Chapter 47: The Soul Trap Shattered

Kim Seo-jun’s opponent in the quarterfinals was Adelheid Lorian.

She was a formidable foe who had defeated Joo Gwang-sik to advance.

Even for this round’s bracket draw, the female security guard’s manipulation had been involved.

At this point, aside from Kim Seo-jun, only 1st Academy students and special participants remained, so there was hardly any need for such tricks, but still, they had gone out of their way to pit Kim Seo-jun against Adelheid.

Kim Seo-jun thought it was just as well.

“She’s a top graduate from France’s prestigious PSH Academy—no one would blame me if I lost… This works out nicely.”

PSH (Paris Special Hunter) University was a top-tier school among top-tier schools.

It rivaled the prestige of America’s MPIT (Massachusetts Prestigious Institute of Tactics), and every year it produced powerful graduates who contributed greatly to defending the world from the dangers of rifts.

Adelheid had entered PSH as the top student, drawing attention from the world’s leading hunter organizations as the best rookie.

No one would think poorly of him if he faced such an outstanding person in a match and declared defeat.

In this fourth round, Kim Seo-jun’s match was last.

So, after the break ended and the quarterfinal matches began, he could watch the others’ matches with relative ease.

The first match was between Kim Yura and Sang-deok Kwak.

The result was a landslide victory for Kim Yura.

Kim Yura hadn’t even used her mystic art ‘Kwon-ye,’ yet knocked out Sang-deok Kwak with a Brazilian kick.

The second match was Choi Dong-hyun versus Hoon Yang.

Choi Dong-hyun was a seventeen-year-old freshman, and Hoon Yang was a twenty-two-year-old senior. This match, too, was over in less than two minutes.

Choi Dong-hyun displayed acrobatic movements, dodging all of Hoon Yang’s attacks, then swept his opponent’s leg to launch him into the air, finishing the match with a powerful blow.

A victory worthy of Choi Dong-hyun, who possessed the martial arts mystic.

The third match saw foreign students face off.

Leonard Bright versus Harusaki.

Leonard possessed the mystic ‘Handsgun,’ while Harusaki was a wielder of the unique ‘Shintoryu’ mystic.

Harusaki’s Shintoryu was a one-strike-kill sword style; once unleashed, the rapid flurry of attacks didn’t stop until the opponent fell, a truly remarkable mystic.

Yet it was no match for Handsgun.

At first, it seemed Harusaki could somewhat block Handsgun’s initial, lightning-fast attacks.

But at some point, Handsgun’s power changed to unleash massive explosions like anti-aircraft fire, and Harusaki couldn’t withstand it—he fell to his knees.

Kim Seo-jun immediately realized the explosive bullets were the second technique of Handsgun.

“Somehow, I doubt those are its only tricks…”

Kim Seo-jun felt Leonard’s Handsgun had even more powerful techniques hidden within.

Finally, it was time for the last quarterfinal match: Kim Seo-jun’s turn.

This time, Kim Seo-jun brought a match-legal ‘dao’ as his weapon.

His opponent, Adelheid, possessed the powerful mystic ‘Soul Trap,’ and was also a master of rapier swordsmanship.

Since her main weapon was a thin, flexible rapier, he had intentionally chosen the sturdy, blunt dao to contrast her style.

“Even if I surrender, I should at least put on a proper show.”

He had no intention of winning this match, but he didn’t plan to roll embarrassingly on the ground either.

Kim Seo-jun quietly watched Adelheid as they faced each other in the arena.

[433/Rare]

An astounding level of mana; he had never seen anything like it before.

A mana of 433 put her in the upper ranks of A-class, not far from reaching S-class.

Moreover, Adelheid’s rank was ‘Rare.’

It was believed to be a step above ‘Elite’ or ‘Special.’

Seventeen years old, possessing a powerful mystic, and already highly skilled in rapier swordsmanship—Adelheid was something else.

“In a few years, she’ll be world-renowned.”

To Kim Seo-jun, Adelheid appeared incredibly strong.

But if he went all out against her?

He was confident he could subdue Adelheid without much trouble.

The problem was, doing so would cause a huge stir, so he decided to go easy and give her an opening.

Yet Adelheid didn’t look very happy as they stood across from each other.

She seemed to have something to say, hesitating as if worried Kim Seo-jun wouldn’t understand her because he was Korean.

Kim Seo-jun addressed Adelheid in precise English.

“You look like you’ve got something to say.”

When his English came out so naturally, Adelheid’s expression brightened.

“So you can speak English?”

Of course he could.

In his previous life, Kim Seo-jun hadn’t only been Cheonma Commander Cheon Kang-woo; he’d faced top Chinese demonic sects and notorious villains from America and Europe as well.

Having spent so long in those circles, his Chinese and English were as fluent as his native tongue.

“So, what did you want to say?”

When Kim Seo-jun asked, Adelheid let out a deep sigh.

“You Koreans are really strange.”

“…?”

An out-of-the-blue comment about Koreans.

Kim Seo-jun looked puzzled, so Adelheid muttered quietly.

“During the break, someone came to see me. They told me all about the weaknesses of your mystic in great detail and begged me to win. Even paid me a hefty sum.”

“How is that strange?”

“There are three prestigious academies here in Korea, aren’t there? Normally, you’d think they’d use this as an opportunity to foster growth through friendly competition. But instead, they’re using a foreigner like me to try to eliminate a fellow Korean academy student from the competition. Isn’t that weird?”

Kim Seo-jun quickly grasped the situation.

It seemed someone from 1st Academy had tried to help Adelheid defeat him by spilling secrets about his mystic.

Hearing that, Kim Seo-jun gave a wry chuckle.

“That’s not a Korean thing—it’s just that some higher-ups in that academy have nothing but crap in their heads.”

“In their… heads? Pfft!”

Adelheid burst out laughing.

“Anyway, what do you think about all this?”

“Me? I’ll be honest. Even without that information, I think I could beat you. My mystic is that strong, and my swordsmanship too. So I’m not worried about the weaknesses you were told about—I’ll just do my best in my own way.”

It might have sounded arrogant, but to Adelheid, it was also the most considerate thing he could say.

Understanding that, Kim Seo-jun felt a desire to reciprocate this young girl’s good faith.

“To set an example for 1st Academy, who tried to mess with me.”

From what he could tell, Adelheid had never once lost a match against someone her own age.

Such confidence and pride—never having lost—could be good fuel for growth, but to improve further, she needed to taste defeat.

Kim Seo-jun already knew exactly how to counter Adelheid’s mystic.

So, he had a way to defeat her without standing out too much.

She had shown him good faith, so Kim Seo-jun wanted to repay it.

“If this young girl is determined to give her best despite outside pressure, what excuse do I have for throwing the match myself?”

Thanks to Adelheid, he could reflect on his own mistaken thinking.

Kim Seo-jun decided to at least show Adelheid what was problematic about her mystic, even if not going all out.

“That’s a good resolve. Shall we start, then?”

When Kim Seo-jun spoke with a smile, Adelheid smiled back.

Perhaps because several minutes had already passed since the match started, with the two only talking and not moving, tens of thousands of spectators began to murmur.

At that, the referee standing at a distance raised his voice to draw attention.

“You both know the match has started, right?”

At those words, both Kim Seo-jun and Adelheid nodded.

Then, without waiting for the other, they charged at each other.

Adelheid unleashed a fierce attack from the very start.

Though not using her mystic, her rapier swordsmanship was fast, concise, and powerful—enough to trouble even veteran swordsmen.

But Kim Seo-jun was different.

He deflected and pushed away the thin, long rapier with his thick dao, never showing the slightest sign of being overwhelmed.

Again, Kim Seo-jun only used the defensive moves of Yongho Pungrae Dao against Adelheid.

If he used Sura Geukseom, he could finish the match in an instant, but that would expose his swordsmanship to tens of thousands of spectators and the countless others watching on TV, so he refrained.

Takang! Kagagakang. Kaang!

Sparks flew as rapier and dao clashed.

The blue-eyed Adelheid’s swordplay was truly beautiful.

A pretty girl, small but with an excellent figure, pressing a tall, sturdy boy—enough to captivate dreamy-eyed female students.

Though Kim Seo-jun’s approach was all defense, he blocked every blow perfectly, serving as an ideal example for students on the path of sword and dao.

Then, at some point, realizing she couldn’t penetrate Kim Seo-jun’s defenses with swordsmanship alone, Adelheid’s eyes turned golden.

The moment Kim Seo-jun met her gaze, he felt strength draining from his body. The fight suddenly felt like a chore, and he lost the will to keep moving.

Moreover, a sense of unknown dread, as if trapped in a tightly closed, dark space.

“Is this Soul Trap?”

It was a thought from another mind within Kim Seo-jun.

Though his main mind felt fatigue and loss of fighting spirit under Soul Trap, another consciousness within him remained unaffected.

Kim Seo-jun had activated Yang’s Dual Mind technique at the moment Adelheid used her mystic.

This was the critical weakness of Soul Trap that Kim Seo-jun had identified.

If the target’s mental strength was high, Soul Trap’s effects might not work properly.

In Kim Seo-jun’s case, he could split his mind in two, but even aside from that, there were many cases where Adelheid’s mystic might fail.

For instance, someone with common schizophrenia or a dissociative disorder, or even antisocial personality disorders like psychopathy or sociopathy, could be immune to Adelheid’s mystic.

One thing was clear:

Adelheid’s Soul Trap was an amazing mystic.

One side of Kim Seo-jun’s mind felt such intense physical fatigue, loss of fighting will, and a drop in stamina that it made him want to just collapse and rest right there.

If he hadn’t separated his consciousness, even Kim Seo-jun would have struggled to endure in this situation.

Adelheid was 100% certain her mystic had worked.

Though Kim Seo-jun didn’t show any obvious signs of being caught in Soul Trap, never once had someone within a twenty-meter radius escaped her mystic’s effects.

She believed that with five minutes of Soul Trap, she had more than enough time to overwhelm Kim Seo-jun with a storm of swordsmanship.

So, without further hesitation, she charged at Kim Seo-jun.

Pyubyu-byu-byu-byu-bwit

Adelheid thrust at Kim Seo-jun nine times with her rapier.

An attack difficult to defend against even in a normal state.

She thought at least one or two of the strikes would land.

But she was completely mistaken.

Kagagagagang

With a single sweep, Kim Seo-jun deflected every thrust, then, moving like a phantom, hooked the hilt ring of Adelheid’s rapier with his dao and spun it.

“Ah!”

Adelheid, her wrist twisted, had no choice but to let go of her sword,

Pyuririririk

Her rapier flew high into the air, then crashed to the ground.

Kim Seo-jun’s dao stopped right in front of Adelheid’s face.

Mouth half open, she stared back and forth between her fallen rapier and Kim Seo-jun’s face.

“How… how is this possible?”

She mumbled in disbelief, her face blank.

“If you rely solely on mystics, this can always happen.”

At Kim Seo-jun’s calm words, Adelheid’s eyes widened.

“I… relied only on my mystic?”

“There were too many unnecessary movements in your swordplay as well.”

“My swordplay?”

“….”

Kim Seo-jun just shrugged, offering no answer.

Then, the referee approached and checked on Adelheid.

“Do you intend to keep fighting?”

He asked in awkward English, and Adelheid shook her head with a long sigh.

“No. This is my defeat. Whew…”

When Adelheid admitted defeat, the referee formed an X with his arms.

Beeeeep—

[Quarterfinal Match 4 Ends]

[Kim Seo-jun Wins]

The match concluded with Kim Seo-jun’s victory.

Kim Seo-jun let the roar of the crowd wash over him and quietly made his way to the waiting room.

Adelheid stared at his retreating figure for a long while.

Having awakened her mystic as a special case at age fourteen, she had trained in secret under her family’s tutelage for more than two years before entering France’s PSH Academy earlier this year.

She had never used the techniques taught by her family in public, but even if she had, she doubted she could have beaten Kim Seo-jun.

“To think there was someone like him in the remote land of Korea…”

Kim Seo-jun was a powerhouse she had never before encountered,

The first person to escape her Soul Trap unscathed,

The arrogant one who called her rapier technique a mess of unnecessary movements.

And the one who handed her her first ever defeat.

“I suppose I should return the favor of being defeated.”

Despite her loss, Adelheid was not greatly shocked.

Rather, she smiled, almost happy to have lost to Kim Seo-jun.

Adelheid Lorian, a product of France’s most prestigious hunter academy.

As soon as she reached the waiting room, she went to the Fair Match Management Committee and reported that someone had approached her, disclosed Kim Seo-jun’s mystic’s weakness, and even offered her money.

The Fair Match Management Committee immediately launched an investigation, and within just ten minutes, identified the culprit.

And from there, they uncovered exactly who had ordered it all.