Book 2: Chapter 218
Book 2: Chapter 218
The door closed with a click.
Kran looked around for a while before walking towards the window and drawing the curtains. The room, which didn’t even have a single candle in it, was immediately engulfed in darkness.
Without any change of expression, he then walked towards the bed where he immediately collapsed as though he’d fainted. His breath was barely audible, and not even a single one of his fingers twitched. He looked like a puppet whose strings had been cut. If someone saw this scene from a distance, they might even think he’d suddenly died.
Shuk-
Fog suddenly began to appear in the dark room.
Like clay, it clumped together piece by piece until it created the shapes of two figures.
One had the shape of a gracefully curved woman.
The other was shaped like a Demon.
[It seems the adjustments haven’t been completed.]
The figure of the woman fluttered like a candle in the wind.
[He still managed to keep some of his consciousness. At this stage, it should be simple to completely erase his ego. Is there a reason why you haven’t made him into a complete puppet yet?]
The demonic figure replied.
[He needs to have at least his basic thoughts in order to showcase his full power in battle. It would be much too wasteful to delete the experience Kran has accumulated thus far.]
[Hmph. Is that really all there is to it?]
[…]
[Are you sure you’re not planning something else?]
As if seducing him, the female figure spoke in a soft tone.
[Don’t push it.]
[…]
[You should be able to distinguish those you can’t run your mouth recklessly around. And you should know exactly who is standing in front of you.]
[Of course, I know you better than anyone else in this world, Great King.]
The Demon remained silent for a moment before speaking.
[Finding the statue in the ‘Black Lands’ is taking more time than I expected. Letip is probably also having a hard time… And in the case of Nodiesop, he seems to be doing something interesting.]
[What about the other one?]
[You mean Lukas?]
The cold voice rang out in the room.
[At least for the rest of the qualifiers, he will no longer be a threat.]
* * *
Fwoosh.
It was a place filled with smoke and flames.
Lee Jong-hak was the only one who was recogniseable in this place where everything was on fire.
“…”
He didn’t display any discomfort.
There were three reasons for this.
First, the flames surrounding his body weren’t hot at all. It burned everything around him, but it wasn’t hot enough to actually harm Lee Jong-hak’s body.
Second, the flames burning around him were not illuminating the surroundings at all. Even the sky glowed a dull orange as though it was also being burned.
And finally, and this was the most crucial point, Lee Jong-hak already knew this was a dream.
It was a dream that he’d seen so many times, he had already lost count.
Kyaaah!
He heard a horrific scream.
The figure of a woman could be seen struggling in the fire.
She cried and squirmed desperately as though she was experiencing the greatest pain in the world.
She was Lee Jong-hak’s mother.
Ah… uh… ah… ah…
With a bitter look in her eyes, she glared at Lee Jong-hak, her half-melted eyeballs filled with hostility and resentment.
He knew.
He knew that this place was a dream.
He knew that his mother would never direct such a gaze towards him.
Nevertheless, he still felt stifled. He felt cold sweat cover his entire body. And he felt his hands and feet go numb.
“…”
Still, he got to his feet.
In this dream that he had entered hundreds of thousands of times, Lee Jong-hak’s actions were always the same.
He threw himself into the flames and swung his hands until those oozing orbs burst.
Kyaaah!
And once again, just like every time before, the screams scratched Lee Jong-hak’s heart.
* * *
“It was a great match.”
“…ah.”
Min Ha-rin raised her head at the sudden voice. It was Lee Jong-hak. Smiling slightly, she touched the bandages that had already become stiff because of the blood.
“So Mr. Lee Jong-hak also knows how to say empty words.”
“Empty words?”
Lee Jong-hak’s expression darkened.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I already know that the word ‘great’ is not something that should be associated with my match.”
Min Ha-rin’s first match had been held the day after the opening ceremony.
She hadn’t been nervous.
It was her first match of the Championship, but her heart had been tranquil like a lake. Her condition was the best.
Nevertheless, even though she gave it her all, it hadn’t been easy for her to win the fight.
She and her opponent fought neck and neck for more than three hours before she finally managed to win by taking advantage of a paper-thin opening.
She felt like she’d poured out every single ounce of energy she had stored in her body.
After that match, she collapsed almost as if she had fainted, and subsequently slept for two whole days afterward.
Fortunately, despite the fierceness of the fight, she hadn’t suffered any significant injuries. This was because the match was more of a stamina contest than a bloody life and death battle.
Even at that moment, Min Ha-rin couldn’t help but think.
If she had been even a bit weaker, or if she had made even a single questionable judgment during the match, the positions of winner and loser would definitely have been changed.
“While it wasn’t the cleanest, you shouldn’t look down on your own victory, because that would be an insult to your opponent who used their all against you.”
Min Ha-rin’s eyes widened slightly.
Seeing this, Lee Jong-hak’s expression changed.
“…no. I’m being too presumptuous. Forget what I said.”
“No.”
Min Ha-rin shook her head.
“You’re right. It was my mistake.”
Lee Jong-hak was right.
It was an insult not only to herself but to the opponent who had given their all and probably felt even worse than she did.
In addition, Min Ha-rin had gained a lot in the fight.
Lukas was right.
It was the type of battle that would be impossible to replicate, and because of it, Min Ha-rin was able to gain an enormous amount of experience, and even a bit of enlightenment.
“I saw your match today. It seems that Mr. Lee Jong-hak has grown a bit stronger too.”
“It’s only a slight improvement,”
“…”
Min Ha-rin felt silent.
For a while, the only sound that could be heard was that of her fiddling with her bandages.
Finally, after retying the knot on her right arm’s bandage for the third or fourth time, Min Ha-rin spoke in a hesitant voice.
“Kran had a match today.”
“Right.”
“Did you see it?”
This time, he took a bit longer to answer.
“…I saw it.”
“Then you know what happened to his opponent…”
“Right.”
Kran had perfectly displayed the reason for his title to the crowd.
One hit — One kill —.
When the match began, there was a flash, then his opponent’s head flew into the air.
Within seconds, the match had already come to an end.
When she’d seen this scene, Min Ha-rin had been so stunned that she’d even forgotten the pain of her injuries for a second.
This was because she’d put herself in the shoes of Kran’s opponent.
If she was the one standing in front of Kran in the arena, would the result have changed?
It didn’t take very long for her to come up with an answer.
Nothing would have changed.
Just like the fighter in the arena, Min Ha-rin would have died with her head flying into the air before she even realised what was happening.
That was why Min Ha-rin really wanted to recommend that Lee Jong-hak give up.
‘…not yet.’
But it wasn’t yet the right time.
Kran and Lee Jong-hak still had to fight two more matches before they would meet each other. From the schedule, there were still about two weeks left.
It was impossible to know what would happen at that time.
Lee Jong-hak could become stronger, or they could figure out a way to deal with Kran, or perhaps Lukas might even return.
Therefore, Min Ha-rin decided to suppress her innermost thoughts for the time being. Lee Jong-hak was Lee Jong-hak. For now, she had to worry about herself.
“How are your injuries?”
“They throb a bit here and there, but they’ve gotten much better. I think I’ll be fine before my next match.”
As she said this, Min Ha-rin looked at her bandaged arm.
The wound there was the worst one she’d suffered as she’d received a cut that managed to reach her bones. Although she had received some treatment, it was naturally not something that could be healed in a short time.
In truth, it would be better for her to refrain from moving in order to better help the healing process, but she couldn’t.
Even if she was hurt more severely than this, she would not give up as long as she could still hold a weapon.
This was the same for all the Fighters who were going through consecutive fights.
Because of that, the Championship would become more desperate as time passed.
In fact, in a Championship finals held a few hundred years ago, it was said that the finalists only had two limbs remaining when they fought.
“Would you like to fight me later when your condition improves?”
“Huh? Mr. Lee Jong-hak and me?”
“Right.”
Lee Jong-hak nodded in a cautious manner.
“It doesn’t have to be anything special, just something like a small spar.”
“Sure.”
Min Ha-rin answered without needing to think about it.
“…but I have one condition.”
“What is it?”
“Instead of waiting till later, let’s do it now.”