Chapter 96

I am not a reincarnator, Chapter 96

Ancient Constellations (7)

"Black Lion Lee Woo-hyuk..."

A man with a long scar under his right eye looked out the window and clicked his tongue softly.

In the direction of his gaze, a young man was relentlessly pushing back hundreds of demons.

-Boom!

The explosion was loud enough to be heard from the top floor of the high-rise building.

Every time Lee Woo-hyuk swung his sword, dozens of demons were torn apart and exploded.

"Who would have thought the Black Lion would come here."

Park Geon-woo looked down at Lee Woo-hyuk with a burning gaze.

He stroked the spear on his back tenderly and exhaled with excitement.

'I want to fight him once.'

How much his spear would hold up against the Black Lion's sword.

He wanted to jump down and check it out right away.

-Hum! Hum!

"Aah, you also want to fight, don't you?"

Park Geon-woo gripped the spear on his back and spoke in a gentle voice, as if addressing a lover.

"Just wait a little longer. Soon, you will be able to drink your fill of blood."

He smiled faintly and patted the trembling spear blade.

'It's not the right time yet.'

Though the blood of the warrior boiled, he couldn't ruin the plan by fighting Lee Woo-hyuk.

Swoosh.

He carefully took a black chalice from his pocket.

"Attack while avoiding him as much as possible."

As he gave the low command, the black aura in the chalice gently rippled.

The aura, which had initially filled the chalice to the brim, had now decreased to less than half.

"Tsk. At this rate, it won't last much longer."

Park Geon-woo clicked his tongue and put the chalice back in his pocket.

He looked down at the battlefield where the fierce battle was taking place and smiled slightly.

'Well, the goal has already been achieved, anyway.'

The core of this plan was not to kill the Awakened, including the Black Lion Lee Woo-hyuk, but to 'sacrifice' the Unawakened who were not chosen by the Constellation.

And due to this incident, a sufficient number of Unawakened had already lost their lives.

"Hehe. Don't be too sad. This is all a sacrifice to establish the will of the great Black Star in the world."

Park Geon-woo smiled faintly as he looked down at the bodies torn apart by demons.

Swish.

After looking out the window for a while, he turned his body without hesitation.

'I should head back now.'

It would be troublesome if he lingered here and caught the Black Lion's eye.

"Hehe. Well, he won't reach here anyway."

At the bottom of the high-rise building where he was, a rift to the Demon Realm had opened.

As long as the rift remained open, demons would pour out endlessly, and even Lee Woo-hyuk wouldn't be able to break through the horde and reach the top floor.

"No matter how fierce a lion he is, he doesn't have wings."

He looked down at Lee Woo-hyuk, who was fighting desperately, with a cold sneer.

There was still about 20 minutes until the rift to the Demon Realm closed.

At least during that time, this place would be an impregnable fortress—

"Flyyyyyy! Flyyyyyy!!! Damn itttttt!!!"

"Huh?"

What is this?

When Park Geon-woo raised his head in the direction of the sound,

-Bang!!!

The window shattered, and a young man rolled into the building.

Wavy black hair.

Fierce eyes that didn't match his gentle features.

"...No-rang?"

"Damn, I thought I was done for."

Oh Jin shook off the glass shards on his body and stood up.

He looked around and then smiled at Park Geon-woo.

"Are you the one controlling the demons?"

"...How did you get here?"

Park Geon-woo looked at Oh Jin with a puzzled expression.

The building where he was located was on the 50th floor, over 200 meters high.

And he came here by 'jumping'?

"Your guy... What did you do?"

"I hit a home run."

"...?"

"What, don't you know what a home run is?"

A Hanwha fan?

"Anyway, we're not the type to have a peaceful Q&A session, right?"

There's no point in asking questions when neither of us will answer honestly.

-Click.

Oh Jin took out a metal rod from his waist and shaped it into a spear.

"Let's have a relaxed Q&A session after we fight."

"...You're full of confidence."

"Would you shrink and whine about your life being over before the fight even starts?"

If he had no intention of fighting, that would be one thing.

But if he decided to fight, it's right to erase the thought of losing from his mind.

'And.'

He didn't come here without any calculations.

'It's worth a try.'

He reached 5-star by fighting Ashad Khan.

The Lyra Constellation's scar became even more powerful after the Black Heaven's fourth blossoming.

Even if the opponent was a higher-level official than Ashad Khan, he was confident he wouldn't lose easily.

'If it was an enemy I couldn't handle at all, Vega would have stopped me by any means.'

But Vega only said he 'found' it, without telling him not to go or to run away immediately.

If the Polaris Constellation's seat had sensed it despite the constraints and still didn't say those things,

'It means I can fight and win.'

And one more thing.

He had a 'trump card' in mind.

'I don't know if it will actually work, though.'

Even if the trump card failed, it wasn't a big deal.

'If it doesn't work, I'll just run to where Lee Woo-hyuk is as fast as I can.'

He had no hesitation in running away.

Fighting to the death against an unbeatable opponent would be foolish.

"Then, let's get to it without any more talk."

Oh Jin aimed his spear at Park Geon-woo.

"A spear. Now that I think about it, No-rang also uses a spear, right?"

Park Geon-woo sneered and twirled the spear he gripped.

A short spear, less than 2 meters long.

Unlike Oh Jin's, it was specialized for thrusting.

"Let's see the skills of the proud apostle of the North Star!"

Without any preliminary movements,

Park Geon-woo's body shot forward like a flash of light.

-Klang!!

"Ugh!"

Oh Jin quickly stepped back and swung his spear short.

A clear metallic sound rang out as his body was pushed back.

"This is just the beginning!"

Park Geon-woo's sharp thrusts came in rapid succession.

Every time he thrust his spear, black feathers formed around it and shot towards Oh Jin.

-Klang! Klang! Klang!!

A barrage of spear strikes.

Each black feather aimed at Oh Jin like a spear blade.

"Ugh!"

Oh Jin barely blocked the attacks and suppressed a groan.

'As expected, he's incredibly strong.'

The opponent's skills were definitely a level above Ashad Khan.

At least an 8-star opponent.

'Yeah, it should be this level.'

Thump, thump.

Perhaps because it was a fight with a strong opponent after a long time.

The thrilling tension he hadn't felt since Ashad Khan spread down his spine.

"Just this much, and you talk big!"

Park Geon-woo pressed Oh Jin fiercely, as if he had the upper hand.

-Klang! Klang! Klang!

Oh Jin barely blocked the relentless spear strikes while continuing his thoughts.

'Should I use Exceed?'

If it was only a 1-2 star difference, it might be manageable.

But it was difficult to close the basic gap between 5-star and 8-star without using Exceed.

'No, not yet.'

It was hard to withstand the attacks in a situation where he was far behind in strength and speed.

'But for now— I can hold on.'

The spear techniques of the Compass Constellation, which flowed through his mind from Lee Shin-hyuk's memories.

He was barely managing to neutralize the overwhelming gap in specs by using these techniques, which allowed him to handle all directions and positions freely.

"...Indeed. Your spear skills are worth a look."

Park Geon-woo looked at Oh Jin with admiration and then sneered.

"But in the end, the spear skills you display are nothing more than a soulless half-measure."

"What?"

Soul?

What kind of soul talk is this guy spouting all of a sudden?

"You— What do you think of a 'spear'?"

"I think it's a weapon that can't use qi."

"What? What do you mean by that?"

Sword qi (劍氣) is fine, but spear qi (槍氣) sounds like it would be censored.

"..."

Park Geon-woo looked at him with a bewildered expression.

"Seeing you spout such nonsense, I understand why there's no soul in your spear skills."

He stroked the spear in his hand as if it were the most precious thing in the world.

"You guys only think of a spear as a tool for slaughter."

"What else could it be?"

Park Geon-woo looked at the spear in his hand with deep, sunken eyes and extended it forward.

With a precise movement, he brought his feet together and spun the spear shaft, tapping the ground with a thud.

"A spear is the truth that penetrates all things. The horizon that divides the void and the real."

"Huh?"

All things... what?

"The flow and strength, it embodies both, and the principle of the Taiji—"

"Thunder."

Kzzzzzzz!!!

"Kuh!!!"

Struck by the exploding lightning, Park Geon-woo's body was violently thrown back.

"You're spouting nonsense."

The horizon that divides the void and the real?

The principle of the Taiji?

"A spear is just a weapon made to pierce and tear people."

No matter how much you talk about all things and truth, it's ultimately used to kill people, so what kind of pretense are you putting on?

"Instead of talking nonsense, swing your spear one more time."

Whoosh!

He fiercely slammed the lightning-enshrouded spear down.

-Klang!!!

"Ugh!!!"

Park Geon-woo hastily raised his spear and barely blocked the attack.

"You, you, you— How dare you...!"

Perhaps he thought his belief in the spear was being mocked.

Park Geon-woo gripped the spear with a flushed face.

"Let's see if you can defeat me with pure spear skills alone!!"

"With pure spear skills alone?"

"Yes! Let's fight without using our scars!"

Park Geon-woo pointed his spear at Oh Jin and shouted bravely.

"Without using our scars... I see."

Oh Jin nodded.

"Alright. Let's fight using only pure spear skills."

"I'll show you that you're wrong."

Park Geon-woo moved his spear with a graceful motion.

The blood of a warrior, etched into his soul, boiled hot.

"A spear is— not just a tool."

In a world where rifts opened and monsters swarmed, the only thing that protected him was.

Not family, not friends, not lovers.

A single spear.

This spear led him to the Black Star.

"A spear is part of my body."

Body and spear as one (身槍合一).

The realm that can only be reached by mastering spear skills.

He had already achieved it long ago.

"Come at me."

Park Geon-woo pointed his spear at Oh Jin.

A pose as if drawn in a picture.

Even without using his scar, the aura emanating from him was so intense it made it hard to breathe.

"I'm coming."

Undeterred by the suffocating pressure,

Oh Jin raised his spear.

Without using his scar.

For the clash of pure spear skills—

"Exceed."

Kzzzzzzz!!!

The Lyra Constellation's scar burned fiercely, and blue lightning enveloped Oh Jin's entire body.

"What? What is this?"

"What, what, what?"

It's a bluff.