Chapter 28 : Defeat?

When the new test administrator informed the regulars that they wouldn't necessarily be competing against each other for the test, most of them were ecstatic. It effectively meant they won't have to worry about other teams being an obstacle for them. In fact, since the administrator even suggested that they can work with each other, they were sure that no one would be taking a risk by starting unnecessary fights.

Yet what they were witnessing right now was the exact opposite.

Two regulars, one of them quite well-known for his strength, had gotten into a fight against each other - A fight of such intensity that others began to doubt if they were really regulars like them to begin with. Their immediate response when the fight broke out was simple - Run. Getting caught in the crossfire and dying a pointless death was not something any of them wished for.

But it was only after they had gained some distance that they discovered the biggest issue in this scenario - To reach the gate that led them to the inner part of the labyrinth, they had to find a way to get past them both. This effectively gave them two options.

One, to wait for the fight to end. But this option was dependent on the unknown variable that is how long the fight would last. If it was short, it was favourable for them. Otherwise, they would end up wasting a lot of time, which was risky considering they had no knowledge on what awaited them in the inner labyrinth.

Two, try their luck by going to another sector. The only issue with this option was that it would take them a lot of time to cover the distance. And if the fight ended faster than they thought, they might end up regretting their decision.

And while the regulars were contemplating what to do next, the fierce fighting in the background continued on with neither of the combatants knowing or caring about what was going through their minds.

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Both Jinwoo and Ryong landed some distance away from each other, signs of fatigue clearly visible on both of them. Jinwoo's breaths had become heavier, his clothes were visibly torn in several locations, bruises and burns visible on his skin and a small chunk of his mask was broken off revealing his left eye. Ryong on the other hand seemed to be in a slightly better condition. His breaths, although not as heavy as Jinwoo, still indicated that he wasn't used to fighting on such even terms. The black robes he wore were torn in some locations with his blood soaking the fabric wherever he was cut. Cracks were visible on his mask and the lower part of it was broken off, revealing his mouth.

'I really need to drink a healing potion…' Jinwoo started formulating a strategy. 'But now that he has already seen me drink it once, this guy isn't providing me any kind of opening.'

'Wait, what's there to think about? If he won't give me a chance…' Taking a deep breath, he raced head on towards his opponent.

'I'll just have to make one myself.'

But when he got within a certain range of Ryong, Jinwoo quickly changed directions to circle around him, seemingly about to launch an attack at him from behind. Anticipating it, Ryong swung his sword aiming for Jinwoo's neck.

[Skill Activated : Blink]

Ryong widened his eyes as Jinwoo suddenly appeared in front of him, thrusting his dagger towards his chest. But quickly regaining his composure, he leapt backwards to get out of range.

'He took the bait.' Jinwoo inwardly smiled, as he pointed his left palm towards his opponent, charging a tiny blue shinsu sphere in his palm for a few seconds before firing it.

[Skill Activated : Blue Drop]

[Active Skill : Blue Drop

Level : 4

MP Cost: 80

Create a highly dense shinsu sphere that detonates after a while. The size of the sphere is highly misleading given the destructive power of its explosion. This attack can be charged for a longer duration to increase its potency. Damage dealt is proportional to the 'Intelligence' stat.]

Clicking his tongue, Ryong crossed his arms to block the incoming attack. But when the seemingly small sphere of shinsu made contact with his arm, it detonated, covering him in the explosion.

*BOOM*

Jinwoo quickly grabbed a potion from the system's inventory. But the moment the bottle appeared in his hand, a single beam of light shot forward from Ryong's position, shattering the bottle and spilling its contents.

"Not a bad strategy. But you'll have to try harder than that."

When the dust cleared, Jinwoo could only frown behind his mask as the man was practically unharmed, save for the sleeves of his cloth getting partially burned.

'Even that did nothing? His defences are really off the charts.' He tightly gripped the dagger in his right hand. 'Night's edge is the only weapon I have that can bypass his defence, but because of its low rank the damage I can deal isn't much… This doesn't look good.'

Ryong outstretched his palm, gathering shinsu in it. Noticing what he was about to do, Jinwoo readied himself, preparing to counter whatever was coming. But with a smirk, Ryong slammed the gathered shinsu straight down at the ground, setting off a small explosion and raising a cloud of smoke.

[Skill Activated : Eagle Eye]

'What?!' Jinwoo was surprised when despite activating the skill, he still couldn't get a clear view of the surroundings. It was almost as if something was interfering with his senses, making the skill ineffective.

*WHAM*

The split second for which he was distracted, however, turned out to be costly as Jinwoo found a fist burying itself in his stomach, launching him into the air. Not giving him time to recover, Ryong suddenly appeared above him and delivered a double hammerfist on his back, sending him crashing down a building, which collapsed on top of him after a few seconds, unable to handle the stress.

"Do you know, Nocturne? Some people say fights are one of the best ways to understand the nature of someone." Ryong commented as he softly landed on the floor before slowly walking towards the remains of the building. "There used to be a time when I thought it was simple nonsense." He slowly came to a stop upon reaching close enough.

"But that was a long time ago."

A burst of energy from the middle of the ruins blew away a lot of the rubble and debris, revealing the figure of Jinwoo. He was tightly clutching his stomach, at the spot where he was punched earlier. His one eye uncovered by the mask was glaring at Ryong. But uncaring about his opponent's feelings on the matter, Ryong continued.

"You, Nocturne… You are a survivor."

"... What?"

"It is as I said." Ryong elaborated. "Your movements during the fight, your style of combat - They all point to a survivor. Someone who has been through hell and back."

Once again, he started closing the distance between him and Jinwoo.

"Someone who never received any formal training in combat and had to improvise and learn things on the fly."

The sphere of shinsu that Jinwoo was secretly gathering in his left palm slowly dissipated. The smirk that appeared on Ryong's face indicated that he expected it.

"Someone who had come face to face with death many times in his life, and still managed to overcome the odds and survive. And that is, I admit, something that deserves respect." Ryong stopped when he was at an arm's distance from Jinwoo. "And it is because of that respect that I am giving you an offer." He outstretched his palm.

"What do you think about joining forces with me? About coming under my command?"

"I refuse." Jinwoo immediately replied, without missing a beat.

"Don't be so quick to refuse." Ryong chuckled. "I haven't even told you the specifics."

"You've already told me everything I needed to know." Jinwoo remained firm.

"So, that's your final answer?" Ryong pressed on.

"Yes."

"Even if it means you are forsaking power that could be yours?"

"Yes."

"Even if it means I will kill you if you don't comply?" Ryong slightly raised his voice, as the flow of shinsu around him became violent. Jinwoo even felt a pressure boring down upon him, trying to force him down.

"It's like you said." Jinwoo didn't back down, gripping harder on the handle of his dagger. "I'll survive. I always have."

"Is that so?" Ryong hummed. Retracting the killing intent, he turned around and took a few steps. "Then we are done here."

"You are going to leave? Just like that?" Jinwoo still didn't drop his guard. "What was even the point of this fight?"

"I already told you, I had some doubts regarding your identity." He replied, not turning around. "And now, I have my answers. Oh, and a word of advice."

"Surviving to win, and winning to survive are not the same. And as long as you are of the former… You will never defeat me."

And with those final words, he disappeared in a flash leaving behind an exhausted and confused Jinwoo.

'Winning to survive… And surviving to win, huh?'

""Boss!""

"I've found you, you sneaky turtle!"

Almost at the same time, Jinwoo heard two voices calling him out and coming from opposite sides. While he recognised both, it was the second one who got his immediate attention.

'Oh.' He easily caught sight of the chibi alligator running towards him. 'This is going to be a headache.'

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At the same time, Ryong appeared a good distance away from the location of his fight. Almost immediately, he went down to one knee, coughing up blood.

"My lord?" He caught the sight of Eleonora looking at him, a slight tint of worry painting her otherwise stoic expression.

"It's nothing. Don't worry." He stood up, wiping off the blood from his mouth. 'Looks like my body still isn't strong enough to handle 'it'...'

"Was he really that strong?" She asked him.

"You should already know the answer to that." He quipped. "I wonder… How strong would he be when we next meet?"

"Wait. So you didn't kill him?" She stared at him quizzically. "But why? What if he ends up being an obstacle in your path?"

"If he really was who I thought he was, then I would have killed him then and there, no questions asked." Ryong replied. "But luckily for him, he wasn't. So I decided that he would be more useful as an unwilling pawn, rather than an unwilling corpse."

"But still, if there is no guarantee then you sh-"

"Eleonora."

She froze in place when he uttered her name. It was not spoken with any malicious intent. But those words were enough to overwhelm her as she felt a staggering strong force.

"Don't. Raise. Your. Voice." He spoke slowly, accentuating each word. "Or did you forget your place just because we were acting as if we don't know each other for this test?"

"I am terribly sorry my lord!" She immediately kneeled, lowering her head. "I am ready to accept any-"

"Forget it." Ryong cut her off. "We still have much to do. For now, let's search for our blue-haired friend."

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