Chapter 572: Throne Match (3)

The entire world erupted when Hyunsoo, unique number 2, and Fighting God Lorander, unique number 97—a matchup everyone expected to be a blockbuster—stood face-to-face.

-The hell... Lorander really has been through a lot.

-To think Lorander, who ran all the way here to make up for what happened back then, finally reached him!

-On top of that, hasn’t his subscriber count almost doubled since then? It’s around five million now, isn’t it?

-Yeah, Lorander’s genuinely one of the world-class streamers now. Also, doesn’t this scene look familiar from somewhere?

Where had they seen it?

Old UFC blockbuster matches.

When a matchup was confirmed, the fighters would meet and snarl at each other in a similar way.

One of the ways to dramatically raise viewer interest at a moment like that was to make the two fighters sworn enemies.

The worse their relationship, and the stronger one side’s grudge, the higher the viewer ratings climbed.

That was exactly the kind of scene unfolding now.

Watching Lorander bring his face close and pour out his resentment, the viewers waited for Hyunsoo’s reaction.

-Are they gonna start swinging at each other like UFC?

-Holy...

-What’s the match committee doing? Go stop them.

An unprecedented situation might occur.

In fact, dozens of Pureum security guards who realized that were already running toward them.

Because they had no idea how Hyunsoo would react after being provoked!

But then Hyunsoo narrowed his eyes, tilted his head this way and that, and asked,

“I mean this sincerely, but who are you...?”

“...???”

“Ghk...”

“Hm?”

“Hold on. Don’t run.”

-...?

-Huh?

The whole world looked puzzled.

The captain of the running security guards stopped them, and the commentators fell silent.

The viewers kept flooding the chat with question marks, and the most flustered person of all was Lorander.

“I’m Lorander.”

“...Roider?”

“Lorander.”

“Right, so who’s that?”

“The one who lost to you in battle...!”

“????”

Question marks appeared over Hyunsoo’s head.

“There’s more than one or two of those....”

The whole world heard that and understood.

-Ah, right... Lorander got one-killed in the Great Atlas War...

-Didn’t Hyunsoo sweep away hundreds of rankers with the Twin Dragon Sword by himself in Korea vs. China during Continental War...?

-I’m pretty sure Hyunsoo killed a lot of people by himself in the Great Atlas War too..?

-I mean, how’s he supposed to remember all their names?

-Still, Lorander has five million subscribers, though?

-Brand Hyun auction house has two hundred million subscribers now... Some five-million nobody can’t really compare.

-Wow, Lorander. That’s so pitiful. He’s worked for years to take Hyunsoo down.. lol

-And the person himself doesn’t even know him lolololololololol

Lorander’s mind went blank.

Hyunsoo’s expression said this:

Why is he so mad at me...?

It was an innocent, guileless expression, as if he truly had no idea.

No, how could he forget me? How could he forget me!!!?

Lorander stood there with that bewildered expression for a moment.

He was undeniably a high-ranker.

He quickly recovered his composure and said,

“A blacksmith’s limits are clear.”

That declaration was broadcast live across the world, and he said to Hyunsoo,

“I know you have outstanding arms and improved skills. But I possess powers focused on skills for one-on-one PvP.”

-That is by no means an arrogant statement.

-There is a reason he is called Fighting God Lorander. Hyun is an outstanding Master Blacksmith, not an outstanding fighter.

“With those powers, I have faced enemies in one-on-one PvP every time. I have accumulated far more experience, and I’m certain I’m completely different from the past.”

Lorander’s eyes.

They were not the eyes of an arrogant man.

Thanks to Hyunsoo, he had learned to look back on himself, and his eyes were endlessly serious.

“I’ll see you in the arena.”

Everyone looked forward to seeing the impressive performance of Lorander, who had cast off arrogance and grown.

Hyunsoo, who would be fighting him, felt the same way. Intending to take the match against him seriously, he said in a solemn voice,

“I’ll see you in the arena, Roider.”

“...Lorander!”

“.......”

*****

The Throne Match.

The match bracket had been fully arranged, and what came next was the order.

-Group 1. Valhalla vs. Resil.

The moment the order was revealed, sighs broke out here and there.

-Valhalla and Resil are facing each other in the very first match?

-This does not seem like a very good development.

-Please explain Resil for us.

-Resil is the owner of the Legendary artifact Dragonlight Sword, and all that is known is that their actual class is Dragon Knight.

-They are a high-ranker in Korea, but I cannot help feeling that this opponent is far too bad a matchup.

-I never imagined they would become Valhalla’s very first prey.

Meanwhile, confusion also broke out among viewers around the world.

-Resil? Who’s Resil?

-That name sounds like someone who’s about to resell something.

-lolololol

-They exist. The youngest son of Daehan Group.

-Daehan Group? That Daehan Group?

Coincidentally, the world remembered only that Resil was Daehan Group’s son, rather than the name Resil.

What was certain was that while the user called Resil had been active as part of the nation of Hyun’s leadership until now, they had never made an impact as influential as this.

The player waiting room.

Resil had fallen into considerable shock.

Valhalla.

The undisputed supreme ruler of the world.

Resil had been planning to face ordinary high-rankers and climb the stairs step by step.

But the opponent was bad.

The commentators’ voices flowed from a wall-mounted TV in one corner of the waiting room.

-Perhaps it would be right for Player Resil to forfeit for the sake of Daehan Group.

-Too quick a defeat could actually have a negative impact on the company.

Resil was not the only player in the waiting room.

“Poor thing.”

“How is his first opponent Valhalla?”

“He should be thankful it isn’t me.”

“More importantly, who is that guy?”

“They say he’s a Dragon Knight?”

“A dragon? What can one or two measly dragons even do?”

In fact, the commentators on the screen were explaining dragons.

-Dragons. In Ares, they were once regarded as spiritual creatures. However, that was all they were—creatures that existed.

-It is known that the average level of a dragon reaches 500. Until two years ago, there were no dragons, so those who could command them were rare in and of themselves.

-However, time has passed, and the number of users who can command dragons now exceeds a thousand. In a place like this, which can be called a feast of high-rankers, I cannot help thinking they are insufficient to face Valhalla.

-Footage of Valhalla himself is not easy to obtain. That is because he advances alone and hunts in high-level hunting grounds. However, among his hunting videos is one called “Dragon Hunter.” The video of him cutting down four dragons alone and overwhelmingly will serve as proof that Player Lee Taeha’s dragon cannot do anything to Valhalla.

The players inside the waiting room pitied Resil, the Dragon Knight.

And among them was Dreon.

He was a Greek user.

Called a knight of the sky for sweeping across battlefields atop a giant griffin, he approached.

“Why don’t you forfeit? No need for a young master to suffer something awful for nothing.”

“That’s a good idea, isn’t it?”

“No one will criticize you. Of course, I will.”

“Hahahahaha!”

The waiting room filled with laughter.

But Lee Taeha did not answer, and soon Dreon, who saw his expression, was struck speechless.

-Will both players please enter?

The other players looked at Dreon, who was wearing a briefly startled expression, in confusion.

“What’s wrong?”

Dreon.

Watching Resil’s back as he headed toward the waiting-room corridor, he said,

“That guy is smiling.”

*****

Taeha was afraid.

There were two geniuses in his family.

His father, Lee Taesung, who had inherited the legacy of his late grandfather and expanded Daehan Group even further.

And his older brother, who honored their father’s will, was recognized no matter what he did—as the CEO of several company affiliates, as a vice chairman, and proudly as one of the world’s top 100 businesspeople.

To them, Taeha must have been an embarrassment.

Also, the reason he had been afraid the moment the names Valhalla vs. Resil were called was the company’s image.

If the youngest son of Daehan Group, who had stepped forward to represent Korea, lost too easily, Daehan Group’s image would fall.

He also worried that he might cause harm to the nation of Hyun.

Wherever he went, he felt as though he was nothing but a nuisance.

But then—

-Fighitng.

With KakaoTalk now dominating every message, the clumsy text message from his father made Taeha smile.

And also—

-Don’t worry about the company. Something of that level won’t hurt us by even a speck of dust. Do what you’re good at.

A message had also come from the older brother who had once looked at him as though he were a bug.

And the final message.

[Hyunsoo: Awaken.]

He felt that the short, weighty message was cheering him on.

Lee Taeha walked down the waiting-room corridor.

“Waaaaaaaaah!!!”

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

Huge cheers shook the world, and soon Taeha entered the capsule.

Psssssssh—

The moment he connected, he appeared in a place created by Ares.

It was a huge square arena.

-This reminds me of the World Martial Arts Tournament from Dragon X.

-Me too lolol

A place made to resemble it.

Valhalla, who had arrived first, was waiting.

Valhalla.

With a complicated expression, he said,

“Resil. I hope you at least understand that I hold no ill will toward you.”

This was a legitimate duel.

And out of courtesy toward Resil, Valhalla intended to use his full power.

He was one who walked the path of the Sword God.

Recently, by following a quest, he had unlocked a special power.

[The Nine Swords reveal themselves!]

Nine swords appeared behind his back, carried there as if borne upon him.

Among them, the sword Valhalla’s hand grasped was one with a grip shaped like a dragon’s roar.

[You have selected the Dragonslayer Sword!]

[The power of the Dragonslayer Sword dwells in the sword you currently own!]

[Attack power against dragons increases by 25%, Cutting Power increases by 20%, and skill attack power increases by 20%!]

[The Dragonslayer Sword that will break a dragon’s wit lets out a cry.]

Kiiiiiiiiing—!

The Dragonslayer Sword overlaid itself onto Valhalla’s existing sword.

-Insane....

-Does that mean this power called the Nine Swords gives all nine swords different special powers?

-...As expected of Valhalla.

-I’m not sure Resil can last even ten seconds.

Chaaaaaang—!

Valhalla let his sword hang low, assumed an attacking stance, and said,

“I’ll end this as quickly as possible.”

“You summoned everything, right?”

The skill Nine Swords was clearly a summoning ritual, and Valhalla nodded.

“For now?”

“...Then I’ll summon too.”

A mere few dragons could not become Valhalla’s opponents.

And Resil was a Dragon Knight.

He fought by commanding one dragon that slumbered within his sword.

That meant he used both the trait of commanding a dragon and the close-combat traits of a knight.

However.

There was a reason Hyunsoo had said, “Awaken.”

In PvP, users’ character information was not revealed.

For example, they might normally be displayed as “Master Blacksmith Hyunsoo Lv,” but only “Hyunsoo” would be shown, with the level and the class name Master Blacksmith omitted.

Taeha drove Dragonlight Sword into the ground and recited.

Kwajaaaaak—!

“Authority of the Dragon Monarch.”

At that moment.

Ruuuuuuumble—!

The ground twisted, and tens of thousands of massive bone fragments rose into the air, beginning to form a shape.

“Creation. Dragon Drax.”

The bone fragments whirled and gathered, building the form of a huge dragon.

“Kiheeeeeek!”

[Dragon Drax Lv 513.]

“...Creation? He creates dragons?”

Valhalla.

He gave a crooked smile.

Even if he created it, that dragon was nothing special.

Either way, it would end if he cut it down with one sword.

In fact—

Paaaaang—!

Valhalla, who had already moved like a ghost, had driven his sword into Dragon Drax’s heart.

“Kiheeeeeeeek!”

At the very moment Valhalla tried to pull out his sword.

“Creation. Dragon Dragora.”

“Creation. Dragon Edre.”

“Creation. Dragon Poha.”

“Creation. Dragon Alaon.”

“Creation. Dragon Brus.”

“Creation.”

“Creation.”

“Creation.”

“Creation.”

“Creation....”

Valhalla was flustered by the dragons filling the entire arena.

Before anyone knew it, around sixty dragons had been created in the arena and stood by Resil’s side.

“Kiheeeeeeeek!”

“Kiheeeeeeeeeek!”

“Kyaaahahaaak!”

“Kraaaaaaaak!”

Riiiip—

Resil pulled out the sword that had been embedded in the ground and recited the last command.

“Summon, Yongyong.”

[A Legendary dragon appears!!]

A thousand-year dragon with long whiskers.

Resil climbed onto its back and slowly rose into the sky behind the sixty dragons, chewing over what Valhalla had said.

I’ll end this as quickly as possible.

Valhalla had no way of knowing how despairing those words were to the person hearing them.

But now, things were different.

Mounted atop Yongyong, whose body stood nine meters tall, Resil mocked him.

“You said you’d end this quickly? Then try it.”