World-Saving is a Skill Chapter 52

Chapter 52

Kim Ji-hyun rushed in, her arms and legs wrapped in black smoke, eyes glowing as she aid a spinning kick at my temple.

“So you are not even thinking about taking alive anymore huh?”

The leg swept through the air, trailing black smoke that spread wide. When the smoke brushed against , I felt a faint sensation of sothing trying to dig into my mind.

It was anger and malice burrowing in, gnawing at the soul, a force that could drive a person insane. A curse given form as smoke.

“What, were you expecting sothing else?”

“You… why.”

She must have been confident in the effect of the smoke she wielded.

But powers that touched the soul had no effect on . My body had been reset, but not my soul.

Unless it was enough to sweep an entire continent, the smoke wrapping her body could all pour into at once and still not affect .

Realizing the smoke couldn't end so easily, Kim Ji-hyun began to move her own body.

“Die. No, don’t die. I’ll catch you alive and turn you into a cripple who can never do anything again! Just die already!”

“Please, pick one. Just one.”

Was she telling to die or not die? I muttered to myself as I narrowly dodged her storm of attacks.

Black smoke erupted with every movent, her face twisted like a berserker. She showed no sign of fatigue.

Once, she would have burned herself out in a minute and gasped like a dog in midsumr.

“Did you sell your soul to a demon or sothing?”

I swept my spear through the smoke with a gust of wind, clearing it away and studied her. No answer ca.

“Shut your mouth.”

“I don’t know how much you hate .”

My spear burned black as it swung toward her, clashing with the explosive kicks she hurled. Of course, knowing the danger of the Paradoxical Fla, she retreated fast.

“You bastard… you are pulling that bullshit again!”

I must have struck a nerve. Many who once suffered the Paradoxical Fla could never face again. But she pushed through the trauma. That much was impressive.

“Let’s see just how strong that will is.”

Kim Ji-hyun ca back stronger. So what? Did she think I had been sitting idle? My spear extended, brushing near her body.

That was all it took for the Paradoxical Fla to cling to her. Her face turned pale. The instant it brushed her, her body lit up like kindling thrown into a bonfire.

“You burn nicely.”

I couldn't help but be impressed. If she burned this well, it ant she carried plenty of fuel.

“What… you, what are you.”

Kim Ji-hyun, who was engulfed in hatred and anger, flinched for a mont. What the Paradoxical Fla was burning was her will to fight.

The drive to face and seize victory. Willpower was one of the fuels that pushed people into battle with all their might.

And among concepts of its kind, willpower had one of the lowest flash points.

“If you generate it faster than I burn it, then fine.”

As long as she kept feeding it, she could keep fighting. If the fuel ca faster than the fire consud, so would always remain.

To erase it entirely, I would have to burn the very source that created her will. I was not yet strong enough to reach that level.

“Shut… up.”

Her voice was rough, but much of its venom was gone. Still, she had not lost her will completely.

Spear and foot clashed, sparks flying everywhere. Cloaked in smoke, her red eyes glead with fury.

I pressed forward, blue trails moving to guard as I slowly drove her back.

“Why, why!”

She shouted as if wronged, retreating. From her view, it was unfair. Anyone could see her magic was larger, her blows far heavier.

Yet she was being forced back instead of pushing . No wonder she couldn't understand.

“You think I’d tell you if you asked?”

Of course I knew why, but I didn’t tell her. Why teach soone that’s trying to kill ?

She needed ti to adapt to her new body. Charging straight at , drunk on newfound strength, had been her mistake.

“Co closer.”

I laughed, the Paradoxical Fla rising among the blue traces swirling around .

“Your worst nightmare has co for you again.”

I advanced, and she involuntarily stepped back. No matter how many tis she lunged, she couldn't beat .

She lifted her hand. The smoke gathered into a massive blade and slashed toward .

“That is why you end up like this, because you rely on things like that.”

The smoke cut through , but did nothing.

“The Hunters who stayed in Dover all lost their minds without being able to endure it, but why only you!”

I thrust my spear at her chest and answered.

“Would a tiger Hunter be afraid just because a kitten hisses?”

Her body was forced back, the spear shoving her away. She could no longer attack, only defend.

The smoke she relied on was useless against . Her fiery will was nothing but fuel for the Paradoxical Fla.

Without willpower, only defense and escape remained. Escape was not an option I allowed.

“You said you would cripple .”

The arrogance she had only monts ago was gone.

“Co on. Rip out my guts, gouge out my eyes. Tear off my limbs and make scream, make beg for rcy.”

The smoke that passed through had not been completely useless. A trace of madness stirred . Not enough to unhinge , but just enough to anger .

Touching a soul poorly like that often causes such side effects.

I swung my spear at her, with my voice high with excitent.

“Stay back… stay back, you bastard!”

Fear twisted her voice as she hurled more smoke at . My mind only grew colder.

Her malice and fury, desperate to invade my soul, were instead swallowed by it.

“This is not enough.”

I seized her by the collar and t her eyes. She kicked upward, aiming for my temple.

I raised my arm to block. A thunderous shockwave exploded as her kick struck. Amid the roar, I studied her.

Sothing was definitely wrong as I expected. Her sudden surge of strength and this foul black smoke. Muscles burned away by the Paradoxical Fla should not have recovered so quickly.

Even if the smoke infuriated , I would not lose my reason before learning what empowered her.

“This is- ”

I felt liquid coursing through her veins. It was not human blood. How absurd.

“What lunatic did this to you. Do you even know what is happening to your body?”

She gasped out a reply, struggling to breathe.

“They said it was fine.”

“Sure. Qin Shi Huang thought drinking rcury was fine. Romans thought lead on their faces was fine too.”

What did they know of magic? How long had humans even studied it?

I had lived in a world that studied magic for thousands of years. And even there, understanding was shallow.

Compared to science, humanity here was still at the level of chipped stone and pottery.

And she thought it was fine? Madness. Stuffing bombs into her body and calling it good. This must have been discovered by the Descendants of Dangun.

No, not a discovery. It was a trap deliberately set by sothing.

“Like giving chocolate to a dog.”

A dog would happily eat what it was given, not knowing it was poison. That was exactly what Kim Ji-hyun had done.

“Shut your nonsense… I ended up this way because you ruined .”

“Isn’t it a bit unfair for you to say that?”

She made it sound like I had blindsided her. But in Tsushima, she struck first. I only fought back as an enemy and won.

I tried to examine her further, but she kept flailing. I blocked a few strikes, then swung a fist with irritation.

“Stay still for once. You are annoying.”

I planned to kill her here. In truth, death was kinder for her now. A few punches slamd into her, and she collapsed, coughing blood.

I slowly observed the liquid flowing inside her body. It was a magical contract.

So powerful being had drawn out its magic, given it form, and she had taken it in. By doing so, she had agreed to the bargain.

“I thought it was just a dog with chocolate.”

Looking deeper, it was worse. She was a naïve child who had signed a blank contract.

The deal gave her strength, but what it took in return was unspecified. In plain words, it was a scam.

Even if the subject agreed, the one lending this power could kill them instantly if displeased.

“She probably didn’t even know what she was putting herself into.”

I threw her with all my strength. Her body flew through the air, then exploded, annihilating everything in a fifty-ter radius.

That was not an explosion. It was an erasure. As if sothing had ripped her away, nothing remained.

“Vile bastard.”

Even if she had signed blindly, to discard her so quickly like that. I scowled at the space where she vanished.

It had to be one of two things.

“Either soone in the Descendants of Dangun is not human.”

Or they were human but deluded, thinking they had made a great discovery when they had no idea what they were doing.

Usually one of the two would be good news. This ti, both were bad. And I had no way to storm their base and demand answers.

“Why does everything get so tangled up?”

I scratched my head with a frown. This was no longer just about Descendants of Dangun.

Well, my life has always been like this. As I ran toward Dover where Han Sang-ah and Lee Se-eun were fighting, I thought it over.

Whoever Kim Ji-hyun had contracted with was imnsely strong. And their thod felt rather familiar too.

“Demon.”

Back in that other world, I had seen demons who made contracts with humans like this, demons who lived in houses built in hell.

Not every demon could do it… Perhaps fifty were strong enough like that.

Of course, I had wiped them all out, so none remained alive.