Boom, bang, crash, kaboom!
Fireballs circling in the air fall one after another, pillars of fire shooting up like bamboo shoots.
Each tower of flame, enough to incinerate a building or two entirely, instantly covers the surroundings in blue fire.
It is truly a blistering hell.
A space of death where even a man made of iron would be turned to ashes in an instant.
Yet, not a single hair on Limon Aspelder’s head is singed.
Even before the fireballs fell, he had already escaped the range of the flames with his agile movements.
It was a natural result.
No matter how powerful the attack, Limon Aspelder is not someone who would absentmindedly let himself be hit by such an obvious strike.
But Lee Cheon-gi’s attack is not over.
No, it hasn’t even begun.
As if to prove that fact.
Lee Cheon-gi lightly snaps his fingers again and speaks in a low voice.
“「Flame Torrent」.”
Whoosh!
Do you believe the saying that fire is alive?
Any infidel would have come to believe those words if they were here.
The flames that covered the surroundings wriggle on their own, then surge back across the ground like a river to engulf Limon Aspelder—it is the very image of a living creature.
“Didn’t your mother tell you that if you play with fire, you’ll wet the bed at night?”
Limon Aspelder doesn’t even bat an eye.
With a slight snort, he simply stabs his sword into the ground and flicks it.
Ordinarily, it would be an action that just scatters dirt.
However, the Sword Master’s technique transforms him into a human catapult with that simple act.
Bang!
A huge hole forms in the ground where the sword was thrust, and a mound of earth as big as a house flies like a cannonball, piercing through the river of flames toward Lee Cheon-gi.
A massive mound of earth, engulfed in flames, falling like a meteor.
Though crude compared to modern weaponry, it is a lethal weapon imbued with primitive ferocity.
“「Weapon Manifestation」.”
Boom!
Fortunately, the progress of civilization is not in vain.
As a self-propelled gun rises from behind Lee Cheon-gi and spits fire, the primitive weapon is shattered into pieces and returns to being a pile of dirt.
A feat that firepower enthusiasts, scientism believers, and military buffs would join together in praising.
To that, Lee Cheon-gi adds fuel.
Snap!
With the snap of his fingers, various weapons such as tank guns, cannons, missiles, and heavy machine guns appear.
Bringing a level of firepower behind him that surpasses an entire army, the great Monarch mutters softly.
“「Accuracy Correction」, 「Cursed Magic Bullet」, 「Defense Penetration」, 「Destructive Power Enhancement」, 「Ejection Acceleration」.”
With every word, a halo of light gathers on the weapons.
In front of the weapons shining like a rainbow as the layers add up, Lee Cheon-gi sweeps one hand down gracefully like a conductor leading an orchestra.
“「Concentrated Fire」.”
Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom!
What begins simultaneously is an art of marksmanship.
Numerous high-tech weapons that originally had different specifications.
They assist each other as one, pouring toward the target without a single error.
A level of precision that even the Aegis system should learn from!
Moreover, the power enhanced by all sorts of skills far exceeds the category of modern weaponry.
“Hmm.”
Limon Aspelder does not back down even in the face of this baptism of death.
Instead, he gazes at the flying shells, bullets, and missiles at a glance, as if observing something.
And finally, after finishing his observation.
What Limon Aspelder performs is only three sword strikes.
He slides the tip of his sword against the leading bullet like a slide, then swings the sword in a circle to double its power and speed, sending it back.
Ping-ping-ping!
The scene is a Mantis blocking a cart.
A reckless charge of just three bullets against a countless, infinite bombardment.
But people do not know.
Mantis blocking a cart is not a phrase used to mock recklessness.
It is an anecdote derived from the spirit of a mantis that charged at a carriage, whose bravery caused Duke Zhuang of Qi to order his carriage to be steered around it.
And at this very moment.
Three bullets embedded simultaneously into a single missile create the miracle of the Mantis blocking a cart once again.
Boom! Kaboom!
Power that exploded due to skills.
An amazingly sophisticated and dense curtain of fire.
What should have been an advantage instead turns into poison as the missile at the very center of the barrage explodes.
Just as a precise machine easily breaks down from the twisting of a single screw.
The chain explosion starting from the missile draws in the other artillery fire, embroidering the sky with flames.
Dash!
The moment a hole appears in the barrage.
Limon Aspelder throws his body through that gap.
Even though the majority of the bombardment exploded on its own, half of it still remains.
There is no hesitation or fear in his golden eyes.
Only the tenacity of a predator lunging at its prey exists.
Lee Cheon-gi does not avoid those eyes.
Instead, he snaps his fingers again.
“「Gravity Manipulation」.”
He presses down with dozens of tons of weight.
“「Freezing Rainstorm」.”
He pours down rain that freezes everything.
“「Dream Labyrinth」.”
He unfolds a curse that swallows all creation into a dream.
“「Octagonal Barrier」.”
He raises an eight-layered barrier stronger than a bunker.
Each one is a top-tier skill that a high-level Player would use as their main ability.
The way he unfolds them one after another in a single breath is a divine feat that transcends even wonder.
A terrifyingly perfect sequence of skills that no one would dare to imitate, possible only because he is the Infinity Monarch, Lee Cheon-gi.
Limon Aspelder is still not shaken.
He simply takes three steps forward, just as he was lunging toward Lee Cheon-gi.
Even when it would be too late to turn around and run, the act of stepping boldly forward is the height of foolishness.
But the result is astounding.
One step.
Evading the gravity and the rainstorm.
Two steps.
Leaping over the barriers and the octagonal seal.
Three steps.
He thrusts his sword at Lee Cheon-gi.
A sight that defies common sense, unbelievable even when seen.
A fatal blow that would have pierced through him if he hadn’t prepared in advance.
“「Space Transfer」, 「Free Flight」.”
However, that single sword strike pierces the empty air in vain.
As if he knew this would happen.
Before Limon Aspelder could even finish his third step, Lee Cheon-gi disappears through a rift in space.
Appearing in the distant air where the sword cannot reach at all, Lee Cheon-gi looks at Limon Aspelder, who is clicking his tongue in disappointment, and speaks calmly.
“Amazing. How is such a thing possible without even using a skill?”
“It’s a secret, you bastard.”
It isn’t particularly fast.
He didn’t stop time.
He didn’t cross through space.
Despite that, Lee Cheon-gi asks calmly what the secret was that allowed him to pierce through all those skills and reach him in just three steps.
Shooting back a blunt reply, Limon Aspelder asks in return.
“How did you predict it? Usually, people can’t dodge this after seeing it for the first time.”
“I’ve already experienced it.”
Words that don’t seem like an answer.
However, Limon Aspelder understands.
“Hah, 「Precognition」, I see.”
Among the many prophecy-type skills, it is the most useful in combat, but also that much rarer and more difficult to master.
Watching Lee Cheon-gi, who used it to foresee the future of being stabbed and avoid it, Limon Aspelder asks sarcastically.
“Just how many skills do you have exactly?”
He had already used over a dozen skills in this short battle.
Moreover, many of them were powerful enough that acquiring even one would make someone a high-level Player.
Lee Cheon-gi’s ability to freely handle dozens of such skills was clearly abnormal, even by high-level Player standards.
“I’m not sure myself.”
Lee Cheon-gi accepts the sarcasm nonchalantly.
Then, facing Limon Aspelder, he speaks in a voice that is not just calm, but cold.
He reveals his Unique Skill, the only one of its kind, and the reason why he is called the most unfathomable Monarch among the ten great Monarchs.
“Since the moment I acquired over 3,000 skills, I stopped counting—I mean, through 「Skill Replication」.”
***
People often say.
Common Skill is a convenient power.
Rare Skill is a power that transcends reality.
Unique Skill is a miracle-like power.
Of course, that isn’t absolute.
While it’s true that better skills are rarer, being a rare skill didn’t necessarily mean it was strong.
But at least for the ten.
Regarding the Monarchs, no one doubted that this logic was absolute.
That is why even Players with the same Unique Skills called their skills specifically by this name.
Absolute Skill.
Or Cheat Skill.
The skills possessed by the Monarchs were special enough to be called cheats beyond miracles.
And among the ten Monarchs, the one considered the most like a cheat was the Infinity Monarch’s Unique Skill, 「Skill Replication」.
Actually, when he first became a Player.
Lee Cheon-gi was significantly undervalued.
Because at that time, 「Skill Replication」 could only replicate a Common Skill once every ten days.
Many mocked him for receiving such a landmine skill despite contracting with a Monarch-class Constellation.
But Lee Cheon-gi did not yield.
He replicated skills and entered Dungeons, gradually raising his level.
When the number of skills he acquired exceeded 10, Lee Cheon-gi began to stand out.
When the number of skills exceeded 50, there were no longer any who mocked him.
When the number of skills exceeded 100 and the cooldown of 「Skill Replication」 disappeared, he founded the Infinite Guild.
And when the number of skills exceeded 1,000 and it became possible to replicate even Rare Skills, he came to be called a Monarch.
The power of 「Skill Replication」 was just that much of a cheat.
Now, to this day, even he himself didn’t know exactly how many skills he had acquired.
People said.
The day Lee Cheon-gi becomes able to replicate even Unique Skills.
The ten Monarchs will disappear, and a single absolute being will be born.
That is why he was the Infinity Monarch.
He was the strongest Player, known to possess the greatest potential among the Monarchs because he handled infinite skills.
And at this very moment.
Lee Cheon-gi was generously showcasing his infinite potential against Limon Aspelder.
“「Chains of Restraint」, 「Wave Cannon」, 「Poisonous Insect Summoning」, 「Space Severance」.”
As Limon Aspelder cuts down the chains that suddenly appear at his ankles, an intangible wave flies at him, and while he avoids the swarming poisonous insects, space itself is split apart.
Escaping all those skills by a hair’s breadth, Limon Aspelder shouts.
“Hey, take a breath before using your skills. Don’t you get out of breath?”
“Didn’t you know? If you use 「Skin Respiration」 and Oxygen Generation together, you don’t really have to breathe.”
“How the hell was I supposed to know that, you bastard!”
Limon Aspelder inwardly clicked his tongue.
As a PAB agent, he had experienced all sorts of skills.
But now, in this short moment, he was experiencing more skills than he had seen in his entire life.
‘How many skills is this bastard using at the same time?’
It wasn’t just attack skills.
From thought-based skills like 「Parallel Thought」 and 「High-speed Thought」 to prophecy-type skills like 「Precognition」, and other auxiliary skills including 「Free Flight」.
There were more than ten skills he was certain were being used.
To be able to keep that many skills applied at all times while also spamming attack skills.
Even to Limon Aspelder, who considered himself quite outside the human category, it was enough to make him wonder if that bastard was even human.