Chapter 99: Chapter 99- Talon Vs Chin-Hwa (Part 2)
Chapter 99: Chapter 99- Talon Vs Chin-Hwa (Part 2)
"His pride you say?" Acrypha asked as she looked at Talon curiously. "And what pride would he get from being utterly crushed by you?"
If there was one person familiar with the word 'pride', it's definitely Acrypha. She was a prideful being and had been dealing with prideful people basically her entire life. So, she was surprised she didn't notice the fact that Chin-Hwa was fighting for his pride rather than anything else.
However, hearing her, Talon shook his head. "Keyword 'Fighting'. He was never going to win and he probably knew that."
Talon's eyes wandered to Chin-Hwa again as he watched him struggle greatly to keep up with the Aetheris Blade. The entire time, Talon was commanding the blade to aggressively attack the cold prince from all angles and not leave him a single moment to even think about retaliating.
It wasn't out of spite or anger, but it was to show Chin-Hwa how far behind he was. Talon had deemed Chin-Hwa's problem to be a lack of awareness of what kind of reality he was in. He always assumed things and didn't try to understand whether he was right or wrong.
"Then why?" Acrypha asked.
That's when Talon's eyes finally moved to the beautiful girl standing in front of the crowd with a cold look on her face. Hyun-Jae was naturally not enjoying watching this fight.
"I guess you should know yourself why," Talon murmured.
"What do you mea… Oh…" Looking in the direction Talon was looking, Acrypha's eyes
flashed with a hint of understanding. "You're talking about that…"
"Yeah, exactly that." Talon sighed. "He's probably trying to show her that he changed and was improving."
"What an interesting approach. And by interesting, I mean naively foolish." Acrypha sneered. "Does he think this is some kind of fairy tale?"
Talon's eyes moved to the side as he stared at the divine being floating next to him before smiling. "We're as close as we can be to a fairy tale."
Before the integration, Talon naturally never believed in the supernatural and so did most people. However, all of that changed completely now. This world isn't as simple as they thought it was.
"If this world is a fairy tale, then it's perhaps the most twisted one imaginable." Acrypha rolled her eyes.
*Cling* *Cling* *Cling*
Meanwhile, a little far away from the duo, Chin-Hwa's body was moving left and right as he swung the sword as fast as he could. His face was riddled with sweat and he was heaving up and down.
It has been a few minutes since the fight started and all he could do was simply dodge and deflect the Aetheris Blade to the best of his ability. It was a nightmare. The flying weapon was akin to a ghost that appears and disappears at top speed and attacks where he least expects it to.
'Fuck! Fuck! I can't do anything!' He cursed in his head as he clenched his teeth hard. He couldn't find a single opening to attack Talon who was standing casually a dozen meters away.
Seeing him acting like that crushed Chin-Hwa's morals completely. This wasn't even a fight anymore, Talon was toying with Chin-Hwa as he wished and he didn't even seem that bothered about it.
The difference between them in terms of strength was like heaven and earth. It was simply unimaginable.
'Why? Why?! We were barely that far away from each other a few weeks ago! How did he grow this strong so fast?!' He asked himself again and again as he fought the flying blade.
It made no sense at all how Talon could improve this fast even though Chin-Hwa worked extremely hard to keep getting stronger just so that he could be worthy of standing next to Hyun-Jae and proudly defending her when he needed to.
Yet, that position has been claimed by someone else without even trying. At this point, Chin-Hwa knew that Talon had no intention to actually try and claim Hyun-Jae. Which meant, everything Chin-Hwa did this whole time was completely wrong.
He put everyone's lives in danger because of his pitiful jealousy and rash thinking. Had he been a little more level-headed, Hyun-Jae would've never hated him or severed their friendship and he would've still had a chance to actually be with her.
'It's all my fault! It's all my fucking fault!' As he deflected each hit, Chin-Hwa's frustration grew and so was the guilt in his heart. It was truly all his doing and he couldn't blame anyone but himself for it.
"Come on, Chin-Hwa. Is that all you've got? You wanted me to use my main weapon, right? Then make me use it." Amidst all of that, he heard Talon's voice booming in his ears.
For a second, he stared at the young man with a frustrated look and all he could see was a calm expression.
"Shut up!!"
"Make me," Talon replied coldly.
'This bastard! I won't let him insult me!!' Feeling his anger rising higher than ever, Chin-Hwa channeled his Aetheris as he activated his skill.
Immediately, his style of fighting changed. Jumping back, Chin-Hwa pushed the ground with his feet, leaping forward at a speed way faster than before. The Aetheris Blade flew toward him, aiming for his neck.
But, Chin-Hwa swiftly deflected it and continued his dash. His accuracy and technique had also improved greatly. This sudden shift took everyone by surprise.
'Interesting.' Talon looked at the approaching young man with a curious gaze. 'He has a pretty nice skill.'
The Aetheris Blade flew toward Chin-Hwa relentlessly as it got deflected back with way more ease than before. It seemed the weapon was not capable of pushing him back anymore.
The distance between him and Talon grew closer and closer really quickly till the cold prince found himself in front of Talon again. But, this time, his katana was already moving swiftly through the air, aiming for Talon's neck.
'I got you!!' Chin-Hwa's eyes flared up as he watched the blade close up on his target. His surprise attack was going to work!
Talon had no weapon in his hand and the Aetheris Blade was going to take a split second late to actually attack Chin-Hwa. It was checkmate!
However, as Chin-Hwa was about to celebrate in his head, suddenly, Talon's silhouette vanished from his peripheral vision. It happened so fast that he couldn't even react to it in time.
'What?! Where did he?!' His eyes moved to the side quickly as he felt his senses catching something dangerous.
Talon had suddenly dodged the blade and was now moving to his side. Then, the latter tightened his fist as he launched a strong punch toward Chin-Hwa's face.
The punch carried at least 50 points of strength from Talon's 70 points. That strength was more than enough to blow a normal human's head off.
Chin-Hwa's heart stopped as he watched the incoming attack with wide eyes. The tables have suddenly turned in a split second and he could do nothing about it except watch the deadly blow flying toward him.
'I'm dead…' For a split second, he thought he was going to die.
But, at the last moment, the fist suddenly stopped, barely a quarter of an inch away from Chin-Hwa's face.
Then, the cold prince felt a strong gush of air hitting his face that pushed him back a few steps as he fell to the ground.
Silence.
The entire field turned completely silent as if no one was there. Everyone had a shocked look on their faces. Things happened so fast that they could barely even see anything with their eyes.
At first, it was Talon being the target of the attack and then suddenly, Chin-Hwa was on the ground, flabbergasted and in shock.
The speed at which Talon moved completely blew their heads off. Even Hyun-Jae who witnessed Talon's strength more than once could only stare in awe.
He was far stronger than what she remembers from the stampede fight. No, it wasn't simply that, he was now on a completely different level than before.
'The difference between Talon and these humans is almost funny to watch.' Acrypha exhaled with a small, proud smile on her face. Her little monster was uncomfortable to anyone else and she enjoyed seeing that.
"What… did I just witness?" Eventually, one student uttered.
"I… don't know…"
"He moved… so fast… I couldn't see anything…"
"Did he even move… I only saw a flash…"
Reactions of such nature could be heard everywhere amongst the students. They already knew that Talon was absurdly strong, but this… This was just terrifying.
Meanwhile, back in the middle of the field, Talon's fist finally released as he pulled back and stood in front of Chin-Hwa. His expression was calm and collected.
"How…" Chin-Hwa murmured.
"It's really simple, isn't it? I don't like to brag. But, we both aren't on the same level." Talon replied casually.
(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )