked and picked up a new rapier from the training ground’s weapon rack.

Seureung.

“Of course. I'll teach you that mana can sometimes be a disadvantage.”

Hmm?

‘A disadvantage?’

Muno narrowed his eyes at the incomprehensible words.

“Now, would you like to come in first this time?”

He gave a murderous smile at Karina’s provocation, who beckoned with her sword again.

“Then…….”

Thwang.

“I won’t refuse!”

Pabak.

In an instant, Muno’s ‘Accelerated’ body charged towards Karina.

His movements were definitely faster than before.

“Ha!”

A charging thrust, stabbing straight with the massive two-handed sword.

The moment Karina, who had been watching him with sharp eyes while holding her sword vertically, slid to his left flank.

‘I see it!’

Paaaaaaaaang!

His greatsword, which had been stabbing straight, sliced through his flank.

Tang!

Karina's gauntlet struck the underside of the greatsword.

‘Hmph!’

A rapier immediately thrust forward again.

Thwang.

But this time, a chain shot out from his wrist deflected the rapier, and at the same time, a chain from his ankle aimed for her lower body.

A gray mana shimmered even from the chains.

A three-pronged assault from perfect close range.

But Karina, instead, smiled deeply and began to perform a strange step.

Tadak.

Her body, moving like lightning from side to side, created the same afterimages as in the first exchange of the spar.

But this time, it wasn't just afterimages following her path; it felt like four clones were stabbing with their swords from different directions.

Flinch.

For a moment, the chains simultaneously lost their targets and cut through empty air.

Soon, all but one of Karina's clones disappeared.

‘What is this……?!’

Of the four clones, the only real attack was the one that descended upon Muno's body, which had not yet regained its balance.

Even in his bewilderment, Muno twisted his body to avoid the attack.

Kwadeudeudeuk.

Even while off balance, he used his chains to slide across the stone floor of the training ground and, seeing Karina following right behind him, he swung his greatsword in a wide arc, utilizing the centrifugal force.

Paaaaaaaaang.

Karina, who had been charging in, stepped back in a large motion as if ignoring inertia and then closed in again, piercing through the opening in his attack.

A feeling of afterimages appearing both in front and behind him.

And again.

The moment Karina's sword twitched, Muno once again felt her assault stabbing in from four directions.

But this time, he was certain he knew the reason.

‘An illusion……!’

But even knowing the reason, he couldn’t help but flinch.

Muno narrowly avoided the practice sword stabbing at his neck and, in his unbalanced state, moved his chains to throw his body at her.

Thwang!

Karina was pushed back at once.

But she, who still hadn't lost her balance, maintained a stable posture like a skater gliding on ice.

On the contrary, a few strands of Muno's hair, who had pushed her with brute force, were cut and scattered.

In that situation, a smile hung on Muno's face as he charged forward.

‘I’ll show you something interesting.’

Thump.

Pabababak.

The chains shot out from his charging body and approached Karina as if to overwhelm her, but they stopped at different timings.

Karina's body twitched several times in response to the unfamiliar movements and then stopped in place.

A very slight opening.

In that time, Muno’s body was already in front of her, swinging his sword widely.

Kwaaaaaaaang!

Ururureung.

The dull two-handed sword pierced through the floor of the training ground and was embedded there.

From behind the cloud of dust, Karina, holding a rapier with its blade completely gone, was looking at him with a surprised expression.

“How did you……?!”

“Isn't it just an advanced form of a feinting technique? It's not like I did it with my body.”

“Still…….”

Looking at Karina's dumbfounded expression, Muno smiled.

In fact, what looked like her clones were not clones.

It was an optical illusion caused by his well-trained senses recognizing Karina's subtle movements as a precursor to an attack.

On the contrary, if knights of a few ranks lower had seen it, they would not have understood at all why he was flinching.

Nor would they have understood what an incredible masterpiece of technique her subtle movements at close range were.

‘Is that something a human body can do?’

Muno himself had neither the skill nor the talent for it.

To use this technique, one would have to be able to control their body from head to toe perfectly according to their will.

‘Depending on my reaction, any of those attacks can become the real one.’

A chilling technique that only a talented person who had honed their swordsmanship and physical arts to the extreme could attempt, regardless of the number of evolutions.

But because of that, Karina seemed to have received a greater shock than expected.

“How did you learn my secret art after seeing it only a few times……”

She looked so out of it, just swishing the hilt-only practice sword in the air, that he had to say something.

“My chains move ‘perfectly’ according to my will. That's why I was able to imitate it. And because your senses are too keen, you were flustered by my clumsy imitation.”

“Ah…….”

Karina, whose eyes seemed to have returned to normal, nodded as if she had realized something.

“I was only trying to teach you that keen senses can sometimes be a poison……. Instead, I was the one who got caught.”

“Haha. So I gained an advantage this time, right?”

At those words, Karina hesitated for a moment, bit her lip, and then nodded again.

“……I admit it.”

She showed an expression that seemed quite hurt in her pride, but then she grinned.

“Well, this is fun. One more round then. We have to decide a winner, right?”

She picked up another sword from the side of the training ground.

Muno really liked her overflowing fighting spirit.

“Puhaha. Alright. But before that…….”

There was one thing he wanted to be sure of.

“What did you mean by mana can be a disadvantage?”

“Ah. That just means it can be.”

“So, I'm asking because I don't know what that means.”

The answer to the question that had been bothering him from before was.

“Hmm. Since there is a ‘sum’ to evolution, it means Sir Muno must also firmly decide on his own path in order to grow further.”

It was similar to what his father had told him, but slightly different.