Editors: Ana_Banana, Sei
Waaaah!
Screams of excitement filled the air.
Today, the arena was much more heated than usual. This was natural, after all, this was the day that the Group C’s semi-final candidate would be decided.
Kran stood in the center of the arena.
‘Dammit.’
Kran cursed inwardly.
At that moment, he was so annoyed that he couldn’t help but swear.
His current state could only be described as comical frustration.
He could still feel the feedback from his senses. Just like at that moment. He could hear the loud roars of the crowd and feel the hot wind brushing against his skin. He could feel the dryness of his mouth and smell the acrid sand.
And he could see the face of the man that he was about to fight…
No. Of the man, he was about to kill.
‘Lee Jong-hak.’
He didn’t listen to his advice.
Kran wanted to grit his teeth, but he couldn’t.
‘My freedom is only limited to two things.’
One was the fact that he was able to even have thoughts like this in the first place, and the other was the few times he had been able to gain some control of his body.
Nevertheless, that control had its limits. In the beginning, he could only blink his eyes or wiggle his toes a bit, but just recently, he’d been able to open his mouth and move his tongue.
He’d used the precious time he had to advise Lee Jong-hak to give up, but he had ignored it, and now, he was standing before him.
‘No.’
He hadn’t ignored it.
He could tell just from looking at his eyes.
Lee Jong-hak seemed to have a reason for standing in front of him at that moment, something he believed in.
Did he have the confidence to defeat or even kill him? That wouldn’t be bad either. At the very least, it was better to die than to continue living like this.
But Kran knew Lee Jong-hak.
Even if he put his life on the line, there was no way he’d be able to kill him.
* * *
‘My sword techniques aren’t enough to defeat him.’
At that moment, while standing across from him, Lee Jong-hak had the same thought.
He looked at Kran.
An old sword hung loosely at his waist. Other than that, he didn’t have any weapons.
This wasn’t like Kran.
This man, who was called the strongest Demon Hunter in the past, always had at least a dozen or so weapons on his person. It would be better to consider him a walking weapon of mass destruction than a human.
Nevertheless, the fact that he only had one weapon didn’t mean that he could let his guard down.
Kran had already killed three Champions with that old blade.
“Hoo…”
His palms were moist with cold sweat.
How long had it been since he was this nervous?
He was feeling more pressure now than in the battle to slay the Duke.
Lee Jong-hak suddenly turned to his right and looked at the stands.
This was a place that was isolated from the rest of the stands and the seats there were much larger and more comfortable than the regular seats. Naturally, this was the place where the other Champions sat.
Min Ha-rin was also sitting there.
Their eyes met.
‘Don’t overdo it.’
She mouthed those words to him.
Somehow, seeing that made him relax a bit.
The pressure on his shoulders also seemed to become a bit weaker.
Turning, his eyes locked onto Kran once again.
Ssng.
He drew his sword.
Most of the swords in this world were thick and heavy. Depending on the user, usually, when they were swung, they would smash the opponent more than cut them.
Lee Jong-hak’s sword, on the other hand, was thin and sharp.
Compared to the large, heavy swords, this sword required more finesse. If it was swung poorly, it was possible for it to get stuck without even being able to reach bone, and then, the user would die an embarrassing death without being able to retrieve it.
It was a sword that wasn’t suited for the Fighter’s regular fighting style.
Despite knowing that, Lee Jong-hak didn’t change his weapon.
He stood there, looking at Kran.
By this time, the cheers in the arena had gradually begun to calm down.
And the referee finally made his appearance.
Thuk, thuk.
Tens of thousands of people concentrated on the sound of the referee’s footsteps, which were neither fast nor slow.
Soon, the referee stopped walking. He was now standing on a platform that allowed him to see the entire arena with a single glance.
“…”
“…”
Now that everyone was paying attention to him, the referee didn’t make any unnecessary introductions. After all, everyone in the crowd already knew who the men standing in the arena were.
There, there was only one word that he needed to say.
“Be-!”
Clang!
“Gi-, in…?”
There were less than five people out of the entire audience of tens of thousands who could tell what had just happened.
“…”
Before the referee’s voice could even fade, Lee Jong-hak’s body had been sent flying in a straight line and struck the wall like a cannonball.
Boom!
The audience in that section of the stands felt like they were experiencing an earthquake.
“H-, huh?”
“…wh-, what was that?”
The crowd was in a daze for a while.
Finally, some people let out soft chuckles.
“What do you mean? It’s over.”
“Is this your first time watching him fight?”
“Dammit. I thought this time would be different.”
Even though they knew of Kran’s prowess, they still thought that Lee Jong-hak would be able to withstand Kran’s first attack.
There were many people who cheered for Kran’s overwhelming performance, but there were even more of them who expressed dissatisfaction.
Even if he was strong, they felt that he was too strong since he could easily defeat all of his opponents, which wasn’t fun to watch.
Originally, it was the desperation that appeared in the matches held in the arena that drew their excitement. The way the Fighters still rushed towards each other just to add another injury to their opponent despite the blood gushing from their bodies. Those savage exchanges were the true attraction of the arena.
It was probably for that reason that more than half of the audience in the stands were cheering for Lee Jong-hak.
And that was probably why they felt even more bitter at that moment.
The crowd looked down at the arena while filled with a deep sense of disappointment. Some of them were even wondering when the next match would begin.
Bang!
Suddenly, Lee Jong-hak shot out of the dust cloud that had been created when he hit the wall.
He kicked off the wall of the arena and rapidly closed the distance to Kran.
It took less than a second for him to charge, reach him, and attack.
Clang!!
Nevertheless, his sword was blocked.
Creak, creak. Their swords cried out as they were pressed together.
This level of defense was expected. Lee Jong-hak let go of the sword with one hand. Holding Kran back with one hand was easier than he expected. Then he slammed his elbow towards Kran’s forehead.
Crack!
Kran didn’t dodge.
Lee Jong-hak frowned. If he had been wearing a helmet, that attack would have been enough to crush it, but it only left a small red mark on Kran’s forehead. Nevertheless, this much should be expected from an opponent like Kran.
‘…however.’
By landing this attack, he realised that Kran couldn’t use his full strength.
Lee Jong-hak knew the difference between the two of them.
If Kran were using his true skills, then it would have been impossible for him to gain the advantage, even if it was a surprise attack.
Whoosh!
Lee Jong-hak twisted his body in the air. This was a high-level movement that required flexible joints and abdominal muscles, but Lee Jong-hak performed this move easily.
Paak!
A roundhouse kick whipped around to the back of Kran’s head. This was a natural follow-up to the elbow attack, but it didn’t have much of an effect either.
It seemed the back of his head was even harder.
‘Sword.’
Only his sword would be able to hurt him.
Since he had the momentum, he didn’t plan to give it up easily.
Lee Jong-hak realised instinctively. To win this match, he would have to take advantage of this opportunity.
He once again grabbed his sword with both hands.
Suddenly.
Kran’s eyes shone with a bright red light.
Black energy exploded from within his body.
“…”
Lee Jong-hak felt a chill down his spine.
It was a dark, disgusting power. something he was familiar with.
This power….
Whoosh!
Black fog enveloped Kran’s body. It was like steam, but it had no heat. Instead, it was like a physical force that pushed Lee Jong-hak away.
Unable to withstand the force, his body flew through the air.
After tumbling in the air for a while, Lee Jong-hak finally managed to land in a fairly clumsy manner.
“Huff, huff…”
Their engagement had lasted for no more than ten seconds, but he had poured all of his energy into it. It felt like he had been sprinting for hours.
Naturally, he was exhausted, but Lee Jong-hak managed to calm his breathing.
“…how can a human use demonic energy?”
“…”
Kran didn’t answer.
Lee Jong-hak didn’t know that he was a hybrid.
Because of this, he could only make his own guesses.
‘Did the Demon King do something to his body after he kidnapped him?’
If he had been forcefully injected with demonic energy, then his recent explosive growth would make sense.
Waaaaaah!
At that moment, explosive screams shook the arena.
The audience, who were just feeling disappointed at the match, was going crazy.
This reaction was natural.
After all, Lee Jong-hak had managed to withstand Kran’s attack and was now fighting a real match with him.
“Li Hao! Li Hao! Li Hao!”
“Whirlwind! Whirlwind! Whirlwind!”
Like fanatics, the crowd screamed his pseudonym and title.
Lee Jong-hak took a deep breath.