The event organizer split the screen of the broadcast in half.
—YuSung, who fought the King of the Mountain.
—Adela, who fought the Fire Ghost.
The two defeated their respective targets in sync. As they did so, both the screen and all of the lights in the stadium turned off at once.
A moment of silence.
Flash! Flash! Flash!
Suddenly, the lights turned back on, illuminating the stage. The MC, Yu HanNah, walked to the center. Following her, two faces appeared on the screen.
[1 – Shin YuSung]
[2 – Adela Ortensia]
Yu HanNah grinned as she gave her greetings.
"Thanks for your patience, everyone! We now have two candidates! Between them, we will be able to choose who can represent Korea!"
Even in the East Asia region, where there were plenty of nations with strong hunters, the Selections event stood out among the rest. In that situation, Korea truly did have a chance to become the winner of the International Competition.
The crowds' anticipation turned into cheers as they rang throughout the stadium.
– Whoaaa!!
"Before we show you the map where the match will take place, we'll be going over the rules of the Selection!"
The voting turnout was displayed on the screen after she said so.
[1 – Shin YuSung 0%]
[2 – Adela Ortensia 0%]
"You can't vote until the match is over. However, the votes from those watching will be converted to points and will have a great effect on the overall grading for each candidate! And…!"
Yu HanNah paused to give herself a chance to breathe, then signed both of her hands towards the VIP seats. The lights then shined over that area.
—Fist King, Yu WonHak.
—Silver Wind, Arden.
—Association President, Kang YuChan.
—Mind's Eye, Shoichi.
TL/N: There's a character who shows up in Chapter 42 with the same title named Yu HyungJin. Any connection is still unknown.
—Committee member Ju HimChan.
And other well-known hunters were sitting in the VIP seats.
"The secondary method of grading is the ratings from the judges! Of course, Korea invited famous hunters from all around the world for this event!"
Flash!
The screen changed what was displayed once again.
Viewers could see Adela and YuSung in the waiting room map, waiting for the program to proceed.
"The final method is combat! The goings-on and the results of the match will have a huge impact on their overall scores!"
To summarize what Yu HanNah was saying, there were three criteria in which the contestants were graded in:
Citizens' vote…
Ratings from the judges…
And the match itself.
Mei Lin's turn as the commentator had come. She gripped the mic and spoke.
"Currently, South Korea is the third nation in East Asia to perform its Representative Selections."
Her statement was correct.
In China, the representative was Liú Jùn.
In Japan, the representative was Seiji.
The results of the Selection had already been determined for those two countries.
"The Selections are where a representative is selected in order to bolster their nation's standing. I ask the participants for an honorable fight and those judging them to do so fairly."
The people in the crowd once again went wild as she finished. The fervor in the stadium was at its peak.
Yu WonHak began speaking to Arden with a content look on his face.
"Watching this whole event makes me remember the day we first fought each other."
"Haha. You won that time, but I'm sure the results will be different today—Adela isn't me, and that boy isn't you, either."
Yu WonHak nodded at his words as if agreeing with them.
"True, YuSung isn't me."
One of Fist King's titles was 'The Strongest of the Previous World', which is why Arden spoke so confidently.
But Yu WonHak smiled and continued.
"Because that boy… will become stronger than me."
Arden's eyes narrowed at the declaration. Yu WonHak had always boasted about being the strongest. That was the first time the other man had ever considered someone's potential above his own.
'Is the boy really that strong?'
The skills YuSung had displayed so far were incredible, to be sure, but Arden couldn't feel the sort of gap in power that he had felt from the Fist King quite yet.
'If what he's saying is true…'
Around the time that Yu WonHak was YuSung's age, he had built the foundations for what would become the third form of the Battle God Style, but the man had said that YuSung had surpassed him—meaning… the boy was beginning to master the fourth form.
Arden collected his thoughts before replying.
"This will be an entertaining match, won't it?"
A short sentence that showed his anticipation.
Yu WonHak nodded, arms folded across his chest.
"Mhm… I've seen countless hunters with outstanding Traits, but none with as much talent as your granddaughter. This will be quite the fun one."
YuSung's Trait was F-rank. If he managed to beat Adela, it was sure to bring great havoc.
Flash! Drrrrr!
As the lights aimed themselves a the stage once again, the screen displayed a slot machine that began to spin rapidly.
"Now, then!" yelled Yu HanNah. "The pride and joy of the Representative Selections! We'll now be revealing the map that the finals will take place on!"
Drrrr! Rrr…
[Airborne Dojo]
The slot machine finally stopped, selecting the map. A flat arena was displayed on the screen, situated among the clouds in the sky.
The Airborne Dojo's terrain wasn't particularly distinctive in any way. It was perfect for testing one's abilities against another.
All the preparations for the match were complete.
Yu HanNah gripped the mic and yelled.
"The fight will now begin!"
* * *
* * *
A far-off blue sky, where clouds resided.
The arena created an endless expanse above the heavens.
Adela stared YuSung down with a blank look in her eyes.
"This is the first time we're fighting each other."
Adela had been waiting for that moment to arrive ever since the day she had heard that YuSung was the disciple of the Fist King.
Even in Korea, which was called the place where hunters originated, Adela's talent was unmatched. But if her opponent was the disciple of that 'Fist King', whose name her grandfather had repeated until it had worn her ears out, wouldn't they be someone who could finally match her skills?
That was how much she was looking forward to the fight.
Of course, every fight Adela had participated in up to that point had been a disappointment, one after another. She had fought countless opponents, but at the end of each match, the expressions they all wore were the same:
—Awe.
—Terror.
—Despair.
Adela felt immeasurable disappointment every time she met face-to-face with the sense of defeat the loser experienced as they felt the overwhelming gap in power between them and her.
That meant that she could never get heated up in excitement, no matter who her opponent was.
She couldn't give the fight her all.
She wanted to know her limits; to display every bit of her skill.
But she could not find an opponent to do so against. Her perfect win record left her incredibly bored.
"It's an honor."
YuSung respectfully addressed the strongest student in Korea with his distinctive smile.
Flash!
Blue pixels swathed YuSung's body and clothed it in the Black Dragon's Hide. It was proof that he was planning on giving the fight his all from the very beginning of the match.
Zzzt!
Adela felt the presence of YuSung's polished mana through the air. Subconsciously, she began to get excited.
"…Amazing. To think that you can handle such fierce mana in this precise a manner."
Her anticipation was slowly rising.
Adela was looking forward to the start of the match more than she ever had before. She wanted to confirm her opponent's skills for herself.
[Three seconds until start of match]
YuSung got into position.
Adela aimed one of her palms towards him.
[Two seconds]
YuSung's explosive energy suddenly disappeared, and it began running as calmly and quietly as a stream.
'A sneak attack? In this wide-open area?'
A battle of mind games began during the scant few seconds before the beginning of the fight. Simulations of events that Adela hadn't experienced before swam through her head at dizzying speeds.
[One second]
A tension that encompassed their bodies.
Adela and YuSung stared at each other.
[Start!]
Adela expelled her mana in time with the sound of the whistle that rang throughout the arena.
Whoosh!
[Absolute Zero Area]
Adela's eyes glowed even redder as the spot where YuSung used to be in was frozen over from the frigid chill.
It was a fatal Skill that could immediately end a fight so long as it even grazed the opponent.
Tup!
Right before the boy was about to freeze over, he disappeared—quickly enough that her eyes couldn't follow his movements.
YuSung appeared right behind Adela.
Whoosh!
'Behind me.'
A thin sheet of ice blocked YuSung's punch before it could hit her.
Crack!
Ice shards flew everywhere as the sheet crumbled under his fist. Adela turned her head towards the boy and gripped the air with her hand.
Shnk!
Countless spears of ice dotted the air. Hunters usually had trouble trying to calculate each and every single area where their Trait would affect, but Adela know how to do so instinctively.
Peltpeltpelt!
The ice spears began falling towards YuSung in a great wave. In response, the boy stayed in place and spun in a half-circle.
[Heavenly Rotation of the Black Dragon]
Black mana spewed out from the Hide and encircled YuSung, creating a barrier shaped like a half-circle that protected him from the onslaught. The black aura absorbed Adela's spears, dissipating them.
"My turn."
YuSung's face had lost all traces of his smile. He was serious.
The boy stretched out his palm towards Adela, despite the distance that had been created between them.
Zzzt! Boom!
[Black Dragon's Ripple]
YuSung's mana and Adela's mana that the Heavenly Rotation had absorbed were released all at once. The attack even managed to take the form of a long-range wave.
Kghhhh!
It was too late to dodge the attack. Adela stared at the inky wave heading towards her and smiled.
'That was dangerous.'
It felt like all of the hairs on her body were standing up on their ends.
To think he would aim an attack like that at her during the split second when she was vulnerable. That was the first time Adela had felt nervousness during a fight, even though it was a rather common emotion for people to feel in similar circumstances.
Krrrrrk!
A wall of ice shot up from the ground and blocked the Black Dragon's Ripple.
It was Adela's turn to attack. She raised her left hand and drew a diagonal line in the air.
[Winter Terrain]
Bam!
Mana radiated from Adela's hand and spread along the arena, freezing the ground it touched—it was a terrifying Skill that would freeze any feet touching the floor in place.
YuSung kicked off the ground and jumped.
Tap!
It was common knowledge among hunters that one couldn't dodge attacks when they were in midair. Adela formed her hand into the shape of a gun and mimed shooting him with it.
Bang!
A bullet made of ice formed at her fingertips and shot itself towards YuSung. Right before it could hit him, though, he created a mana barrier behind his back.
'A mana barrier?'
Adela's eyes narrowed.
It was impossible for a simple mana barrier to block her attack, especially considering that it wasn't even his Trait. On top of that, the location where the barrier was created was behind him. Something was up.
But YuSung wasn't trying to block the attack at all. He kicked the barrier in mid-air, using it to change his trajectory.
Bam!
He flew in the air like a streak of light.
The bullet Adela shot just barely grazed by him. But at that point, YuSung's palm was already right in front of her face.
Battle God Style – Savage Dragon's Boulder Crushing Palm
Adela could feel the mana storm whipping up, intending to shred her. The crude movements the mana made in the air looked like the blades of a blender making their way towards her.
'I can't dodge this.'
[Frost Dragon's Egg]
Adela, who had always acted effortlessly up to then, crossed both of her arms together for the first time.
Crack!
Adela surrounded herself with a blue sphere. The Crushing Palm had made a crack in it, but the overall shape of the technique was maintained.
That Skill was Adela's ace in the hole, one that she could only use once per day. That was the first time she had ever gotten to use it in a real fight.
Krrrack! Wshh–
The sphere opened up, releasing a white-tinged chill into the air. YuSung quickly backed up.
Step step.
Adela leisurely stepped out of it.
Seeing her emerge, the boy got back into position.
"This is the first time I've seen you smile."
Adela looked at her reflection in the sphere after hearing his remark. Like he had said, a corner of her lips had jutted up.
Her heart was pulsating in quick beats.
Her blood was growing hotter and hotter from the tension.
She had experienced battle techniques that had never even occurred to her before.
'This is fun.'
Adela was immensely enjoying her fight with YuSung. The emotions she was feeling for the first time in her life were enough to make her want to laugh.
"You're strong."
If her opponent was that skilled, Adela had no choice but to use all of her strength. It was the moment she had always been waiting for.
"Overtura (Overture)."
Holding her grin back, Adela whispered this in a cold voice and closed her eyes.
Wshhhh–
As she did so, the arena began to transform. Only when the environment turned into a snowy, white wonderland did Adela reopen her eyes.
"This is the first time…"
Her silver locks fluttered elegantly as the frigid wind blew past. Her crimson eyes stared straight into YuSung's own.
"I've used this technique on someone."
The Queen of Winter began her concert.
﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌
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