Chapter 46: Nuada

Eurius’s strategy was simple as always.

‘I will definitely win with my ability!’

Swoosh!

He didn’t need to scout ahead. Eurius’s body disappeared as if erased by the effect of his Counterattack Ghost Blade.

“…!?”

Nuada couldn’t detect Eurius’s presence, of course. When he barely sensed him, the attack was already almost upon him!

‘First, one hit!’

Sssss.

Eurius moved to Nuada’s blind spot with lightning speed and delivered a full-powered strike.

Kwaaang!

The ground where Nuada was standing caved in and dust flew up from the force of Eurius’s sword. It was a powerful attack.

“Chief!!”

Among the nomads, worried cries erupted.

Anyone could see that Eurius’s attack had pierced Nuada’s vital point. He had taken a full-powered strike from a peerless warrior in an almost defenseless state.

But Eurius clicked his tongue. He felt that he couldn’t finish him off with this attack.

‘Damn, it wasn’t as fun as I expected.’

He thought that Nuada had an exceptional sense compared to other superhumans, but that wasn’t the only reason.

‘Stat window!’

[Nuada]

Job: Chief, Grandmaster Warrior

Strength S Agility S Intelligence B+ Spirit A+ Force Aptitude S+ Force S

Disposition: Aggressive, Cold-blooded, Loyal

[Traits]

Bare-handed Fighting (S+), Spear Throwing (A+)

(??? – An incomplete trait. The user is unaware of it, so the name is unknown, but it has the effect of enhancing defense by sense and force depending on the proficiency.)

Eurius clenched his teeth as he checked Nuada’s stats.

‘That damn trait messed things up a bit.’

Superhumans who reached the level of warriors had very sharp senses. 

And if he had a trait like that, it made sense that his attack wasn’t as effective as he thought.

“From now on, it won’t be easy!”

‘You wish?’

But Eurius had clearly gained an advantage. Even if he was a superhuman, he wasn’t a monster who could heal his wounds in an instant.

Bang!

Nuada’s fist and Eurius’s sword collided, creating a loud noise.

Nuada decided that it would be dangerous to give him a chance to hide his body, so he pressed him with punches and kicks without giving him a breath.

The people around them had already moved far away from the battlefield. The ground shook and craters formed every time their attacks collided and sent shockwaves.

‘I’ve never fought in my previous life, but as I heard, this is a tough opponent to face in close combat.’

Nuada’s fist was barely blocked by Eurius, who bent his waist and swept his upper body, then dodged his kick.

And that was Nuada’s trap. His foot that aimed for his upper body suddenly dropped in a straight line towards his head.

“Eek.”

Bang!

“Cough!”

Eurius quickly distorted the trajectory of his foot and blocked it with his sword.

But he still suffered a lot of damage from the irregular attack. He spat out blood and retreated slightly.

‘Even though I didn’t take it head-on and deflected it, it still has this much power…’

“I doubt there are many superhumans who can beat him in close combat alone.”

That was Beatrix’s impression after having fought him several times in her previous life.

In close combat, martial arts that can freely use hands and feet have more merit than weapons that rely on reach.

“And even though he has no form in his attacks like the immigrants, I could feel some sort of grace in his movements. It was as if I was watching the martial arts of a prestigious school.”

This was also Beatrix’s opinion.

As she said, Nuada used the irregular boxing of the immigrants, but strangely enough, he also smelled like a traditional martial artist who had learned properly.

Usually, martial arts without a solid foundation are like sand castles. They crumble easily when they start with a big disadvantage and try to rush the outcome.

But Nuada calmly attacked him with boxing even after he was injured by his attack.

‘It’s hard to win like this. As expected, it’s difficult for me to beat Nuada in a frontal battle. There’s also a compatibility issue.’

…

Meanwhile.

Nuada also had the upper hand for now, but the situation was not good for him either.

‘It’s hard to drag this into a long-term battle with this much injury. I have to somehow finish this in a short time…’

This foreigner had many strange skills. It was a decisive blow just now, but his attack path suddenly bent and he didn’t get as much damage as he expected.

He seemed to be calmly recovering from his injury, but he also thought that if things went on like this, he wouldn’t know how the outcome would turn out.

A hint of doubt crossed his mind.

‘But why isn’t he actively using the same attack as before, and fighting me in close combat?’

He could tell by looking that his opponent’s skill was great, but he had the advantage when they fought head-on.

He couldn’t believe that his opponent didn’t know that, but Eurius didn’t seem to hide his presence much except for the first attack.

Of course, the invisible attack itself was tricky, but his senses were so sharp that he could somehow block it.

“Are you mocking me if you’re not playing tricks?”

Eurius answered calmly.

“Didn’t you say you wanted to settle this? If you mean winning by running away until you run out of energy, I’ll pass.”

“Pfft!”

Nuada also snorted. 

He gave up on using his advantageous method to settle things with him head-on? But he liked his way of thinking.

“But can you accept that? Hiding your body is also your ability, right? It hurts my pride that you don’t use it!”

He was telling him not to spare him unnecessarily. He didn’t want to hear any excuses about losing with his advantageous method.

Snicker!!

This time, it was Eurius who laughed.

“…!?”

“You seem to be mistaken about something.”

“What?”

“Did you think I was using my full power until now?”

Nuada was puzzled. 

How could the guy who was barely losing to him until a moment ago say such a thing?

Eurius declared with a confident expression.

“Now, let’s get serious!”

‘Skill activation: Overheat.’

[Skill Overheat is activated. According to the skill effect, your Force rank increases from S+ to SS+.]

[There is a time limit. If you exceed the time limit, you will damage your core and reduce the efficiency of your Quadcore trait during the recovery time.]

[Duration based on current rank and proficiency: 90 seconds]

[Overheat has a skill cooldown. Once you use it, you cannot use it again for 72 hours.]

“Gasp!”

Nuada had no choice but to be startled. The aura he felt from Eurius suddenly increased terrifyingly.

Until a moment ago, their Force ranks were equal.

Therefore, their output was similar and Eurius had an edge in control, but Nuada compensated for that with his excellent combat sense. But now the situation had changed!

Kwaaang!

“Ugh!”

Blood dripped from Nuada’s mouth.

He had only blocked Eurius’s sword once, but he felt his insides shake and suffered a considerable internal injury.

‘Did he hide his strength? Or?’

Eurius casually answered his question.

“You were more impressive than I expected. And I needed a little preparation time too.”

Of course, half of this was a lie.

The reason why Eurius didn’t use his skill from the beginning was that he didn’t want to win by using his skill if possible.

‘I took the risk, but with Overheat, I can at least try to win in a fair fight!’

An increase in Force output meant that the strength, agility, and other attributes enhanced by Force also increased significantly.

On top of that, Eurius started to push Nuada mercilessly as his body began to slow down due to his injuries.

Nuada tried his best to block Eurius’s attacks, but the difference in output was too big.

Bang!

This time, Nuada’s body flew up as if he was hit properly and slid back on the ground.

“Cough!”

He quickly got up, but the tide had already turned against him.

But Eurius was also in a hurry!

[Remaining duration of Overheat: 32 seconds… 31 seconds…]

‘I have to finish this somehow within the duration.’

Nuada was not an easy opponent after all. He had met him about five years earlier than in his previous life, but he couldn’t imagine that he had just become a superhuman.

‘If it weren’t for the system’s help, I would have most likely lost.’

At last, a gap appeared in Nuada’s body, who was barely avoiding fatal wounds!

“I’m sorry, but this time it’s my victory.”

Bang!

Eurius’s fist, which overlapped Blast with Overheat, hit Nuada’s chest squarely.

“Ugh!”

Nuada barely avoided rolling on the ground, but that was his limit. He staggered and slowly collapsed.

And with that, the fight was over.

‘Skill release.’

[Overheat is released. Remaining time: 2 seconds]

‘That was close.’

Eurius wiped his chest inwardly.

“Chief!”

“How could this happen!?”

Among the immigrants, especially the Thunder Rock tribe, there were shock and groans. Who was their chief?

He was a man who had never lost once since he became a warrior, but he only had a slight advantage over that foreigner at first, and eventually lost in a head-on confrontation and fell. And the opponent didn’t seem to be seriously injured.

Swish.

As Eurius lifted his sword to watch the fallen Nuada, they instinctively flinched.

In fact, now that Nuada had fallen, how could they stop that absurd warrior if he targeted them?

Swoosh.

But Eurius sheathed his sword and the immigrants who watched him felt relieved.

‘He seems to keep his promise like a warrior.’

“Sir Heinz, call a healer.”

He also gestured to call a healer, one of the few precious resources in the camp, to look after Nuada’s wounds.

‘This should be enough to earn their trust, right?’

“Thunder Rock tribe, take your chief away!”

When he shouted loudly, someone came out from there and picked up Nuada with a faint fear in his eyes.

“I’ve done some basic treatment, so if he’s a warrior like this guy, he’ll wake up in a day. Can you tell him to see me then?”

“Ah… Yes.”

“Your Majesty! You did a great job.”

As they took Nuada away, the knights also looked at Eurius with admiration. Being a superhuman was the dream of every knight on the continent.

Eurius winked at them.

“Keep it a secret for now.”

“Yes.”

The knights, including Sir Linfield, had some expectations, but they looked at him with a warm expression as if they expected it.

‘The first operation failed, but the second one went better than I thought.’

Originally, Eurius wanted to somehow overpower Nuada and knock him down.

But there was also his counter skill problem, and no matter how hard he trained, he was one of those who would rank among the top superhumans on the continent in the future.

It was too optimistic to expect him to be weaker than him at this point.

His first plan was to inflict a serious injury with the first strike and then overpower him with his strength.

But when his first plan failed due to Nuada’s mysterious nature, he had no choice but to use his skill, which was his second option.

In fact, Eurius’s current physical condition was not very good.

‘Using skills like Blast that temporarily increase the output and Overheat at the same time is harder than I expected.’

Actually, core application skills like Blast or Distortion were not skills that manifested, but they were skills that strained the core a lot, so they were not without burden even when used normally.

On top of that, using a skill like Overheat that temporarily increased the core’s output naturally put a strain on his body. 

In fact, Eurius was already in a considerable internal injury.

The reason he did not abuse Overheat until now was because it had great power, but it also had a short duration and side effects like this.

‘Anyway, I successfully defeated Nuada in a frontal battle, so I’m satisfied!’

The reason he insisted on a frontal battle was to gain the trust of the other races. It was an expression of confidence that he could fight anytime if he didn’t like it!

And another reason was his pride.

‘After all, I’m a former emperor, so it’s not cool to run around like an assassin and win by surprise!’

He walked towards the barracks with a proud smile.

There were many twists and turns, but Eurius had won against a superhuman-level warrior for the first time since his regression.