Adel knelt. He crossed his arms and blocked Su-hyeunâs sword.
Clash, clashâ
âGasp!â
Su-hyeun gave one big shot. The power of Su-hyeunâs sword was stronger than any other attack Adel had ever received. As Su-hyeun pressed down, Adel couldnât even stand up straight. He felt a burning feeling from the back of his hands that were blocking the sword.
Dripâ
Blood leaked through the gauntlets and ran down the back of Adelâs hands.
<<Blood? Am I bleeding right now?>>
Adel was wearing gauntlets made from adamantium. Although the adamantium content was low, it was confirmed that it couldnât be broken or cut by anything. The researchers said that even if he took a hit from a missile, the gauntlets would be fine. But now his adamantium gauntlets were cut. Although they were small cuts, it was still hard to believe.
<<But I stopped him, at least.>> Adel grinned.
Gordon Rohan couldnât have stopped this attack and had gotten injured, instead.
<<But I blocked his sword! Then, itâs worth trying. Iâll counterattackâŠ>>
Thumpâ
At that moment, Su-hyeun trampled on Adelâs knee. Adel, who was about to rise up and to swing his fist, widened his eyes. Because of the power of Su-hyeun stepping on his knee, he couldnât stand up.
âDonât move. Stay still.â Su-hyeun lifted his sword again. âDonât avoid it unless you want to get your head cut.â
Swishâ!
Clang, clankâ!
Su-hyeun continued to strike above Adelâs head. Adel couldnât escape. He just kept raising his hands to block the sword. His arms were getting tired, they felt as if they would tear apart. But, as Su-hyeun said, Adel couldnât avoid the sword.
<<Heâs going to kill meâŠ>>
Adel thought he really might die if things went wrong. He felt like his neck would be cut if his defense fell for even just a moment. But, even so, he couldnât keep blocking like this.
Adel clenched his teeth. He began to rise up with strength in his legs. Su-hyeun moved the foot that had been steeping on Adelâs knee. They increased the distance. And, in that brief moment, Adel pulled his fist back and reloaded his power.
âYou die!â
Whooshâ
The fist, with the adamantium gauntlet, flew to Su-hyeunâs head. Su-hyeun didnât move his sword. Adel had a smile of satisfaction.
<<Yes! I got him!>>
Whooshâ
Whamâ!
A Dull and heavy sound rang. Adel couldnât believe his eyes. He hadnât hit Su-hyeunâs sword. Adel hit his fist. Su-hyeun blocked Adelâs attack with his bare hand, without any weapons like gauntlets.
<<What a stupid bastard! His fingers must be all smashedâŠ>>
Crack, crackâ!
But the cracking sound came from a different side. Adel looked at his fist. He couldnât believe what he was seeing. The golden gauntlet on his fist began to crack.
Crack, crackâ!
Clangâ!
The shattered pieces of gauntlet fell to the floor. Adel backed off, staring at the gauntlet pieces scattered everywhere.
âW-what is this nonsenseâŠ,â Adel said in surprise.
âThat was quite hard,â Su-hyeun said, shaking his fist.
âWhat the hell did you do? How⊠thatâs adamantiumââ
âEven though it was a great weapon, the person who used it wasnât so great. And, in this world, thereâs no such thing as a perfect metal.â
At Su-hyeunâs words, Adel asked with a doubtful look, âWait. No way. Did you plan all this from the beginningâŠ?â
âOf course. If it werenât for this, I could have finished you already.â
Stomp, stompâ
Su-hyeun slowly walked to Adel.
âSo? How do you feel about losing your precious weapon? It was like a body part, wasnât it? What value do you have without it?â
âAaaagh!â
Rapâ!
Adel swung his fist instinctively. His fist hit Su-hyeun. Adel was puzzled. His reckless attack was successful?
Thumpâ
âArgh!â
Su-hyeun hit Adelâs stomach. Adelâs back bent and his knees shook with shock.
âLook at this,â said Su-hyeun.
Whackâ!
This time, Su-hyeun hit Adelâs face. âYouâre awful.â
âArghâŠâ
Blood began to pour from Adelâs face. It looked like his nose was broken.
Grabâ
Su-hyeun grabbed Adelâs head as he tried to step back. And Su-hyeunâs fist, raised high, smashed his face again.
Whack, whackâ!
Adelâs teeth broke, one by one, and fell to the floor. Adel, who was being beaten, hardly opened his mouth to say something.
âG-giâŠâ
Whackâ!
Su-hyeun punched Adelâs mouth again. Adel didnât even get a chance to give up. Su-hyeun made Adel unable to surrender. Su-hyeun held Adelâs head tight.
âArghâŠArâŠâ Adel moaned.
âYou say it right now, on your own.â Su-hyeunâs eyes turned cold and harsh. âAbout what you did yesterday and why you did itâŠâ
Adelâs eyes shook. <<Is he telling me to say everything about yesterday from here? About how I attacked Su-hyeun and Gordon Rohan because I was blinded by the thought of victory? No, I canâtâŠ>>
As soon as he confessed, he would be doomed. Not only he would be criticized for his morality by everyone, but heâd be a pariah for the rest of his life.
<<And what about the European Awakener Federation? What will happen if people find out the federation does such things?>>
The coalition would never even be formed. It would be impossible. Adel couldnât say it out loud.
âSo⊠You donât want to say it, do you?â Su-hyeun asked, looking at Adel, who was held by his hand. Adel could only shake his head a little bit. âWell. Youâll change your mind soon.â
[The Curse of the Dark Psychic â Pain.]
In front of Adelâs eyes, a soul wearing a black robe appeared. At that moment, the sensory organs of Adelâs entire body became dozens of times more sensitive.
âShake your hand whenever you change your mind.â
Whamâ!
Su-hyeun punched Adelâs stomach. Adelâs eyes turned white and his body bent almost in half.
âArghâŠâ
âIâll keep hitting you until then.â
Su-hyeun raised his hand again. One-sided violence began.
***
âHey. Will you just watch it?â
At Johnny Bradâs question, Gordon Rohan nodded. âDonât bother them. Adel didnât say that heâll give up yet.â
âI saw his mouth. The guy tried to surrender.â
âYes. He tried to surrender. But he didnât actually surrender, did he?â Gordon Rohan looked down the stadium from the top of the stand and rested his chin on his desk.
Johnny Brad looked at Gordon Rohan as if he couldnât understand him. âPeople will criticize the Ranking Wars for allowing such one-sided violence.â
âLet them. I donât care. If they have an issue with me, they can always come and find me. Iâll smash them all.â
ââŠI guess you really donât like him.â
âWho? Adel?â
âYes.â
âI donât like him that much. He has quite a lot of talent and skills, but he didnât try to become stronger through effort. He only thought of petty tricks,â Gordon Rohan said, looking at Adel, who was still being beaten up. âLet Su-hyeun beat him up until Adel says âsurrender.â Thatâs the rule.â
***
âStâŠoâŠpâŠâ Adel hardly opened his mouth to say.
While Adel was being beaten, he tried to surrender over and over again. But whenever he tried to open his mouth, Su-hyeun smashed it. Like that, Adel was beaten for a few minutes.
The Curse of the Dark Psychic was a skill to maximize the pain of the subdued object. It specialized in torture. Because of this skill, Adel was now experiencing a pain that he had never felt before. He was just being hit by a fist, but he felt pain like his body was breaking down.
âAre you ready to say it now?â Su-hyeun stopped the beating. He pulled Adel up and met his eyes.
Adel shook his body. He barely opened his eyes and hardly looked at Su-hyeun. And that moment, the third eye on Su-hyeunâs forehead opened.
[Third Eye â Predator.]
Syaaaaâ
Adelâs body was frozen. He couldnât move his arms or legs, as if they were tied up. His mouth trembled. Under the influence of the Predator skill, Adel felt an instinctive fear of Su-hyeun.
âThen say it.â Su-hyeun dropped Adel and nodded his head. âSay it, and I wonât kill you.â
Adel couldnât think straight. His head was full of instinctive fear. He wanted to live. So, Adel turned his body away from Su-hyeun and knelt down on the floor.
âDonât kill meâŠâ
At the very last moment, Adel had a brief conflict. He still had a little bit of reason in the back of his mind. But it didnât last. He felt the presence of Su-hyeun, standing in his back.
âIâŠâ
***
The CBC broadcasting station that had been broadcasting the Ranking Wars was in an uproar because of Adel. He suddenly opened his mouth and started to confess during the fight.
âWhatâs happening?â
âDo you think thatâs true?â
CBCâs producer, Bae Young-cheol and the writer, Kim Hyeun-su were staring at the broadcast screen. The screen was showing Adelâs face. The game was paused. Adelâs voice came out of the TV.
â I am so sorry. I will never do such things againâŠ
Adel was shivering and stuttering. He certainly didnât seem normal. Ordinarily, Adel was a man of laughter and always looked relaxed. But now, he was scared of Su-hyeun.
âSo, the conclusion is,â Bae Young-cheol said, âthe European Union decided to create another union of European awakeners⊠and to make it look good, they tried to make Adel winner of the Ranking Wars⊠am I right?â
If it was all true, it would be a huge scoop. Too many S-Rank awakeners were involved to consider it a simple fight among awakeners.
âYea. I think youâre right,â Kim Hyeun-su answered.
âWhy the hell is he confessing, then?â
âI guessâŠhe was afraid of dying because he was beaten up too much.â
âDonât you think maybe he was threatened while he was beaten up?â Bae Young-cheol asked.
âHis story is too detailed for that. And I think there is circumstantial evidence,â Kim Hyeun-su said.
âCircumstantial evidence? Like what?â Bae Young-cheol asked in surprise.
âSome awakeners from the European Union disappeared. Itâs news from reporter Mr. Jeong from San Francisco.â
âWow. He got the news fast.â
The story sounded convincing. In particular, just looking at the way the floor of the stadium was crushed, people could guess there was a big fight the day before.
âWhat do you think will happen now, sir?â Kim Hyeun-su asked.
âWhat do you mean?â
âI mean Kim Su-hyeun. He looks like heâs about to pick a fight with the whole European Union openly.â
âFight? Do you think this is about to be a fight?â
âYes?â
âThis is a warning.â
Kim Hyeun-su tilted his head and asked, âWhat do you mean?â
âKim Su-hyeun resorted to violence against Adel and made him confess the reason himself.â
âYea. And why is thatâŠ?â
âWhat do European Union awakeners think of that? Do you think theyâll keep trying to fight with Kim Su-hyeun? Creating a Union and joining the forces? Why? For what reason?â
âBecauseâŠâ
Kim Hyeun-su couldnât answer. And he finally realized. The European Awakener Federation was still an unclear organization. It didnât officially exist, yet. AndâŠ
âNo oneâs name was revealed, except Adel.â
âYes. Thatâs right.â Bae Young-cheol ignited an electronic cigarette and sucked a sip for a long time. âIn this situation, if the European Awakener Federation was created and people joined? That would be like admitting you were one of the attackers.â
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âWow. ThatâsâŠâ
âNow do you get it why I called it a warning?â
What Su-hyeun wanted to say about this was very clear.
âWith this, heâs making sure the European Awakener Federation isnât going to happen.â