Chapter 36  

Greg just could not understand how a Skeleton could handle this level of mana. Even Greg himself, who thought he got eliminated in the preliminary round because of bad luck, was finding this situation very uncomfortable.

"How pathetic," May muttered, looking down on them all.

May could not believe how these people would decide to pick up a fight if they were going to lose their fighting spirit so easily.

"Is it my turn now?" Warrie walked toward Greg with the sword on his shoulder.

"If you want to survive, you better answer our questions sincerely,” Warrie warned them.

"Keugh..."

"Do not try to run away, and you'll have to think carefully. If you hesitate for a moment and answer late, I'll cut your throat right away," Warrie said.

* * *

- Now, it’s time for the round of 32! It’s already been a week since the round of 64 ended. We had a hard time preparing for the next rounds. Hahaha! There are numerous strong contestants in the round of 32...

More spectators came to watch the game than before. And equally many people were gambling with their points, predicting the winners and losers of the game.

"Here you go! It’s 3,000 points."

"Oh! It's you again. Are we betting on Tugot again?” The man in the gambling house asked.

"Of course! Tugot is the bes— ouch.” Warrie was interrupted by May.

"Be quiet," May muttered.

May pushed Warrie's head back, because he kept talking nonsense. May then received a slip.

"Why did the dividend decrease this time? The opponent is Bex, the dragon knight.”

"Hahaha, of course, because Tugot showed his potential last time. Moreover, the dragon knight cannot bring the dragon to Gret Ciel, so he will not be able to do his best. Tugot might find it easier to deal with him than Hoppen.”

"Hmm..."

May grabbed Warrie by the back and left the gambling house.

"Something is weird," May muttered.

"What do you mean?" Warrie asked.

"That guy, he seemed to want other guys to bet more on Tugot,” May explained.

"Isn't it because he thinks Tugot will lose?" Warrie asked again.

Warrie thought May was overthinking it.

‘Does he have any information about the dragon knight?’

May and Warrie joined the audience, and the round of 32 began.

Tugot was going to play in the ninth game, and so until then, the two of them decided to watch the game to see how skilled the other contestants were.

"Ugh, that guy. How did he make it to the finals?"

"If you’re so great, then why didn’t you join?"

"Why would I participate? There are monsters there. If I can’t get first place, it's better not to do it."

"Well, it’s good that you know your place.”

"What did you say? Do you want to fight me?"

* * *

- Finally, we will be having the ninth game of the round of 32! It's already halfway through and it's already the ninth game! In this round, we have Bex the dragon knight versus the lucky swordsman, Tugot! Everyone is paying attention and wondering if he will be lucky against Bex again!

Tugot and Bex came up onto the field with cheers from the audience that filled the stadium.

"A lucky swordsman? That's funny," Bex laughed at Tugot.

"What's so funny?" Tugot asked.

"Don't mess with me, because it won't work for me," Bex replied, pointing his spear at Tugot.

- The tension between Tugot and Bex is no joke! Who will be the winner? Let's get started!

Bex's spear swiveled brilliantly and rushed toward Tugot. The burning mana gathered at the tip of the spear. Tugot's sword barely managed to block the spear and Tugot tried to counterattack. However, Tugot's sword bounced off when it was hit by the swinging spear.

"Ahhh!" With a shout, Bex swung his spear as if he was going to cut Tugot in half.

The strong wind swirled as if it was going to crush Tugot, and Bex’s mana flame was heating up the air.

"Keugh!" Tugot gasped.

Tugot tried to block Bex’s spear with his sword, but with his clumsy and limited skills, Tugot failed to block it completely. Bex’s spear slightly brushed Tugot’s face. While the blood was dripping down his face, Tugot rotated his body at a strange angle and punched Bex's waist.

"You’re too obvious," Bex muttered.

As if Bex had forced this attack, Bex smirked. Tugot's fist had struck Bex exactly on the waist, but Bex had no reaction. It was as if Tugot had punched a solid rock.

"Wait, this is..." Tugot clenched his teeth, pulling out his throbbing fist.

It was a dragonian. It was a special ability of a dragon knight to possess the physical ability of a dragon. Tugot seemed nervous when he saw Bex’s spear approach him, because he did not expect a man on the 10th floor to be able to use the skill.

"Goodbye, you fool," Bex muttered.

The very moment when the tip of Bex’s spear was about to touch Tugot’s neck along with the rippling mana power, Bex could sense something was going wrong.

‘What’s going on?’

In that brief moment, everything felt like it was slow motion to Bex, like he was watching a slow video. Tugot did not seem nervous at all, even though he was about to die. It seemed like Tugot did not think he was going to die. When Bex saw Tugot's calmness, Bex realized at that moment that something was going wrong.

"Keugh!"

Swoosh—

"Keu...ugh…"

The sword that was struck at a strange angle touched Bex’s neck before Bex's spear touched Tugot’s. Bex kneeled on the floor with his neck pierced by Tugot's sword and looked blankly at Tugot. Bex did not even know what was going on in this situation.

"Oh no? You were trying to mess with me, but you could not even try it properly," Tugot laughed at him.

"You assh..." Bex could not continue his speech due to the blood that was coming up.

The next moment, Bex collapsed on the floor.

Whoaaa—!

Wow—!

There was a loud cheer for Tugot. One by one, there became fans for Tugot, who created unexpected twists in such a fierce battle.

- What's going on here? Tugot! Tugot did it again!

"Wait, how is this possible? Wasn't Bex about to slash Tugot?”

"What is happening?”

"Why did Bex collapse and not Tugot?”

The audience was puzzled about the outcome of the game. There was no way that the audience could understand the situation when even Bex did not.

"Ah, he is so mean. Isn’t he playing too harsh on the kids?”

"Well, it’s their fault that they are weak.”

Again, May and Warrie collected 13 times the points they bet on Tugot.

"You guys are making quite a profit this time,” said the broker at the gambling house.

"Here you go.” May handed back all the points he had received.

"What's this?" the broker asked.

"Is this enough to get the information on the guys who infiltrated here?"

The broker’s face turned white. May thought that the informant at the Gret Ciel was this information broker.

"I have no idea what you are talking about,” the broker replied.

"Then, how about this?" May offered more points.

[80,000p]

The broker stiffened when May offered an enormous amount of points.

"... You're quick-witted," the broker said.

"People say I’m smart," May replied.

"... Take it." The broker handed them a sheet of paper.

May and Warrie hid the paper in their arms, and left the gambling house.

* * *

Thud— Thud— Thud— Thud—?

The place was filled with the footsteps of countless people. The unidentified men in robes gathered around Tugot, who was training with his sword outside of Gret Ciel.

"What's going on?" Tugot's calm voice provoked the men in robes who were surrounding him.

"He got something just as we had expected.” An old man, who stepped forward among the men in robes, looked at Tugot sharply, as if he was examining Tugot for his identity.

Tugot had poor swordsmanship and limited ability. He was a swordsman who reached the round of 16 purely because of repeated luck.

‘If your identity is uncertain, I will erase you.’

Just as the old man was observing Tugot, Tugot was doing the same thing on them.

‘They came just as I expected.’

The group was a secret organization on the tenth floor. When he tried to proceed to the round of 16 after finishing the round of 32 in his past life, these people had appeared in front of him before.

"Aren't you afraid? All of these people are here to catch you,” the old man said.

"What's scary about having hundreds of puppets?" Tugot asked.

"Haha... You have great confidence.” The old man laughed at Tugot.

Boom!

When the old man's cane hit the ground, his mana tied Tugot up.

"Tell me, what are you?" the old man asked.

"I’ll ask you first. Who are you guys?" Tugot asked.

Swoosh—

All of a sudden, the black mana covered the entire space. The old man’s mana power that had tied up Tugot was released and dismissed in an instant.

"Is this b-b-b-black mana…?” The old man looked panicky.

Tuk— Tu-tu-tuk— Tuk—

At the same time, there were thin bones popping out of the ground.

Keuaaahhh—

The strange screams coming from the ground started to fill the whole place. "You…?keugh, how dare you…" Even before anyone noticed, a black chain appeared and choked the old man.

The old man could not resist at all.

"Didn’t you say you were great in number?" Tugot asked.

Ziiiiing—

Black mana hit the air and created a large portal in the shape of an oval.

"Kreugh..."

Dozens of undeads walked out of the portal. Among the undeads, which exuded black energy, there was a particularly large Skeleton that was roaring.

Keuraaak—!

It was a monster that was 5 meters tall. His hideous figure was in full display.

"Is that an O-o-ogre…?”

"Damn it! Tugot was a necromancer!”

"Oh man… How many… .do we have…?”

"It's a monster... There’s no way…”

Malice was all over the place. And the eagerness to kill filled the entire space.

The old man had a completely different expression than when he first came. The old man was staring directly at Tugot.

"You are… no way… Are you He Who Knows Death?” the old man asked.

"I really don’t want to hear that cheesy title anymore," Tugot replied.

"Why though… Why did you hide your identity?" the old man asked.

"Because I wanted you to approach me like this,” Tugot explained.

Lee Shin, who was disguised as Tugot, released the hidden mana he had.

"Oh my..." The old man gasped.

"Now let's talk again. Tell me who you are.” Lee Shin’s black mana pressed the old man.

* * *

[You have advanced to the round of 16. You can give up and go up to the next floor. Will you give up?]

"No," Lee Shin replied.

[You will challenge the round of 16. The higher you rank, the more achievements you will gain.]

It was the same phrase that Lee Shin had seen in his last life.

"Hmmm… So it’s a black star..." Lee Shin muttered.

There was a soul hovering around Lee Shin. It was Xenon, a Dark Wizard who now became a demon because he was filled with resentment. Although the old man did not talk about his organization until the end, Lee Shin did not have to borrow the mouth of a living person.

"So they are going after Martyr?" Lee Shin asked the demons.

A demon, which looked like a lump of red fog, floated near Lee Shin. Lee Shin pressured Xenon with his ability to communicate with demons and his Dominance stat that was now considerably high. The hostility and malice of this demon were now weighed down, and its fear came to the surface.

"Hmmm… A life-giving sword," Lee Shin muttered.

It was ridiculous that this type of sword could be gotten on the 10th floor. This sword was capable of saving the dead. There would be limitations, but even so, it was something one could only covet. Moreover, it was a sword with the power that could perfectly oppose the Dark Wizards who lived close to death.

Lee Shin could understand why they wanted to win this tournament so desperately.

"Master!" May and Warrie came to Lee Shin and handed him a piece of paper.

"We have found their location, as well as their future plans," said May and Warrie.

"Great job. Do whatever you want with the rest of the points," Lee Shin said.

"Alright, sir," they replied.

After May and Warrie had left, Lee Shin was lost in his thoughts. The tenth floor was more important than any of the previous floors. Until the round of 32, Lee Shin had pretended to be a swordsman by deceiving his enemies with his overwhelming abilities and mana control. However, Lee Shin was slowly reaching his limit. Recalling his earlier conversation, Bex the dragon knight had to have noticed something was up with Lee Shin.

Lee Shin had already earned enough points at the gambling house anyway. In addition, since the contact with the Dark Wizards sent from the Black Star had been lost, those from the Black Star would now doubt the identity of Tugot. Lee Shin did not have to carry this false identity now that he no longer needed to hide.

* * *

- We are finally starting the round of 16! Now only the strongest ones are left! Who will be the winner of Martyr?

Gret Ciel was heating up with excitement and thrill as they approached the round of 16. Tugot, one of the contestants who received enthusiastic cheers, climbed onto the field.

- The rising star of this competition, Tugot! And against him, the Flame Wizard, Damon!

Damon came up to the field as well. There was a look of arrogance and confidence in his eyes, on top of cautiousness. There was a reason for that.

"I don't know what kind of trick you are going to play, but none of that will work on me, Tugot,” Damon said.

"I'm tired of hearing the same thing," Tugot replied in an annoyed voice.

"Do you think it's the same? I'm different from those fakes you encountered earlier, because I’m the real deal,” Damon explained.

The Flame Wizard, Damon, was one of the contestants who was a hot favorite and expected to be the winner. There were several contestants who had melted because of his flames.

- There seems to be tension between the two! Will Tugot be able to show a miracle again? Or will Damon win this time without any surprises? Let the game begin!

"There will be no unexpected event. I will finish you with just one move!" Damon shouted.

A huge ball of flame formed in the sky. If that fell onto the stadium, Tugot would not only fail to block it, but the entire stadium would turn into ash.

"Yeah, of course. There won't be any unexpected events," Tugot replied.

Lee Shin scattered his mana all over the place. And the mana particles rapidly changed their properties.

"Huh? What’s this?" Damon looked surprised.

Lee Shin's mana clung to the flames that were gathered in the air. The air that was heated because of the flame began to cool down rapidly.

"Are you using mana? Ha! Where did you even learn mana? Are you trying to have a mana battle with me?" Damon shouted.

"A mana battle? With you?" There was a sneer on Tugot's face.

Damon frowned when he saw Tugot sneer at him. However, under the increasing pressure of Tugot’s mana, Damon had no choice but to realize that Tugot’s words were not a bluff.

Wooong—

A cool mist began to form over the flames. Then, the sphere of flame, which was gradually getting smaller, exploded in the air.

"Keughaa… Kue-ack!"

With the rebound, Damon’s mana blood burst. He collapsed, vomiting blood. The audience could not understand what was going on even while watching the game. It was a situation in which their cognition could not keep up with the scene unfolding before their eyes. However, it did not take long for the cold air that fell on the stadium at Gret Ciel to heat up again with the audience's enthusiasm.