Chapter 200
Chapter 200
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Translator: True Detective
Chapter: 200
Chapter Title: Martyr Dragon Tournament (9)
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Seeing the arm raised toward him, Gunter tightened his grip on his sword.
‘He’s moving.’
Gunter’s muscles tensed all over his body, ready to charge at any moment in response to his opponent’s movements.
Gunter eyed Susan warily with a sharp gaze.
“…….”
“…….”
The one gripping the sword and the one extending a hand.
The suffocating standoff continued in silence.
But then, that time began to drag on longer than expected.
‘…He’s not moving?’
Cold sweat trickled down his back from the tension.
How much time had passed?
Yet Susan Ripley showed no sign of moving.
She hadn’t even drawn a weapon, simply holding out her hand motionless.
‘Is he waiting for me to charge first?’
As Gunter debated whether to rush in first or not.
‘…Huh?’
An unfamiliar scent wafted to his nose.
‘Flower scent?’
No, it was more like a faintly sweet aroma.
The subtle, pleasant fragrance swirled inside his helmet, and Gunter instinctively took a short breath.
And right at that moment.
Ping-.
Gunter felt a powerful dizziness make his vision spin.
His stomach churned, the world whirled around him, and his mind grew hazy.
So it was only natural that his body staggered.
‘Kuh!’
Thud-.
Gunter barely managed to drop to one knee and hold on, preventing himself from collapsing entirely.
His slightly dilated pupils shook violently.
‘Th-this is……?!’
He instantly realized what had happened to him and what that scent he’d smelled moments ago truly was.
With that, Gunter immediately understood why every cohort up until last year had ranked Susan as their top opponent they least wanted to face.
‘Poison…?!’
In shock, he arduously lifted his head to look straight ahead.
There stood Susan, smiling.
Step-.
She took light steps toward Gunter, her voice languid.
“Humans instinctively take deep breaths when they smell a pleasant fragrance. Out of curiosity about what it is, or to savor it a little longer.”
Step-.
One step, one step.
As Susan drew closer to Gunter, her lips gradually darkened to a black tinged with purple.
Step-.
Susan Ripley approached slowly.
She no longer looked like a frail beauty.
Pale skin and dark red lips.
Deep shadows under her eyes and eerie, glowing purple irises.
It all harmonized to evoke the image of a witch from a fairy tale.
Gunter bit his lip as he watched her through his blurring vision.
‘Poison… all along.’
Those who stored poison in their bodies through special mana body arts and wielded it in battle.
Even mana body art practitioners could succumb to it, making them terrifying figures, though their numbers were few since many died in the process of cultivating the poison.
Yet such a rare poison master had been in Yoram all along.
Step-.
Susan finally reached Gunter.
‘G-gotta… get away……!’
Gunter tried to move to escape, but his body was already beyond his control.
Just clinging to consciousness was an ordeal.
Susan extended both hands toward Gunter’s face, which struggled to maintain awareness.
Chin-.
Slender, pale fingers gently cradled his steel helmet.
Her nails had already turned as black as her lips.
With that, the fragrance inside the helmet grew even thicker.
Susan smiled as she locked eyes with Gunter through the visor.
“Thanks for wearing the helmet… It made this so much easier.”
At her grateful words, Gunter regretted his choice to don the helmet.
‘Damn it, wearing a helmet against a poison master!’
The inside of a knight’s full plate armor was a perfect sealed space for releasing poison.
With the visor closed, it was ideal for trapping the spreading toxin.
Had he known Susan’s true nature, Gunter never would have worn full plate.
The full plate that had greatly aided his victory in the round of 24 was now leading him to defeat in the round of 12.
‘G-gotta… expel the… poison…….’
Even so, Gunter gritted his teeth and refused to give up, circulating his mana.
It was a desperate struggle to drive out the poison.
But more poison filled the helmet than he could expel from his body.
Hiss-.
Susan flashed a seductive smile.
“It’s not that potent, so the poison will wear off in a few days. So…….”
The thick, sweet aroma inside the helmet reached its peak.
Noticing it, Susan released the helmet and said,
“Sweet dreams.”
Seeing Susan’s smile, reminiscent of a legendary dream demon, Gunter had only one thought.
‘…My head’s completely messed up.’
With that, Gunter’s vision went pure white.
Thud-.
“…….”
Susan gazed down at the sprawled Gunter for a moment before silently turning away.
* * *
“Ha?”
Yuri let out a hollow laugh as he watched Gunter crumple without any real resistance.
‘Last match was like that, and this one too. I thought something was off since their opponents just dropped without a fight…….’
Watching the black-haired woman’s retreating figure as she left the arena, Yuri muttered softly.
“…That was because of poison?”
He soon chuckled in disbelief.
“Wow… Even if it’s no holds barred and just win however, poison’s allowed?
That’s a method I never even imagined.
I was only thinking about straight-up fights, and suddenly poison like something out of an assassination plot.”
Teresia answered his incredulous mutter.
“It’s allowed.”
Yuri’s gaze turned to Teresia.
Her eyes followed Susan’s fading silhouette.
“It’s allowed?”
“Cases like coating weapons in poison aren’t unheard of. Yoram permits it too. But even in Yoram, no one looks favorably on such tactics, so people avoid them on their own. Poison masters are different.”
“What’s different about them?”
“For poison masters, poison is their weapon. Their poison arts are equivalent to our mana body arts and weapon techniques. To carry and wield a deadly toxin potent enough to affect mana body art users with high resistance… they train with their lives on the line too.”
“Poison arts…….”
At Teresia’s explanation, Yuri stared at the fallen Gunter.
‘Poison that works even on mana body art users.’
He hadn’t yet figured out how Susan Ripley handled her poison, but she’d poisoned Gunter so subtly he hadn’t noticed.
And both Gunter today and the 46th Cohort from the previous match.
Despite years of mana body art training, neither had resisted her poison much.
This was a problem Yuri had never once considered.
‘That poison… how long could I hold out? What’s my resistance like?’
If he were completely immune, that’d be one thing.
But if he got poisoned, could he really endure it?
‘I haven’t experienced it, so I don’t know for sure, but one thing’s certain…….’
After brief contemplation, Yuri reached a conclusion.
‘Unless a counter to poison comes up… Susan Ripley’s the trickiest opponent in this Martyr Dragon Tournament.’
Yuri’s expression stiffened slightly.
* * *
After Gunter was carried off, the round of 12 continued.
The second match pitted Goetz Roeten against a fifth-year.
And once again, Goetz easily crushed the fifth-year, securing his spot in the top 6.
Though third-years had now beaten fifth-years in a row, Goetz’s skill was well-known, so few were surprised.
With the second top 6 spot decided, the third match of the round of 12 began soon after.
“Whew…….”
Teresia, who had entered the arena first, relaxed her tension as she waited for her opponent.
Moments later, a young man appeared from the front with a relaxed stride.
Towering at 190 cm with long red hair splaying out like a lion’s mane.
A youth exuding wild aura with a wide-bladed greatsword slung over his shoulder.
He was Andres Cheishu, Teresia’s opponent in this round of 12.
A scion of the Cheishu family—one of the continent’s top three swordsmanship clans—and the second-ranked fourth-year.
No, in terms of pure combat prowess, he was unequivocally the top of the 47th Cohort.
Andres glanced down at Teresia.
“Teresia Winchester. Couldn’t even make it past the round of 24 last year, but this year you reach the round of 12. Looks like you worked hard.”
“It was luck. My round of 24 opponent was a fellow classmate, after all.”
“What rank were you among the 49th Cohort when you entered last year’s Martyr Dragon Tournament?”
“Fifth.”
“And this year?”
“Top.”
“So you did work hard?”
“Yes, I did. And thanks to you, senior.”
“My doing?”
“You let me live in last year’s round of 24, so I’m here now, right?”
As she spoke, fierce heat blazed in Teresia’s eyes.
Last year, Teresia had belatedly improved and barely qualified for the Martyr Dragon Tournament.
In the round of 24, she’d been crushed in a single move and eliminated.
And the one who’d inflicted that humiliation was the man before her: Andres Cheishu.
Clang-.
Teresia aimed her spear at Andres.
“I’ll do my utmost to repay that grace by toppling you, senior.”
At Teresia’s bold declaration, Cheishu smirked.
“We’ll see. Sounds like wishful thinking. And don’t try too hard. If you do…….”
His smirk faded as he trailed off.
“I might not let you live this time.”
Murderous intent filled the air.
And with that as the signal.
Boom!
They clashed.
Thrusting spear against slashing blade.
The two weapons, infused with steel aura, whipped toward each other at ferocious speeds.
Kakang-.
Boom!
Amid vague afterimages, explosions and sparks erupted.
A single misstep could spell disaster.
As he parried Teresia’s spear, Andres burst into delighted laughter.
“Hahaha! Impressive… impressive! To change this much in just a year!”
Last year, Teresia couldn’t even block a basic attack.
Now, she traded blows with him on equal footing.
And this was Teresia Winchester—the Winchester freak, the mutant, no less.
Andres shouted in excitement.
“I don’t like drawn-out fights… Let’s make it short and intense—clash for real!”
Wooong-.
Andres’s greatsword hummed loudly, glowing red-hot.
‘Steel!’
Seeing the blade infused with steel aura in an instant, Teresia’s eyes sharpened with caution.
‘Probably… not the end there.’
Fourth-years averaged certified 2nd dan.
But a top-tier fourth-year like Andres wouldn’t stop there.
As if affirming her prediction, the greatsword blazed red.
Roar-.
‘Flame aura!’
Declaring his certified 3rd dan prowess, Andres swung his full-power flame blade—no, flame cleaver.
‘Can’t block this head-on!’
Matching his power, Teresia poured mana into her spear.
Her spear manifested mist aura.
Wooong-.
Seeing it, Andres grinned widely.
“Mist realm already! You really are Teresia Winchester? What the hell happened in the last year?!”
Teresia wanted to answer that question.
That in the past year, she’d met good people.
That she’d given her all… gritted her teeth and chased after a certain boy.
That’s how she’d made it this far.
But she had no time for words.
‘Can’t keep this up.’
Though she thrust with all her might, her specialty—speed-based attacks—was repeatedly blocked by Andres’s solid defense.
Instead, his counterattacks forced her to retreat dozens of times.
Teresia gritted her teeth slightly.
‘If even one strike lands properly… I’ll relive last year’s round of 24 humiliation.’
Cheishu’s blade arts were that threatening.
She could try enduring to create an opening, but……
‘Dragging it out isn’t good for me.’
The flame aura in Andres’s blade was steadily damaging her spear.
She held on with mist aura, but accumulated damage would snap it.
She needed to end this quickly.
The problem was her hot-tempered opponent thought the same.
“Show me more… your full power! Squirm harder!”
Roarrrrr-!
The flame aura in the greatsword surged explosively.
Cheishu’s signature red aura enveloped him.
Cheishu family secret mana body art.
Crimson Lion Fierce Assault.
A red lion lunged at Teresia, slashing with savage claws.
Teresia bit her lip hard in response.
Slick-.
Her spear began a new motion, utterly different from before.