Chapter 49: The Red Mana Revealed

Kim Seo-jun was not particularly flustered, even in the sudden turn of events.

Having used Yeokbalsan Gigese to great effect during today’s match, he could accept the current phenomenon as a natural result.

Kim Seo-jun opened up the description window for Yeokbalsan Gigese.

[Yeokbalsan Gigese]

Absorbs attack energy directed at oneself and stores it in the palm, then returns that energy to the opponent at a maximum amplification of 150% at the desired moment.

Within a 20-meter radius, it allows one to discern the source of all living beings’ mana and assess their threat level.

Cooldown: 5 minutes

Upon reaching 2-star proficiency, mana, internal energy, and control each permanently increase by 5%.

Yeokbalsan Gigese had changed as well.

Originally, it was a mystery that simply returned double the power, but now it could be amplified up to 2.5 times.

On top of that, an amazing new effect had been added.

‘I can discern the source of mana?’

Ironically, it was related to the source of mana that Park Dae-man had been talking about just moments before.

‘This is huge.’

With this, Kim Seo-jun no longer needed to worry about winning or losing in the semifinals.

Now that he could discern what source of mana his opponent had, there was no reason to purposely lose the match.

There were no conditions like with Kim Yura, where a goal and more than five minutes of mana contact were required—these were the best conditions possible.

‘If those in Jaeger find out about this, they’ll do whatever it takes to pull me in.’

The ability to discern the source of mana was an upgraded version compared to Kim Yura’s, so this was only to be expected.

‘This match… It wouldn’t matter if I just finish it right in the main round.’

With a light heart, Kim Seo-jun stepped out to the waiting room balcony.

He began to watch closely as Kim Yura and Choi Dong-hyun entered the arena for the first semifinal match.

*****

The first match was a clash between the strongest candidates for victory.

Both were from the 1st Academy, but neither gave an inch as they faced off, doing their utmost.

The result was an overwhelming victory for Kim Yura.

Even though Choi Dong-hyun put up a fierce fight with martial arts, he was completely outmatched by Kim Yura’s Fist Technique.

Still, among the students who had faced Kim Yura so far, he had lasted the longest and showed the most even skill, earning much applause from the crowd.

As Kim Yura, having proudly advanced to the finals, left the arena, the announcer called out the names of Kim Seo-jun and Leonard.

The two faced each other on the wide field.

Leonard, golden hair fluttering, gazed indifferently at Kim Seo-jun.

“I look forward to seeing an impressive match between you two.”

The referee left them with a few words before stepping back.

As the green light signaled the start of the match, Leonard smirked.

“I saw your last match. You seemed to use an interesting technique against Adelheid… To think you possess another skill on par with Mysteries. How intriguing.”

Leonard naturally spoke, knowing Kim Seo-jun could understand English.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Kim Seo-jun shrugged, feigning ignorance.

It seemed Leonard had realized that Kim Seo-jun broke free of Soul Trap with Yang’s Division Mind Technique.

“I admit you didn’t make it this far by luck alone. But don’t think your petty abilities will work on me.”

“That sounds like you’re setting up a flag, isn’t it?”

When Kim Seo-jun laughed and said this, Leonard tilted his head.

He seemed to not understand what Kim Seo-jun meant.

“In movies or novels, the guy who says that sort of thing first always gets beaten up. It’s like a kind of cliché.”

“….”

When Kim Seo-jun teased him, Leonard fell silent.

It wasn’t that he agreed with Kim Seo-jun, but he was clearly regretting opening his mouth.

Leonard said nothing as he gathered mana.

When the shimmering mana haze rose from Leonard’s body, Kim Seo-jun too drew up his own mana.

[441/Special]

Leonard’s mana was higher than Adelheid’s. Still, he was one tier below—a Special.

‘I can handle this.’

Even though Kim Seo-jun’s mana stat was much lower than Leonard’s, he never thought for a second that he would lose.

In battles between Hunters, Kim Seo-jun believed the amount of mana only made a difference in destructive power and endurance.

Attacks packed with immense power could simply be dodged, and if the opponent could maintain that strength for long, he just needed to end the match quickly.

Leonard, with twin swords at his waist, shaped his hand into a finger gun and aimed it at Kim Seo-jun.

Though he’d never seen Leonard use the twin swords, he doubted they were there just for show.

Lowering his stance, Kim Seo-jun gripped his competition sword tightly.

He couldn’t take Leonard lightly, so he was fairly tense.

Just then, a brief, intense flash sparkled from Leonard’s fingertip.

At the same time, Kim Seo-jun moved his sword to block in front of his face.

Bang!

The blade vibrated, and a strong shock was transmitted.

A mana bullet, invisible to the eye, had flown in an instant and slammed into Kim Seo-jun’s sword.

Seeing this, Leonard’s gaze began to burn.

“Go on, keep blocking.”

No sooner had Leonard spoken than three more flashes burst from his finger gun.

In response, Kim Seo-jun’s sword cut through the air in three directions.

Bang! Crash! Bang!

As three sharp sounds echoed, Kim Seo-jun charged at Leonard.

He split the mana bullets—faster than bullets themselves—with a swing of his sword.

He wasn’t just cutting at random; he was precisely reading the mana bullets’ trajectories.

Realizing this, Leonard retreated, firing mana bullets continuously.

The skill he was using now was ‘Flash Bullet’ from Hands Gun.

Mana bullets that struck their targets at the speed of light.

Yet, Kim Seo-jun was reading all the trajectories and deflecting every shot.

What’s more, the two were drawing ever closer.

Even as Leonard fired Flash Bullets every two seconds without rest, he couldn’t pose any threat.

Leonard, eyes once again glowing gold, pressed three fingers together to form a finger gun. Then—

Boom!

A powerful blast erupted from his fingertips with a burst of light, and a mana bullet the size of a fist slammed into Kim Seo-jun’s front.

The mana bullet was once again blocked by the sword.

Amazingly, whereas every mana bullet so far had dissipated upon contact, this one kept its form and pushed the sword back.

Crackle—!

Sparks flew in all directions as the mana bullet shoved Kim Seo-jun’s sword.

This mana bullet, called ‘Thunderbolt Bullet,’ suddenly exploded with tremendous force.

BOOOOM!

The impact gouged a deep pit in the ground, and Kim Seo-jun was flung back over ten meters.

However, flipping in the air, Kim Seo-jun sprang forward once again.

Was his appearance so threatening?

Leonard formed a two-handed finger gun and unleashed a continuous barrage of mana bullets at Kim Seo-jun like a machine gun.

Ratatatatatatata!

With a firing rate of 20 shots per second, this was the third Hands Gun skill, ‘Rapid-Fire Bullet.’

Hundreds of mana bullets blanketed Kim Seo-jun’s front in black.

Too many to break through without blocking.

At that moment, Kim Seo-jun’s eyes flashed golden.

Tsssshhhhhh!

A powerful wave of mana swept outward.

Leonard stood at the edge of that wave.

As it passed over him, Leonard’s form became shrouded in a bright red light, shining brilliantly.

Only Kim Seo-jun could see that light.

This was the newly added ability to Yeokbalsan Gigese: scanning the source of mana.

‘Red?’

As Park Dae-man had predicted, Leonard’s mana was red.

Red meant demonic power.

The rumor that Leonard’s family passed down their bloodline through demonic power was true.

Kim Seo-jun put aside thoughts of demonic power.

Right now, he had to deal with the barrage of mana bullets filling his vision.

As the whole world except himself seemed to slow, Kim Seo-jun opened his palm and absorbed the mana bullets covering his front.

He used Yeokbalsan Gigese’s absorption only within the minimum area necessary to let himself escape.

Using that space, Kim Seo-jun slipped easily through the net of mana bullets and brought his sword down toward the shocked Leonard.

But Leonard was not about to be taken down so easily.

With even the third Hands Gun technique blocked, he unleashed his final skill—‘Mana Beam Death Bullet.’

Bzzzzzzzz—!

The finger gun sucked in surrounding light and shot forward in a straight line.

What emerged was no ordinary mana bullet.

It was a red beam, like a laser.

Around the blood-red beam, white lightning whirled like a tornado.

Shwwooooon—!

With a chilling sound, the beam shot forth and struck the sword Kim Seo-jun swung, deflecting downward.

Though the sword emitted powerful repulsive force, it couldn’t split the beam.

Kim Seo-jun had intentionally lowered Yeokbalsan Gigese’s repulsive force to 1.5 times for safety.

The beam, having changed direction, now headed for Kim Seo-jun’s chest.

Alarmed, Kim Seo-jun quickly raised a telekinetic barrier to protect his torso.

Boom!

A tremendous shockwave exploded.

The beam hit the barrier and was deflected again, grazing his side before shooting off behind him. And then—

KWA-BOOM!

A huge explosion erupted where the beam struck the arena floor.

With such overwhelming destructive force, half the audience shot to their feet.

Had it hit directly, it would have been enough to kill someone.

As the explosion died down and the dust settled, the scene in the arena was revealed.

Kim Seo-jun stood tall, holding his sword to Leonard’s forehead.

Leonard, perhaps unable to accept the situation, glared wide-eyed at Kim Seo-jun.

His hands twitched, reaching for the two swords at his waist.

Kim Seo-jun, facing him, was not unscathed.

Though the beam had only grazed him, his side was deeply torn and bleeding profusely.

Kim Seo-jun clutched his wound with his left hand.

He had drawn upon Solar Divine Art to maximize his regenerative ability.

Yet, the wound from the beam would not heal easily.

‘They say wounds from demonic power are hard to heal… It’s true.’

Park Dae-man had said one reason demonic power was so fearsome was that wounds from it were incredibly difficult to treat.

Just as he said, the injury from Leonard’s attack resisted even the regenerative force of Solar Divine Art.

“Ha, student! Are you alright? The wound looks serious!”

The referee belatedly ran over to check, but the injury wasn’t what mattered most to Kim Seo-jun.

“At this point, it’s over, right?”

Kim Seo-jun smiled as if nothing was wrong and looked at the referee.

Although Kim Seo-jun had suffered a grave wound, he was standing firm, sword pointed at Leonard’s forehead.

Anyone could see it was Kim Seo-jun’s victory.

Without even asking the dazed Leonard if he wished to continue, the referee formed an X with his arms.

Beeeep—

[Semifinal Match 2 Ends]

[Kim Seo-jun Wins]

With the match decided, Leonard collapsed where he stood.

He never did draw his two swords.

In contrast, Kim Seo-jun walked out of the arena, clutching his side tightly but with his head held high.

*****

‘How stupid…’

Kim Seo-jun sat in the waiting room, berating himself.

He’d been so caught up in the match with Leonard that he hadn’t even thought to treat his side wound, and now he was deeply regretting his own foolish response.

‘Lowering Yeokbalsan Gigese’s repulsive force too much because I didn’t want to hurt that guy was a mistake.’

In the past, Yeokbalsan Gigese’s repulsive force was fixed at double, so Kim Seo-jun couldn’t adjust its power at all.

If he absorbed 10 of the opponent’s mana, he’d return 20; absorb 100, return 200—there was nothing to consider.

Now, though, he could adjust it.

Even if he absorbed 100, he could return as little as 101 or as much as 250, depending on his will.

Of all times, when Leonard unleashed his final blow, it was a mistake to use only a 50% amplified force.

Leonard’s last attack was virtually his full power.

It carried that much destructive force.

To think it would be enough with just 50% amplification was complacency, and naturally, it led to this wound.

It could have been a much worse injury, but he’d managed to protect himself with a telekinetic barrier, so this was as bad as it got.

Solar Divine Art’s regeneration also played a big part.

‘That guy… He really meant to kill me.’

Kim Seo-jun had clearly sensed Leonard’s murderous intent in that last counterattack.

More than the fact that Yeokbalsan Gigese revealed his mana as demonic power, what surprised him more was Leonard’s bloodlust.

‘Showing that level of intent to kill in a student match…’

That showed just how much this tournament meant to Leonard.

Enough to risk a lethal attack, even if the opponent might die.

“Kuh…”

It was only then that Kim Seo-jun felt the pain in his wound. He took his hand away to inspect it.

For something that barely grazed him, the wound was deep.

His side was torn about 10 centimeters long and split as wide as 2 centimeters.

The skin around it was blackened, and regeneration wasn’t working properly.

When he drew upon Solar Divine Art, the blackened area slowly began to return to normal color. Only then did the wound start healing faster.

Still, he’d lost so much blood his head was spinning.

‘Will this even heal before the finals? Should I use the Chalice of Recovery?’

Just then, the door burst open and several people rushed in.

Five in total.

Two were emergency medical staff carrying first aid kits and a stretcher, and leading them was Kim Seo-jun’s supervising professor, Shim Jae-deok.

Behind him, frowning as he approached, was Joo Gwang-sik, who’d been eliminated in the round of 16, and the massive figure that seemed to fill the waiting room was none other than Park Dae-man.

“Kim Seo-jun! Your wound—how is it, is it bad?”

Shim Jae-deok looked shocked, as if his own child were hurt.

“Hey, you idiot! Why didn’t you dodge such an obvious attack? You should’ve put a hole in his forehead with your sword! That bastard really meant to kill you, you know?”

“I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Kim Seo-jun jumped up to show he was alright. In that instant—

Splurt—

The half-healed wound split open again and blood gushed out.

“…Huh?”

Kim Seo-jun staggered badly.

“He’s losing too much blood. At this rate, it’ll be impossible to proceed to the next match.”

The medical staff supported Kim Seo-jun as they spoke, and Shim Jae-deok and Joo Gwang-sik shouted out.

“What do you mean, next match, when the kid’s body is in this state? We need to get him to the hospital now!”

“With a body like that, how could he have a next match? Hurry up and treat him!”

That was all Kim Seo-jun could hear.

He didn’t remember what happened after that.

By then, Kim Seo-jun had already lost consciousness.