The burning pain shot across Nakata Yuji’s face. However, that description still seemed sorely lacking for what this situation felt like to him. What happened just now was undoubtedly horrifying. Terrifying. Even then...
Somewhat funnily enough, he also found this situation curiously interesting.
Because he could vividly feel everything!
Nakata Yuji reflexively jerked his head back. Thanks to his last-second evasion, the sword stabbed into a spot below the chin instead.
The cold blade pierced through the jawbone, sliced past the nose bone next, then cut straight into the right eyeball before emerging into the open by splitting the right eyebrow.
Nakata Yuji vividly experienced all these sensations in slow motion. And that was why he felt so mystified. Of course, this experience was also indescribably horrifying at the same time. There was no denying that!
Kang Jin-Ho’s sword thrust was obviously not slow. And Nakata Yuji wouldn’t be standing still like a stone statue when his face was being split open. That wouldn’t make any sense.
Everything happened in the literal blink of an eye. It was just that this series of actions seemed to take forever to complete in Nakata Yuji's greatly sped-up mind.
After detecting the incoming danger, his brain must've automatically overclocked itself despite the threat of burning his skull to a crisp during the process!
Being able to enter the territory of transcendental human beings, even for a brief moment, proved to be a violently visceral experience. Even if Nakata Yuji had to put his life on the line... No, even if he had to risk his brain frying to a crisp for this privilege!
Any martial artist thirsting for ever-greater strength would've wanted to experience this moment, even at the cost of their life.
However, Nakata Yuji was still dismayed. Why? Even though he had to risk so much and ended up paying a hefty price just for his brief entrance to the realm of transcendence, all he could do was barely dodge Kang Jin-Ho's sword thrust.
...And he couldn’t even do that properly!
This was how insurmountable the gap between Kang Jin-Ho and Nakata Yuji was! And this was the moment a despair-inducing giant wall appeared in Nakata Yuji’s mind.
He already knew that attack just now was probably nothing more than a casual thrust for Kang Jin-Ho, something on the same level as waving his hand dismissively to chase away a fly buzzing in the air.
However, Nakata Yuji still nearly lost his life while dodging that simple attack. Heavens had looked on him favorably just now. He genuinely had gotten lucky this time. If this had been in any other situation, he wouldn't have been aware of what happened, even as death took him away.
This situation was the result of Nakata Yuji's extremely tense state combined with his fear of not knowing when his head might go flying away. All these factors helped him avoid the fate of instant death by a sword piercing his skull, but...
Maybe it would’ve been better to die from that strike. If he did, Nakata Yuji would have been spared from this crippling sense of despair!
“Kkuh...!”
When he realized he was still alive, Nakata Yuji was instantly beset by indescribable pain. Words like “searing” and “burning” were simply too inadequate to describe it.
It felt like... Worms covered in acid were crawling and wiggling on every corner of Nakata Yuji’s face to melt his skin and bones!
Thanks to this damnable overclocked state, Nakata Yuji now experienced this horrifying pain a thousand times slower and in far more excruciating detail. And he couldn't even scream or do something about this pain either. All he could do was... Just endure it.
“...Huk!”
...And then, the world abruptly started moving at its normal speed again.
All the indistinct voices that sounded like echoes underwater regained their clarity. And the paralysis stiffening Nakata Yuji's body like a block of concrete and preventing him from even flicking a finger gradually came undone.
That didn’t mean Nakata Yuji could enjoy his freedom, however.
If anything, he was only getting a far starker reminder right now. And that reminder was about how dangerous this situation really was!
As long as Kang Jin-Ho was still alive, nowhere on this ship was safe or free. Which was exactly like the situation for people trapped in a cage with a starving monster!
The sword responsible for cutting through a person's face was pulled back. The subtle shockwaves from the sword disturbing the air awakened even more intolerable pain in Nakata Yuji's face.
“Yuji!”
“Yuji-san?!”
Alarmed screams exploded from all around Nakata Yuji.
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