Translator: HunterW
Editor: RED
Every time my spear punctured the Duke’s body, a strong explosion followed, pelting me with fleshy shrapnel each time. I stuck to him and didn’t even try to give myself room to avoid the explosions.
However, no matter how many times I got hit, I stuck to him. Each time I stabbed him, more and more liquid poured out from his body. His body continued to shrink like an ice cube left out on a hot summer day.
“Erk!”
“You damn leeching bastard!” the Duke shouted, annoyed.
We were both hurting each other quite a bit now, but I had to hold on. This was all I had left. It was do or die at this point. I had no magic spells or ranged skills in my arsenal; all I had to rely on was my Harrier.
==[Your opponent has been struck by Powerful Shock. 100,000 points of damage has been inflicted. For three seconds, your opponent’s movement speed, attack speed, DEF and MDEF is lowered by 80%.]==
“Gahh! Fuck!”
I was waiting for this exact moment. Even though Absolute Destruction wasn’t going to work today, I still had Powerful Shock to rely on.
Once the red bolt of lightning struck the Duke’s head, I stabbed again with my spear. Another explosion went off, dipping my HP even lower. Despite that, I kept attacking, even as I bled from the temple when a piece of shrapnel cut it.
About a hundred meters away from the Duke’s and Lee Jiwon’s battle, another fierce battle between the Werewolf Clan and the Duke’s army was taking place. At the start, both armies were fighting fiercely despite the difference in size but as time went on, both sides couldn’t help but focus more on the other battle.
“Die!”
“This time, we won’t spare any of you guys!”
“Iron Wall.”
“I call upon the Spirit of Earth, crush my enemies before me. Strike!”
“Might of the Wolves!”
“Bestial Howl!”
Both sides vowed that they would kill the other, and cast spells and skills left and right, but every single soldier paid more attention to the fight between the two strongest people on the battlefield.
Explosions went off consecutively in a two-meter radius. Shrapnel from the Duke’s body flew all around and Lee Jiwon’s head was starting to bleed profusely. During this whole time, the Duke’s body was continuing to noticeably shrink. The two continued to fight like that, despite their state and as more and more craters formed in the ground around them.
“Gaah! Fucking clingy bastard!”
“Fuck you, you fat bastard! How much did you eat all this time?”
They fought like diamonds cutting diamonds.
The soldiers of the Werewolf Clan and the Duke’s army were all accomplished devas in their own rights. As devas of the Otadolon stage, they had all strived towards one goal; to become the strongest, because that was the only way to survive.
That was the reason the devas of the Duke’s army had joined; they didn’t care if they were hated by the devas of the rest of the world if it meant they could get stronger. That was how the world they lived in operated now; the only dream devas could have after emerging from a Don Gate was to get stronger, no matter what!
However, many of them felt that that dream was just too far away from them as they watched the Duke and Lee Jiwon battle it out. The soldiers were of the same mind as they watched the two men fight: was it even possible for a deva or a deity to be that strong? It might be possible for a deity, considering how they were born, but a deva? That was impossible! Did Lee Jiwon truly get there through only hard work? No, that was impossible, too! Lee Jiwon was truly an anomaly.
Soon, the two armies stopped fighting altogether and solely focused on the Duke and Lee Jiwon. The fate of the war rested on their battle now…
“Grrr! Fine! Let’s see this to the end, you bastard!”
“That’s what I plan to do, you fat shit!”
“I won’t let someone like you flush away five years’ worth of Predation!”
“Are you sure about that? It seems to me you just lost two years!”
“Graah! Today doesn’t matter! Eating you will make up for all of that! I’ll eat all of those fucking dogs, too! I’ll be stronger than I ever was!”
“Do you think I’ll let you? Daydream when you’re alone!”
The Duke was getting anxious, even though he tried hard to not show it. The battle wasn’t over yet, and he doubted he would lose, as he still had his final ace in the hole. But the flesh he was losing right now was a huge waste. He had spent five years gathering it all as carefully as possible, so as to not attract any unwanted attention before it was time.
-Was I wrong?-
When he couldn’t capture Lee Jiwon as easily as he expected, the Duke had resorted to using his Extremely Sensitive Reaction. He had never expected Lee Jiwon to have a high enough ATT to break through his defenses. That Altered Equality was equally frustrating, as well!
None of his attacks were working now. Lee Jiwon just brushed off his whip or sliced it in half with his spear. The Duke’s HP were even considerably lowered thanks to Altered Equality. The Duke’s Wide Area Predation, that had never failed him before, also didn’t work against Lee Jiwon.
It was obvious what Lee Jiwon’s plan was. He was attacking with everything he had, and if he was going to die, he was going to take the Duke down with him. At first, the Duke was confident he could outlast Lee Jiwon, but now, he was getting doubtful. If this continued, the Duke could lose. He had to put some distance between them as quickly as possible, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t get away far or long enough.
Lee Jiwon was right; the Duke had lost almost two years’ worth of fat. He was down to about three meters now. He had never expected to lose so much!
“Hey, isn’t that the sign to toss him someone to consume?”
“How can he expect us to do that now of all times?”
The Duke’s deity guards clearly knew what he wanted from a small sign like that; they had fought alongside him for a few years now, after all. However, they couldn’t just toss him someone from the Werewolf Clan. No one was fighting and they would easily catch on if the Duke’s soldiers attempted anything shady right now. In the end, the Duke probably meant to toss one of their own.
There was another problem to that, however; if they tossed the Duke a deva soldier from their side, it would no doubt crush the morale of the rest of their eight thousand-strong army. It was already low enough as they watched Lee Jiwon holding his own against the Duke. No, it was clear that Lee Jiwon was pushing the Duke back.
The four deities looked at one another. They made their decision.
“We hold on as long as we can. The battle isn’t over yet.”
“Right. It’s not time for us to retreat just yet.”
“But what should we do about the Duke’s appetite?”
“We can’t do anything about that right now. If we lose our army, it’s over.”
“Then what do you suggest?”
“Attack the Werewolves. We have to turn the tide ourselves and kidnap one if we get the chance.”
“Alright. You haven’t let us down so far.”
“Let’s do it.”
Soon, the four deities led another full-on attack against the Werewolves, fighting harder than before.
Two hours later…
Both battles were still in full swing, without a clear indication of a winner on either side. However, this constituted as a win for the Werewolf Clan; they had lasted longer against the Duke and his army than ever before. The Werewolf Clan continued to fight on with high spirits, even as more and more of their comrades fell and their Fatigue rose higher.
The Duke’s army’s morale, on the other hand, continued to plummet, directly because of the fight between the Duke and Lee Jiwon.
“Is that the Duke’s true form?”
“To think that he is actually a dwarf…”
“I’ve seen that type of dwarfism before. I think it was called primordial dwarfism.”
“Yeah, that! I remember watching a documentary about it on TV in the past.”
No one had ever known what the Predator Duke really looked like, not even the four deity guards that were always with him. Everyone naturally thought he was bigger than average because of his constant state. However, thanks to Lee Jiwon’s consistent attacks, the Duke had just about lost all of his amassed flesh, revealing the Duke’s true form.
He came up to only about 110 centimeters. The average eight-year old was about 123 centimeters; the Duke was just too small. He had to be an adult; minors couldn’t use the Don Gates!
The Duke ground his teeth in anger. This was the maddest he had ever been. He had long forgotten this appearance; he had done everything he could to forget about it, to make sure no one knew about it, but Lee Jiwon had just revealed it to the whole world! Blood streamed from the Duke’s eyes. It wasn’t tears mixed with blood; it was actual blood!
“You bastard! How dare you! This wasn’t supposed to happen!” The Duke pointed his finger at Lee Jiwon in rage. He had to punish him for this! He would have to use his final ability, the ability that he had not even used on Muskan!
