Chapter 352

“Kuh-huhk!”

Jinsoo’s body was flung backward, and the speed was almost equal to the speed of his charge. He rolled across the ground in a very undignified manner.

“What the hell! Shit! What is this?”

He looked like a fool, so he was embarrassed. This caused him to cuss out loud.

He used his spear as a cane to get up. The location where he was hit with the halberd felt numb.

Hoo-doo-doohk!

An unpleasant sound could be heard. When Jinsoo looked down, a part of his armor broke apart. It was where the halberd had hit him.

‘He did this with just one blow?’

He finally realized something was wrong. He could see Sungyoon slowly approach him.

“Ooh…!”

Sungyoon’s overwhelming presence made Jinsoo take a step backward.

‘Shit! What is going on!’

His face had turned red inside his helmet.

The fact that he had been afraid of a half-dead human made him feel an incredible amount of embarrassment.

“You bastaaaaaaard!”

Jinsoo raised his voice for no reason, and he rushed Sungyoon. He had a firm grip on his spear, and he stabbed Sungyoon.

Hoo-oohng!

However, he didn’t feel any feedback. Sungyoon had tilted his body to dodge the attack.

Jinsoo didn’t panic.

He had fought in many battles over the year. He had enough experience to be called a veteran.

Jinsoo put more strength into his legs as he maintained his speed. At the same time, he choked up on his spear.

“Hoohp!”

When he got close to Sungyoon, he stabbed with his spear.

Kwah-jeeek!

The sharp spear blade pierced through the armor to embed itself in flesh.

Unfortunately for Jinsoo, he hadn’t been successful in stabbing his opponent with his spear. He was stabbed by the spear blade of Sungyoon’s halberd.

“AHhhhhhhk!”

The momentum of his movement drove the spear deeper into his body.

The embedded spear blade almost severed his arm in half.

“Fuuuuuuuuuck!”

Jinsoo desperately retreated backward. When he gained some distance, he started using his healing magic.

He looked like a dog running away from a fight with his tail tucked between his legs. However, he couldn’t immediately activate his spell like Sungyoon, and he couldn’t automatically heal like Hyunwoo. This was why he had to take this measure.

“I’m going to kill you!”

As soon as his wound healed, Jinsoo ground his teeth. He was about to charge forward to kill Sungyoon.

However, he had to put on the brakes when he realized something.

“What the hell? You healed yourself?”

Sungyoon had been unable to run thanks to an injury that he had suffered in the previous fight. However, he was no longer limping.

‘Now that I think about it, that halberd...!’

Jinsoo knew Sungyoon had four weapons.

He had the lightning sword, poisonous ax, explosion hammer, and...

‘Healing halberd!’

When Sungyoon half severed Jinsoo’s arm, he must have recovered from his wounds to a certain extent.

“Ke ke ke! Your plan is going to shit. It is so enjoyable to see you fl.u.s.tered.”

“Just stay there and shut your mouth!”

“Ill-tempered….”

At some point, Hyunwoo had crawled towards a wall. He was comfortably leaning against it as he watched Jinsoo’s fl.u.s.tered form. Hyunwoo cackled.

“Be careful. At this rate, the Knight will recover fully thanks to you.”

“I said shut up!”

“Ah. Maybe, he will give you a quick death as a favor. The Knight had no way of healing his body, yet you used your body to heal him. If the Knight wins, you’ll be placed in the history book as the useful enemy.”

“Shuuuuuut uppppppppp!”

Jinsoo tried not to pay attention to Hyunwoo’s sarcastic remarks. He once again charged forward.

“Nothing changes because his leg got a little bit better!”

This time he didn’t stab with his spear. He grabbed the bottom of the shaft, so he could attack from a distance. He swung his spear.

Tuh-uhng!

Sungyoon’s shield deflected the spear, and at that moment, Jinsoo let go of his spear.

He brushed past Sungyoon’s shield, and he got close to Sungyoon. He made a fist.

“Dieeeee!”

Jinsoo’s fist headed towards Sungyoon’s face.

Hweeek!

However, Jinsoo’s fist met empty air. Sungyoon titled his head to easily dodge the attack.

Puh-uhk! Puh-uhk!

Instead, Sungyoon’s fist continuously smashed into Jinsoo’s helmet. When his helmet became dented, Jinsoo lost consciousness for a brief moment.

Kwah-doo-doohk!

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhk!”

However, he regained his consciousness when he felt a burning pain.

“Oooooooooh!”

The ax blade of the halberd was embedded in his shoulder.

Jinsoo quickly dislodged himself from the ax blade. He quickly retreated then he used his healing magic.

The wound on his shoulder went away in an instant. The wound created by Sungyoon’s fist to his face healed too.

“Hoo-ooh!”

Jinsoo let out a sigh of relief when the pain went away. However, his relief lasted only a moment.

‘I’m losing to him! He’s barely alive!’

It made him grind his teeth. His bottomless pride also made him disparage Sungyoon.

‘Hmmph! Stupid bastard. If he continued to attack me, he could have won.’

He inwardly made fun of Sungyoon, who had made an idiotic move. Jinsoo raised his gaze.

Sungyoon was a bit away as he calmly looked at Jinsoo. It was as if he was just monitoring Jinsoo.

“Are you done?”

“What?”

“I asked if you are done healing.”

Jinsoo was his enemy, yet Sungyoon had asked about his well-being. Was Sungyoon really a noble person as his nickname suggested?

‘No way!’

When he realized Sungyoon’s intention, rage bubbled within Jinsoo’s heart.

At that moment, a loud laugh could suddenly be heard. Hyunwoo was laughing.

He was injured and in pain, so he groaned as he laughed. His laughter showed no signs of ending.

“Ha ha! Koohk! Ha ha ha ha! You are being treated like a living healing elixir, Kim Jinsoo!”

‘Shit! Maybe, I should kill him first!’

Hyunwoo was close to dying, yet he continued to get on Jinsoo’s nerves. However, he couldn’t attack Hyunwoo with Sungyoon present.

On the other hand, Sungyoon wasn’t doing this to play with Jinsoo. He wouldn’t go through all this trouble to do that.

‘This is the only way I can heal.’

Sungyoon had reached his limit on how many times he could use his recovery Gem.

He thought about taking Hyunwoo’s Gems after killing him, but he had witnessed Hyunwoo’s body healing by itself. There was no guarantee that a healing Gem was involved.

‘Also, Kim Jinsoo overclocked his Gems.’

Unlike the ambush attack, Jinsoo had overclocked his Gems to increase his chances of winning in this fight.

Jinsoo had shown all his Gems when he displayed his Diamond rank Gem. Those Gems were letting out more light than before. Jinsoo could take more abuse.

There might be another battle after this, so Sungyoon had to do his best to keep his body in optimal condition.

‘I have no choice. I have to keep healing my wounds this way.’

Sungyoon looked at Jinsoo.

‘Thankfully, he’s weak.’

If Jinsoo heard that, he would become hopping mad. Sungyoon inwardly spoke those words.

“Ahhhhhhhk!”

Jinsoo only had venom in his voice as he charged forward. He was acting like a beast.

There was spittle coming out of his mouth. There was no tactic or skill. He just charged straight towards Sungyoon. He had only one resolve. He wanted to plant his spear inside Sungyoon’s body.

Even if Jinsoo attacked in a strategic manner, he would have a hard time winning against Sungyoon. The fact that he charged towards Sungyoon like a mad dog meant that Jinsoo would just become Sungyoon’s prey.

Sungyoon slowly diced up Jinsoo.

“Shit! Shit!”

Jinsoo once again healed his wounds.

His healing Gem was also reaching its limit. On the other hand, Sungyoon looked almost like his normal self.

The last remaining wound had been the one on his left hand. Sungyoon looked satisfied as he looked over the region. He tapped the location where the wound had been. His skin was smooth as usual.

‘I’m done healing all my wounds. My body is at tip-top shape.’

That meant Jinsoo’s usefulness had come to an end.

Sssk!

Sungyoon unsummoned his halberd, then he took up his sword and shield. Jinsoo also knew what that meant.

“Oooooooh!”

His confidence from before was nowhere to be seen.

Jinsoo matched Sungyoon’s footsteps. He retreated each time Sungyoon took a step towards him.

Jinsoo had wanted with all his heart to be special, yet none of it could be found in how he acted.

“Are you going to end him?”

“There is no reason why I should drag this out anymore.”

Sungyoon gave a cold answer to Hyunwoo, and he pointed his sword towards Jinsoo.

“Ooh. Ooh-ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

It was his last-ditch effort. That was it.

Jinsoo stabbed with his spear. He squeezed out all his strength in his body.

However, the spear was easily deflected by Sungyoon’s shield.

Suh-guhk!

Sungyoon’s sword made a perfect arc. Blood spurted out from Jinsoo’s neck.

“Kuhk!”

When his throat was cut, blood surged up into his mouth. Then the lightning attacked through the wound.

“Ggoo-uhhhhh!”

Blood was flowing back up, and his innards were cooking as smoke appeared from his body. He was letting out some unintelligible m.o.a.n.

Jinsoo looked into Sungyoon's eyes for a brief moment as his life started to wane.

Koohng!

Jinsoo’s body fell to the ground like a log.

“It is over.”

Hyunwoo spoke.

“…why did he become like this?”

Sungyoon recalled the look within Jinsoo’s eyes.

It was the eyes of a man seeing his life for the last time, yet his eyes had been roiling with anger and jealousy.

“He’s a bit like me, but his situation was worse than mine. I was unable to awaken as a 1st Gen when I was young, yet his life was worse than mine. Let’s just leave it at that.”

It seemed this was why Hyunwoo had been patient with Jinsoo.

There was bitter sympathy when Hyunwoo looked at Jinso.

“It is a sad story, but that’s his lot in life. It doesn’t really matter.”

Hyunwoo was right. Jinsoo had betrayed the world. Even if he could feel sympathy towards Jinsoo’s past, he couldn’t forgive his actions.

After staring at Jinsoo’s corpse, he turned to look at Hyunwoo once again.

‘I have to end this.’

Even if Hyunwoo transported his party members safely to a different part of the tower, he was worried about their safety. Moreover, he had to get ready for the Grenoid.

Sungyoon fixed his grip on his sword as he approached Hyunwoo.

“Do you plan to end me right now?”

“I’ll ask this for the last time. Will you agree to return to earth to stand trial?”

“You are saying that again? My feelings on that subject remain the same. I feel no guilt towards earth or humanity. Above all else, I cannot go back to earth. Jinsoo really destroyed my heart. I don’t have much to live.”

Worry appeared on Sungyoon’s face.

“Is this really the time to worry about such a thing? Every second is precious for you. As someone older than you, let me give you a warning. Keep your priorities straight. You have to take my Gems, and quickly come up with a plan to deal with what’s about to come. Ah. For your information, my Gems will only come out if you kill me.”

At his words, Sungyoon’s face hardened with resolve.

He needed Hyunwoo’s Gems. To be precise, he needed Hyunwoo’s storage Gem.

Sungyoon pointed his sword towards Hyunwoo.

“It seems I do not have the time to wait for you to die.”

“Yes. This is how it should be.”

Death was right in front of him, yet Hyunwoo showed no fear. In fact, he looked as if he welcomed it.

“Do you have any last words?”

“No. The only regret I have is the fact that I won’t be able to see the world after a 1st Gen saves it. It can’t be helped.”

“Even if I do save the world, I won’t be doing it alone.”

“However, you will have the biggest role. Only idiots would look down on 1st Gens at that point.”

That was the world that Hyunwoo wanted the most.

“I want to make fun of those that made fun of 1st Gen in the past. However, I’ll leave that to you.”

“I won’t do it.”

“Then it can’t be helped.”

Sungyoon raised his sword.

“This enclosed space will disappear once I die. You’ll be able to rejoin your party members.”

Sungyoon looked down at Hyunwoo.

His twisted monster-like face had a peaceful smile on his lips. It was so peaceful that it almost made one jealous to see it.

“Farewell.”

“Take care.”

After a pleasant exchange, Sungyoon’s sword fell downwards.