Chapter 236
Shin HaYoon looked down at the stadium with Lee Hyuk in a private lounge that required a significant fee to enter.
- Its the grand final! The participants are making the entrance to raise their nation's honor by winning the competition!
The students entered with the energetic voice of the announcer blaring from above.
- The first to enter are South Korea's students from Gaon Academy! The party leader is Shin YuSung, who's been the center of attention for being the disciple of the Fist King!
Following the announcement, Shin YuSung, Kim EunAh, and Sumire entered. Gaon's party didn't include a single person with an S-rank Trait, and it was considered the greatest upset in the competition.
HaYoon knew that something like the rank of one's Trait wasn't important for YuSung's party. Shin YuSung was the disciple of the Fist King, Sumire had a 'fragment', and EunAh's Trait had a potential of at least S+.
"Hmm~" Even HaYoon found it hard to measure their potential. "My little brother's party seems pretty strong. Much more so than I thought."
"Really? To think you'd say that" Hyuk seemed genuinely surprised by HaYoon's statement. There was nothing strange with YuSung, the disciple of the Fist King, being acknowledged by her. Still, HaYoon was known for being quite picky. It was strange for a 1st-year student to be acknowledged by her.
"At first, I was only interested in YuSung, fufu." HaYoon looked down at Sumire, an irregular who, despite being F-rank, had a witch's fragment.
"I'm having quite some troubles due to her." HaYoon narrowed her eyes and stroked the table with her index finger. "It's hard to cut bundled threads with scissors, right?" She instinctively knew that Sumire having obtained a witch's fragment wasn't luckthere was a chance it was fate.
If she left things as they were, they might get more entangled. HaYoon aimed her index and middle fingers at Sumire and made a cutting gesture.
"There's no need for you to be anxious. She's just a 1st-year student. HaYoon, you've already acquired four artifacts." Hyuk said.
HaYoon smiled. "Right. There's no way she could be a match for me at the moment." Of course, no matter what variables were added, YuSung's party wouldn't be able to bare their teeth against her. "It's just that I hate bothersome things."
By the time they could threaten her, all preparations would have already finished.
* * *
- The second ones out are Japan's students from Choten Academy! Although they were defeated by Gaon, they have returned after showing an impressive performance in the loser's match! Especially Seiji, the party leader
Sakura and Seiji entered upon the introduction of the Japanese Team. Isshin was excluded due to having been eliminated.
"Woah!"
"It's Seiji!"
"Sakura! Look over here!"
She had idol-like, fervent popularity. Whenever Sakura waved her hand, a male student fainted and gave a thumbs-up.
'So SiWoo couldn't come?' Sakura looked around. She'd already heard that he couldn't be there. It was understandable, considering Kim EunAh and Sumire's strength. Still, it seemed that something serious prevented him from even going to the stadium.
'That guy He wouldn't tell me, no matter how much I asked him.' Whenever Sakura asked him, he just gave robotic, automatic answers.
Just what had happened? What was the secret that he couldn't tell her? Sakura's thoughts were complex, but she soon cast those thoughts aside. 'I must focus on this match. I must think about the archery dojo, my father, and the people who came here to support me'
Haha! Seiji smiled. "Sakura, are you nervous?"
"A bit? Of course, you're probably fine, Seiji, since you're a fool."
Seiji laughed out loud and shook his head instead of agreeing. Then he shouted and surprised her. "No-!"
"Ah! You scared me" Sakura gave him a disdainful look, wondering why he was acting like that.
Seiji's eyes were shining with joy for some reason. "Sakura, I feel like I'm going to die of nervousness!"
"G-got it but why are you saying such a thing so seriously?"
While Sakura was calming her startled heart, Seiji waved his hand somewhere.
"You" Sakura looked to where Seiji was waving. There, cheering for Seiji, was a beautiful woman holding a frame that held a photo of Ryuko. "That person is" Sakura bit her lip and looked at Seji.
Contrary to her worries, Seiji was happily waving toward the frame. "Everyone! Thank you for supporting me! I'm going to give it my all-!" he yelled toward the audience. Then he turned to Sakura and said, "Sakura, I want to win this match. If possible, I'm willing to do anything it takes."
What could have happened to Seiji for him to be able to say such a thing with a smile? Sakura couldn't even imagine his thoughts and emotions. 'He's an amazing fool.'
* * *
* * *
Irelands Blin Academy captain, the red-haired Dian, had long forgotten about cumbersome things like alliances. In the academy and Ireland as a whole, he was known as Fires Awakening.
Tap, tap.
Adela Ortensia, the core of the EU's alliance, walked with her party members from Bianca Academy.
Dian clenched his fist with an empty look in his eyes. Flames dispersed from his hand. 'An alliance, huh?' All three members of Gaon and the Skyscraper Academy had survived. In Choten, only Isshin had been disqualified. Considering the situation, it was understandable for the EU countries to form an alliance.
'My goal is victory.' If Adela managed to survive with the European Union, could he win? Bianca Academy still had Leo and Sophia, but he was the only survivor from Blin Academy. 'If it were just me and Adela, could I win?'
Dian looked at his right hand, which held the power of a fragment. Normally, he wouldve had to be a designated owner to use the power, but hed earned it through the power of an artifact. Unfortunately, it was like a curse that combined many types of poison, and it constantly coursed through him.
First, as a small ember; then, like a matchstick's flame. Like the fire of an undying beacon, it passed on forever, and, like Theseuss ship, it rebuilt itself from new materials whenever it started to fade.
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Swoosh
Dian had received that baton of power, but the most horrific aspect of the magic wasnt the pain that came with it. The inheritor of the magic would have their last moment recorded and passed onto the next person who took up the ember.
It was a truly horrifying thing. How many ends had been recorded in the magic? How many more would be recorded?
[My mana has] One of his predecessors lost control of their power and was engulfed in flames.
[Go first. I'm going to follow soon] Someone had stopped in their tracks to protect a loved one.
The magic, like living DNA, had recorded all those last moments and passed them on to the next generation without fail. It was as if the inheritor were being warned away from encountering such ends.
The Ominous Right Hand
The Flames of Disaster
The Incarnation's Curse
The magic, which had been passed down under different names, was also known as Brigid's Ember, an eternal fire that appeared in the myths. From a certain point, instead of being ominous, it was praised as a sacred existence.
The fire had existed before the concept of hunters existed. How many of its masters had faced tragic ends? How many were sacrificed until it went from being ominous to sacred? Dian had no room to retreat.
'I'm not alone.' Even if his team members were disqualified, he wasn't alone. Within his flames, many embers had died, and among the fallen stars, there were many meanings.
'If I the one who carries this burden were to lose' Yes. If he were to lose against people who only carried their own burdens 'There'd be no meaning to their sacrifice.' It would be as if he were denying the sacrifices of everyone who had passed the flame on. freewebnĎvel.cøm
If that ember, which had been passed down on everyone's right arm and caused them immense pain, lost to Adela's coldly flickering genius, Dian would no longer need to pass the pain onto others.
His and his ancestors' sacrifices To the hunters and to humanity, it would be proof that the power was of no help to anyone. Thats why Dian put his life and meaning on the line at every moment. He thought that a defeat was similar to death and gave it his all in every battle.
'That's why Ill even betray the alliance if thats what it takes to win. Dian looked at Adela's back with his eyes burning with more intensity than the sun but with a heart colder and more rational than ice. To have his ancestors and meaning recognized, he didnt care what he had to do.
It was a dagger he'd been grinding and honing since he had inherited this magic. While organizing his thoughts and emotions, he quietly walked into the portal.