A Fool’s Gambit

‘…This bastard.’
‘And now he says this!’
I trembled with rage at his detestable behavior.

“Just act appropriately. I just need something to shut the mouths of the Maha.”
“I don’t know much, but. That mate thing, can you just change it?”
“The Varg have only one mate for life.”
“What? Then how…”
“Even if you disappear in the future, I can’t take a new mate, so they won’t bother me anymore.”

‘He clearly told me that it didn’t matter if a mate disappeared.’
‘He said it was just a cover-up to shut their mouths, so why is he being so fickle again?’
I couldn’t understand it at all.

“If you like this place so much, I’ll have a temporary residence built for you. Though I don’t know how many days you’ll last, since you’re so sensitive to the cold.”

It was also confusing that he was being so lenient now, when he had always acted like he would kill me at any moment.

‘Why did he suddenly change his mind?’
‘Is it because there are many eyes watching?’
‘To save face?’

Looking at his cold eyes, it was clear that he was quite annoyed and irritated, yet he wasn’t trying to drag me away by force.
He was trying to listen to my words calmly.

Rather than being pleased, I was now just untrusting.
The man was always unreadable.
It was like that in the Forest of Trials, and it’s the same now.
His constantly changing whims made me anxious.

A field of reeds that sways in the wind is not a suitable place to hide.
I had to find an oak tree with a straight core that wouldn’t break even in a storm.

“…Anyway! I’m done talking.”

Therefore, I drew a firm line.
As clear as the boundary line that separates the village from the wild field.

“I’m not going back.”

I declared with a determined face.
‘You won’t even protect me, and you’re always just thinking of killing me. What do you want me to believe and go back for. I’m never going. This is the end.’

“If you think I’m a weakness and want to cut me off, do as you please.”

Since the Observer could no longer detect me, there was no way I would miss this good opportunity.
I don’t want to be trapped again after tasting freedom.

“But, I won’t be cut off meekly.”

Humans sometimes have an excessive amount of confidence.

Even though they will surely regret it in the distant future, they always fail to overcome the momentary impulse and act on it.

“If I win against you in a fight, let me go.”

Why did such confidence spring up?
The thought that I could win against Karvan right now.
The thought that I could trample him and make him kneel.

“Then, if I win, does that mean I can kill you?”

“…Yes!”

As long as the Observer didn’t appear, I could use skills and potions freely, so it seemed I had a chance of winning.
Most of all, that man’s main skill was ice attribute, and my main skill was fire attribute.

‘Fire melts ice.’
In the face of that immutable law, I became confident.
Just in case he might use an attribute I didn’t know, I also equipped a few other skills.

“…Shinbi-nim, Valta is so…”

“Tegen.”

“Y-yes! You can start!”

The man accepted my challenge.
The duel began under the judgment of Tegen, who was chattering with a long face.

“Cherry Blossom Spiral! Illusion Gravity!”

Karvan dodged all the ‘Meteor,’ ‘Chain Lightning,’ and ‘Cherry Blossom Whirlwind’ skills I cast.
It was an absurd speed.

Even though some of them, like the lightning skill I used on the Urf earlier, had a long pre-delay, I had mixed in instant-cast skills to make them difficult to dodge on purpose.
He moved as if he could see the trajectory of my skills.

[Not enough mana to cast the skill.]

Gulp, gulp.
An empty potion bottle, I don’t know how many, fell to the ground with a clatter.
I had drunk so much that my stomach was feeling bloated, but the man was looking at me with a bored face.

[<Karvan Baharga> has dodged your <Tremor Flame> skill.]

The man was just dodging my skills.
With a slanted face, with his hands in his pockets.
Leisurely.

[Not enough mana to cast the skill.]

Only then did I realize my huge mistake.
In the first place, ice or whatever, the skill compatibility didn’t matter at all.
Because Karvan had no intention of attacking me in the first place!

I looked at the setting sun anxiously.
If the sun set, of course, I would be at a greater disadvantage.
I would barely be able to see the surroundings even with a light skill, but Karvan’s night vision was good even in the dark.

“Hah, hah…”

I tried to squeeze out some tricky and difficult skills, but the man still didn’t lift a finger against me.
He was waiting for me to tire myself out.

‘This bastard, so cowardly!’
‘Who does he think will be dragged along as he wishes?’
Fuming, I transformed my Leviathan.

[Leviathan: Switching to single-shot mode.]

The Leviathan, which had been in a fork shape with two prongs, turned into a pointed brush.
SL weapons can change their form.
That was the reason why users would go to great lengths to feed them blood rubies and make them ‘Special Legendary.’

[Leviathan: Single-shot

• In the current weapon transformation state, the <Multi-target> passive option is temporarily locked.

• Mana consumption and weapon damage are greatly increased.]

The so-called spear mode.
The damage is increased, making each hit fatal, but it consumes a huge amount of mana.
So I had to keep the TTK (Time-To-Kill) as short as possible.

[Not enough mana to use the skill.]

‘Just one hit. Just one more hit.’
I gritted my teeth and aimed for his weak spot.
Like a hunter with a harpoon trying to catch a darting fish.

I held up the Leviathan with my right hand and threw various skills with my left hand.
With the intention of sticking the spear in him as soon as he showed an opening.

[<Karvan Baharga> has dodged your <Cherry Blossom Spiral> skill.]

Karvan was still dodging my skills as if it were a game.
With one hand in his pocket and the other on his un-drawn scabbard, which was slung over his shoulder.

[Not enough mana to use the skill.]
[Not enough mana to use the skill.]
[Not enough mana to use the skill.]

He dodged the fireball I threw as bait by just tilting his head, and sometimes he would even parry it with his scabbard.

The man moved as if he were dancing.
His long black robe fluttered under the moonlight.

[Remaining Mana Recovery Potions: 1]

Holding my ragged breath, I emptied the last mana potion.
Gulp, gulp.
As the cool, refreshing sensation went down my throat, the Leviathan, which was condensed with bright red mana, hummed.

“Alright, I’ll finish this with this!”

“…Shinbi-nim…”

As I muttered something that even I thought sounded like a third-rate villain and threw away the empty potion bottle, I could feel the Sura standing around looking at me with pity.

Since I had been cycling through my main skills so much, the man had already matched my skill names with the ways to dodge them.

It was obvious that he had already decided whether to parry with his sword or dodge the moment he heard the skill name I was chanting.
I decided to use that.

“Cherry Blossom Spiral, …no! Tremor Flame, …no!”

I deliberately changed the skill names and gave a fake.
Flutter, flutter.
The petals that were wrapping around the man like a white butterfly turned red, as if dipped in paint.

“…Fire Bloom!”

Snap, as I snapped my fingers, a flame that shot up as if a red flower were blooming engulfed the man’s surroundings.

‘This is it!’
I pulled back the Leviathan as far as I could and threw it with all my might.

“……”

Crash!
There was a thick smoke with the explosion, but I knew.

My exclusive weapon, the Leviathan, would immediately return to my hand if it missed the target because of the <Original Sin> trait.

But the Leviathan did not return.
It meant it had hit the target.

Thud, thud.
Something bounced and rolled to my feet.
The God-Slaying Sword.
The weapon the man used to carry.

As the smoke slowly cleared, my eyes widened when I saw the spear sticking out of Karvan’s side.

The man’s usually expressionless eyebrows were slightly furrowed.
It was certain that it had hit him right in the side.

‘Success!’

I quickly looked at Tegen.
As if to say, ‘Isn’t this a victory by decision?’

But he just shook his head with a devastated face.
He was looking at me with a complicated expression, so he must have been heartbroken that his chief was hurt.

For a moment, I also felt awkward for having been so overjoyed.
After hesitating for a moment, I picked up the man’s fallen sword and approached him.

Karvan was holding the handle with one hand, as if trying to pull out the Leviathan that was stuck in his side.
It wasn’t clearly visible because of his loosened robe, but it seemed to be stuck in quite deeply.

“Does it, hurt a lot? Uh…”

It felt like the ‘giving the disease and then the cure’ that the man always did.
But seeing his face, which was contorted in pain, I couldn’t make a joke.

“…If you surrender, I’ll pull it out right away.”

Thinking I might have gone too far, and feeling quite bad, I opened my mouth without realizing it.

“I’ll treat you if you promise to let me go.”

“……”

“Of course! If you don’t mind…”

My voice trailed off at his intense gaze.

I had clearly won fair and square, and I hadn’t used any tricks or cheated, but for some reason, I kept feeling like I had done something wrong.

The man, who was staring at me so intently it was burdensome, laughed as if the air was escaping him.

“…I thought it from the first time I saw you.”

He wiped his face a few times with his empty hand, and then, looking at me who was standing there, not knowing what was going on, he said.

“You’re so soft.”

I didn’t even hope for a thank you and a moved expression, but I was flustered by the deep sigh that came out of his mouth.