Chapter 163. Finally, Victory
Inside a vast space that reminded Ingwang of the arena he operated, he sighed and stared at his opponent.
“How many times has this been now?”
“Does that matter?”
First Horn answered.
“What matters is that the battle between you and me still has not ended.”
“You pervert.”
A muscular body well over two meters tall.
Thick red hide that ordinary weapons could not even scratch.
Golden gladiator armor that left his upper body exposed.
A golden guard on his right arm radiating the same ominous energy.
And a crimson blunt weapon that had absorbed the blood of countless people.
His right horn flickered as though it were burning from the inside, looking ready to crack apart at any moment and reveal the blazing horn beneath.
From the root of his severed left horn, flames occasionally surged upward.
After parting ways with Ingwang, First Horn had evolved on his own again and again.
He had now become a handsome man with a horse’s legs and a bull’s horns.
“You’ve gotten stronger again.”
First Horn narrowed his eyes.
“How are you stronger every single time I see you?”
“You’re one to talk....”
Ingwang inhaled.
“Tss... Haa....”
Then he looked around.
“Were you seriously waiting here this whole time?”
“Yes.”
First Horn nodded.
“Once I confirmed that you had returned, I waited here as promised.”
“Aww, what a good boy.”
“While waiting, I repeatedly killed the monsters sent by the Great Hero and the creatures that burrowed into the tree.”
“Couldn’t you have been a little lazier...?”
Ingwang shuddered as he looked toward the arena seats.
Bones from all the monsters First Horn had killed were arranged there.
Trying to pull himself together, Ingwang lightly slapped his cheeks and shook out his body to loosen up.
“I’m not fighting you one-on-one.”
He looked at First Horn.
“You know that, right?”
First Horn looked genuinely disappointed.
“That is somewhat disappointing.”
Ingwang pulled out a water bottle and drank to soothe his dry throat.
At First Horn’s response, he thought for a moment.
Then, as though generously compromising—
“Ah! Fine! Three minutes!”
“You think you can last three whole minutes?”
First Horn scoffed.
“How laughable.”
“You little... The way you talk really....”
BANG!
Before he even finished speaking, Ingwang hurled the water bottle in his hand to block First Horn’s vision.
At the same time, he used his chains to instantly close the distance.
Thanks to Ingwang’s higher Agility, First Horn’s reaction seemed delayed for a brief instant.
But—
“Isn’t this always the same pattern?”
BOOM!
First Horn read the killing intent in Ingwang’s eyes.
He casually knocked the bottle away and predicted where Ingwang would appear.
Then he immediately swung his blunt weapon.
Ingwang’s instantaneous movement was so fast that even Ingwang himself had difficulty reacting during the transition.
Naturally, he should not have been able to respond to First Horn’s swing.
“...Oh?”
But Ingwang appeared above First Horn’s head.
Directly beneath the bottle First Horn had knocked away.
After becoming Pie’s lover, Ingwang’s Shadow Movement had grown even stronger.
Using that enhanced movement as part of a combination, he caught First Horn completely exposed.
At some point, Ingwang had already drawn the Spear of Hope.
He swung it down.
Fwish!
CRUNCH!
The sharply launched spear grazed First Horn’s cheek.
Then Ingwang’s kick struck him immediately afterward.
First Horn’s neck twisted completely to the side, and his balance collapsed.
He hurriedly swung his blunt weapon and knocked Ingwang away.
Then he saw the spear following Ingwang through the air.
A delighted smile spread across his face.
“Kuhahaha! The Spear of Hope!”
“You were hiding something like this too?!”
“What?!”
Ingwang shouted.
“Are you upset because you don’t have something like this?!”
“Ridiculous!”
BOOM!
BOOM!
A shockwave erupted from First Horn’s body and pushed Ingwang backward.
First Horn had done nothing more than explosively release his strength.
Even so, Ingwang had difficulty enduring the shockwave.
First Horn proudly straightened his chest and looked down at him.
Then he raised his arms.
Those arms were more threatening than any weapon.
As if saying he had no need for some pathetic tool.
“Do these trained arms look weaker to you than your shallow tricks?!”
“Tsk!”
Ingwang reinforced the areas damaged by First Horn’s attacks with chains.
Then he shot more chains upward, forming a net above their heads.
First Horn glanced up.
“You created shadows?”
“How shallow.”
“Stop calling me shallow!”
Ingwang thumped his own chest.
“I’m, uh... pretty thick too!”
He proudly copied First Horn’s confident posture.
But because of the enormous difference in their builds...
He looked more like a little kid showing off in front of an adult.
“Yes....”
First Horn smiled.
“You will need to become even thicker.”
His eyes gleamed.
“For the sake of my honor...!”
“Seriously, this bastard....”
Ingwang sighed.
“Please tone it down.”
“AAAAAAARGH!!!”
Once again, First Horn generously allowed Ingwang to make the first move.
Ingwang opened with his imitation Lion’s Roar.
It wasn’t even a real Lion’s Roar.
Yet for a brief instant, it completely focused First Horn’s attention on Ingwang.
Seeing how much Ingwang had grown, First Horn burst into delighted laughter and charged.
Every time I see him.
Every time we fight.
He closes the gap between us.
Closer.
And closer!
BOOM!
As First Horn’s excitement rose, his body rapidly strengthened.
Now even Ingwang’s high speed was clearly visible to him.
He began swinging his blunt weapon again and again.
Ingwang barely avoided the attacks and occasionally countered.
But First Horn’s body was simply too durable.
Inflicting real damage was difficult.
The only reason Ingwang could keep going was because his imitation Lion’s Roar repeatedly grabbed First Horn’s attention.
And because First Horn was getting so excited that he occasionally swung wildly and missed.
“Aren’t you going to use the spear again?!”
First Horn laughed.
“Come on! Hurry and attack!”
“Over here!”
Ingwang shouted.
“FOCUS!!!”
“Kuhaha! Again...!”
First Horn charged toward Ingwang with a booming laugh.
Then suddenly—
He realized something.
There was no way Ingwang had been repeatedly using that imitation Lion’s Roar for no reason.
But First Horn could not retreat now.
He gathered the energy pouring from his body around his blunt weapon.
He intended to overwhelm Ingwang in a single strike.
Then—
His weapon caught against the net of chains Ingwang had created overhead.
At that exact instant—
BOOM!
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!
“...This is!”
First Horn looked upward at the explosions.
What he saw falling down around him...
Were high-performance grenades created by Ingwang after repeated research and experimentation.
Ingwang had even borrowed the skills of the gunsmith he had once formed a connection with.
The grenades contained special magical power.
Even someone like First Horn could not take them without suffering damage.
RATTLE!
Before the grenades could reach the ground, Ingwang rushed straight at First Horn.
He bound First Horn with chains.
Then he stopped First Horn’s Flow, completely preventing him from moving.
For the first time, First Horn clicked his tongue in genuine surprise.
He finally understood why Ingwang had repeatedly used the Lion’s Roar.
It was all to prevent First Horn from noticing this setup.
“Let’s see just how tough you really are!”
First Horn glared.
“...You insignificant little thing...!”
BOOM!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The falling grenades began exploding.
Ingwang flipped First Horn over himself like an umbrella and used the giant body to shield himself from the blasts.
Even so, Ingwang could not completely escape the shockwaves.
Just before dying—
He slipped into the shadows.
The chain of explosions continued.
Rattle.
Rumble....
Inside the utterly devastated arena, Ingwang waited until the explosions finally stopped.
Then he pushed aside the dust and walked out from beneath part of a collapsed wall.
There was no sign of First Horn’s enormous body anywhere in the massive arena.
But Ingwang did not let his guard down.
He stabbed chains into the floor and searched for First Horn.
That bastard was definitely still alive somewhere.
There’s no way that damn bastard died from just this.
If he were dead, the system would’ve told me I cleared the second trial!
The promised three minutes had long since passed.
Ingwang summoned Modak and Jayeon.
He pulled them close while remaining completely tense.
Then—
BOOM....
BOOM...!
BOOM...!!!
“Excellent.”
A voice came from beneath the shattered remains of the arena.
“Truly excellent....”
Flames exploded outward.
First Horn emerged spectacularly from beneath the debris.
The shell covering his right horn had shattered.
A bright red horn, glowing as if freshly heated in a forge, was now exposed.
And from the stump where his left horn had been cut away...
