The Genius Assassin Who Takes it All-Chapter 251: Celestial Assassin’s Test (2)
Slowly, he advanced, step by step.
Though Kang-hoo had a general idea of where the Celestial Assassin might be, the assassin’s silhouette remained invisible, as expected of a skilled killer.
If he had caught even a glimpse of him, Kang-hoo could have used the powers of the Great Sage of Kangdong constellation to trace his concealment.
But as things stood, with the assassin completely hidden and camouflaged from the start, there was no way to find him beyond mere guesses.
In truth, Kang-hoo could have used the “Suppression” option on the Bracelet of the Silent Sea to engage in a battle of stealth.
If neither could see the other, it would make it much harder to land decisive moves.
Even the Celestial Assassin wouldn’t be able to pinpoint Kang-hoo’s exact location and attack as he was now.
‘If I must solve this puzzle, then reviewing what I already know thoroughly will only strengthen my fundamentals.’
Kang-hoo wanted to experience more of the Celestial Assassin’s strength. He also desired to endure without hiding himself.
Hiding was too easy.
However, if he could stand his ground without concealment, it would make a greater impression on his opponent.
Just then—
Wooong!
“……?”
Somewhere within an unseen blind spot, Kang-hoo sensed mana rapidly being sucked in.
He thought the Celestial Assassin might be preparing a skill, but as the mana condensed quickly—
Whooosh!
It immediately began hurtling toward Kang-hoo.
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‘A mana dagger?’
Kang-hoo recognized the Celestial Assassin’s skill.
Mana Dagger.
Even without a physical weapon, the user could shape mana into the form of a dagger and hurl it as an attack.
Being struck by it meant being pierced and torn just as one would with an actual dagger, so distinguishing it from a real weapon was unnecessary.
In fact, this made it even trickier. Without a physical weapon, the dagger could be endlessly created.
Boom!
“Ugh!”
Kang-hoo blocked the mana dagger with the Wall of Purity, though his body was slightly pushed back by the force.
Looking upward, Kang-hoo finally spotted the Celestial Assassin, hidden among the tree branches.
The attack had broken his concealment.
Kang-hoo swiftly utilized the Great Sage of Kangdong constellation to lock onto the Celestial Assassin.
Now, even if he concealed himself again, Kang-hoo would be able to track him. He had no intention of losing sight of his position.
Tap, tap!
Kang-hoo began sprinting toward the Celestial Assassin.
Since the opponent had already positioned himself in the treetops, Kang-hoo would have to use leaps to quickly ascend.
‘Let’s eliminate one option first.’
Kang-hoo predicted how the Celestial Assassin might react to block his approach.
The choices were many, but they all shared a common theme.
Darkness energy. The skills he might use to prevent Kang-hoo’s advance were all rooted in darkness energy.
【Order of Nothingness】
Thus, Kang-hoo brought out the fifth privilege of the Abyssal Pilgrim constellation: Order of Nothingness.
It was a technique that consumed his own darkness energy as a sacrifice to incinerate the opponent’s darkness energy in turn.
Moreover, it sealed the opponent’s darkness-based skills for a set amount of time!
For Kang-hoo, this was a bargain.
As a higher-leveled assassin who had trained for years, the Celestial Assassin would undoubtedly have far more darkness energy.
【Order of Nothingness has been executed.】
【Due to the overwhelming quantity of the opponent’s darkness energy, only a portion of it has been vaporized in equivalent exchange.】
【The opponent’s darkness-based skills are perfectly sealed for 30 seconds.】
‘Got it.’
A satisfied smile crossed Kang-hoo’s face as he embedded his dagger into the tree trunk and used it to launch himself upward.
“……?”
Meanwhile, the Celestial Assassin was startled by the sudden skill seal.
Not only had his darkness energy evaporated in an instant, causing damage throughout his body—
He felt a heavy sensation spread through him as every darkness-based skill displayed an ‘X’ icon.
A debuff notification appeared, stating, “Order of Nothingness,” along with a message that darkness-based skills would be unusable for 30 seconds.
The Celestial Assassin’s plan to frustrate Kang-hoo using the “Heavenly Phantom Technique” was ruined.
He had anticipated that Kang-hoo would adapt in some way.
But he had never imagined that the adaptation would involve sealing his own darkness skills.
“This brat!”
The Celestial Assassin leapt backward, hurling mana daggers at Kang-hoo as he climbed the tree.
Though momentarily caught off guard, he had not allowed Kang-hoo to close the gap enough to land an attack.
Bang! Clang!
Kang-hoo deflected the mana daggers with the Wall of Purity.
The durability of the wall visibly decreased with each hit, but it seemed capable of enduring a few more strikes.
The issue lay with the damage.
True to the Celestial Assassin’s reputation, the mana daggers—flung effortlessly—were a significant burden for Kang-hoo.
Each time he blocked one, his entire left elbow throbbed. Even with the wall as a buffer, a sharp ache radiated through his arm.
‘He hasn’t even used his real weapon yet, and this initial skirmish is already draining me.’
Kang-hoo acutely felt the gap in power between himself and the Celestial Assassin.
However, he wasn’t overcome by frustration or foolish emotions like resentment. He acknowledged the opponent’s formidable skill.
He had come here with genuine intent to take the Celestial Assassin as his mentor.
Achieving mastery that surpassed the teacher could only come after learning. It could never happen before the meeting itself.
At that moment—
Whoong!
Another mana dagger flew toward him.
But then, something interesting happened.
【The effect of the Perseverer constellation has activated, increasing skill evasion rate against the target by 5%.】
Though the probability was low, the skill evasion rate was successfully applied.
As a result, the mana dagger that had been flying straight at Kang-hoo suddenly curved away as if drawn by an unseen force.
‘The Perseverer grants evasion rate by multiplying the level difference by 0.01. My level is 255… so the Celestial Assassin must be level 755? Incredible.’
The Celestial Assassin’s level was even higher than Kang-hoo had expected. This level was nearing that of Jang Si-hwan.
At that moment—
Tap!
As Kang-hoo steadily withstood the mana dagger barrage and closed the distance, the Celestial Assassin leapt to widen the gap.
This time, he seemed intent on relocating to an entirely different tree. Kang-hoo decided to intercept with his own countermeasure.
【Fire Dragon Spear】
Whoosh!
Kang-hoo imbued the Lance of Strength, which he had taken from his inventory, with the Fire Dragon Spear skill and hurled it toward the predicted landing point of the Celestial Assassin’s leap.
‘You’re declaring you won’t let me widen the distance, huh?’
Impressed by Kang-hoo’s audacity in choosing an aggressive response, the Celestial Assassin adjusted his approach.
Initially planning to harass Kang-hoo from afar, he now had no choice but to engage in direct combat.
Papat!
The Celestial Assassin lightly stepped onto the embedded Lance of Strength and leapt gracefully.
【Ghost’s Shadow】
His form distorted and stretched, becoming as elusive as a ghost slipping through the cracks of perception.
Kang-hoo hesitated momentarily.
The Celestial Assassin had undoubtedly leapt toward him, yet his figure vanished from sight.
This wasn’t concealment; if it were, Kang-hoo would have detected him with the Great Sage of Kangdong constellation’s effect.
‘Ghost Shadow. It’s the Ghost’s Shadow skill.’
Recognizing the nature of the skill, Kang-hoo wasted no time and leapt forward directly.
The Celestial Assassin continued his direct approach toward Kang-hoo—only his presence had disappeared.
It wasn’t concealment, nor was it an illusion.
Strictly speaking, it was similar to how Jung Yuri could transform her body into black smoke.
He had become invisible, but it was impossible to spot him using concealment detection or illusion unraveling techniques.
“……”
Kang-hoo focused as much as he could.
The more he tried to see, the less he could.
Rather than thinking it through, he allowed his body to respond instinctively.
Though it seemed vague, this method often proved more effective than other, more precise approaches.
And then—
“……!”
Sensing a faint presence, Kang-hoo swiftly retracted his right hand and extended his left hand forward.
Grab!
“Ugh!”
He was slightly too late; the Celestial Assassin managed to seize his right hand.
However, Kang-hoo didn’t go down without a fight. He successfully grabbed the Celestial Assassin’s arm in return.
The problem was, they were now facing each other midair, with no choice but to plummet.
“You’re not bad.”
“Nice to meet you.”
After the brief exchange of greetings—
Shuuuu!
They both crashed to the ground together.
Despite the fall, Kang-hoo chose to pressure the Celestial Assassin further instead of preparing for impact.
【Grudge】
【Activating the Grudge of the "Resentment" Gauntlets, amplifying grip strength with mana.】
Crunch!
As Kang-hoo’s grip tightened on the Celestial Assassin’s wrist using the Grudge-enhanced gauntlets, the latter’s expression shifted.
Expecting an implicit agreement to land safely, the Celestial Assassin now realized that Kang-hoo was determined to bring both of them down hard.
Of course, Kang-hoo had a fallback plan.
Just before hitting the ground, he intended to use Shadow Step to scatter into shadows and swap places with one, minimizing the impact.
“You reckless fool!”
The Celestial Assassin decided it wasn’t time to toy with him. Practicality over chaos, for now.
Grab!
In midair, the Celestial Assassin seized both of Kang-hoo’s hands.
He raised his lower body and delivered a powerful double kick to Kang-hoo’s chest.
It wasn’t an ordinary kick. While it lacked the pretense of a skill, it was loaded with mana.
Thud!
“Ugh!”
“Phew!”
Kang-hoo groaned as the kick landed squarely on his chest, sending him flying backward through the air.
The Celestial Assassin flipped midair and aimed for a stable landing.
Kang-hoo couldn’t help but admire him.
The Celestial Assassin had turned a potentially dangerous situation into an advantageous one.
He would undoubtedly land first, securing his position. But Kang-hoo instinctively understood the next move the Celestial Assassin would make.
Predicting that he’d be most vulnerable when landing a beat later, Kang-hoo prepared a countermeasure.
【Wall of Purity】
He erected a barrier in that direction.
When Kang-hoo lifted his head after bracing for the impact—
Clang!
As expected, a mana dagger struck the Wall of Purity head-on.
Ssssss!
Without even regaining his balance, Kang-hoo was pushed back again by the enhanced mana dagger.
This one was at least three times more powerful than the earlier ones.
【Shadow Step】
Kang-hoo shifted backward into his shadow using Shadow Step.
With his balance already disrupted, there wasn’t enough time to recover properly.
Meanwhile, another mana dagger flew from the Celestial Assassin’s hand toward Kang-hoo.
The Celestial Assassin gave no room for respite, and perhaps it was unreasonable to expect any.
It didn’t stop there.
Rumble!
The ground beneath Kang-hoo trembled as it began to liquefy, threatening to trap him like quicksand.
Papat!
Kang-hoo swapped places with a shadow he had pre-prepared.
Had it not been for Shadow Step, he would have been helplessly mired in the trap.
Relieved, Kang-hoo finally had a moment to catch his breath.
And then—
“You’re bold… quite impressive.”
For the first time, the Celestial Assassin’s perpetually stoic face broke into a faint smile.
