[Fifty-fifth round begins]
Ruminas adjusted his stance with his axe, his eyes staring at Answosa without blinking.
From previous turns, she had realized that blocking direct attacks would only make her die faster.
So she no longer confronted him head-on—instead, she chose to move around, taking advantage of even the smallest opportunity to counterattack.
Answosa stepped forward again, his greatsword trailing a red light as it cut through the air.
Ruminas did not retreat like before.
She took a deep breath and ran straight towards him.
He slashed down.
Instead of trying to avoid it completely, she leaned to the side, letting the blade graze her shoulder.
The pain was sharp, blood was splattered, but she didn't care—
Just as his sword was still swinging down, she turned around, using all her strength to slash the axe straight at his side.
CLANG!
For the first time, Answosa took two steps back.
Under his metal armor, there was a small crack.
Ruminas gasped, her eyes blazing with a light.
"I did it…"
Answosa looked down at his armor, then at her.
No anger.
No frustration.
Just a look of interest.
…
[The fifty-eighth round begins]
Ruminas is no longer so passive.
She did not simply dodge each blow but knew how to control the pace of the match as she wished.
She moved around Answosa, each time he swung his sword, she did not retreat but moved closer, forcing him to readjust his posture constantly.
He slashed across—
She ducked, slipped under his arm, and swung the axe at his knee.
CLANG!
Even though it didn't knock him down, he had to move to regain his balance.
She took advantage of that moment and kicked him in the stomach.
He took three steps back.
Answosa smiled slightly.
"Hmm…?"
He didn't think she could force him to move back.
Even if it was just a little, she forced him to play her way.
…
[The sixty-first round begins]
Each time he revived, Ruminas' body reacted a little faster.
She began to sense the flow of the battle, predicting Answosa's attack before he struck.
This time, she not only dodged—
She counterattacked the moment he swung his sword!
Just as his greatsword struck the ground, she used the handle of her axe to strike his elbow.
CRACK!
He wasn't seriously injured, but his arm was paralyzed for a split second.
Just a split second—
But enough for her to deliver another slash to his shoulder!
CLANG!
The crack in his armor grew larger.
Ruminas gritted his teeth, feeling the pain spread throughout his body from the repeated resurrections.
But she is improving.
She was slowly catching up with him.
…
[The sixty-fourth round begins]
Ruminas tries a new tactic.
She was no longer just avoiding—
She forced Answosa to move in the direction she wanted!
Every time he attacked, she did not retreat immediately.
She took a step forward, turned around, and launched a blow at the previously cracked armor.
For the first time, she heard the sound of breaking armor.
Answosa looked down at his armor.
A small tear has appeared.
He raised his eyebrows slightly.
Ruminas gasped, but a smile appeared on her lips.
"This time… I can win"
…
[The sixty-sixth round begins]
Answosa seemed to be starting to feel the pressure.
He no longer stood still and took the blows but started dodging.
That means—
He was no longer completely confident that he could ignore her attacks.
Ruminas continued to press.
She threw a punch at his leg—he jumped back.
She turned and slashed—he tilted his head to avoid it.
But she had expected that.
Just as he tilted his head, she turned around and used all her strength to kick him in the chin.
POP!
First time-
He lost his balance.
Not long, just a split second.
But she forced him back.
…
[The sixty-seventh round begins]
Answosa stroked his chin, where he had just been kicked.
He laughed.
"Very good"
He had fully acknowledged that she was no longer a weak prey.
Ruminas did not reply.
She just tightened her grip on the axe handle, ready to charge again.
…
[ The seventieth round begins]
For the first time in battle—
Ruminas dealt a real wound to Answosa.
Her axe blade sliced through the armor, leaving a gash.
Blood dripped to the ground.
Answosa looked down at his wound.
Silence for a moment.
Afterward-
He took his speed to a whole other level.
Ruminas only had time to see a blurry figure.
Then she felt pain shoot through her entire body.
[You are dead]
[The seventy-third round begins]
Ruminas reappears.
But this time, she no longer just wanted to survive.
She wanted to prove that she could fight on par with him. Every time she died and came back to life, she felt something slowly erupting in her body, but she still couldn't clearly identify it.
She looked straight at Answosa.
He lifted the great sword and smiled.
"Here we go"
The two rushed at each other—
And the real battle begins.
"Don't think that just because you can cause a small wound you have the right to kill yourself, the game is almost over," Answosa said and suddenly accelerated.
He moved at a terrifying speed and his attack speed was also fast, Ruminas had to use her axe to block it with difficulty but then the axe was immediately sent flying.
She didn't want to fight but used her maximum speed to retreat but in the meantime Answosa's sword had already slashed towards her.
In that moment, Ruminas used her entire body to fall back to dodge, but even though the sword tip only passed by and was still a few millimeters away from her, Ruminas felt like she had collided with it.
The proof was that in that moment she saw the bar pause for about 0.000001 seconds.
"A very small number but I can still see it… Why?"
"What is this thing inside my body…?"
Ruminas was distracted by those thoughts and paid with her life.
This time resurrected, Ruminas did not rush forward immediately but tried to feel that strange power.
"Still too vague…"
Bam!
Ruminas died again.
"Every time I die, it becomes a little more apparent…"
Thump!
Ruminas was crushed.
"Some kind of invisible power… It's slowly pouring out…"
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
The messages appeared so quickly that Ruminas didn't have time to check how many turns she had, but right now the only thing she cared about was that strange power. Thanks to dying so many times, she now felt it a little more deeply.
"It's some kind of invisible power, it's gradually enveloping my body… Even though I can't feel it directly, I'll know every time it collides with an attack."
"What the hell is that thing…!"
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
[You are dead]
…
Ruminas quickly dodged an incoming stab as she revived.
"I don't know what it is, but I'll have to fight more to find out."
Ruminas gradually realized that something was covering her body.
Not visible.
Can't touch
But every time Answosa attacked, she felt it—a layer of something invisible, a vague presence she had never been aware of before.
It does not completely block attacks.
But it tells her when danger is approaching.
Before, she could only react based on what she saw and heard. But now, she could feel—a new kind of feeling that didn't come from any of her senses.
At first, it was just faint vibrations, like a small wave rippling through the air every time the attack passed by her.
But then, after hundreds of deaths, hundreds of repetitions, it started to become clearer.
Every time Answosa swung his sword—
She didn't need to look.
She knows where it is.
She felt it cut through space, rushing towards her with terrible force.
Gradually, it became more than just a vague feeling.
It enveloped her, like an invisible cloak, spreading out little by little with each rebirth.
This time, when Answosa charged, Ruminas made no attempt to look after him.
She closed her eyes.
He disappeared from her sight, but not from her feelings.
His presence—heavy, overwhelming, like a blazing fire right in front of me.
A slash that cuts through the wind.
She didn't back down like before.
Instead of reflexively dodging, she adjusted her body to that invisible feeling—tilting her head at the perfect angle so the blade would pass by without leaving a single scratch.
To the naked eye, others might think she just barely avoided it.
But Ruminas knew it wasn't luck.
She sensed the gaps in his attack, sensed the most appropriate way to move to dodge without losing her balance.
For the first time in battle, she dodged without having to back away.
First time-
Answosa raised an eyebrow slightly.
A second later, he rushed up again.
A series of consecutive blows.
Faster. Stronger.
He wanted to crush her before she could fully get used to this strange power.
But Ruminas was beginning to understand how to use it.
She was no longer running away desperately.
She was no longer forced into a passive position.
Now, she could feel every opening in his attacks, every moment he let himself slip, even for a split second.
She began to move at a different pace.
No longer simply dodging, but gliding through attacks as if they never existed.
A stab from the front—
She leaned back at just the right angle, the blade passing right in front of her eyes, just millimeters away but not touching.
A horizontal slash—
She leaned to the side, letting it graze her shoulder.
A vertical slash—
She stepped forward in one stroke, dodging inside his striking range, where the blade couldn't reach.
And when she raised her head—
Answosa was looking at her, for the first time, with some real interest.
"I see," he chuckled. "This is starting to get interesting."
Ruminas continued to use that power and dodged the attacks. She still didn't know how to use it for offense, but at least being able to dodge so perfectly was a great success from the start of the battle until now.
"I still have a chance!" Ruminas' eyes showed determination.