'SLAM!'

The massive body, sent flying through several pillars, crashed into a wall. A huge, skull-shaped imprint formed behind it as his body slid to the floor.

"Whew."

Landing lightly, Yusin straightened up and looked at Bonggyu. The Devastar had landed squarely on target.

'Kudeudeuk! Kudeuk!'

The crater in his face from Yusin's kick was already filling in with new flesh. He pushed himself up, staggering, using the wall for support.

"That was a hot one."

'This is insane...' It was a first. Yusin had never seen a monster get up looking that unscathed after taking a direct Devastar hit.

"Well then, shall we continue?" With terrifying leg strength, he stomped on the floor, shattering it as he surged forward.

Yusin powerfully crossed his outstretched arms. Earth Claymores rose from the left and right, crisscrossing, but he smashed through them with his body and charged ahead.

"Yusin Kiiiiiiim!"

As Bonggyu was cut by the sharp ground, his wounds healed as soon as they appeared, the flesh swelling to close them. Multiple layers of shields formed in front of Yusin along with an Earth Claymore, but...

*SLAM!*

A single punch destroyed it all. His relentlessly extended right arm finally seized Yusin's head.

As the monstrous man squeezed, water trickled between his fingers again. As if expecting it, he quickly scanned his surroundings, but Yusin was nowhere to be seen. Just then, he felt a massive mana vibration.

'Above...!'

When Bonggyu looked up, Yusin was there, his knees bent with both feet planted firmly on the ceiling.

<Devastar>

My body, cloaked in darkness, shot down toward him in a straight line. He hurriedly raised both arms into a guard position.

The floor where he stood caved in, sending debris flying everywhere. His arms were being pushed back and bent around his knees.

"Pwahaha! Is that all you've got?!"

Yusin grinned, pulled both hands back, and placed them on the soles of his shoes. "You think this is all?"

<Light Devastar> ×2

Black shockwaves erupted from both feet simultaneously like boosters. His arms bent at a bizarre angle as the floor beneath him cracked and collapsed.

We smashed through the floor, crashing onto the first basement level. The impact didn't stop there; we tore through that floor too, driving Bonggyu's body down into the second basement.

'Kaboom!'

A thick cloud of dust rose in the abandoned building's basement. It seemed the Healer's Union had used it for storage, as it was filled with various wooden crates.

-Tower Master! Attack incoming at your six o'clock!

No sooner had Yusin leaped back than a monstrous hand swung through the dust. 'Thump!'

After the swing, Bonggyu was on one knee, blood dripping from his mouth. He wiped it away with his arm. "...Muahaha, and you call this a mere mana manipulation ability? Don't be ridiculous! Are you using magic, Kim Yusin?!"

"That's right," Yusin said, spreading his arms wide. Now was the chance, before his shattered legs could fully recover. Four magic circles floated around Yusin: one with a ticking needle, one with moving runes, one containing an entire order formula, and one with a constantly changing graph. It looked like the instrument panel of a vehicle.

"Haaah."

When Anton had offered him magic, there was another, more important reason why I had chosen 'Water Veil'. The truth was, Yusin had already succeeded in copying the other spells on his own.

-Four types of auxiliary magic circles. Synchronization complete.

Ea controlled the four auxiliary magic circles. Her formula construction speed had increased dramatically, perfectly following his lead. As soon as he drew the blueprint, she filled it in at a terrifying pace. The calculations finished, and a large magic circle, three meters in radius, unfolded before him. My first fourth-order magic.

<Prometheus>

A titan of flame poured from the magic circle. With a wide-open mouth and torn eyes reminiscent of a Halloween jack-o'-lantern, its massive body flew forth—not as flame, nor as magma, but as a fire that flowed like liquid.

"...Heup!"

Bonggyu raised his arms to guard his face. Prometheus immediately slammed into him, unleashing a ferocious roar. 'Hwaaaaaak!' Prometheus wasn't a one-off attack. It grabbed him with its burning body, dragged him across the floor, and slammed him against a wall, then began to incinerate him with its flowing flames. A moment later, an agonizing scream erupted.

'Not yet.' Yusin continued to summon magic circles in the air.

<Fire Cannon>

Fire Cannons, launched from all directions, poured into Prometheus. The titan had a characteristic of devouring fire. The incoming spells caused the giant of flame to swell in size, making its assault even more ferocious. It was as if a living fire elemental was relentlessly burning its opponent with its own will.

"Ughhh! Kuaaaaaaaaargh!"

A hell of fire unfolded, a scene that pandemonium couldn't begin to describe. Yusin panted heavily and lowered his arms. Being a fourth-order spell, the drain on his mana and mental energy was enormous. Prometheus's duration ended, and the flames began to die down.

'Is he still alive?' Yusin used his Deva's Eye to peer at Bonggyu beyond the burning flames. What kind of injection did he take? Chunks of charred and ashen flesh were falling to the floor, only for new flesh to sprout in their place. His body had long since surpassed the limits of human common sense.

'Well, fine.' But Yusin had another trick up his sleeve.

<Wind Fort>

He wrapped his body in a third-order wind spell. A moment later, the charred monster emerged from the boiling inferno.

"Heheheh! Keuk! Puhahahaha!" He got into a charging stance, his hands pressed against the floor. "I'm the one who survives this time, too!"

He kicked off the ground and charged, and Yusin stepped aside to dodge. The massive, buffalo-like body passed him and crashed into the wall. Of course, it was the wall that shattered. His condition not yet fully recovered, he clutched his forehead and charged again, swinging his fists wildly.

'Fwoosh! Fwoooosh!'

Yusin ducked and twisted his waist to evade. His hands repeatedly struck empty air.

He looked confused. He wasn't moving particularly fast, yet he couldn't hit Yusin. His own condition was far from normal, but his movements were maddeningly hard for him to follow, as if some spirit possessed Yusin. To him, it must have seemed as if Yusin knew exactly how he was going to move. On top of that, his vision was obscured by the thick smoke from the flames. Yusin was expertly using the smoke and the terrain to his advantage.

"Are you just going to keep dodging?! Kim Yusin!"

As he shouted and was about to throw another punch, his fist suddenly missed its mark, and he dropped to his knees. A rattling sound came from his throat as foam trickled from his mouth. He swayed as an intense wave of dizziness and nausea seemed to wash over him.

"How's this?" Yusin said with a grin. "Try to heal your way out of this one, healer."

It was all part of the plan. Yusin had slammed him into the basement with Devastar and used fire magic. When carbon compounds burn with sufficient oxygen, they produce carbon dioxide. But in an oxygen-deprived environment, incomplete combustion produces a toxic gas called carbon monoxide. It has no color, smell, or taste, making it difficult to detect in the early stages of poisoning. Yusin had created a makeshift respirator by wrapping himself in the third-order <Wind Fort>, which controlled the atmosphere, but Bonggyu had been inhaling massive amounts of carbon monoxide in the low-oxygen environment. No matter how infinite his stamina, it was fatal to a human. The flashy, large-scale spells like Devastar and Prometheus were just a distraction; his real trump card was poison gas.

"Grrgle! Hah!" Writhing in agony, he kicked the ground hard and leaped toward the ceiling. But even faster, his body flashed and appeared in front of him.

"I'm not letting you go." Struck by a kick infused with Devastar, his body fell back to the floor.

-Tower Master! The oxygen level inside Wind Fort is also at its limit!

'Yeah. I know.' This was a battle of endurance. Bonggyu had it worse than Yusin.

With tears and snot streaming down his face, he tried to climb up again, but Yusin sent another Ice Javelin flying. Struck by a succession of ice spears, his body was pushed back against the wall.

"Kegh. Ack." Clawing painfully at his throat, he suddenly reached for one of the crates scattered across the second basement floor.

'What's he up to?'

The crate shattered, and demonic plants rose up and charged at Yusin. He hurriedly put up a shield. The living plants couldn't break through and slammed against it, stumbling backward.

'So that's what this warehouse was for.'

Looking inside the broken crate, Yusin saw it was full of what looked like seeds. It seemed he had used his Rapid Growth ability to raise the plants instantly. While Yusin's attention was diverted, Bonggyu finally broke through the ceiling and escaped outside.

"Blegh! Blergh!"

Painful sounds of vomiting came from above.

'...Damn. I almost had him.'

-Warning, the Tower Master is also in a dangerous state! I recommend ascending immediately!

'Got it.' As Yusin lifted his right foot, Ea quickly drew a magic circle. The moment he stepped on it, Leap Boots activated, and his body shot up through the hole in the ceiling to the surface. Bonggyu was still thrashing about. It looked like the building was about to collapse from his rampage, so he got outside first.

'Haaaa.'

Stepping out and breathing in the cool air felt much better. Yusin looked up at the sky, lost in thought. Plan A had failed. Now, how was he going to deal with this regenerating monster?

Bonggyu emerged from the building. He walked toward Yusin, foul substances dribbling from his mouth.

"Thanks for the delightful experience," he said, tossing aside a gruesome chunk of flesh he held in his hand. "It's the first time I've had to extract and regenerate my own organs. It makes me wonder how I should pickle you to death."

"What a coincidence. I was just thinking something similar."

The moment the words were out, we charged at each other. 'Fwooooosh!' Like a scene from gladiatorial combat, two unarmed men crossed paths.

A shockwave erupted on his face, snapping his head back. But at the same time, he twisted his waist like a corkscrew and swung his fist at Yusin.

'Fwish!'

The terrifying trajectory grazed his cheek. Yusin gritted his teeth and extended his arm. 'Ea. Remember the third-floor trial?'

-Of course!

An Ice Javelin magic circle unfolded beyond his hand. Spears of frost also materialized behind his back and launched forward.

'Pshnk, kshnk, pshnk!'

Ice spears embedded themselves in his body one after another.

"Right, ice after fire, is it?!" New flesh swelled up where the spears were embedded, pushing them out entirely.

Yusin watched him carefully, constantly calculating. 'His recovery speed has slowed. Compared to when he slammed Yusin with that first punch, both his movement and power have dropped significantly. He's definitely getting tired.'

Yusin dodged his attacks by a hair's breadth, continuously firing Ice Javelins. Yusin handled the evasion, Ea handled the casting. In the time it took him to swing his fist once, three Ice Javelins flew and struck him. Even as he pushed them out with his flesh, more spears struck other parts of his body. The casting speed of the Ice Javelins was faster than his punches, faster than his regeneration. The sheer volume and rapid casting speed that Yusin had constantly trained were now showing their true worth.

'Right side.'

'This time, a straight jab.'

Most importantly, Yusin could clearly see and dodge his opponent's movements with his Deva's Eye. Allowing even a single blow would mean defeat. But Yusin skillfully managed this tightrope walk, continuously landing effective hits.

However, the certified rank-3 Bonggyu was no pushover. He was constantly adjusting his tempo. After Yusin got accustomed to his rhythm, he baited an evasion and then struck a beat faster, extending his arm.

He threw the punch with a triumphant smile, certain he had Yusin. At this timing, Yusin couldn't possibly dodge.

<Devastar>

Just then, a magic circle unfolded on the sole of his shoe, instantly creating distance between us. His attack only cut through empty air.

'That sudden burst of speed was surprising.'

Having created distance, Yusin was panting and gathering his mana when he spread his arms with a smirk. "It was a mistake to go there."

* * *

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