Chapter 198
Chapter 198
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Muryong Grand Tournament (7)
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----Rooooaaar-!
The sudden appearance of the giant and its echoing roar left not only the spectators, but even Aris, completely stunned.
And in that moment, Poppi yanked out his shield in an instant and hurled it toward Aris.
Whoosh-.
Aris snapped out of it in alarm at the shield flying toward him at tremendous speed and twisted his body desperately.
Fortunately, since the shield flew in a straight line, dodging it wasn't too difficult.
Swoosh-!
The round shield grazed past Aris's chest.
Boom- Kraaaang!
It slammed into the arena wall with a thunderous crash.
If it had hit him—no, even just grazed him—it would have been enough force for at least a serious injury.
Aris had luckily dodged such an attack.
But his luck ended there.
Poppi, who had thrown the shield as bait, kicked off the ground powerfully and leaped forward.
Thud-!
He had only taken a single stride, yet he was already right in front of Aris.
Adding a twist of his waist to the momentum of his charge, he unleashed a punch toward Aris, who hadn't fully regained his stance.
Whoosh-.
As the fist—even larger than the upper body of an average adult male—approached with a gale-force wind, fear flickered across Aris's face.
‘I, I have to dodge this……?!’
But regrettably, Poppi's fist was faster than he could think.
‘No, I have to block it?!’
It was harder than he could imagine.
‘Guh, guh?!’
And far more ferocious than he could fathom.
‘Wh-what kind of power?!’
An immense strength utterly beyond the capacity of his slender sword to block.
Bam!
“Guh?!”
Though it was a bare fist clashing with a sword, it sounded just like a bomb exploding.
Along with that, the sword that had briefly halted the fist shattered first.
Crack-.
Then even the arms gripping the sword snapped.
The massive fist didn't stop there and struck Aris squarely.
Kraaaang-!
Crunch- crunch-.
Aris felt the sound of bones breaking in various parts of his body from the tremendous impact.
At the same time, he realized his body was floating through the air.
Bang-!
With a bursting sound, Aris flew off and crashed into the arena wall, crumbling it and burying himself in the debris.
Poppi rushed straight to the spot.
“I'm hungryyyy!”
The moment he raised his fist to smash down on Aris lying amid the rubble.
“St-stop!”
Poppi's fist halted precisely 3 cm from Aris's nose at the faint cry.
Whoosh-!
Aris muttered softly as the tremendous wind from the fist buffeted him.
“St-stop… I… lost…”
With those words, he promptly passed out.
The giant silently withdrew his fist upon seeing this.
And the spectators couldn't close their mouths at the overwhelming match and its result that had unfolded before their eyes.
“Ah…….”
“Huh…….”
They had no choice but to be bewildered.
What they had witnessed wasn't a fight between two people.
It was simply… a legendary monster bursting forth to toy with a human.
As the crowd fell into shocked silence, Poppi's body began rapidly reverting to its original form.
Crack, crack—
And finally, back to his original appearance, Poppi…
“I'm hungry!”
Pale-faced, he didn't even pick up his clothes or shield and bolted straight out of the arena.
“Huh?”
“Eh?”
“Ung?”
The sudden turn of events.
And at his urgently retreating back, the spectators were all left dumbfounded.
A short while later.
Poppi, now dressed in the clothes Gunter had fetched and with his shield strapped to his back.
“I'm hungry!”
Yuri muttered in disbelief at his relieved and happy-looking face, finally understanding everything.
“…This guy, was he really just desperate to take a shit?”
A joke that turned out to be the truth.
Theresa gave an awkward smile and asked,
“Does your stomach hurt badly when you're super nervous or something?”
“I'm hungry.”
Yuri clicked his tongue watching Poppi nod while scratching the back of his head.
‘The reason he went all out with gigantification—which he wouldn't even show me no matter how much I begged—and ended the match in a flash… was this?’
For someone who knew the catastrophe that would befall the moment his sphincter gave out, the only desperate wish was to escape this hellish moment as quickly as possible.
And to achieve that, Poppi… willingly endured the muscle loss.
* * *
If Arin's match had been shocking, Poppi's match was shocking in its own ways.
A match that made one realize just how much weight class matters in a fight.
With the two first-years delivering back-to-back stunning performances, the crowd began buzzing.
Gunter Irons, Yuri Holland, Arin Helga, and Bobikurtankapurtabi.
Four out of the 50th Cohort participating in this Muryong Grand Tournament had advanced to the round of 12.
Something that had never happened since the tournament began, drawing all eyes to the 50th Cohort's last participant.
“Is that guy on the same level as the ones before?”
“Well, we'll see.”
Amid everyone's attention, the first-year from Group 11, Clarice Ban, stepped into the arena.
Boom-!
And before even 15 seconds had passed, she was struck by her fourth-year opponent and slammed into the arena wall.
“Oh dear…….”
“How unfortunate…….”
It was praiseworthy enough that a 50th Cohort member hadn't forfeited and showed up…
But after the previous matches—especially the two back-to-back feats by the 50th Cohort—the crowd couldn't hide their disappointment at the limp defeat.
At the same time, they felt relieved.
“Yeah, that's more normal.”
“I thought the whole 50th Cohort was full of standouts, but apparently not.”
That the 50th Cohort wasn't special overall, but Yuri Holland and those around him were.
The relieved spectators nodded with somehow satisfied expressions.
And the Group 12 match of the round of 24 ended with Vangelis easily defeating the 49th Cohort member to claim the final spot in the round of 12.
* * *
The day concluded with all 12 round-of-12 participants decided.
Returning to his lodgings late in the evening, Yuri wrinkled his nose slightly at the foul odor wafting through the wooden door.
“Ugh, it's really gonna stink in there.”
Grumbling as such, he entered, greeted by the sight of Johan seated rigidly, clutching a bronze cauldron.
‘Hmm…….’
Yuri glanced sideways.
The food he had made that morning and left behind was still there untouched.
‘Skipping meals again?’
On the day the Muryong Grand Tournament began.
Johan had said he was starting work on the Harmony Divine Water—no, the Harmony Elixir.
And since then, he had maintained that posture.
Even skipping meals into the second day.
‘He said it'd take about five days to a week? I wondered if he'd really stay like that the whole time…….’
But seeing him keep his eyes closed since yesterday, it seemed likely.
‘Guess I'll sleep outside again today.’
Johan had said crafting the Harmony Elixir consumed a lot of mana and mental energy.
And that external shocks midway could put him in danger.
So Yuri had given up his lodgings and slept outside.
Though he would have slept outside anyway, even without that reason.
‘What the hell is this smell, seriously!’
Yuri grimaced at the nose-stinging stench.
The foul odor that had started spreading hours after Johan grabbed the Harmony Thunder Cauldron.
From a pot stuffed with all sorts of spiritual herbs, no less.
And this was the smell coming from brewing something grandly named the Harmony Elixir—it was hard to believe.
Yuri stealthily peered into the Harmony Thunder Cauldron.
Though no fire was lit beneath it, heat haze shimmered inside, radiating warmth.
Likely due to that heat, the spiritual herbs within were slowly mashing together bit by bit.
By the time Johan estimated, those herbs would probably change form entirely.
Turning his gaze from the herbs to outside the Harmony Thunder Cauldron.
He noticed a change he hadn't seen before.
‘That… it's got some rust spots?’
The initially dark bronze cauldron now had faint greenish spots here and there.
Like the patina on aged bronze.
Yuri stared at it curiously before turning to leave.
Creak- click-.
The door closed again, sealing the space.
Swoosh-.
Johan steadily infused mana without rest, and the slowly heating Harmony Thunder Cauldron soon sank into darkness.
* * *
Yuri had slept in the training grounds yesterday.
So he thought he'd head there again today, but he veered off in a completely unexpected direction.
The place Yuri headed was one of the four spires in the fortress.
Ascending the spiraling staircase, he reached his destination and witnessed an unexpected scene.
“…What the heck are you guys doing.”
Theresa, Gunter, and Poppi clustered together in front of a door.
Stacked by height with their heads pressed together, they were peeking through the door crack.
Yuri approached from behind, hands in his pockets.
“What're you doing?”
Sensing his presence, they whipped their heads around and pressed fingers to their lips.
“Shh!”
“Shhh!”
“I'm hungry!”
Then they turned back to peeking, piquing Yuri's curiosity enough to join in.
Squeezing in among them, he peered through the crack.
It was a fairly spacious room.
The lodgings of Arin, who had claimed the spire's top because she liked high places.
The space looked empty relative to its size, with few items occupying it.
And by the window as large as a door, Arin sat hugging her knees.
Having flung open the wooden shutters, she stared blankly at the forest as darkness settled.
Her profile somehow seemed steeped in melancholy.
Seeing this, Yuri understood why the three who arrived before him were peeking instead of entering.
They had probably come to comfort her but froze at her uncharacteristically vulnerable sight, lingering outside.
And knowing all that, Yuri…
“Tch, what a letdown.”
Still with hands in pockets, he kicked the door open.
Bam-.
Rattle, rattle-.
He kicked it so hard the door nearly fell off, swinging back and forth.
Startled by the boom, Arin turned her head.
In that instant, what she saw was Theresa, Gunter, and Poppi stacked in shock with faces piled up.
And Yuri, hands in pockets, legs stretched out in a delinquent pose.
Blink, blink-.
Faced with the abrupt situation, Arin just widened her eyes.
Meanwhile, Yuri strode over and stood beside her.
Arin's upward gaze met Yuri's downward one.
“…….”
“…….”
In that moment, his right hand—which hadn't left his pocket once since leaving his lodgings—emerged into the world.
It was then.
“Huh?”
Yuri stared out the window in surprise, as if spotting something.
Arin naturally followed his gaze and turned her head.
And in that instant.
Smack-!
Yuri's swiftly swung hand mercilessly smacked the side of Arin's head.
Thud thud thud-.
Hit so hard she toppled sideways, Arin tumbled from the windowsill and sprawled flat on the floor.
The onlookers gaped in shock at Yuri's sudden assault.
Meanwhile, unfazed by others' surprise, Yuri grinned broadly.
“Ah, feels so refreshing.”
He laughed brightly, as if a nagging ache had finally lifted, then shoved his hand back in his pocket and turned around.
His retreating figure looked utterly refreshed.