Jo Gi-man chuckled with a hint of superiority.
Whenever he wore that mysterious grin, he could always feel the subtle gaze of the Seven-headed Dragon behind him.
As he stepped into the dungeon, the aura of the Seven-headed Dragon strangely dimmed, and moments later, it completely vanished.
Jo Gi-man knew that whenever the Dragon showed such behavior, it often meant that ‘Blue-eyed’ was involved.
However, looking at the scenery before him, he felt no worry that this place would have any connection to Blue-eyed.
After all, Blue-eyed was an evil god that wouldn’t be satisfied unless it tasted something.
A world involving such a monster couldn’t possibly be this beautiful.
“It’s refreshing since it’s my first time here, but… what the heck is this place? No matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem like a world connected to Blue-eyed. Is there another god here?”
Despite traveling for a full day without encountering anything significant, all Jo Gi-man could see was a gigantic lake stretching endlessly, gradually building his frustration.
Although he was moving through a subtly different path, it felt as if he were merely circling the same area.
He was certainly in a labyrinth intricately woven by a powerful being.
And since this being could potentially be the one Jo Gi-man was searching for, his anticipation soared high.
He was wracking his brain and putting all his abilities to work, slowly untangling the messy threads of the Seven-headed Dragon’s incarnation.
“This is going to take ages, though. It’ll take at least a week.”
Creeeak—
Jo Gi-man took a robust corpse out of his space and started tearing into it.
Munch— Crunch—
His space, capable of holding up to 500 corpses, was much more expansive than those of regular hunters.
His supplies were always well-stocked, so enduring for a week wasn’t a problem, but he wanted something fresher than the cold, dead bodies.
“I’m hungry. I need something fresh and tender like ‘Shayna Laine.'”
The transcendent from Australia, Shayna Laine.
She popped into his mind as a particularly delectable dish.
“It always tastes phenomenal no matter when you eat it.”
Even though he had made a distasteful comment at the end and committed suicide, he hadn’t encountered any unpleasant experiences afterward, so that incident was slowly being forgotten in his head.
“Come on— just one already!”
After a long time of waiting, Jo Gi-man finally encountered an intriguing opponent, but it had taken almost an eternity.
* * *
A few days after defeating the Great Evil One.
I found myself with a small dilemma.
“The next target of the Great Evil One hasn’t been revealed.”
It wasn’t like there weren’t any bad guys left in our country. Why isn’t the system connecting me to the next one?
“Is there no suitable opponent to link me up with?”
The system always has the will to elevate the Awakened Ones to higher places.
A person stronger than Haseirin and even more wicked would fit the desired criteria to match.
Or perhaps one that has abilities that could be helpful to me might have far too many conditions to meet than I had initially thought.
For several days, I had bravely attempted to enter a small gate generated within the dungeon.
However, all of them led me to much lower-ranked dungeons, effectively wasting my time.
Fortunately, I did manage to discover plentiful dungeons like those with Big Boars or Hanjaring, allowing me to stock up some delicious food, but that was about it.
At my current level, there was no point in defeating regular-level Orcs or Lesser Dire Wolves.
Of course, most of the corpses of the lame monsters were being invested in the “Sanctuary of Vigilance.”
The once little space I had now expanded considerably, enough to accommodate something as big as Wang-wang.
“Traveling through gates to other places… even if it’s inefficient, there’s no choice. I’ll have to keep trying.”
Having failed consecutively, I hoped the next attempt would lead to a higher-difficulty area like last time.
Unlike me, Yeon-hee and the companions had shown remarkable growth.
They seemed to grow even faster in my absence.
From the stories I heard, there had been crises, but the existence of ‘Castle’ and ‘Sword Dragon’ had offset most threats.
“Of course. Castle is an A-rank summoned creature. Sword Dragon has also grown to no longer be the same Drake.”
Regardless, as things stood, we were on the brink of a guild war.
The upcoming clash involved 16 guilds and would take place over two days, resembling a guild representative selection trial.
Because it involved battles between Awakened Ones, even though it was a short match, it attracted tremendous attention.
Certainly, people from our country and foreign viewers were flocking, as this reflected the reality of how difficult it had become to interact with other nations.
It was rare to broadcast battles between Awakened Ones officially.
“Is this how monkeys in a zoo feel?”
In response to Yeon-hee’s question from a distance, Noh Ha-yoon, looking a bit flushed, replied.
“Who knows? How about enjoying this moment without overthinking?”
Unfortunately, we faced Noh Ha-yoon right from the first match.
Sitting across was Noh Ha-yoon, who until yesterday had been in a party with Yeon-hee.
Roaring like a cannon, the cheers continued, ignorant of our plight.
The spectators formed a circular arena protected by a mighty barrier of magic, and in its center lay a stadium about the size of two soccer fields.
“Please give it your all. I know I will.”
Noh Ha-yoon switched her gaze between Yeon-hee and me, earnestly requesting our best efforts.
Of course, Yeon-hee genuinely answered her, but I had a different perspective.
“If we don’t last long in the round of 16, I could easily ditch Noh Ha-yoon from our party.”
I wasn’t planning to hand over Noh Ha-yoon, who had completely melded into our party, not even if it was one of the three major guilds run by her mom.
“How much have I invested in Noh Ha-yoon?”
Anyway, I had to ensure we at least made a decent showing against her.
Beeeeep───
While Yeon-hee and Ha-yoon awkwardly chatted, the signal to start the match rang out.
At that moment, millions of viewers around the world likely held their breaths.
Crash—
From the get-go, Noh Ha-yoon unleashed a blizzard that turned the area into a snowstorm, activating her family’s vision, the [Icicle Symphony].
“Looks like she wants a quick victory.”
It had been a while since I saw her going all out, as she usually maintained a rhythm in dungeons.
Moreover, her bond with ‘Perunox,’ known as the Ice and Cold God, was a key reason why her abilities had explosively developed.
“Wow, summoning three clones at once?”
There was a significant upgrade in the pattern of [Icicle Symphony], which had previously shown only one clone to toy with opponents. Noh Ha-yoon charged at us with great momentum.
“She had been hiding her growth from us.”
Noh Ha-yoon had clearly been thinking about this match for a long time.
Three clones charged at us, each wearing different expressions.
One of them would be the main body, and even amidst the blizzard, I easily discerned which one was the original thanks to my sense.
“Impressive. There’s no main body among the three? When did she retreat?”
‘Mirroring’ her own form, Noh Ha-yoon conjured ‘Spear of Frost’ in the hands of each clone.
The Alpha Trio effortlessly swatted away the incoming ‘Spear of Frost’ while rushing against her.
Bang—!
“Huh? None of them were the main body?”
As expected, with our Alpha Trio’s simultaneous attack shattering the clones, Noh Ha-yoon was nowhere to be found. She had already appeared behind us, unleashing her magic.
A gigantic spear materialized from her staff, flying towards Yeon-hee.
However, Yeon-hee easily countered the attack by summoning Castle in front.
“I don’t need to step in. Her summoning speed has increased tremendously.”
– Waaaaaaah──!!
After several exchanges of powerful strikes in just a few seconds, even a huge golem imbued with magical energy emerged, leaving the audience in stunned awe.
With such intense reactions from the crowd, the officials in the VIP area couldn’t hold back their grins.
A summoner commanding a colossal golem?!
This was sure to be a massive hit.
Rumors of planning a higher-tier guild war had begun circulating, and seeing their greedy faces, it was clear who was pushing for it.
“After all, we are risking our lives in this match.”
Few countries engage in such insane tournaments where participant safety isn’t guaranteed.
While it might seem strange for our conservative nation to partake in such, perhaps it was due to the unusually high ratio of Awakened Ones.
Although the ambush was fantastic, Noh Ha-yoon only managed to slightly fracture Castle’s side.
With her brows knitted, she retreated back into the snowstorm.
Could she find a way to break through Castle’s defense?
“The ability to move freely within a blizzard… The magic of vision combines several spells, boosting its power.
It’s not much different from my [Blink] used in ‘Lightning Armor’s combat type,’ a shady skill that could be utilized multiple times in a short span.”
Though she was doing remarkably, it was evident her magic was rapidly depleting, indicating she was pushing herself.
“Keeping it prolonged won’t be advantageous. Smart choice.”
Her summoning creatures, the ‘Black Bird’ and ‘Nefie,’ were hindered and unable to exert their power due to the blizzard, while ‘Chehwa’ froze occasionally and lost stability.
Meanwhile, Noh Ha-yoon easily blocked Yeon-hee’s [Provocation] attack using special earplugs.
“In a competitive battle of one against many… impressive indeed.”
Witnessing a prodigy on her road to becoming an S-rank Hunter brought a different kind of joy.
Ha-yoon again scattered our focus with her three clones while one of her spells was blocked by Sword Dragon flapping its wings.
– Wowaaaaah──!!!
From appearance alone, Sword Dragon was even more dominating than Castle.
Sure, it also possessed spatial movement techniques similar to the skills Noh Ha-yoon just displayed.
Though, it was unlikely she’d reveal such techniques in this tournament.
Crack—
“When the clones broke, the sounds didn’t stop! We better get out of the range!”
The unheard melody seeping from the snow clones began tightening around our throats.
As time passed, its power would escalate to unbearable levels.
Eventually, Yeon-hee chose to break free from Castle’s spatial confines.
Castle wouldn’t be able to block the sound either.
As Yeon-hee soared into the skies atop Sword Dragon, Noh Ha-yoon barely peeked out of the snowstorm, sulking.
“You said you wouldn’t flee to the sky!”
Hearing Noh Ha-yoon’s shout, Yeon-hee shrugged, looking quite baffled.
“Huh? Me? When did I say that?”
“Let’s face each other head-on!”
“Ahh— I didn’t realize that’s what you meant… wait! Hiding in the snowstorm is a head-on battle?”
“Haah! Take this! Spear of Frost!! Spear of Frost!!”
“What the heck?! Attacking all of a sudden!”
Yeon-hee and Ha-yoon exchanged blows for a moment, but due to positioning disadvantage, Ha-yoon was inevitably on the losing end.
Eventually, Noh Ha-yoon yelled for Yeon-hee to come down again.
As the two stunning beauties shouted, their arguments would surely be broadcasted widely afterward.
After the match, those who hadn’t been interested in them would surely seek out any detail they could find.
Already, countless videos had been uploaded before the tournament started, turning them into nationwide celebrities.
With a jolt—
While both exchanged remarks, the neck of Sword Dragon bobbed; an arc of dark energy was launched in a fan shape towards the arena.
“Wooah?!”
Surprised, Noh Ha-yoon repositioned her clones while hastily summoning an immense snowstorm mid-flight.
“Crrr… ….”
Sword Dragon seemed bothered by the snowstorm, its pupils elongated to slits and the Alpha Trio grew increasingly frustrated, unable to land any hits on the clones.
Past a few minutes, the battle between Yeon-hee and Noh Ha-yoon continued.
Their performance was genuinely delightful entertainment for the audience.
“That should suffice.”
Noh Ha-yoon’s firepower was dwindling, and the excitement among the summoned creatures was peaking.
Swoosh—
“Ah?”
I quietly lunged from the blizzard, stealthily sneaking behind Ha-yoon to lightly strike her neck with a palm.
Thwack—
No matter how perfectly one hid, they were in the palm of my senses.
“You… you sneaky… it’s… unfair…”
Thud—
Ha-yoon wore an expression of injustice about my intervention.
“When you asked for our best, you didn’t expect I’d interfere, huh?”
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