Semifinals (6)
—...
HunGyo, who had drawn his sword, frowned.
Clint Jones.
It was because of what the man in front of him had babbled.
What?
Does he really think he's all that?
'How dare he, to my lord.'
Rumbleeeee...!
An immense aura flared up from HunGyo's body.
Originally, he had planned to toy with him a little and then win quickly, but he changed his mind.
As humiliatingly as possible.
He intended to tear him apart overwhelmingly.
Swoooosh!
One of Jones's summoned creatures charged toward HunGyo.
Swordmaster (A-rank).
It was a humanoid summon that used a sword like him.
It closed the distance in an instant, and the swordmaster's speed, aiming for his neck the moment it slipped past his waist, was certainly fast.
But that was only from the perspective of ordinary people.
'Slow.'
To HunGyo, that whole sequence looked like slow motion.
'An attack so obvious it makes me yawn.'
This doesn't even qualify as control. It is simply, clearly, a lack of training.
If that summon had trained under him?
Wouldn't it have spent at least a month rolling around without a single day of rest?
Step.
HunGyo lightly stepped back half a pace.
He moved only enough to evade the sword, and at the same time placed his foot where he predicted the other would step next.
Huh?
The swordmaster panicked.
Not only had the ambush failed, but its step got tangled, causing it to lose its center of balance as well.
It hurriedly tried to dodge, but HunGyo's thrust was already unfolding.
The direction was the same as its own.
The neck.
The difference, however, was that its balance had collapsed, making this a trajectory it could never evade.
And that the speed was incredibly fast.
Thrust!
—Kugh, kuheok!
The cold blade pierced through the swordmaster's neck from bottom to top.
He could feel its strength draining away instantly.
Its HP must have plummeted from the vital-point attack. This was the limit of humanoid summons.
Slash!
When he mercilessly pulled the sword out, the swordmaster collapsed along with a fountain of blood.
'One more?'
Ambush.
Sensing the killing intent of an invisible enemy, HunGyo instinctively raised his sword.
Clang!
With the sound of metal colliding, the enemy revealed itself.
'An assassin.'
For assassination-type summons, the moment they reveal themselves is the end.
'Its strength is weak too.'
This, too, was clearly a lack of basic strength training.
No matter how much of an assassin it was, a successful ambush still required a certain baseline of strength.
The assassin's sword, having already sensed the difference in power, was knocked upward, and just like the swordmaster before it, its neck was left exposed.
Thrust!
—Grrk….!
The assassin, having likewise allowed an attack to its neck, was reverse-summoned.
The time it took to deal with the two summons was only 10 seconds.
"...!"
Clint Jones's mouth fell open.
The swordmaster and the assassin.
How hard had he worked to raise those two summons to the limit?
He had embedded all of them with rare runes, and he had steadily trained their control as well.
Those precious guys who had lifted him to world rank 10...
'In just 10 seconds?'
He couldn't even properly see what exchanges had happened.
He had simply made a light move, the way he always did. And that was it.
The summons died with their necks pierced, accompanied by two dull thuds.
"C-crazy."
This made no sense.
Even Xenos, the national team captain, wouldn't be this overwhelmingly dominant....!
"HunGyo."
Of course, whether he was shocked or not. Baek Jinwoo didn't care.
"The rest are all buffers. Just finish them."
—....!
Lowering his head slightly, HunGyo kicked off the floor—tap!
Whirl!
His sword rose, then stabbed three times in three directions.
And the result?
Thud, thud, thud!
It pierced straight into the hearts and heads of the buffers, whose combat ability was weak.
Thump!
Clint Jones dropped to his knees.
Even when the world talked about HunGyo's greatness, and even when he defeated Rachel in the battle royale, Jones had thought he was just another major figure.
Especially in the case of the battle royale, since they had never directly clashed with the Five Great Powers and their alliance.
'But this is just... he's really on a completely different level.'
He hadn't realized it when watching from afar, but now that he had been on the receiving end, he understood.
God Ji-nu.
That man is a monster.
No, he is something one dimension above a monster.
'So that's why they kept calling him Ilcheon, One Heaven.'
At this rate, there was no telling what would happen.
Even Xenos, a member of the Five Emperors, might find this difficult.
'Really.
Is America really not going to make the finals and end up in the third-place match?
After losing to Korea, which was originally in the bottom tier?'
"Ha."
Swoosh!
Clint Jones, having lost all his summons, was flung out of the battle arena.
It was the beginning of a legend.
ㄴHuh..!
The Korean commentators were struck speechless.
This is insane.
They had hoped he might win.
After all, in the battle royale, he had clearly stood shoulder to shoulder with Rachel.
But realistically, against world rank 10, they had expected at least a fierce battle....
He won.
No, not just won—he utterly overwhelmed and crushed him.
ㄴIs this a dream, or reality?
ㄴI don't know either. It really just ended so easily.
ㄴThis scene.... Doesn't it feel like we've seen it somewhere before?
ㄴThe qualifiers.
ㄴThat's right. It's similar to how he instantly killed Kang Geonho in 5 seconds during the qualifiers. The difference is..... This time it wasn't Kang Geonho, but the famous Clint Jones, who is world rank 10.
ㄴAh, aaaa... This is insane. Baek Jinwoo. He's truly insane...!
The commentators, wearing dazed expressions, were going on and on about Baek Jinwoo's greatness.
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"
"Baek Jinwoo! Baek Jinwoo!"
"HunGyo! HunGyo!"
Korea was, quite literally, in an uproar.
ㄴKyaaa
ㄴThat was way too satisfying lol.
ㄴA domestic unranked player insta-killing world rank 10 lol is this even real?
ㄴHunGyo is seriously abnormal. Honestly, even the overseas guys are probably going to suspect a bug.
ㄴSo what if it's a bug lol by that logic, isn't Rachel a bug too? She had two S-ranks.
ㄴTrue. It's not like we can do anything to the system, and it's not like anyone can penalize him. If you're strong, that's all that matters.
He wasn't some nobody either.
It was Clint Jones, the very same man whom people usually looked up to and who had secured a wide fanbase.
And HunGyo had literally smashed that Jones apart with an action scene straight out of a movie.
ㄴN-next is Kobe Pochettino.
ㄴKobe...! World rank 8! America's number two!
ㄴAh, look at Kobe's expression. He clearly looks tense.
ㄴOf course he does. HunGyo just showed that utterly ridiculous performance, so it only makes sense for him to be on guard!
The match resumed immediately.
Kobe was definitely different from Jones before him.
He was cautious, and he tried to approach the match carefully.
But.
Thrust!
Kkieek!
The moment it started, HunGyo dashed forward and his sword pierced the healer's abdomen.
Kobe's dealer, Iron Fist (A-rank), caught the sight and threw a punch, but....
Step.
HunGyo was already gone from that spot.
—Krk?
His position was directly behind him.
By the time he realized it, HunGyo's sword was already falling toward his head.
Clang!
Iron Fist was so tough that the sound of metal colliding rang out from his head.
"Our Iron Fist is resistant to metal. You can hit him a hundred times. It won't work."
Kobe muttered with a serious expression.
The perfect counter to a sword-user character like HunGyo.
That was Iron Fist.
But.
"What do you mean it won't work?"
Claaang!
HunGyo struck Iron Fist's cheek not with the blade, but with the flat of the sword.
Krrrk!
Then, after overpowering him and hooking the sword around his neck, he tripped him and pinned him down.
'He's definitely tough.'
HunGyo's expression was relaxed.
Baek Jinwoo, too, stood there calmly.
'But toughness only works when the levels are the same.'
Huuup!
Putting strength into it, HunGyo kept pressing down with the sword.
—Krk, krrrk!
Iron Fist struggled and wildly swung his fists, but it did little to affect HunGyo.
He simply kept applying force, continuing to push him downward into the floor.
Crack, craaack!
The marble floor fractured, and eventually shattered.
He was even continuing to drive him deeper into it.
"W-what.....!"
And then.
Kobe was horrified. Iron Fist's HP was dropping at a rapid rate.
"You're saying he's not using the sword and is just ending it with pure strength?"
It was absurd.
Since the sword would not work, he was simply trying to separate Iron Fist's head from his body through sheer force....
Easy to say.
But was that even possible?
"Our HunGyo's stats are kind of ridiculously good."
Baek Jinwoo deliberately added that one remark.
HunGyo's Strength stat, after being refined through the Unique Trinity Rune, had now surpassed 4,000.
Craaaack!
In the end, Iron Fist's head was forcibly torn away by brute strength.
It was overwhelming power in the truest sense.
And the remaining three summons went through a similar process.
Rip, stab! Stab!
One by one.
Whenever they charged at him, he knocked away their attacks, then with a linked follow-up movement drove his sword into their necks.
The trajectory was so short and efficient that it was enough to send chills down one's spine.
"..We lost. Korea really had been hiding a monster."
Kobe's body, having cleanly admitted defeat, swished away and disappeared.
—K-Kobe Pochettino goes down as well!
—He finishes him off in 30 seconds flat without even seeming to exert himself!
—Is this really... the power of God Ji-nu?
—At this point, he might genuinely be able to contend with Xenos...! No, even beyond Xenos, with Rachel as well!
"So now all that's left is Xenos?"
Baek Jinwoo, who had been standing there at ease, began loosely rotating his wrists.
Up until now, it had all been child's play.
From the Five Emperors onward, he had no intention of letting his guard down.
They were rotten veterans who had once ruled this game, so there was no telling what kind of tricks they might be hiding.
'Still.'
He would finish even Xenos with HunGyo.
Baek Jinwoo's eyes turned cold.
From this point on, he intended to properly show the people of this world, and even the Five Emperors, what the pinnacle of control really was.
How far one could fight with a single summon.
* * *
"Ha, this is insane."
Olivia, who had been watching the match, abruptly stood up.
Bale, Rory too.
No, the entire British national team except Rachel stood up in shock.
"Kobe got handled like that?"
"I could maybe understand Jones, but that bastard Kobe Pochettino is the real deal...."
"HunGyo, to think he's that strong..."
It was a performance shocking enough that they had no choice but to stare.
Those two American monsters, whose rankings were similar to theirs—or even higher—had both been finished off in under a minute total.
"Unni."
Olivia bit her lip.
Jones, and Kobe too.
She could have beaten them herself, sure, but not that overwhelmingly.
Now she had to admit it.
God Ji-nu.
That man is a monster.
"So that's why you said what you did."
"Yeah."
Rachel lightly nodded.
"I told you last time too, but that man isn't on a level that we can judge."
She closed her eyes and recalled the past.
Battle of Summoners.
The first time she had communicated with him there, and the first time she saw his control.
'I thought he wasn't human.'
Honestly, she thought he was AI.
Didn't some trashy game companies make operator accounts to induce users to spend money?
She thought God Ji-nu was that kind of existence.
Otherwise, she believed there was no way control alone could overcome the gap between a no-spender and an extreme whale.
'That's how unreal it was.'
And even now, the unreal part remained the same.
The summon called HunGyo. That summon made no sense either.
'For now, it's still okay.'
Rachel's eyes narrowed.
Just as he had not yet revealed the full extent of his true power, Rachel too still had one hidden card left.
"There's only one thing you all need to do."
Rachel murmured.
"In the finals, drain as much of Baek Jinwoo's power as possible."
Rachel had already become certain that Korea would advance to the finals.