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Chapter 237: 237

The first match of the tournament’s finals was between Kim Su-hyeun and Daian Gedeck .

The two men stepped up to the arena . Su-hyeun observed his opponent who was making his way to the other side of the expansive battleground .

The Necromancer .

The German’s pale face was expressionless . It would be normal to be a little tense, but not a single emotion could be read on his stony face .

Tick, tock—

A clock suddenly appeared between the two men, and its hands ticked by slowly . The match would start in three minutes .

Daian Gedeck opened his eyes at that point, and in at that moment, Su-hyeun definitely confirmed “it . ”

“It’s the Death Aura,” Su-hyeun thought .

He knew this to be true because what he sensed from Daian Gedeck was the same as his own aura .

The Death Aura possessed a different type of nature compared to magical energy . If the latter was seen as a power source of the living, then the former was a type of energy related to the dead .

This power was absolutely necessary to command the walking dead—the undead . Su-hyeun suspected it the moment he heard the German’s moniker, the Necromancer, and his suspicion had been proven correct .

“You’re like me, it seems,” said Daian Gedeck .

Wrinkles could be seen on his pale white face . No matter how pale his skin was, it was not possible to hide his age .

“What did you do?” he asked .

“Not sure I understand the meaning of your question . ”

“I’m asking what you were doing before you entered the other side . Were you a shaman? Maybe an exorcist? If not, then…”

“I was a student . ”

“A student?”

Su-hyeun’s reply caused a slight rise in Daian Gedeck’s brows . This would be the first expression the German had made so far, and it also allowed Su-hyeun to guess what the older man’s previous job was .

“It seems that you were very interested in ghosts . ”

“…”

“A man who chases after ghosts…Is that called an exorcist? Were you involved in that side of things?”

“Something like that . ”

“You went beyond chasing ghosts, and now, your profession allows you to lord over them, instead…”

“Thanks to that, I was able to become the world’s greatest exorcist . ” While Daian Gedeck was saying this, the glare in his eyes changed . “That’s what I used to think . ”

After hearing that, Su-hyeun chose not to reply but simply waited until the time was up .

He didn’t have to wait long .

“The match will now commence . ”

Almost at the same time that the mechanical voice resounded, Death Aura began to ooze out from Daian Gedeck’s body . “Rise up . ”

Crunch, shatter—

Gu-gugugu—

Black bones began rising up from various spots in the huge arena . All sorts of skeletons and monster corpses numbering tens, hundreds, even well past thousands began revealing themselves .

Su-hyeun watched this happen and smiled faintly . This sight kind of felt familiar to him .

Compared to what Mister Herrels could do, this was nothing much .

Still, the number of undead was more than he initially expected .

Summoning Ouroboros here would be a bit over the top, so…

If he did call out his Ouroboros, the entire arena would be utterly destroyed .

“Not like I need that guy, anyway,” he thought .

The number of creatures Daian Gedeck summoned was quite considerable . The undead army was big enough to completely fill up the huge arena . There had to be at least a few thousand of them .

However, Su-hyeun still didn’t feel that they were threatening to him .

Other than their number, the summoned undead weren’t all that strong . Except for a handful of the undead, the majority were monsters from measly orange-colored dungeons .

Not only that…

“Should I try that out?” Su-hyeun wondered .

Just like between Herrels and the Lichs, Su-hyeun and the undead were in direct conflict with each other .

[The trait “Necromancer” has been activated . ]

[By spending “Death Aura” you can see or command the dead . ]

The Necromancer Daian Gedeck’s ability could command countless numbers of the undead at will .

He possessed enough skills as an awakener to raid a green-colored dungeon by himself, which there weren’t all that many of in the world to begin with . Moreover, the addition of a single S-Rank awakener would enable just the two of them to raid a blue-colored dungeon .

Quite obviously, Daian Gedeck was deeply confident of his own skillset .

He was also confident that not many people existing in this world would be able to break through the army he controlled to defeat him .

But…

How bizarre .

He was sensing an inexplicable feeling of absurdity as he faced off against Su-hyeun .

“But why?” he asked himself .

The German could sense the same type of aura coming from Su-hyeun .

It was the Death Aura, an aura of the dead . This was a power that regular awakeners could not possess . That was why Daian Gedeck felt a little happy to see Su-hyeun wielding the same powers as him .

But once the match went underway, he could no longer sense the same type of feeling coming off of the South Korean .

“He’s not the same as me, but rather…”

Drip—

A thick droplet of sweat trickled down Daian Gedeck’s pale face . He had belatedly realized that he felt as though his entire body was covered in a cold sweat .

“Am I actually scared?” he thought .

This was an instinctive fear that his brain hadn’t fully registered yet .

Through this, Daian Gedeck became sure of it . Other than their auras being the same, Su-hyeun’s ability was on another realm altogether compared to his .

I’m scared…

We need to run!

No, we need to obey .

No, we…

The summons he was in control of had fallen into confusion . They were scared of Su-hyeun, but they also wanted to worship him . Daian Gedeck could feel his entire ability quaking in fear .

Just what ability did that man possess?

Step, step—

Su-hyeun finally started walking .

In other people’s eyes, his steps would come across as ordinary . He must have looked relaxed and unconcerned as he walked . However, the truth couldn’t have been more different from Daian Gedeck’s perspective .

It didn’t take long for the audience watching the match to realize that something was wrong here .

“What’s this?”

“Why aren’t they moving?”

“Look, Gedeck’s undead, they…”

The audience soon grew restless .

Before long, Su-hyeun was walking among the undead Daian Gedeck had summoned . He was so close to them that if they turned their bodies or wielded the swords and spears in their hands, they would have touched him .

Even then, the undead did not display any reactions . Some of them even stepped out of the way to create a path for him .

“Just what is he thinking?”

“Is a Necromancer thinking of fighting head-on against a swordsman?”

“From Kim Su-hyeun’s perspective, this must be pretty insulting to him . No, wait . Maybe he finds this whole thing laughable instead?”

Unsurprisingly, the audience didn’t think Su-hyeun was responsible for the current spectacle . The one who summoned the undead and controlled them was undoubtedly Daian Gedeck . As such, everyone watching thought that this event was what he wanted to create in the first place .

The truth was…

His control had been taken over .

His power to control over the undead army had grown weaker . Even before he had noticed it, the connection between him and the army had been severed .

The fault lay with the activation of power much higher in level than his . He wasn’t even curious about who the culprit could be . Well, there already was an existence wielding a far greater level of power than him standing right before his eyes, after all .

Step, step—

Su-hyeun walked in slow but steady steps without pause . Meanwhile, Daian Gedeck simply stood there as he continued to sweat .

“If that man willed it, then…” he thought to himself as he watched Su-hyeun move even closer to him .

The undead army would attack him instead .

Gulp—

For the first time ever, Daian Gedeck felt scared of his own summoned undead army . They were supposed to be allies that always protected him, but at least at this moment, they were not .

Their swords and spears now belonged to Su-hyeun .

“Do you wish to go on?” Su-hyeun asked after completely closing the distance between them . He was so close that a sword swing would easily reach the German .

“Hah!”

Plop—

Daian Gedeck let out a dejected chuckle and fell on his backside . His strength seemed to have abandoned his entire body .

In his trembling voice, he said, “I surrender . ”

“…”

Those two words brought a sudden bout of silence in the arena .

Right afterward…

“Winner, Kim Su-hyeun!”

The mechanical voice completely filled up the whole arena .

The finals of the Ranking Wars, the first round of 32—the winner of the first match was Kim Su-hyeun .

It was a victory in which not a single sword strike took place .

The first match was over, and the second one commenced right away .

Daian Gedeck exited from the arena in unsteady steps . He still hadn’t recovered from the shock .

“I always thought that the rumors were exaggerated, but…” he thought .

He had heard various stories about Su-hyeun . He was a young genius, and after being an awakener for only a few years, he defeated Gordon Rohan and rose up to become the world’s strongest .

Daian Gedeck really had thought the stories had been greatly embellished . Su-hyeun might have been a really amazing talent, but as the world was thirsting for a hero right then, the German thought that extra meat and spices had been added to enhance the flavor of the rumors .

However, his first-hand encounter with him made him realize that there was no exaggeration in the rumors at all . No, they were lacking instead .

“You should know what embarrassment is . ”

Daian Gedeck turned his head toward the direction of that voice as he stepped outside the arena . A familiar face was waiting for him by the exit . It was a face often seen on TV screens .

“Adel Castle . I’ve heard a lot about you . ”

“If we’re talking names, then I’ve heard about you, too . Daian Gedeck, the great Necromancer . But now that I’ve seen you… You were just a coward, I guess?”

A mocking sneer surfaced on Adel’s face .

This was clearly a provocation .

Daian Gedeck easily read the rage burning within Adel’s eyes . “Although this isn’t something I should say in the first meeting like this, let me give you a piece of advice anyway . ”

“Advice, you say?”

“Don’t ever forget that what you see isn’t everything . That was the same story for me . Also…”

Daian Gedeck stopped his sentence there and peered deeply into Adel Castle’s eyes .

That burning rage reflected in Adel Castle’s eyes was not directed at him . Daian Gedeck wasn’t deaf to the rumors floating around, so he knew very well who that rage was reserved for .

“You should stop considering a man you can’t even deal with an enemy . Forget about your anger . It’ll be smarter for you to live a quiet little life instead . ”

“…Are you really saying that to me?”

“I pray that you go back to your old, gentlemanly demeanor . Although, I’m not certain if that was your true self back then . ”

Daian Gedeck was finished with what he wanted to say and brushed past Adel Castle .

Adel simply sneered while looking at the German as he walked away without responding to the provocation . To his ears, Daian Gedeck’s advice only sounded like a coward’s excuse .

“Who gives a sh*t?”

Adel then began walking away himself . His match was next, after all .

Act 9

While the tournament was progressing smoothly, Su-hyeun suddenly got up from his seat . The first rounds of the matches had come to an end . Round 16 was scheduled to take place that evening, so he had some time left to kill .

Just as Su-hyeun was exiting from the arena, Lee Ju-ho approached him and asked, “Where are you headed?” It seemed that the latter had been waiting to meet up with him .

Su-hyeun figured that this was actually for the better and replied, “I was planning to take a look around, you see . ”

“Around here? Why? I thought you were not interested in sightseeing?”

Su-hyeun had arrived in the U . S . not too long ago . But even if that was true, he was not really the type to behave like a tourist, nor did he know anyone on this side of the world .

“There’s something I wanted to confirm . ”

“Which is?”

“Dungeons have been raided ahead of time, around one month before the Ranking Wars started, am I right?”

“Yeah, that sounds about right . If not, a dungeon that’s impossible to raid might go on to become an outbreak while the Ranking Wars are underway . As you already know, anything above the green-colored ones becoming an outbreak can result in a big, messy aftermath . ”

“Right?” Su-hyeun replied with a somewhat doubtful expression . “But still… just in case, I’d like to make sure . ”