Chapter 290: Chapter 290

The skill he used was Memorize.

It was a skill he had copied from Sotron previously.

This was the hidden card Su-ho had prepared.

As Memorize activated, the skills stored within it flashed before Su-ho’s eyes.

# Memorize Slot 1 – Weaken.

# Memorize Slot 2 – Weaken.

# Memorize Slot 3 – Weaken.

# Memorize Slot 4 – Weaken.

All four skills stored in Memorize—every single one was Weaken.

Looking at them, Su-ho let out a thin, sardonic smile.

Memorize could store up to four skills at once.

So Su-ho had deliberately memorized only Weaken.

Because each cast consumed 70% of his total mana.

It’s a skill that’s basically a finisher—if I can use it four times, that changes everything.

Of course, the Weaken effect could only apply once per target.

And most enemies were taken care of once Weaken landed.

But “most” didn’t mean all.

There were always variables.

Dex before him was exactly that.

Because of that damn Moonless Blade, he didn’t know how many more times he’d have to use Weaken.

The one coin he had was now multiplied into four.

Don’t tell me I can’t take him down in four tries.

Su-ho activated Weaken stored in Memorize Slot 1.

[Activating skill stored in Memorize.]

[Weaken has been activated.]

As the Weaken from Memorize triggered, skill effects surged forth and enveloped Hex.

Hex furrowed his brow as his power was once again diminished.

— Annoying little trick you’ve got there.

“Yes, I’m kind of like that.”

— Still, it changes nothing.

“No, I’ll still win as always.”

— Hahaha! You’re quite the amusing junior. I hope you stay like that till the end!

With laughter, Hex dashed in again.

With Weaken applied, they were evenly matched.

Without it, I’d be getting pushed back for sure.

At first, he considered using Gi Seung-hwan to raise the grade of Weaken.

After all, it was basically Su-ho’s ultimate move.

But supply of Gi Seung-hwan wasn’t exactly abundant yet, so rather than preemptively upgrading, it was better to wait and use it when truly needed.

That’s why he hadn’t upgraded Weaken.

If I’d known this would happen, I would’ve leveled it up beforehand.

Who would’ve thought—

Even as a regressor, that he’d end up needing Weaken just to break even against a monster.

At least with Weaken, they were now on equal footing.

Su-ho turned his eyes to Moonless Blade.

What had once been a full moon shrank significantly upon impact with his sword.

Every time blades clash or he takes a direct hit, the moon grows. Which means...

The condition for Moonless Blade’s effect was tied to the caster taking damage.

Still, that’s such a high-maintenance mechanic.

Even if he landed direct hits, if the accumulated damage crossed a certain threshold, the moon would heal everything again—back to square one.

There might be another type of condition.

Like perhaps shrinking the moon without triggering its effect.

But would that really work in my favor?

Nothing in this world is free, and any castle built easily is bound to crumble just as easily.

Besides, this duel wasn’t just any fight—it was a test by the kingdom’s strongest knight to determine if he was worthy to serve as the Princess’s knight.

After a brief moment of thought, Su-ho asked Hex a question.

“May I ask you something?”

“Does the moon’s healing remove every kind of damage effect?”

— Something like that.

“What if there’s no direct damage involved?” Googlᴇ search 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭⚑𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥

— What are you trying to say?

“Hmm... nothing. Never mind.”

— If you’re curious, find out for yourself.

So, in the end, he had to figure it out personally.

It was unfortunate, but it couldn’t be helped.

Saying that, Su-ho activated another skill onto his sword.

Then, he immediately dashed toward Hex.

— Finally doing something I can respect.

They clashed once again.

It was a powerful collision, and with it, the Moonless Blade shrank drastically.

But Su-ho didn’t stop. He began swinging his sword relentlessly, without hesitation.

He knocked aside Hex’s ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) blade and once again landed a blow onto Hex’s armor.

At the moment his sword touched Hex—

[Pain Seal has been applied to Knight of the Moon, Hex.]

The Pain Seal had been applied.

Pain Seal was an enchantment skill that only activated upon direct impact.

Of course, it didn’t need to be a critical hit.

What mattered was contact.

A skull mark with a scale insignia etched itself onto Hex, and sensing something strange, he furrowed his brow.

“If you’re curious, find out yourself.”

— Hahaha! Alright then, I will!

Their conversation over, they resumed their fierce exchange.

Su-ho didn’t dodge. He kept exchanging blows head-on.

As he did, the Moonless Blade rapidly shrank until it returned to its empty, dark state.

Su-ho never took his eyes off the Moonless Blade.

Wondering if there was another pattern.

A faint crescent moon rose again in the dark background.

That seems to be the full pattern.

In that case, he’d have to help it become a full moon again.

Now that he’d figured it out, Su-ho resumed trading blows.

He didn’t get pushed back.

With Hex in a Weakened state, their physical stats were similar—and in terms of swordsmanship, Su-ho had the upper hand from the start.

So even amidst their clash, Hex's armor was struck several more times.

And not just that—Su-ho also landed actual valid hits.

That was the only way to truly confirm.

And finally, when the Moonless Blade became full again—

Hex laughed and said:

— You’ve held up well, but the moon is full once more.

He invoked the power of the moon.

[Knight of the Moon, Hex, uses the power of the Moonless Blade.]

[Knight of the Moon, Hex, uses Recovery from Moonless Blade.]

[All damage effects on Knight of the Moon, Hex, have been removed by Moonless Blade.]

The full moon glowed brightly.

Once again, he basked in the sacred moonlight and purged every effect from his body.

Su-ho calmly assessed his state.

And then couldn’t help but smirk.

As the moonlight faded—

Hex furrowed his brow.

Even though the power of Moonless Blade should have healed his body—it hadn’t.

Sure, the Weaken effect was gone.

Su-ho understood why.

So Pain Seal isn’t considered a damage effect.

Damage effects must cause direct harm.

For example, Weaken reduced all stats by 20%—clear and quantifiable damage.

But Pain Seal didn’t inflict direct harm. Instead, it imposed an indirect penalty: the inability to heal.

That’s why Moonless Blade’s Recovery didn’t remove it.

As expected from the system. Loves screwing people with semantics—this time, it actually helped me.

Su-ho smiled and said,

“Now I can fight without worrying.”

“Think of it like casting a curse.”

— A curse? There’s no way Moonless Blade couldn’t remove a mere curse.

“That’s why I said it’s curse-like. Pain Seal affects me too, you know.”

“From now on, you’ll want to be careful.”

The most annoying problem—his healing—was resolved.

Now all that was left was to make Hex yield.

Su-ho immediately activated Army Tactics.

[Army Tactics has been activated.]

Clone soldiers identical to Su-ho appeared all around.

— The same tactic again?

“It’s part of the setup.”

“Yes, setup. Now then, here we go.”

Su-ho sent the clone soldiers charging toward Hex.

— What a meaningless act.

Hex began fighting off the incoming clones.

He was a powerful knight.

His swordsmanship had no wasted motion, and every swing was devastating and precise.

Su-ho didn’t join the fight.

Instead, he retreated and retrieved more clone soldiers stored in subspace.

[True Blood Drain has been activated.]

Operation Backup Battery.

Potions could no longer be used.

So he had pre-filled the clones in subspace with mana instead.

Hex frowned at the sight.

— You’re doing weird things.

Is this what knights are like these days?

At first, he watched with fascination. But as it went on, he couldn’t shake off the bizarre feeling.

Still, he couldn’t deny the worth of the kingdom’s last knight just for that.

This didn’t feel like choosing a successor—it felt more like testing the kingdom’s last hope.

Hex cut down the final clone soldier.

From his point of view, it wasn’t hard to deal with clones Su-ho wasn’t directly controlling.

The clones were only meant to buy time anyway.

He had scraped together his remaining mana just to summon them.

And just in time—Su-ho had nearly restored all of his mana.

Only a few clones left.

Clone soldiers couldn’t be stored in subspace indefinitely.

The longer they remained summoned, the more mana they consumed.

So even under the best circumstances, he could only maintain about ten of them.

Now only one or two backup clones remained.

— Are you done preparing?

“There’s one more left.”

[Activating skill stored in Memorize.]

[Weaken has been activated.]

Su-ho used Weaken stored in Memorize Slot 2 on Hex.

Hex’s brow furrowed again, and Su-ho simultaneously charged him.

“You’ll have to defend yourself well now.”

[Knight of the Moon, Hex, uses the power of the Moonless Blade.]

[Knight of the Moon, Hex, uses Recovery from Moonless Blade.]

[All damage effects on Knight of the Moon, Hex, have been removed by Moonless Blade.]

Having used Moonless Blade’s recovery, Hex exhaled heavily.

Once again, Weaken and the Guiyeong Spear lodged in his body were removed.

But his health didn’t recover.

A truly troublesome power.

And right now, among all the cards he had, none could remove it.

[Activating skill stored in Memorize.]

[Weaken has been activated.]

Su-ho used Weaken on him once more.

This was already the fourth—no, the final Memorize.

This is the last Weaken.

He could use mana to cast it again.

That would make it six total Weakens.

I’ll finish this before then.

Things would get difficult otherwise.

Su-ho, now having cast Weaken, raised his sword again.

Hex was indeed a formidable knight.

But in a weakened state, his stats were roughly equal to Su-ho’s—and if they had the same physicality, Su-ho’s superior skill would ensure his victory.

[Throwing Spear has been activated.]

Bulgasari, now recovered, surged forward again, cloaking the area in darkness.

Same pattern as before, but with sneakier timing, making it harder to evade.

The battle continued.

Eventually, Su-ho’s sword pierced through Hex’s chest.

[You have defeated Knight of the Moon, Hex.]

At last, Su-ho succeeded in taking down Hex.