Book 2: Chapter 198
Book 2: Chapter 198
Lukas looked around at Aram and the others.
Their behaviour reminded him of those he hated the most.
Those who had chosen to be sheep.
Those who had lowered their heads.
Those who had given up their pride.
Those who had chosen to be livestock instead of humans.
They might have wrapped their actions in a different type of packaging, but in the end, they were no different.
They had been enticed by the overwhelming sweetness of the idleness and wealth that Kangki had given them.
Therefore, Bargan, who didn’t back down till the very end, was a human that should be saved. (TL: In other words, for Lukas, humans aren’t just homosapiens)
“You call yourself Fighters? That’s strange. In my eyes, there is only one person in this arena who can be called a Fighter.”
“An outsider like you doesn’t know anything!”
“I don’t need to know.”
Clang!
Icicles that appeared in the air without warning, stabbed into Kaytai. The force behind these icicles were so great that it caused Kaytai, who hadn’t been able to contain his anger and shouted, to fall heavily to the ground with his eyes rolled back. It all happened so fast that he didn’t even get the chance to scream.
“Dammit!”
When he saw this, Aram couldn’t help but swear.
Who the hell was this guy?
While he had been paying attention to Kaytai and venting his anger, he hadn’t shown even a single opening.
It was unbelievable.
While half of the Fighters had been swept away by the storm, Aram had been paying close attention to Lukas. All of his focus had been on finding Lukas’ weaknesses.
But in the end, he couldn’t find a single one, and at the same time, goosebumps appeared all over his skin as if someone was staring at him.
It was only then that he realised something was wrong.
‘Is this guy’s field of view really that large…?!’
It was almost as if Lukas was looking down at the arena as though it was in the palm of his hand.
Was that even possible? What the hell was wrong with this guy’s brain?
For Aram, Lukas was no longer just an outsider. Instead, he was an incomprehensible monster.
It was at that moment.
Boom!
Something came crashing down from the sky.
The falling object instantly dispersed the storms of ice and fire.
“…”
A huge being slowly straightened up within the billowing clouds of dust.
“The Lirua Arena.”
Bang!
Following the voice, a huge boulder flew out of the dust cloud. It was accompanied by a loud sound as if a cannon had been fired.
Lukas tried to dodge, but the large projectile was much faster than he anticipated.
Boom!
In an instant, the barrier in front of him, which hadn’t so much as cracked when Kaytai attacked with his full strength, shattered. Lukas wasn’t able to dodge completely.
Paak!
The boulder struck his left arm, tearing his cloak. His arm, which was now exposed, was swollen and bleeding.
“Is my territory.”
Fwoosh!
The dust cloud, which covered a large area, was cleared in an instant.
“Lo-, Lord Kangki…!”
The surviving Fighters cried out with joy at the sight of Kangki.
Kangki’s eyes, which were finally revealed, were red with rage.
He slowly looked around the arena.
“More than half of the 100 Fighters are dead. Did you know, outsider? The Championship will be held soon.”
“…”
“Naturally, in this period, the attention and interest the arena receives will be at their peak. Do you understand what this means?”
His voice was soft, but the anger overflowing within it was like a volcano that was about to erupt.
“It means that I, Kangki, who has only received profits until now, will instead suffer from immense losses in this great event which only occurs once every ten years.”
The momentum in his blazing eyes as he looked at Lukas would have turned him into ashes if it could.
“All! Because! Of you! I don’t even want to calculate just how much damage Lirua has suffered…!”
Kangki’s roar rang throughout the arena.
It was so powerful that some of the exhausted Fighters directly fainted with pale faces.
“I don’t care.”
“…”
Kangki closed his mouth at Lukas’ calm dismissal.
His killing intent which had seemed to rise into the sky disappeared like a bonfire that had been doused with cold water.
This drastic change was many times more terrifying.
“…I won’t kill you now. Instead, there is a place beneath this city that is perfect for you. It’s a place filled with screams and pain. You will wish I’d killed you.”
Ignoring his words, Lukas looked down at his throbbing left arm.
It had only been grazed slightly, but his entire arm had swelled up as though it had been broken.
This wound showed that Kangki’s strength had long surpassed the scope of common sense.
And now that he thought about it, Lukas realised that this was the first injury he’d suffered since coming to the Heavenly Realm.
Whether it was in the fight against Bargan, or when he hunted the Ancient Dragon, Lukas hadn’t received a single scratch.
As for the wounds that had been received during his twelve losses in the arena, those weren’t him, but doppelgangers.
He’d always known that Kangki wouldn’t be an easy opponent. Therefore, he’d made sure to prepare sufficiently before facing him.
‘I wanted to annihilate all 100 Fighters.’
As expected, things in the world didn’t always go the way we expected them to.
In addition, his opponents weren’t just Kangki and the surviving Fighters.
Paht.
Three more Dragonmen appeared.
With blazing momentum, they surrounded Lukas.
Only three more Fighters had been added.
But they put more pressure on Lukas than when he had been surrounded by 100 Fighters.
This was because they were the three Fighters who represented the Lirua Arena.
The 3rd ranked Fighter, Padudu.
The 2nd ranked Fighter, Usa.
And the number one fighter and current Champion of the Lirua arena, Samash.
On top of that was Kangki, who had once reached the semi-finals of the Championship and was the current Lord of Lirua. (1)
“Major City Lord Kangki, you must have been a Fighter who once aimed to be the Grand Champion. So I’d like to make a proposal.”(1+)
“A proposal?”
“If you have even a handful of pride as a Fighter left, then tell your men to stand down.”
At those words, Kangki’s expression became one of confusion.
“Are you saying you want to fight me one on one?”
“Right.”
“Ha, hahaha…. Kuhahahaha!”
Kangki couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
“You’re actually saying something like ‘let’s have a fair one-on-one contest’ when you’re already in this situation.”
“…”
“I’m sorry, but I have none of the pride you speak of. I reached this position only by being thorough. Of course, this doesn’t mean I’d lose to you if I were to fight you on my own, but I don’t want to put in that much effort.”
“I thought you’d say something like that.”
A smile crept across Lukas’ face.
“So I called for reinforcements of my own.”
* * *
A commotion erupted from the entrance of the arena.
Boom!
Following the sound of an explosion, five Fighters were sent flying at the same time. Looking at their rolled eyes, it was clear that they were all unconscious.
Five Fighters had been incapacitated by one attack?
“Wh-, what the hell?”
Aram turned to look at Lukas in disbelief.
He was an outsider, and it had only been about a month since he’d come to the Heavenly Realm.
And yet, in such a short amount of time, he was able to establish a relationship with someone so powerful?
‘This guy is insane!’
He didn’t know who it was that had chosen to help Lukas, but attacking the Fighters here meant going against the major city, Lirua, and its lord, Kangki.
Any sane person would probably understand what it meant to make an enemy of a major city, right?
“Kuk.”
Aram pushed through the Fighters until he saw what Lukas called his ‘reinforcements’.
And he became speechless for a while.
“That guy…”
It was someone he recognised.
Not because they knew each other, but because the other party was fairly famous.
His untrimmed black hair billowed in the wind.
Black hair.
It was a very rare color among Dragonmen. In addition, this man’s facial features were different from those of most Dragonmen.
There was only one reason for this.
As Aram knew, this man was an outsider.
“The Whirlwind of the Arena.”
He knew him.
How could he not know him?
He was a Fighter from Babylon who was almost certain to be a strong contender in the upcoming Championship.
Kangki’s gaze also swept across the arena and headed to Lee Jong-hak, who was sweeping Fighters away with his sword.
“One of Ishuta’s people? Her possessiveness is insane… How did you manage to get her to agree?”
“Well…”
(Note:
1. The author keeps mentioning the fact that Kangki reached the semi-finals of the Championship, which is required to be a Major City Lord, but doesn’t mention that Kangki is a former Grand Champion. Ref. chapter 179 – the conversation with Bargan.
+ At this point, I’m pretty sure the author forgot they made Kangki a former Grand Champion.)