Flap—
The Sword Dragon elegantly descends, showcasing its graceful wing beats across the arena.
*[Grrrr…]*
It doesn’t hide its displeasure, as if questioning why I have to do such a thing.
– “Waaaaaa! It’s the Shadow Drake!!”
– “It’s huge! They say its breath is black!”
– “Since it’s the top rank among Drakes, it actually uses breath attacks. The low-tier ones just swing their forearms around.”
‘Seems like the info has spread quite a bit.’
Yeon-hee had done a few quick interviews after her quarterfinal match yesterday, and a lot of information was released during that time.
The biggest buzz on the internet was that the ‘Castle’ ranks higher than the Sword Dragon, and that it’s actually an A-rank!
Thanks to that, it feels like Yeon-hee’s victory is a foregone conclusion, and now there are suggestions to lift the restrictions, allowing hunters from all ranks to participate.
‘Of course, that opinion is probably being spread by people who want to promote this tournament.’
After all, that tournament will be held two years from now anyway. I couldn’t care less how they do it.
“Hey, Sword Dragon, don’t go breathing fire on people just because you’re annoyed, okay?”
*[Grrrr…]*
“Hey! If you keep staring like that, you’re gonna get scolded!”
*[……]*
The Sword Dragon, receiving a scolding from Yeon-hee, covered its face with its wings, casting a look of disdain at the world.
Yeon-hee mentioned that the Sword Dragon hasn’t reached its mature form yet, meaning it’s still quite delicate.
‘If it’s not even fully grown yet… when it does grow, will it be as big as Jo Gi-man turned into a dragon?’
The word dragon carries a tremendous allure, causing people to completely ignore Yeon-hee and me. Their entire focus was on the Sword Dragon.
It was said that in the first wave when the Gate first opened, dragons showed themselves only once, and those who witnessed it had most likely lost their minds, as their descriptions of its appearance were all different.
Thus, it makes sense that they would find the Drake, which is certainly closer to a dragon than any other monster, intriguing.
As soon as we fell from the sky, the cheers of over 50,000 spectators roared even louder, with our opponent waiting nonchalantly with a hefty mace resting on his chin.
‘This guy isn’t the paladin I encountered in the dungeon. I mean, you have to be B-rank to enter there, so it makes sense.’
All the guys who gave me a hard time in the ‘Living Statue of Power’ are now seated in the audience.
Given that no messages were popping up from the system, it seems that ‘Areina’ is no longer intervening with the paladin.
Koooom—
– “Wow! It’s a golem!”
– “It’s enormous!!”
Before the match began, Yeon-hee started summoning a group of summoned creatures in advance.
She entered the space of the Castle right away, with the Alpha Trio and other summoned creatures taking positions on top of the gigantic golem, all of them striking a grand pose.
She even summoned ‘Ddung-i’ and ‘Wang-wang,’ and it had been a long time since Wang-wang was out of the house, so he was barking and running around everywhere.
– “Waaaaaaa—!!”
– “That golem is seriously awesome!”
– “Is that dog an Earth Puppy? Why is it so big?”
– “Right? Didn’t it look like it would grow to just the size of a Welsh Corgi?”
The cameras were busily capturing the sight of the summoned creatures.
It seemed like it would take quite a while before the match started, but I was just grateful that Jo Gi-man wasn’t here right now.
“Aah… I should have just skipped it.”
*Clap, Clap, Clap.*
Of course, this performance was also requested by the organizers.
At this rate, it was getting to the point where we wouldn’t know when the main match would even start, so ultimately the hosts requested for the main broadcasting network’s cameras.
‘I really don’t want too much attention on us. Why is Hwa-ryeon here as well?’
I spotted Hwa-ryeon grinding her teeth in the audience, glaring at us as if flames were shooting from her eyes.
I couldn’t understand why she was so riled up when we hadn’t even fought. Does she think she should have been the one standing here?
‘But she seems fine. For someone who got beaten up by Ko Hyuk just before being killed.’
Having excellent recovery abilities means one has good magic control too.
No matter what anyone says, she was a hunter whose skills wouldn’t lose to anyone.
And she was someone I had previously considered for my next demon servant.
‘Hmm… making Hwa-ryeon a demon servant… that’s something I’ll need to think more about.’
The fact that I could handle such talent to my liking was certainly a positive, but there were parts that I couldn’t morally accept.
‘Why does my value system feel so wobbly these days? Should I dip into Irmana’s water to relax a bit?’
After meeting with *Iris Cass,* I occasionally felt those dangerous sensations creep up on me.
A feeling of drifting away from being human.
In those moments, I would feel like I didn’t care how I acted, so I had no choice but to keep myself in check as well.
*Huh—*
As I took a deep breath inwardly, the match had already begun.
“Light!!”
Before the match started, the golden aura swirled around the armored paladin, and that holy energy was enough to inspire even the audience.
‘Oooh… this is quite the find. Just looking at the buffs, he seems to be even more capable than the paladins I saw back then.’
– “It’s a showdown between light and darkness.”
– “Lee Chan-jin, you can do it! Don’t let the darkness defeat you!!”
‘Is cheering for him different from just watching?’
It felt like those supporting the paladin were more numerous, and it wasn’t just my imagination.
To anyone seeing it, it was clear that the good side was over there, while we were the evil ones.
Even when the hosts released promotional videos, they were produced with that sentiment in mind, so it was only natural for people’s attention to be focused that way.
– “A skeleton soldier in full plate armor. They call it a *Grim Reaper*, right?”
– “I heard it evolves into a Death Knight later on.”
– “That’s horrific. Anyone handling that skeleton must be abnormal as well.”
– “Haha, look at that skeleton guy lagging behind. They really can’t keep up with paladins!!”
– “Lee Chan-jin!! Take out the Grim Reaper first! After that, push into the Castle and teach Yeon-hee a lesson!!”
‘I’ve definitely punched Jo Gi-man’s face a hundred times with my mouth.’
However, it seemed that the paladin named Lee Chan-jin was deliberately looking for an angle to target me, as if he could hear the audience’s words.
I was perched on top of the Castle, and at that moment, I sensed a flash of light emitting from the paladin’s body.
─
A single ray of light shot straight at my chest.
“Il-wol—!”
Yeon-hee exclaimed my name in surprise, but unlike my worries, I simply caught the spear he threw with one hand effortlessly.
─?!
“What the—?! You caught my *Holy Javelin* so easily?! No way!”
The paladin seemed greatly shaken as his decisive blow returned empty-handed.
‘Is that attack really that impressive? I have no idea.’
I thought he simply tossed it like a greeting before the main battle, but it seems it was more serious than that.
The caught spear was promptly fed into the materials for expanding my *Sanctuary of Vigilance.*
– *More materials are needed to expand the Sanctuary of Vigilance by one stage.*
The throwing spear disappeared as if it had melted away.
It seems its quality isn’t that great, as the size of the sanctuary did not change at all.
“Tch— If I can’t get it once, I’ll throw it again and again!”
‘Thanks. You little brat.’
He was the type who matched his words with his actions.
Afterwards, the paladin attempted to throw the spear multiple times.
I caught each of those spears and used them as material for the sanctuary.
“How can a skeleton like you possibly catch a spear imbued with my divine power?!”
– “Come to think of it… isn’t there someone inside that thing?”
– “Wait, does that mean it’s openly cheating?!”
‘Hmph… Divine power, huh? That’s just the power bestowed by your leader. There’s no way it’s going to work on me.’
The paladin seemed to have already lost half of his fighting spirit.
If he couldn’t deal with just me, how could he possibly manage all those summoned creatures on top of the golem?
‘I bet he’s thinking along those lines.’
A strategy of wearing down the opponent with solid stamina and defense while looking for an opening to throw a spear.
While the spear itself had impressive accuracy and considerable destructive power, to me, it felt like a child’s game.
– “What the heck? Is that all you have besides throwing spears?”
– “Is that mace just for show?! Fight properly!”
The spectators, having paid a hefty sum to enter, began to shower around their criticisms towards the paladin.
“Ugh-”
The paladin’s expression grew sorrowful as he faced the onslaught of booing.
He seemed unable to adapt to this situation, perhaps because he was still young.
Of course, the scenario I’m talking about isn’t the audience’s criticism, but rather the realization that none of his attacks were effective.
“I’ll finish this off.”
Having instigated the fight first, she was watching quietly without sending out her summoned creatures.
It appeared she decided there was no longer any reason to wait.
Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa bang!!
As the trio charged the paladin, the tide of battle began to shift instantly.
‘Honestly, it seemed like the qualifying rounds were tougher.’
With the Alpha Trio and the Dire Wolf launching lightning support, paladin Lee Chan-jin crumbled without even managing a proper counterattack.
*[Summoner Yeon-hee Wins!]*
– “Waaaaaaa!!”
– “This is like fighting a literal elementary school kid!”
– “It’s not that the *Arena* guild was unable; Yeon-hee is just way too strong. And to think she’s still C-rank? That’s just not fair.”
– “It’s not just Yeon-hee who should be demoted from C-rank. Lee Chan-jin could easily be upgraded to B-rank without any issues.”
– “Of course, it’s only after getting thoroughly beaten that they start to lodge complaints.”
‘One-on-one matches do seem a bit off; it’s basically a fight of one against many.’
Anyway, we just needed to collect our share of spoils after winning.
After breezily finishing up the semifinals, we returned to the waiting area.
The finals were, as expected, determined to be against the Dwarf Guild’s ‘Hwang Bo-jin-hwan.’
He had also cruised through to the finals with overwhelming combat power, so people’s expectations for the finals were surely quite high.
– “So just a little more of a nail-biting contest…”
– “Wait, are you saying to purposely hold back?”
– “Given how many participants showed up, it’s essential to create some excitement or this valuable tournament won’t be sustainable anymore. The atmosphere is just right. Let’s create a good scenario with the Dwarf Guild…”
– “Ah! Seriously. Then can you at least give our guild one more spot in the next tournament?”
– “Is that the board of directors talking? That’s a bit tough…”
– “Oh, well then we don’t know.”
– “Hey, come on now…”
At the end of the corridor leading into the waiting area, a dispute was unfolding between Kang Yeon-su and an organizer of the tournament.
‘It’s not like it’s difficult; just come on in, Yeon-su.’
Kang Yeon-su had been bargaining for a while but eventually secured what she wanted and entered the waiting area.
“Oh, my lovely Yeon-hee. Have you been resting?”
Yeon-su, immediately after entering, rubbed Yeon-hee’s cheeks as if she found her adorable.
“Ugh—”
With Yeon-hee squished into a ball, Kang Yeon-su excitedly brought up some good news.
“About the prize for winning I mentioned last time. Ah, I mean the guild’s own reward.”
“Yes, yes.”
The guild that wins the tournament can choose one dungeon run by another guild and take over its management rights, and what Yeon-su talked about was the side regarding monetary rewards.
“It’ll be a bit difficult to settle it right away. It’ll probably take around ten days. If we win, it’ll be a neat 17 billion! That should help quite a bit, right?”
170 billion for a C-rank hunter… Now that’s some different caliber of guild.
Though considering the rewards the guild receives for winning, this amount could also be seen as small change. However, they’re valuing it much higher than the contractual terms, so I have nothing to complain.
Yeon-hee, astonished by the amount she had never heard of in her life, covered her mouth in surprise.
“Thank you, unnie!”
As she hugged Yeon-su tightly, Yeon-su patted her on the back while shooting me a wink, wearing a playful expression.
‘If it weren’t for Jo Gi-man, I could have used that money for various things.’
As I gritted my teeth while recalling him.
“Actually, there’s even more important news.”
“What’s that?”
“Yeah. The North Korean expedition issue.”
“A- don’t tell me, has the subjugation schedule been set?”
“That’s right. It’s been moved up significantly because the situation isn’t good… I don’t know if you’ll be fine with it?”
‘Here it comes.’
News of the Great Beast, positioned above our country, has been topping the front pages every day lately.
If the Devouring Creeper continues its erosion, there are talks that it might breach the ceasefire line by the end of this year.
Thus, it was a part that we had more or less anticipated, but both Yeon-hee and I remained silent, listening to Yeon-su’s words.
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