Chapter 187
Chapter 187
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: The 5×5 Battle (9)
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A white smokescreen burst into the sky.
It wasn't just happening at the occupied point with Yuri there.
Boom-! Bang-! Boom boom!
Everywhere, in all directions.
The mechanisms at each occupied point fired white or blue smoke bombs into the sky.
That explained why those small mechanisms existed at the occupied points and why the hourglasses were shaped that way.
They were all devices meant to signal who had occupied each point.
Given the situation, it was only natural that the signal flares went off first at the occupied points closest to the White Army and Blue Army camps.
It also meant the end of this alliance quest was near.
But those at the 3-5 occupied point hadn't realized that yet.
Their brains were already glitching just from trying to process the events unfolding right in front of them.
‘...What?’
‘......?’
Everyone's gazes turned to Kwonter, who was slumped over with his head buried in the debris of the shattered tree.
The sword he held had been cleanly severed, leaving only the hilt and part of the blade.
And a good distance away from the sprawled Kwonter.
In a spot where the unconscious Kwonter was fully visible, Yuri stood tall, his sword dangling loosely.
Victor and loser.
The clear divide left the onlookers in chaos.
‘What... how did this happen?’
‘Why Kwonter...? And why is his sword in that state?’
Bewildered faces all around.
What they knew... or rather, what they guessed... was that Kwonter had brought the blackened sun crashing down to earth.
And that Yuri had unleashed a golden light from the darkness, trailing a comet-like tail that split the black sun in half.
But it had all been abstract illusions.
Fewer than half had properly seen what really happened there.
Even those who had witnessed the truth were just as confused.
Then someone couldn't hold back their bewilderment and muttered softly.
“That golden light just now... no way... a holy sword?”
The first person to voice the suspicion.
It spread through the crowd like wildfire, and rebuttals soon followed.
“No way. That's impossible! How old is that guy!”
“Yeah, exactly. A first-year wielding a holy sword? Ridiculous.”
A couple of people denied it, and soon evidence to back them up emerged.
“Didn't that guy just ask Kwonter to teach him the secret sword technique?”
“Oh yeah! He did!”
It made sense logically.
Someone who couldn't even use the secret sword technique wielding a holy sword?
Absurd.
Plus, the golden trail had only appeared for a split second.
It was easy enough to dismiss what they'd seen as an illusion.
But two people knew better.
‘Kwonter's final attack was definitely Eclipse, one of Rider's signature moves. And he broke it... and snapped Kwonter's demon sword? The only thing capable of that kind of physical force and impact... is a holy sword.’
Yulia Sing was certain it was a holy sword, based on her information and calculations.
‘That was... the realm of the sword saint. No doubt!’
Goetz trusted his instincts to confirm it was a holy sword.
The two had arrived at their certainty through different means.
Amid the crowd still debating whether it was a holy sword or not.
A jumble of thoughts clashed chaotically, but in the end, they all converged on the same conclusion.
‘Kwonter lost!’
‘A first-year rookie... took down Kwonter Rider!’
Whether that golden trail was a holy sword or not didn't matter anymore.
What mattered was that Kwonter Rider had been defeated.
And soon, that news would spread throughout Yuram via the mouths of the surviving 50th, 49th, and 48th cohorts.
It signaled the start of a new seismic shift in Yuram.
Yuri Holland was no longer just a first-year.
No longer just a promising newcomer with an impressive record in the White Step Ceremony.
He would rise as a true powerhouse encompassing all of Yuram.
Everyone knew this all too well, so they watched the newly born apex predator with eyes full of varied emotions.
Meanwhile, Yuri, drawing all the attention.
He smacked his lips in disappointment.
“Ha, damn... that was close.”
He'd planned to drag things out longer to observe Kwonter more.
But Kwonter's final attack.
The strike that swallowed the sun whole had triggered a sense of crisis, and Yuri had instinctively drawn his holy sword at full power.
Even though he'd intended to beat Kwonter with just his base abilities, without the holy sword.
Yuri clicked his tongue inwardly at that.
‘Tch, not easy.’
He'd been confident he could win, and he had, in the end.
But it was a victory snatched by exploiting a loophole with the ‘holy sword’ cheat technique.
Yuri wasn't satisfied with that.
‘Time and effort really are... non-negotiable, huh.’
Kwonter, who wielded the secret sword technique, was at certified Rank 5.
He himself, who wielded the holy sword, was certified Rank 6.
On paper, he should be overwhelmingly stronger...
‘But comparing just base abilities... this fight was my loss.’
Kwonter had surely built his fundamentals step by step to reach certified Rank 5.
What about him, though?
It was mostly coincidences and luck stacking up that let him reach certified Rank 6 faster than expected.
But it was half-baked at best, sloppy and incomplete.
Look at him now.
‘Mana's almost dry.’
Even accounting for maintaining the demon sword while fighting Kwonter, and using Cloud Wave and Thunder Wing.
Just that brief use of the holy sword had already drained his mana to the bottom.
If he hadn't learned the knack of using holy and demon swords from Yohan.
If he hadn't been popping elixirs and spirit medicines sporadically over the past four months, that single holy sword activation would've left his mana completely parched.
‘Shouldn't have been thrilled that my three-second holy sword became a ten-second one...’
With his shortcomings so glaringly exposed, he couldn't just celebrate the win.
And probably... the next time he faced Kwonter, beating him would be even harder.
Kwonter must've realized he'd been hit by a holy sword.
He'd definitely prepare countermeasures.
To face that, what he could do was steadily build his base abilities and...
‘Study well what I saw today.’
That thought only deepened his regret.
‘Tch, if only I'd seen a bit more.’
The Sword Lord's demon body technique, no less.
It had taken ages to analyze Theresia's weakness.
Extracting something precise from Kwonter in just one fight? Not enough time.
‘If I could spar with him every day like when I copied weaknesses...’
Of course, a pipe dream.
Even getting this one small clue today was lucky.
Recalling what he'd gained from the fight, Yuri smiled faintly.
Then he looked up at the sky.
White and blue smoke still lingered despite the time passed.
He gauged their positions.
“Let's see, 5-5 and 4-5 are done, 3-5 goes without saying.”
Yuri glanced at the white smoke overhead before looking away.
“2-5 done too.”
His gaze, following along, stopped at one spot.
His eyes narrowed.
After staring at the sky for a while, a quiet curse escaped Yuri's lips.
“Damn.”
He launched himself into the air right after, swiftly climbing the tree.
Reaching the top in an instant, another curse burst out.
“Ah, shit...”
High up in the tree.
The open view revealed the sky clearly.
But nowhere was the white smoke that should have come from 1-5.
What else could that mean?
‘They took 1-5.’
He'd defended 3-5 where Kwonter Rider appeared, and now the wrong spot had been breached.
Yuri's head turned.
‘So far, only columns 1, 2, and 3 have fallen?’
As he thought that, four blue smokescreens launched simultaneously from column 4.
Boom boom boom-!
Blue smoke flowing in a neat row.
Seeing it, Yuri smiled faintly and descended to the ground.
White Army riders gathered around him.
“How'd it go? What about 1-5?”
Yulia was the first to ask.
Yuri answered in a flat tone.
“1-5's silent. Columns 1, 2, 3, and 4 all went to Blue Army as expected.”
The White Army's faces naturally hardened at the news.
They'd taken out Kwonter Rider and won the local skirmish, but at this rate, they'd lose the war.
To their dismay, Yuri tossed them hope.
“But we took 5-4 and 5-5, and no smokes from 5-1, 5-2, or 5-3 yet.”
Yulia's face lit up.
“You... you did it!”
“Yeah.”
Yulia's eyes widened at Yuri's nonchalant response.
“Wait, don't tell me... you cleared 5-1 and 5-2 before coming here? In that short time?”
Yuri just nodded lightly without a word and addressed the group around him.
“Now we move to secure the victory with reinforcements.”
“Secure victory? Reinforcements?”
Yulia answered the question.
“They've already used up most of their hourglasses. They chose to attack every occupied point. From the flares, they've burned through at least 16, and probably more got broken...”
Her voice was bright.
“Blue Army's remaining hourglasses are gone, or one or two at most. And we've taken four in row 5, so no bingo for them in rows 2, 3, 4, or 5.”
Goetz, realizing something, blinked and continued.
“Meanwhile, we still have hourglasses to spare... so even if they took points, as long as no flare went up, we can retake them anytime.”
“Exactly! In other words, momentum has fully shifted to us, and we need to reinforce to lock in the win! Right?”
Yulia looked at Yuri, face beaming with pride in her explanation.
Yuri nodded with a subtle smile, and the crowd's expressions brightened too.
They got it now.
How favorably the situation had turned for them.
They all looked at Yuri with faintly astonished eyes.
‘Did he plan the strategy accounting even for this reversal?’
‘This plan was only possible because of him.’
As admiring glances continued, Yuri spoke urgently.
“No time. We move now. Yulia, take everyone to 5-4. I'll leave the rest to your judgment.”
Yulia would handle the situation herself.
With that order given, Yuri stated his own destination.
“I'm going to retake 1-5.”
No one showed even a hint of doubt that Yuri could reclaim an occupied point alone.
They only showed faith that of course he could.
Yulia just looked worried as she asked.
“Wouldn't it be better to head to 5-1 or 5-2 instead? You being here means those are totally empty, right?”
“No, they're fine.”
Yuri shook his head, his voice full of strong conviction.
“I left them... to someone reliable.”
He thought of Arin, whom he'd left in charge.
Knowing her as he did, she'd seek help from her 5-3 comrades to defend the point.
And they could hold it...
That was Yuri's belief.
That's why he could easily decide to head to 1-5 himself.
With the strategy orders issued.
“Alright, let's move!”
At Yuri's shout, everyone prepared to go, regardless of rank.
Or tried to.
Crunch-.
Until ‘he,’ buried in the broken tree debris, began to rise.
“Huh? Whoa! Him?!”
A White Army rider pointed in shock at the slowly rising Kwonter.
Soon, Kwonter stood fully.
Torn black clothes.
Face half-covered in blood from his head.
In his wretched state, he gripped the broken sword and bellowed.
“Yuri-i-i Holland-n-n-n!”
Wooong-.
His shout, laden with immense mana.
The crowd plugged their ears, and Yuri grimaced.
‘Damn, he wakes up now of all times.’
Honestly, he'd thought it would take longer.
Anyone would have.
Even after taking a holy sword hit?
He should be out for days, but Kwonter was up in mere minutes.
Yuri could only marvel.
‘What kind of freakish body durability is that?’
From his stance, aside from the head bleeding a bit, he didn't seem badly hurt, and he still had mana to spare.
Those black veins must've played a role again.
Yuri clicked his tongue inwardly.
‘Tch, this is a bit tricky...’
Right now, he needed to move to secure the quest win, not get tied down.
To do that, he had to dispatch Kwonter quickly...
‘The problem is whether he'll go down easy.’
Kwonter radiated a terrifying aura.
Fiercer currents swirled around him than before.
Even without a full sword, it wasn't easy to dismiss.
‘His mana pool is insane. Tch.’
How many premium goods had he consumed since childhood to have mana left after all that?
Yuri sighed softly and spoke to Yulia and Goetz.
“You guys go ahead. I'll handle him.”
The two nodded slightly.
Yulia and the others backed away cautiously, but Kwonter ignored them completely.
He glared only at Yuri.
“......”
“......”
Tension thickened between Yuri and Kwonter.
Just before the second round could erupt.
Boom-.
Another smokescreen rose.
This one was white.
Yulia, just leaving 3-5, widened her eyes.
“Huh? That's... 5-1?”
White smoke rising from distant 5-1.
Not knowing Yuri had cleared it first, she was puzzled.
But the puzzle didn't last.
Boom-!
White smoke burst from 5-3 next.
Moments later.
Boom-!
White smoke from 5-2's occupied point.
Seeing it, Yulia grinned ear-to-ear and cheered.
“Yes! We did it, Yuri! Just like you said... bingo in row 5!”
5-4 and 5-5 had already flared white, so these completed it moments ago.
It meant his group had defended to the end, as he'd believed.
It meant he'd completed bingo single-handedly, as declared.
And it meant Yuri had delivered victory to the White Army in this quest.
Piii- boom- boom boom-!
Red fireworks signaling the quest's end exploded high in the sky.
As if celebrating Yuri's triumph.