Reincarnator

—booooom!—

Ares Valentine laughed as Enbi Arin attacked him.

"Hahaha! Your strength seems to be increasing? Why are you so angry?"

The Tainted Emotion increased the strength and dexterity of her attacks, but Ares continued laughing leisurely as he blocked her attacks with his dual blades.

—toong!—

—tonk!—

Attacks that arced strangely to block her own blows and even drew close to a fatal strike.

Enbi Arin bit her lip—his attacks were aiming for her vital points.

'Damn… it seems that I looked down on him way too much. Maybe I've rested a bit too long.'

Their levels of strength had been similar in the past.

But while she had been captured and was asleep because of Melchizedek, Ares had continuously improved himself with every day.

The fact that he was trying to capture her alive revealed the difference between their strengths.

No matter how much he liked her, if there weren't this big of a gap, then he would have never thought of doing such a thing.

—boooom!—

"Woah!"

Ares leaned back to dodge her fist, an attack that was further enhanced by the Dragon God Armor, and then he backed off with a surprised expression.

While keeping his distance with the long sword on his right arm, and defending attacks flying towards him with the short sword on his left, Ares slowly backed off and smiled.

'I love it.'

With this much difference in strength and knowing that he liked her, she could easily use his emotions to her advantage.

Like ignoring her own life and defenses and only focusing on attacks.

Ares would've been in a difficult position if that happened.

If the girl he liked acted in that way, then it would hurt him quite a bit.

Ares Valentine didn't hold back from saying his thoughts out loud:

"Why aren't you putting your life on the line? You might be able to give me a harder time if you did that. How can I attack such a pretty lady?"

Enbi Arin scoffed as she replied:

"You're funny. A snake like you, would you really be able to do that?"

The smile on Ares Valentine's face deepened as he heard Enbi Arin's words.

'Ah… I love it. Enbi Arin. I really, really do like you.'

The reason why he liked Enbi Arin wasn't because he had a certain degree of pride that refused to accept defeat.

It was because she knew the answer.

She was smart.

'If you really believed that my love was true, it would've been easier for both of us. But you never trusted me. Not even once.'

Ares Valentine thought to himself while maintaining his smile.

He'd fought with Enbi Arin for a long time and had shown her his affection for a long time as well.

She should have trusted him at least once by now.

But Enbi Arin had always suspected him.

And that was the answer.

If Enbi Arin really did believe in him, even for a single moment.

If she used his emotions against him to disregard her defense when they fought.

He would've killed her.

'Too bad. Really, it's too bad.'

—whooosh!—

Ares Valentine smiled regretfully.

Love was one thing, and work was another.

The emotion of love is best maintained at a convenient level.

He had a job given to him by Clementine.

And that came at a much higher priority than his own emotions.

Emotions were to be enjoyed, not something to risk his life over.

And Enbi Arin had neither believed in his affection nor had she ever used it against him.

Even in a situation like this where she was at a disadvantage.

'If only you'd trusted me once… I would've allowed you to be at peace.'

The warm smile on Ares Valentine's face suddenly turned evil.

The reason why their battle seemed prolonged was because Enbi Arin was playing in a very safe style, blocking his moves one by one.

Blocking away the short sword and staying wary of the incoming long sword.

'I guess I'll have to take the more annoying route.'

Ares Valentine smacked his lips and grasped onto the two swords tightly.

Because he'd dropped his guard, he half-expected her to charge in wildly, but it's apparently hard to change a person's personality.

And if petty tricks like these didn't work, then there was only one method.

"Too bad. If I had nothing to do, then… I could've played with you for a bit more."

His affection for Enbi Arin hadn't all been a lie.

But the situation wasn't quite the best to be all lovey-dovey.

He had to finish this and climb up.

'Too bad. It's hard to find a woman like her.'

But now was the time to end it all.

And then—

—kiiiiiing—

—the short and long swords on Ares Valentine's hands started to get covered in a yellow reinforcement.

Ares swung the now longer swords as he walked towards Enbi Arin, smiling as he said:

"Don't worry, I'll carry you well. You might lose a few parts, but… I'll just fix you up when I get there."

—swooosh!—

Ares Valentine's swords started to swing through the air and towards Enbi Arin.

……………………………………..

—rumble—

Lightning crashed down all around, radiating a tremendous amount of energy.

Melchizedek's giant castle was overflowing with energy from the giant crystal.

—kyaooooo!—

'It seems to be quite happy.'

Hansoo thought as he looked at his blue armor that was making cheerful sounds.

Well, it made sense.

The blue armor was something that a certain race had used. That race had also created this giant Nelkipa and the crystal that controlled the Nelkipa.

It made a lot of sense that the blue armor was gleefully receiving the energy of the crystal.

And the deeper he went in, the more concentrated the energy radiating outwards.

'Too bad the energy's not being used to raise its battle power.'

Hansoo thought to himself as he continued deeper.

He wished that the blue armor could use the energy like the Dragon God Armor, but it didn't seem like that was the case.

Hansoo gave up trying to use the overflowing energy and hastened his speed further inside.

—tatatatak—

But as Hansoo ran—

—booom!—

—something fired at him from a distance.

A much more powerful beam than before.

'Heeeup!'

Hansoo swung the hammer in his hand and deflected the strike away.

But this was just the beginning, as countless beams started to converge onto his location from the depths of the castle.

—rumble!—

—zoooooom!—

Even though the heat from the beams could easily melt any metal nearby, the controls were so meticulous that the giant castle remained unscratched.

Hansoo frowned as he received these concentrated attacks and then poured some of his strength into the hammer.

And then—

—whooosh!—

—Hansoo threw the hammer in his hand with all his strength.

—booom!—

And as the hammer flew off like a meteor, slamming into the depths—

—a huge sound reverberated as it destroyed all the cannons set up deep inside.

—chiiijijik!—

Hansoo glanced at the cannons that had stopped firing and continued heading inside.

'…Annoying.'

These attacks kept repeating since the beginning.

Melchizedek was using up all the energy inside the defensive cannons to fire single shots at him.

It wasn't to the point of killing him but more than enough to hold him down momentarily.

And this giant castle was filled with these defensive structures.

Thanks to that, it had taken him longer to scout out the castle as well.

'If that was your goal, then good job. Melchizedek, you've hidden yourself very well.'

—rumble—

Hansoo looked around as he continued inwards.

He'd initially thought that he just needed to follow the flow of energy.

But it wasn't that simple.

The concentration of energy inside was so high that it was difficult to find its point of origin.

And being dazed from the cannons interfered with his search as well.

At this rate, he might have to explore the entire city.

'It's larger than a whole city.'

Hansoo thought to himself.

Although it looked considerably large from the outside, there was a part of it hidden underground which made it even bigger.

At this rate, he didn't know how long it would take to reach his goal.

As Hansoo frowned—

—oooooong—

—a loud sound echoed throughout the castle.

Then—

—whoooosh!—

—the overflowing energy within the castle started to flow into a specific location within the city.

Just like a storm.

—whooooosh!—

—kiiiiing—

And with a sudden noise, all the surrounding cannons that were firing at him abruptly lost their energy.

'Was it there?'

There was no way he couldn't know.

Hansoo felt the tremendous change within the castle and started running deeper inside.

Towards the center where all the energy was quickly flowing to.

But at that moment—

—chiiijijik—

—something appeared in the air.

And Hansoo scoffed at this scene.

"For you to appear yourself. It seems you got a bit impatient."

Melchizedek spat out in reply.

Well, Melchizedek's hologram to be exact.

"Please. You won't be able to stop the cause of this change in energy flow."

"Well, we'll see."

Melchizedek chuckled coldly and asked:

"I don't even know why you're trying so hard. Did you see your friend? You could've slept like her as well. It's not too late you know. If you give up now, then I'll treat you to that as well. It's not a bad deal right?"

"…"

—boom! boom! boom!—

Hansoo ignored it and focused on running, causing Melchizedek to shrug at his actions.

"It seems that friend you woke up is in a precarious situation. If she stayed in the dream I made for her then she wouldn't have to suffer like this in reality. She'll definitely die at this rate, so is it fine to leave her like that?"

Hansoo replied to Melchizedek's mumbles:

"Maybe. I'm sure she'll handle it well. I heard your dream was really trashy, but… there was something positive about it."

"Hmm?"

Melchizedek was confused by Hansoo's words.

………………………………………

"Ugh. Damn… How…?"

Ares Valentine mumbled in confusion.

While staring at Enbi Arin's fist currently embedded in his stomach.

He was finding it difficult to breathe.

'Damn… There shouldn't be any gaps in my defenses?'

How hard had he worked to improve his swordsmanship?

The swordsmanship created from the simultaneous swings of his short and long swords was something that even Clementine had praised him for.

But what was this?

Ares was at a loss at the fist that had penetrated through his defenses and had punched through his stomach.

Enbi Arin, who was a single breath away, whispered to him:

"Look here, you bastard. You and I… we lived together for fifteen years."

They had spent fifteen years in a dream.

Of course, a husband and wife would know each other very well.

—tududuk—

'Melchizedek… thanks for this, you bastard. For allowing me to experience such a realistic dream.'

Enbi Arin thought as she twisted her fist into Ares Valentine's stomach.