The Gray Warrior (2)
A duel with a past character.
Was there anything about that in the DLC notes?
All it said was that you could reclaim the power of a deceased character, not that you’d have to fight them for it.
If this were a game, I might have been thrilled at the content, but this was no game. Here, a stab from a sword meant death.
In less than a fraction of a second, as I faced the man with clenched fists, countless thoughts raced through my mind.
“Hey, Dalber.”
“Speak, one under the gaze of the stars. But I won’t entertain questions. First, prove you’re worthy of answers.”
”…Is that so.”
He was sharp, even before I asked anything.
I had plenty of questions and theories.
The man before me likely held some of the answers.
But if he was only going to spout nonsense about wells of fate and crossing timelines without any intention of explaining the situation…
There was only one conclusion to draw.
Swoosh—
My hand gripped the handle tightly.
The axe blade glinted in the reflection of the snowy mountains.
The hand axe, drawn like lightning, was my first answer to the man before me, standing in for all my questions.
Dalren spoke.
“Let’s start with a little brawl.”
Maybe after a good beating, he’d feel more inclined to explain things.
Whoosh—!
As I stepped forward with my right foot, my axe-wielding arm blurred.
Swish—!
The hand axe vanished, only to reappear right in front of the man’s face.
Thunk!
The sound was oddly different from something being split. The man had casually reached out and caught the axe.
Not by the handle, but by the blade itself, with sheer grip strength.
“Indeed, a fine answer, just as I hoped…!”
The man beamed with a broad smile.
And then—
Boom!
A golden explosion cut him off.
The blast sent the snow on the ground swirling into a blizzard. Dalren charged through the storm head-on.
His loose leather outfit flapped in the wind. It was a makeshift garment, hastily repaired from what high orcs used to wear.
The armor I received from the forge in Reveron was ruined in a fight with the chieftain.
‘I should start carrying spare armor in my subspace.’
Anticipating the demon’s grumbling about cramped quarters, I wrapped the magical winds of the snowy mountain around my limbs.
「Arcane Armor」
「Flame Armor」
“Hahaha! That stings a bit… ugh!”
The man, who had shrugged off the explosion of the relic weapon, found his face gripped by a hand twice its normal size, wreathed in flames.
「Step」
I kicked off the nonexistent ground, converting explosive magic into brute force, and hurled the man away.
Crash—!
The two figures shot like cannonballs, smashing through a cabin and soaring high into the sky. The rapidly changing view below showed the ridge leading down the mountain, passing by in a blur.
I caught up with the man’s body, which was being flung through the air, and with a step, I leaped above him, bringing my leg down like a spring.
「Flame Armor: Crimson Torrent」
Boom!
With a sound like a drum bursting, bright red flames erupted from my toes.
The man’s body plummeted to the ground with the cascade of red flames.
Rumble…
The snow-laden conifers snapped like toothpicks, and the flames that flowed down the mountainside ignited the dormant vegetation in the area.
Dalren took a light breath and looked down.
A fiery crater several meters wide, burning away the white snow. In its center, the man’s brown eyes met his gaze.
“Hah… not bad.”
The man was unscathed. His skin was slightly reddened, but that was all.
Despite the blow that had shattered even the Sanctuary Guardian’s tough body, the man seemed more excited than anything.
“I’ve waited so long for this. If it had been any less, I would’ve been disappointed.”
A hint of madness lingered in his twitching smile.
Had he gone mad himself after living with a battle-crazed race for decades?
Just as I was about to question the mental state of a character I once nurtured, the man’s figure vanished before my eyes.
Whoosh—
A moment too late, ash erupted from where the man had stood.
Swoosh—
A chill ran down my spine as a low voice came from behind.
“Let’s play a little more.”
「Return to the Abyss」
As I hastily turned around, what I saw was a flickering gray shadow under the clear sky.
The shadow cast unexpectedly in midair was undoubtedly one of the unique skill effects of that martial artist character.
A movement skill that allowed him to tear through the fabric of space with his body, using strength and skill beyond limits.
It was the most decisive reason why the man was known as the Gray Warrior.
Swoosh—
The man emerged from the shadow, throwing a punch. The lightning-fast strike slammed into Dalren’s chest.
Boom—!
“Damn it…!”
Even with my arms crossed to block it, a curse slipped out.
Crash—!
Dalren’s body bounced off the ground like a skipping stone, snapping trees in its path.
“Hahaha…”
The man stood in midair, chuckling as he watched the long trail left on the mountain.
Fwoosh!
”…Huh?”
Suddenly, dozens of white sparks flared up around him, cutting off his laughter.
「Ignition」
「Holy Vine Prison」
Crackle!
Like watching a vine grow from a seed at a thousand times speed, the white flames rapidly intertwined.
The intertwining and crossing flames formed a large sphere, closing off the space where the man stood like a prison made of vines.
Realizing the holy power in the fiery prison that had suddenly trapped him, the man furrowed his brow slightly and muttered.
“Holy power of the Paladin Order… Did you receive a holy tattoo and learn miracles? But even so, how could you do it without any warning…?”
As he grabbed the rapidly closing bars of flame with his rough hands to stop them, the man’s mind, heated by the situation, quickly deduced the scenario with his extensive combat experience.
Understanding the situation wasn’t difficult.
The air the man stood on was the very space Dalren had occupied just moments before.
”…Did you predict I’d attack from behind?”
Right after slamming the man into the ground with the fiery waterfall.
Instead of following up with another attack, Dalren had simply watched from above.
What seemed like complacency after the initial strike was actually because he had secretly set up this prison.
It didn’t take long to realize that revealing one of his unique skills to counterattack had only led him into a trap set by his opponent.
A combat style that seemed to read and anticipate his next move.
Realizing he’d been effectively toyed with, a vein bulged on the man’s forehead.
“You little…!”
Creak…
The white bars of flame began to bend under his overwhelming strength.
The man’s brown eyes followed the trail of Dalren, who had been sent flying through the forest.
Having been flung dozens of meters by a single punch, Dalren tore off his tattered leather top and stood up.
‘It worked.’
A character I had nurtured from the ground up.
While I couldn’t directly interfere with his unique skills, I had watched his combat style unfold hundreds of times.
Once I could see his next move, all I needed was a powerful counter to strike at his intentions.
The unique skill ‘Ignition’ derived from the holy flame.
And the ‘Living Roots’ learned from Shania Philopon in the basics of plant-based magic.
The combination of those two was the first setup for delivering that decisive blow.
Creak— Crack!
The bars, unable to withstand the pressure, began to snap one by one. Dalren looked up at the distant sky with an unflinching expression.
The man’s strength, capable of crushing the fusion of miracle and spell with his bare hands, was impressive, but there was no reason to be anxious.
The speed at which Dalren’s second setup arrived was faster than the man could escape the trap he had stepped into.
“I told you.”
Spitting out boiling blood, he grinned defiantly.
“Let’s start with a little brawl.”
Rumble…
The sky, now filled with gathering storm clouds.
Piercing through the shadows, a beam of light shot down from the distant mountain peak.
The speed of the incoming light was far faster than sound, but the man’s keen eyesight was enough to discern its nature.
“The holy sword… Tortanis!”
As he finished speaking, a flash of light illuminated the storm clouds.
The pillar of light, bending several times as it descended, aligned perfectly with the trajectory of the incoming holy sword.
“Damn it…!”
The man gritted his teeth and swung his arm fiercely.
Crack!
With a single burst of power, the fiery vines were mercilessly severed, yet the remaining tendrils tightened their grip, restricting the man’s movements.
Resistance was fleeting.
Even the most skilled warrior could not escape the divine retribution descending from the heavens.
“Thunder Strike.”
Flash—!
The blue lightning, fused with the holy sword, swept over the man’s form and struck the forest with a resounding crash.
Boom!
As the thunderclap reached the ground, a brilliant light turned the world upside down.
Rumble…
The slope of the snow-covered mountain gave way under the impact.
Watching the distant avalanche, Dalen turned his gaze to the deep crater before him.
The earth was charred black.
Trees lay in ashes, crumbled and burnt.
In the center of the several-meter-deep crater, a massive warrior knelt.
His skin, blackened and cracked, bore a deep wound stretching from shoulder to opposite hip, blood pouring forth.
It was clearly a mortal wound, yet Dalen merely clicked his tongue softly.
“You managed to dodge that.”
With a casual wave of his hand, the holy sword, embedded a few steps away from the man, flew back into Dalen’s grasp.
Had it struck true, it would have pierced the man’s body and erased his very existence.
Dalen hadn’t expected this single blow to decide the battle, but the outcome was far below his expectations.
To deflect an attack that could obliterate even a demon meant the man’s martial prowess far exceeded the norm.
How he managed to twist his body while bound by the fiery vines was beyond comprehension, even with his own enhanced abilities.
“Well, well… I see now. At the very least, I can acknowledge that you are the one the prophecy speaks of.”
Step by step, the man rose slowly.
His steps were unsteady, his movements seemingly vulnerable.
Yet Dalen did not rush forward to strike with his sword.
To be precise, he couldn’t.
In the past, he might not have noticed, but now Dalen could see it clearly.
Every apparent opening was a meticulously crafted trap, honed by decades of martial experience.
“Yet, even in the endless time spent in the Abyss of Reversal, I could never accept it. The end I could not overcome, despite claiming to have seen the pinnacle of martial arts, could be conquered by another.”
A subtle gesture. The direction of his toes. The shake of his head. The dusting of his knees.
Every movement was infused with martial logic, seamlessly flowing into the next, achieving optimal efficiency.
The atmosphere had completely shifted from the earlier skirmish. The message was clear.
For reasons unknown, if the man had approached the fight with a somewhat casual demeanor until now…
From this moment on, he had no intention of maintaining such an attitude.
“Prove it, then. Show me if you truly are the one the prophecy foretold, the one who can gather all possibilities across time and witness the world’s end. And…”
He clenched his fist.
The blackened skin tore.
Beneath it, white tattoos glowed.
As his entire body turned an ashen gray, the man opened his eyes.
“…if you are worthy of receiving all that I have to offer.”
The ashen waves, like his hair, locked onto Dalen’s dark eyes.
In that instant.
“Domain Unleashed: The Ashen Sky of the End.”
The world was engulfed in gray.