NOVEL FROG [22] : Breaking Limits, Mika’s Evolution in the Heat of Battle
"Haha!"
With a swing of her spear, Airmid slew the little demon in front of her and then panted heavily from exhaustion.
"They just keep coming."
"Indeed, it seems the dungeon is determined to keep us here!" Mellie said quietly from beside her.
At this moment, Airmid and Mellie were positioned in the passage leading to the chamber where Mika was.
From the other side of the passage, monsters continued to appear intermittently, trying to reach the chamber behind and join the monster feast.
Originally, Airmid and Mellie planned to wait here quietly for Mika, stepping in to help only if he couldn't manage on his own.
But the sudden appearance of monsters disrupted their plan.
Not wanting the situation on Mika's side to worsen, the two were intercepting the monsters trying to pass through.
"Roar!"
Controlling a half-beast to kill the approaching little demons, Mellie said worriedly, "Although we can help intercept monsters here, we can't stop the ones on the other side."
"Does that mean the number of monsters Mika has to deal with will keep increasing?"
"Exactly!"
Mellie said helplessly, "For now, Mika has to rely on himself."
...
"Ah!"
Running up the half-beast's club, Mika severed its head on its shoulder.
Then he leaped to another spot, repeating this tactic to deal with the threats posed by the half-beasts.
Through continuous slaughter, the number of little demons had noticeably decreased.
But as time went on, Mika found it increasingly difficult.
Slowly, he had almost no space left to maneuver.
The monsters that had surrounded him on all sides had completely encircled him, merging into a single mass.
In this situation, even if Mika used magic to clear an area, it would quickly be filled again.
As the space for maneuvering shrank, the frequency of attacks on Mika increased.
"Clang!"
Although Mika noticed the attack from behind, he couldn't react in time and was instantly knocked flying.
After being thrown back for only a fraction of a second in mid-air, Mika crashed into other half-beasts, forcing him to stop.
"Damn it!"
As soon as he hit the ground, Mika stood up and adopted a defensive stance.
This was a conditioned reflex honed under the training of Urokodaki Sakonji.
Spitting the blood from his mouth onto the ground, Mika calmly thought while fending off the attacks of nearby half-giants.
Now, completely surrounded, Mika was constantly under attack from all directions.
Although he could judge the attacks of monsters in his blind spots through hearing, his position was too narrow to dodge all the attacks simultaneously.
Therefore, Mika had to choose to evade or resist the more powerful attacks of the half-beasts, while slowing down the attacks of other little demons.
This made Mika battered and bruised but never defeated.
In fact, he had killed even more monsters.
But things rarely go as planned. With Mika targeting the little demons, the number of half-beasts around him began to increase.
Because of the size of the half-beasts, the number of monsters around Mika decreased, reducing the frequency of attacks he faced.
However, this increased the damage he took from attacks.
He could endure several attacks from little demons, but a single blow from a half-beast would knock him flying.
Feeling his internal organs shaking, blood kept dripping from Mika's mouth.
"No, if I take a few more hits like this, I'll definitely die."
Feeling the state of his body, Mika's mind raced.
"I've been able to avoid the half-beasts' attacks so far by predicting their attacks through my eyes and ears and seizing the intervals between their attacks."
"But now, with more half-beasts, even if I grasp their intervals, I can't dodge smoothly. This is the limit of what my body can do."
Realizing this, Mika felt a heavy weight in his heart.
As the space for maneuvering disappeared, Mika's swordsmanship, honed for two years, became ineffective.
Now, Mika's fight with the monsters was reduced to the simplest attack and defense (evasion).
He didn't worry about attacking.
The monster corpses scattered across the grassland were his handiwork.
His killing had never stopped.
But defense was now his most important task.
If he let the half-beasts attack, Mika would soon be beaten beyond recognition.
To block the half-beasts' attacks, Mika had to endure almost all the attacks from the little demons.
Now, there were hardly any unscathed parts on Mika's body, covered in scratches from the little demons.
Without the high-grade healing potions he carried to stop the bleeding, Mika might have bled to death by now.
But even so, Mika had no intention of giving up.
Blocking an oncoming club with his greatsword, Mika twisted his body and plunged forward, cutting off a half-beast's leg. He didn't have time to decapitate it before turning to fend off the attack from behind.
"My body's abilities are now at their limit. I need more reaction time."
Defense and evasion.
These were the most critical issues Mika faced.
Facing attacks from all directions, deciding when to defend and when to dodge required careful planning.
Otherwise, with just his agility and flexibility, he couldn't defend and dodge to this extent.
From the moment he "saw" the monsters' attack intentions and trajectories to the moment their attacks fell, Mika had less than a second.
In that time, he had to plan his defense and evasion in his mind and then execute it in reality.
Mika had relied on this state to defend and dodge.
But now, with more half-beasts, the time he needed to plan had increased, while the time he had to defend and dodge had decreased.
This was the situation Mika faced now.
"So, I need to detect the half-beasts' attack intentions and trajectories earlier to gain more time for defense and evasion."
Stopping his attack, Mika focused all his energy on defense.
Releasing all his senses, Mika used everything to perceive the world around him.
The world he saw with his eyes.
The sounds he heard with his ears.
The airflow he felt on his skin.
With these three senses, the world around Mika became clear.
It was as if everything around him was imprinted in his mind.
But this wasn't enough.
Since the monster feast began, Mika's skill 'Danger Sense' had been on alert.
It felt like the entire dungeon's malice was enveloping him.
But Mika didn't need to sense the dungeon's malice now.
He needed to focus on the immediate surroundings.
Under Mika's will, the 'Danger Sense' ability began to contract, gradually shrinking to sense the attacks around Mika.
"Clang!"
Blocking a half-beast's attack with his sword and shield, Mika twisted his body to dodge the attack.
With his fourfold senses, Mika finally avoided this disaster.
But he still wasn't satisfied.
This defense and evasion came at the cost of his attacks.
It was distorted.
He needed to attack!
----------------
Mika needs to attack.
However, attacking would inevitably reduce the efficiency of his senses.
So, Mika's sensory abilities needed to continue improving.
"How can I further enhance my sensory abilities?"
As he muttered to himself, Mika suddenly recalled the days of his training on Mount Narrow Mist. Back then, when facing various traps and mechanisms on the mountain, Mika, with his eyes closed, had continuously enhanced his hearing until those things could no longer harm him.
"Ah, it's the sense of crisis between life and death!"
Understanding the method, Mika's expression shifted from worry to calm and then to determination.
After a moment of internal struggle, Mika made a decision.
"Clang!"
With the sound of clashing metal, Mika removed his bloodstained armor, which had protected him until now, leaving nothing on his body.
"Come on, let's see if you can kill me first, or if I can kill you all first!"
Mika shouted resolutely.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
As if provoked by Mika's words, the surrounding monsters grew furious. They began to swing their weapons even more swiftly.
Defense, defense, continuous defense.
Dodge, dodge, constant dodging.
The warnings of death continuously rang in Mika's mind, but he paid no heed.
Now, he was using every means to 'see' the world clearly.
In his eyes, the surrounding images became increasingly clear, down to the pores on the monsters' skin and the movement of their muscles.
In his ears, the surrounding sounds grew more distinct, enabling him to differentiate between them with greater precision. He could even hear the sound of the monsters' blood flowing.
At the same time, through the sensation of air currents on his skin, Mika's perception of the shapes beyond his sight also became clearer.
Under the skill 'Danger Sense,' these three layers of perception were rapidly improving, elevating, and rushing towards an unknown direction.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
As weapons clashed with staves, Mika's defense against attacks from all directions grew smoother.
The four beastmen who had initially overwhelmed him could no longer harm him.
Yet, Mika remained unsatisfied.
Apart from defending against the beastmen's attacks, he also aimed to dodge the imps' assaults.
Surrounded tightly by the monsters, Mika was not only dealing with four beastmen but also five imps attacking in coordination.
By treating the imps' attacks as necessary to dodge, Mika's senses continued to evolve.
One, two, three!
Four, five!
Perfect defense!
At that moment, no attack around Mika could harm him.
Walking freely among the monsters, Mika 'saw' all the reactions of the surrounding creatures.
From the moment they intended to attack, Mika already knew how to counter them.
From the moment of their birth, they were already on the path to death.
Yet, Mika still wasn't satisfied.
This was merely defense; how could victory be achieved with only defense?
Mika needed to attack.
Crossing his twin swords before him, his eyes were filled with cold indifference.
At this moment, Mika's calmness was terrifying.
He continually processed all the surrounding information.
Nimbly dodging the swinging staves, Mika leapt along the arm of a beastman to its shoulder, decapitating it.
His movements became more agile as he restarted his killing spree.
The final slaughter began.
"Clang!"
As the attacks continued, Mika's previously perfect defense and dodging once again showed flaws.
This was inevitable.
Previously, Mika's flawless defense and dodging were achieved by sacrificing his attacks and focusing all his energy on defense.
But now, restarting his attacks inevitably led to a dispersion of focus.
Hence, flaws in his defensive and dodging system were normal.
So, how could he compensate for this?
Naturally, by continuing to evolve!
Evolution, super evolution, ultimate evolution.
Continual evolution until perfect defense and dodging were once again achieved.
Quickly getting up from a knocked-down state, Mika savored the thrill of dancing on the edge of death during the continuous slaughter.
Knocked away again, Mika swiftly returned to the battlefield.
His armorless body was now covered in blood from the staves, and he had no more advanced healing potions left.
"If I get hit by another staff, I probably won't be able to stand up again!"
Assessing his injuries, Mika silently concluded.
But he showed no sign of worry, instead wearing a smile on his face.
"Yes, that's it."
"Only on the brink of life and death can I evolve faster."
"Now, let's see if you can kill me first or if I can evolve completely and counter-kill you!"
With a grim expression, Mika was utterly immersed in the thrill of battle, having discarded everything else.
As Mika had anticipated.
The crisis of death continuously stimulated his body, and the survival instinct from his very being pushed his body and senses to rapidly elevate and evolve.
As the slaughter continued, Mika no longer received any direct attacks from the beastmen after that last blow.
Although there were still occasional brushes and bumps, they could no longer deal a fatal blow to Mika.
Yet, Mika's defense and dodging grew increasingly effortless.
Gradually, the passage of time in Mika's eyes seemed to slow down, with the previously smooth operation of the world becoming increasingly jerky and severe.
Simultaneously, as Mika's senses evolved to their peak, they began to retract and gradually shut down.
However, this shutting down of senses did not weaken Mika's perceptive abilities but rather strengthened them.
Everything around him reappeared vividly in Mika's mind.
Moreover, all the images in Mika's perception seemed to turn transparent.
The monsters surrounding Mika appeared transparent in his eyes; he could clearly see the flow of blood, the trembling of internal organs, and the exertion of muscles.
Even the internal changes within Mika's own body were visible to him.
This enhanced Mika's control over his body.
The combat capabilities his body could exert took a quantum leap.
"This is! The Transparent World!"
Mika had been aware of his state since the beginning of the changes in his senses.
This was the ultimate realm of martial arts from the world of Demon Slayer: the Transparent World.
It was a supreme domain only reached through relentless effort and endurance of pain.
In this state, by focusing and shutting off unnecessary senses, the bodies of surrounding creatures appeared transparent.
At the same time, Mika's movement speed, predictive capabilities, and evasion skills all saw significant improvements.
In Mika's eyes, even the flow of blood vessels in his opponent's lungs was visible, and he could quickly grasp the contraction of his own muscles.
Depending on his needs, he could freely turn off his fighting spirit, and due to accelerated perception, the enemy's actions appeared slowed down.
Once, Yahweh had comprehended all the secrets of Water Breathing in an extremely short time and elevated it directly to this realm.
And now, after two and a half years of continuous training, relentless honing, and Yahweh's constant guidance, Mika finally, in this critical moment of life and death, comprehended its essence.
He had reached this supreme realm.
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