Chapter 104: Scammers Strategy to Victory

Bam!

Kuughk!

Cheon Woosungs body was sent flying back after getting hit across the face.

Blood dampened the floor as his bleeding injuries widened even more.

Absurd beliefs?

Cheon Woosung clutched his cheek and staggered back up.

Ohjin clicked his tongue as he watched him.

Damn, his body is sturdy.

Despite having received all those injuries, his face still felt extremely hard to his hand.

You what do you know to spout out those words?!!

Cheon Woosung shouted as if throwing a fit.

Nothing you know absolutely nothing!

The whining of a young child.

The boy who wore the mask of a man threw up his eruptive currents of emotion at Ohjin.

Ohjin silently stared into Cheon Woosungs eyes.

Untainted, innocent eyes.

Excessively pure and clear emotions.

Did it stop?

Nine years ago

After his mother was murdered by an Awakener Cheon Woosungs time had stopped.

With his time still halted, only his body grew.

If

If Ohjin had lost Ha-eun

If the thing most precious to him was taken away by the hands of another

Would he have become like Cheon Woosung?

I dont know.

There was no need to hypothesize something that hadnt even happened.

Theres something else I need to do right now.

Ohjin raised the spear that was dug into the ground.

I dont know. I dont want to know, either.

He aimed his spear.

But isnt that the same for you?

Just like how he didnt know about Cheon Woosung, Woosung didnt know about Ohjin.

Since we dont know each other

Baang!!

He wildly kicked off.

lets show each other whos right.

Kugh!!

The tip of the sharp spear aimed at Cheon Woosungs neck.

Cheon Woosung quickly backed off and made a sword out of black feathers.

Clang!

The spear and sword clashed, causing the tunnel to shake from the immense impact.

Haa, haa!

Even while gasping for air, Cheon Woosung managed to fend off the surge of spear strikes, but he was still gradually getting pushed back by the spear strikes that aimed precisely at his blind spots.

It makes no sense!

Ohjins strength couldnt be seen as a 5-Star. Even if Cheon Woosung was in a near fatally wounded state, getting beaten up one-sidedly by a mere 5-Star Awakener was nonsensical.

The difference between us isnt one, isnt two, but three ranks!

Additionally, he wasnt a beginner 8-Star Awakener, but a skilled individual who was one step away from becoming a 9-Star.

Normally, he would be able to destroy a 5-Star Awakener with just the slight movement of his hand.

Clang! Kang! Cla-kang!

Kugh! Kuk!

The spear strikes that rushed in, giving him no room to breathe.

The entangling wires, punches, and kicks that were mixed in between his attacks.

Cheon Woosung started to wonder if he would be capable of blocking all those attacks in his uninjured state.

Just why?

How?

A meager lucky bastard!

Someone who didnt have to go through any hardship.

Someone who didnt have to give anything in return.

Someone who was just lucky enough to be chosen by a celestial.

Bam!

Kuugh!

Just how can he be that strong?

Boom! Bang!

Cheon Woosungs body violently rolled across the ground.

Haa! Haa!

His blood wouldnt even flow out properly anymore as he had lost too much of it.

Ah, no

He pathetically crawled on the ground.

Things cant end like this.

Staggering, he got back up.

Deep darkness settled in the tunnel.

Mom.

Like reaching his hand out to the night sky, Cheon Woosung reached his hand out to the tunnel ceiling with sorrow.

Give me strength Mom.

Thump, thump

The stigma engraved on his left chest started to shine radiantly.

Owooong!

The radiant rays of light covered Cheon Woosungs body.

Flutter!

The huge wings that spread out on his back covered his body with the goal of protecting him.

What?

Ohjin created distance from Cheon Woosung and narrowed his eyes.

Is it another blessing of a celestial?

He examined Cheon Woosung while tightening his grip on the spear.

No.

It was different from the case of Park Gunwoo and Arshad Khan.

His skin didnt wrinkle, nor did his back curve.

Nothing happened besides his body becoming wrapped in bright rays of light.

No way

Ohjin looked at Cheon Woosung with astonishment.

There was only one thing that explained why the stigmas light wrapped around his entire body like that

Is that bastard becoming a 9-Star?

Like the cliche of an action comic, he was trying to step into a new realm in a moment of crisis while reminiscing about his mother.

For fucks sake.

Ohjin frowned as he raised his spear.

I need to finish him off.

Cheon Woosung was an 8-Star Awakener.

If he reached a realm one step higher from there, he would become one of the high-rank Awakeners who were known to be in a non-human realm.

And once that happens, everythings over.

Even if it was Ohjin, he couldnt face a high-rank Awakener.

I have to kill him before he finishes his awakening!

Ohjin wasnt stupidhe wouldnt keep still and wait for the enemy to finish awakening like a villain in an action comic.

If Cheon Woosung was gathering all of his strength while reminiscing about his mother in a moment of crisis, he needed to stab him and send him to his mothers side.

* * *

* * *

Ch-hat!

Bang!

He kicked off and sprinted at Cheon Woosung, who was covered in black wings.

Concentrating mana at the tip of his spear, he thrusted forward.

Ka-ka-kang!!!

Sparks appeared on the spears blade that was blocked by the wings.

Ugh!

Ohjin added strength in an attempt to cut the wings, but the spear bounced back without even being able to dig into one-third of it.

Flutter!

Ttu! Ttu! Tu!

The wings that werent cut shot black feathers and hit Ohjins body.

Argh!!

They lodged into his shoulders, thighs, and side.

Ohjin gritted his teeth and once again thrusted his spear to the same location.

Clang!

The spears blade bounced back with a powerful repulsive force.

Even worse, the wings that were injured by the continuous spear strikes turned back into their original shape in the blink of an eye.

Damn it!

It was disgustingly hard and even regenerated on its own.

I cant pierce it with my current strength.

If he couldnt break through while using both Lightning Flames and Exceed, there was no way other skills such as Lightning Charge would work.

My only option is to attack while avoiding those wings.

But even that wasnt easy, as the black wings were covering Cheon Woosungs body completely without a gap in sight.

Ttutututututu!!

Kugh!

They didnt only defend, either.

The black wings kept shooting feathers at him, making it difficult for him to attack.

Goddammit.

The rays of light gradually became brighter.

There was no time.

Ohjin gritted his teeth and showered attacks at the black wings that wrapped around Cheon Woosung.

Clang! Kang! Cla-kang!!

However, the black wings would intercept and fend off the spear no matter how many times he struck.

Ugh!!

The feathers shot from the wings dug into Ohjins body.

Fuck.

Ohjin chewed on his lips with a nervous expression.

He had resolved himself to attacking the wings without rest while enduring its attacks, but he still wasnt able to pierce through in the end.

It felt like he was facing Sigiriya, the rock fortress.

Attacking like this is meaningless.

Due to the fast regeneration speed of the wings, constantly showering attacks had little to no effect.

I need to pierce it in one go.

But how?

Ohjin was able to fight on even grounds with even a 8-Star Awakener because of the power of the Black Heaven and stigma of Lyra, but it didnt change the fact that he was still a 5-Star Awakener.

He had an abundant amount of mana remaining thanks to what he had absorbed using the Black Heaven, however

Ultimately Im limited by my narrow mana circuits.

The narrow mana circuits that were unavoidable as a 5-Star Awakener.

That was what held him back.

Im already using Exceed.

What Exceed did in the first place was squeeze his mana circuits to increase the speed and pressure of his mana circulationit didnt allow him to use more mana at once.

In that case.

Ohjins eyes shone keenly.

He stopped his attacks and lowered his spear.

If theres a limit to how much mana I can release at once

Without releasing his mana, he built it up.

He compressed and condensed it.

Creak! Crunch! Crack!

The spear curled up like a pigs tail as it couldnt handle the excessive amounts of mana getting pushed into it.

This wont work.

The spear wouldnt last much longer.

If the spear wont work

Ohjin glanced down at the spear grasped in his hand.

He started compressing mana into not his spear but his hand.

Kugh!

Tremble

Ohjins spear-holding hand shook violently.

-Ring!

[Warning! Mana has been compressed beyond your limit!]

[You will enter the unstable state if you do not release your mana!]

A red warning message tried to prevent his actions.

Unstable state isnt that what Lee Shinhyuk died to?

Smirk

The edge of his mouth rose as he instead compressed even more mana into his mana circuits.

Kugh! Kua, ugh.

The blood vessels in his eyes exploded, causing blood to run down his eyes.

Even from his nose, mouth, and ears.

Red liquid flowed down and drenched his body.

-Ring!

[Warning! Mana has been compressed beyond your limit!]

Shut up.

He got rid of the warning message that popped up in front of his eyes and added strength into his hand that held the spear.

Crack! Crunch!

Was it because it couldnt endure the manas compression? His hand twisted with the sound of crunching bones.

As his fingers twisted as they pleased, his wrist turned at an angle that shouldnt be possible.

Bang!

He used the wire to tightly tie up his distorted hand with the spear.

One more time.

He pushed in mana.

Cruuuunch!!

Bone fragments dug out of his flesh and burst out.

However

Despite that

Haa.

One more time.

He compressed mana.

One more time.

He compressed mana.

One more time. One more time. One more time.

-Ring! Ring! Ring!

Red warning messages filled his sight of view.

The horrifying pain of sharp hooks tearing up his flesh ruthlessly tormented his entire body.

Fu, haha!

Ohjin smiled brightly inside the rushing banquet of pain.

-Ring!

[You have successfully maintained your control of lightning in an extreme state!]

[You have learnt Charge Lv1 and Discharge Lv1!]

[Charge Lv1 and Discharge Lv1 have both increased to level 6 due to the influence of Lightning&Thunder Lv9]

Charge and Discharge

The method of using the newly obtained skills flowed into his head.

Ive already charged as much as I can.

And so

Fuu.

He looked at Cheon Woosung who was hiding inside the black wings and right in front of the alley that led to the 9-Star rank.

Ahh, Mom Thank you.

Was it because he could see his mother welcoming him? Ohjin could hear Cheon Woosung weep inside the wings.

Dont worry, Ohjin smirked.

Bzzzzzzzzzt!!!!

The blue lightning compressed to its limit, no, compressed exceeding its limit, blazed fiercely.

Ill send you to your mom that you want to see so much!!

Discharge

The currents of blue lightning surged to Cheon Woosung, who was hidden within the wings.