Chapter 1259 |
‘Oh? Look at this bastard.’
Siegfried was a bit surprised to see that Lee Geon had chosen to activate Devouring Grand Art barehanded instead of retreating.
With his weakness exposed, Lee Geon ought to have avoided this fight. The wise decision was to retreat and come up with a new strategy.
The battle had already shifted heavily in Siegfried’s favor, after all.
Now that Lee Geon was using Devouring Grand Art without protection, all Siegfried had to do was turn this battle into a battle of attrition.
He just had to maintain a defensive stance and defend until Lee Geon self-destructed from the side effects of his Devouring Grand Art. By then, Siegfried would emerge victorious without even having to go on the offensive.
And yet, Lee Geon did not retreat?
The fact that someone as talented and cunning as him had chosen not to retreat was nothing short of bizarre.
However, it was a testament to just how confident he was in his abilities.
It was truly a reckless decision, but it was a reckless decision that only someone talented like Lee Geon could make.
‘Fine then. Let’s fight until one of us dies,’ Siegfried thought, resolved to prove that he was by no means an easy opponent. Then, he clutched his +10 Sky Piercer and said, “Bring it on, punk.”
With those words, Siegfried unleashed Invincible Spear Art at Lee Geon.
The two titans clashed in melee combat.
“W-What in the…!”
“K-Kyuuu! Owner punk is amazing!”
From a distance, Plague and Hamchi watched the intense battle unfold before their eyes with their mouths agape.
Every clash between Siegfried and Lee Geon was the stuff of legends. Each time Siegfried’s +10 Sky Piercer collided with Lee Geon’s fists, shockwaves would explode outward, overturning the earth and reducing the surrounding rocks to rubble.
To make matters even more amazing, even the Cursed Statues guarding the ruins were obliterated by the mere shockwaves before they could get anywhere near the two.
The ancient structures collapsed, shattered by the sheer force of their exchanges. Siegfried and Lee Geon’s battle was that destructive. It was so violent that it obliterated everything around them.
‘Argh!’ Siegfried groaned, feeling himself gradually being pushed back. This was only natural, as Lee Geon’s raw power was simply too overwhelming. After all, he was using Devouring Grand Art directly without a medium.
‘D-Damn it!’
Even though Siegfried knew that all he had to do was hold on, he was reaching his limits just trying to endure.
On top of that, Lee Geon was greedily absorbing Siegfried’s HP, Stamina, and Primordial Force. The energies he absorbed using Devouring Grand Art were channeled straight into his body, empowering him
Wooong!
Out of desperation, Siegfried used the Wave of Truth to strip the buffs empowering Lee Geon—but it was useless.
The buffs empowering Lee Geon were not buffs, but rather, the energy he siphoned from Siegfried.
There was nothing for the Wave of Truth to nullify.
‘Argh!’
Siegfried could barely keep up now. Using his other skills was not an option, as that would only make Lee Geon stronger. If he were to use his skills, the Devouring Grand Art would absorb the energy and boost Lee Geon.
In the end, Siegfried had no choice but to rely on Invincible Spear Art and stall for time until Lee Geon hit his limit.
The longer the fight dragged on, the greater the burden on Lee Geon.
This legendary battle between the two had turned into a battle of spear and shield—Lee Geon being the spear and Siegfried as the shield.
‘Focus. Don’t lose focus.’
Siegfried exerted every ounce of concentration to block Lee Geon’s attacks one after another. With the help of the automatic defense function of the Invincible Spear Art, he held on for dear life while stalling for time.
“This pesky little rat.”
Lee Geon’s hand shot forward like a snake and seized Siegfried by the back of his neck.
“...!”
He bypassed the automatic defense system of the Invincible Spear Art using his godlike reflexes. His talent could only be described as "demonic." As the world’s most gifted gamer, he managed to find a gap and break through an artificial intelligence's defense.
Lee Geon’s move was quite similar to how the legendary Korean Go player, Lee Sedol, had once defeated Google’s DeepMind artificial intelligence, AlphaGo[1].
“Die,” Lee Geon said icily, slamming Siegfried headfirst into the ground. This was not a simple slam. It was a slam that carried enough force to drive Siegfried straight into the earth itself.
Now that he had finally landed a clean hit, Lee Geon intended to seize the momentum and finish off his opponent.
However, Siegfried had no intention of just taking it.
‘Now!’
Even in that split second, he found an opening.
When Lee Geon raised him and slammed him into the ground, Siegfried prepared to unleash the Seven Steps to Invincibility skill. It was a classic case of the strategy, giving up one’s bone to take the enemy’s life.
He would take the hit and exploit the split-second opening to unleash seven consecutive attacks, triggering his ultimate skill, but…
Rumble!
With a thunderous sound, the ground itself gave way.
The ground beneath them was weak, and both Siegfried and Lee Geon plunged straight down.
***
As Siegfried and Lee Geon plummeted straight down, tens of thousands of tons of rock cascaded down on top of them. They were forced to pause their legendary bout, as the aftershocks of the collapsing ground would take time to settle before either of them could attack.
“Ugh…”
Siegfried groaned and shoved aside a massive boulder pinning him. Then, he slowly rose to his feet and looked around.
“Where am I…?”
He looked around and saw a vast underground city before him.
[Ruins of Fanaticism]
A notification informing him of his current location popped up in front of his eyes.
Apparently, the place where they had fought was directly above this ancient subterranean city.
‘No, this is not what’s important right now,’ Siegfried thought.
He used Flying Sword to summon his +10 Sky Piercer back to his hand.
Ancient ruins or not, his main priority was to continue the duel against Lee Geon.
Meanwhile…
Lee Geon shoved the boulders off of him and stood up.
“Fuck this shit. That damned vermin sure is disgustingly lucky,” he grumbled.
Had the ground not collapsed, Lee Geon would have seized the momentum and pressed the attack. Unfortunately, the ground caved in at that exact moment, making him lose the momentum he had finally seized.
He couldn't help but snarl about Siegfried being a disgustingly lucky vermin.
However, it was the opposite from Siegfried’s perspective.
“Luck? You were the lucky bastard,” Siegfried retorted with a smirk.
He had deliberately taken a clean hit to bait Lee Geon, intending to use the split-second opening to counter with Seven Steps to Invincibility, but the sudden collapse of the ground had ruined his plan.
In the end, both of them had their plans ruined, both unable to land the finishing blow.
Of course, it was hard to say who was the lucky one, as the outcome of that clash would have been unpredictable either way.
“Enough nonsense. Let’s finish this,” Siegfried said, pointing his spear forward.
“You should know that luck runs out eventually,” Lee Geon sneered.
Lee Geon made the first move, as he lunged at Siegfried at the speed of light.
Bam!
Thus, their clash resumed after moving to their new stage, the Ruins of Fanaticism.
Even though their stage had changed, the result was still the same.
Lee Geon drove Siegfried back, but this time, it was even more one-sided.
Wooong!
The Devouring Grand Art was pushed to its limits, turning Lee Geon into a human black hole.
“Aaaargh!” Siegfried screamed in agony as the skill sucked away at his energy.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Lee Geon’s combat power soared to monstrous heights, and his fists hammered Siegfried again and again.
“Argh!”
"Pathetic!”
“Ghhrk!”
“Worm!”
“Kuheok!”
“Do you really think!”
“Arghhhh!”
“That you can win by just holding out?!”
Lee Geon pounded Siegfried like a sandbag, proving his overwhelming might.
With Siegfried unable to use any skills, the disadvantage was staggering. Even with the automatic defense system of the Invincible Spear Art, he was still being cornered.
‘Damn it… He’s lasting longer than I thought,’ Siegfried realized that there was a flaw to his strategy.
Lee Geon was maintaining the Devouring Grand Art with surprising stability even though he was not using a medium. It looked as if he could endure the skill for more than thirty minutes without suffering any backlash, and the fact that he was displaying overwhelming combat power without faltering was proof of it.
“Did you really think you could win just by stalling? What an idiot,” Lee Geon sneered.
Bam!
Then, he struck Siegfried squarely in the jaw with an uppercut.
“Guhk!”
Blood spurted from Siegfried’s mouth.
“Did you really think knowing my weakness changes anything? You’re just an insect.”
“Argh!”
“A vermin.”
“Kuheok!”
“A worthless piece of trash.”
“Graaah!”
Siegfried was hit with a combo that sent him flying back.
The Devouring Grand Art had exponentially buffed Lee Geon’s stats.
Meanwhile, Siegfried was still unable to use any of his skills.
The fact that he had survived this long with nothing but basic attacks was impressive in itself—but that was nowhere enough to defeat Lee Geon.
“You can’t beat me. The gap between us is too big.”
“...”
“Do you get it now? Know your place, vermin.”
Flash!
A blinding white light erupted from Siegfried, and a burst of freezing energy engulfed Lee Geon.
Siegfried had unleashed Absolute Zero.
***
Siegfried used Absolute Zero as a means to buy time, and it managed to buy him a second or two at the most—nothing more than that.
Wooong!
Lee Geon absorbed the skill with Devouring Grand Art.
“Keke! What was that, Han Tae-Sung? Are you throwing a last-ditch effort? You already know that your skills won’t work on me, yet you still decided to cast them. Ah, are you perhaps hoping that I’d let you hit me just so you don’t feel bad about getting your ass handed to you?” Lee Geon chuckled and sneered.
“As if,” Siegfried growled in response.
Then, he unleashed Green Hell Magno this time.
Sssseuu…!
A thick green radioactive fog seeped out from him.
“Pfft! I guess you’re throwing a tantrum now,” Lee Geon mocked.
Just like Absolute Zero, the Green Hell Magno was absorbed straight into Lee Geon’s body.
The more energy the Devouring Grand Art absorbed, the stronger Lee Geon became.
Yet Siegfried did not stop casting his skills.
Fwoooosh!
Shwaaa!
He unleashed Karma Flare and Embrace of Despair.
And that was only the beginning…
He unleashed nearly every skill in his arsenal, bombarding Lee Geon with a barrage of skills.
“Tsk…” Lee Geon clicked his tongue in annoyance.
The Devouring Grand Art absorbed every single one of the skills Siegfried hurled at him, turning them into fuel that further empowered Lee Geon.
No matter what skill Siegfried cast, not a single skill managed to affect Lee Geon.
All of it was fully absorbed by the Devouring Grand Art.
“Pathetic vermin. So you’re really desperate, huh?” Lee Geon sneered.
As he devoured every single one of the skills Siegfried unleashed, he could feel himself grow stronger.
He had grown so strong that a mere punch dealt devastating damage to Siegfried.
“Aaargh!”
Siegfried looked like a self-destructing fool. Even though he knew that Lee Geon grew stronger whenever the Devouring Grand Art absorbed skills, he still stubbornly chose to unleash every skill in his arsenal.
Thus, he ended up paying the price by hastening his demise.
Lee Geon seized Siegfried by the neck and flashed a vicious, twisted grin.
“If you’d only known your place earlier and groveled at my feet. Then I might have considered letting you—”
Badump!
“...!”
Lee Geon suddenly froze.
And it was not because Siegfried had landed seven blows that triggered the Seven Steps to Invincibility skill.
Badump! Badump! Badump!
Lee Geon’s heart thumped violently against his chest.
Badump! Badump!
His blood vessels swelled, as if ready to burst at any moment.
Every muscle within him screamed.
‘Hehe…!’
The corner of Siegfried’s lips curled upward.
1. A Go match was played between Lee Sedol and AlphaGo. Lee Sedol made a move that defied logic so much that AlphaGo had an error. It was widely regarded as one of the first instances of artificial intelligence making its way into human-dominated fields/games. More info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AlphaGo_versus_Lee_Sedol ☜