Chapter 51
The abilities that could create such significant synergistic effects caused the already high difficulty of conquering to skyrocket.
'Eliorius can no longer be considered an A+ class boss monster.'
It would be no exaggeration to call it an S-class boss monster.
Song Seung-joon's face contorts.
'If it comes to this...'
With his current sense, it would be challenging to even perceive Eliorius's movements.
It meant he would not be able to gain contribution points from the boss monster, Eliorius.
He could no longer aim for first place as he had initially targeted.
'What should I do?'
He's not feeling anxious.
He's just contemplating.
'If I use the power that could be called my full strength, I could certainly secure first place.'
However, he must not make the foolish mistake of being blinded by immediate results and competitiveness.
'...I must endure, remember the master's advice.'
To become a true master, a true strong one, one must keep half of their power hidden.
'Only then... can one survive in the hunter's world where you never know what dangers may come.'
Coincidentally, the conditions have also been clearly provided.
Clang-! Clang!
Despite Eliorius maintaining invisibility, Lee Sung-jun was clearly blocking the attacks and launching counterattacks.
Though it might be somewhat difficult, the possibility of conquering seemed sufficient.
Even if Lee Sung-jun failed to conquer, it didn't matter.
'Then I can step in to conquer directly.'
From Song Seung-joon's perspective, there was nothing particularly to lose.
Rather, this was a precious opportunity like no other.
"Duck your heads!"
Kwagwang-!
Though fierce, Kim Hye-young and Jung Yun-ho, who were facing the dark elf horde, were also clearly gaining the upper hand.
There was no need to pay attention elsewhere.
It meant he could clearly see Lee Sung-jun's power, a curiosity that had been building up until now.
'I'll observe your true skills thoroughly, Lee Sung-jun.'
Having made a firm decision about his own course of action, Song Seung-joon watched Lee Sung-jun's battle with narrowed eyes.
* * *
Lee Sung-jun's eyes were filled with interest.
The reason was simple.
Eliorius's strength was exceeding expectations.
In the raid gate that seemed like it would just be boring, he had met an opponent with fairly good skills.
Clang-! Clang-!
In reality, amid the continuous exchange of attacks, minor cuts were increasing on Lee Sung-jun's body due to Eliorius's daggers flying in without pause.
A proper battle experienced after a long time.
As a martial artist who revered martial arts before being a Blood Demon or Demon God, it was quite an enjoyable thing.
In fact, a smile forms on Lee Sung-jun's lips.
'This is fun.'
With just stealthy yet swift movements and dazzling dagger techniques that deceived the eyes, Eliorius was a strong one worthy of being called a master.
Yet Eliorius also possessed the unique ability to erase his presence.
If he had to face Eliorius with just his sense alone, he wouldn't have been able to show such composure.
In other words, Lee Sung-jun wasn't just tracking Eliorius's movements with his sense alone.
'Cloud Distant Blood Trace.'
A martial art of the Blood Sect that could track the location of targets stained with blood, blood energy.
Given that blood was stained not only on the daggers but also on the armor worn through the continuous exchange of attacks, no matter how much invisibility was used to erase presence, it was impossible to escape the tracking of the Cloud Distant Blood Trace.
Thanks to this ability of the Cloud Distant Blood Trace, Lee Sung-jun could easily read and counter Eliorius's attacks, who had erased his presence using invisibility.
"You seem quite perplexed."
Although there was no reply, the cessation of Eliorius's movements, who had been continuously launching attacks, was answer enough.
"..."
In reality, Eliorius's brows were furrowed while maintaining invisibility.
It couldn't be helped, as despite using invisibility to erase his presence, the human before him had not missed a single one of his movements.
It would be a lie to say he wasn't surprised.
But that doesn't mean the outcome of the battle will change.
Although invisibility had become useless, his physical body was still intact. Eliorius narrowed his eyes and violently swung the two daggers in his hands.
Kwagwang!
A thunderous sound that couldn't be described as merely swinging daggers erupted, creating a small crater in the ground. However, Lee Sung-jun, who immediately stepped with the Wind Thunder Step, suffered no damage.
Instead, the Golden Dragon Striking Technique that unfolded in an instant was covering the field of view. The fierce dragon's front paws were tearing through the black energy surrounding the entire body, closing the distance.
However, there was not the slightest tremor in Eliorius's eyes.
Eliorius, who had been watching Lee Sung-jun's movements that reached close proximity in an instant, quickly crossed the daggers in both hands in an X-shape to block the incoming fist.
Bang-!
With the erupting sound, Eliorius's body was flung back as if hit by a truck.
Although he hadn't completely seized the upper hand, he had clearly demonstrated superiority in strength in the brief exchange.
Nevertheless, Eliorius's momentum didn't diminish at all.
Naturally, a curved line forms on Lee Sung-jun's lips.
"Looks like you still have more to show."
"..."
Instead of answering, Eliorius, who had a sardonic smile on his lips, draws out the power within his body.
The confidence he had just shown was not unfounded bravado.
From the beginning, Eliorius hadn't secured the position of boss monster with just the invisibility ability alone.
As a martial artist, he had physical abilities comparable to those of supreme masters, and could skillfully handle the power of qi, which could be called internal energy.
This meant that he could use qi to overlay his daggers with sword energy or enhance his body beyond its limits.
Hwoong-!
Indeed, Eliorius's movements as he kicked off the ground and approached were incomparably faster than before.
However, Eliorius wasn't the only one who had been hiding his strength.
Ding-!
[Strength, Agility, and Stamina Enhancement are used on user 'Lee Sung-jun'.]
[Earth's Blessing and Wind's Protection are used on user 'Lee Sung-jun'.]
[Agility status increases by 22.]
[Strength and Stamina status increase by 15 each, and physical durability greatly increases.]
The moment Lee Sung-jun's fist, having brought out his hidden powers, and Eliorius's daggers collide.
Kwagwagwang-!!
The building shakes greatly, and cracks spread like a spider web on the marble floor.
At the center, the moment their gazes meet in mid-air, Eliorius's figure instantly vanishes from sight.
Pababababak-!
Eliorius's swift movements create afterimages that look exactly like himself. Thanks to continuously using the Cloud Distant Blood Trace, he could tell.
There were no feints among the pouring attacks.
'All real attacks.'
Despite attacks pouring in from different directions, Lee Sung-jun doesn't retreat.
Rather, he extends his fist as if he had been waiting for this.
'Thousand Transforming Blood Martial, Blood Martial Second Change, Exploding Blood.'
Woowoong-!
The red energy, blood energy, wrapped around his fist emits a resonating sound.
Finally, at the moment Eliorius's figure reaches close proximity!
The wrapped blood energy causes successive explosions.
Kwagwang-!
He was certainly caught in the explosion. Normally, it would have been a force that could tear off flesh, if not shatter the body, but Eliorius only staggered for a moment.
At the moment of explosion, he had surrounded his entire body with energy to reduce the impact.
But this was already anticipated. Lee Sung-jun had already closed the distance with Eliorius.
He twists his waist and attempts to strike Eliorius's face with his clenched fist.
However, Eliorius quickly raises his daggers to block Lee Sung-jun's fist.
Chaeng-!
In the ensuing tense struggle of power, there was no one who could be called the victor.
Due to the aftermath of the clashing forces, both of their figures are pushed back.
But even in this situation, their exchange of attacks continues uninterrupted.
At the moment of being pushed back, Eliorius throws the dagger he was holding towards Lee Sung-jun's head.
But Lee Sung-jun wouldn't simply allow the attack. He immediately raises his left arm to block the incoming dagger.
Simultaneously, he flicks the fingers of his opposite right hand.
Tang-!
A red line crosses the air and strikes between Eliorius's eyebrows.
This time, it was an attack launched with the intention of completely shattering the head, yet Eliorius's reaction was merely a slight shaking of his head.
"Not bad."
Lee Sung-jun, drawing a curved line on his lips, consecutively flicks his fingers.
Tang-! Tang-! Tang-!
The Thousand Transforming Blood Martial, Blood Martial First Change, Flick is fired incessantly, continuously striking Eliorius's body.
"Keuup-!"
For the first time, a groan escapes from Eliorius's mouth.
This was because the black energy surrounding his entire body was pierced by the Blood Martial First Change, Flick, causing it to collapse, resulting in considerable internal injuries.
"Keuheb-!"
Following that, a fountain of blood bursts from his mouth as excruciating pain strikes his entire body.
It wouldn't be strange if he collapsed right away, but Eliorius's figure doesn't crumble.
No, rather, in Eliorius's eyes gazing at Lee Sung-jun, there was a more intense fighting spirit than ever before.
The reason was simple.
There was a clear hope.
Thanks to the armor that could be called the last bastion, he hadn't received fatal wounds despite the successive attacks.
Of course, he was in a state of having many injuries and being exhausted, but the same was true for Lee Sung-jun before him.
Due to the continuous exchange of attacks so far, there were large and small cuts all over his body.
At a glance, it couldn't be considered a good state. In fact, the attacks that had been continuously fired had ceased.
This meant that he could sufficiently create an opportunity for reversal.
Just as Eliorius, kindling a desire for victory, was tightly gripping his dagger, Lee Sung-jun, who had pulled out the dagger stuck in his left forearm, slowly moves his lips.
"...So this was your full strength."
It was a relaxed voice, a bright voice that couldn't possibly be seen as being in an exhausted state. The emotion contained in it caused goosebumps to rise from Eliorius's elbow to his neck.
"Well, it was quite fun nonetheless."
In the past, when he was hailed as the Blood Demon, he possessed excellent martial arts and a large amount of blood energy to the extent of being called the best of all time.
However, that doesn't mean his blood energy was infinite.
Rather, it could be said that it was always lacking.
As the Blood Sect was a place that could be called a public enemy of the martial world, they continued wars with countless forces and martial artists.
The Blood Demon, Lee Sung-jun, had to fight battles equivalent to one against a hundred, no, one against a thousand in every fight.
Even if he had the power to turn dozens of martial artists into cold corpses with a single strike, as their numbers reached a thousand, no matter how much blood energy he had, it would eventually run out.
If the blood energy, which could be considered the most important internal energy for a martial artist, was depleted, even Lee Sung-jun, who was called the best Blood Demon of all time, would inevitably be defeated.
Yet the Blood Demon, Lee Sung-jun, always grasped victory.
Naturally, it wasn't due to luck or anything like that.
There was a valid reason.
'Endless Grand Blood Demon Return.'
As the name suggests, it was a martial art with the ability to recover spilled blood.
For an ordinary martial artist, this ability might at most prevent death from blood loss during battle.
But for the members of the Blood Sect, blood also becomes a means to replenish blood energy, which can be seen as the internal energy of martial artists.
The blood that returns to the body flows through the blood vessels, quickly moving towards the dantian.
'Two-tenths.'
This is the amount of internal energy filled through the recovered blood.
It's still not enough.
But there's no need to worry.
'What's lacking...'
He just needs to use the blood remaining in his body.
Thump! Thump!
The heart beats violently, moving the blood flowing through the blood vessels to the dantian.
'...!'
As blood is rapidly consumed, for a moment, his vision spins, but the effect is certain.
As much as five-tenths, half of his internal energy is filled.
This meant that the foundation was laid to unfold the martial arts from the time when he was hailed as the strongest Blood Demon.