After that, the tournament continued with unstoppable momentum.
"Ku-urk."
"Winner! Evan!"
Since the preliminaries served as a sieve to separate the skilled from the unskilled, there were fewer fierce battles than I'd expected.
As for those who'd fought fiercely... their bracket luck was just bad.
It was advantageous to preserve as much strength as possible; if you fought fiercely in the previous match, you'd start the next one at a disadvantage.
Condition management, luck—they were all factors directly tied to victory or defeat.
Luckily, my bracket luck was quite good.
That was because my opponents were all Runner-level mercenaries.
I won them lightly and finished the preliminary matches.
"The final list of main tournament qualifiers has been announced, so please check it!"
The main tournament didn't proceed immediately after the preliminaries ended.
The main tournament was a day later.
"Here it is."
I confirmed my name on the list and left the arena.
Without ever realizing that a pair of blue eyes had been following my back.
"He's gone."
- Srrk.
Once Evan had completely left the arena,
a golden shadow quietly melted into the darkness.
***
The next day.
I found my way back to the arena.
Perhaps because many had been filtered out in the preliminaries, only eight people had qualified for the main tournament.
Three were Experts I'd seen during the preliminaries, and four were just users at elite soldier level.
The composition was exactly as expected.
'Let's see who my opponent is... oh...?'
Was it a day when things were going my way?
Lately everything had been resolving strangely, leaving me in a foul mood, but my bracket luck alone was truly godly.
My opponent was an ordinary user.
If I'd fought an Expert, there might have been a variable in the final match,
but at this rate, I felt I could win the championship safely enough.
I was the one to kick off the main tournament.
Well... of course.
"Winner, Evan!"
The fight ended in my victory before long.
True to being a user, unlike a Runner, he tried to stay calm and start with probing,
but this guy was too cautious for his own good.
"Keok."
The more you think, the slower your reactions are bound to get.
On top of that, the gap in skill was huge, so this fight had been mine from the start.
What can a human do against a natural disaster?
Unable to react to my speed, my opponent collapsed futilely in the end.
- Thud. Thud.
Before the referee, who'd confirmed my opponent was clearly knocked out, could even announce the result, I stepped down from the stage.
The opponent's expression I caught on my way down was colored with bewilderment and shock.
It was a basic psychological advantage.
After that... boring fights continued.
At least the matches between Experts were the most interesting.
Because starting from Expert, you can use techniques.
Of course, Experts had their own tiers, and those low-tier Experts didn't show anything worth watching,
but it was meaningful in that I could definitely get a feel for what techniques were.
'It had been swirling around in my head, but I couldn't grasp the thread.'
But now I felt like I was getting the hang of it.
Normally in this situation, I'd be itching to swing my sword according to my thoughts as quickly as possible,
'But it's not something to use on him.'
Still, I have to choose the right opponent to use it on.
That bastard wasn't it.
He was an Expert, but... from his outward bearing, it was painfully obvious—'Ah, this guy became an Expert riding his clan's coattails.'
To describe his appearance in relatable terms, he looked like a talking pig wearing armor that glistened golden like grease all over his body.
Anyone could tell he was the very picture of a rich noble family's spoiled son.
Using a technique on a bastard like that was something my pride couldn't allow.
"Begin!"
The moment the referee declared the start, without a second's hesitation, I rushed at the gilded pig.
Partly because I didn't want to be near that bastard for even a moment longer,
but as anyone could tell from his appearance, guys like him were usually weak in speed battles.
'As expected.'
Getting close to him was quite easy, just as I'd expected.
- Screech.
At the appropriate distance, I pushed off the arena with my left foot, slowing down and taking my stance.
However,
- Tap. Tap.
Contrary to plan, the attack couldn't continue.
- Hwoong. Kwa-kwa-kwang!!!!!
Because the bastard had read my intent and swung his sword where I would stop in advance.
'So that's how it was.'
From that single exchange, I could figure out what pattern that pig bastard had used to get this far.
'That crazy bastard.'
First, the swordsmanship he used was the Heavy Sword.
To put it simply, it was a sword that crudely overwhelmed with brute strength,
and strength naturally meant the amount of aura.
The more aura one had, the stronger the sword became—that was the Heavy Sword.
This sword couldn't have been more perfect for that pig.
The amount of elixirs he'd gorged on with his clan's money must be mountain-high; there was no way he'd lack aura.
Thanks to that, aura probably overflowed in him as much as the money piled up in his clan.
Now, the problem here.
As I said before, that golden pig was clearly weak in speed battles, so how did he react to my speed?
The answer, too, lay in aura.
That crazy bastard always scattered aura around himself, which served as a sort of radar.
This was exactly why I called him a crazy bastard.
A normal Expert wouldn't do such a crazy thing.
Why?
Because they lack aura.
Using scattered aura as a radar? Sure, that's great.
But does the aura spent there fall from the sky?
For a normal Expert, such an act was no different from throwing money into the sky.
It was a strategy only possible for that pig bastard, who truly had so much aura it was rotting away.
Moreover, the Heavy Sword drew and concentrated aura to one point, so my body was pulled toward the pig's sword, and his swings were much faster than expected—combining those two factors...
He was a trickier opponent than he looked.
'Whoever planned this really assembled one hell of a shitty strategy.'
I started racking my brain.
Honestly, if I used the technique I felt I was on the verge of grasping, I could probably force my way through all those petty tricks, but I felt like there was a way to win even without doing that.
Of course, I didn't stop moving while thinking.
There was no idiot who wouldn't attack a scarecrow standing still.
Just as my deliberation was stretching longer,
'Huh? Why didn't I think of this?'
A simple idea came to mind,
and I immediately put it into action.
- Tatatatat.
First, I quickly got behind him outside his radar.
Then, what if I let his radar catch me for a moment?
"Eeeek!"
That's right.
As expected, he reacted and turned around to impale me with his Heavy Sword.
- Tatatatat!!
Matching his movement, I got behind him once more.
"U-uh-uh?"
By the time the pig bastard realized, it was far too late.
Already off-balance, unable to overcome his own strength, he swung his precious Heavy Sword at empty air.
"Uuugh!!!"
He had swung so hard that the sword was embedded deep in the ground and wouldn't come out.
I cut down that gilded pig,
"Winner, Evan!"
Victory was mine.
My deliberation had dragged on because I'd overestimated that pig bastard.
I hadn't thought he wouldn't be able to react to such a simple feint.
He was still an Expert; if it were me, I think I would've reacted in time.
I stepped down from the arena, caught my breath, and waited for my final opponent.
***
"Winner, Grover Sillon!"
I'd been worried I might have to wait a while, but fortunately, he finished around the same time as me.
The referee approached Grover and me and said,
"You may begin right now, or rest and then begin."
"How long can we rest?"
"You only need to finish within today."
I met eyes with Grover.
I'd looked at him purely to ask, 'What's your opinion?'
but before long, his face contorted.
"There's no need to rest against a mere mercenary wretch like this."
Huh?
Was he picking a fight out of nowhere?
"Sure, whatever."
"A mere commoner dares to..."
Judging by his reaction, he too seemed to be a noble scion drunk on his clan's backing, just as I'd first suspected.
It seemed he needed a harsh lesson after all.
"Then, since both sides have agreed, we shall begin now."
The referee stepped back, and we distanced ourselves appropriately.
"Begin!"
The starting signal dropped.
At the same time, aura gradually revealed itself behind Grover.
'Oh... he's a bit better than expected.'
From his momentum and stance, I could feel he wasn't completely a hothouse flower.
'Then it's only polite that I bring out my aura properly too.'
- Goooooh...
Dark red flames mixed with my breath began to emerge.
At the same time, my aura wrapped hotly around my sword.
"..."
"......"
With our swords wreathed in aura, we glared at each other.
- Tat!
I was the one to take the initiative.
'I'll finish this quickly!'
I took my stance and rushed in an instant.
A speed that none of the other participants until now had been able to react to.
- Chaeng!
But this bastard reacted to my attack with pure skill, without any cheap tricks.
Even so, I didn't stop and kept attempting attacks.
- Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
It was like a battle between spear and shield.
The rally lasted longer than expected.
"Hoo..."
This won't end at this rate.
'I need something different...'
I widened the distance, fixed my stance, and tried to attempt the technique that had come to mind.
But,
"Qinghe Yiliu Sword, First Technique: Jishu Guanshi!"
It seemed my opponent had also resolved to use a technique.
Like fierce waters piercing through rock over the ages, Grover's sword rushed toward my throat.
"Fuck!!!!"
I hurriedly took a defensive stance, trying to block the opponent's technique.
I felt like there'd been a similar situation before...
The target location felt somewhat familiar too.
Ah, anyway, that wasn't important.
I twisted my sword as much as possible to deflect the opponent's technique.
"Ha... ha...."
I'd somehow blocked the technique, but before I could relax, Grover's sword immediately swung again as if to give no respite.
- Chaeng! Chaeng! Chaeng!
Fortunately, Grover himself was inferior to me in sword handling.
But at this rate, winning against him seemed slightly difficult.
I'd thought I'd win easily,
but losing like this would be the most pathetic disgrace imaginable.
"Jishu Guanshi!!"
Shit. Is he for real!!!
How's a guy with no master supposed to survive?
Still, since I'd already seen the technique once, I could deflect it relatively easily the second time.
But,
- Shatter!
The sword I'd used during my mercenary days ultimately couldn't withstand the aura and shattered on the spot.
What the fuck?