Before he could even flinch, the angel statue's attack began. A massive fist, clenched tight, flew at him like a bolt of light. It was too close to dodge and too fast to evade. His battle-hardened brain reached a swift conclusion. Jin-Woo hastily raised his arm to block. It wasn't a wrong call, but it wasn't the right one either. BOOM—! The force was so immense that the moment the fist connected, both of Jin-Woo's feet left the ground and he went flying backward into the wall. CRACK—! Shards of the crumbling wall rained down.
'Ghk.'
Jin-Woo swallowed a groan. The unexpected blow had delivered an impact far beyond what he'd anticipated. But the angel statue gave him no time to recover—it had already closed the distance to right in front of him. BANG! Jin-Woo tilted his head to the side to dodge, and the angel statue's fist punched a gaping hole in the wall. That was just the beginning. With Jin-Woo's back pinned against the wall and his retreat completely cut off, the angel statue began hammering eight fists at him without mercy. Each blow was lethal enough to kill a high-ranking Hunter in a single hit, and they rained down without pause. DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU! The angel statue's eyes widened.
'He's... blocking my attacks?'
It was deflecting, twisting, and parrying the bombardment of attacks from all eight arms using only two of its own. The movements were so fast they left afterimages. The angel statue felt a twinge of admiration internally. This battle had been decided from the start. It was merely a formality—a final check on Jin-Woo, one last look, regardless of his own will. Under normal circumstances, boredom would have been the expected reaction. But then.
'How entertaining.'
To think it would find excitement in a fight against a human. In all its long existence, it had never once considered that a mere human could be a worthy opponent. The instant that thought crossed its mind, a flash of light streaked through the air. No—not light. It was a punch thrown by a human. BOOM! The angel statue took a blow square in the face from Jin-Woo's jumping strike and tumbled across the floor before staggering back to its feet. A small crack traced across the face that had been wearing a smile.
[Haha.]
What a thrill it had been. The angel statue was so excited that it shuddered, as though the dwindling time remaining was almost too precious to bear.
"Hoo—"
Having landed a clean hit on the angel statue, Jin-Woo let out a rough breath without a trace of satisfaction.
'Strong.'
It was stronger than any enemy he had fought before. The designer of the System. That was how the thing had introduced itself. Why it had designed the System, why Jin-Woo had been chosen as a Player, and what was happening in this world now—questions piled up like a mountain.
'If I want answers...'
First, he had to take "that thing" down. Jin-Woo clenched his fist tight. But just then—trickle. Something warm and sticky ran down his face. Blood. Blood was streaming from a cut on his forehead.
'Couldn't dodge everything, huh?'
He thought he'd dodged perfectly, but apparently an attack had slipped through. The blood happened to seep into one eye, obstructing his vision. Meanwhile, the enemy was still in fine form. It would be hard to call this a good situation even in the nicest terms.
'Close combat is a disadvantage.'
An obvious conclusion, if ever there was one. The enemy was several times larger and had six more arms. Evading or blocking fast attacks coming from so many different angles was practically impossible—as his forehead wound now proved.
'So then.'
He'd have to change the nature of the fight. The moment Jin-Woo made up his mind, the angel statue swooped in at blistering speed and swung a massive fist. KRA-KOOM! The fist tore through the air and struck the wall. The crumbling wall collapsed with a rumble. The angel statue's head swiveled to the side. Jin-Woo had already retreated a good distance away before the statue even noticed.
'I won't lose on speed.'
So if he kept his distance and dealt blows from range... Jin-Woo used 'Ruler's Authority' on the angel statue as it turned toward him. THWACK! A crushing blow from above! The same technique he'd used to beat down the Ant King, Beru, descended upon the angel statue's head. But then.
'...?'
Jin-Woo's eyes widened in disbelief. That same skill, which had been powerful enough to tilt the upper body of a colossal statue, barely made the angel statue's head bob slightly. It didn't know what it was, but the thing had used some invisible force of its own to block the skill. There was no other explanation.
'What is that?'
The question didn't last long.
[Fun, isn't it?]
At some point, the angel statue's low voice began overlapping with the System's feminine voice. That unnatural combination grated on his ears.
[How delightful.]
When the thing extended all eight arms in every direction, the weapons held by the surrounding statues began to tremble.
'That's...?'
Jin-Woo's eyes went wide. The statues' weapons rose into the air in unison and flew toward the angel statue. The angel statue caught all eight weapons at once, gripping one in each hand.
'Ruler's Touch.'
The angel statue could use the 'Ruler's Touch' skill as well. Its level appeared to be lower than Jin-Woo's own, but now he understood how the thing had blocked his skill. This was no ordinary opponent. Tck. Jin-Woo's gaze flicked upward.
[Time remaining: 6 minutes 19 seconds]
About six minutes left now.
'I need to end this quickly.'
He knew ranged attacks were useless. Jin-Woo changed his strategy and summoned the 'Demon King's Dagger.' The other one he'd thrown earlier was nowhere to be seen.
'A single dagger against eight weapons.'
Thump, thump. The more dire the fight became, the harder his heart pounded. WHOOSH. The angel statue leaped high enough to touch the ceiling and landed in front of Jin-Woo. CRACK! The stone tiles of the floor, unable to withstand the impact of the landing, shattered and sent shards flying. Jin-Woo felt the tiny fragments striking his ankles as he thrust the dagger forward.
'I can do this.'
I can do this. Jin-Woo locked eyes with the angel statue and steadied his breathing. A chilling cold shot down his spine. Just as he expected. A sword, a spear, a blade, an axe, a hammer—eight weapons charged at him as if each had a life of its own. Hoo—Jin-Woo exhaled a hot breath and narrowed his eyes. Under the interior light that was neither bright nor dim, his eyes left long trails of light as his body moved. KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KA-KRA-KOOM! Was this what it would sound like if you fired a bullet to intercept every incoming bullet in midair? Deafening roars collided endlessly as Jin-Woo and the angel statue exchanged blows countless times in the span of a heartbeat. In a world slowed down, only the two of them thrashed furiously, as if fighting against the flow of time itself. Neither above nor below—a dead-even match. But...
'I can feel it.'
Jin-Woo's shoulder shifted ever so slightly. The angel statue's blade passed through the space where it had been, missing by an infinitesimal margin that the eye could barely register. The eye he couldn't use anymore no longer mattered. His senses had transcended their limits and stepped into a new frontier, reading the trajectories of the weapons as though he could see them all even without sight. He dodged the angel statue's attacks by a hair's breadth and landed counterattacks one by one. Wounds were accumulating on the thing's body. The angel statue's speed remained constant, but Jin-Woo's kept increasing. The angel statue was horrified.
"...!"
There had been no need to go this far just for a test. This human was drawing out its full power. Literally full power. A human who could fight on equal terms with it using everything it had? The angel statue peered at Jin-Woo with suspicious eyes. Then it realized why.
'Slightly, but... it's mixed in.'
The angel statue flinched. So that was how this human had gained the ability to wield such power so freely. But that, too, was what it had been hoping for. Excitement and ecstasy spread across the angel statue's face at that moment—when a cleanly severed arm launched into the air. The angel statue's gaze rose upward. The arm that had dropped its weapon... was its own right arm.
[GAAAAAAAH!]
Even a fake body still felt pain. Having lost an arm in an instant, the angel statue staggered backward.
[A mere human!]
The angel statue's eyes turned red. Its dormant nature made it forget its purpose.
[How dare you!]
With its roar, the collapsed statues rose all at once. THOOM! Even the colossus with its head half shattered pushed itself up from the ground. Jin-Woo sensed the enemies beginning to move but charged at the angel statue without hesitation. CLANG! Four of the angel statue's hands were used to block a single dagger. Even so, its toes scraped backward along the ground. Agility, senses, strength, stamina—every stat was exceeding the angel statue's expectations.
[GAAH!]
At the angel statue's beast-like roar, the statues pounced on Jin-Woo. A battle against every enemy in the temple—Jin-Woo versus all of them. Tck.
[3 minutes 2 seconds]
Even now, the clock kept ticking down. Jin-Woo's dagger severed another of the angel statue's arms—one crafted from a pair of its six wings.
[GAAAAAH!]
But the revived statues' resistance was no joke. There were so many surrounding him that dodging every attack was out of the question. He focused solely on the angel statue, evading only the lethal blows and ignoring the rest. His stamina was dropping sharply. THUD! A shield swung down by a statue struck his left shoulder.
'Ghk!'
Jin-Woo turned toward it. The shield-bearing statue was winding up for another strike. Jin-Woo's face twisted. He could forgive the others, but not this one. Only then did Jin-Woo break away from the angel statue and slam his free left elbow down on the statue's head. CRACK! Reinforced with mana, the blow shattered the statue's head completely. In the meantime, the other statues quickly surrounded Jin-Woo and lunged. But he used a skill to shove them back.
'Ruler's Authority!'
BOOM! A cluster of statues was blown backward as if hurled from the center of an explosion.
"Hah, hah."
But before Jin-Woo could catch his breath, the colossus brought its fist down on his head from above. Jin-Woo leaped lightly to the side to dodge the colossus's strike. WHOOSH—! The massive fist swept aside dozens of statues near Jin-Woo. Jin-Woo ran in a wide arc to shake off the statues bearing down on him and closed in on the angel statue. The angel statue greeted him with a face scrunched tight. That expression was pure rage. Once more, Jin-Woo, the angel statue, and the statues clashed together. Jin-Woo's sweat and blood splattered in every direction. But it was only for a moment. Before long, the sweat and blood evaporated in the heat, and red steam began to rise from Jin-Woo's shoulders. The statues surged back, the colossus hammered its fist down, and the angel statue's hands moved frantically. And right at the center of it all stood Jin-Woo.
[GAAAAAH!]
When yet another arm was cut away, Jin-Woo's dagger finally reached the angel statue's neck. Above them both, the colossus was bringing its two massive interlocked hands crashing down. Jin-Woo calmly drove the dagger deeper into the angel statue's neck. In that instant, the angel statue surrendered.
[I lose.]
At the same moment, the colossus and all the statues froze in place.
[The trial is over.]
Tck. Along with the angel statue's declaration of faith, the endlessly spinning timer stopped as if by magic.
[Time remaining: 2 minutes 11 seconds]
Steam curled upward from Jin-Woo's entire body. After confirming the stopped timer, Jin-Woo lowered his head. His gaze was fixed on the angel statue.
"I have something I want to ask." [Ask away. Within the limits of my knowledge, I will answer anything.]
With an expressionless face, the angel statue accepted the request with unexpected compliance.
'...'
Jin-Woo thought quietly. The first time he had asked the angel statue "Who are you," the thing had mocked him, saying the question was wrong. And just as it said, learning the truth about its identity hadn't resolved his doubts—it had only raised more. So Jin-Woo asked the proper question, as it had advised him.
"Who am I?"