1st Round
1st Round
Midnight.
Under the dark veil of night, Gwanak-gu blazed with brilliant lights, just as it once had.
An arena built from gathered hopes.
The place was packed with countless people, seething with fervent heat.
Like a sacred flame burning atop a spire.
"Those who have proven your worth! Lift your heads! Gaze up at the nebulae! Your final trial awaits! Reach up and pull down the stars risen high, and show us your resolve!"
Unlike last time, Gladiator, draped in coarse celestial robes, shouted.
Perhaps this was the persona I had glimpsed before—her words and bearing held an undeniable grace and dignity.
"Now, I shall reveal the tournament bracket for today!"
The moment her words ended, a screen flickered to life upon the massive body of the sky-borne cutlassfish.
A bracket divided into ten teams in total.
And there, boldly listed, was our team name.
"The more I look at it, the more embarrassing the name is."
Night Flower Families.
We had toned it down a little, but it was still painfully obvious what 'night flower' was a euphemism for, so it drew awkward glances from everyone around us.
"Couldn't we have just gone with something normal?"
Kim Ha-yoon grumbled in a somewhat sulky tone.
Her expression was as impassive as ever, but her eyes were ever so slightly narrowed.
"I like it. Anything my husband does is fine by me."
"Eokbba, prohibited."
"Uh, eokbba? What on earth is that an abbreviation for?"
"Forced praise. I'm telling you not to do it."
"Ha-yoon... I've never performed such an embarrassing act here, have I? Even I have standards. And please, save such words for when we're alone. It undermines our dignity, doesn't it?"
"......"
When Angelica defended me, Kim Ha-yoon immediately rebuked her, but regrettably, their conversation didn't connect.
Angelica had taken the warning not to defend me with forced praise and somehow interpreted it as something risqué. She then, with an innocent face, scolded Ha-yoon instead.
A preposterous skit.
As I stood there with a wry smile, Kim Ha-yoon tugged at my sleeve with a look of chagrin.
"Isn't she around the same age as you?"
"She is."
"Then why is it so hard to get through to her?"
"Please be considerate. She's always had a unique personality."
At that, Kim Ha-yoon nodded reluctantly.
Perhaps because she sensed no malice in Angelica's puzzled head-tilt, Kim Ha-yoon seemed to convince herself and said to Angelica, "Alright, I'll be more careful."
"Oh! The team we're facing isn't bad at all. It should be an easy victory."
Just then, Mirkella, who had been studying the bracket, exclaimed with a bright face.
Admittedly, our opponent was the type we could beat without much trouble.
They were faces I didn't recognize, but they were fighters from this place, not outsiders from another district.
Frankly speaking, those who called themselves fighters here tended to have high base physical stats, but it was rare to find one with a powerful supernatural ability that could act as a real variable.
From what I'd gathered so far, this 'trait' thing... it seemed random, but it was surprisingly influenced by one's environment.
In the early days when the apocalypse first broke out, such distinctions might not have existed, but as time passed, each region's character solidified, and the moment you were swept into that current, you underwent a locust-swarm-like evolution into something similar.
Take Gangdong-gu at the start.
Those bastards were all oddly related to speed.
As if being fast was the ultimate power.
And Songpa-gu... that place was divided by faction.
The older sister types were about simple, brute strength. The soldiers under Angelica's former command had crowd-control skills. The thugs were tied to the earth.
Seocho-gu, true to its pseudo-religion label, was mostly faith-oriented.
So it seemed that the natives of this Gwanak-gu had also manifested body-enhancing traits for some reason.
'Day by day, some kind of system is being built.'
I didn't know what the ultimate goal was, but as time passed, colors were being painted naturally according to inclination.
At this rate, the 'server wars' those gallery guys kept talking about might actually happen someday.
"It would be different if it were a solo match, but this time it's a team battle. They're likely specialized almost entirely in hand-to-hand combat, so we, who have many crowd-control skills, will be at an advantage. Unless they're from outside, we can't possibly lose to these so-called fighters."
Mirkella confidently guaranteed victory.
The problem was that this was the participants' waiting room.
Naturally, the place was full of these 'fighter' types, and it was only natural that sharp glares were shot our way.
"Hey, did you really have to provoke them?"
"Huh? Ah... I-I'm sorry. It's true, but I meant no offense! Everyone, it was only my personal opinion, so I hope you'll kindly let it slide...!"
Only then did Mirkella notice the stares of the people around her. She bowed repeatedly, offering a belated apology.
But did this woman not realize? That sort of attitude only made people angrier.
She was still a clueless woman.
"Hoh, a bold provocation."
At that moment, some vaguely familiar faces suddenly approached us.
The sight of them—a pair of axes, a curved sword, and a hammer slung across their backs—felt as though I'd encountered them somewhere before.
"Hm...? Who?"
"Who, you say! Hey, mister. Have you already forgotten us?"
When I tilted my head, the man standing in the center of the group widened his eyes as if dumbfounded.
"Choi Young-ok! I'm the fighter who challenged you lot to a duel!"
"Huh? Ah... Aah!"
Only then did I remember them.
The grimy three brothers I'd met right after arriving in Gwanak-gu, following the old man.
Come to think of it, I had made a deal with these fellows.
"Wow, you survived pretty well. I hadn't heard from you, so I figured you'd kicked the bucket for sure."
"We're stronger than we look. And we have no intention of breaking our word."
The man with the curved sword on his back, Choi Young-ok, pounded his chest and went on.
"If we end up facing your party in a duel, we'll bow out quietly. So, what do you think? Would you consider the debt repaid?"
"Oh. Good. That's more than enough."
"Kehahah! Still as refreshingly straightforward as ever, mister! Alright, I wish you the best of luck."
He let out a hearty laugh, clapped me on the back a couple of times, then turned around and returned to his spot.
The promise that they would forfeit immediately upon meeting us—there was no downside for me at all.
An unexpected connection had turned out to be helpful.
"Wasn't it a wise choice to let them live?"
The old man, who had been keeping quiet, spoke first for once, preening.
As if to say, hadn't everything gone exactly as he'd said it would?
"It certainly was. You never know how things will turn out in this world."
"Hmph. In that case, two teams will get a free pass for now."
Angelica looked at Choi Young-ok's group, then shifted her gaze and stared quietly at the mother-daughter pair, Park Soo-jin and Kim So-jin.
I had already given Park Soo-jin a heads-up beforehand: if they got matched with us, they were to put up a decent fight and then surrender.
It was a judgment call made out of concern that too obvious a throw would provoke backlash.
Kim Ha-yoon had a skeptical reaction.
"But will they really do as we say?"
"I've placed the suggestion, so I think they will."
I said that, but inside, I was half-doubtful, half-hopeful.
As I'd said many times before, this power called 'enslavement' wasn't an unconditional compulsion.
If they held no desire to harm me, or if they could deceive themselves, they could certainly resist my will.
In short, if they could deceive even themselves, hostility was theoretically possible.
I didn't think Park Soo-jin possessed that level of mental fortitude, but when people become extremely desperate, they can accomplish the impossible.
So I shouldn't let my guard down too much.
[Good. Since the time has come, I shall now call out the names. The warriors who will be the first to seize the glory are... Hm? How remarkably bold.]
It was around then.
As we were chatting softly among ourselves, Gladiator's figure reappeared on the massive screen floating in the sky.
She let out a light, amused laugh at something, then continued.
[Night Flower. Night Flower Families. I don't know your intent in naming it so, but for outsiders, you show a fair bit of wit. Well, there's no need to be so serious all the time. A little pleasantry is sometimes necessary.]
Our team name was revealed before everyone.
Kim Ha-yoon let out a short sigh and covered her face with her palm, while Angelica, utterly unbothered, stretched nonchalantly.
"The time has finally arrived."
Mirkella exhaled sharply through her nose, as if this was the only thing she'd been waiting for.
The old man simply, quietly, stroked the greatsword strapped to his back.
[Their opponent shall be Blood and Skull. A name that hints at their aspirations. Indeed, on a festival day, blood and skulls are elements that cannot be omitted. Let us look forward to seeing what magnificent burning embers they shall show us.]
Gladiator on the screen raised her arms high, a refreshing smile gracing her lips.
[Now, courageous ones. Step forward and raise your honor high!]
Alright, let's go.
It's time for a one-sided slaughter.
*
When the apocalypse arrived, everyone despaired.
Brutal death.
An expression unfamiliar to modern people.
It is an unavoidable fate granted to all living things, but a brutal death drenched in fresh blood was utterly alien and terrifying to those who had enjoyed the benefits of civilization.
People died like bugs.
Their flesh was torn apart by the onrushing monsters, and the reanimated corpses of their comrades lunged at yet more people.
Everywhere, the same screams echoed.
Earnest cries begging for life, pained appeals, shrieks for lost loved ones... all of it merged into a chaotic melody.
And, in that moment of despair.
— 'How sweet. Blood and flesh, pain and lamentation, terror and sorrow... every last one is unspeakably ugly, yet the sparks that bloom from within them feel incomparably warm to me.'
In the midst of the raging chaos, a red-haired woman suddenly appeared.
Dressed in a half-naked, provocative manner, she strode forward boldly.
Calmly, with unhurried steps.
At the same time, wave after wave of corpses surged toward her.
Astonishingly, the crimson woman cleaved through all of it with a single stroke.
-Fwaaaaaah!!!
The sight was like the parting of the Red Sea.
A miracle.
She had caused a miracle right then and there.
'Aah.....'
We could do nothing but stare at her blankly.
Terror, despair, sorrow, pain... all negative emotions vanished completely, washed away like a receding tide the moment we witnessed an unbelievable miracle.
— 'Are you afraid?'
The unknown woman turned to look at us and asked.
No one could answer.
Because what had taken its place in our exposed hearts was awe.
We simply stared, and stared intently.
— 'How pitiful. This is nothing more than child's play, yet you cower in fear like this.'
— 'But it is fine. You may fear. You may grieve. You may cry. In return, shout ceaselessly. Holding all those emotions within you, stand straight on your two feet and move forward. Only those with courage shall earn the right to seize everything.'
— 'And still, if your feet refuse to move....'
A smirk.
She smiled breezily.
Then, she clenched her fist tight and raised it high to the sky.
— 'Look at me! Follow my back! I shall open the path! You need only follow in my footsteps and shout at the top of your lungs! Raise them high, the blazing embers!!'
She ran without hesitation into the onrushing wave of corpses once more.
Her red hair, as if holding roses within, shone even more passionately under the sunlight.
We simply followed that warm flame like moths.
Ahh, Gladiator.
Our savior.
Our seeker.
Our light and salt.
'I have not forgotten the oath of that day.'
The moment we raised our embers, death held no terror.
Indeed, the cold touch of steel ripping through our guts was something we simply welcomed.
Where the embers blazed, they left behind ashes.
And from those ashes, new kindling shall descend and ignite anew.
"Whoa, these crazy bastards. They're smiling as they die?"
"This is unexpected. I would have preferred them to suffer a bit more, personally."
O Mother of Birth and Extinction.
Grant us your warm flame once more.
"Huh? Hey! Angelica! Get back! This bastard's suddenly burning!"
"Hmmmm...? What's this now??"
These wretched ashes offer Blood and Skull unto you.