Maybe he should have asked more about what was going on before meeting Simon. It felt too strange.
Pal couldn't put his finger on the reason for this.
The old drunk geezer was laying where he usually passed out. Finally looking free of all his worries.
'Did he always sleep deeply?' Pal gradually walked closer. His senses were trying to warn of danger.
However, he couldn't figure out where it came from. What was he missing in this situation?
Was it that Simon was sleeping for an unusual amount of time? The looks given to him recently?
His anxiety only grew.
"Hey, wake up a minute." Pal nudged the sleeping drunkard, and a groggy moan resounded faintly.
For barely a moment, Simon regained his mind.
And with the last of his strength, he yelled:
"DODGE!" Simon's one word activated all the cells tense from fear of danger outside his vision.
Without caring about his looks, Pal kicked off his feet and did a barrel roll directly over his mentor.
Shocking both the geezer and the assailant.
"Eh…?" A voice rang out behind him at the sheer bewildered embarrassment of his dog-like actions.
It was so unseemly.
The fact that he didn't even hesitate to throw himself over the old man he respected as a mentor.
"Pathetic…" The assailant no longer hid her disgust.
When Pal first heard her voice behind him, a part of him wanted to believe that he had been mistaken.
There was no way, right?
But when he turned his head to see who had almost struck him down, he saw a familiar face.
Her pale beauty and coldness was something that couldn't be replicated. It was the real deal.
His nearly illegal wife, Shia.
It quickly registered to him about what she was doing. He hadn't expected things to be like this.
But he didn't despair.
There was no sense of betrayal in his eyes.
After all, only those who were close could betray each other. Acquaintances didn't have that option.
"Did your memories return and turn you evil?" Pal spoke with a judging look in his eyes against her.
Seemingly feeling injustice against this.
"You trash…!" Shia didn't hide her resentment at his shamelessness any longer. It was too much.
"You called ME evil?" (Shia)
"Aren't you biting the hand that fed you?" (Pal)
"You say it like you 'fed me' out of the goodness of your heart." Shia immediately retorted his words.
There was a mocking tone in her voice. Knowing that he wasn't someone who cared about others.
Not even after all this time did he really care. Her betrayal was more of an inconvenience to him.
His distant heart was never grasped by her.
"Even if it wasn't goodwill, I treated you kindly." Pal didn't want to lose this argument against her.
After all, his actions indeed helped her.
"So you're saying the ends justify the means?" Shia asked as if his words only sealed his fate further.
A sword was held over the unconscious Simon.
The smile she wore gave others goosebumps.
Although Pal hadn't been too close to her over the years, he at least believed he knew her personality.
So why the sudden shift?
"Pal Weldone, do you know why I attacked you?" It was a question the man knew he'd hate to answer.
"Vaguely…" Wasn't it simply to get rid of him?
Maybe he'd caused her to suffer somehow. Maybe that's why she hated him to the point of death.
"You don't. There's no way someone as selfish and cowardly as you would know. I will defeat you, then use you as a sacrifice to save the world." Pal's eyes shook when he heard such a bold statement.
"…You don't know what you're fighting." (Pal)
"Then try enlightening me." (Shia)
"A disaster with endless magic power. Physical strength enough to crack mountains and cause tsunamis with just a wave. A gap that was designed to be unbridgeable." Pal spoke his thoughts.
As they were both aware of his secret, his words held more weight than anything she experienced.
"You know… because you're the real author." (Shia)
"Or prophet inspired by THIS reality. The 'real' author could be the one sending a prophesy." (Pal)
"It doesn't matter now, right?" (Shia)
"Probably not." Pal had to acknowledge that his words meant nothing to someone like her.
She didn't fight via logic.
He could tell from the look in her eyes that she was a warrior hardened by reality. One who lived here.
"Can we talk this out?" Pal became more curious.
He wanted to know exactly why she had changed so much. Why did it matter to her so much?
Rather than interrupting him, Shia thought for a moment before sheathing her blade peacefully.
Showing no desire for violence.
"Let's keep this brief. Out of respect for you, this much is my limit." Shia put her aggression down.
The opportunity was well-used.
"How are you planning to save the world?" (Pal)
"Skip." (Shia)
"Can't we work together?" (Pal)
"We can't do that." (Shia)
"Why?" (Pal)
"Because you don't love this world enough. You see everyone as pawns." She really hit him deep.
"You're planning on using me as a sacrifice to summon a Demon, aren't you? You'd rather ask literal embodiments of evil for help before asking me? How did I offend you?" Pal couldn't figure it out. He didn't remember anything bad he did.
"Didn't you want to abandon this world?" Shia gritted her teeth and twisted her face maliciously.
Even so, it merely made her an angry Yuki Onna.
Anger only made her look like an Angel… of Death.
"What's wrong with going abroad? Honestly, this world is hopeless. Even if you do nothing, the world will be saved without you. Why go so far?" Both his brother and her insistence was a mystery to him.
Why go so far?
If a bomb was going to blow up, then get out of the way. Why learn bomb disposal and jump right in?
Stupidity… That's what he thought of their effort.
There was no other way to describe this madness.
"You deserve to go to Hell exactly because you don't understand. Do you even know who you picked off the streets?" Shia gestured towards Simon, and Pal couldn't understand her question.
"A guy to mentor me. A friend." He spoke up to her.
"He is the Calamity Crusher. Dear 'Author', have you no idea about the most important character of this novel of yours?" Shia's face twisted unkindly as if to laugh at him for believing his own nonsense.
It was a face he couldn't stop being annoyed by.
'Calamity Crusher'… He remembered a side-character like that who was stuffed into the lore.
No one important despite being so crucial.
"Shut up." He started to get angry.
"Did you say the ends justify the means? I want to see a happy ending with the least amount of casualties possible. For that, I'm more than willing to 'sacrifice' you. Our talk is over." Shia growled.
With the end of all means of sorting this out peacefully, she drew the sword close to her soul.
A blade tempered by her countless lifetimes.
It was the only thing that followed her in life.
Perhaps it'd been too long since she was able to display her powers at their highest potential.
However, as a fellow disciple and direct student of the Calamity Crusher, she wouldn't lose here.
'Ice Style— Snowflake Steps.' The atmosphere around her shifted as icicles froze the ground.
With his high Agility stat, Pal was able to see her slide across the ground in order to approach him.
Her body also covered completely in frost.
'Amalgamation Style— Slippery Steps.' Pal copied her movement technique to escape her grasp.
Although it wasn't the same, this imitation wasn't simply to get away. It was a low-key way to mock.
'Can I win this?' Pal's heart was freezing.
He didn't know if anything he did would have an effect on her. It wasn't like he didn't try before.
When he tried to peek into her stats, all he saw was nothing. No error message or anything of the sort.
As if the System couldn't properly measure her.
Regardless, his style was different from hers. He had the advantage in quality and unpredictability.
After taunting her with footwork, his 'wife' came closer just as he'd expected. Looking pissed.
One thing he noticed was… that she didn't unsheathe her sword to deal with him at all.
Was she looking down on him right now?
It looked like a contest of Style versus Style.
A modern mixed martial artist versus someone who came from a society that hid their combat secrets.
It was a question of who was more advanced.
'Cursed Strike.' Like a wicked predator, Pal's first move was like a snake bite that dismantled foes.
His hand directly struck Shia's.
In the face of the stakes rising so much, Pal had let go of his sentiments and was now out for blood.
His atmosphere changed drastically.
There was a redness in his eyes while following up with a barrage of attacks with both hand and foot.
But no matter how hard to tried to poison her, the power wouldn't permeate through her icy defence.
Because you couldn't poison ice to death.
'Fire Strike.' Rather than relying on strength, Pal used the incompatibility between two elements.
Fire could melt Ice. That was only obvious.
Pal stuck with 'Strikes' for now. He made sure to whittle down her defences. Just enough to grasp-
'Dark Grapple.' His hand moved like a ghost to grasp her the moment her defences were down.
It was only natural this act was so easy.
Though Xianxia and Wuxia described eastern martial arts fancifully, it didn't work in reality.
Many 'masters' were taken down with MMA.
In terms of finesse, Pal was a step higher than her.
Shia didn't seem to mind being grappled, which struck Pal with a sense of dread immediately.
'Dark Throw. Death Hold.' Pal immediately flipped her over and tried dealing with her using his 'core'.
Pal couldn't let her get more serious.
The arrogance she showed was an opportunity to destroy her. After all, he had a trump card.
The skill of 'Death Hold' became a neck choke that numbed the body by devitalising the target.
It was a simple yet brutal technique.
Even the strongest of people couldn't beat having no oxygen. Pressuring the neck was a wise choice.
…But he had forgotten something.
This wasn't an MMA fight.
Pal suddenly found himself being frozen by her Internal Energy. Ice Qi spilled out to protect her.
A cocoon of ice grew along his arms….