As the duel began, he lifted the lid of the calabash and began to soak the surrounding floor with seawater.
"Eugene Han, I've already analyzed your technique."
At the same time, a barrier of water rose up from the ground.
Apparently, it was to prevent me from using a firearm to attack from distance.
"You think you can win in close combat?"
Of course, bringing out the water to block the gun is a very good choice.
I have very limited options at this distance.
In the first place, aura flying along a river line would lose its power and disperse the moment it touches water.
Especially if it was water mixed with……his magic.
But,
"I wasn't really planning on pulling out my gun."
Slowly, I walked towards him.
As I close the distance, I see its face behind the wall of water, watching my every move.
Red electricity flew from my right hand.
“Seawater is electricity. Do you think it will work?”
His eyes widen as he recognizes the electricity in my hand.
And before I can move,
"Oh no!"
Kang Hyun started to move first.
The wall of water changes shape, transforming into eight spears.
Each spear contains one of his abilities.
"──Pierce to death."
With a wave of his hand, several spears came at me, but not at such a speed that I could barely dodge them.
With a quick tilt of my face to the side, I deflected one spear, then a second.
Then three, four, five…….
I continue to step, dodging all of his spears with minimal movement.
But that wasn't the end of it, though, as I felt a chill in the air behind me.
The water spears embedded in the ground have changed again, weaving into a web that threatens to engulf me.
In front of me, I saw Kang Hyun's face, smiling brightly.
"I got you."
"Did you?"
As if I didn't know what you were up to.
I rotate my body and swing a kick with aura.
Kwagwagwagwagwaggak────!!!
A red current sweeps behind me in an instant and the spear of seawater that was aimed at my back evaporates.
"I didn't even make a sound……how on earth did you do that?"
"Because I felt something."
How many times have I dealt with you and still don't know these basic traps?
After the first of his attacks goes unanswered, he once again draws water from his calabash.
I immediately leapt to my feet and flew at him.
"One hit!"
Kwagagagagak-───!!!
I punched him in the face, and pure white steam instantly enveloped the surroundings.
"Ugh!"
He covered himself with seawater and caught my fist.
"This……?"
Just touching it should hurt but he didn't let go of my arm, even though his face contorted.
"……I finally got you."
"What?"
Despite his painful expression, he's smiling from ear to ear.
He curled his right hand into a tight fist, as if he would never let go.
"This time it's my turn."
"Ha!"
He had overcome the pain of being electrocuted just to pay me back once?
For a disciple of Young Hoham, this was an unbelievable display of strength.
But
"What about my feet?"
I send an aura-infused kick toward his abdomen.
Paang──!
With a huge boom, he is sent flying backwards at a tremendous speed.
He falls to his knees as I slam his back into the wall, but he somehow manages to keep his gaze locked on me as he staggers to his feet.
"……That's fucking insane."
"From where I stand, so are you."
Most villains would faint or give up after being beaten this badly, but he's not letting up on his fight against me.
"Okay. This is the last time."
──Puck.
The mouth of the gourd that he opened pointed toward the floor, and a huge amount of sea water began to soak the surroundings in an instant.
-Kwak, kwak, kwak, kwak, kwak!
He showed no sign of stopping as the powerful waves around him were churning and growing in intensity.
It was like a tornado, growing in size and scope.
"You're really serious, aren't you……?"
Not just around the surroundings. The sea water was gradually expanding its range and encroaching on the arena.
With a gurgling sound, the water stopped coming out of the calabash.
"Let's stick together, Eugene Han."
He took a step and began to lunge toward me.
The water that splashed up, turned into a blade and rushed toward me.
I dodged it by rolling to the side, and then stood up again to prepare for the next attack.
At that moment,
"Hmph──!!"
Kang Hyun's kick from below came crashing down on my body.
"What already──?!"
With a loud thud, my body was thrown into the air.
How the hell did he manage to get in front of me?
He shouldn't have been able to close the distance between us so quickly…….
I flipped completely over, trying to center myself and I could barely see why.
He was gliding across the water and the speed at which he was being propelled through the water was more than I could have imagined.
"You won't be able to escape this time, it's over!"
He shouts, reaching for me.
In response, the stagnant water on the ground transforms into dozens of daggers, pointed at me.
"Shoot."
They do as he commands and start flying toward me.
"What an annoying ability!"
I immediately activate the Shadow Walk in midair, forcing myself back to the ground and ducking out of its reach.
For a moment, he seemed to be looking for me, who had disappeared from the field.
"Gotcha."
As I soar upward, he holds out his hand again.
"Shoot."
A second flurry of daggers falls and I’m too close to dodge.
This time, then, I'll have to use a little more Aura to destroy them.
I evaporate the flying sea water and at the same time I activate Black Flame.
In an instant, black flames cover his body, although the effect is not complete as Corleone’s bloodline abilities have yet to stack properly.
"Ugh!"
I've succeeded in momentarily stunning him.
At the same time, I immediately activated Black Mist and lightning flashed from my legs.
-Kwahhhhhhhhhh!
Thunder rumbled, and my body instantly flew towards him.
In response, he formed a cube of seawater to block my movement, but it was too late.
The momentum was so great that my legs broke through the cube and landed on his body.
-Kwaaaaaaaaaah!
He crossed his arms to block the kick, but it wasn't enough and his body was knocked backwards.
He must have realized it by now. He's not good enough to reach me yet but if I knew him…
"──This time!"
He won't give up until the end.
"Water Dragon King!"
From behind him, all the seawater he's gathered so far converges to form a dragon.
Its enormous head looks like the dragon king we saw in the East Sea.
The dragon's head rose up from Kang Hyun's back and opened its gigantic mouth at a tremendous speed, as if it was going to swallow both of us at the same time.
“I guess this is your trump card.”
It's definitely a technique that would be quite dangerous even for me if I were hit from the front.
"Then I guess I'll have to show you one of mine."
As a courtesy to him, I decided to use a skill I've been hiding until now.
Something that I've practiced so many times yesterday that it was now a second nature.
If yesterday's power came without the use of an aura, what would happen the moment I loaded it up?
My heart pounds in my chest.
I mix the acceleration of the aura with the acceleration of my muscles, arms, and joints.
One punch as it is.
No, I mix as much acceleration as I can into it as fast as I can.
I demonstrate my new technique.
"Tanngrisnir."
The name of the mountain goat that pulled the chariot of the thunder god Thor.
My father's technique, "Ram," was blended with my own traits.
Paaaaaaang───!!
Crackling electricity sparked in all directions and a shockwave exploded.
The fist made by accelerating electrons created a sonic boom. It is literally a ‘rail gun’ that can be fired by hand.
The wave exploded the head of the sea dragon that was attacking me, and slammed into Kang Hyun's body behind him.
──!
Before he could scream in pain, his body was knocked backwards, slammed into the wall, and collapsed. That was the end of the duel.
"Haa……haa……haa……haa……."
I glanced up and looked at my right hand.
My fist was still trembling from the full force of the impact.
The damage was greatly reduced by the arena's damage-reducing properties, but it would only be a fraction of what it would have been had I used it outside.
‘I shouldn't use it so casually.’
Still, I didn't think I could use it fully.
-The duel is over! Eugene Han wins!
With a shout from the instructor, the duel ended, and the personnel waiting outside the duel arena entered to check on the fainted Kang Hyun.
The medics nod their heads as if everything is fine and I slowly walk over to him.
He slowly opens his eyes while being treated by the medical staff.
"I ……lost."
"Did you think you'd win then?"
"I thought I could if I didn't give up and kept trying."
"That sounds like something Young Hoham would say. Can you stand up?"
I reached out my hand to help him up, but he shook his head and smirked.
"Nope. To be honest, I still don't have any strength in my legs. I'll just go to the infirmary and rest."
"I can't help it then. Oh, and the appointment is──"
"Of course I'll keep it. Take care of you from now on, Mr. President."
I let out a wry laugh as I watched the guy who had just fainted and woken up, only to quickly leave.
"Really, you're going to go all the way."
I thought he was Young Hoham's disciple.
When I see that he's completely gone, I step out of the arena and am greeted by Se-ah and Young-jae.
"Eugene, thank you for your hard work!"
"You've done a great job."
"Thank you. Where are the others?"
For some reason, I didn't see the usual bubbly, "Boss is the best! Boss is the strongest!"
"Hahaha." Se-ah laughed awkwardly.
"I think he just watched Eugene's duel and was like, ‘What, it's over?' And then he went to watch another duel. I think he's probably……over there."
With that, Se-ah points to the location where Arena A is located.
There were more people gathered there than I expected.
"Whose duel is that, and why are there so many people there?"
Se-ah responds to my question as if it's nothing.
"Choi Yeon and Jung Hoon. It's probably been about five minutes since they started."
"Five minutes? It's only been five minutes."
It's Choi Yeon's duel right out of the gate……That sounds interesting.
If it’s Choi Yeon's, she's probably going to show me something amazing.
"Let's head over there."
As we slowly made our way towards Arena A, we could see the intense situation inside being relayed vividly on the monitors.
-Ah! Here's Choi Yeon sprinting, deflecting three shots from Jung Jung-hoon!
Is that familiar voice……Instructor Fadoyun?
The duel must be good.
-Choi Yeon cannot close the distance. Looks like she changed her plan after all! What kind of strategy will Choi Yeon carry out here?…… Aaaaaaaaaaah! That's it!
Wow. The level of play here is crazy.
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om