Chapter 293. Constellation System (4)
To be honest...
even after putting our heads together and thinking until we were exhausted...
we still couldn’t come up with anything resembling a guaranteed winning strategy.
“HAAAH!”
I shouted and charged.
With my current strength, even Joyeuse felt heavy.
I gripped it with both hands and swung.
Taigong Wang didn’t move a single step.
He merely raised the God-Striking Whip...
and casually blocked Joyeuse.
“Truly ordinary.”
"...!"
No matter how much strength I put into the sword...
the God-Striking Whip didn’t budge.
Taigong Wang was an old man.
He wasn’t particularly large.
He had no visible muscles.
He looked like nothing more than an elderly scholar.
And yet...
he was physically stronger than me.
“Is that all?”
“Ghk!”
Taigong Wang only twisted his wrist slightly...
and Joyeuse was knocked away.
I expected the God-Striking Whip to strike my upper body...
so I hurriedly ducked and stepped farther inside.
I thrust toward his abdomen.
But Taigong Wang raised his foot first...
and drove it into my chest.
“Sloppy.”
“Urgh...!”
I rolled backward.
The damage itself wasn’t too severe...
but I bit my lip and tasted blood.
“Shouldn’t you maintain some dignity?”
“Kicking doesn’t really suit you.”
“You still have enough energy to speak arrogantly.”
Taigong Wang smiled.
Then...
he moved.
"...!"
He only took a single step forward...
yet the distance between us disappeared instantly.
Is that a movement technique?!
I reflexively swung Joyeuse.
But Taigong Wang raised the God-Striking Whip and knocked the sword aside.
Then...
taking advantage of the opening in my upper body...
he thrust the weapon forward.
“Ghk!”
A powerful impact struck my right shoulder.
A crack formed in my humerus.
Part of the shoulder muscle tore.
Just from that single blow...
I dropped Joyeuse.
Right now, it seems to be nothing more than a blunt weapon...
but its power is ridiculous!
The God-Striking Whip had originally been given to carry out the Investiture Plan.
That meant it showed especially great power against beings meant to be invested as gods.
And now...
it seemed to possess tremendous power against Constellations too.
Which meant...
against me, someone who was neither a target of investiture nor a Constellation...
it shouldn’t have been able to display its full strength.
And yet...
even without that full power...
it was inflicting serious damage.
Joyeuse has been strengthened with Holy Nails and fragments of the Holy Spear.
It shouldn’t be inferior as a weapon...!
I tried to pick up Joyeuse with my left hand.
But Taigong Wang didn’t allow it.
He sharply swung the God-Striking Whip...
forcing me to retreat.
“Ghk...!”
I raised my left hand, still equipped with [Saint’s Divine Fist].
Seeing me forced into close combat...
Taigong Wang smiled.
“Go ahead.”
The tone was as if he were dealing with a child.
I gritted my teeth and kicked off the ground.
If he kept acting this relaxed...
surely an opening would appear somewhere.
I had to find it.
“Amateurish.”
But it didn’t matter.
The God-Striking Whip flew in like lightning...
and smashed across my cheek.
Blood filled my mouth.
I rolled across the ground again.
“He’s so weak it almost makes me sigh.”
Nezha muttered.
"..."
Jason frowned while listening.
Jason, Princess Longji, and Daji were watching the fight from far away.
“More than anything, his physical body is too weak.”
"..."
“He’s far below the average Contractor.”
“Looks like his innate physical condition was much worse than normal.”
There was a trace of pity in Nezha’s voice.
“Of course, once someone becomes a Contractor, there are many ways to compensate for that.”
“Anyone can use enhancement crystals.”
“There are countless Constellations with Skills that raise a Contractor’s physical abilities.”
“Items like elixirs can help too.”
Nezha continued in a slightly sympathetic tone.
“It seems he never received any of those benefits while he was alive.”
“He must have been in extremely poor circumstances as a Contractor.”
“He said he contracted with a D-rank Constellation.”
“Yes.”
“I remember.”
Contracting with a D-rank Constellation didn’t automatically mean someone had to be weak.
Lee Jukheon, for example, had contracted with a D-rank Constellation...
yet still became powerful enough to lead an entire group.
But that was because Lee Jukheon had natural talent...
and because his Constellation possessed a Constellation Armament far more powerful than a normal D-rank.
If an ordinary person...
or worse, someone with less talent than average...
contracted with a typical D-rank Constellation...
they would simply remain as helpless as an ordinary person.
“His movements themselves aren’t bad.”
Nezha continued.
“Not a single motion is wasted.”
“Everything is efficient.”
“He chooses openings accurately.”
“But... his body can’t keep up.”
Nezha tapped his own head with a finger.
“He knows exactly what he should do in his mind.”
“But his body can’t execute it.”
"..."
“Even the Nameless King, who once seemed so extraordinary...”
“becomes nothing more than that once he loses his power as a Constellation and returns to being an ordinary human.”
Jason, Princess Longji, and Daji watched the Nameless King without saying a word.
“You all knew this would happen too, didn’t you?”
Nezha asked.
No answer came.
“I thought Princess Longji and Daji would use their techniques to create some deception while he pulled off some clever scheme...”
“But the only thing you came up with was a one-on-one duel?”
"..."
“Or is there another plan?”
Hearing the question...
Jason answered in a trembling voice.
“We tried to come up with a strategy.”
“All of us together.”
“And?”
“No matter how much we thought about it...”
“we couldn’t find a guaranteed way to win.”
“I thought so.”
Nezha nodded as he watched Jason’s gloomy expression.
“You’re all powerless too.”
"..."
“The Nameless King probably told you something like this.”
I’ll struggle one last time, so stay back where you won’t get hurt.
Nezha wasn’t mocking them.
If anything...
his voice sounded sympathetic.
Nezha had originally liked the Nameless King.
And he had been friendly with Princess Longji.
Now that the fight was nearing its end...
pity was beginning to outweigh hostility.
“Looks like it’s almost over.”
"...!"
The Nameless King, who had been gritting his teeth and charging at Taigong Wang...
had his stance completely broken by a counterattack.
Then Taigong Wang swung the God-Striking Whip with force...
and struck him directly.
The Nameless King was launched helplessly through the air...
and crashed deep into a distant forest.
Then...
he stopped moving entirely.
The wind was strong.
The sound of the waves was loud.
“I used too much strength.”
Taigong Wang muttered while looking at the God-Striking Whip that had just struck the Nameless King.
He had been carefully controlling his strength until now...
but had accidentally put too much into that blow.
As a result...
the Nameless King had flown far away and crashed into the forest...
unable to rise.
“This wasn’t my intention.”
Taigong Wang had originally planned to drag the fight out longer.
He intended to fight the Nameless King for a long time...
block every technique he attempted...
and gradually destroy his body piece by piece...
until his spirit completely broke.
“It will be easier to proceed once you’re completely subjugated.”
Taigong Wang planned to brainwash him.
Even if the Nameless King surrendered...
there would surely still be unnecessary emotions left inside him.
And there was always the possibility that he might pretend to submit...
then rebel later.
Considering all of that...
Taigong Wang had already planned to brainwash him.
To turn him into...
the ‘ideal successor’ Taigong Wang envisioned.
“Still... this may be enough.”
After muttering that...
Taigong Wang called out toward the Nameless King, who had been thrown deep into the forest.
“How is it, Nameless King?”
His voice was calm.
“How much more will it take before you admit defeat and submit completely?”
Taigong Wang knew exactly how badly the Nameless King was injured.
The God-Striking Whip was ultimately a blunt weapon.
It didn’t sever limbs or tear away body parts.
