Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

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Chapter 743: This is My Fire (1)

‘Don’t tell me it wants me to recite this……?’

Even as he asked this, in truth, Yeongwoo already knew.

【First Sword Strike】

| Contains the basic movements of Blazeflow.

The First Sword Strike.

Up until now, he had only seen it in Blazeflow’s tooltip; he had never directly learned it or even experienced its function.

In other words, unless it was a method where the martial art was engraved into the body upon acquisition, it meant there was a separate way to master it, and the beginning of that was precisely reciting the chant.

‘Th-this is my fire... and what else?’

When a flustered Yeongwoo stopped mid-chant and asked again, Blazeflow's chant reappeared in the empty air.

『This is my fire. This trembling shall not be from fear.』

“Oh, my god.”

And right about then, the spear blade wielded by Ban flew accurately toward Yeongwoo's head.

× You crazy bastard, watch out!

Seeing this, Obstruction of Justice fired back, attempting to hinder the opponent's movements, but before that, Yeongwoo lifted Aratubank and defended.

Kaaaaaang!

“Man, no matter what, I can at least play defense.”

And this was a great advantage as well as a disadvantage.

Because with his current skills, he could only play defense—and a hair-raisingly close defense at that.

Screeeeeech!

Following that, a bizarre sound erupted from the surface of Aratubank as Ban’s spear shaft spun violently.

Having previously seen a beastman's head get cleanly cut off by this, Yeongwoo hurriedly rolled backward into an evasive maneuver.

Whoosh!

Sure enough, the moment Yeongwoo pulled his body back, the spear blade tore through that very spot diagonally, and Ban immediately resumed his pursuit.

— Not bad, but not enough.

It was a line that implied many things.

Thus, as Yeongwoo raised his body from rolling on the ground, he urgently recited the chant.

“This is my fire!”

— ……?

“This trembling... shall not be from fear……!”

At this moment, Yeongwoo's pronunciation was actually trembling like a candle in the wind, and as soon as he recited the chant, a rush of heat truly circulated throughout his entire body.

Almost as if he was extremely excited.

Fwooooosh!

“Urgh?”

An immense fighting spirit surged.

Then, even Ban flinched at Yeongwoo's momentum, which was completely different from before.

— What is this……?

And in the meantime, new messages appeared in Yeongwoo’s vision.

『The First Sword Strike has been unlocked.』

『From now on, during combat, your movements will be corrected according to the 27 rules of the First Sword Strike.』

‘Corrected?’

Unlike previous martial arts where he had to follow the movements along with a hologram guide, Blazeflow used a method that directly corrected his movements.

『Once you go through numerous battles and training to the point where 'corrections' no longer occur in any of your movements, you will finally be able to use the Second Sword Strike.』

‘Ah.’

Upon reaching this point, Yeongwoo could properly understand.

‘So I have to be able to move in Blazeflow's way without any corrections before I can move on to the next stage.’

Then what exactly was Blazeflow's way?

He would be able to find out right away.

Because Ban's spear blade was already right under his nose.

— Kuaaaah!

With the certainty that this attack would sever the opponent's windpipe, a fierce shout burst from Ban’s mouth.

And Yeongwoo, startled by the opponent's much faster-than-expected attack, tried to twist his upper body to the side, but...

Riiiiing!

Soon, an alarm bell rang in his head, and his waist suddenly straightened back up, while his arm holding Bastard rose toward his chest.

‘Uh……? I'm raising my sword now?’

Then, the flame-shaped text appeared before his eyes once more.

『Every stance is for the purpose of preparing an attack.』

‘What.’

And then, astonishingly, Bastard, held in the hand that had risen and stuck close to his chest, blocked Ban's spear blade.

Screeeek!

And not with the broad flat of the blade, but with the edge as thin as a sheet of paper.

“Eek?”

— ……!

At this, both Yeongwoo and Ban widened their eyes in shock, and immediately after the momentary friction, the spear blade's trajectory shifted slightly, grazing Yeongwoo's cheek.

Swish!

If he hadn't instinctively tilted his head slightly, the spear blade would have lodged into his nose or cheekbone rather than grazing his cheek.

Even then, Yeongwoo tilting his head wasn't due to Blazeflow's correction.

It was because Blazeflow was too busy instructing a counterattack.

『Fear is an emotion meant solely for the opponent. In a moment of crisis, you must always counterattack.』

‘Hey, you bastard. I really almost died just now.’

At this, as Yeongwoo tried to extend Bastard, which had been covering his face vertically, forward, heat immediately rushed through his entire body, and the motion changed into a swift thrust.

Swoooosh!

At this time, the composition of the two duelists was just like a situation where cross punches were thrown, so as the Mythic Demonic Sword squeezed into the narrow space, Ban had no choice but to tense up.

— This……!

Though brief, he let out a flustered sound and twisted his upper body, and perceiving this, Blazeflow dropped another pointer.

『After finishing the first attack, prepare for the third attack.』

‘What are you talking about? What about the second attack?’

The instant Yeongwoo asked this back, his left arm was engulfed in a sensation of heat and swung Aratubank.

Meanwhile, his right hand was already dropping Bastard toward the floor.

‘……?’

And in the meantime, Ban, anticipating that Yeongwoo would aim for a follow-up attack after missing the thrust, bent and raised his right knee, blocking his exposed flank.

Paaaaang!

The ensuing strike from Aratubank.

As expected, it failed to inflict any meaningful damage, but Yeongwoo was already in the middle of executing his third attack.

Ta-tat!

As he clenched his hand and pulled his body back, Bastard swung back out due to its sword ability, striking the side of Ban’s head.

— Ah……!

A sound bordering on a scream slipped out from inside the mask covering Ban's face.

And the reason for that became immediately apparent.

“Oh.”

Because that attack just now had shattered the side of Ban's mask.

— Damn it.

Ban hurriedly tried to cover the missing part of the mask with his hand, but it was after not only Yeongwoo but also Obstruction of Justice had witnessed it.

× Uh, that's.

Namely, the tattoo engraved on Ban’s brown skin.

“What the... I did expect it to some extent, but it really wasn't Chancellor Herisa.”

Furthermore, he wasn't even the same person.

Of course, his body type and the vibe of his appearance were very similar to a human's.

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Since even looking at him again now, it was to the extent that one might wonder if it was just Chancellor Herisa with a bit of a tan.

On the other hand, Obstruction of Justice...

× Uh-uh…….

...Seemed to be surprised by something completely different from Yeongwoo.

“Why? What is it?”

When Yeongwoo asked this, he pointed at Ban with the tip of his index finger and said.

× That crest just now.

Then, he spoke a word that was completely unimaginable to Yeongwoo.

× That's a Kaujo.

“What?”

Kaujo.

The strongest strike force of the Universal Police Department, and the very embodiment of formidable public power capable of arresting even the Great Ones.

“Wait, that guy is a Kaujo?”

When Yeongwoo pointed at Ban with Bastard and asked again, Obstruction of Justice wiggled his index finger.

× No wonder I kept wanting to shoot him. He was a filthy civil servant.

As soon as Obstruction of Justice recognized the opponent's identity, a fire-breathing pistol-shaped icon appeared in the corner of Yeongwoo's vision.

Flash!

It was none other than the activation of the ‘Anti-Government Pistol’ effect.

【Anti-Government Pistol】

| When attacking a civil servant with this firearm, all of the wielder's combat abilities increase by 15%.

“Wait... so this effect only activates when you recognize that the opponent is a civil servant?”

× Of course. Because the agent activating that effect is me.

Obstruction of Justice wagging his finger shamelessly.

Then, he aimed at Ban once more and said.

× But there's no way that's a real Kaujo. A guy like that wouldn't be leisurely running through a dungeon.

“True... Kaujos would be too busy going around catching high-rank criminals.”

× Therefore, given the circumstances, that guy is…….

Obstruction of Justice continued his sentence while putting force into the muzzle.

× Probably a Kaujo trainee.

“A trainee? Like a military cadet?”

× My database only has records up to this point. Even I don't know in what manner they are trained.

“But now we've learned one thing. The fact that an Epic Dungeon is included in their training process.”

And then, Yeongwoo threw out a question.

“But they already put a tattoo on their face? What if they end up failing the final exam?”

At that, instead of Ban, who was silently readjusting his stance without a word, the Anti-Government Pistol answered.

× Isn't it probably because it's either passing the exam or dying in the process, one of the two?

“Ah, is that so.”

It was unknown what stage Ban was at in the Kaujo training process, but anyway, one thing seemed certain.

“What should we do? Your little exam might just be suspended right here.”

When Yeongwoo spoke while letting Bastard droop toward the floor, Ban wordlessly rested his arm on his spear shaft.

Slide.

It meant he wanted to see this fight through to the end.

“Ban probably isn't your real name... Since I roughly know your identity now, how about telling me your real name?”

At that, Ban, who hadn't opened his mouth for a while, uttered a line for the first time in a long while.

— I will tell you the moment I sever your windpipe.

And then, he seemed to approach while spinning just like earlier, but this time, he swung the end of his spear shaft first while keeping some distance.

Taaaaang!

Ban's first attack powerfully striking the surface of Aratubank.

Through this, Yeongwoo felt that the opponent was trying to fight stably by utilizing the characteristics of the spear.

Finally, the opponent's fire was trembling.

“I can feel it, your trembling……!”

As Yeongwoo shouted in excitement, the Anti-Government Pistol spewed fire from its muzzle and said.

× I'll keep his right arm tied down, so you take care of the rest!

It meant that although he couldn't land a direct hit, he would continue to fire suppressing shots that could never be ignored to hinder the opponent's movements.

In response, Yeongwoo extended the length of Bastard to about 8 meters, securing an attack range even longer than Ban's.

“Tie down his right arm? Right now, even if that guy had an extra arm attached, I'd still have a chance of winning.”

As Yeongwoo said this and cast a dark red shadow even longer than the spear, Ban deflected the bullet that had hit the floor and bounced up in the meantime, and asked.

— …What did you say your name was?

“Are you finally genuinely curious about my name now? Well, my name is…….”

The moment a triumphant Yeongwoo was about to reveal his name again, both of his arms became burning hot.

It was Blazeflow letting him know that he must attack right this instant.

Therefore, left with no choice, Yeongwoo thrust his sword forward and shouted.

“Every stance is for the purpose of preparing an attack!”

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