Chapter 129: 129

“How dare you bluff…”

Stomp—

One awakener stepped forward as if he could not listen to Su-hyeun anymore . Su-hyeun remembered his name . He had heard this man’s name in his previous life . But he was not outstanding at all, so Su-hyeun could not remember his face .

The word “first” was always considered a great modifier because it meant that person went ahead of others . But to Su-hyeun, this modifier was meaningless .

“You were lazy . ”

“Shut up!”

Whoosh—

When John Cleese’s hands hit the ground, a huge mouth soared up at Su-hyeun’s feet area . This time it aimed not just his feet but his entire body .

Crunch—!

Su-hyeun stamped on the wide-open mouth . The teeth in the big mouth broke and fell off .

“Ramic! Mr . Lowe!”

John Cleese called the other two people for help as if they had introduced each other or as if they were acquaintances from a long time ago . At that moment, the two men rushed toward Su-hyeun from different directions .

Whiz—

Slash, slash—!

The two men tore apart the snakes lying everywhere . The dozens of small snakes were cut and burst out in each attack . But…

“I told you . ”

“Argh!”

“Arg—”

Ramic and Lowe held their hands and feet . They could not approach Su-hyeun and stopped where they were . Their hands and feet turned to blue and purple and became stone-like .

“Do you still think it’s just a simple hallucination?” Su-hyeun asked .

“A-argh…”

“Damn it!”

They struggled to remove the poison that began to spread in their bodies . Even though they did not have detoxification skills, they could prevent spreading by using their magic .

Since it was a poison made by a hallucination skill, if Johnny Brad took a little action, it could disappear soon . But that was one frightening and great point about this hallucination . If Johnny Brad did not take action, this poison would act like the real one and eventually would kill them .

“Shit!”

Mirald, who was preparing her skill while the other three were buying time, reached her hands out to Su-hyeun .

Whoosh—

At that moment, thousands of insects covered Su-hyeun’s body . They were bugs with extreme poison . Like the snakes created by Johnny Brad, their poison would be fatal as well . But…

Schwing—

Slash—!

Su-hyeun cut off her hallucination skill as soon as he drew his sword out .

Boom—!

The hallucination disappeared in an instant . There was no need to get rid of each insect one by one . Mirald was startled when her hallucination broke out in vain .

Whiz—

Su-hyeun rushed forward . He rushed toward John Cleese, who was the closest to him .

Ramic and Lowe tried to step back, looking at such Su-hyeun . But at that moment, Su-hyeun’s eyes changed .

[Third Eye – Predator]

Their bodies were not able to move . They were stiffened as if a giant snake had squeezed them . Although it was a brief moment, the fact that they could not move their bodies was fatal .

Crack, crack—

Bam—!

“Urgh!”

“Aargh!”

Su-hyeun grabbed the two men’s necks in each hand slammed them on the ground .

As a response, John Cleese clasped his hands together .

Clap—

[The coffin of iron thorn spears . ]

Creak, boom—!

The huge black coffin appeared to the left and right side of Su-hyeun and swallowed him up . Inside of the coffin were huge awls . “The coffin of iron thorn spears” was a skill that made hundreds of holes in the body of the trapped person and killed them .

John Cleese thought .

He felt the victory .

But…

Crack, crack—

Creak—

The closed coffin door started to open . John Cleese, who was injecting his magic into the skill, was startled and shouted with a scared voice .

“I-it is nonsense!”

Su-hyeun, who was trapped in the coffin, opened the door with his bare hands . The iron thorn spears could pierce even the steel, but they were torn apart by Su-hyeun’s hands .

Crack—!

Soon, the coffin created by John Cleese was smashed and lost its shape . John Cleese was in a hurry to start another skill . At that moment, he could feel the burning feeling from his head .

Whoosh—

Boom—!

“Argh!”

The blue flame burned John Cleese’s hair . With the burning feeling from his head, he grabbed his head and rolled on the ground .

“I was a little surprised this time . ” Su-hyeun looked at Mirald .

She was the only one left . She sat on the ground and shivered . While the three men suffered, she could not do anything . More exactly, she just realized that nothing would work .

“How…the…hell…”

She had thought they could win since they were four of them . She never even imagined that they would lose .

But the result came out from the overwhelming difference in the level . Although the two had previously been poisoned by snakes and failed to perform properly, even so, the results were hard to believe .

However, a thought came to Mirald’s mind .

“Y-you should not attack me right now . ”

“Why?”

Stomp—

When Su-hyeun took a step forward threateningly, Mirald flinched and continued to say, “I removed the hallucination skills I’ve made on the camera . If you attack me right now… It will be broadcast all over the world as it is . ”

“Is that so?”

“Y-you will be in trouble if that happens, right? The guilds of those people will come to hate you . It will look like you are attacking us without any reason to the viewers . ”

“I don’t think it will look like I am doing that . You will make it look like that,” said Su-hyeun .

It was so obvious . Su-hyeun could guess what she would say next . And what she said was not far from Su-hyeun’s expectation at all .

“Yes, you are right . Besides…if we just go exit right now, both of us can advance to the finals, right?”

“Yes . That is not bad for me either,” Su-hyeun said .

“I just need to advance to the final round . The prize money will come out just for that . I don’t even want to win . I am not your competitor . ”

She wanted the enormous prizes and privileges given to participants in the finals and the honor of being a finalist of the Ranking Wars . The honor would follow if she passed the preliminary round and qualified for the final . Going to the final meant she would be one of the high-rank awakeners among the 175 S-Ranks .

The prize money itself was not huge to the S-Rank awakeners . They usually earned a lot anyway . But the matter was the privileges that she could get according to the ranking of this Ranking Wars .

Higher rankings meant better performers . According to this ranking, people would get priority to attack dungeons first . Also, they would obtain steady profits from the distribution of Ether stones and items in the future .

“So? What do you think? Isn’t this quite reasonable?” Mirald asked .

“Well…” Su-hyeun shook his head . “I don’t like your idea . ”

“W-what?”

Even with the attention of the world, Su-hyeun did not stop walking toward Mirald . Su-hyeun thought her thoughts were too shallow . She was the one who had hit his back first and now she was trying to persuade him to advance to the finals together .

“Y-you don’t have to do this! It is just a contest . We are not enemies or something!” Mirald shouted .

Su-hyeun reached out his hand to her and said, “I am truly sorry, too . But you have to understand . It is something we can’t help, right?”

Su-hyeun continued while grabbing her head with one hand . “The world is like this . ”

Mirald’s eyes widened . They were familiar words .

It was what she had said to Su-hyeun before . Su-hyeun was giving back those words now . He had no intention of overlooking her . He didn’t care about other people’s thinking . She realized that .

“I-I give up!” Mirald declared a disclaimer without hesitation .

“Nope . ”

Crack—!

But at the moment she declared her drop out, Su-hyeun slammed her head on the ground . The ground cracked and Mirald passed out . Unlike the other three, she was physically weak .

“Even if you give up, I won’t stop . ”

Su-hyeun, who had put four S-Rank awakeners on the ground, dusted his hands off . He turned his body and started to walk .

[Mirald, John Cleese, Ramic, and Lowe are considered unable to fight . They will be eliminated . ]

Johnny Brad, who had been watching the fight, dropped the four people from the contest . Like that, Su-hyeun became the only one who advanced to the final in the third team .

Act 10

“Did this happen because that man is strong or the other four are too weak?” Gordon Rohan, who was watching at the screen, asked Johnny Brad .

Johnny Brad answered with a dry voice as usual, “Probably the first one . ”

“Right? He is quite strong . ”

“Yes . Very strong . ”

Gordon Rohan glanced at Johnny Brad, who hid his face under the robe . He could not see his face, but his voice sounded quite young . It was a voice that sounded like a child mimicking an adult . As if he was trying to hide his voice, Johnny Brad rarely spoke to Gordon Rohan . But somehow, Gordon Rohan felt like Johnny Brad would not save his breath right at the moment .

“Do you think he has anything else?” Gordon Rohan asked .

“I think he is hiding a lot . He didn’t even draw his sword . ”

“Don’t you think that sword is a trick?”

“He didn’t look like he was used to swinging his fist . Then, the only remaining thing is the sword . ”

“I thought the same . If you thought like that as well, I guess it would be right . ”

If they were right, it meant that Su-hyeun had knocked four people out without using his main weapon .

“He was called a rising star . But I think he is more than that,” Gordan Rohan said .

Su-hyeun had become known for his name as he had been climbing the Tower of Trials on level 10 . When he became an S-Rank awakener, he was known as a new rising star . It was only one year ago, but now he advanced to the finals in this Ranking Wars . He had the ability to defeat four S-Rank awakeners at the same time .

Gordon Rohan asked in a slightly excited voice, “Do you think there will be other people like him?”

“I am not sure he would be as good as that man… . ” Johnny Brad looked at numerous awakeners from the screen . “Yes . There is . ”

“Yeah? Who?”

“It will be not fun if I tell you now,” Johnny Brad answered vaguely .

At his answer, Gordon Rohan crouched down and looked at the screen . After Su-hyeun’s turn, the fourth team started taking their test .

He didn’t want mediocre people to advance to the finals . Gordon Rohan wanted “real” people . He wanted the very few people who had different skills and power among S-Rank awakeners . Only when he competed with them could prove that he was the best .

“It’s his turn . ”

“That guy is also the ‘real’ one that you were looking for,” Johnny Brad said .

“That man?” Gordon Rohan looked at the screen and tilted his head . “I’ve never seen him before . ”

He tried to remember, but he had no idea who that person was .