Chapter 446

Blood and shadow.

They were clearly different things.

But if you looked at them at a glance, the things contained inside them had some similarities.

A shadow spreading because of light, and blood spreading out in all directions.

A shadow that hides from light, and blood that originally isn’t exposed.

Because they were two things that had a few similar points,?even the clash of power couldn’t help but look somewhat similar at first glance.

But Reaper and Embris already recognized that.

So they didn’t pay it much mind.

The moment Reaper pulled out his dagger, he vanished from the spot through teleportation.

And Embris, who didn’t bother searching for the vanished Reaper, made her blood bubble and boil.

Then—

Saaaaahh———

A thick blood mist rose all around them and spread rapidly.

But as soon as that blood mist formed, shadows also appeared one by one, and Reaper sprang out from one of those shadows.

Seeing Reaper burst out in a single motion, Embris infused poison into the blood mist toward him.

Blood poison.

A type of virulent poison that was lethal and spread quickly tried to latch onto Reaper.

But the shadow blocked that poison completely.

And what remained was only Reaper’s dagger.

Seeing Reaper’s dagger flying in, gleaming with a cold blue edge even from within the shadow, Embris condensed the thick blood mist into a single point and blocked the dagger.

Chaaaeaeaeaeaeaeang———!!!

With the sharp sound of tearing through the air, a wave of sharp energy spread in all directions, slicing through everything.

When a long gash was left in the ground, in that moment, the dagger laced with shadow sliced through the blood-red shield, and as that shield split, Embris’s sharp hands rushed in.

Ssshhhiiiiiik!!!

Like the arms of a demon or devil, Embris’s fingers and knife-hand strikes, hardened into something sharp as they flew in, were the kind of thing even Reaper couldn’t ignore.

Reaper raised his dagger and blocked Embris’s grasp as it flew right up to his face, and another of Embris’s arms came flying in.

This time, seeing that arm coming for his abdomen, Reaper still had cooldown left on teleportation, so with his free hand, he held a dagger and raised his arm to block.

At that moment, Embris grabbed both daggers and halted Reaper’s movement for an instant, lifted into the air, and with both feet free, let go of the daggers and kicked Reaper in the abdomen.

Kwaaaahhhhhhhhhhng———!!!

Reaper was flung back by the sonic boom that erupted from the shockwave.

A kick that looked like it hit dead on.

But Embris’s expression wasn’t good.

As Reaper flew from the shockwave and sonic boom, he planted one leg firmly into the ground as if carving a long furrow—and he didn’t get pushed back that far.

Reaper barely stopped himself from being knocked away.

And the place heat blasted out from due to the shockwave wasn’t Reaper’s abdomen, but his left knee, which he’d raised the moment after the attack.

“Hoo. You blocked that.”

“If I didn’t, it would’ve been a big problem.”

Even as they questioned and answered like that, neither of them ever let their guard down.

Careful, yet bold, they charged at each other again.

And the viewers watching had no choice but to gape.

-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa?

-Wasn’t Embris a mage?

-What is this??????????????

-For real what is this??????????

-She could do hand-to-hand too??????

-Is this Helena? Is this Helena? Is this Helena? Is this Helena?

-What is Embris? Her close-range sense looks even better?

Even to the viewers, Embris’s movement was extremely good.

Good enough that you’d believe it even if you were told she was originally someone who used a melee class.

And that really was the case.

From Helena’s perspective, Embris’s magical talent was pretty decent too,?but with Embris, she looked more talented on the hand-to-hand side, so if she let her use both,?that potential increased explosively.

Reaper couldn’t help but frown as he saw that.

He knew she was strong, but he never thought she’d be this strong.

He couldn’t struggle here.

Reaper’s eyes sharpened with a cold edge.

Embris was the same.

‘I can’t lose.’

If she lost here, there was the possibility she’d come in last again.

So Embris tried to flail and claw her way to a win no matter what.

As they went in with hand-to-hand like that,?Reaper tried to fight by shaving down Embris’s blood bit by bit using his twin daggers.

Sometimes he attacked while spinning like a top, and he pressured Embris while using his legs and feet too, focusing on speed.

But Embris wasn’t easy either.

Paaaahhh———!!!

She knocked the daggers aside with blood, blocked them with both fists, and likewise used footwork and kicks to pressure Reaper.

In a single second, hundreds of exchanges went back and forth, and the area had already been reduced to scorched earth long ago by the shockwaves.

They threw fists and daggers at each other.

They blocked those fists and daggers with their own weapons.

And if Embris saw an opening, she fought while using elbows, feet, legs, knees—if nothing else, even her head.

-Wow, that’s brutal.

-Brutal;;;;;

-So you really can fight like that.

-Insane;;;;;

-Wow, that’s crazy;;;;;

-What kind of battle is that, so desperate and vicious....

If Embris was like real combat martial arts used by mercenaries, then Reaper was the exact opposite.

While using daggers and footwork, he was fully making use of what he’d learned from Assassin, and also making use of what Helena taught him, handling shadow even better.

Reaper vanished at every moment, but Embris was the same in that regard too.

They moved faster and attacked harder toward each other.

But as time went on, the one whose injuries kept increasing was Embris.

“Tch.”

When she spat, blood came out mixed in.

Seeing that, the viewers couldn’t help letting out pained sighs.

-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

-?????????????

-Embris win!!!!!

-Reaper really is strong.

-Still, Reaper took a lot too;;;;

-Just a little more, Embris!!!

She had talent in hand-to-hand, but Embris’s talent was in both hand-to-hand and magic.

So even while fighting so desperately, she attacked Reaper by using blood magic—but Reaper blocked even that as he steadily shaved down Embris’s stamina.

Of course, Reaper wasn’t perfectly fine either.

Still, compared to Embris, the advantage of his less-depleted stamina was clearly visible.

Realizing again that Reaper really was strong, Embris clenched her teeth.

She couldn’t give up here.

With that thought, Embris gathered all her blood into herself, and in that moment, Reaper sensed something ominous and dodged—and in that world, no, in that space itself, a red line appeared as if pronouncing judgment on the world.

Chwaaaahhh———!!!

A single streak of blood fired at super-high speed, filled with the power to pierce anything, and in that moment, Reaper quickly wrapped himself in shadow and carved it into every cell of his body.

Not knowing in her wildest dreams that Reaper had become shadow itself, Embris saw only that he had clearly been pierced and tried to move—but in that instant, Reaper moved.

If he’d taken that attack, he shouldn’t have been able to move, so seeing him move, she tried to grasp the situation quickly.

But in the brief opening created by seeing Reaper move, Reaper moved.

The Reaper who appeared using shadow movement was, truly, shadow itself.

Embris tried to attack by using blood to awaken Reaper’s cells again so physical force would work—but it was already too late.

Reaper’s body being released from shadow was exactly as Embris intended,?but the problem was that Reaper’s attack was faster than Embris’s.

Chwaaaahhh———!!!

Reaper’s dagger swung, and a long line of fresh blood bloomed across Embris’s chest.

Because it was an attack imbued with shadow,?even Embris couldn’t heal it on her own.

At the moment Reaper gripped his dagger again and was about to slash—

Embris tried to make her blood explode on the spot with the intent of mutual destruction.

But in that moment.

Reaper stretched his body like shadow, as if he’d known in advance, and tried to escape the blast radius as fast as possible.

Of course, the exploding blood was so fast he couldn’t avoid it completely.

But because he opened distance quickly, it didn’t turn into a fatal wound.

On the other hand, Embris—

“Keuk.”

You could see the blood apostle vomiting blood.

And the viewers let out sighs of regret.

-Whaaaaaaaaaaaaa???

-So close!!!!!

-Augh!!!!

-Reaper!!!!!!!!!!

-Ah, seriously, that’s so close.

Everyone couldn’t help cheering for Embris.

If you watched Embris fight so desperately and viciously, from her fist-fighting to every single exchange, you couldn’t help it.

But the winner could already be said to be Reaper.

His one arm had been torn to shreds by the explosion,?but Reaper quickly formed needles out of shadow and stitched his arm up, and seeing that, Embris raised both hands like it was ridiculous and said,

“Hoo. I give up.”

“It was a good match.”

At Embris’s declaration of surrender, Reaper bowed his head to express thanks.

Embris was frustrated, but she’d also done her best, so she didn’t regret it too much.

It would be a lie to say she had no regrets.

But honestly, if it was to this extent, then Reaper was simply strong, and she had no choice but to accept it.

As Embris and Reaper gathered back in the center in a warm atmosphere and shook hands,?the viewers watched and marveled too.

-Wow, that was a seriously fucking amazing match.

-Insane, for real;;;;

-So then what’s next????

At that moment, while the viewers were full of anticipation—

“Hand over the team leader seat, kid.”

“Just a mere team member—how laughable.”

It was Kyou and Kim Che-geon, starting with trash talk first.