C715
If Gilly had not become the nanny for the Runcandel family and had continued training as a knight under McRolan, she might have been able to keep her word.
But Dox is a Black Knight.
Although he had much less potential than Gilly and is now corrupted by chaos, the weight of the black helm he wore hadn’t lightened.
Moreover, the Prophet had put significant effort into Dox’s corruption.
She had corrupted him just enough to consume him with hatred and madness, without losing the strength he had accumulated as a Warrior.
In other words, the current Dox could fully unleash his true power.
[Dare to speak so arrogantly... How amusing, Gilly. You should have spoken such arrogant words back then. After you left the clan, I went through countless trials and became stronger. It was the same even after putting on the black helmet.]
Clank!
"Ugh!"Dox's claw struck Gilly.
She managed to block it, but she didn’t have the strength to engage in a physical struggle.
She felt a pain as if her wrist was being completely twisted. Every bone in her body trembled with each block against Dox’s attacks.
However, Gilly only grimaced in pain, maintaining her posture and her gaze fixed on Dox.
Her broken hand bones were fused, forming a tight knot.
[I've been relatively fine, considering how rotten I am.]
Relentlessly, Dox continued his one-sided attacks.
Gilly had to exert all her strength every moment, but Dox seemed relaxed, as if he were dealing with a child.
Strength, speed, experience.
There wasn’t a single aspect in which Gilly could defeat Dox at this moment.
Her confident words were only meant to provoke Dox a little, and she knew they lacked realism.
[That’s it. What exactly are you trying to tell me?]
Thud!
Right after Dox finished speaking, Gilly could only hear the sound of her left wrist twisting.
Amidst the entangled claws, Dox unexpectedly broke through Gilly’s center and struck her wrist with his elbow.
"Ugh...!"
Gilly winced in pain and quickly stepped to the left.
But Dox didn’t give her any chance to escape and attacked the same spot again.
The shattered bone was driven deep into the flesh.
[It’s the first time I’ve heard you scream.]
“Well, are you satisfied?”
[No, I’m disappointed. I thought that even though I was corrupted, the monstrous Gilly you used to be might still have some notable qualities... That’s what I thought.]
“I’m not a monster, just an ordinary person. The monster is you, Oraboni... No, those who made you this way.”
[But you break so easily. So disappointingly...]
Dox paused his attack.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gilly distanced herself and hastily bandaged her broken wrist.
She hadn’t taken the time to heal herself because she was focused on Dox.
Cold sweat dripped from her body, and her breathing became increasingly rapid.
Sigh...
Dox let out a long sigh.
There was no trace of the Gilly he remembered in her weakened appearance.
Then, Dox pulled something out of his chest and tossed it in front of Gilly.
Startled, she was about to counterattack, but she realized that what had fallen to the ground was a black vial.
“What is this?”
[It’s called the Vial of Chaos. It’s a potion made by the Prophet.]
“Drinking this will make me like you, Oraboni?”
[It temporarily restores your body and gives you explosive energy. Of course, even if you swallow vials of chaos, the chances of defeating me are slim, but isn’t it better than dying like this? Also, I want to see you once more. Your former self.]
Gilly had no reason to doubt. She stomped on the vial of chaos as if crushing it, rendering it useless.
“I don’t need it.”
[That’s strange. When you were praised as the greatest genius of McRolan, you didn’t seem to have any self-esteem. But now, even in the face of death, you stubbornly hold on.]
Gilly calmed her breathing and pointed her claw at Dox again.
“When I was despised and rejected by my clan, I remained silent because I had earned the name McRolan. It wasn’t because I lacked self-esteem.”
[You were never McRolan.]
“No matter how my clan and Dox Oraboni saw me, I never forgot that I was McRolan. Every claw technique I possess, I learned from McRolan, and all the happiness I’ve experienced in my life, I’ve harvested from McRolan.”
That’s why Gilly had never spoken of her past as McRolan to Jin and the others.
-I’m sorry, young master.
-Why are you apologizing?
-My clan is causing you trouble. It’s probably because of me.
-It's okay, Gilly. Don’t worry, I won’t hold a grudge against McRolan for this incident.
Even when Jin became a Flagbearer and McRolan didn’t send messengers, she apologized on behalf of McRolan, and when Dox was captured by Jin, she worried about what might happen if the young master harmed him.
Of course, Gilly had suffered numerous wounds during her time with McRolan.
But she believed that all that pain was incomparable to what she had gained by leaving the slums.
Jin and Murakan, as well as the comrades with whom she had lived adventures since her days as a Provisional Flagbearer. In a sense, they were her family. If it weren’t for McRolan, she would never have had them.
The aura emanating from Gilly’s claw grew stronger.
[Are you suggesting we resolve this with a decisive blow? Very well, I’ll wait.]
“Do you remember? This is the final killing move you desperately wanted to learn, Oraboni.”
[McRolan’s 66th move... It’s quite a good move.]
“Oraboni, you still believe that the technique was created by the matriarch.”
Dox’s pupils narrowed.
[...Are you saying it was you, not father?]
“Yes, it was known as a technique devised by the matriarch, but in reality, it was a technique I first conceived at the age of seventeen. That’s why only I know the secrets of the 66th move, and in the end, the matriarch couldn’t fully master it.”
[Heh, so my father felt inferior to you just like I did. But it’s a shame you didn’t swallow the vial of chaos. With your broken arm, you won’t be able to withstand the 66th move. Anyway, show it to me. Come at me head-on.]
Dox raised his claw and prepared to block.
Gilly lowered her stance.
It was a stance that Dox had practiced hundreds of thousands of times in his youth.
A charge, acceleration, followed by consecutive strikes.
The structure is simple, but the weight distribution is extremely difficult for the wielder.
'To think she created such a technique at the age of seventeen...'
Then Gilly unleashed her aura and charged at Dox.
If the fight had ended before the technique could even begin, Dox might not have noticed, but once the 66th move began, he had no choice but to cede control to Gilly for a moment.
However, Dox perfectly parried Gilly’s claw.
Even if he hadn’t known about the 66th move, a few superficial wounds would have been the extent of it, but with such a familiar sword, it was a certainty.
'A three-hit combo, followed by a low strike, and when you block or dodge, a change in rotation and position.'
Now the 66th move had become a technique fully mastered by Dox as well.
As a result, Gilly was the one taking more damage as she relentlessly attacked.
Due to her injuries, she was experiencing aura reflux.
The reflux of the 66th move is already severe with an intact arm.
It’s impressive that she’s come this far with a shattered arm. This might be the end.
If Gilly had truly created the 66th move, the only difference would be the final move.
Dox knew that the final move of the 66th move was evasion.
Once all the consecutive strikes of the 66th move were finished, if the opponent was still alive, one had to retreat.
Therefore, the 66th move was a precarious technique.
While enduring the recoil, one had to unleash their aura, overwhelm the opponent, and if they couldn’t be subdued, escape in that state.
Dox, while mastering the 66th move, always intentionally used only about 70% of its potential.
The 66th move was undoubtedly an exceptional technique, but it had its limits, as one had to accept the risks of recoil.
That’s why Dox believed that the "mastery" of the 66th move lay in total control of the reflux, where there was no risk of reflux regardless of when or how far it was triggered.
That was, in his opinion, the ultimate stage of the 66th move.
However, Dox never knew that Gilly had achieved that ultimate control. Even if she fully unleashed the 66th move, there was no danger of reflux.
He was about to witness the true finale of the 66th move.
“Should I lower my stance once again?”
While Dox anticipated the final blow, Gilly lowered her stance once more, returning to the initial posture of the 66th move.
Then, she raised her upper body like a roaring beast, driving both claws into the ground.
At that very moment, Dox realized what the true end of the 66th move was.
It was a suicide attack.
That’s why the 66th move is so extreme.
All the aura surging within Gilly’s body converged into the blades of her claws, piercing the ground in an instant, like the eruption of the Runcandel volcano.
The final 66th move of McRolan.
Gilly McRolan.
When she conceived the 66th move at the age of seventeen, she named the technique after herself.
And she had planned to reveal it one day when the time came to be accepted by her clan, and when she could approach Dox.
She created the 66th move to become Dox’s shadow.
It was a technique she developed in preparation for the moment when she would have to die to save him.
Therefore, Dox had completely misunderstood the completion of the 66th move.
To truly finish "Gilly McRolan," it wasn’t about having control to avoid aura reflux, but about acquiring a way to "use" it.
The true end of the 66th move was to push the reflux to its limit and detonate it in a single blow.
However...
Now, Gilly no longer intended to die for Dox.
Despite still harboring affection for McRolan and Dox, even after receiving so much resentment, the only people she could give her life for now were the young master and Murakan, her comrades.
[You might have a rather fierce spirit, but there’s no need to evade. Because you’re the only one who will die when it explodes.]
“...This time, Dox Oraboni has won. No, to be precise... it seems you’ve won again.”
[If you had swallowed the vial of chaos I gave you, it would have been a somewhat heavy power...]
Slash!
Suddenly, Dox’s side was sliced open, and a surge of chaos burst out like a blood vessel.
Someone had attacked Dox with a perfect surprise assault on the battlefield.
In this world, there weren’t many individuals capable of executing such a flawless ambush against a Black Knight.
“Did this black flesh try to kill our Strawberry Pie?”
Yona Runcandel.
From the moment Gilly first unleashed the 66th move, she had always kept in mind the support of the Nameless.
For now, assuming that the Nameless had infiltrated separately from Kinzelo, they should have reached the surface.
In an instant, Yona brought down Dox, driving her sword into his chest.
With Yona and Owal ambushing Dox together, he had no chance to react.
[Gr...!]
In Dox’s distorted vision, he saw Gilly kneeling on the ground with her claws driven into the earth.
Her eyes still showed no trace of resentment.
There was no sense of triumph either, only a dazed and melancholic look.
It was also a familiar expression for Dox.
Finally, Dox understood why Gilly always wore that expression.
It meant that she never wanted to harm him.
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