Chapter 517

[The swords of both players clash in the air. An immense shockwave!]

[That was definitely Taijihye Geom, right? Wow… What is this player even?]

[There are still 3 minutes left until the end of the first half. The players’ barriers are all in the 60% range, in a tight match.]

[There’s a saying that you should never engage in a stamina battle against the Chinese, but right now, there’s no denying that the Noname player looks much more comfortable in their movements!]

[As soon as that was said, Luo’an’s legs relax! Noname is pressing! Pressing! Continuing to swing the sword!]

Suddenly, Luo’an’s body recoils.

It did not move according to the direction of the aura.

The aura that exceeded its limit radius definitely burdens the body.

It is as if when spinning around with a heavy backpack, the body is dragged along.

Noname slyly rushes toward Luo’an.

The blade of the Chukhwa Sword hangs in front of them.

Attempting a counter as a latecomer, but Noname has a perfect counter magic.

[Unique: Adele]

“…!”

Luo’an’s body, honed by tedious training, instinctively takes a defensive stance.

Noname boldly engraves the gear onto Luo’an’s sword.

Clang-!

The mana engraving clings to the divine weapon of the Taoist school and ominously ticks away.

‘All I have to do is destroy the magic circle!’

Luo’an’s gaze is fixed on the magic circle.

The method of breaking apart Adele researched by magicians over the past year.

It’s a method of inserting a disruption circuit into the primary magic circle itself.

That way, all the accumulated energy can be turned into nothing.

However, Noname also sensed her unruly movements.

Noname hides the magic circle behind her back and teases with the sword.

From now on, there’s no place for either of them to retreat, a head-on confrontation.

Both swords gleam.

[Taijihye Geom – Yin-Yang Unfreezing]

[Black]

Luo’an strikes in from the right with a swing of aura.

Woong-

The Taiji on the ground spins.

“…!”

A sudden sharp turn that seems to defy the laws of physics.

[White]

A high-level transformation of aura follows.

Luo’an appears instantly to Noname’s left and brings down the white sword.

Swoosh-!

Amidst the tumultuous barriers, Noname’s eyes coolly settle.

The attack from the beginning has split the aura into two focal points.

First, the white sword, then the black sword, and just when it seemed to be white again, the black sword ruthlessly shatters Noname’s barrier.

Clang-!

Noname digs into an extreme gap to stab with the sword, but Luo’an parries even that.

She was finally on the brink of inserting the disruption circuit into the magic circle.

[Light]

Noname instantly retrieves the sword using the same method as before.

[Imperial Palace Sword Method 18 – Crescent Slash]

[Imperial Palace Sword Method 388 – Sun Shield]

[Imperial Palace Sword Method 121 – Crow Peck]

Without a moment’s delay, the Imperial Palace Sword Method punctuated the Unique Magic.

[Unique Magic – Esteria Ryu First Style]

[Adella – 25 Link]

“It won’t do. How much effort I put into designing this.”

[Break]

Kwahahahaha-!

A booming sound like gunfire pierced through the training hall’s barrier, reaching the audience.

[32nd Round Match 98]

[Time: 15:00]

[Noname (South Korea)] [54% | 83%]

[Luo’an (China)] [45% | 61%]

At halftime, the commentators were thrilled.

[That was a clean hit! Noname is properly showing off the power of the Unique Magic she created! Did you see? This is how you use Adele!]

[It seems she is executing a perfect strategy that could definitely secure the win. Although looking at the spent barriers, there isn’t a huge difference, Luo’an must have consumed a lot of aura, right? This could significantly decrease her performance in the second half.]

– I always think the size difference is like David and Goliath haha.

– Noname! Noname! Noname! Noname!

– Multi-aura is chaotic.

– For real, it feels like there are four people fighting though there are only two.

– How did she do Taijihye Geom?

– The Chinese player is good too… Not an easy opponent at all.

– Although she’s second in the group, she happens to be in the same group as Katsuhata haha.

With a bottle of water poured over her head, Luo’an returns to the training hall.

As the cameraman catches her blood-vessel-filled legs, the Chinese audience watches with teary-eyed cheers.

In contrast, Noname hops about the training hall like a bunny, showing no signs of fatigue.

As the commentators said, the second half began to take on a somewhat one-sided nature.

As the duel began, Luo’an leaned toward Taijihye Geom but focused more on Taiji Geom and Samjae Geombeop during the match.

She restrained her use of multiple auras as much as possible.

As they drew swords, they dodged at a distance where they barely missed each other, clashing swords while engaging in a war of aura consumption.

[Noname (South Korea)] [50% | 61%]

[Luo’an (China)] [32% | 55%]

Then, at the 8-minute mark of the second half, Luo’an made a significant mistake for the first time.

Woong-

A chilling blade passed over Noname’s head.

The movement was too big by far.

As she wasn’t activating multiple auras, there were no radical evasive maneuvers available.

Luo’an realized too late and tried to seal Noname’s arm with an external manifestation.

[Unique Magic: Licking Sword]

[Delayed Spell: Ignis Respicio]

Ziiing-!

Noname opened her mouth wide and shot a golden beam at Luo’an’s chin.

“Kyah!”

Luo’an screamed as she fell down.

The simultaneous burst of light plunged into a whiteout.

“Sometimes during a fight, you have to close your eyes!”

Noname shouted and charged forward.

Luo’an swung her sword at the sound ahead, but that was exactly what Noname intended.

[Retrieval: Ignis Respicio]

Crack crack crack-!

“Aaaah!”

A pure magical energy mass struck her from behind.

Blinded by Licking Sword, she did not see the delayed double casting.

Beeeee-!

After obstructing Luo’an’s vision and hearing, Noname assumed a stance.

The auras of red and deep blue once again formed a Taiji pattern.

[Casting: Black Aurora]

Plasma ignited all the Taiji patterns, emitting a massive amount of energy.

Noname scraped the ground with the Chukhwa Sword to absorb the aura.

Boom-

Stepping forward once.

Thud-

Taking a step sideways.

Swoosh-!

On the third step, she flew up and swung the sword with all her might.

[Imperial Palace Sword Method 20 – Half Moon Slash]

[Taijihye Geom – One Thought Reaches Heaven]

The aura rose to 5 meters, cutting through the training hall diagonally.

The spectators, watching, finally realized the significance of the barrier.

Woong-

The magical energy masses burst out in all directions, impacting the walls and creating ripples in the lake.

The first row of spectators watched, their faces tense as they stared at the shaking barrier of the training hall.

If it had this much power from outside the training hall, it could be assumed that Luo’an would definitely not withstand it.

In the training hall where grass was sliced, and sand was blown, Noname coughed and furrowed her brows.

Yet, Luo’an stood tall on both legs.

With both hands planted forward on her sword, she did not move an inch.

Among the most complicated of Taijihye Geom techniques, One Thought Reaches Heaven.

Even though Luo’an could never fully comprehend it, she spat out some spirit as she received Noname’s attack and deflected it downwards.

Thud- Clunk-

However, Luo’an’s barrier peeled off like a layer of skin and fell to the ground.

Perhaps due to receiving an overwhelming shock at once, it felt like the entire structure had broken.

[32nd Round Match 98]

[Time: 24:01]

[Noname (South Korea)] [48% | 51%]

[Luo’an (China)] [⚠10% (Non-recoverable) | 31%]

Not complete destruction, but non-recoverable.

[Luo’an (China)] [⚠10.183% (Non-recoverable) | 30.957%]

The micro-particle barrier never fell below 10%.

The match wasn’t over yet.

Noname slowly walked toward her and lifted her head.

Luo’an responded by barely lifting her head in return.

“I really hate saying I gain enlightenment in a real match. It feels too much like wishing for luck.”

“Ha… ha…”

“Still, you seem to have the qualifications.”

The aura of high-pressure magic flowing through the Taoist school’s divine weapon.

Not missing this moment, Noname gently placed her small hand atop Luo’an’s.

The transparent barrier that had enveloped Luo’an’s hand crackled and crumbled away.

“Was this really my best?”

Luo’an trembled as she let out a regretful remark.

Elimination in the top 32.

For a country that was regarded as strong, the record in the national exchange competition would seem rather meager.

“From now on, if you watch me fight, you’ll understand. It’s far more impressive to walk out against me on two feet.”

The barriers surrounding the training hall opened.

In the 100,000 stadium, there were also quite a few Chinese spectators.

Luo’an, frightened they might jeer and mock her, tightly shut her eyes.

“Waaaaaaaaah!”

“Whirrrrrrr!”

“It’s okay! You did well!”

But strangely, all she could hear from her own side was enthusiastic applause and whistling.

“Hey Luo’an!”

“…?”

From afar, Noname was posing.

“Ha, are you trying to take that away too?”

Luo’an chuckled in disbelief and returned the gesture with a Korean bow.

* * *

Both Chinese players were eliminated early in the national exchange competition.

The results already in the past cannot be changed.

Initially, the coaching staff received a lot of criticism for their lack of strategic preparation, and while it was good that they delivered a good match, Luo’an was also not free from criticism.

But does criticizing their national team immediately restore their pride?

Thus, the only thing they hoped for was one thing.

That Noname, who defeated Luo’an, would rise as high as possible, as high as she could.

[Chinese National Team Head Coach: “It’s unfortunate we met a top contender too early. If only the matchups were kinder, we could’ve made it to the semifinals.”]