Chapter 227
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Ivar couldnt understand at all.
It was a blow that he gave it his all in.
Just a graze was enough to explode even a large-scale demon, a blow of deadly power that would kill instantly.
No human could withstand it bare-handed.
Even if youre the leader.
Even before the strike, the Hero had allocated most of his power to the attack.
Because of this, Ivar was confident in victory.
Swoosh-
The Hero stood before him, spilling dead blood from his mouth.
Ivars narrowed eyes scanned the Hero up and down.
Is it because of that armor?
It looked like an extraordinary item at first glance.
Especially the chest piece, despite being torn apart, was making clanging sounds as it clung together.
Armor that restores itself automatically. Could it be from the First Era.
As Ivar examined the armor closely, his expression hardened.
It was clearly unfamiliar armor.
But it felt oddly familiar.
More precisely, the craftsmanship of the armor, and the inscriptions of spells and enchantments engraved on it, were familiar.
The alchemy of Noubelmag.
The metallurgy of Yussi.
The enchantments of Larze.
They were comrades who had fought together on the battlefield for over a decade.
There was no mistaking their skills.
Ivar gritted his teeth without realizing it.
Youve gone through a lot.
His comrades had joined forces to face him.
He had anticipated this day would come, but seeing the result before his eyes swept Ivar with complex emotions.
Gloom, anger, injustice, and sorrow.
The Hero, observing Ivars contorted face, spat out.
Do you even deserve that?
The voice that came through the visor was cold.
Ivar let out a short sigh.
Fine, lets continue fighting.
As he finished speaking, Ivar checked his own condition.
Considering I took Horizon head-on, Im doing okay.
The wound across his left shoulder and chest was deep.
It wasnt life-threatening, but the tendons were injured.
For Ivar, who was left-handed, it could be considered a fatal injury.
It was the same with his specialty move, Strong Strike, being sealed.
He couldnt unleash a devastating attack like earlier.
But.
The leaders condition is no better.
Even though he seemed to be standing fine, his momentum was noticeably weaker than before.
There are many ways to fight even if its not with fists.
In fact, grappling could be the answer.
Even with an injured arm, grappling was somewhat feasible for him.
Lets see if I can twist his waist and pull out his neck even with an injured arm.
People often judged Ivar as a simple and ignorant fighter based on his appearance.
But he was more like a cautious hunter.
Ivars eyes, preparing for the charge, gradually calmed.
I need to be careful.
A strange sense of unease.
He abandoned the thought of fighting like he did with the old leader.
The strange ice arrow from earlier, the superhuman recovery and endurance, the leader had changed in some way.
Has he been modified by Yussi or Larze?
First, get as close as possible.
Thump-
Ivars calf swelled, and his toes dug into the ground.
.
.
. Meanwhile, the Hero was activating one of the functions of the armor.
A few hours ago.
While waiting for Mother Ghost to return from the mission, he had tested many functions of the armor.
Among them, one added by Yussi and Pia caught the Heros attention.
The so-called potion cartridge.
A small space in the armors cervical part where drugs could be stored, and when operated, injected immediately into the body with a needle.
It was much more powerful and faster than orally consuming it.
So the Hero thoroughly searched Valbers void.
There were three cartridges in total.
Two contained high-grade mana recovery accelerators, and the remaining one contained an Awakening Agent.
It was used when fighting necromancers in the past, providing much more powerful awakening effects than allowed by law.
It synergized very well with Raviass combat technique, so using them together could squeeze the bodys functions beyond its limits for a moment.
Thunk-
The needle pierced his neck, and the drug was injected.
Vitality returned to the body that was groaning.
Mana began to accumulate in the mana hole that had collapsed from Halo, Annihilation, and Horizon.
Good.
It seemed like Ivar was ready to fight too.
Ivar, who lowered his posture as if he would charge at any moment.
His hands were wide open as if he were about to grab something, not clenched into fists.
It was obvious what he was aiming for.
Grappling.
Since direct attacks are impossible, hell go for grappling.
Ivars grappling is dangerous.
Its because its the martial art that can utilize Tempest the best.
Tempest fundamentally sweeps through Ivars body.
When theres distance, theres a slight delay, making it relatively easy to dodge, but if a close-quarters fight like grappling occurs, hell be caught directly.
Its no different from rubbing against someone with blades all over.
Joint locks, pressure points, submissions.
Not only does he have to counter his overwhelming technique, but he also has to deal with the wind that numbs the flesh.
Ivars Tempest Grappling is one of the strongest techniques in one-on-one combat known to the Hero, and in fact, the Hero had no sharp countermeasure against it.
But.
Just one.
With all the conditions falling into place now, there was a recourse he could take.
The gazes of the Hero and Ivar intersect.
As the moment of vulnerability appeared, Ivar tensed his body as if to rush forward, like an arrow nocked on a bowstring.
The Hero, looking at him like that, then.
Swoosh-
He ceased replicating Teds essence.
!
And facing Ivars trembling pupils, he replicated the essence of someone who wanted more than anyone to be in this position.
* * *
Ivar, who was preparing to charge, suddenly stiffened.
He looked at the Hero in disbelief.
Whats this?
The Hero was looking at him with eyes as calm as usual.
But something was different.
What he saw with his eyes and what he felt with his senses were different.
The shell matches the leader, but.
The essence is different.
The intense and sharp aura of the swordsman was nowhere to be found.
That stern and chilly aura.
Ivar reflexively took a step back.
Impossible.
It couldnt be forgotten.
Because even now, the same aura was lurking inside him, gnawing at him.
A coldness like plunging into the Arctic Sea seized Ivar for a moment.
Dorempa?
No.
No way.
Ivar desperately shook his head.
Upon closer inspection, it was slightly different from Dorempas.
But it was so similar that it could almost be considered the same.
Anyway, its the aura of the Frost Dragon Tribe.
It felt as if he had been possessed by a ghost.
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How could a human, the leader, emit the aura of the Frost Dragon Tribe?
How was such a thing possible?
There were no signs of sorcery.
How?
Of course, there was no answer from the Hero.
Without even looking at Ivar, he was gathering mana.
Sensing his threatening aura, Ivar suddenly regained his senses.
Whatever it is, its not important right now.
The truth could wait.
What needed to be done right now was clear.
Kill the leader.
Leader!
Ivar roared and rushed toward the Hero.
Even when he rushed right in front, the Hero only gathered mana, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Ivar felt a sense of unease, but it was already too late.
At the moment when a sharp wind shot towards the Heros neck.
Kugugugugung-
Suddenly, Ivars vision went dark.
.
.
.
Coldness poured in from all sides.
Ivar could immediately grasp what had happened.
Because he had experienced exactly the same technique when fighting Dorempa.
The unique magic of the Frost Dragon Tribe.
Eternal Frost.
When fighting Dorempa, he had relentlessly attacked Ivar with this chilling and sturdy ice, driving him back.
For some reason, the Hero also used the same technique.
In a slightly different way.
A wall?
Ivar looked around sharply.
The ice wall rose up in a perfect dome shape.
It wasnt very high, about a few meters.
The width only enclosed the Hero and Ivar, about 4 or 5 meters in diameter.
But the thickness, as thick as the Heros full mana, was different.
How thick is it exactly?
The moonlight from outside didnt penetrate inside at all.
Yet Ivar could grasp all of this at a glance.
Woooong-
The only light source was in the Heros hand.
With wide-open eyes, Ivar looked at the golden hole that appeared in the air.
Valbers void?
He had seen the Hero use the artifact to store things a few times.
Is he pulling out a close-quarters weapon instead of the Black Hope?
It was a plausible guess, but no.
The Hero was holding an object with a strange appearance that Ivar had never seen before in his life.
What was even more bizarre was that the entrance of the object was on the outside while the body was inside the void.
Wheeeeeeeeee-
The alien mechanical sound was heard at that moment.
Simultaneously, a terrifying suction force emanated from the object.
The surrounding air began to be sucked in completely.
The suction force was so strong that it could even sweep away the weeds on the ground and the ice fragments on the ceiling.
The Heros intentions were impossible to discern.
But instinctively sensing the threat, Ivar rushed forward.
But.
Huh?
The wind didnt blow.
The Tempest that should have shattered the unknown object into pieces at his command was silent.
Not only that.
My breath
Breath blocked.
Ivar gripped his throat with his hand, looking at the Hero.
At that moment, the Hero was also facing Ivar and seemed to be saying something.
But strangely, the sound didnt reach Ivars ears.
He could only understand it by the shape of his mouth.
[This is the power of Cuculli, child of Dorempa.]
Suffocation.
It felt like his prayers were being extinguished.
Ivar quickly turned around to break the wall.
But as he pulled his shoulder back to throw a punch.
!
Horrible pain emanated from his shoulder injury.
Throwing a punch was impossible.
With no Tempest now, could he really pierce through the ice of unknown thickness that showed no end in sight?
To make matters worse, his breath was getting faster and faster.
Left arm-targeting sword strike, close combat guidanceand that unidentified machine.
The Hero approached, opening his mouth.
[Ivar, your wind ends here]
When the Hero finished speaking, Ivar felt a strange emotion.
Contrary to expectations, fear, anger despair quickly left him.
It was nothing but a somewhat empty feeling writhing in his chest.
Its all in vain.
Yes, vain was an appropriate word.
Clang-
Ivar took a fighting stance and glared at the Hero.
[Lets end this.]
-!
And so, in the vacuum where there was neither wind nor sound, the traitor and the Hero clashed.
* * *
Kugugugung-
As the Heros mana depleted, the ice wall melted away like water.
Thud-
There was only one thing standing.
But even he staggered and leaned against a nearby tree as if collapsing.
The other one lay motionless on the ground like a corpse.
Due to the depleted mana suppressing the injuries, ice crystals were spreading from inside the wounds.
Hot blood diluted as it touched the ice.
Cough.
The Hero, looking at that sight, took a deep breath.
It felt like his body was being shattered into pieces.
No, it actually almost shattered into pieces before regenerating.
Colliding with Ivar in that cramped ice prison was something even Ted wouldnt have anticipated.
Even though all weapons were taken away, Ivar was formidable.
He twisted, throttled, and ruthlessly abused the Hero like a doll.
Despite the addition of Raviass martial techniques and the effects of Awakening, the Hero could never stand against Ivar on equal footing.
But.
There was no Tempest.
Before the Hero could recover, there was no means to completely kill him.
No matter how much Ivar throttled, struck, or twisted, the Hero recovered.
He endured until Ivar collapsed from suffocation.
Some might call it unjust and lethal, but he achieved victory that seemed impossible.
A vacuum.
Without air, there can be no wind.
The solution to the perplexing problem was closer than expected.
If wind is the problem, then we just need to create an environment where wind cannot blow.
The unidentified object the Hero pulled out from the void was a vacuum pump.
Designed using the knowledge stored in the Iris of Laplace from the First Age and manufactured by Yussi and Pia.
By the tremendous output of the vacuum pump, the limited air in the ice prison was expelled into the void in a matter of seconds.
The Hero reminisced about the fierce battle.
Numerous conditions aligned for victory.
Preventing Ivar from breaking the ice prison by inflicting wounds.
Guiding him into close combat to confine him to the ice prison.
And surviving the hand-to-hand combat.
and so on.
If even one thing had gone awry, it would have been him lying there, not Ivar.
As the Hero slowly rose from his position.
Please come here.
Ivar called out to him.
The Hero stood before Ivar.
Ivars life was swiftly slipping away.
The only reason he still had breath was due to his robust body and lingering regrets.
Ivars black eyes gazed at the Hero.
After a brief silence.
Finally, his mouth opened.
[TL/N: I wonder what his story is and why he never had a choice]
[PR/N: Doesnt matter, he deserves death regardless.]
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