The Lord roughly turns his head.

[Judgment Failed!]

The Confusion Judgment fails. The Lord, having regained his senses, moves his greatsword. He shakes off the arrow and erases the Fireball.

And he strikes the ivory ornament falling towards him.

Thwack!

The ivory ornament is flung away, twisting the trajectory of the other ornaments falling behind it. Amidst the countless debris, only the area around the Lord was calm. The pinnacle of swordsmanship.

Taesan cannot do such a thing. Even if he could, he wouldn't. To him, it is the height of inefficiency.

Forced Duel.

Nothing except the target can deal Damage. The meaning contained within was exceedingly simple. Within the falling ornaments, Taesan ran straight towards the Lord.

A sword ornament falls right in front of his nose. If it hit, he too would take considerable Damage.

Ting!

But it bounces off. It wasn't just the sword ornament. All the ornaments that hit Taesan scatter in every direction like billiard balls.

As if they were refusing contact with Taesan itself, as if there were some kind of law.

[This...]

Taesan charges towards the Lord just like that. The Lord was still concentrating on striking away the ornaments. From outside his field of vision, Taesan swings his sword.

A long, thin line appears on the Lord's chest.

“Hm?”

[You have activated Consecutive Attack. You use the next attack twice.]

[16 Damage to Hage-Ha.]

On the Lord's face, there is more bewilderment than pain. It was a face bewildered that Taesan had broken through the rain of ornaments.

“How?”

Taesan swung his sword instead of answering. The Lord raised his greatsword, but because Taesan was a step faster, he could not block it. A Damage window popped up.

It was a Consecutive Attack.

“Hmph.”

The Lord calms his bewilderment. With the same composed face as before, he moves the hilt.

[Hage-Ha has activated Power Strike. The next attack will deal great Damage.]

Power Strike.

A Skill that grants additional Attack Power proportional to the Mana consumed; if the current Taesan is hit even once, he will be in a near-death state. He had to avoid it at all costs.

[You have activated Counter. You will counter the opponent's next attack.]

A skill that makes one absolutely avoid an avoidable attack.

Counter.

His automatically moving body shifts left to avoid the descending hilt. Taesan's sword moves. Once again, a Damage window pops up.

This time too, it was a Consecutive Attack.

“Hoo.”

A look of enjoyment spreads across the face of the Lord, who took 100 Damage in an instant. His hand moves quickly. Faster than before.

At a speed that leaves afterimages. The blade and the hilt aim for Taesan. Taesan also moved his sword.

Kagagagak!

A harsh metallic sound rings out. He blocks all the attacks aimed at his entire body. Taesan shakes his hand, deflecting the shock.

The reward from the Judgment against an impossible foe. Thanks to the increase in All Stats, he could now handle it to some extent. He strikes, pushes, and avoids.

Countless exchanges of offense and defense occur at extremely close range.

Kagak!

The Lord's weapon is large. A greatsword the size of a sturdy man. Although he can handle close combat with skill, the drawback is clear.

Without creating distance, he presses in even further.

[You have activated No Breath Attack. For the next 10 seconds, you are free from the need to breathe.]

[Hage-Ha has activated No Breath Attack. For the next 10 seconds, he is free from the need to breathe.]

The swords of both sides move even faster. So fast now that it's difficult to even follow the shape of their hands.

Thwang!

Taesan roughly swings his sword to create a little distance. The Lord, who was about to strike with the hilt, falters as the distance is too great. Taesan did not miss that brief opening.

He changes his sword to a Magic Staff and then back to a sword. It didn't even take 0.2 seconds.

[You have activated Fireball.]

Flames rise.

The Lord, without panicking, flicks his hand and scatters them. But the flames obscured his vision, making him lose sight of Taesan for a moment. Taesan moved behind the chair.

Stab.

[15 Damage to Hage-Ha.]

It pierces through the chair and stabs the Lord's stomach. The Lord calmly holds his weapon with one hand and grabs the armrest with the other.

Spin.

The chair turns smoothly. At a speed not much different from turning his body, Taesan clicked his tongue.

“Why is he so fast?”

“I had to adapt to this weakened body.”

With a leisurely reply, the Lord moves his arm. While avoiding the raging greatsword, Taesan sticks close to the side of the chair.

[You have activated Forced Duel. For 10 seconds, nothing except Hage-Ha can deal Damage to you.]

Thud! Forced Duel.

Nothing except Hage-Ha can interfere with Taesan. If there were exceptions, it would be things like the weapon one uses or a summoned beast. The chair was not included in that.

Like the same poles of a magnet repelling each other, the chair is flung away. The Lord, now flying through the air while sitting on the chair, lets out a gasp of admiration.

“You use a Skill in such a way? Incredible! Warrior! I give thanks to God that my last battle is with you!”

There is no time to respond to the praise. The Lord was flung into the air, upside down. It's a difficult posture to block attacks from, as there is nowhere to anchor his strength.

Taesan gripped his sword and sprinted. The Lord, still in his inverted position, slashes downwards. Taesan, in a proper stance, meets his slash.

With a sound like a thunderbolt striking, both are sent flying.

“Kuhk!”

“Ugh!”

Taesan barely manages to regain his footing. But the Lord's situation was worse. Having collided with immense force in mid-air, he tumbled roughly across the ground.

It's an opportunity. Taesan kicks off the ground. Some kind of System Window is blocking his view, but he has no time to care.

But the Lord does not just take it lying down either. He quickly gets into position and thrusts his sword.

[You have activated Counter. You will counter the opponent's next attack.]

Counter.

Its function is forced evasion and counterattack. However, depending on how it's used, the opposite was also possible. Taesan puts strength into his automatically moving body.

He fights against his body's attempt to dodge and charges towards the tip of the sword. The Ghost is horrified.

[Wai-, you!]

The sword pierces Taesan's chest.

[You take 462 Damage.]

[Your Fortitude has been activated. The attack that would have led to death has been nullified. For 1 second, all damage becomes 0.] [What, Fortitude?]

Counter is a counterattack. A counterattack deals greater Damage. In other words, if you charge into an opponent's attack while using Counter, the counterattack's Damage returns to yourself.

Thanks to that, he could activate Fortitude while his Health was full. The Lord tries to push Taesan away, but for 1 second, all damage disappears. Taesan slashes the Lord's entire body.

Countless Damage windows obscure his vision. 1 second passed. Taesan deflects the trajectory of the descending greatsword and slashes again.

[16 Damage to Hage-Ha.]

Again, a Consecutive Attack. This isn't an opponent he can beat by holding back. He pours out everything he has.

He activates No Breath Attack without a moment's rest. His Mana is depleted in an instant. Taesan quickly drinks a Mana Recovery Potion from his Inventory and attacks again.

His breathing becomes ragged. His Mana is almost gone. The fatigue in his whole body has also built up considerably.

No Breath Attack frees him from the need to breathe, allowing free movement, but it doesn't do anything about muscle usage. As he moves more than usual, he tires out faster. He has plenty of Health, but since the Attack Power is enough to put him in a near-death state with just two or three hits, it doesn't mean much.

With Fortitude used up, there's no turning back. However, the Lord's situation isn't good either. He has dealt countless amounts of Damage.

Being a humanoid, the limit of his Health is clear. The end is probably in sight. So, this is the end.

For both him and the Goblin. From now on, he won't perfectly dodge the attacks. Instead of blocking perfectly, he takes a little Damage and attacks.

They repeat the exchange of Damage with each other. The sword pierces the Lord's shoulder. Taesan's pupils tremble.

The Lord's expression was endlessly calm, as if he had been aiming for this. The Lord pulls Taesan's wrist. The sword is embedded deep, and he cannot pull it out.

He then kicks Taesan's abdomen with his foot.

[You take 35 Damage.]

“Keuk!”

His body is momentarily lifted. A dull pain is felt in his chest. His ribs are broken.

From the sensation, it felt like more than three were broken.

[You have activated Unbreakable Will. For 10 seconds, you ignore all injuries and act.]

The pain doesn't disappear, but the unpleasant sensation is no longer felt. Taesan pushes the sword even deeper.

[25 Damage to Hage-Ha.]

The hilt of the greatsword strikes Taesan's back.

[You take 46 Damage.]

Taesan raises the embedded sword as it is. The shoulder skin and bone are split. The Lord strikes Taesan with his shoulder.

The sound of bones breaking rings out.

[You take 35 Damage.]

His whole body creaks. He forcibly moves his breaking body. Stabbing with the sword and receiving cuts repeats.

Taesan embeds his sword in the Goblin Lord's chest. The blade is embedded deeply. Through the tip of the sword, he feels a heartbeat.

For a moment, the Lord's face relaxes. With a gentle face, like one who has found rest, he whispers to Taesan.

“Excellent. Warrior...!”

Something escapes from the Lord's body. Taesan felt that it was a Soul. The spiritual something scattered, not towards the ceiling, but across the floor.

It felt like it was entering the deep, deep Depths.

[You have won against the former Goblin Lord Hage-Ha.]

[You have cleared Rakiratas's Quest.]

[You have identified the Hidden Element of the 3rd Floor. You have obtained the Reward [???].]

A System Window announcing the end of the battle appeared.

It's over.

Taesan collapsed onto the ground.

“Hoo.”

He exhales, closing his eyes and leaning his back against the wall. His Level had risen, relieving all his fatigue, but the mental burden had been quite large.

‘So this is a Lord.’

A strength unthinkable for a Goblin. His strength, composure, ability to assess the situation, and methods for responding to variables were all perfect. If he had made even one, truly minuscule mistake, he would have been the one to die.

It was dangerous with Rakiratas too, but this time it was really touch-and-go.

[Are you okay?]

“More or less.”

He presses the corners of his eyes to relieve the fatigue. As his mind slowly started to come back, a thought suddenly occurred to him.

“Why is it so quiet?”

The Ghost had been silent since around the time the battle ended. It just quietly stayed by Taesan's side.

[It's just... it's nothing.]

The Ghost's words trailed off. He wondered what was up with its unusual attitude but didn't bother to ask. Right now, he lacked the energy to worry about that.

“Hoo.”

He stretches.

He finally calmed down. His pounding heart returned to a normal rhythm.

“Time to check, I guess.”

He opened the System Window that was blocking his view. Lines of text, so numerous they obscured his vision, densely filled his sight. First, the victory Reward.

[You have won against an impossible foe. Health increases by 50. Mana increases by 5. All Stats increase by 7.] The victory bonus for an impossible foe.

He had never seen it before. In Easy Mode, foes of an impossible level don't appear, and after coming outside, you can't receive rewards, so this was the first time he had properly processed it. All Stats +7. On top of that, Health and Mana also increase.

It was a much larger increase than any other Reward. And it didn't end there.

[You have fought a bloody battle with an impossible foe. You have obtained the Special Passive Skill [Craving for Battle].]

[You have fought and won a bloody battle with an impossible foe. You have obtained the Special Passive Skill [Craving for Victory].]

[You have succeeded in all Judgments against an impossible foe. You have obtained the Special Active Skill [Contempt for the Strong].]