The Poison King narrowed his eyes as he faced the ominous figure before him. Cale stood tall, gripping his dark-red scythe, its blade shimmering with an otherworldly glow that radiated pure malice. The very air around him crackled with an oppressive energy, a mix of crimson lightning swirling in chaotic arcs.
"You finally showed yourself, you bastard?!" The Poison King growled, stepping forward as his poisonous aura thickened, forming green smoke around his palms and surroundings. "I will not let you off just like I did your little brother!"
Cale's crimson eyes burned fiercely as he shifted his stance, the scythe twirling effortlessly in his grip. Cale lifted his scythe to shoulder length. "Minho..." Cale muttered, his words barely audible over the hum of energy around him. His voice was cold, laced with a fury that made even the Poison King's bravado falter.
He then fixed his gaze on the Poison King, his expression twisted with hatred. "You’ll regret laying a hand on him."
The Poison King’s composure remained unbroken as he felt the suffocating pressure intensify. "You think you're invincible... Cale? I’ve fought your kind before! Your power means nothing if you can’t control it!" he shouted, his poisonous claws extending towards Cale.
Cale remained silent with an angry look. Cale rested his scythe on his shoulder. Cale then said in a low tone, "I understand your emotions, but... this is not the right way to do this. Poison King." Cale was calm in his tone, but his face remained full of anger.
"You... You have no idea about the feelings I felt that day!" the Poison King shouted enough so both of them could hear him. The Poison King held his business suit's chest tightly and showed a pitiful face mixed with an angry face.
Cale looked calm as he watched the Poison King. "...You know the truth, so don't make me the villain here," Cale said with an angry tone masked with a calm tone. 'I should not have saved...'
The Poison King glanced at Cale and gritted his teeth angrily, ducked a little with his poisonous claws forward, ready to dash forward at any time. "You don't deserve to be called the strongest and..." The Poison King said but stopped for a moment and showed an angry face. "Certainly not the Savior of Korea!" the Poison King shouted and slashed diagonally with poisonous arcs, but more like aura arcs approaching Cale.
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Cale didn’t move at first, his scythe resting loosely at his side. The instant the Poison King's attack was within range, Cale's hand became a blur of crimson energy. Cale defended himself against the Poison King's attack with his scythe slash. But the buildings and houses behind Cale were slashed perfectly and fell with a loud boom. "Too slow," Cale said icily, his voice devoid of emotion.
Cale glanced back at Jang Min-Seok, who was now healed somewhat with only a few poisonous veins like roots on his body left, drinking a bottle of healing potion. 'I saved this guy...' Cale thought and then opened his mouth and said, "Jang Min-Seok, leave this to me and leave." Cale said calmly. Jang Min-Seok looked at Cale with admiration and then quickly saluted. "Yes, sir!" Jang Min-Seok shouted and then dashed away before disappearing.
Cale looked back at the Poison King, who was glaring at Cale with a deadly gaze. "Now that the Sword of Korea is gone..." the Poison King said as he again took his ducked stance and extended both hands forward, ready to dash. "I will make you feel my pain!" the Poison King shouted and quickly dashed forward with his poisonous claws.
Cale didn’t move at first, his scythe resting loosely at his side. The instant the Poison King was within range, Cale vanished, reappearing behind him in a blur of crimson energy. The Poison King staggered, feeling a searing cut along his arm before he realized what had happened.
"Your skin is quite thick... for someone so mentally WEAK!" Cale said as he turned around towards the Poison King and pointed his scythe at him.
The Poison King snarled, gripping his wounded arm as the green poison began to seep into the wound, healing him. The poisonous gas around him started creating a dense, swirling fog. "Don’t get cocky!" he bellowed, unleashing a wave of toxic energy toward Cale.
The wave collided with Cale’s scythe as he swung it in an arc, sending a huge horizontal blood-like aura arc splitting the attack effortlessly. The force of the strike dispersed the poison but did not stop there and reached the Poison King, who jumped high enough to climb a six-story building.
The blood-like aura arc continued its path until it collided and cut the building perfectly like tofu. But before they could even fall, Cale also jumped above and reached the Poison King and attacked him with his aura-filled scythe.
"You’re just delaying the inevitable," the Poison King said, taking Cale's attack with his poisonous claw. Each attack they made caused the ground beneath him to crack and shatter, the sheer weight of his presence crushing everything in their path.
Cale gritted his teeth. Cale felt wrong as he started feeling a rare anger as he stared into the eyes of someone who had nothing left to lose. "You think you’re stronger than me just because you made a great overlap in your judgment and made me the villain!" he spat, charging forward with everything he had. The Poison King's poison, condensing into a monstrous claw, collided with Cale's attack.
The Poison King smirked faintly, the first sign of emotion since his arrival. "I’m not delusional. I’m focused!" With a single, fluid motion, he swung his huge claw upward, the blade slicing through Cale’s aura like paper and sending a shockwave rippling through the battlefield.
Cale was sent backward and stabilized himself as he lightly landed on the top floor of one of the buildings and stood on the edge. 'This bastard is not cutting my aura but more like corroding it!' Cale thought with urgency.
Cale stared angrily yet calmly at the Poison King. 'Not to mention this bastard poisoned my body...' Cale thought as he sensed a wound on his left bicep. 'This poison is not easily... even with my regeneration... It is stopping the poison but not making it disappear.' Cale grasped his scythe tightly.
Cale breathed heavily and then looked at the Poison King with a faint smile on his face, the first sign of confidence since his arrival. "This is not going to be easy. But I will find a way, one way or another, just like before," Cale muttered with a calm face, staring at the floating Poison King in the sky.