Chapter 157
Chapter 157
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 157
Chapter Title: The Third Night (8)
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Arc Knight Gula.
The awakening of his past memories revealed not only his own existence.
He had reclaimed his swordsmanship at a lofty realm and even shattered the wall beyond it.
It fell short of the pure swordsmanship of the Arhat he had faced, but it encompassed the techniques of countless swordsmen he had clashed with over eons.
And that was not all.
'Honor...'
He had reclaimed it.
This was something impossible for the 'dead'.
Even awakened, a dead man like Gula should have no honor by rights.
Yet... he possessed it.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The white light of karma enveloping him.
Though less brilliant than Park Chan-woo's, it was proof that he still lived.
Yes. He was alive.
Though devoid of life, his will remained honorable.
The mission of a holy knight, guardian of light and great hero, standing against demons.
As long as he did not forget that, he would remain honorable henceforth.
'My god has not abandoned me.'
Arc Knight.
Gula swung his sword to shake off his new fate.
Rumble!
With a single stroke, the typhoon vanished, and a boulder vast as the sky split in two.
The world trembled, and in an instant, heaven and earth fell silent.
"......"
"......"
The people stared blankly at the scene, dumbfounded.
Even a layman could tell Gula's swordsmanship was on another level entirely.
Lee Hyuk-soo's astonishment, in particular, was beyond words.
'Swordsmanship that dominates the flow.'
A single strike that captured every flow around him.
The subtleties woven within numbered over a thousand.
A secret technique born from fusing countless sword arts into one.
Something even realm-attained swordsmen dared not imitate.
Gula was truly the master of the sword.
...Tempting.
Desire boiled within him.
He wanted that power for himself.
"It feels like a sword art honed against at least ten thousand swordsmen. And only those from established schools, at that."
Han Min-oh spoke up.
Hearing this, Lee Hyuk-soo couldn't help but panic inwardly.
Han Min-oh's abilities shouldn't even let him see Gula's sword clearly, yet he had analyzed it precisely.
'Han Min-oh's talent overflows.'
Perhaps even more than his own.
He had thought it mere thousands at best, but Han Min-oh spoke of ten thousand despite barely seeing it.
Yet Han Min-oh's analysis was sure to be spot on.
His eye for swords surpassed his own.
'...At this rate, he'll catch up to me in no time.'
He called him master now, but it wouldn't be long before he was overtaken.
To avoid that, he had to train even harder.
They followed Gula for a long stretch.
Thanks to the participants' stats surging, there were almost no dropouts.
'Still... who the hell is Park Chan-woo?'
500 km.
Even with Gula clearing every obstacle, it was still a marathon just to run.
No matter how he thought about it, covering it in under an hour was impossible.
The only one who had destroyed the 'Black Iron' and completed this vast distance in a mere 51 minutes.
'...Is he even human?'
He couldn't fathom it as the act of a fellow human.
Like the 'Prophet'.
But the Prophet wielded godlike powers and never revealed himself.
Whereas this 'Park Chan-woo' had no qualms showing his face.
As if to flaunt it, he claimed first place with an overwhelming record impossible to catch.
Then he must be human, like them.
"Hah! Hah!"
"Ughhh!"
"We... we did it!"
Those arriving at the finish line cheered.
Not a few collapsed vomiting, having burned their future stamina.
...A gap over 17 times greater.
He had given his all, but it was nothing compared to Park Chan-woo's record.
Even accounting for the delay in leading the others, it was no excuse for such a difference.
Lee Hyuk-soo shook his head.
'Still, nearly a thousand participants made it within 24 hours.'
With most traps cleared, passers would keep increasing.
But the key was how many could receive 'Gula's teachings'.
That number neared a thousand.
"Then let's begin the training right away."
"Urk...!"
"Ahh...!"
Sighs erupted here and there.
They had drawn on future stamina, yet no rest before the next round.
"G-Gula... sir. C-Couldn't we rest a bit first?"
"I feel like I couldn't move even if you beat me...!"
A few grumbled.
Gula replied with disdain.
"Is this all you've got? Compared to the first challengers, you're a massive disappointment."
...A disappointment?
But stamina had limits.
Using it meant needing rest—that was only natural.
Lee Hyuk-soo asked gravely.
"That Park Chan-woo... did he really pass the trial properly, receive the teachings, and move on?"
It was simply unbelievable.
Finishing 500 km in 51 minutes, getting Gula's teachings, then heading to the next trial—how was that feasible?
Yet Gula's response was even more shocking.
"You're asking if he passed the trial the proper way?"
"...Something like that."
"No shortcuts. He crossed this brutal desert head-on, defeated me in combat, and then proceeded."
"Not teachings, but a duel?"
"Of course. I can't teach someone stronger than me, can I?"
"...?"
What?
He thought he'd misheard.
Gula's sword was no joke.
Not just his skill, but his raw power could slaughter everyone gathered here single-handedly.
And Park Chan-woo was stronger than Gula?
"...He was more incredible than I thought."
Han Min-oh, listening quietly beside him, gasped.
He knew the man was no ordinary powerhouse.
A warrior who felled dozens of avatars in one go.
He had seen him as a lifesaver thrice over, but now suspected he might be humanity's strongest.
'...Not just strong. Insanely strong.'
But Lee Hyuk-soo was even more horrified.
He had cleared obstacles intact, then fought Gula without rest.
Even now, he was gasping for breath.
How strong did one have to be to pull that off?
All through frontal assaults, no less.
Nothing like the Prophet's ways.
"Now that questions are over, let's start."
Gula changed the subject.
Snapping to attention.
Sword training came first.
Could Gula truly impart his swordsmanship to a thousand people in this limited time?
But it was no issue.
'Aheta still hasn't noticed.'
Despite this mess, Aheta's gaze wasn't on them.
Had it been, he'd have intervened immediately.
Thus, Gula still bore his mission as a 'Death Knight'.
In other words.
"My swordsmanship will be transmitted to you in magical form."
He could use the 'Third Night' system Aheta had set.
At that moment.
Aheta was still fixated on the 'Mages' camp.
'Who is it? Which one among them is the Archmage?'
Among those who chose the mages' camp, none stood out.
But given the Archmage's patterns so far, that was expected.
He never drew attention or revealed himself.
He struck silently, stabbing daggers into hearts from the shadows.
Thus.
'I know you're hiding. You plan to clear it with some clever trick again.'
Not this time.
He wouldn't look away, blocking it preemptively.
No repeat of the 'Second Night' blunder.
Distracted everywhere, missing the vital 'Archmage'.
So now, Aheta watched only the 'Mages' camp.
The Archmage's moves suggested he was surely there.
He never did frontal assaults.
He had to be hidden among those mage crowds.
'I absolutely won't miss you.'
Aheta scanned the camp with fury-filled eyes.
The thief who stole his greatest treasure.
He would find and kill him.
How much time passed?
Not long after.
"...?"
Aheta's face twisted in rage.
An impossibility, a disaster that shouldn't recur, was happening again.
In a place he wasn't watching, no less.
It was bizarre.
At least not from the 'Mages' camp.
Had the Archmage chosen another camp?
Or else?
He shuddered with rage.
"Who is it? Which bastard...!"
Park Chan-woo smiled.
He had overcome every 'Warrior' trial without pause.
'Easier than expected.'
One day sufficed.
Breaking trials was trivial for him.
Because.
"Free our comrades from 'death'!"
"We'll drive them out for sure!"
"Freedom! Hope!"
Park Chan-woo glanced back.
Over a hundred soldiers strong.
'Death Warriors' transformed into 'Arc Warriors' thanks to Radiant Anubis.
Gula was the strongest, but this force was no trifle.
The reason they cleared all warrior trials in a flash.
Four paths converged here.
All camps needed to arrive for the final battle to begin.
But Park Chan-woo didn't wait.
Instead, he pressed on to the other camps without rest.
Having crushed every camp's 'final trial' prepared for them.
'The One Who Gazes Upon the End'