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However, this entire situation was far from the picture Lavue had envisioned.

"…"

As she directly observed the war unfolding before her, Lavue’s face distorted in fury. In the midst of this chaotic battlefield, the figure of Seo Jun-Ho approaching her stood out vividly. Amidst the noise and confusion, he appeared more distinct than anything else.

"T-this is ridiculous..."

The reason was simple; she just didn't want to acknowledge it. Her Star Destruction instincts were clamoring that she had to focus on him right now, or she would be in danger. Her eyebrows and even her cells trembled wildly, telling her that the approaching human was dangerous.

"H-he's nothing but a mere human!"

Lavue's tattoo on her left neck shone red. Seo Jun-Ho's gaze deepened.

"Twelfth Tattoo Art: Flowing Wrath of Fire."

A fire erupted and flowed like water.

It became a tidal wave of fire that loomed over Seo Jun-Ho.

‘Extinguish the flames coming from the left first, then deal with the flame up above.’

It was funny, but Count Gorgon’s memories had become a priceless legacy empowering him in his Count Hunt.

‘Ignore the flames coming from the right.’

With a slight twist, Seo Jun-Ho avoided the fire demon and turned around.

Swoosh!

The silent and deadly blaze that had approached from behind abruptly vanished.

"What!? How…!" Lavue was utterly astonished, and she tightly clenched the bench with both hands. Lavue was sure that it was Seo Jun-Ho’s first time facing her Tattoo Art, so she found it difficult to believe that he had easily dodged her attack.

Her eyelids trembled momentarily, and she found the answer to her own question.

‘Yes. It's all thanks to his skill that absorbs memories.’

The human before her could absorb the memories of others.

This was proven by the fact that he knew even the insignificant words that she had exchanged with Viscount Astol. He had to have also absorbed the memories of Count Gorgon.

"Argh! Gorgon, you’re still a useless bastard even in death!" Lavue screamed hysterically, then pressed her lips tightly together as she pondered. She debated if she should rise from the bench right away and face the approaching human in combat.

‘But my pride as a Count of the Underworld…’

The idea of standing up to face a mere human was something her pride wouldn't allow.

The one who ultimately resolved her foolish dilemma was Seo Jun-Ho.

"Let's go somewhere else," he said.

Thud!

She felt a massive palm holding her by her face, and she felt weightless. She looked around and found herself flying across the skies.

"Urgh! Let go of me, you bastard!"

Seo Jun-Ho hurled her to the ground upon seeing a glowing tattoo on her left hand. A fierce gust of wind swirled around Lavue. If he had thrown her slightly later, his entire right arm would have been shredded to pieces.

"Tsk!" Lavue landed safely in the desolate wilderness. She looked around, and her gaze grew increasingly venomous.

"Ha, you really want to do this properly, don't you?"

"It’s better if we hide from prying eyes. I’m sure you also don’t want others to know that we’ve fought, right?"

Seo Jun-Ho's chosen arena was a vortex zone, and it was simply the best arena for them to fight if they wanted to hide from prying eyes.

"Arrogant bastard. You probably don’t know since you’ve just arrived in the Underworld, so I’ll be kind and tell you." Lavue took off her outer robe, revealing just a single workout outfit; a few tattoos on her left arm shone at the same time.

"I’ve met many arrogant brats like you before, but they’re all gone."

Whoooosh!

A massive amount of demonic energy erupted from her, causing the vortex zone to momentarily come to a lull. The fearsome display of demonic energy made Seo Jun-Ho feel as if he were facing a furious, ancient beast.

"They’re dead! They died at the hands of the Underworld’s greatest mage!”

The voice had come from his right, but Lavue was still standing in front of Seo Jun-Ho.

‘An afterimage.’

His eyes couldn’t keep up with his movement, but he had already calculated her path based on her glowing tattoos.

‘She used three tattoos: number 7, 21, and 36.’

Each one granted her a brief speed boost, strength enhancement, and finally...

"Physical transformation."

Screech!

Her legs had become as sharp as knives as she lashed out at Seo Jun-Ho with a kick.

Clang!

A crisp and clear noise echoed throughout the vortex zone. It sounded like the noise only echoed once, but if one had keen ears, one would have heard that the seemingly one loud noise was born from thirty-four collisions done in the blink of an eye.

"Tsk!"

With a light click of her tongue, Lavue retreated. One of her glowing tattoos had darkened, and her legs reverted to their normal state. The tattoos that she had already used had gone on cooldown, and they wouldn’t go off cooldown until the fight was over.

‘How frustrating.’

Lavue suppressed the boiling anger rising from deep within her chest.

She had looked down on him because he was human, and she intended to show that there was a difference between humans and demons, even if the two were on the same Star Destruction Stage.

‘And that’s why I used a combination that’s too fast to block…’

However, Seo Jun-Ho still managed to defend himself, even though she had attacked a beat faster than him. This only meant one thing.

‘Is this guy really faster than me? Is that even possible?’

She was a demon, after all. She had lived significantly longer than humans, whose life spans were short. In other words, she was a member of a superior species.

She was perfectly fine. It wasn't like she was severely injured like Gorgon.

Moreover, she had been briefly as fast as Horizon.

‘However, he still managed to block my attack.

The turmoil in her heart gradually settled.

She didn't want to acknowledge a mere human, but this was already the second time.

‘The first time can be dismissed as luck, and the second as an underestimation on my part…’

However, a third time meant that the human was indeed powerful and skilled.

Crack!

She gnashed her teeth so hard that one could hear her teeth clatter.

At the same time, the patterns of her glowing tattoos changed.

"Hmm." Seo Jun-Ho sounded troubled.

‘I wish she looked down on me once more.’

If she had underestimated him just once more, he was confident that he would have been able to end her life. The first two times were tests to see if the tattoo positions and effects were the same as in Gorgon’s memories.

‘She acknowledged me faster than I thought.’

Perhaps that was natural to survive in the rapidly changing Underworld. She—who initially thought of him as a mere insect—had acknowledged him as her peer. As a result, she got ready to use tattoos that Gorgon didn't even know about.

‘Those tattoos didn’t exist during her battle with Gorgon.’

Seo Jun-Ho didn’t know the effects of those tattoos were unknown, but one thing was certain.

‘I have the advantage.’

His opponent knew nothing about him, but he knew more than half of her spells.

If he was so foolish as to not exploit this difference in his favor, he deserved to lose.

‘As Reiji said, fights between those of Star Destruction Stage and above are a form of a calculation battle.’

In other words, it was like a game of Go. If the difference in physical prowess weren't overwhelming, then eventually, the battle would be decided by the difference in techniques. Seo Jun-Ho had placed the first stone on the board.

"Darkroom."

Darkness bloomed and enveloped Lavue. The Curtain of Darkness isolated both himself and the opponent from the outside world, but the Darkroom isolated only the opponent.

Booom! Boom!

"Is this all you can do?!" Lavue’s barely audible voice echoed through a crack in Darkroom.

Darkroom soon collapsed, but it was fine.

"…!"

She found an eye staring at her the moment she emerged from the Darkroom.

"Basilisk."

The massive snake eye contained the power to freeze. She felt herself go stiff, so she immediately activated the tattoo of a teardrop under her left eye.

"Dammit!"

Craackle!

Dozens of spears made out of ice sprouted from where she was standing, but they all missed. However, Seo Jun-Ho seemed rather satisfied as he nodded.

"Sixty-first Tattoo Art: Daydream. It’s a cheap price to pay."

Daydream was a single-use, non-standard magic, and it invalidated a single event that had already occurred. Among all the spells engraved on her body, Daydream was one of the trickiest to handle.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

The Basilisk’s gaze had petrified Lavue, but she cast Daydream and invalidated that event before retreating. However, she didn’t feel happy upon escaping. She felt defeated by the fact that she had been forced to use such a powerful spell too early into the battle. The feeling of defeat was replaced by the urge to avenge herself.

"Since you took Daydream, you should at least give me an arm or leg!"

The tattoo on the back of her hand shone.

"Thirty-ninth Tattoo Art: Giant's Hand!"

Lavue thrust her enlarged left hand deep into the ground before lifting the ground itself.

Rumble!

The ground easily crumbled beneath her colossal strength.

"…"

Seo Jun-Ho took off into the air and nimbly avoided the debris. He jumped onto debris after debris to avoid Lavue’s enlarged hand.

"Come down here, little rat!" roared Lavue as one of her tattoos shone. Thousands of threads manifested in mid-air, and they all made a beeline for Seo Jun-Ho.

"Forty-fourth Tattoo Art: Hex."

Hex would immobilize the captured target for a few minutes, leaving them helpless. In addition, the threads’ attack pattern would change every time Hex was cast, making it practically impossible to dodge.

Seo Jun-Ho was soon caught in the thousands of threads, and Lavue’s enlarged hand flew toward him.

"…"

Seo Jun-Ho stared calmly at the enlarged hand and muttered, "Rewind."

A vast amount of magic power flowed out of him as he turned back time by five seconds.

"Come down here, little rat!" roared Lavue as one of her tattoos shone. Thousands of threads manifested in mid-air, and they all made a beeline for Seo Jun-Ho. However, Seo Jun-Ho simply used his memories of Hex’s attack pattern to dodge every thread.

"What the hell was that?! That’s cheating, you fucker!" Lavue cursed in astonishment.

The human in front of her had surpassed her expectations several times today alone. He was proving to be more formidable than any other enemies she had faced before.

"Silent Flash Wave." Seo Jun-Ho turned into a streak of light. He curved like flowing water in mid-air and abruptly appeared in front of Lavue.

"…!" Her eyes, still full of astonishment, caught up to him a beat later. One of her tattoos lit up, and it covered her vital spots in the form of a solid shield. However, Seo Jun-Ho smoothly altered the trajectory of his sword.

"The greatest weakness of a tattooist..."

Slice!

Lavue's right arm, severed at the wrist, shot into the air.

It was instantly carried away by the tornadoes of the vortex zone.

"The more flesh I carve out of you, the fewer spells you can use.”

"G-G-Get away from meeee!" Lavue screamed in horror, but her figure had long vanished. She had just activated her 2nd Tattoo Art: Blink to run away.

Seo Jun-Ho remained composed as he started tracking his fleeing prey.

Lavue hadn't gone that far yet.

***

"Haaa… haaa…! You bastard, crazy human bastard, you cheating piece of shit!"

Lavue kept on cursing as she sprinted across the wasteland.

The memories of their brief battle tormented her.

‘Is he even human?’

He was on a different level from the insignificant humans she knew. She had never met a human like him before.

‘Moreover, the power he was using was like…’

Lavue shuddered upon recalling a certain someone.

‘S-shoot…’

The massive clump of energy behind him had intensified. It meant that the monstrous presence was rapidly approaching her. The thoughts quickly racing through Lavue’s head made her panic.

‘W-which way should I go?’

Right now, she had to go to where she would have the highest chance of survival. The thought of returning to her city came to her mind, but she quickly shook her head. ‘That place is a war zone. Our chances of winning are low.’

Should she rely on the West or the North? The demons there would definitely laugh at her. They would definitely sneer at her and mock her for running away after losing an arm.

‘But hiding in the ownerless south…’

It was a decision that didn’t make sense. The South was behind her, and the monster was behind her, so she wouldn’t be able to go that far before he caught up to her.

‘Then, the only remaining option is…’

Gulp.

She gulped and turned in one direction—the West.

However, she wasn’t thinking of Horizon.

“Damn it..." Lavue gnashed her teeth.

The monster was fast approaching, so she had to make a decision soon lest it would be too late by the time she made up her mind. Left with no other choice, Lavue started moving while praying fervently that she had made the right decision.