I sent a whisper to Gyeonso Dragon, who was playing the match. Now that Park Muyeol had woken up, there was no need to delay the time. Thus, I sent a whisper to him to fight as best as he could and the reply arrived at a rapid pace.
-Gyeonso Dragon: I"ve been waiting for this.
It was the end. The words were short, but there was a subtle heaviness to them. This was why I liked him. Even in the North Pole, Gyeonso Dragon always stood silently beside me, behind me, and sometimes in front of me. Once again, I felt that I had a really good brother.
Park Muyeol wondered, “I don"t think this is nothing? Mido is being carried.”
Mido was being carried on a stretcher. I heard the priests talking. There seemed to be a clinic room right next door. I s.h.i.+fted my gaze toward Park Muyeol in front of me. A faint red star spirit was surrounding his body. This was the red energy that symbolized a first-grade constellation. It soon s.h.i.+mmered like a haze and disappeared. I guess he really had a conversation.
“She was a bit hurt. It was poison. There is no need to worry anymore.”
“Umm, I told her to be careful.”
“The opponent was too bad. It is a bit like our side.”
“Our side...?”
Park Muyeol"s eyes widened slightly and I nodded. “Yes. The use of daggers is very natural. He had been fighting with daggers for a long time. In all likelihood, he is like us.”
“He is an interesting guy. Is he a growing bud?”
I declared, “That"s why I"m going to step on him.”
“Kuhahahaha! He is dead! He touched Choi Chuntaek"s granddaughter! Hahahaha!” Park Muyeol laughed vigorously with his head tilted back.
Hutton turned his head toward this place from where he had been watching the screen projection floating above the crystal ball. Then he looked back at the screen again like he wasn"t interested. Reinhardt and Mido were so injured that they were transferred to the clinic next to the waiting room. Therefore, the only ones left were Hutton and Mad Dog. I didn"t know where that d.a.m.n clown went. Then Mad Dog walked out of a corner.
...I was just talking about this person. He turned his head toward me and frowned with a meaningful expression. This d.a.m.n thing. Why was he looking at me like this?
I asked, “What are you looking at?”
“...Che.”
“You rude b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
Mad Dog entered the corner with a s.h.i.+t-eating expression and sat down in a cross-legged manner. I didn"t know what I would meet him in a fight, but I hoped it was as soon as possible. I wanted to kick his face right now. Well, that and...
“Muyeol.”
“Huh?”
“What did you talk about with Hercules?”
“Huh? How do you know?”
“I told you. I"ve had conversations with them.”
“Ah, I see. That"s right.”
He sighed lightly and looked at the screen with a serious face. I s.h.i.+fted my gaze there and saw Gyeonso Dragon beating the protective film of light made by Kim Hyeonu using his fists wrapped in blue lightning. At first glance, it seemed that Gyeonso Dragon had the advantage, but as a ranker of South Korea, Kim Hyeonu"s counterattacks were quite challenging. His cla.s.s was a combination of a priest and knight. He had a lot of health and recovery skills so it wasn"t easy for him to die.
Park Muyeol glanced at Hutton once and spoke in a quiet voice. “He and I are...”
* * *
Kim Jebok sat down with crossed legs and looked at the screen carefully while lost in many thoughts. He had been drinking a potion to heal the sword wound caused by that woman. However, Kim Jebok"s mood wasn"t good because the fight wasn"t as easy as he thought.
Then he had received a whisper when he arrived at the waiting room. It was from Supreme Fire Dragon. After hearing some bitter words about holding Kim Jebok responsible for ruining his work the other day, Kim Jebok didn"t get along with Supreme Fire Dragon. He opened the whisper window they had previously shared and contemplated the conversation again.
-Supreme Fire Dragon: Kim Jebok.
-Mad Dog: Yes.
-Supreme Fire Dragon: Change the operation.
-Mad Dog: Huh...?
-Supreme Fire Dragon: The old man is more powerful than I thought. You won"t be able to win against him alone. Therefore, I have decided to pull out of the surprise attack outside. The ongoing cigarettes business is already being sorted out by the children. So don"t rush to die. Just fight a bit before directly escaping the field.
“Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d. If you"re afraid then just say so. Why say so many words?”
Kim Jebok bit his lip and closed the conversation box. He was furious just thinking about it again. Obviously, the old man"s previous match was great, but he was still confident about winning. Kim Jebok lifted the dagger in his hand, Arachne"s Fang.
It was a very rare dagger that Yoon Seowon, the youngest son of the Holy Spirit Group, had bought for him. Originally, it was just a fang. Then Supreme Fire Dragon asked Yoo Seowon to hire a blacksmith user to make this and gave it to Kim Jebok. It was only to kill that d.a.m.n old man.
“In any case, the rich are very generous. I just don"t understand why he is so close to Supreme Fire Dragon. What good is that b.a.s.t.a.r.d with a bad character? Tsk. Well, this gift is pretty good.”
The Arachne"s Fang blade shone with a purple light. The hilt had a spider-shaped ornament on it that Kim Jebok liked. He heard that this fang originally belonged to a giant spider monster. It was a huge and dangerous boss-cla.s.s monster. He thought the performance was really great.
"I want to take it into reality... it is really a waste."
Kim Jebok clicked his tongue and looked at the old man with angry eyes again.
"Why the h.e.l.l does he use a mask?"
He licked a dagger that didn"t contain poison and vowed to get revenge. Supreme Fire Dragon asked him to deliberately lose the match, but he had no intention of doing so. There were still a lot of debts he had to pay back to that d.a.m.n old man.
"If he is Dark Wolf, then he is Dark Wolf. Let"s see what sound comes out in front of Arachne"s poison. I"m looking forward to it. I"m going to tear all his limbs off."
* * *
-The match is over! Gyeonso Dragon will advance to the top four!
The third match didn"t deviate from expectations. Gyeonso Dragon triumphed like I had already foreseen. One of Raitra"s lethal moves, Lightning Dragon, hadn"t even come out so it was probably a natural result. Even so, Kim Hyeonu endured well. Indeed, Koreans had a persistent spirit. I thought he was a pretty boy with no guts, but he was actually quite manly.
I saw Park Muyeol preparing to go on stage in the distance. Next to him stood the huge Hutton.
“The stick"s task...”
Previously, Park Muyeol was told many stories. He heard various adventure stories and legends. They were all Hercules" achievements. He killed the Nemean lion, killed the nine-headed hydra monster, captured the G.o.ddess" deer, caught the giant boar, cleaned the king"s stables, exterminated the monsters in the lake, and overpowered two violent bulls with force. He also tamed the flesh-eating horse and didn"t hesitate to steal the queen"s girdle. The story of the human Hercules stealing the golden apples and capturing Cerberus, the guard dog of h.e.l.l, was really unbelievable.
Well, it was Jupiter"s blood so it was no wonder. Hercules was the son of Jupiter and a human woman. Put simply, he was a demiG.o.d. Well, the reason Hercules was made in the first place was due to the prophecy that giants would trample on the Celestial Palace. It was said that the only one who could stop it was someone born of a G.o.d and a human. In the end, the prophecy was right.
“Hmm. Now that I look at it, there wasn"t any task achieved with a club.”
Hercules overcame many trials and achieved the tasks, but there wasn"t a single task that he did with his favorite weapon. He was very regretful and this was why his constellation became a stick. The reason he called Park Muyeol was because he wanted Park Muyeol to help him finish a new task with a stick.
Earlier, Park Muyeol had told me. "Hercules chose three people as his successors."
"Three?"
"Yes. However, the first person he chose had chosen a different constellation, not even looking at Hercules. That"s why he was very angry."
"Hmm, the rest are you and that bald guy?"
"Yes, but Hutton doesn"t seem to cherish the club. His actions are also far from justice so Hercules doesn"t like him."
"Then you...?"
"Huhut, you"ll see later."
I watched Park Muyeol"s back while clearing my mind. I didn"t know what he would show, but I was looking forward to it. The Colosseum"s NPC spoke to the two people, “Players for the fourth match? You can enter now.”
Finally, Park Muyeol"s match began.
* * *
Step, step.
Park Muyeol walked through the dark path that was like a tunnel to the open-air Colosseum stage. The two men were completely different in height and size, but they walked in step with each other. In fact, it was Hutton"s consideration. It was a courtesy for the strong.
“This time, we must decide the winner.”
Park Muyeol heard Hutton"s words and chuckled. “Okay. This was what I wanted.”
Since then, the two people didn"t say anything. In fact, there was no need for a lot of words. For people like them, actions were more important than speaking. Park Muyeol and Hutton would soon have many conversations later. It was a hot conversation between men.
They walked a bit further and saw a familiar light. After this, the Colosseum appeared. The roar of the audience came like waves. The next moment—
“Waaaaaaaah!”
The shouts of many people beat at their ears. Many of them were calling out Park Muyeol"s name. Of course, there was the word "Grandfather" attached. This type of treatment wasn"t bad. Chuntaek might not like it, but it was good to be young.
-Introducing the players of the fourth match! Both players, come on stage.
At the host"s words, Park Muyeol proudly climbed up the stairs. Hutton also walked up with his huge body. The two men watched each other with heightened tension. Soon after the magicians raised the barrier, the trumpet sounded to announce the beginning of the match.
“Huhuhu. Stick"s Protection!” The first one to use it was Hutton. His lips stretched out in a smile, making him look excited.
A ma.s.sive wave of power spread out, causing the ground to shake. Even the barrier was temporarily shaken. Park Muyeol was still calm when he saw it. He was like a calm lake.
Hutton wondered, “Hey, why don"t you pull out your stick?”
“I"m fine, so come at me.”
“Hmm. If you want.”
Hutton shrugged and walked toward Park Muyeol. Park raised a hand to the wooden sword hanging from his waist and wrapped his fingers around it. Hutton was soon two meters away from him.
“...Stick"s Protection.”
An explosive force burst from him as he swung his wooden sword at a rapid speed. Park Muyeol planned to take advantage of the wave of strength that burst out whenever he used Stick"s Protection. The huge wave of power erupted between the two people and it was Hutton who fell.
“Ugh...” Hutton bounced back and shook his head with confusion. Meanwhile, Park Muyeol walked over with his wooden sword.
“Do you know the Styx River?”
“The Styx River? What is that?”
“Actually, I don"t know.”
[The "River of Absolute Vows" will fulfill the agreement.]
The small gla.s.s appeared in the air with small sparks.
“Even so, I just swore an oath on it. I will use this d.a.m.n stick to do a task.”
However, Park Muyeol wasn"t the only one who took an oath.
[A constellation who likes sticks is carrying out his oath.]
[The "River of Absolute Vows" wants a fair fight.]
[The power of the two people with "Stick"s Protection" has become the same.]
[Your strength will become a bit stronger.]
Red sparks appeared again and he felt his body becoming full of strength. He felt the power contained in his wooden sword becoming greater, and Park Muyeol placed the black wooden sword on his shoulder.
“It is time to be beaten, stripling.”