âHandicapâ. Never before in his life did someone throw that word in his face. As such, he kind of felt strange. But he didnât feel that the other guy was being insolent at all.
His narrowed eyes shifted over to Bak Yun-gyu next. âI heard you need to go back to your country today?â
âYes, unfortunately. Things there need my attention.â
Bak Yun-gyuâs English was more than passable. His pronunciation might be a bit sketchy here and there, but there didnât seem to be any problems as far as communicating his intentions was concerned.
âIn that case, weâll have to observe the fight even if you donât like the idea. If we want you properly reflected in the rankings, that is.â
âWhat are you talking about?â Bak Yun-gyu asked as if he couldnât understand. It seemed that being reflected in the rankings was news to him.
âThe Ranking Wars isnât simply about finding one winner, after all. As the name implies, itâs also to assign appropriate rankings to everyone participating, all the way from the first place downward, based on your skills.â
âCould the standard criteria for judging that beâŠ?â
âDonât get any wrong ideas. It wonât be me, but Johnny Brad over here whoâll be assigning the rankings. Depending on the abilities you show, even if you fail at the preliminaries, you can get a higher ranking than someone who made it to the main matches. Of course, reaching the main competition will score you extra points, but still.â
It was a simple way of doing things. To think that just Johnny Brad alone, a judge of the proceedings, would use his judgment to assign different rankings. Even if his decisions proved to be fair and impartial, people were bound to complain since there were no clear judging criteria.
Gordon Rohan continued, âI know what youâre thinking, but so what? If youâve got a problem with my decision, why donât you come up here and have a go at me? Iâll acknowledge anyone as better than me as long as you manage to defeat me.â
Those words always automatically got a groan from all who heard them.
<< But then again, this ranking isnât supposed to be an officially recognized one, anyway. >>
The rankings created through the Ranking Wars, plus the subsequent ranking list established afterward, came from the data collected by Gordon Rohan. People used it as a yardstick because it was somewhat credible in how the rankings were assigned, and they were always quite accurate, as well.
âThe fight between you two will be observed by Johnny Brad and myself, and, by using the unofficial info, weâll assign the correct ranking for Awakener Bak Yun-gyu. Although, I donât have much to say if youâre not really interested in this sort of thing.â
âMister Gordon.â
âMm?â
Bak Yun-gyu looked up at Gordon Rohan and spoke up. âNext time when I come back to San Francisco, Iâd like to have a match with you.â
RUUUMBLE-
While saying that, he began awakening his magical energy. Su-hyeun matched him, and awoke his own magical energy while unsheathing his sword.
Gordon Rohan watched the battle between the two begin, and muttered with a slick grin, âYou can come at me any time.â
Wuu-ooong-
Crack, spliiiit-
Small cracks began spreading on the arenaâs floor, supposed to be reinforced by the powers of Ether stones.
Both Su-hyeun and Bak Yun-gyu were using swords.
Bak Yun-gyu observed Su-hyeunâs form and opened his mouth. âIâll go first, then.â
âHelp yourself.â
Pah-aaaht!
Bak Yun-gyu vanished.
No, he didnât really disappear; his speed explosively rose up so fast that it looked like he just had vanished for a moment there.
CLAAAANG-!
Su-hyeun dragged his sword up and blocked Bak Yun-gyuâs blade.
Magical energy enveloping their colliding blades scattered through the air. At the same time, several silhouettes materialized in their surroundings.
Bak Yun-gyuâs âswordsâ thrust forward from all directions. But none of them were real.
Stab-
Clang-!
The swords piercing Su-hyeunâs body all disappeared, nothing but illusions. As for the real sword, naked eyes couldnât see it, but Su-hyeun used his senses to find out where it was coming from and ably deflected it away.
As the light in Bak Yun-gyuâs eyes trembled, Su-hyeun started his counterattack.
Rumble-
Navy blue-colored divine Flame wrapped around Su-hyeunâs sword. The intense heat and blinding luminescence caused Bak Yun-gyu to furrow his brows. Su-hyeunâs burning blade stabbed in rapidly.
Swiiish-
Clang-!
Bak Yun-gyu hurriedly raised his sword and blocked the incoming attack with the flat part of the blade. The impact he felt in his hands was quite considerable. Not only that, but the heat transmitted from the flames also caused his bodyâs temperature to rise slightly.
[Mirage- Imitation.]
Rumble-
Blue flames suddenly enveloped Bak Yun-gyuâs sword, as well. The âImitationâ skill allowed him to copy a portion of his opponentâs skill and use it as his own. Even if it wasnât a 100% perfect copy, the strength of the imitation would rise greatly depending on oneâs proficiency with the skill.
The power now carried in each of the sword strikes had become greater thanks to the divine Flame. But the real problem didnât have much to with the strength of the skill or lack thereof.
<< What kind of physical strength is thisâŠ.?? >>
Not just the power of the skill proved to be problematic, but even the strength behind each of Su-hyeunâs sword strikes was alarming.
And this wasnât some simple strength produced by oneâs muscles. No, this strength came from the form of each sword strike, as well as from his experience.
Most importantlyâŠ
<< His form. >>
Swiiish, swhoosh-
Clang, cling-!
Bak Yun-gyu continued to think while urgently deflecting Su-hyeunâs sword strikes.
<< It somehow⊠resembles mine. >>
It felt rather weird to him.
It was as if Su-hyeun was imitating Bak Yun-gyuâs swordsmanship.
Could it be that he possessed such skill? Even though such thoughts entered Bak Yun-gyuâs mind, he had to shake them away.
<< No. His swordsmanship exceeds mine. >>
Bak Yun-gyu thought he was rather knowledgeable when it came to all things swordsmanship.
While believing that oneâs swordsmanship was linked to oneâs stats, he trained hard thinking that an awakener who used swords as their main weapon should obviously know their way around one.
And thus, Bak Yun-gyuâs eyes, Su-hyeunâs swordsmanship seemed similar to his but at the same time, far, far more proficient than himself.
[High-grade swordsmanship.]
This was hard to accept.
Bak Yun-gyuâs sword was currently subjected to not just his considerable training, but even buffs of his skill.
This skill came about after he diligently raised his proficiency in the âlow-grade swordsmanshipâ. Not only did the high-grade swordsmanship add an extra layer of combat prowess on top, but it also corrected oneâs form and frame of the swordsmanship, too.
<< Could it be� >>
In that case, there could only be one possibilityâthat Su-hyeun knew the exact same skill as he did. Not only that, he even possessed far, far higher proficiency to boot.
<< How is that possible? >>
Just learning the âHigh-grade swordsmanshipâ wouldnât be the end of the story. You need to continuously swing your sword and get familiar with it. Only then would your proficiency rise higher and your sword start displaying the true power of the skill itself.
What Su-hyeun showed here far exceeded the boundaries of things that talent alone could solve. No, this level could only be attained by adding time on top of oneâs talents and let them mature together.
Bak Yun-gyu took a big step back, and raised his sword high up to the sky. On top of his âImitationâ skill currently active, he injected a far greater amount of magical energy to his blade in an instant.
[One Sword Cutting Through Everything- Cutting the Sky.]
SWOOOSH-!
Bak Yun-gyuâs blade descended downward.
He thought that Su-hyeun would obviously try to dodge this attack. The âCutting the Skyâ technique was, as implied by the grandiose-sounding âOne Sword Cutting Through Everythingâ title, an incredibly powerful skill designed to end the battle with a single strike, after all.
But the choice Su-hyeun made was completely unexpected. Because, not only did the young man choose not to dodge, but he instead decided to block the attack.
<< He wants to block it?? >>
He wasnât even using any special skills, either.
Did that mean he was looking down on me? Bak Yun-gyu thought like that, and, while planning to shatter Su-hyeunâs sword, swung his weapon down hard.
CLAAAANG-!
CRAAACK-
The moment Bak Yun-gyuâs sword smashed down, the arenaâs entire floor was powerfully cut in two.
It wasnât just the floor, however. The chasm ran almost all the way up to the ceiling. The power behind the attack was more than enough to slice an average building in half.
But thenâŠ
âThatâs quite heavy.â
Creak, creaaak-
Su-hyeun managed to block the hit in a straightforward manner, without employing any special skills whatsoever.
ââŠ!â
Bak Yun-gyuâs brows shot up.
He was so flustered that he ended up reacting a fraction slower.
Pah-aht-
He belatedly distanced himself from Su-hyeun and leaped up. He could easily tell, just then.
<< He didnât counterattack. >>
Not âcouldnâtâ, but âdidnâtâ.
Su-hyeun was going easy on him right now.
Grit-
Bak Yun-gyuâs pride was wounded. People back home called him the best awakener in South Korea. So, it was hard to accept that the difference between them was this great.
<< One more time! >>
Wuu-uuuong-
A simmering haze suddenly began rising up behind Bak Yun-gyu. Soon, a gigantic figure was generated from the rising veil of hazeâthe figure of a massive giant wielding a sword and wearing huge armor.
[Heavenly Sword King.]
Shing-shing
The giant took the same pose as Bak Yun-gyu. A sword strike made by such a massive physique, would have to have considerable destructive power behind it.
<< The âHeavenly Sword Kingâ, is it? How nostalgic. >>
The âHeavenly Sword Kingâ. That was the highest grade skill Bak Yun-gyu possessed.
The skill created a giant that moved exactly the same as he did. Its destructive power was more than enough to be called absolutely overwhelming compared to any other skills out there.
Su-hyeun narrowed his eyes.
The âHeavenly Sword Kingâ being invoked now potentially meant Bak Yun-gyu was betting the outcome of this fight on the next attack. Because, the current him couldnât completely control this skill yetâalthough the him of a few years in the future could.
RUMBLE-!
Bak Yun-gyuâs sword was raised up high. The power of the giant Heavenly Sword King was now permeating the weapon. He slammed the loudly-buzzing sword down.
KWA-AAAANG-!
Crack! Craaaaack-
The reinforced arenaâs floor shattered into bits and pieces, and its debris was flung off in every direction. Su-hyeun was no longer there. Bak Yun-gyuâs gaze quickly scanned his surroundings and located his targetâs silhouette.
âOver there!â
Swiiish, fuwhooooosh-
Kwa-dudududuk-
The Heavenly Sword King swung its massive weapon according to Bak Yun-gyuâs movements.
The entirety of the arena was overturned and sliced into ribbons. If it werenât for the Ether stone reinforcement, the whole place wouldâve been completely destroyed, not a single piece left intact.
âThat guy isnât too shabby,â said Gordon Rohan with a soft whistle as he looked at the events taking place below. He sounded quite impressed.
Among all the South Korean S-Rank awakeners, almost no one had heard Bak Yun-gyuâs name. But even then, those who knew him knew his skills were among the very best. From what he had shown so far, your average, run-of-the-mill S-Rank wouldnât even stand a chance against him.
âEven thenâŠâ
Clang-!
The massive weapon of the Heavenly Sword King was blocked in the middle of its swing.
Gordon Rohan muttered while staring at Su-hyeun stopping that massive sword, âAs I thought, that kid is the true âbestâ among the lot.â
Creak, creaaak-
Bak Yun-gyu increased the downward force on the sword. Yet, it wasnât budging an inch. His eyes trembled, ever so faintly, in disbelief.
<< He actually blocked it from the front? >>
Back when Su-hyeun defended against the âCutting the Skyâ, a single-use skill basically meant to finish things off in one hit, Bak Yun-gyu started truly acknowledging the young manâs capabilities.
Even then, he didnât expect his opponent to be able to take the Heavenly Sword Kingâs attack head-on and defend against itâŠ
Wuduk, wududuk-
Black scales started sprouting all over Su-hyeunâs arms. He too was muttering softly under his breath, sounding genuinely impressed, âYour strength is really incredible.â
CLANG-!
Su-hyeun shoved the blade of the Heavenly Sword King to the side and raised up his own sword. âUnfortunately for you, so am I.â
Pah-aht-
His sword extended toward the Heavenly Sword Kingâs figure. Bak Yun-gyu reflexively swung his blade down toward his opponent rushing in from the front.
Clang, claaang-!
ââŠ!â
The strength permeating Su-hyeunâs sword had become even stronger than before.
Initially, Bak Yun-gyu believed that he could fight evenly against his opponent, but now, Su-hyeun was exceeding the power of Heavenly Sword Kingâs attacks.
<< Iâm losing in terms of strength. >>
No, not just in strength alone. It was the same in regards to speed, as well.
The truth was, he lost in speed by a fraction and had no choice but to swing his weapon from an awkward posture, which in turn meant there wasnât much power behind his attacks.
<< No, wait. Is he deliberately breaking my posture down? >>
The Heavenly Sword Kingâs posture was the same as his. Meaning, his own posture was breaking down.
There were two reasons why such a thing was happening. One, his opponentâs much faster movement and reaction speed, and, two, calculated attacks.
In other words, Su-hyeun was fighting in a far more seasoned manner than he was.
Grip-
Bak Yun-gyu sensed his stubborn streak rear up just a little.
<< Iâll finish this in one go! >>
There was no chance of victory if things dragged on, anyway.
The moment Su-hyeunâs figure vanished for a blink, Bak Yun-gyu raised his sword up high.
[Heavenly Sword King.]
[One Sword Cutting Through Everything- Cutting the Sky.]
The tip of the Heavenly Sword Kingâs blade also raised up to the sky.
Bak Yun-gyu kept staring at his front. At that very moment, Su-hyeunâs vanished figure reappeared once more, right before his nose.
Light gleamed from his eyes.
Read Latest Chapters at wuxiaworld.eu
<< Iâll cut him down. >>
Swiiish-
Flash-!
The massive blade of the Heavenly Sword King descended from the air.