World Rank 1 vs. Yu Jaewoo
Yu Jaewoo grabbed Daniel's wrist.
A fight? Sure, he could do that. Wouldn't be the first time.
But as a man ten years deep into Seoul living—a man who loved the Han River—letting this place get wrecked was something he simply could not allow.
Kwaak—!
Daniel Jensen was hailed as the possessor of the strongest physical abilities in the world, yet his wrist might as well have been locked in a massive steel cuff. He couldn't pull it free.
An unimaginable grip strength.
[Titan's Strength Lv 37] gets overpowered? Seriously?
Even with golden mana shrouding his entire body, the violet aura radiating from Yu Jaewoo crushed down on him as if swallowing every scrap of radiance whole. Daniel's blue eyes narrowed and trembled.
"Woohoo! Tough guy, who are you?"
"I'm Korean. A slant-eyed one."
Yu Jaewoo released the wrist with a light flick, and Daniel staggered back a few steps. A vivid red handprint blazed across it.
Rotating his wrist, Daniel sized Yu Jaewoo up with an appraisal.
[Fire-Eyed Gold Gaze Lv 35]
Kiiiing—
With a flash of light and a metallic hum, a status window unfurled before him.
Hwaarrrr—!
"What the—f*ck!"
Yu Jaewoo's demonic fire, born of Holy Fire, burned the notification window itself to ash before Daniel's eyes could finish reading it.
Daniel gaped at the sight—something he had never once witnessed—while Yu Jaewoo radiated an ominous menace and drawled,
"Sneaking a peek and running your mouth, huh."
Saaaah—
Violet energy smoldered and spread, curling through the air. Daniel's instincts screamed at him.
This man is dangerous. Extremely so. And judging by his aura—I'm certain of it. He is evil, through and through!
"Dark guy. You come to rescue your underlings?"
"Underlings? Rescue? Me?"
Yu Jaewoo wore a look of pure incredulity, but Daniel pressed on with total conviction.
"You with [Orochi]? No... no way. Orochi's boss couldn't possibly be this strong. Then don't tell me—you're the 'Chairman' of New World?"
Yu Jaewoo listened and considered.
What the hell is this guy babbling about.
Instead of answering, he glanced down at White Snake sprawled on the ground. The man was already out cold, foam flecking his lips.
So the guy lying there is [Orochi]'s awakener? Then is this guy American police or something? His face does look familiar somewhere...
"Looks like there's some kind of misundersta—"
"Stop. Enough with the verbal recon."
Yu Jaewoo had tried to talk it out, but Daniel had no intention of listening.
Wuuuumg—!
Golden mana billowed like a storm. But just then—Yu Jaewoo spread his palm open.
"You stop. Don't smash the Han River—come inside."
No matter who the opponent was, Yu Jaewoo had no intention of avoiding a fight. Quite the opposite—he was hoping for one.
However.
Not here, though! This is a public space!
He summoned the [Steel Colosseum] he had taken off Jeokmyo and extended the invitation.
You have been invited to the Steel Colosseum.
Do you accept?
Daniel stared at Yu Jaewoo for a long moment.
Fighting someone that strong in the middle of a city is out of the question, obviously. The question is whether there's a dirty trick waiting on the inside.
He weighed it briefly, then reached his decision. He had skills and items he had never once revealed publicly—and the means to overcome any trap.
Not zero risk, but if that man really is the Chairman, I owe him an answer.
Daniel produced a small mirror and turned it toward White Snake and his lackeys. The men were swept into the tiny mirror like dust into a vortex, and Daniel stowed it away with a grin.
"Yes."
Ping—
In a guest room of the Grand Emperor Hotel Seoul sat the leader of China's finest climber team, [Team Ascension]—World Rank 3, Li Tian. She broke off her meditation and opened her eyes.
"Daniel. That lunatic is stirring up trouble again."
Not far from his room, in another suite, the leader of Japan's top climber team [Demon Blade]—World Rank 4, Kurogane Ren—picked up the thread.
"What is that sinister mana he's facing down?"
The two top-rank awakeners were equally bothered by the ominous aura clashing against Daniel. But neither wanted to get entangled in whatever Daniel was up to, so they held their ground, murmuring only to themselves.
Whoever you are, your luck just ran out. Your opponent is Daniel Jensen.
Daniel Jensen. Even among the world's top awakeners, he was a category unto himself—a strongman among strongmen.
Inside the Steel Colosseum, golden radiance and violet demonic energy collided in a whirling maelstrom.
Shwaaaaa—!
Daniel's mana was now several times stronger than it had been against White Snake, its pressure making the entire Colosseum tremble.
Kugugugu—
"This'll be different from a minute ago, tough guy."
Yu Jaewoo watched Daniel's power and let out a genuine gasp of admiration.
Hoh. So I wasn't the only one holding back to spare the Han River.
Of course, there was little time to be impressed. The seventy-two swords floating in midair had begun to vibrate violently, resonating with one another.
Floating Sword — Multi Deployment
At Daniel's gesture, dozens of swords rained down like a meteor shower.
Ssaaaaek—!
Each blade was an A-Class item on its own. Piled on top of that was S-Class mana—a graze alone carried enough force to flatten a building without breaking a sweat.
But Yu Jaewoo didn't dodge. He simply smiled.
"Myeolcheon Magong: Amagui—Dark Armament."
Black demonic energy rippled into being, and a translucent sphere wrapped around Yu Jaewoo in a protective shell.
Kang! Kang! Kagagang!
The deluge of swords ricocheted off in every direction. Sparks flew and thunder cracked through the arena, yet not even the collar of Yu Jaewoo's shirt stirred.
Seeing Yu Jaewoo's composure, Daniel ratcheted his mana up another notch.
"Your defense is impressive. But how about this?"
The deflected swords wheeled into an orbiting circle around him.
Sword Dancing Lv 39
Blades laden with golden aura came swirling down upon Yu Jaewoo from every angle.
Kwakwakwakwakwang—!
It was as if seventy-two swordsmen were launching a coordinated assault—attacks raining from front, back, left, and right, while above, the swords spun in a furious vortex.
"Let's punch through!"
At last, the golden storm of rotating blades came boring down like a drill.
Kugugugu—!
The Dark Armament shuddered hard, and Yu Jaewoo murmured, low and unhurried.
"Well now. You're actually pretty strong."
And yet—Yu Jaewoo was delighted by the situation.
How long has it been since I had an even fight? My opponents were always lacking. This is a treat.
Since training alongside the Heavenly Demon, he had yet to meet a true rival. The monsters of the Tower's lower floors went without saying, and even the average awakener couldn't ruffle a single hair on his head.
Not that fighting Master would even count as a game.
A little worked up now, Yu Jaewoo reached out into the empty air.
Sreureung—
His inventory space yawned open, and a sword of deep azure filled his hand. Faint stars seemed embedded in the blade itself, twinkling like a night sky—the Nebula Sword.
Sinister demonic energy poured into the Nebula Sword as Yu Jaewoo swept away the Dark Armament. Then, facing the golden sword-storm pouring in from all sides, he swung—a single blade against seventy-two, which by all rights should have been impossible.
"Myeolcheon Magong: Manhwagyeong—Kaleidoscope."
The blade traced a supple arc through the air, ferocious as a cascading waterfall yet delicate as a master artist's brushstroke. Like three mirrors catching and refracting light into infinity, the sleek sword-lines warped space itself and fanned out toward all eight directions.
Kakakakakakakakakang—!
Sword met sword, and sparks erupted—a display that looked for all the world like fireworks on a midsummer night.
Chang chang chang chang chang chang chang chang chang—!
The flashes of steel continued without pause, weaving a strange sculpture of light. Had a painter of the murim world witnessed it, inspiration would have seized the brush from his hand. Had a musician seen it, he would have composed a lilting melody to resound across the world.
Daniel watched Yu Jaewoo's swordsmanship and could not contain his shock.
"There's no way swordsmanship that refined can actually exist."
An absurd art that warped space while parrying attacks from every direction at once—a level of artistry Daniel had never even imagined, let alone attempted. As a Weapon Master who had lived his whole life by the blade, he felt goosebumps race across his entire body. He was falling, little by little, under the spell of Yu Jaewoo's sword.
Then—Yu Jaewoo kicked off the ground and brought his blade down at Daniel.
Ssaaaek—!
The Nebula Sword came screaming for Daniel's throat. He hastily pulled the Golden Lion Sword from his inventory and blocked the strike.
Kaang! Kagagak—!
Blade ground against blade in a contest of raw strength, and jolting shocks numbed their hands. Then the two of them truly began to dance.
Chang chang chang chang chang chang—!
Their battle swept across every corner of the Colosseum, shockwaves of parting air booming from all directions—crackling on the left, then erupting on the right; roaring from the heavens, then plunging into the earth—until the two collided head-on with tremendous force.
——Jjeong—!
They broke apart, widening the distance. And then—Daniel released his Floating Swords, while Yu Jaewoo unsealed the sword spirits of the Nebula Sword.
"Let's see what a ten-billion-won blade can do."
Item skill: [Sword Spirit — Nebula Unleashing].
In that instant, a universe opened behind Yu Jaewoo's back.
Kwaaaaa—!
The Heavenly Demon energy stored within the Nebula Sword burst free, and particles of azure light came flooding out. The light took shape with startling speed—one, two, ten, a hundred... five hundred.
Five hundred Nebula Swords filled the Colosseum's sky, a spectacle like the Milky Way strewn across a night heavens.
"Ha—haha. Oh my god."
Daniel was aghast, and then he burst out laughing—incredulity pushing out through the shock.
He knew the Nebula Sword. He knew its sword spirit, Nebula Unleashing. Its output scaled with the purity of one's mana, and the official record stood at fifty blades.
And this? Five hundred? Ten times the record?
No way. Is the Chairman an 'Apostle'? Wait—hold on, is this guy even the Chairman in the first place?
Naturally, there was no time to think. Yu Jaewoo leveled the Nebula Sword at Daniel—and mimicked, almost mockingly, Daniel's own Sword Dancing.
Ikigyeogeom—wielding the blade with qi alone. Seongunnakhwa—Nebula Fall.
"Go."
Ssaaaaaek—!
Meteors poured from the Colosseum's night sky, where only the Big Dipper still burned bright. Five hundred Nebula Swords traced sleek trajectories and charged as one.
Daniel hastily cut off his attack, recalled all seventy-two swords, and threw everything into defense. It wasn't nearly enough.
Chang! Kagagang! Kwajik!
Daniel's swords shrieked. The crushing Heavenly Demon energy packed into each Nebula Sword tore through Daniel's golden aura like so much tissue paper.
Superior numbers. Superior quality. Overwhelming on every front.
Daniel's swords snapped, or were flung away and hammered into the ground.
Three seconds. That was all it took for the pride of the World Rank 1—his Floating Swords—to be neutralized.
Daniel reeled. But it wasn't over. The swords carpeting the heavens now came pouring down toward Daniel himself.
Ssaaaaaek!
Daniel yanked his trump card out of the inventory.
"Thunder of Mjölnir!"
Kwareureureung—!
Countless bolts of lightning fell at once, and the deluge of lightning struck down the falling swords, halting them mid-descent.
But Daniel knew this was merely a stall for time. And so he unleashed skills he would never touch outside of a Tower climb.
Fortress of Heaven Lv 48
Sinew of Heracles Lv 48
Blazing Radiance Lv 48
Peerless Berserker Lv 48
To use these skills meant one thing only: acknowledging your opponent as your equal.
One of the world's foremost powerhouses was showing Yu Jaewoo his true hand.
Mana beyond any comparison to before erupted from Daniel's body.
Kwaaaaaang—!
Golden radiance enveloped him from head to toe, thunder rolled across the entirety of the Colosseum, and the ground shook as if an earthquake had struck. A golden-haired, golden-eyed berserker—a figure worthy of the heroes of myth.
Daniel gripped the Golden Lion Sword, and dazzling radiance flooded into the blade.
Shiiiiik—!
The aura extending from Daniel's sword became a pillar bridging heaven and earth.
"Cheongongcham—Sky-Sundering Slash—"
Jjeo—eng!
The line of extending aura split the Colosseum's firmament in two. The Nebula Swords were torn apart in all directions, the arena's night sky gaped wide open, and the radiance bloomed outward like an aurora.
Yu Jaewoo was genuinely impressed by Daniel's skill.
I didn't expect him to be this good.
And precisely because of it—his fighting spirit came to a boil.
Daniel swung his sword through the air, gathering the aurora of radiance into a ring. His second attack.
"Radiant Retrograde—the Reverse Light."
Of course, Yu Jaewoo had no intention of simply taking it.
"Myeolcheon Magong: Cheonjimyeollyun—Heaven-and-Earth Annihilating Wheel."
He drew the blade to his hip and gathered Heavenly Demon energy at its tip, setting it spinning. An ocean of energy rotated without end until a wheel of annihilation—destined to destroy heaven and earth—was forged.
Ssaaaaek—!
Yu Jaewoo and Daniel fired their swords at the same instant, and Radiant Retrograde collided with Heaven-and-Earth Annihilating Wheel.
——Kwareureureung—!
A clash of forces powerful enough to flip heaven and earth upside down. And that power was so immense that it dealt a grave, splintering fracture to the sub-space of the Steel Colosseum—an arena that had never once, in all its existence, been broken.
Jjejeok—jjejeok—!