Not A Regressor-Chapter 53: Going Beyond (3)

The ground beneath Kwon Oh-Jin's feet ruptured as he shot forward like a bullet, propelled by fierce momentum.

Boom!

“Krrk? What? Trick? Time?”

Choi Jong-Cheol grimaced, raising his terrifyingly sharp-edged arm and swinging it at Kwon Oh-Jin.

Kwon Oh-Jin angled his spear and deflected the arm away.

Clang!

It would have been a nearly impossible move to pull off before, but the Exceed skill helped make it easy.

“You’re the one using nasty tricks," he uttered. "Die, you son of a bitch.”

He dropped low and closed in on Choi Jong-Cheol, stretching his right hand toward the half-monster's chest.

“Explosive Lightning.”

Crackle!

A colossal bolt of lightning, unlike anything before, crashed down on Choi Jong-Cheol.

“Kraaaa!”

Choi Jong-Cheol let out an agonizing scream as he was thrown back. His tough skin was now scorched black.

Kwon Oh-Jin couldn’t help but be shocked.

“Wow.”

He felt stronger than when he had received Vega's blessing.

This is insane... but I probably can’t keep this up for long.

He winced as the pain intensified. He could endure it as much as needed, but he knew the consequences of using Exceed wouldn’t stop there.

“Let’s wrap this up quickly!” Kwon Oh-Jin shouted, grinning wide, baring all his teeth.

“Nonsense...!” Choi Jong-Cheol yelled in desperation.

“Whether it’s nonsense or not, you’ll see for yourself.”

Kwon Oh-Jin's spear blurred, moving faster than the eye could follow. Blue lightning rained down relentlessly on Choi Jong-Cheol, leaving him no room to breathe.

Crack! Crash! Crackle!

“Krahh! Kheee!”

'Overkill' wasn't enough to describe the onslaught.

In terms of pure skill, Kwon Oh-Jin had always been leagues ahead of Choi Jong-Cheol. Now that he had closed the gap in strength and speed, the fight had become completely one-sided.

Meanwhile, Park Chang-Hyun had finished off all the former Awakeners who had transformed into demonic beasts.

“All the monsters have been taken care of, Oh-Jin!” he yelled.

Choi Jong-Cheol's eyes snapped toward the tank.

“DON'T! INTERFERE!” Choi Jong-Cheol screamed, charging straight toward him.

“Bastard!” Park Chang-Hyun exclaimed, raising his shield just in time to block Choi Jong-Cheol’s frenzied attacks.

Boom!

“Argh!”

The explosive impact sent Park Chang-Hyun’s arm reeling back.

As Kwon Oh-Jin rushed past, he called out, “Don’t block him head-on, just keep him distracted.”

“Oh, right. Got it!” Park Chang-Hyun nodded. His expression hardened as he glanced at his numb arm.

He was a six-star Awakener of Taurus and rarely lost to anyone in strength. Yet, he had been overpowered by that demonic beast.

Oh-Jin has been overpowering that crazy beast all by himself...?

His mouth hung open as he watched Kwon Oh-Jin beat down Choi Jong-Cheol as if he were dealing with a three-star monster at most.

What's... going on?

Park Chang-Hyun trembled slightly. That demonic beast was at least a seven-star monster, yet a four-star Awakener was facing it alone.

Not even the Seven Stars were that strong.

The Seven Stars were recognized as the world’s seven most powerful Awakeners, with legendary feats no other Awakeners could even think of—yet even they couldn't have pulled off something this insane.

Oh-Jin... just who on earth are you?

Frankly, Kwon Oh-Jin seemed more of a monster than the demonic beast Choi Jong-Cheol had turned into.

“Krrrr!” Choi Jong-Cheol's screech echoed through the battlefield.

“Haa, this isn’t the time to be thinking about this,” Park Chang-Hyun said. He had to distract the demonic beast and help Kwon Oh-Jin. Raising his hammer, he charged at Choi Jong-Cheol with a loud battle cry.

“Aaaahhhh!”

“Khyaaaa!” Choi Jong-Cheol twisted in a fit and wildly thrashed his arms around. The black energy surrounding him exploded outward.

“Don’t! INTERFERE!”

Choi Jong-Cheol’s bloodshot eyes locked onto Kwon Oh-Jin.

“That? Bastard? I? Must? Must!”

He screamed unintelligibly as he charged.

Kwon Oh-Jin frowned.

“Ugh, the way that fucking freak is talking is getting on my nerves,” he mumbled, easily dodging Choi Jong-Cheol's attacks.

I don’t have much time left.

He had to finish this with one decisive blow before Exceed tore his body apart. But to do that...

“How long is it going to take, Ha-Eun?”

Kwon Oh-Jin glanced over at the dark haze rising from the city center. As long as that haze empowered Choi Jong-Cheol, killing him in one blow would be impossible.

Suddenly, a massive Fire Dragon rose from the city center, waves of intense heat radiating all the way to where Kwon Oh-Jin stood.

Whoosh!

“Haha! Speak of the devil,” Kwon Oh-Jin remarked.

Choi Jong-Cheol turned his head, wide-eyed.

“Krr? Why... Why?”

His link to the power of the Black Star, which had been fueling his own strength, was abruptly severed.

“N-No? No! No!!”

Choi Jong-Cheol stumbled backward, trembling, as the dark energy around him began to fade.

Kwon Oh-Kin smirked, gripping his spear tightly, and said, “Well then... let’s end this.”

It was time to bring a close to this exhausting battle.

Kwon Oh-Jin raised his left arm and aimed the wire shooter at Choi Jong-Cheol.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three wires wrapped around him, and Kwon Oh-Jin infused the mana of his Stigma into the wire shooter.

Shhhh!

With a fierce metallic sound, the wires retracted. However, Choi Jong-Cheol still hadn’t become weak enough to be dragged by them.

If that’s the case, I’ll go to him instead.

Kwon Oh-Jin sprinted forward, letting the wires propel him toward Choi Jong-Cheol, who started panicking.

“D-Don’t? Come! Any closer!”

Choi Jong-Cheol formed wings on his back and tried to take off.

“It’s no use,” Kwon Oh-Jin said. Gripping his silver spear crackling with fierce blue lightning, he continued, “This is the end of the line for you, motherfucker.”

He thrust the spear into Choi Jong-Cheol’s large maw.

“Kraaaaak?!”

Crackle!

Blue lightning surged through the spear, tearing into Choi Jong-Cheol from within. He swelled up like a balloon, then burst apart in a violent explosion of flesh and gore.

Boom!

[Exceed has been deactivated.]

[Exceed has reached Lv2.]

[Thunderbolt has reached Lv6.]

“Fuck.”

Drenched in splattered blood, Kwon Oh-Jin frowned.

Hurts like hell.

Was it the side effects of entering a state of overload? He felt an agonizing pain as if needles were poking at his blood vessels.

Still, I should at least collect my reward.

He had leveled up Thunderbolt and unlocked a new skill, Exceed, but those weren't why he had targeted Choi Jong-Cheol in the first place.

Can I still absorb it even if he’s been ripped to shreds? It's worth a try.

Kwon Oh-Jin activated the Black Heaven discreetly, careful not to alert any Awakeners nearby.

Dark clouds spread from him like a net, enveloping the scattered blood and flesh.

Rumble.

Lying on the ground, Kwon Oh-Jin absorbed Choi Jong-Cheol’s Stigma from his scattered remains. The Stigma on Kwon Oh-Jin's chest glowed as he felt power flowing into him through the dark clouds.

Woong!

Ring!

[The Black Heaven is absorbing the power of the Black Star residing in the Astral Relic!]

“Huh?”

Kwon Oh-Jin’s eyes widened at the unexpected message.

Not the Stigma but the Astral Relic?

He seemed to have absorbed the power in the black orb inside Choi Jong-Cheol.

[Kwon Oh-Jin has successfully absorbed the power of the Astral Relic!]

[The Black Heaven has acquired the Astral Relic's Transformation trait!]

... The fuck is that?

Kwon Oh-Jin opened the description window.

[Transformation: The ability to freely alter the shape of the user's body using mana.]

“Oh, damn. This is great.”

Being able to freely change his form opened up countless possibilities.

Is that how Choi Jong-Cheol kept transforming parts of himself into things like scythes and awls?

The Stigma of Aquarius certainly didn’t have the power to transform one’s physique.

But is that all? He had the power to transform people into demonic beasts and control them too, didn’t he? Looks like I only absorbed a portion of the Astral Relic’s power.

Nonetheless, it was still incredible. Other Awakeners would be dumbfounded if they found out about it.

“What about the Stigma, though?”

Kwon Oh-Jin scowled. The power of the Astral Relic wasn't what he had truly wanted. Just as he peered down at the dark clouds in disappointment—

[The Black Heaven is absorbing the Stigma of Aquarius!]

HELL YEAH!

A bright smile spread across Kwon Oh-Jin’s face. The Stigma of Aquarius, renowned as the best healer-type Stigma, was something he'd coveted ever since awakening Black Heaven. And now, it was finally his.

“Let’s give it a try.”

Considering he was falling apart at the seams, this was the perfect time to test it. He placed his right hand over his chest and activated the Stigma of Aquarius.

Woong!

A soft blue glow, shaped like a droplet, formed in the air, before sinking into him. The searing pain dulled slightly as if he had used a mid-grade potion.

It’s not that effective yet. But with enough training, it’ll become much more useful.

There wasn’t even a need to train the Stigma directly since he had the Black Heaven’s Eternal Convergence, which would automatically carry over progress from training the Stigma of Lyra.

“Hmm?”

As he continued healing himself, he noticed something odd.

Woong! Crackle!

The blue droplet seeping into him began to merge with streaks of blue lightning.

What’s going on?

[A meaningful synergy has been detected between the designated primary Stigma and the currently active Stigma.]

[The Stigma of Lyra and the Stigma of Aquarius are resonating!]

[Kwon Oh-Jin has acquired the composite skill Water Affinity Lv MAX!]

“Huh?”

He had merely activated the Stigma of Aquarius, but a composite skill had formed.

What the hell?

He quickly opened the description window, bewildered.

[Aqua Affinity Lv MAX: A skill formed through the merging of Lyra’s lightning energy and Aquarius’s Water energy. Allows wounds to heal by absorbing water.]

“This is insane.”

Kwon Oh-Jin’s jaw dropped. If this skill really let him recover from injuries just by absorbing water, then it was borderline overpowered.

Can this work on others, too?

Excited, he read the rest of the description.

[Water Affinity can only be applied to the user, Kwon Oh-Jin.]

“Ah,” he sighed, disappointed. If only he could extend this skill to others, it would solve so many problems in one go.

He clicked his tongue and closed the system window.

It's fine.

After all, he now had the Stigma of Aquarius. He just had to train it further.

He clenched his fists tightly, then heard a familiar voice from the distance.

“Oh-Jiiiin!”

Stomp! Stomp! Stomp!

Seeing Kwon Oh-Jin lying on the ground, Song Ha-Eun ran toward him, her red hair fluttering behind her. “Aaack! My Oh-Jin’s a mess!”

“I’m actually fine, you know,” he called out. Though he was far from fine, it was easier to pretend for now.

“Your face! Who smashed up my poor Oh-Jin’s face like this?”

“Huh? But my face wasn’t hurt.”

“Oh. Did you always look like that?”

“You bitch.”

What about my face, huh?

Song Ha-Eun laughed out loud. “Hahaha! I’m just teasing!”

She gently brushed his hair off his face with a smile.

“... Thank god you’re safe. Seriously... you’re always acting up. Do you have any idea how worried I was?” she muttered softly.

Her hand that was stroking his hair was trembling slightly.

“... Ha-Eun,” Kwon Oh-Jin muttered.

“Yeah?”

“I’m gonna touch your leg for a sec.”

“What?”

With a grunt, Kwon Oh-Jin sat up and placed his hand on her right leg.

“Hey! Kwon Oh-Jin! W-What are you doing?!”

Her high-quality prosthetic felt almost as soft as her real leg...

But it’s still just a prosthetic.

His gaze sharpened.

Isn’t it said that high-level Awakeners of Aquarius could regenerate damaged organs or body parts?

He chuckled and took his hand off her leg. He could think about the Stigma of Aquarius later; there was something more important now.

He looked up at Song Ha-Eun, who was scrambling around in a daze, and muttered, “Ha-Eun.”

“Y-Yeah?”

“I’m so fucking tired, I feel like I’m gonna die.”

Maybe it was the relief of seeing her, but a crushing wave of exhaustion hit him all at once.

I’m not even kidding. I don’t think I can last another second.

“I’m going to sleep,” he said.

“What? Here? You’re just going to fall asleep here?”

“Carry me to the car, will you?” Saying that, he collapsed onto the ground.

“Hey! Kwon Oh-Jin, you jerk!”

Her voice grew distant as he slipped into a deep slumber.

“And why the hell did you touch my leg out of nowhere?!”

That’s a secret.