Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: Ranking (5)
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A faint glow of enlightenment emanated from him.
It was so holy that it was hard to believe it came from a person.
Would a saint from legend look like this?
It was a scene you could watch over and over without ever tiring of.
But the problem was with that 'over and over.'
'How many times has it been? Twice?'
Yuri had experienced enlightenment three times in total, but one of those was herself, and the other two were other people.
She had only witnessed it directly twice.
Once during the Greta Wigen incident.
And now, once more with Gunter Ironsa.
She wasn't sure if the Demon King had gone through enlightenment.
He had suddenly appeared much stronger, so it seemed likely.
And that was the problem.
'No, screw the number of times—what the hell is it with the guys I fight suddenly getting enlightened every damn time?! Am I some enlightenment vending machine? Beat me and enlightenment pops out?'
Of course, Gunter had been the one getting one-sidedly pummeled, but that didn't sit well with her either.
'Damn it! I got beaten half to death by Johan and never got even a flea-piss worth of enlightenment!'
Adding up all the times she'd been beaten by Johan, plus Greta and even the Demon King, she should've had enlightenment twelve times a day and it still wouldn't have been enough.
Yet for her, enlightenment never came no matter how hard she tried...
'This bastard gets it from just one hit?'
What injustice in the world could top this!
Her frustration boiled over into a forbidden thought that crept up unbidden.
'...What if I smack him one right now?'
A desire rose to personally deliver trials and tribulations to Gunter, who seemed to be getting it too easy.
Yuri had even taken a sneaky step forward but flinched to a halt.
She clicked her tongue softly.
"Tch... Consider yourself lucky."
If she hadn't experienced enlightenment herself, she probably would've really laid into him.
But having gone through it herself,
She knew all too well how much that moment meant to someone desperately yearning to grow stronger.
And she could fully imagine the sense of loss if that moment was shattered.
So Yuri let go of her surging irritation.
Sure, it was a bit annoying...
'...I'll let it slide this time.'
Yuri quietly unclenched her fist.
This was truly a stroke of luck for Gunter.
Shhh-.
In the meantime, Gunter's enlightenment came to an end.
"Ah......"
His eyes, lost in spiritual ecstasy, regained their normal luster.
Freed from enlightenment, Gunter bowed slightly toward Yuri.
"...Thank you."
It was a thank you laden with many meanings.
Thanks for becoming his goal.
Thanks for allowing him to attain enlightenment because of it.
Or even thanks for waiting without interrupting that moment of enlightenment.
Gunter himself wasn't sure exactly which it was, but he simply expressed the gratitude welling up in his chest.
At the same time, he pointed his sword at Yuri.
"I'm glad I can use the enlightenment I gained from you against you."
With those words, Gunter charged at Yuri.
Throb, throb-.
He had attained enlightenment in that instant, but it didn't heal his body.
Even so, Gunter endured the pain and ran.
Reaching Yuri's side, he swung his sword.
Ironsa family secret martial arts.
Thunder Heaven King's Claws.
The sword tip, infused with pure white lightning, split apart, drawing sharp claws.
One, two, three, four.
In an instant, they multiplied to four.
That was the extent of Gunter's power when he faced Teresa in the past.
But the Gunter of then was different from the Gunter now.
The current Gunter had full-body armor.
To a knight, full-body armor wasn't just simple defense.
It was another body, an essential element in forming martial arts.
With that key condition met, plus the slight enlightenment he'd just gained, Gunter's sword tip finally split into five.
Crackle-.
Gunter had finally fully manifested the five claws of the Thunder Heaven King that his family's founder had imitated.
For the first time in his life, drawing out five streaks of lightning nearly perfectly, Gunter gained confidence.
With this, he could definitely reach Yuri.
But that expectation crumbled futilely.
Swoosh-.
Yuri's form shimmered like a heat haze and slipped effortlessly between the five bolts of lightning.
'Ah......!'
Gunter could only stare blankly as Yuri pulled away.
In that instant, the corner of Yuri's mouth twisted crookedly.
"Wow... full of energy, huh?"
With that, Yuri advanced straight forward.
Swoosh-.
"......?!"
Yuri appeared suddenly in front of him.
Gunter, who had missed her movement for a split second, swung his sword in a panic.
Ironsa family secret martial arts.
Thunder Heaven King's Wings.
The afterimage created by Gunter's sword.
It took the shape of enormous wings wrapping around his body.
Gunter unleashed one of his family's proud ultimate defensive techniques.
But Yuri's sword mercilessly burrowed between the feathers of the wings.
"......?!"
Gunter tried to react in alarm, but his body didn't cooperate easily.
His flesh was already gravely wounded.
Until now, the mental ecstasy had let him forget the pain momentarily.
But after pushing himself like that, his limits were closing in fast.
Of course, even if Gunter's body had been in perfect condition, reacting to Yuri's speed would have been impossible.
'...I was wrong.'
Gunter wore a self-deprecating smile.
He had attained enlightenment and entered a trance, but his realm hadn't dramatically advanced.
It wasn't like the tales where enlightenment raised your realm by a whole stage or broke through a long-blocked wall.
He hadn't achieved such dramatic progress, but Gunter was more than satisfied.
The mental growth from this enlightenment.
If he refined it further, he could reach even higher realms.
He was certain of that.
Even if he lost to Yuri today, his gratitude outweighed any frustration from defeat.
Because Yuri had allowed him to realize so much.
With that mindset, Gunter braced for the pain that would soon come.
And then.
Tsk- clang- clang-!
At the sound from right in front of him, Gunter tilted his head in confusion.
He had expected pain to follow, but there was none at all.
As Gunter made a puzzled face,
Clank- ching- crack-!
Chunks of metal fell from Gunter's body.
To be precise, his already battered upper armor dropped to the ground.
Then Gunter realized.
'That sound earlier... was it severing the joints of my armor?'
Yuri's strike just now.
It had precisely targeted and cut only the connections of the upper armor.
Truly astonishing and exquisite swordsmanship.
Gunter looked straight ahead.
"Yuri Holland......"
Having finished her attack, Yuri had already stepped back and was sheathing her sword.
Gunter bowed his head to her once more.
"...Thank you for showing mercy."
Severing the joints of his steel armor meant she could have easily sliced through not just the joints, but his body as well.
But Yuri hadn't.
She had only cut the joints and disarmed him.
How could he not bow his head to such mercy?
"...I acknowledge my defeat."
The moment Gunter said that.
"What the hell is this bullshit coming out of your mouth while you're flat on your ass?"
"......?"
Gunter blinked at the crude curse from in front.
Yuri walked over briskly, cracking her knuckles.
Crack, crack-.
Yuri's head tilted slightly askew.
"Ha, look at this bastard? Shit, I held back my annoyance and waited for you, and the second your eyes clear up, you come at me with your sword? You ungrateful prick who doesn't know favor when he sees it!"
"...Ah......"
"And what? 'I acknowledge my defeat'? Acknowledge my ass?"
"Tha......"
"Damn it, putting on a show. What if I don't acknowledge it? What are you gonna do then?"
Yuri's eyes gleamed with a vicious smile.
"Don't get it twisted, you moron! Whether you acknowledge it or not, you lost. Your yapping about acknowledging or not is just you trying to claim a mental victory, got it?"
Gunter's vision swam from the torrent of verbal abuse.
He had never sworn like this in his life, nor heard it.
Overwhelmed by curses beyond his mental capacity, he wasn't angry so much as lost on how to respond.
Yuri's barrage continued at the fumbling Gunter.
"You idiot, I handle you gently and you start crawling back up?"
"Your words are a bit harsh......"
"And who said you get to end the duel on your own? You think your opinion matters here?"
"......"
"No, your opinion means jack shit. You might've started the challenge on your whim, but......"
Crack, crack-.
Yuri cracked her neck this time, flashing a menacing smile.
"I'm the one who ends it."
With those words, Yuri's figure vanished.
Splatter-.
Wrapped in blue lightning, Yuri was suddenly in front of Gunter.
And if her verbal abuse had been a downpour until now, what came next was her fists.
'Ah......'
Yuri's fist drew dozens of afterimages.
Seeing them aimed precisely at his upper body, Gunter realized.
'It wasn't... mercy after all.'
Yuri hadn't stripped his armor out of mercy by cutting only the joints.
It was simply...
'So her hands wouldn't hurt... she took it off first.'
By the time he realized that, Yuri's fists were already pummeling his upper body.
Dong- giduk- thung- dududududududududu!
His upper body shook like it was dancing from the tremendous punches.
Along with it came excruciating pain like a tidal wave.
In Gunter's blurring vision appeared Yuri's face, grinning widely.
'Ah, this guy......'
Eyes gleaming with real madness.
Lips brimming with delight, refreshment, exhilaration, joy.
Seeing that, a shiver ran down Gunter's spine, and a powerful realization struck.
'He's... thoroughly insane......'
That late-arriving great enlightenment was the last thing before Gunter's vision went white.
And perhaps this...
Was the most valuable enlightenment Gunter gained today.
* * *
When Gunter entered enlightenment, the watching 50th Cohort had hoped for a reversal.
The underdog in a pinch awakens and turns the tables.
A classic trope from stories, wasn't it?
But no such reversal existed.
Dong- giduk- thung- dududududududududu!
A crisp sound like rapidly drumming a drum echoed through the arena.
The problem was that it was the sound of drumming on a person, not a drum.
Dong dong dong dong-!
Twitch, twitch-.
Gunter was brutally thrashed.
He was clearly unconscious, yet the beating didn't stop.
No, he was standing there getting beaten even after passing out.
The spectators flinched every time the spirited drumming rang out.
And finally.
-Thud!
With a clear, resounding note, Yuri's human drum performance ended.
Flop-.
The tattered Gunter collapsed like a waterlogged rag doll.
"Hoo... That was fun. See ya."
Yuri, looking refreshed, pretended to wipe sweat from her un-sweaty forehead.
And in front of her, Gunter lay utterly still.
Someone muttered at the sight.
"...He's dead, right?"
Sadly, no one contradicted it.
* * *
Defying everyone's assumption of death, Gunter was alive.
No, it was more accurate to say he was barely clinging to life.
So he was soon carted off to the infirmary.
Meanwhile, the 50th Cohort gathered back at the arena.
"......"
Despite the crowd, not a whisper of conversation.
The 50th Cohort simply kept silent, stealing glances at the nonchalant Yuri.
If their eyes met hers, they hurriedly looked away.
Yuri smirked at the scene.
'Should've done this from the start?'
She had shown some power during the last integrated quest, but her peers had still subtly looked down on her afterward.
But today was different.
The disdain was gone, replaced by eyes full of fear.
The way they treated her had clearly changed.
'Beating down dozens of nobodies is less efficient than taking down one guy everyone respects.'
Be they spoiled rich kids or street thugs,
They all acted the same in the end.
As Yuri thought that,
Someone voiced a question.
"So... what do we do about Gunter's ranking now?"
Only then did the 50th Cohort remember they were in the middle of deciding rankings.
'Sure, rank 1 is off the table... but we still need to sort the rest?'
But Gunter had been carried off unconscious.
If he were just some average nobody, they might've ignored him and proceeded.
But no one could dismiss Gunter's skill, even after he'd been turned into Yuri's punching bag.
So continuing the ranking battle without him felt awkward.
The one to provide an answer was none other than Arin.
"Why not just ask Yuri?"