Chapter 149: Elemental Property (1)
Sosuke's expression twisted in anger.
“What the fuck did you just say?”
He had been casually forming water droplets around himself, but his face scrunched up as if he had just heard the most absurd thing.
“Pregnant? What the hell are you talking about?”
“Wait... are you seriously denying that you’re carrying a child right now?”
“What kind of bullshit is this?!”
How could he call this bullshit while laying all those eggs?!
“It's because of irresponsible people like you that parents keep abandoning their children and running away!”
“I'm not pregnant!”
“No! You are pregnant!”
“What the actual fuck are you talking about?”
“I saw it!”
“Saw what, exactly?!”
Sosuke stared at Kwon Oh-Jin in utter disbelief. Never in his life had he encountered someone deranged enough to say something this absurd, especially to the King of Seahorses.
“Have you forgotten, Sosuke? That night... the long and thick tentacle went inside you—”
“You son of a bitch!”
Sosuke decided that this conversation was no longer worth continuing. He launched the water droplets at Kwon Oh-Jin. Maybe it was because of the ridiculous nonsense he just heard, the droplets flying through the air actually looked like eggs to him. This only made the situation more frustrating.
Tudududu!
The water droplets rained down like a machine gun.
Kwon Oh-Jin watched Sosuke’s reaction with a chuckle and calmly stepped forward. Maybe it was thanks to the intense battle against Cheon Do-Yoon before, but dodging the barrage of water droplets wasn’t particularly difficult.
Guess that image training does come in handy.
His self-hypnotic training of dodging the lasers was now helping him weave through the hundreds of water droplets flying toward him.
Honestly... I don’t even need to dodge them.
He suppressed a sly grin and moved swiftly.
The droplets that missed Kwon Oh-Jin exploded on the ground.
Bang! Bang!
Though the noise wasn’t particularly loud, the deep craters made it clear that their power was nothing to scoff at.
“You sneaky little rat!” Sosuke cursed under his breath as he glared at Kwon Oh-Jin, who effortlessly dodged the attacks.
Realizing that things couldn’t continue like this, Sosuke charged toward him while relentlessly firing water droplets.
“You think you can keep running forever?”
His arms transformed into swords as he swung at Kwon Oh-Jin, who dodged left and right.
A blue lightning barrier formed in front of Kwon Oh-Jin.
Crackle!
Sosuke smirked. “I told you. It’s useless!”
His swords, made of pure water, sliced through the lightning barrier like a knife cutting through cake. He cleaved through and slashed across Kwon Oh-Jin’s chest.
“Agh!”
Kwon Oh-Jin tried to evade, but dodging both the water droplets and Sosuke’s swords wasn’t easy. His wound started dripping blood onto the ground.
“Hahaha! This is the advantage that comes with certain elemental properties.”
At first glance, a battle between water and electricity seemed to overwhelmingly favor electricity. However, pure water without a single impurity would flip the entire elemental dynamic. Of course, this wasn’t some Pocketmon battle where elemental properties solely determined victory.
He’s a seven-star, right? Sosuke thought.
Kwon Oh-Jin stood no chance even if he was the North Star apostle because of the significant difference in star ranks and his disadvantageous element.
“So! Where did all that cocky talk go, huh?! Huh?!”
“Ugh!”
Water droplets came from every direction, and razor-sharp sword strikes carved through the gaps between them.
Kwon Oh-Jin could safely escape using the Stigma of Hourglass, but couldn’t afford to keep relying on its limited uses. Inevitably, he started taking hits.
“Kugh!”
The sharp blades slashed him while the water droplets bruised and battered him.
“Ugh!”
“Come on. Let’s hear you run that mouth again!”
“Aagh!”
“Don’t just scream. Talk!”
“D-Damn it!”
“Hahaha!”
Sosuke laughed as he watched Kwon Oh-Jin getting beaten to a pulp, unable to land a single decent counterattack. Not only had Kwon Oh-Jin completely ruined his plans, but he had also dared to mock him with that smug expression. Now, watching him get utterly crushed sent a thrilling shiver down Sosuke’s spine.
“Don’t think you’re gonna get an easy death.”
Sosuke cruelly grinned and continued attacking while deliberately avoiding vital spots.
Kwon Oh-Jin finally started slowing down from the accumulated damage and darting around like a rat.
Sosuke’s assault only grew more relentless and vicious.
“And here I thought you’d be strong because you killed that owl bastard. It turns out you’ve just been riding on the coattails of your Celestial, huh?”
Sosuke thought it didn’t make any sense when he first heard that the Thunder Wolf took down Cheon Do-Yoon. Now, he felt certain after facing Kwon Oh-Jin directly.
The Thunder Wolf only defeated the King of Owls purely thanks to Vega’s power.
“But you won’t be able to get any help from that Weaver now, will you?”
Sosuke knew well about the restrictions regarding a Celestial manifesting directly. No matter how powerful the North Star Celestial was, she couldn’t break the laws governing them. She couldn’t descend again so soon to help Kwon Oh-Jin since Cheon Do-Yoon just died not too long ago.
“D-Damn it!”
Kwon Oh-Jin’s face twisted in shock as if he hadn’t expected to be overwhelmed like this.
Sosuke couldn’t help but laugh at the pathetic expression. “And you really thought you could take me on alone like this?”
“Ugh!”
“Hahaha! I mean, I guess getting your ass kicked like a punching bag still counts as fighting!” Sosuke mocked him and attacked even more ferociously.
For the next five minutes, he relentlessly drove Kwon Oh-Jin into a corner. Eventually, even Sosuke’s breathing grew heavier.
“Haa... haa...” He steadied his breath and looked at Kwon Oh-Jin.
Sosuke had avoided the vital spots and aimed to cause as much pain as possible, yet Kwon Oh-Jin still hadn’t gone down despite being beaten for over five minutes.
Damn, he’s persistent.
He had dragged this out for too long.
Time to wrap this up.
Sosuke’s eyes gleamed, and he took a deep breath. A sinister black light pulsed from the Stigma engraved on his chest. Then, a thick, dark mist poured out of him.
Shhhh!
“Spread.”
At his quiet command, the ominous mist erupted and swallowed the entire area like clouds descending to smother the land.
Unlike Mika’s mist, this was on a completely different level. It clung to the skin like a sticky swamp, pulling everything into an endless abyss. This horrifying mist would rob the victim’s sight, movement, and even breath. Such a demonic technique was currently suffocating Kwon Oh-Jin.
“Kugh! Kugh! I can’t breathe!” Kwon Oh-Jin clutched his throat and painfully gasped for air.
He looked pathetic with tears streaming down his face from sheer terror.
Sosuke’s smirk only widened. “This is the end.”
Honestly, he would’ve liked to make Kwon Oh-Jin suffer even more, but Sakaki or the Kuroushi members would chase after him at this rate.
If I use the elixirs I’ve been saving up, I could wipe them all out easily.
However, a trump card was most powerful when kept hidden. Wasting it on the Kuroushi now would make it harder for him to survive in the war between factions at a later date.
“Die, dog of Vega.”
Sosuke’s cold eyes gleamed as he stretched out both arms toward Kwon Oh-Jin, who was still shrouded in the mist.
Rumble!
Hundreds of water droplets appeared and converged into a single mass. The gathered water swelled, forming a sphere over ten meters in diameter. It had grown far too large to be called a mere droplet anymore.
Now, let’s add some rotation.
A whirlpool churned within the enormous water mass. It looked like just a single touch would be enough to drag someone in and instantly tear them apart.
The compressed whirlpool shot toward Kwon Oh-Jin, still engulfed in the mist. The deafening explosion didn’t sound like water colliding at all.
Boom!
“It’s over.”
Sosuke turned away without even checking the result, but—
Bang!
Six wires suddenly coiled around him, and blue electricity shot through the wires.
Crackle!
“Argh!”
Sosuke was about to release his pure water state, thinking Kwon Oh-Jin had died. In an instant, he liquified himself again to escape. He barely managed to slip free from the wires and whipped his head around.
Kwon Oh-Jin was still standing even though he was mangled beyond recognition and covered in countless wounds.
“You stubborn bastard!”
Sosuke couldn’t understand how Kwon Oh-Jin had survived and attacked him. The sheer frustration enraged him.
“Die!”
Sosuke lunged forward and launched more attacks.
Kwon Oh-Jin had managed to withstand one attack, but that was all. He would die with one or two more hits.
Slash! Slash!
Sosuke continued attacking as water splashed around.
Why won’t this bastard die?!
Something was wrong. He had landed dozens, no, hundreds of clean hits by now. How the hell was Kwon Oh-Jin still on his feet?!
“Damn it!” Sosuke cursed in frustration. “Fine. Let’s end this for good.”
He decided to unleash a part of his trump card. A stream of water formed in the air as he swung both of his arms.
Rumble!
This water with a subtle, blue glow was unlike anything before. It was made from dissolving captured Awakeners. Sosuke poured the elixir into himself.
“Haaa,” he exhaled softly and lifted his head.
The fight had begun in the basement, but the battle between Awakeners had turned the entire area into an open space. The thick mist around them rose into the air. From within, water began to pour down.
Whoosh!
A torrential downpour engulfed the entire surroundings.
He won’t be able to endure this one.
This deadly attack imbued each of the falling droplets with his Stigima’s mana. There was no way to dodge or block this disaster as it fell from the sky.
Kwon Oh-Jin looked up at the pouring rain in sheer astonishment. “N-No way.”
To be exact, he wasn’t looking at the rain. A blue message window had appeared before him.
[The air is saturated with the energy of water.]
[The efficiency of Water Affinity Lv MAX has increased dramatically!]
Kwon Oh-Jin, trembling in fear, shouted, “H-How is it possible to gather such a powerful amount of water energy when there’s no water around?!”
The torrential rain containing a huge amount of mana poured onto his fake wound created by Transformation.
As the rain drenched him, Kwon Oh-Jin desperately tried to hold back his laughter.