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“One moment… Lee Sungmin. Just what on earth… !”
“We won’t be able to stop that monster with only the two of us. You know it too.”
Lee Sungmin did not hesitate to call the Doppelganger in the shape of Wijihoyeon a ‘monster’. That wasn’t Wijihoyeon. Even if it had the appearance of Wijihoyeon, it was only a creature imitating her. It was a simple monster. The strength of the Doppelganger could still not be compared to the real Wijihoyeon’s monstrous strength.
“Why are you telling me to run away? Our chances of survival are higher if we fight together… !”
“If you want to discuss our chances.”
Lee Sungmin slowly lifted the spear he was holding. He knew he couldn’t convince Baek Sogo. No matter what he said, Baek Sogo wouldn’t escape alone because Lee Sungmin was here. Baek Sogo would never run away, even if it was someone other than Sungmin who was there. It was her ideals of being a ‘good person’ that would not allow her to leave.
“I left a way out for us at the back.”
Wijihoyeon’s Doppelganger was facing them but had not yet moved. Lee Sungmin couldn’t imagine the monster having any desire to speak, but he thought it was a good thing that the monster didn’t attack.
“Beyond that, you will come across Chwigeol and Jang Deuksu. Please bring them here.”
“But you… !”
“If you can escape, you can come for me later. No matter how fast we are, that monster will still be faster than us.”
Baek Sogo could not refute that. Shadowless was a martial art based on extremely fast-paced footwork. However, the level of Wijihoyeon’s Doppelganger’s martial arts was also not something that could be overlooked. He did not think that a monster with such power would be slow. If he ran away, it would come after him, and they would all be caught.
“You’re still faster than me.”
Lee Sungmin gathered his inner force.
“I will still be able to last a little longer against that monster than you too.”
“Then what if you die?!”
“Is there really anyone who wants to die? It’s up to you to decide whether I will die or not.”
He pushed the responsibility onto her by saying that. When Baek Sogo opened her mouth to refuse, Lee Sungmin was no longer listening. He stepped forward, moving ahead using Shadowless. Wijihoyeon’s Doppelganger, which was standing tall, responded. The Black Dragon perched on the edge of her shoulders shuddered, and spread out its wings while swelling up. It swung around its body with such power that it could break through his Defense Aura and crush his body.
Lee Sungmin clenched his teeth and unleashed his Defense Aura along with the Nine Heavenly Spears technique to respond to the Black Dragon’s attack. Kkwaaaang! Simply clashing with the Dragon made him feel like his arms were smashed.
‘I must hold on… I’ve got this!’
Behind him, he heard the sound of Baek Sogo’s footsteps receding farther away. She had already left. She also understood. Fighting together would only buy them a little more time. In the end, their defeat was inevitable. Only by bringing more people would they have a better chance of survival.
‘It won’t take long. It took me 5 minutes to go through the hole and get back here.’
It may have been slow for when they were exploring cautiously, but it should be faster if you were just retreating. He didn’t think Crimson Elder would be able to get past Chwigeol and Jang Deuksu easily. Although Chwigeol’s left arm was cut off, he was still an expert, and Jang Deuksu was also at the High Peak level. It was only because he didn’t want to waste time that Lee Sungmin avoided Crimson Elder, not because he didn’t have the confidence to defeat her.
‘Even with all those variables, they can still arrive in less than 10 minutes.’
He knew.
His calculations were full of gaps. It was possible that Crimson Elder was still alive. Even if she was alive, she wouldn’t be in a good state. He didn’t think Chwigeol and Jang Deuksu’s efforts were in vain. Baek Sogo could help them finish up by fighting an already weakened Crimson Elder.
After that?
If Baek Sogo came back alone, nothing would change.
And also. It was possible that Lee Sungmin would not be able to hold out until she returned. If that happened, how would she react? What would she do when she saw his dead body?
Just because Chwigeol and Jang Deuksu joined him, could he survive against that monster?
He did not know. He really did not know. There were too many variables. But this was the best he could do. He didn’t even think he would encounter Wijihoyeon’s doppelganger here.
He stumbled and barely managed to support his body that had fallen backwards. He straightened his spine and propelled himself forward using the recoil. His arms were throbbing as if being torn away, but he couldn’t stop there. He didn’t want to die. Wasn’t that much obvious?
He wanted to live. In order to live, he had to endure and fight.
The Black Dragon slammed against him again. The trajectory of its attacks was unpredictable. It moved freely, creating numerous combinations of straight and curved lines in the air. The same was true of its form. The large Black Dragon curled up into the shape of a sharp awl and shot out to stab him.
He recalled.
2100 years. That was how long he had spent toiling inside his subconscious. The practice there was tedious. It was so tedious that he went crazy many times. There was no way to know how much time had passed besides the falling grains of sand.
During that long time, he polished his martial arts. What he could and could not use was clear to him. There was still a big difference between the martial arts he could use in his subconscious as compared to the ones he could now.
What he needed to think about was not just applying the skills.
It was the gaining of experience.
At first, it was tedious.
Then he started imagining. He was tired of swinging the spear and moving his body aimlessly. He practiced various moves while imagining an invisible opponent. If he stabbed the spear like this, would they move like this? Or, would it be more efficient to move like this? What kind of attack could he use to move like that? What type of attack? What is walking? How should I respond to the attack? Should he avoid it? What if it was unavoidable? Should he meet it head-on? What if it was too strong for him to handle?
Should he die then?
His spear swung sideways and touched the Black Dragon. In terms of power, Lee Sungmin’s spear was incomparable to the Black Dragon. He knew. He had no intentions of fighting using strength alone. If it stabbed from the front, it would be weak on its side. If the counterattack was strong enough to fight it, he should spill or reverse it.
That was what Wijihoyeon taught him. It was also something he could not apply perfectly even if he knew about it. Lee Sungmin stabbed the spear forward. He seemed to be aiming for the Black Dragon, but it was a feint. Lee Sungmin stabbed the spear and turned his body to the side. It happened in a moment. As the Black Dragon moved toward Lee Sungmin’s body, his spear aimed at the Doppelganger’s chest.
The Doppelganger had no feelings. It was neither surprised nor panicked. It just responded accordingly. The Doppelganger saw Lee Sungmin shoot his spear forward, and mobilized the Black Dragon to defend itself.
His memory was clear. The things he did for 2100 years. The memory of the time spent in his subconscious never faltered. It was just too much, so he had to carefully sort through to find what he was looking for. It was the same as struggling to recall memories left untouched for too long.
He became completely absorbed into the enlightenment he was receiving. Since he was aware of his lack of practical experience, he practiced while imagining an invisible opponent to reinforce it.
The imaginary opponent always changed. Sword, spear, axe, bow, wizard, fist, foot, etc. He had started out poorly. Fortunately, there was plenty of time.
He couldn’t penetrate through the Black Dragon’s strong defense. For firm opponents like that, exploding a spearhead through the barrier to infiltrate was especially effective. But could he pierce through the defenses of the Doppelganger at his level? He had to try. The end of the spear was reinforced with spear force. The revolving spearhead shot out and hit the Black Dragon.
Kkwaang!
The Black Dragon was pushed back by a strong force. There was still no alarm on the face of the Doppelganger. The swaying Black Dragon expanded greatly and tried to slam against Lee Sungmin’s body. Lee Sungmin fixed the spear in his hands and twisted it strongly. The spear aura burst forth surrounding the air around him. The Black Dragon was pushed back a little.
[Do you know?]
‘I know.’
Heoju spoke, and Lee Sungmin replied in his heart. Doppelganger’s attack was simple. Simply wielding the Black Dragon was the only way it attacked, and its defense and evasion techniques weren’t very good either.
[That thing. It’s not using Martial Arts. Those are only some simple and ignorant methods.]
Baek Sogo’s doppelganger imitated her Shadowless technique, but Wijihoyeon’s Doppelganger did not.
[I can’t be sure whether this dungeon’s doppelganger is like that, but most doppelgangers tend to imitate the original. If the Doppelganger of this dungeon is like this, the original person must also tend to do so.]
Wijihoyeon usually stuck to simple and ignorant techniques without using martial arts? He couldn’t think about it too long. The Black Dragon began to move again, and Lee Sungmin focused on its movements.
Lightning Strike. The spear shook and dozens of spearheads hit the Doppelganger. The Black Dragon writhed and parried the strikes. Two-step Calamitous End. He moved to the Doppelganger’s side using Shadowless and stabbed at its flesh. The Black Dragon turned to stop him. Even with a projectile spearhead, it could not be penetrated.
‘What about Skill Stealing?’
The spear in Lee Sungmin’s hands disappeared. A spear soaring from bottom to top tried to slash at the Black Dragon. That didn’t work either. The Black Dragon blocked the spear with his wings outstretched. Even three moves from the Nine Heavenly Spears technique could not defeat him.
‘I can’t find any gaps.’
The Black Dragon was large enough to envelop his whole body. Even its length and width could be changed at will. Usually, such an artifact wouldn’t be very powerful. It would take a tremendous amount of patience and skill to change its shape, maintain that shape, on top of wielding it freely for attack and defense.
The Nine Heavenly Spears technique consisted of nine movements, of which Lee Sungmin had so far used only three. Shadowless, Lightning Strike, and Skill Stealing. He should have already used up a lot of his inner qi, and his level of martial arts was insufficient to perform more movements.
But that actually wasn’t the case. Lee Sungmin focused his internal energy, and his spear aura swelled up. The Doppelganger moved its hand while looking at him blankly but otherwise didn’t move.
The spear shook, and spear force circulated through it.
Spear force exploded. The Spearhead that was shot out divided into nine. They took the form of ravenous dragons. It was the fourth movement of the Nine Heavenly Spears techniques – the Nine Dragon Spirits. Nine dragons swallowed the Doppelganger along with the floor, walls, and ceiling made of flesh.
Eukwakwakwakwa!
Nine dragons swept across the front. Lee Sungmin looked forward, rotating the spear in his hand.
The Doppelganger took a few steps back. The chunks of flesh that had been pushed under its feet were barely clinging together. The attack was blocked without any intention of evasion, only being pushed back a few steps after receiving the full force of the Nine Dragon Spirits. Lee Sungmin found his efforts to be a little futile, but he was not discouraged.
Right. Anyone who mimics Wijihoyeon should at least be on that level.
Lee Sungmin laughed while feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. The Doppelganger, still staring at Lee Sungmin, put down the Black Dragon. The Black Dragon placed on the floor stretched out a little and fluttered around the Doppelganger’s body as it walked forward. A dense black Defense Aura surrounded its body.
[Indeed.]
Heoju laughed.
[It seems the Doppelganger has simply been messing with us so far.]
Lee Sungmin also felt it. Even though it lost its weapon and armor, the Doppelganger, with the Black Dragon taken off, felt even more dangerous than before.
It stepped forward. It happened in an instant. Lee Sungmin completely lost track of the Doppelganger. Even his sixth sense couldn’t detect its movements.
[Behind.]
If Heoju didn’t warn him, he would have been done for. Lee Sungmin hurriedly positioned his spear.
‘Run, Baek Sogo. Don’t come back.’
Lee Sungmin thought as he flew through the air, aching all over.
This was a true monster.
T/N: If you weren’t sure what an awl was, you do now.