Chapter 679

Chapter 679

## Chapter 679

“Take this!”

Swoosh-!

A swift kick from Kinea sliced through the air toward Kal.

“Hup!”

In response, Kal reached into his coat, pulled out a small glass vial, and slammed it onto the ground.

Clink!

Puff-!

A dense, violet fog instantly billowed upward.

Reacting to the sudden obstruction, Kinea sprang backward to distance herself.

While concealed by the haze, Kal retrieved a miniature figurine from his pouch, sliced the tip of his finger, and smeared a crimson droplet onto it.

Flash-!

The small object rapidly expanded until it perfectly mirrored Kal’s appearance.

‘The Decoy Replica!’

It was a highly sophisticated alchemical automaton crafted in his own image.

Though meant primarily for misdirection, its craftsmanship was flawless.

‘Granted, this wouldn’t fool the top elites of our class.’

The highest-ranking academy students possessed exceptionally sharp perception.

The moment someone attempted a parlor trick like this in front of them, they would see right through the illusion.

‘But you are a different story.’

Her physical prowess was undeniable.

However, her capacity to perceive raw mana was severely lacking.

Kal had deduced this limitation during their opening exchange.

‘She’s the perfect target for a misdirection play!’

Before the violet smoke could dissipate, he pressed his palms flat against the earth.

‘Subterranean Tunneling Magic!’

Sinking into the dirt, Kal adjusted his enchanted eyewear, wedged a breathing reed between his lips, and submerged completely underground.

He then shattered another potion vial.

Immediately, loose earth shifted over the opening he had made, smoothing the ground back to its original, undisturbed state.

‘She really is a powerhouse.’

Kal narrowed his eyes, tracking the surface action through the lenses of his specialized glasses.

His previous attempt to use toxins had yielded zero results.

‘Well, I figured as much.’

To be fair, Kinea lacked the sheer refinement of the core companions he traveled with.

‘Excluding myself, naturally.’

No matter how one spun it, he remained the least combat-effective member of the third-year group.

Yet, that didn’t mean Kinea wasn’t a terrifying opponent in her own right.

‘To think someone can reach this level of strength in an era devoid of Hero Academies or recorded Heroic Chronicles… she’s an absolute anomaly.’

Achieving such mastery at her young age without institutional guidance or structured training was nothing short of extraordinary.

‘Her strength comes purely from real-world survival.’

Her practical engagement in live combat vastly eclipsed his own.

‘When it comes to raw battlefield experience, she outclasses nearly everyone in our circle.’

Naturally, Leo was omitted from that comparison.

Leo existed on an entirely incomparable plane.

Whoosh-!

The moment the violet mist cleared, Kinea’s sharp talons tore straight toward the throat of the alchemical decoy.

By subtly manipulating the doll to twist its torso, Kal managed to make it narrowly evade the lethal swipe, causing him to swallow nervously from his hiding spot.

‘Man, I owe Duran big time for those winter break drills!’

Had he not endured that rigorous training, the automaton would have been ripped to shreds instantly.

Anticipating the trajectory of her assault, he meticulously guided the puppet’s movements to slide past the danger.

‘Perfect. Time for the counter.’

Kal wrapped his fingers around the mechanism of his compact bow.

‘You’ve left yourself completely exposed.’

From the very beginning of the wager, Kal had allowed Kinea to dominate the pacing.

As a direct consequence, the decoy now appeared riddled with vulnerabilities.

He had intentionally conceded the psychological upper hand from the opening exchange.

‘Honestly, trying to seize control of the tempo using my subpar spellcasting would have been foolish anyway.’

Kal’s calculated submission to her onslaught was merely a setup for this precise opening.

Just as Kal prepared to line up his shot from below—

Swish-!

‘What?’

Kinea abruptly leaped backward.

Casting a skeptical glance at the decoy, she muttered under her breath before fiercely driving her heel downward, aiming directly at the patch of earth where Kal lay concealed.

“Found you!”

“Whoa!”

Panicking, Kal erupted from the dirt, throwing himself forward to avoid the impact.

Boom-!

“You fight hard, but you’re nothing more than a cornered rodent!” Kinea mocked.

“How did he manage to burrow underground so quickly?” Driana remarked in awe.

Ar nodded in agreement. “The real Kal is a master at finding unexpected angles to set his snares.”

“That is his bread and butter, after all.”

“Hmph. It’s a cowardly way to fight,” Illiana commented, prompting a soft chuckle from Chelsea, while Duran merely grunted in disapproval.

Leo turned his gaze toward Eliza, who was casually grooming her fingernails. “What’s your take on it?”

“Hmph. He’s putting on a cute little performance,” she replied dismissively.

“Oh my! Did Eliza just call Kal cute?” Illiana teased, causing Eliza to threaten her by snapping her leather whip.

‘Unbelievable. She actually detected me?’ Kal thought, clicking his tongue in sheer astonishment.

‘Did she read my strategy step-by-step?’

He immediately dismissed the notion, shaking his head.

‘No, that wasn’t calculation. It was pure animal instinct.’

An acute awareness forged through countless life-or-death struggles.

‘It’s oddly reminiscent of Leo.’

Tricks of this caliber were useless against the top-tier prodigies of Lumen.

However, the mechanism behind Leo’s awareness differed fundamentally from the others.

While the rest of the elite students relied on their innate talents to sense Kal’s traps, Leo identified threats through sheer, hardened experience.

‘The warriors of this timeline clearly possess a level of practical experience that dwarfs ours. My setups need to be far more intricate.’

As Kal sharpened his focus, Kinea was also quietly evaluating her opponent with newfound respect.

‘Honestly, this guy is starting to make my skin crawl.’

Though she had openly derided him as a rodent, he had repeatedly managed to catch her off guard.

‘I need to corner him methodically.’

Just as Kinea began to pull her leg back, wary that a reckless advance would land her in another ambush—

“Huh?”

An unexpected weight anchored her foot to the ground.

Glancing down, she realized the loose soil had solidified, locking her ankle in place.

‘Another snare hidden beneath the first?’

Kinea felt a sudden surge of panic at the layered trap.

“Checkmate!” Kal shouted with a triumphant grin, leveling his compact bow directly at her.

Crack-!

“What?!” Kal gasped.

With a sudden burst of power, Kinea wrenched her leg upward.

The earth fractured violently, and the entire slab of terrain was lifted into the air along with her foot.

“How is that possible? Activating internal energy should make the alchemical trap even heavier, shouldn’t it?”

Granted, an absolute powerhouse like Duran could have forced his way through by overloading his aura to shatter the spell entirely, but Kinea didn’t possess that specific brand of energy refinement.

“She did that with raw muscle?”

While the beastfolk were renowned for their physical prowess, they were generally viewed as agile and balanced, not capable of *this* specific brand of overwhelming brute strength.

“I happen to carry both beastfolk and dwarven blood!” Kinea barked.

“Ah, that explains it! No wonder your stature is a bit compact!”

“What did you just call me?!”

Infuriated, Kinea swung her trapped leg like a massive club straight toward Kal.

“Yikes!”

Kal recoiled in terror, scrambling away from the devastating shockwave of the incoming strike.

Shatter-!

As if the alchemical binding had finally reached its limit, the compressed block of earth clamping her foot dissolved into harmless dust.

Her movement restored, Kinea bared her sharp teeth.

“You’re turning out to be an incredibly entertaining quarry.”

Narrowing her eyes, she ran her tongue over her upper lip, looking every bit the apex predator.

‘She acts wild, yet her instincts keep her guarded. This is incredibly tedious,’ Kal thought, clicking his tongue.

He kept deploying countermeasures, but she refused to walk blindly into them.

Even when a trap successfully snared her, she simply overpowered it through sheer physical dominance.

Kal reached into his coat once more, pulling out another glass mixture.

“You honestly think the same trick will work twice?” Kinea sneered, rapidly closing the distance between them.

She moved with the calculated precision of a feline cornering a mouse, systematically cutting off his avenues of retreat and forcing him into a tight space.

The sharp energy radiating from her talons left shallow lacerations across Kal’s torso and limbs.

“Khf—!”

Coughing up a spray of crimson, Kal collapsed onto his knees, his vision blurring from the rapid loss of blood.

Recognizing her opening, Kinea closed in for the final blow.

“This is the end.”

As the words left her lips, Kal made a desperate motion to hurl the vial he had been clutching the entire time.

“Hmph! I don’t think so.”

Snatch-!

Kinea clamped her hand firmly around his wrist.

‘It’s wrapped up.’

She was well within lethal range; a single decisive strike would secure her victory.

Yet, just as that thought crossed her mind, she caught sight of the expression on Kal’s face.

‘Wait…’

A smirk played on Kal’s lips as his fingers tightened around the glass container.

Flash-!

“Ugh!”

An intense, blinding radiance erupted, consuming her entire field of vision.

Though she reacted instantly by shutting her eyelids, the sheer intensity of the light completely neutralized her sight.

Deprived of her vision, she instinctively attempted to maintain her grip on Kal’s wrist to pull him closer.

However, Kal reacted with superior speed, sweeping her legs out from under her and completely destroying her center of gravity.

With a firm push from Kal, the off-balance warrior fell flat onto her back.

“Ah!”

In a frantic bid to defend herself, Kinea lashed out blindly with her free hand.

Yet, Kal anticipated the desperate swing and easily evaded the strike.

‘How can he navigate this darkness? Can he actually see?’ she wondered in panic.

If the flash had blinded her, it should have blinded him as well.

Click—

“Phew. Caught you.”

Straddling her midsection to pin her down, Kal aimed the nose of his compact bow directly at Kinea’s chest.

“One pull of this trigger, and it’s over. Do you yield?”

—

“She operates on an entirely different wavelength than we do,” Ar observed quietly, keeping his eyes fixed on Kinea.

Duran offered a silent nod of agreement.

The oppressive weight behind Kinea’s relentless assault on Kal had sent an involuntary shiver down the spines of those watching from the sidelines.

‘It isn’t a simple matter of radiating murderous intent.’

It was the unyielding, fluid movement of an individual who constantly walked the razor’s edge of survival.

“She shares a striking similarity with Chen Xia,” Duran murmured.

Leo nodded in affirmation. “She does.”

‘Until this moment, I assumed Chen Xia’s particular combat rhythm was unique to her individual nature.’

But he had been mistaken.

It was a universal trait forged among those who fought within the jaws of hopelessness.

Witnessing this skirmish made that reality crystal clear.

‘Yes… that acute perception of mortal peril.’

Duran narrowed his eyes in deep thought.

Had he been the one trading blows with her, he likely wouldn’t have noticed that specific survival instinct she possessed.

Such a trait rarely manifested when there was a massive disparity in raw power.

Because Kal had managed to level the playing field through wit, the onlookers were given a clear view of her underlying nature.

‘If I possessed the exact same level of physical capability as that woman… could I successfully overcome Kal Thomas?’

As the thought took root, Duran slowly clenched and unclenched his fist.

“Hey, Rabbit.”

“What is it?”

“If that beastfolk girl and I were to clash under the exact same parameters of physical strength, who do you think comes out on top?”

“You already know the outcome, don’t you?”

Hearing Leo’s blunt response, Ar’s expression darkened with frustration.

That implicit conclusion served as the definitive answer to Duran’s internal query.

“A massive ledger of combat experience isn’t the sole reason she moves like that. It’s an acute intuition granted exclusively to those who have repeatedly survived on the brink of erasure.”

Does a person who constantly faces mortal peril grow numb to the prospect of dying?

Far from it.

In reality, their terror of death only intensifies.

Yet, they step onto the battlefield fully prepared to embrace their demise.

The foundation of their experience was entirely separate from theirs.

Consequently, the gravity of their resolve occupied a completely different scale.

The claim that these people were forged in a harsher, entirely different era finally felt indisputably real.

While the prospective heroes remained lost in their respective contemplations, Kinea looked up at Kal with a dazed expression.

“How were you able to anticipate my movements in that darkness?”

“Compliments of my eyewear. These lenses feature a built-in light-dampening enchantment.”

“…Did you orchestrate the entire sequence of this duel just to lead me into this position?”

“Pretty much,” Kal replied, offering a casual shrug.

“When you’re trying to outmaneuver a dangerous predator, aren’t you forced to think several steps ahead?”

As her vision gradually cleared, Kal’s grinning face came back into focus.

“…I concede.”

“Whoops. My bad for pinning you down like this. I hope I wasn’t too heavy.”

Kal quickly dismounted, removing his weight from her.

Reaching down, he took hold of the hand that still clasped his wrist and gently pulled her to her feet.

“You… you’re a terrifyingly skilled hunter. It’s a total loss for me.”

“Appreciate the high praise. Though, do you think you could let go of my hand now?”

Kal gave his arm a brief shake, attempting to loosen her grip.

However, Kinea maintained her hold, refusing to release him.

‘Is she holding a grudge over the loss?’ Kal wondered.

Scratching his cheek awkwardly, he began to walk toward Leo, dragging his anchored arm along with him.

Kinea simply followed in his wake, her hand still firmly locked around his wrist.

“An impressive performance,” Leo stated with a faint smile as they approached.

Kal beamed with pride. “So, what did you think?”

“That’s the bare minimum expected of you.”

“Wow. After all that life-or-death struggling, that’s all the praise I get?”

“You’re no longer just a trainee hero. I have to maintain high standards,” Leo teased.

“It was an exceptional display,” Dweno offered with a warm chuckle. “Your capacity to read the battlefield’s momentum and formulate counters on the fly is truly remarkable.”

“Thank you kindly,” Kal responded, his face glowing with self-satisfaction.

“By the way, how much longer do you plan on keeping up this display?” Eliza interjected, gesturing toward Kinea’s hand which remained clamped around Kal’s arm.

Turning back to the beastfolk girl, Kal scratched his head. “Hey, could you seriously let go of me now?”

Instead of complying, Kinea tightened her fingers even further.

“Listen up. I think I’ve taken a genuine liking to you.”

“Huh?” Kal uttered, his mind momentarily blanking out.

“Let’s get married.”

Thud-!

The sheer absurdity of the statement caused Eliza to completely lose her footing on her summoned creature, tumbling awkwardly to the dirt.

“What in the world?!”

As Eliza scrambled to her feet with a fiercely crimson face, Illiana stifled a laugh behind her hands.

“Well, well… it looks like Lady Eliza has a romantic competitor on her hands…”

“Screeech—!”

With a sudden surge of mana, a massive Wind Wyvern materialized at Eliza’s command.

Her face burning with embarrassment, Eliza lunged forward, grabbing Illiana tightly by her collar.

“Devour her!”

Chomp-!

The flying beast opened its massive jaws wide, completely enveloping Illiana’s head inside its maw.

“Aaaagh!”

As Illiana’s muffled screams echoed across the clearing, Leo could only shake his head and sigh.

“This has taken an incredibly complicated turn.”

“How so?” Chelsea inquired, her expression a mix of amusement and confusion.

Leo merely clicked his tongue in response. “The beastfolk of this particular age have a habit of never letting go once they’ve set their sights on a prize.”