Chapter 326: 326
Choi Han started to walk toward Adin .
“How could someone move so quickly?!”
One of the knights could not hide his shock .
He could just see a black blur .
A human and his sword that were both covered in black aura was charging toward Imperial Prince Adin as if he was a wild animal .
The black aura continued to run wild as Choi Han moved .
‘His highness is a high-grade knight!’
The knight felt fear as he watched Choi Han almost instantly arrive in front of Adin with his sword raised . His superior calmed him down at that moment .
“It will be fine . ”
“…Excuse me?”
The two swords clashed as the knight asked back .
Baaaaaang!
A loud noise filled the area as if a mountain had crashed into another mountain .
“Ugh! Cover your eyes!”
The knight quickly covered his eyes at his superior’s urging .
The dust underground, the broken pieces of the ground, started to fly up from the impact .
And once the dust settled down…
“…My goodness, something like that is possible?”
The knight even forgot that he was in the middle of a battle after seeing what was going on .
The black things were fighting to gobble each other up .
Choi Han looked at the black sword that was up against his sword .
It was a sword made of dead mana . Furthermore, it was surrounded by black aura smoke .
His sword that was surrounded by the aura of a sword master was unable to break this black sword .
Imperial Prince Adin started to laugh at this sight .
“What do you think? You already knew this . My black aura smoke and your black aura are at completely different levels . ”
Screeeeech-
The two swords were up against each other while maintaining a balance .
Adin started to smile more and more as that continued . It could not be helped .
It was because of their clash earlier and their second clash now .
Choi Han showed no emotion on his face .
However, unlike the first time, he was not hiding his aura and letting it run wild .
However, Adin could see it . He opened his mouth to speak .
“Don't you want to eat it up?”
Choi Han’s dull eyes headed toward Adin .
Adin's gaze headed toward Choi Han’s hands .
The hands were slightly shaking .
The Imperial Prince whispered like a snake .
“My black despair . Don't you want to eat it? Hmm?”
Adin could see Choi Han’s gaze going blank . Choi Han’s sword changed direction at that moment .
Bang!
The two swords clashed again .
Choi Han’s sword then headed for Adin’s remaining left leg .
Baaaaang!
However, the Imperial Prince's right leg slammed into Choi Han’s sword before it could reach the left leg .
It was the black leg made of dead mana .
“Ka, kahaha!”
Adin started to laugh .
“See! Your sword can’t even cut my right leg now!”
Crack .
The ground started to break as the monster-like leg slammed into the ground with some force . Choi Han and Adin started to clash again at the same time .
Baaaaang!
Bang! Bang!
Black light appeared every time they clashed . Adin was smiling brightly as he raised his black aura smoke up .
"Are you really not going to eat it?”
He then sent that smoke toward Choi Han .
Slaaash!
Choi Han’s sword cut through that black smoke . However, the black smoke did not disappear but instead continued to approach Choi Han .
Bang!
Choi Han moved away from the smoke and swung his sword toward Adin only for it to be blocked again .
Adin looked at Choi Han’s shaking hands and commented .
“You can’t use your full abilities because your hands are shaking . ”
How could someone swing a sword properly while their hands were shaking?
Adin pulled out even more black despair from his wildly beating heart . An odd noise filled the underground hall at that moment .
Screeeech- screeeeeeech-
The black despair . The shrieks of the dead souls within it .
The shrieks filled Choi Han’s ears .
“Ugh!”
His emotionless face turned into a frown for the first time .
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Choi Han’s heart was running wild .
It was telling him to eat it .
It was telling him to make the black despair his . It was telling him to become complete .
Choi Han could feel this silent seduction fill his entire body as if it was being pricked by needles .
“Uhh, ugh!”
It was even worse than the time with the golem .
Unlike the black despair that was inside the golem, the black despair that Adin was sending out was going into his body in the form of smoke .
Screech- screech-
Choi Han had no choice but to take two steps back .
He heard Adin's voice in his ear at that moment .
“You see, this thing called despair…”
Adin looked into Choi Han’s eyes that were getting duller every time he brought out more black despair and continued to speak .
This thing called despair .
“…It is infectious . It makes sense if you think about it . Who in the world wants to be the only one in despair?”
Choi Han could hear Adin's voice along with his heart that was beating even more wildly now .
‘He is right . ’
His heart was roaring at him that Adin was right .
It was asking him to remember what he had shouted as he was running away from enemies in the Forest of Darkness alone .
‘Why am I the only one facing such a situation? This is so unfair . ’
It was bringing up his past saying these were the things he had said .
“That is why it is greedy for other people's despair . ”
‘He's right . ’
His heart was agreeing with Adin again .
It was saying that was why his entire body was desiring the despair of others .
Adin's voice and his heart mixed together to sound like one voice in Choi Han’s ears .
“You will grow stronger only by taking in this black despair . ”
‘Yes . Take it in .
Become stronger .
It’ll be just like how you became stronger in the Forest of Darkness .
Then everything will be fine . ’
“The other option would have been to be born in a position like me where anything can easily be attained…what are you doing?”
Adin's gaze headed toward Choi Han .
“Pfft!”
Choi Han’s shoulders were moving up and down before they pulled back to reveal his face .
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“Pwa, hahahaha!”
Choi Han was laughing . Human, I’ve never seen Choi Han laugh like this before!
Even Cale, who was looking at the battlefield, was so shocked that he nodded his head at Raon's comment .
“Me neither . ”
‘I've never seen that punk laugh like this . ’
Cale started to frown but Choi Han’s laugh continued for a while .
“Hahahah haha! Ugh, hahaha!”
Choi Han almost couldn’t breathe properly because he was laughing too hard .
Adin's expression turned odd once Choi Han stopped laughing .
It wasn’t there .
The black aura had disappeared .
Choi Han had pulled back all of his black aura . Choi Han’s next actions shocked Adin .
He was charging toward Adin once again .
He was charging without any aura .
Choi Han was only using his body and his sword as he charged toward Adin .
“Are you crazy?”
Choi Han could hear Adin's question .
He could also hear his heart .
‘You need to take in the black despair and become stronger . ’
Choi Han started to speak at that moment .
“Throw it away . ”
“…What?”
Adin’s question did not reach Choi Han’s ears .
Boom! Boom! Boom!
He did not hear his heart either . He just focused his hearing on his heart that was beating wildly . It was proof that there was blood flowing through his body .
It was proof that he was alive .
He remembered when he first fell into the Forest of Darkness .
Choi Han had thrown a lot of things away in order to survive .
He had gobbled down fruit and meat that monsters had thrown away on the ground .
He hid between monster corpses to hide himself and could not do anything when bugs would crawl on his body .
He had even covered himself in monster shit before curling up and hiding in a hole so that the monsters would not smell him .
Pride . Cleanliness . Warm food . A place to peacefully lay down .
He had thrown all of them away one by one .
There was something that filled those empty voids .
He didn't remember what day it started .
He didn’t remember when it started .
The thing coming out of his sword was black .
However, there was just one thing that he did not throw away .
During the night when he covered his body with the shit of predators in order to avoid other predators .
During the night when it would be bad if he fell asleep .
He always quietly mumbled to himself during the night .
‘…I am-!’
It was not just during the night .
He mumbled this to himself whenever he had a chance .
‘I am- Choi Han . ’
‘I am Choi Han . ’
‘Choi Han . ’
He repeated his name over and over .
He repeated his name thousands and thousands of times . He repeated his name over and over with every chance he had .
There were no humans in the Forest of Darkness .
He was trying to prevent himself from forgetting about language while in a space where he didn’t need to speak .
He was trying to not forget who he was .
The only thing that he did not throw away was his name .
It was because that was, ‘him . ’
He could not throw himself away even if he threw everything else away .
He had never thrown his name away in the tens, no maybe even longer amount of years he had to survive .
If he could exist as Choi Han…
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He could throw anything else away and fill it with something else .
Choi Han’s sword was now in front of Adin's face . It was a regular sword without aura .
Adin started to speak as soon as he saw Choi Han’s focused eyes .
“Throw away the things you don't need . ”
The shaking had stopped .
Choi Han’s hands were no longer shaking .
He thought about the things he needed to refill .
He thought about his life since leaving the Forest of Darkness .
It was extremely short compared to his time in the Forest of Darkness .
However, those memories didn't make his hands start to shake .
He remembered something Raon and Cale had said during his time in the Henituse Estate .
‘Choi Han! I've been thinking about this for a while, but the pronunciation of your name is unique!’
‘I like it . ’
‘Of course, I like your name as the human mentioned! But my name is the best!’
Choi Han kicked off the ground .
He watched as Adin kicked off the ground after him and slowly slashed down with his sword .
Raon and Cale had chatted with each other while looking at him .
‘Well, his name is unique, so it is easy to remember . Also…’
Cale had chuckled before making the next comment .
‘…And Choi Han, I can’t think of a different name for you . ’
‘You're right! Choi Han is the best name for Choi Han!’
Choi Han started to smile .
He casually commented to Adin, who was raising up his black despair to the maximum level as he kicked off behind him .
“So stupid . ”
Adin was stupid .
A sword master was not just someone who could create aura .
It was someone who had put their whole life into the sword by swinging it thousands and thousands of times .
Dark Destruction Sword Art .
That was the name of his sword art .
His life was dark at that time and he had nothing .
That was why he had chosen the name Dark Destruction . He had destroyed everything in his dark life other than his name .
But it was now time to throw that name away .
Why?
It was still black, but now it was full .
There were too many things in his life now .
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Choi Han started to smile brightly .
The voice of his heart disappeared . Choi Han clasped his hand around his sword tighter . All of the blood inside his body was boiling .
‘I will grow stronger and survive in the end . ’
Smoke started to appear from his sword as he swung down .
Changes started to appear in Choi Han’s sword .
It was rising up .
Black aura was rising up from Choi Han’s sword .
However, it was different than before . H, human! L, look at that! T, that!
‘I can see it too . ’
Cale’s eyes opened wide .
It was shining .
The aura was still black, but it was shining beautifully .
It was still a rough and violent black aura, however, it was glowing .
It was different than the dead mana and the black despair .
It was a different color than anybody else, including the black mages, necromancers, Dark Elves, and even Adin .
“T, this-”
Adin’s eyes opened wide . He could see this bright black light that was enveloping his sword that was made of dead mana and black smoke .
Choi Han was laughing as if he was crying .
He had not thrown away all of the despair .
He had only thrown half of the despair away and filled it with happiness .
He combined his past and his present .
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“This is me . ”
The bright black light left the tip of Choi Han’s sword and covered Adin .
“T, this is not possible!”
Adin could see his black smoke breaking down by the black light .
‘He changed his attribute?’
Screeeeeech- screeeeeeech-
The terrible shrieks slowly disappeared .
Choi Han's new aura was not trying to gobble up the black despair . It just pierced right through it .
It cut through things in front of it like a sharp sword .
‘This is possible?
A bastard whose attribute was a lower class compared to mine now has a different attribute?’
Adin started to frown .
The advantage of having a higher class attribute had disappeared .
That meant that the only thing left were the skills that they had developed on their own .
The aura smoke of a highest-grade expert was not able to defeat a sword master’s aura .
“N, no-!”
Adin could not help but shout as the beautiful black light destroyed his dead mana sword and rushed toward him .
It was at that moment .
Baaaaaaaaaang!
The beautiful black light and the explosion took away everyone's sight and hearing .
And once the flashing of the light disappeared…
Boom!
Adin fell once again .
“Cough, cough!”
Adin's hands and arms were a mess as he continued to cough . The dead mana sword had long disappeared .
“This, makes, no, s, sen, cough!”
A black shadow appeared behind Adin .
It was Choi Han .
He put his sword back in his scabbard and held it like a club . He then lifted one foot up .
“Uuuuugh, ugh!”
Choi Han used that foot to step on Adin’s chest as Adin coughed up black blood .
“Cough! Ugh, ugh!”
Choi Han turned his head as Adin started to cough up more blood because of the pressure on his chest .
He could see Cale giving him a thumbs up .
Cale was smiling while mouthing something .
‘Beat him up a bit . ’
Choi Han could hear Raon's voice as well . Choi Han! Amazing! I like your new attribute! It is just like you!
Choi Han raised his scabbard up .
Then he lowered it .
Pow!
He repeated the process .
Pow!
The beat down had started .
Choi Han thought about his new attribute .
It was not darkness .
It was not despair .
It did not fit into any category . There was no word to describe this attribute .
It was just Choi Han . It was an attribute that was like him .
He liked that .
It made him happy .
“Ha, hah”
Choi Han could not help but laugh as he felt as if he had found himself . His child-like yet adult-like smile filled his face .
Pow, pow, pow!
He was still following Cale’s order and beating Adin up as he did that .
That was why Choi Han did not manage to see Cale's frowning face while watching him laugh as he beat someone up .