Chapter 451

4.

The Q&A went on for a while.

And before the match between Kyou and Reaper, they were able to take a short break.

How much time passed like that?

Right when even Seong was starting to think it was getting hard to keep answering—

Kyou and Reaper were standing behind Seong, like they were ready.

Seeing that, Seong smiled like the timing was perfect and said,

“Whew. Looks like you two are done resting.”

At the sight of Seong welcoming them like that, the viewers couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

-Uh, lmaooooooo

-lmaooooooo our Demon King looks drained ?????

-So cute ??????

-lmaoooo no but that big smile is killing me ?????

-Are we that annoying!? ??????

-We totally are. It feels like we’ve been pestering him for almost 20 minutes straight.

-From the middle on, he was ignoring Helena ??????

Seong and Helena had tried to take the questions somehow, but—

getting drained was unavoidable.

Honestly, there were just too many questions, and too much attention.

In the twenty minutes alone, there had been over a hundred paid questions.

In other words, at the very least, a million dollars.

Money was coming in to the point it made you wonder if making money was really this easy, but—

the viewers were oddly not very jealous.

Was it because it felt like this much was only natural for Seong, the Demon King?

Either way, Seong was about to prepare for Kyou and Reaper’s match.

“......”

“......”

Neither Reaper nor Kyou said a word, but anyone could tell both of them were in a state of extreme focus.

The time communicating with Seong had been fun, but—

Seong’s fans are, at heart, battle maniacs.

So.

-Who do you think wins???

-Kyou won last time, right?

-But in terms of pure skill, Reaper’s better.

-If they both got trained by Helena the same, then who knows.

-But Kyou was seriously insane in the fight with Kim Che-geon.

-Yeah, yeah, that’s true.

It was a situation where you genuinely couldn’t tell who would win, even by an inch.

So the viewers’ hearts started pounding again.

Thinking they were about to watch another insane match.

Kyou’s fight with Kim Che-geon had been a clash of power against power.

Reaper’s fight with Embris had been technique against technique.

So this match couldn’t help but be even more interesting.

A clash of power and technique.

Who would come out on top?

But there was one thing that was a little different from what the viewers thought.

Kyou had felt something during his fight with Kim Che-geon.

‘It’s hard with just power.’

Kyou knew better than anyone that his firepower was outstanding.

But he couldn’t do it like that.

‘Let’s do what I can do.’

Even originally, Kyou wasn’t the type who just crushed people with brute power.

But in the fight with Kim Che-geon, his temper had flared up, and a big part of him had been set on breaking him with power.

So this time, he was going to do it differently.

Reaper wasn’t someone you could beat with nothing but power.

And even Kim Che-geon would’ve lost if not for luck.

He needed to realize it.

What he could do well.

The moment Kyou, who’d wandered a bit, came to his senses with clear eyes—

Reaper and Kim Che-geon reacted to it.

Especially Kim Che-geon, who scowled hard and muttered,

“Hoo. The mountain got a little taller.”

He was saying it in a way that sounded cool, but—

it was fine.

Because he, too, had gained quite a lot of insight.

Next time they fought, he would win.

Vowing that, he decided to watch the match with Reaper.

And at that moment, Reaper looked at Kyou and let out a deep breath.

Was this some kind of initiation?

Either way, he still hadn’t forgotten the loss from when he’d first joined the backup team.

He’d lost because he’d been sloppy.

And he had no intention of ever showing that kind of sloppiness again.

‘This time, I’ll show my true skill.’

Thinking that, Reaper stared at Kyou.

And Kyou, too, looked at Reaper without taking him lightly.

And in the moment their gazes crossed—

Seong shouted,

“Start.”

At Seong’s shout, the first to move was Reaper.

Reaper’s swift movement as he hid his body and moved through shadow.

But even though Kyou moved later, his magic manifested even faster than Reaper.

A typhoon wrapped around Kyou, and as it became a storm, blade-like winds engulfed him.

Then, as the storm’s violent winds rubbed against each other, they began generating energy.

The hot friction heat alone brought flames to mind, but as plasma formed, the storm soon became thunderclouds—

and the thunderclouds became lightning, spreading out as if being sprayed in every direction.

Kwarururururur—!!!

A sound like thunder tore the air apart, and before that even—

the lightning moved.

The writhing lightning stretched out like a dragon, and one by one, it devoured the shadow clones Reaper had made.

Kwaddeudeudeuk—!!!

The chilling bite of the lightning dragon was so lethal that even calling it a finishing move wouldn’t be enough.

Watching that, Reaper’s gaze sank low.

It was certainly an outstanding, powerful attack.

But—

‘When it became a lightning dragon, it got slower.’

Lightning’s greatest advantages are destructive power and speed.

But after it transformed into a lightning dragon, its speed became incomparably slower than plain lightning.

Even so, Reaper never let his guard down for a second.

Reaper swung his dagger toward the lightning dragon flying at him.

And Reaper’s shadow blades appeared.

The blade of blackened shadow—every time it flew toward the shining lightning dragon, swelling with lightning, the shadow grew longer and darker.

That lengthened shadow condensed into one, and at the same time, cut open the lightning dragon’s maw.

Serrrrrrk!

A sharp slicing sound rang out, and the lightning dragon’s head split into two.

And from inside it, something fast shot out.

No matter how fast Reaper was, he couldn’t be faster than lightning.

So the moment something burst out, the structure was such that he could only get hit.

But as if he’d already known—

the instant it flew at Reaper—

Reaper’s figure vanished.

Kwaddeudeudeudeudeuk—!!!

The one that discharged lightning in every direction, spraying it everywhere, was none other than a lightning spear.

The lightning spear panicked for a moment when there was no Reaper where it had been fired.

If he wasn’t here, where did he disappear to?

But before he could even think that—

Kyou, like he already knew, used tyrannical wind and friendly wind to freeze the rain instantly into ice, then wrapped those chunks of ice fiercely in wind to defend in all directions.

And then, belatedly, the sound of destruction came.

Kwaaaaaaaaang—!!!

Ice fragments scattered everywhere, and beautiful ice crystals shone in midair as they drifted down.

But even in that beautiful scene, Kyou frowned and looked behind him.

And sure enough, Reaper had appeared there, crossing his twin daggers and slashing in an X.

The thought that he would’ve gotten hit right there if not for the defense of ice and storm made Kyou’s spine go cold.

Seeing how rapidly Reaper had grown, Kyou couldn’t afford to just take it, so he snapped his fingers.

Then—

Pajijijijijiji—!!!

The lightning he’d scattered in advance surged up from the ground.

The moment Reaper saw it, he didn’t even have time for an alarm bell to ring in his head—he got out of there fast.

In an instant, he partially turned into shadow, let the lightning pass through, and slipped away from the spot.

Not a full shadow transformation—just a temporary shift to avoid the lightning.

Watching that, Kyou clicked his tongue.

‘He even dodges the trap.’

‘Didn’t expect you to plant lightning in the ground.’

Both of them widened the distance, admiring each other as they watched.

When it became a brief standoff—

the viewers, who’d been watching without even being able to breathe, poured out chat in a flood.

-Woah, what was that just now???

-No, how many moves chained in that tiny amount of time????

-I feel like I just watched a top-class boxing match??????

-The mind games are no joke?????

-Wow, I’m seeing this live.

-This is seriously legendary.

-Wow, both Kyou and Reaper are insane;;;;;

-Kyou wasn’t a “crush with power” type after all;;;;;

-?????????

Viewers reacting like they’d practically pissed themselves.

But the fight still hadn’t even properly started.

And in that moment, the one who moved first again was Reaper.

Kyou is a mage.

And Reaper is an assassin.

In terms of position, the matchup favored Reaper, but in terms of attribute matchup, Kyou was ahead—

so Reaper was trying to force the issue no matter what.

As Reaper’s movement when he charged first moved at blazing speed—

his movement made even sound feel slow.

The world went quiet.

A domain where even sound couldn’t reach.

Inside that domain, Kyou couldn’t help but slow down too.

He wasn’t a close-range type, so he didn’t have a transcendent body.

But—

just like Reaper was moving, Kyou’s eyes followed Reaper.

He didn’t have a transcendent body, but he absolutely had transcendent perception.

So toward Reaper rushing him, he used the fastest lightning.

Pajijijijijiji—!!!

Not sound, but vibration rang out, and lightning roamed freely and quickly in a domain where even sound couldn’t enter.

In the world turned ashen, Reaper felt lightning faster than himself and lightly twisted his body to avoid it.

The lightning tried to writhe and move toward Reaper somehow, but—

even that, Reaper avoided as he closed in on Kyou.

Watching Reaper approaching, Kyou quickly brought both hands down to the ground.

Seeing that, Reaper likewise gripped his twin daggers and swung.

Then—

In front of Kyou, who’d put his hands on the ground, a storm flipped up the earth and launched countless huge boulders at Reaper.

And toward those boulders, the slashes from Reaper’s twin daggers surged in.

Kwaaaaaaaaaaah—!!!

In the instant everything was shattered—Reaper’s form reached Kyou’s front, and Kyou fired a spear of the lightning god at that form.

The world bleached white as lightning burst forth.

And behind that long, intense light—a sinister shadow appeared, darker than ever.