The darkness surging toward Seo Jun-Ho suddenly stopped. It stopped not because Specter was suddenly merciful nor because he changed his mind. The Frost Queen’s cold energy had instantly suppressed the tidal wave of darkness.
“Whose contractor do you think you’re messing with right now?”
“Hmm?” Specter sounded amused as he said, “You speak as if you know me. Am I mistaken?”
The Frost Queen wordlessly snorted.
However, Specter chuckled upon realizing something.
“Pfft! I see. Did she perhaps give you her memory before she disappeared?”
“What’s funny?”
“It’s funny because do you really think she gave you her memories for no reason at all?”
Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen fell silent. That was indeed what they thought.
Specter stared alternatingly between Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen. “You fools. She’s using you. The only reason she gave you her memories is to get back at me for abandoning her. She wants you to kill me.”
“...”
“...”
Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen looked at each other in silence.
Soon, the Frost Queen turned toward Specter and said, “How pitiful. I feel sorry for you.”
“...What?” Specter stared with narrowed eyes at the Frost Queen. “What did you just say to me?”
“I said I feel sorry for you. It’s a shame how twisted you’ve become. It is to the extent that your eyes have become full of distrust.”
“I’m twisted?” Specter put his fingers together and mockingly made shapes while saying, “Is it like this? Or like this?”
Specter soon stopped smiling. “If I’m twisted in your eyes, you two are also twisted in my eyes. In other words, what you think of me and what I think of you two is just a difference in perspective.”
“Pure sophistry. You will never be understood by common sense.”
“Nonsense!” Specter glared hatefully at the Frost Queen and said, “Things wouldn’t have turned out like this if she had decided to trust and help me until the end.”
“...No. The Frost Queen on the 8th Floor believed in you until the end. I wanted to help you, and that’s why I vehemently dissuaded you so that you wouldn't go down the wrong path.”
“Is that so? Wasn’t she just forcing her beliefs onto me?”
Specter took off his mask. The face exposed underneath the mask was the exact same as Seo Jun-Ho’s face, but his eyes were so red that no one would be able to imitate him.
Seo Jun-Ho inadvertently thought, ‘Those eyes don’t suit me.’
Specter’s bloodshot eyes looked out of place on Seo Jun-Ho’s face.
“Contractor,” the Frost Queen said while keeping her eye on Specter.
“What is it?”
“He insisted that to defeat the Archduke, Watchguard of Darkness—the strongest spear—should also become EX.”
“...He’s right.”
In fact, the destructive power of Specter’s darkness was beyond imagination.
“However, the method he chose was so crazy that I vehemently opposed it.”
“It’s that crazy of a method?”
‘Just how messed up that method was for the Frost Queen to say such things?’
“It wasn’t difficult,” said Specter. “I’m sure you already know, but darkness-attributed skills are extremely rare, so it’s difficult to raise the grades of such skills.”
“So?”
“It was the most efficient, fastest, and the easiest way.”
“...?”
‘Really?’ Seo Jun-Ho turned to the Frost Queen with a puzzled look.
The Frost Queen muttered, “Don’t listen to the lunatic.”
“Do you still not get it?” Specter said and pointed to his eyes. “I just had to become a fiend and consume the demons’ demonic energy. I was able to absorb more demonic energy by becoming a fiend rather than just absorbing them using Watchguard of Darkness.”
“...!” Seo Jun-Ho went beyond pallid.
Specter stared at the pale Seo Jun-Ho and asked, “What’s up with that look? Do you not understand me as well?”
“You lunatic. Absolutely no one will understand you…”
“...Yes. That’s how everyone reacted, but I thought it was a great discovery.” Specter sounded lonely as he said, “But as I already said numerous times, I was right. My clever idea allowed me to raise Watchguard of Darkness to EX.”
He glared hatefully at the Frost Queen and said, “If she had just trusted me, I wouldn’t have abandoned her. I would have defeated the Archduke.”
“It would have been a meaningless victory, as you would simply become the second Archduke even if you had defeated him.”
Demonic energy was an energy that cursed its wielders to crave destruction and slaughter.
“The stronger the power, the greater the consequence—just like how all of this happened because of the Archduke.”
“Your words are proof that you didn’t trust me until the end.”
Buzz!
Specter’s fierce demonic energy soared up, but it soon became as calm as a placid lake.
“...You need to wake up. That energy is not the kind of energy that an individual can control.”
“Then, it’s square one again. The result of this battle will tell us who is right.”
The conversation was over, but the Frost Queen was still staring at Specter.
“Look.” The Frost Queen sighed. Her gaze became filled with pity toward Specter as she explained, “The Seo Jun-Ho I know isn’t the type of a person who’ll smile so brightly at the thought of murder.”
“...What?” Specter flinched and touched the corners of his mouth. As soon as he realized that he had been grinning from ear to ear, he boisterously laughed. “Puhahaha! All right… perhaps you guys were right all along.”
Specter’s demonic energy started boiling like hot water in a pot.
“So what?”
Specter was long past the point of no return, and he could no longer see the path that he had once taken/.
“Bring it on. The result will tell us everything.”
Specter was right; they were back to square one.
‘Perhaps this situation was decided the moment he drank a demon’s blood.’
“Frost,” said Seo Jun-Ho. “All of his abilities are stronger than mine. Do you know what that means?”
done.me
“...All of his abilities are stronger than yours?”
‘Huh?’ Seo Jun-Ho briefly forgot about the situation and stared at the Frost Queen as if she were pathetic.
“What’s up with that look?!” the Frost Queen roared. “I didn’t say anything, you know!”
Seo Jun-Ho’s conscience was hurt upon realizing that the Frost Queen had seen through his thoughts. He turned to look at Specter before continuing. “Anyway, you’re the only variable of this battle.”
“That is not strange. He can’t possibly handle me.”
“Can you use your power to block to block his attacks?”
“Hmm…”
Specter’s Darkness and Seo Jun-Ho’s Frost were both EX, so they had to be on par.
“I guess the only way to find out is to give it a try.”
“All right. Focus on defense. Block as many attacks as you can.”
Seo Jun-Ho and the Frost Queen got ready for battle.
Specter finally spoke, “The issues will disappear so long as you two disappear.”
Specter seemed ready to destroy the world just to prove that he was right.
The darkness that soared into the sky began to scatter and pour down like rain.
‘Rain of Destruction…!’
Seo Jun-Ho was shocked to see Specter use the skill he had just created not too long ago.
‘Doesn’t that mean he can use skills that I’ll create in the future?’
“Ice Castle!”
Crackle!
The ice that sprouted from the ground turned into an igloo.
Seo Jun-Ho briefly felt dizzy.
The huge igloo of ice seemed to have been enveloped with the power to block.
“Hmm.” Specter muttered, “I’ve always been wondering.”
The power to scorn could ignore all defense, while the power to block could block all elements.
‘Who would win if they were to collide?’
“I will finally have my answer today.”
Crash!
A tidal wave of crimson darkness soared from within the igloo.
At the same time, the heavy rain of darkness pelted down on the igloo.
“Argh!”
Seo Jun-Ho groaned as his vision swam.
‘What kind of fight are they having?’
[Hero’s Mind (EX) has protected your mind from further mental damage.]
Seo Jun-Ho’s mind abruptly cleared up.
He turned around and saw the Frost Queen skillfully wielding ice to block Specter’s attacks.
‘She’s still using my mental strength.’
However, Hero’s Mind (EX) didn’t allow Seo Jun-Ho to feel the pain.
‘I’m going to lose consciousness in an instant without any warning if I continue to zone out like this.’
“Frost! Open the door!” Seo Jun-Ho shouted.
“Oh, right.”
A small hole appeared on one side of the igloo.
Seo Jun-Ho crawled through the hole and gasped. ‘What?’
An endless rain of darkness struck the layer of ice like missiles.
However, the Frost Queen was relentless as she created more and more ice.
‘Things are looking great right now, but we’ll surely be at a disadvantage in the long run.’
Seo Jun-Ho understood why Specter was so desperate to raise the Watchguard of Darkness to EX.
And it was all because Watchguard of Darkness was literally the best spear…
‘But I have the best spear as well.’
Seo Jun-Ho melted into the shadows and used Shadow Step.
“Hmph, you rat.”
“...!”
The Rain of Destruction started falling toward Seo Jun-Ho as well.
Seo Jun-Ho dodged and ran away from the rain using Overclocking.
Every drop of rain created by the Rain of Destruction was so strong that each drop literally distorted the space as it collided against the ground.
‘Damn it.’
Seo Jun-Ho managed to avoid the rain, but the Rain of Destruction was driving him away.
‘I can’t even get close to him.’
Time wasn’t on Seo Jun-Ho’s side, as he was consuming both magic and mental strength at breakneck speeds due to the addition of the Frost Queen.
‘What he wants is for me to avoid his attacks like this forever.’
Seo Jun-Ho came to the conclusion that he had to confront Specter head-on. In other words, he had to be ready to take some damage, as he couldn’t use the power to block like the Frost Queen.
‘I need to parry his attacks.’
Specter’s crimson darkness was powerful, but Seo Jun-Ho reckoned that he wouldn’t die as long as he avoided taking the brunt of a dozen raindrops at once.
Swoosh!
Seo Jun-Ho turned around and took out Twilight from his Inventory. He gripped the sword tightly and took a deep breath.
He swept his gaze across the raindrops and muttered to himself, ‘Domain Expansion.’
The power to freeze instantly unfolded around Seo Jun-Ho.
The raindrops of destruction were still falling at breakneck speeds, but they weren’t that fast anymore.
‘Wheel of Time.’
Seo Jun-Ho amplified the power to freeze’s effects. The raindrops of the Rain of Destruction had slowed down to the speed of a flying baseball.
‘Black Moon Martial Arts First Skill: Sky’s Frost.’
Sky’s Frost was usually used to block the opponent’s attack, but he had to use it creatively this time. His goal was to parry the raindrops, so he had to hit them using the right amount of strength and away from him.
Seo Jun-Ho swung his sword toward the raindrops.
Boom!
A massive explosion occurred, followed by a chain of smaller explosions.
Specter turned to look in Seo Jun-Ho’s direction.
“What happened?”
‘I wasn’t paying attention to him because he has done nothing but dodge the rain, so what just happened? Did he die?’
Specter shook his head. ‘The Frost Queen’s still here…’
Indeed, the Frost Queen was still creating ice.
‘Then what’s going on?’
Specter frowned and narrowed his eyes.
He glared in Seo Jun-Ho’s direction and saw a mist.
‘The mist is getting closer…’ Specter finally realized what was going on, and he stopped attacking the Frost Queen. ‘Enough with the games.’
It has been proved that the power to scorn had a slight advantage over the power to block. Now, it was time to put an end to this annoying game.
“Die.”
Specter redirected his attack toward the Frost Queen onto Seo Jun-Ho. Specter thought that Seo Jun-Ho would disappear into nothingness at the indiscriminate bombing.
However, he was mistaken.
Boom!
The smaller explosions had gotten more frequent within the mist.
‘No way. Is he parrying the raindrops…?’
Seo Jun-Ho had achieved the impossible by throwing all caution to the wind.
“Hah.”
‘How arrogant.’ Specter was annoyed by the fact that Seo Jun-Ho still had everything he had lost long ago, and to quell his irritation, Specter decided to summon a spear made out of crimson darkness.
He glared hatefully at Seo Jun-Ho. ‘Die.’
He was about to throw the spear, but extreme cold struck his feet.
‘Damn it.’
It had only been about two seconds since Specter looked away from the Frost Queen, but she had already consolidated her power and was now attacking him.
Specter had to make a choice.
‘Should I risk it to kill Seo Jun-Ho? Or should I block the Frost Queen’s attack first?’
Specter grinned brightly.
“Die.”
He hurled the spear toward Seo Jun-Ho. At the same time, a spear made out of ice penetrated his torso all the way to his left arm.
‘It doesn’t matter.’
Nothing mattered more than killing Seo Jun-Ho and proving that he was right.
“You know what?” The Frost Queen’s calm voice tickled his ears. “My Contractor isn’t as weak as you think.”
Shrieeek!
A shrill noise pierced Specter’s eardrums as space itself was torn open ahead of him.
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