Chapter 166
Chapter 166
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 166
Chapter Title: The Snow White Flower
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“You… you’re going out?”
Deneb stared at Xiaolin, flustered.
Xiaolin nodded lightly, her face expressionless.
“Hmm.”
Deneb was troubled.
Xiaolin was an 8-Star, just like Ivan who had fought before.
But she had an incredible achievement that Ivan could never hope to match.
“Even so, sending you out, someone who’s defeated a 9-Star Awakened…”
She had a record of defeating a high-ranking Awakened of the Zodiac in a one-on-one duel.
And it wasn’t against some rookie high-ranking Awakened who had just reached 9-Star, but a genuine one who had maintained that level for a long time.
That incident had been the very event that showed the world just how powerful an Awakened of the North Star was.
“This is the last one, isn’t it?”
“That’s true, but.”
Deneb wore a troubled expression.
If she suddenly sent out Xiaolin, ranked fifth, she wouldn’t be able to avoid the Constellations' criticism.
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better if I went?”
A woman who had been sitting nonchalantly beside Xiaolin stood up.
If Xiaolin was like a single flower blooming in a snowy field, this woman exuded a vibrant energy, like a bright wildflower in a meadow.
“…You can’t, big sis.”
Xiaolin sighed deeply as she looked at the woman fidgeting restlessly, as if she wanted to dash out at any moment.
Xiaolan.
Xiaolin’s older sister and the fourth-ranked among Deneb’s twelve Apostles.
Their ranks were only one step apart, but a crucial gap existed between Xiaolin and Xiaolan.
“You’re a 9-Star, big sis.”
“You’ve beaten a 9-Star before, haven’t you?”
“That was only possible because they weren’t an Awakened of the North Star.”
A high-ranking Awakened of the North Star.
The weight carried by that title was incomparable to other constellations.
“Well, it seems like it’ll be the same whether you go or I go.”
“Still.”
Even if they were to endure the other Constellations’ criticism, sending Xiaolan out would be crossing a line.
“Ugh! I want to go out and fight too!”
Xiaolan stomped her feet in frustration.
Xiaolin looked at her immature sister and pressed a hand to her forehead as if she had a headache.
“Why do you want to go out so badly?”
“Because I want to smack that arrogant bastard right in the face!”
Xiaolan glared sharply at Oh-jin, who had openly made remarks belittling Deneb’s Apostles.
Xiaolin gently grabbed her shoulder to stop her and stepped forward.
“I’ll do that for you, so you just stay put, big sis.”
“Ugh.”
“Anyway, is it alright if I go, Lady Deneb?”
Deneb looked at Xiaolin with a thoughtful expression before finally sighing and nodding.
“Alright.”
Since this was the last chance, it was right to send out someone who could secure a definite victory.
Xiaolin nodded lightly and stepped gracefully onto the railing.
She soared elegantly, like a swan taking flight, and landed in the arena.
[The next opponent is… huh? The… the Snow White Flower?]
Spica blinked, a look of surprise on her face as she watched Xiaolin descend into the arena.
“Hmm.”
“Even so, sending out Xiaolin is a bit…”
“It seems Lady Deneb really didn’t want to lose.”
“Tsk, if they were going to do this, they shouldn’t have held a proxy war in the first place.”
The Constellations’ reactions were just as cold.
No matter how unexpectedly the Lightning Wolf had overwhelmed Deneb’s Apostles, to suddenly send out the fifth-ranked?
It was like a national team contender suddenly crashing a youth representative selection tournament.
[Hmm. An unexpectedly strong contender has appeared! The next Awakened from Lady Deneb’s side is the Snow White Flower, Xiaolin! She’s famous for having defeated a 9-Star Awakened!]
The Constellations didn’t even clap, looking down at the arena with bored expressions.
Their eyes seemed to ask if there was any point in even having this match.
Xiaolin ignored the Constellations’ gazes and approached Oh-jin.
“I’ve witnessed your prowess. Please grant me a match.”
She bowed politely and placed her hand on the sword at her waist.
Oh-jin activated the Stigma of Canes Venatici and observed her energy.
‘They really went all out sending her.’
The energy emanating from her was so dense and deep that it made him doubt if she and Ivan, the opponent he just faced, were truly of the same Star-rank.
A shiver ran down his spine.
His heart, which had been calm until now, began to pound and throb.
‘It’s been a while since I’ve felt this.’
A tension that felt like it was drying his lips.
The back of his head grew hot, and his consciousness felt as if it were floating, as if on drugs.
The thrilling sensation he only felt when facing a true ‘powerhouse’ made Oh-jin’s body tremble.
“Good. This is how it should be.”
Oh-jin smiled brightly and readjusted his grip on his spear.
A tension he hadn’t felt at all when facing Liu Hao and Ivan.
He was a man who had even tasted death dozens of times at the hands of Riak just to feel this suffocating tension.
There was no way he wouldn’t enjoy this situation.
“I felt it when you were fighting Ivan, but you seem to be someone who doesn’t feel fear.”
“What are you saying to a perfectly normal person?”
Doesn’t feel fear?
“My heart feels like it’s about to explode right now.”
“…Then how can you smile like that?”
Xiaolin looked at Oh-jin, unable to understand.
“Because you can just endure being scared.”
“Pardon?”
“Anything that can be solved by enduring it…”
…is nothing.
-*Kwoooaaang!!*
He kicked off the ground and dashed forward.
*Crackle!*
Lightning blazed along his footprints, as if drawing a line on the floor.
Oh-jin, who was running toward Xiaolin, lightly stepped on the air.
“Hup!”
He twisted his body in mid-air and brought his spear down.
Not a two-dimensional attack, but a three-dimensional one brought down using his lightning steps.
The spear came down toward the crown of Xiaolin’s head, like a general on horseback striking down with his spear.
“At the very least, I think you’re wrong about being a ‘perfectly normal person’.”
Xiaolin calmly looked up at the spear strike aimed for her head and drew the sword from her waist.
*Whoooosh!*
The moment she drew her sword, a dreadful chill swirled around, as if one had stepped outside in the dead of winter in nothing but their underwear.
-*Clang!*
There was no deafening roar, no earth-shattering impact.
With a clear sound like the ringing of a bell, the spear that had been aimed for her head was violently deflected.
“Keuk!”
A terrifying chill traveled up the spear’s shaft.
Despite clashing only once, the entire spear turned white, as if covered in frost.
“Even if you can utilize space three-dimensionally.”
Xiaolin slowly swung the sword she had drawn.
The sword strike moved slowly, as if she were using the Stigma of Horologium.
Following the elegant sword strike, like the flap of a swan’s wing, a white energy embroidered the air.
“In the end, as long as the point of attack is fixed, it’s not very meaningful.”
Just as she said.
Whether he could freely step on air or fly around.
The final destination of his attack was her body.
If she could just catch where the tip of Oh-jin’s spear was ultimately headed, blocking it wouldn’t be difficult.
And on top of that.
“It will become even simpler if your body freezes up.”
*Whoooosh!*
A cold wind raged, as if they were standing on a snowy mountain peak.
Following the white energy that embroidered the air, a dizzying chill spread like poison.
“Haa, haa.”
White breaths escaped his mouth.
The frost that had covered the spear had now enveloped Oh-jin’s entire body.
His movements were clearly slower.
Just taking a single step sent a pain through his entire body, as if he were being pierced by needles.
[Ah! Awakened Kwon Oh-jin’s body is completely covered in ice! Is it impossible for him to show the same prowess as before?!]
Spica shouted in an even more excited voice, as if trying to heat up the chilled atmosphere.
Perhaps her efforts paid off, as the Constellations who had been shaking their heads with cold expressions before the match began to focus on it little by little.
“Hoo.”
Oh-jin breathed out a white cloud and placed his hand over his left chest.
*Fwoosh! Fwoosh!*
Blue flames ignited on his palm.
He spread the Lightning Flame, which he had only ever coated his weapon with, across his entire body.
The blue flames enveloped his whole body as if burning it, melting the frost that had settled on his skin.
“Indeed. It seems you won’t go down so easily.”
Xiaolin nodded with cold eyes and gripped her sword.
From the start, she never thought she could defeat him easily with a single attack.
If he were an opponent she could defeat easily, Liu Hao and Ivan wouldn’t have been taken down so futilely.
“But even so, the outcome will not change.”
Xiaolin kicked off the ground lightly, sword in hand.
Her martial arts uniform fluttered as her form moved as if gliding.
A fluid sword strike was swung toward Oh-jin.
-*Klang! Kagagak!*
He raised his spear to block the sword strike.
Each time he blocked, a biting chill traveled up his spear.
‘I can’t last long like this.’
As the exchange of blows continued, the sensation in his hands was gradually going numb.
‘In that case.’
Oh-jin’s eyes gleamed sharply.
In the midst of enduring the raging chill and sword strikes.
‘Now!’
Oh-jin pulled his spear straight back.
A sword strike swung toward the opening, as if it had been waiting for it.
He extended his left arm and took the blow.
The gauntlet on his left arm absorbed the stigma’s mana imbued in her sword.
The gauntlet instantly heated up, glowing red.
Oh-jin aimed the gauntlet on his left arm toward Xiaolin.
-*Kwoooaaang!*
The absorbed stigma mana exploded from the red-hot gauntlet, aimed at Xiaolin.
“Hmph.”
Xiaolin’s fine eyebrows furrowed slightly as she moved back to avoid the explosion.
Oh-jin quickly closed the distance on her as she slid back, thrusting the spear he had pulled back in a straight line.
‘Changnoe.’
*Bzzzzzzzt!*
The blue lightning spread out wide in a fan shape, aiming for Xiaolin.
“It’s useless.”
Xiaolin said coldly, swinging her sword as if drawing a line on the floor.
*Crack!*
A massive ice wall formed along the path of her sword strike, soaring high into the air.
The blue lightning that had been pouring down like a tidal wave was deflected by the ice wall and scattered.
At that moment, the ice wall exploded, and sharp shards of ice rained down on Oh-jin.
“Dammit!”
Oh-jin stumbled backward, a look of great alarm on his face.
Xiaolin charged toward Oh-jin, as if determined not to miss this chance.
Her sword drew a fluid line through the chaotically scattering ice shards.
-*Stab!*
“Keoheok!”
Oh-jin’s stomach was pierced by Xiaolin’s sword.
He had barely avoided a vital spot, but the dizzying chill flowing from the embedded blade began to rapidly necrotize the flesh around the wound.
Oh-jin’s lips turned blue, and his legs trembled precariously.
Just as Oh-jin’s eyes glazed over, like someone lost in a vast snowy field, dying from the cold.
[Awakened Kwon Oh-jin is in danger! This is a crisis! At this rate, it looks like he’ll have trouble even moving his body!]
Spica shouted, her voice filled with excitement.
The Constellations watching the scene let out sighs and shook their heads.
Murmurs like ‘I guess there was no twist after all,’ and ‘Still, he’s proven his skills well enough’ flowed among the Constellations.
“This is the end.”
Xiaolin murmured coldly as she infused mana into the sword piercing Oh-jin’s stomach.
[M-My child!]
As Vega’s urgent cry reached his ears.
“The end?”
The corners of Oh-jin’s pale blue lips curled into a smirk.
He roughly grabbed the sword embedded in his stomach.
The moment Xiaolin’s eyes widened and she tried to pull the sword out, Oh-jin instead pushed the blade deeper and grabbed her arm.
“Who says it’s the end?”
*Bzzzzzzzzzt!!*
Blue lightning flowed through the arm he had grabbed and into Xiaolin.
“Kyaahk!!”
A surprisingly girlish shriek burst from Xiaolin’s lips.