Chapter 28

Chapter 28
## Chapter 28: Power vs Technique

This opponent’s physical form remained in its absolute prime, yet the vast majority of his hard-earned mastery and memories had evaporated.

My situation was the exact inverse—my wealth of experience and knowledge remained perfectly preserved, but my physical vessel had deteriorated.

“If that’s the case…”

I took a dry breath and whispered to myself. This wasn’t an impossible hill to climb.

If I managed this correctly, a path to survival might actually exist. It made sense now how that cloaked individual had managed to take this nightmare alive and bind it with a restraint.

It was the ultimate collision: raw, unbridled strength against pure technical skill. To overcome this creature, I would need to tap into every scrap of wisdom and every trick I had refined over a lifetime.

My adversary was intent on using overwhelming power to shatter my finesse.

“It’s a classic bullfight—the matador against the beast.”

Or perhaps, more accurately, it was like a teenager who just passed their driving test behind the wheel of a Porsche 918 Spyder, racing against a Formula One legend stuck in a Kia Morning.

Regardless of the metaphor, I began to deploy every strategy in my repertoire.

Like a retail shop clearing its shelves for a final liquidation, I was throwing everything I had into the fray. I had no choice; otherwise, I couldn’t hope to withstand that titanic pressure.

“Krha!”

I did my best to diffuse the force of the blow, skipping backward and crashing through five sliding partitions before my momentum finally died.

“Are you trying to demolish your own residence?”

A man his age shouldn’t be sleeping in the cold unless he wanted his face to freeze crooked, but as a walking corpse, he likely didn’t mind. I reached for my shoulder and shoved the joint back into the socket. A sharp pop echoed as the bone slid home.

Even with a flawless parry, the sheer weight of his strikes made injuries like this inevitable. He was simply that potent.

“It’s alright. It’s fine.”

I murmured, maintaining my focus on him. The Paradox Flame was feasting on his malice, blazing with intensity. Under normal circumstances, if it grew this wild, I’d be in serious trouble.

However, we were inside an Erosion Core. As it always had been, time remained my ally.

“I’ll hold out.”

Even if I ended the day with a few more shattered bones, I would endure until the very last drop of his resentment was incinerated.

“You are nothing but an annoyance!”

He lunged once more, hoisting his blade high and bringing it down with terrifying speed. A shroud of black malice erupted from him, dark enough to obscure the heavens.

The strike was fueled by pure rage, but it failed to connect.

“Kuhak!”

To truly evade the shockwave of such a blow, I would have needed a hundred meters of breathing room. I didn’t have that luxury. A portion of the kinetic energy from his overhead cleave slammed into me, forcing blood from my lungs.

The entire structure shuddered from a deafening explosion, groaning as it began to list to one side.

“You absolute… lunatic.”

Wiping the crimson from my lips, I propelled myself into the air. The fortress, unable to withstand the collateral damage, was disintegrating.

“Leave! These lands belong to my bloodline, and I am the sovereign here. Those who refuse to bow have no place in my domain, and they are not welcome!”

The fact that he couldn’t land a clean hit despite his god-like strength was driving him into a frenzy. The dark haze radiating from him intensified, becoming a thick, suffocating fog.

“You’ve still got plenty of energy, I see.”

He looked ready to split the entire palace in half. He wasn’t even bothering with proper swordplay anymore. He simply lashed out at the air, sending waves of black mist screaming toward me like sharpened scythes.

These ethereal blades sliced through solid masonry as if it were paper, traveling great distances without losing their lethal edge.

“Things are getting exceptionally dangerous now.”

As the threat escalated, a strange calm washed over me, as if my brain had been submerged in glacial water. A single lapse in judgment would mean a permanent end, and the pressure was relentless.

Still, I scanned for a vulnerability with desperate intensity. This was winnable. I had survived far worse.

“Burn. Consume it all.”

The cold touch of the scattered malice sent shivers down my spine, but this was the opportunity I needed. The Paradox Flame flared at the tip of my spear, using the surrounding grudge as fuel to spread like wildfire.

As it swallowed the dark energy and expanded, the fire leaped onto the warrior’s body as well.

Dark mist and obsidian flames became a single, chaotic tangle, twisting like a pair of warring dragons as they tore across the landscape like a celestial artillery unit.

“No, wait… it should at least… lose some power on the way!”

The crescent of black energy flying at me was being eaten by the Paradox Flame, yet its momentum barely faltered. I hoisted my mana-coated spear, attempting to weave through the storm.

“…”

One of the strikes was unavoidable. Gritting my teeth, I moved with desperation, using the spear to redirect and absorb the brunt of the impact.

A screeching metal-on-metal sound rang out as the reinforced spear met the energy wave. I watched as the wood began to splinter and shear.

It’s failing.

The weapon wouldn’t survive; it was going to snap, and the following explosion would swallow me whole.

One, two—now.

The moment the shaft splintered, I thrust my armored shoulder into the path of the energy and flooded it with mana.

With a violent crack, the energy wave vaporized the guard—and my shoulder with it. My arm fell useless at my side, the joint completely ruined.

“Try me again.”

I couldn’t afford to succumb to the agony. Even as the world spun from the pain, I ducked under the next wave. I wanted to use my power to dull the suffering, but doing so would snuff out the Paradox Flames currently working for me.

I had to suffer through it. I tossed aside the broken wood and gripped the remaining shard, spearhead attached, in my functional hand.

“Krhum…”

The warrior faltered in the middle of his next wind-up. This was it—the entire sprawling palace was now engulfed in the Paradox Flame. No matter how incredible his base stats were, his reserves were finally hitting a wall.

“You’re looking exhausted.”

Even after that initial stumble, I had to survive for another ten agonizing minutes. My skin was a map of gashes and tears, with blood trailing down my limbs in steady streams.

The fortress was now nothing but a heap of charred debris. I stood in the center of the ruins, guarding the heart of the Erosion Core.

“To think this is all that’s left after that. Incredible.”

The Paradox Flame had finally flickered out, having consumed every bit of fuel. All that remained of his massive grudge was a tiny fraction of residue. Yet, even that small amount was equal to the four Headless Samurai I had faced earlier.

Just the leftovers!

“You’re a real monster.”

I didn’t give out that compliment often. I truly meant it.

“Does this mark the end of your cheap parlor tricks?”

“A reanimated corpse calling something ‘cheap’?”

It was like a career criminal lecturing a petty thief on morality.

He stepped forward, his blade leveled at me. I braced myself, holding my improvised short-spear in one hand.

“You believe you can triumph in that condition? You’re a walking wreck!”

He roared and lunged. His sword swung down in a heavy arc—but I met it with my foot, pinning the blade into the earth.

The edge sank deep into the dirt, throwing him off balance. Seizing the moment, I slammed the jagged end of the broken spear into the back of his skull.

“That’s all she wrote, you prick. Goodbye.”

In the end, the power of the undead was dictated by the weight of the grudge they carried. His remaining strength was notable, certainly.

But notable was just notable…

A warrior who had forgotten his techniques and lost his mind, now stripped of his god-like power? I would have to be an amateur to lose under these conditions.

“I… I yearned for this, even in this wretched state…”

“I don’t care. Stop dragging this out and just fade away.”

It seemed he had some final revelation to share. I, however, had no interest in the dying breaths or tragic backstories of the fallen.

I twisted the spearhead deep within his cranium and ripped it out. That put an end to his talking.

“Wow, look at this blade…”

I examined the sword and its sheath on the unmoving body. Despite me stomping on it, the metal was perfect—no warping, and the edge remained lethally sharp.

“Any ordinary sword would have snapped under that kind of pressure.”

This was clearly a legendary weapon. It didn’t have a formal title, but there was a line of text etched into the steel.

[This charcoal too was once a tree branch laden with white snow.]

A haiku. A traditional Japanese poetic form.

“Looks like a later addition…”

The carving was too pristine to be original. Perhaps he had encountered a book of poetry and felt a moment of inspiration?

I looked at the inscription for a moment before sheathing the weapon. Then, a heavy thud echoed nearby.

“Ah, a reward.”

Since I cleared this solo, I assumed there would only be one. With a bit of hope, I flipped open the massive chest that had appeared.

“Ha, talk about a reward that mocks the effort.”

Inside lay a spear—specifically, a partisan. The blade was a striking shade of blue, roughly 45cm in length.

Including the handle, the entire thing had to be nearly 230cm long.

I looked at the weapon and started laughing at the absurdity of it.

“Unbelievable, this thing.”

Ignoring my mangled arm for a moment, I grabbed the spear with my good hand and pushed mana into it. The weight and length of the shaft began to shift. At its shortest setting, it was barely longer than a sword’s hilt.

“Let’s try this.”

I extended it fully, and the spear shot out to a length of about 7 meters in the blink of an eye.

“Now that is a useful gimmick.”

It wasn’t some flashy, useless trick. Spears are perfect for keeping an enemy at bay, but if an opponent gets inside your reach, you’re usually finished.

Sure, you can try to blunt-force them with the shaft, but it’s never as effective as the point.

No weapon is flawless, particularly in the polearm family.

But a shaft that can change length at will meant that distance was no longer a weakness.

Essentially, this spear’s ability solved its greatest natural defect. If weapons were men, this would be like giving a bald man a thick, permanent head of hair.

I played with the mechanism for a bit until a wave of nausea hit me, and I let out a tired sigh.

The familiar sensation of an impending blackout.

I recognized the feeling just before the world went dark. Through my fading sight, I saw—to my relief—that my body was beginning to vanish, teleporting out of the Erosion Core.

◇◇◇◆◇◇◇

The entrance to the Erosion Core snapped shut the moment Yoo Chan-seok stepped inside. Han Sang-ah stared at the spot for a few seconds before reaching into her pack.

“…”

She pulled out her medical supplies and lined them up neatly, just to occupy her hands. Sitting down, she looked up at the sky with a vacant expression before digging through her gear again.

She set up a portable stove, a small pot, and some water. Once it boiled, she brewed a cup of tea, wrapped a blanket around her shoulders, and took slow sips.

She let out a yawn. Then, she pulled out her phone and started scrolling through apps. Her movements didn’t betray any significant anxiety regarding Yoo Chan-seok’s fate inside the Core.

Han Sang-ah finished four cups of tea, went to find a private spot three times, and continued to kill time until she eventually started nodding off.

“Ah.”

In her drowsy state, a soft glow appeared, followed by the heavy sound of someone hitting the ground. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she saw the collapsed figure and rose to her feet.

“He’s unconscious.”

Han Sang-ah used a saline solution to wash the filth from Yoo Chan-seok’s injuries, carefully disinfecting the areas.

She applied tight tourniquets where the bleeding was severe and used sterile pads and bandages for the rest.

Noticing the dislocated shoulder, she stabilized it with a makeshift sling.

Injuries were common for Hunters, so this was basic curriculum at the Academy. While there were specialized recovery potions for Hunters…

They were most effective and safest after proper first aid had been administered.

If you just injected them or slapped them on without cleaning the wound, you were asking for a massive infection or bones that set in the wrong direction—the side effects were endless.

While she finished the emergency procedures, Han Sang-ah used her phone to dial the Hunter Association, requesting a specialized medical team for transport.