The basic principle of Nakjang is to make the enemy drop their weapon.
Of course, it has no effect on an opponent who has no weapon from the start.
Naturally, Atjie can use Nakjang to nullify an enemy’s ranged attacks as well, but it is undeniable that Nakjang’s effectiveness is halved.
“Most humans use weapons. The moment they lose their weapon, their strength is cut in half—I know that very well.”
Just as the boy said, the history of human combat and war walks alongside weapons.
Weapons superior to the enemy’s decide victory and defeat, the enemy then absorbs those weapons, and tactics change according to the development of more advanced arms.
Warriors who use aura can fight plenty well barehanded, but they do not voluntarily fight barehanded. Because aura makes weapons stronger.
In other words, Atjie’s Nakjang was a technique that could apply to all of them.
“But I’m not that kind of god.”
When the boy stretched his hand out again, the ground shattered into pieces like metal drawn to a magnet and flew toward his hand.
“How far can you go with that broken spear?”
Shiiik!
The boy tiresomely repeated the same method. He fired off stone fragments from range.
It was the height of arrogance, attacking from range even knowing Nakjang can affect it.
Naturally, Atjie once more unfolded Nakjang.
“How stupid.”
In that instant, the boy fired blades of aura in between the gaps. Just like he had just cut Atjie’s spear, this time it was to cut Atjie’s body.
Sst—
But that aura fell silent together with the stone fragments.
“...Ho.”
Atjie had expanded Nakjang’s range.
At first, he had not seen that aura would fly in at the same time, but once you know, you can see it—and if he can see it, it becomes a target of the Nakjang he uses.
“Quite the stunt to pull with that broken spear.”
“......”
Atjie did not answer.
Right now he was simply, endlessly searching. Who this opponent is, and what their purpose might be.
‘This abnormal strength. He’s far beyond the demon I met last time. Just as he called himself—he truly is a god.’
If so, what kind of god is he?
Who brought about his descent?
‘It isn’t easy for a god to descend to this land. There has to be a prayer that includes one of two things: a countless number of believers, or an extremely long time.’
And normally, both of those conditions are needed. Along with a fixed place.
Some organization had prayed for a long time to bring this god down.
For what?
“Why is a god targeting me?”
Atjie asked. For the moment, he could think of no reason why he would be targeted by a god.
Of course he had made many enemies carrying out his work as a Pro, but none of those included gods. Atjie didn’t have divine power to begin with.
“What? Hahaha! No, no. I couldn’t care less about the likes of you.”
The boy laughed loudly and shook his head.
“My purpose is not you, but Frondier.”
“......”
“Well, strictly speaking, my goal is to kill Frondier, but the other side doesn’t seem to want that.”
The other side?
‘So this god, at someone else’s behest, decided to target me instead of Frondier?’
The boy’s golden eyes turned to the sky as if recalling something.
He was, contrary to his appearance, a talkative god.
“Someone out there wants to see how Frondier moves if you die.”
“...I see.”
Atjie nodded.
And soon, the color drained slightly from his eyes.
If they were targeting Atjie himself, that was fine, one way or another.
This god was strong. Fleeing this place was one option.
However—
“I’ll have to kill you here.”
Atjie simply judged and spoke.
The boy laughed at that.
He had said it on purpose, because he had expected this reaction from Atjie.
Now Atjie would not run.
“Humans who spit blasphemy really are adorable.”
Thud!
Atjie blocked the boy’s foot with the spear shaft.
From over there to here, that step that covered the distance took only an instant.
Atjie could not possibly surpass that speed.
Bang! Tatak! Thud!
A flurry of attacks from the boy. Atjie did nothing but defend.
“Hahaha! How long are you going to hold on to that broken spear—”
Sst—
Then at some point—
“...?”
A cut appeared on the boy’s cheek.
The way he twisted his head to dodge had been almost pure instinct and reflex.
In other words, he had not anticipated an attack coming for his face.
‘What?’
The boy stepped back.
He had just been struck by an attack that should not exist. An attack that absolutely could not have come from Atjie’s stance.
“Hoo.”
Atjie exhaled as if steadying his breath and lightly swung the spear.
The spear, which had clearly been broken, followed his hand and turned.
“...?”
The boy was undoubtedly seeing something bizarre.
And yet, even with the eyes of a god, it was hard to understand what had just happened.
“...The spear reattached?”
The boy voiced his own doubt.
Then the corners of his mouth stretched into a wide grin.
***
Frondier turned forward again.
The doorframe was already gone. Now that he had come this far, he had no choice but to find the giant.
“Is this... a cave?”
Frondier was inside a tunnel where all sides—left and right, above and below—were blocked off by stone. It seemed like a narrow cave.
Pandemonium is where the winner’s Ecleksis remains.
If there was a giant left here, that meant this cave belonged to a god.
“For a god’s Ecleksis to be such a narrow, dark place.”
Frondier first moved forward. He still could not see the giant. This was not where the two had fought.
Step, step.
He walked for who knows how long. Frondier smelled the wind on the tip of his nose. A large space was about to open up. He had that kind of intuition.
And just as he felt, he stepped into a massive hollow.
Narrow and dark? No way. The place where Frondier had been was merely the entrance.
“Amazing.”
Only when Frondier lifted his head high and narrowed his eyes could he barely see the ceiling of the cave. That was how high and immeasurably wide this hollow was.
“You could run the entire Olympic program in here and still have room to spare.”
The floor was so smooth it was hard to think of it as a cave, and the walls encircling it in a ring were lined densely with stairways.
This was a colossal arena, or perhaps a colosseum. And its sky was capped as if someone had put a lid over it.
“I wonder whose Ecleksis this is.”
Frondier quietly muttered as he scanned his surroundings. To locate the giant who had to be somewhere.
It did not take long.
“......”
In the wide open space where his field of view spread out, there was a human figure in the center.
It was not the only one.
“Brutal.”
A man stood at the center, pierced by countless spears and blades. And those spears and swords were not just weapons—there were clearly humans holding them.
Many people had stuck their own weapons into the man at the center and then frozen in place.
“Is this the moment this giant lost?”
Frondier walked a bit closer. He wanted to examine the giant’s face.
But then—
Rustle!
One of the humans drew back the sword they had stabbed in.
“!”
Seeing that, Frondier jumped back. When he landed again, every one of the people who had their weapons stuck into the giant turned their gaze toward him.
It was a chilling sight, and at the same time, uncanny.
‘The owner of this Ecleksis should have already left, and yet its power is still operating.’
Pandemonium, the hell that inflicts endless pain on the loser. That description was no lie.
Pandemonium continues to operate. Even after the victor has gone.
Thud.
Once all the weapons piercing him had been removed, the man presumed to be the giant collapsed with a heavy thump. He did not move at all. Frondier worried whether the giant could even wake again in that condition, but that was not the issue right now.
‘Pandemonium does not allow re-entry. No, no one has ever entered twice.’
For this world, the fact that Frondier was here was a bug, an irregular. Something that should not exist.
By whatever mechanism—or perhaps without any mechanism at all—this Pandemonium had now designated Frondier as the enemy.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The humans who had pierced the giant began to approach Frondier with heavy steps.
They could probably have run faster, but they kept in formation.
‘A military unit?’
Judging by their movements, they were not just a random assortment of people. These figures were one team.
Frondier raised his hand.
He shaped his hand like a gun and aimed at one of them.
‘As a test.’
He aimed at the head and fired his own Ecleksis.
Tung─!
There was no actual sound, but to Frondier, it felt as if there was, as the head flew off.
But their march did not stop. The enemy closed in without the slightest decrease in speed.
‘Up till now, any enemies hit by this power froze in shock when their bodies were blown away, but these ones don’t react at all.’
They had no shock at losing some part of their own body. No awareness to begin with, even. They seemed to lack any sense of self.
In a way, that was only natural. This army must be the god’s Ecleksis. Even if they looked human, they were nothing more than power.
‘The fact that the owner of this power isn’t here actually makes it more annoying.’
Watching the enemies closing the distance, Frondier’s eyes narrowed slightly. In Pandemonium, he could not use any power other than Ecleksis. In other words, Heukcheon and Weaving did not function.
That had been the case for Bael and Atena as well, and thanks to that, Frondier had been able to win easily.
‘I’d love to just erase everything, but if I did that, that giant would be gone too.’
He had no idea whether the fallen giant could still get back up, but if someone in that state took Frondier’s power on top of it, he would definitely die. In more ways than one.
On top of that, Frondier was still rough in handling Ecleksis. With a pencil you can draw all kinds of pictures, but an eraser only erases. There was no great technique to it.
‘One by one, cleanly.’
Swish!
He dodged the spear thrust at him, then swept his hand and erased the enemy’s legs. The enemy teetered and fell.
And when he aimed at the next one—
Rumble—
“Gah.”
All the enemies in the line of his sweeping hand lost their legs and toppled.
Frondier’s expression went cold. It was lucky he had been careful. If the giant had been in the straight line of his gaze, he would have just sliced through that body as well.
‘Still, if I physically erase their legs, they’re out of the fight either way.’
Frondier decided, and then promptly knocked down every enemy coming at him. It took only a short time, and though they were crawling toward him on their arms, they posed no real threat. It was just a bit disgusting to look at.
“Whew, well, if it’s just this, then this god’s Ecleksis isn’t actually that stro—”
Frondier stopped there and thought.
This was a flag.
Clack!
Bang!
Bang!
Kwaang!
With the sound of something opening, heavy, booming sounds echoed from all directions.
At the far edges of this immense hollow, doors burst open as if broken down.
Tutututututut─!
The sound of countless feet pouring in from every side was more like gunfire than footsteps. Soldiers beyond counting charged with their weapons ready, swarming toward Frondier.
“...That’s just cheating.”
Tap!
Frondier ran quickly and reached the fallen giant’s side.
He glanced at the face briefly, but of course, seeing it told him nothing.
What mattered was that he had reached the giant’s side.
Frondier put the giant at his back and swept his hand once,
Then turned his body, moved past the giant so the giant was behind him again, and swept his hand once more in the same way.
The result—
“Whew, that was close. Way too close.”
Aside from Frondier and the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» giant, nothing remained. Except for the spot where the giant lay, everything had been swallowed up into a pitch-black space.
