Chapter 474. Side By Side (1)
When Rahmadat came out, Seo Jun-Ho was already waiting outside in the vacant lot.
"Oh, he’s awake?” said Arnold as he approached Seo Jun-Ho. He saw Rahmadat and said to him, “I heard you two are about to fight. Anyway, it’s been quite a while since you’ve eaten something, so I think you should eat first."
"Hmm, how many days has it been?” asked Rahmadat.
"Eight days." Rahmadat stared at Arnold. Rahmadat was sure that Arnold said that they would wake him up if he still weren’t awake even after a week.
Arnold chuckled softly at the sight.
"Your friend stopped me."
Arnold made a sidelong glance at Seo Jun-Ho, recalling what the latter had said to him a few days ago.
“Don"t wake him up.”
Seo Jun-Ho stood in front of the cave and even circulated his power to stop Arnold.
“He can do it.”
Arnold agreed, but the extension would only be a day. If it weren’t for Seo Jun-Ho’s intervention, then Rahmadat would have been forcefully removed from the prison of his own consciousness without learning emanc.i.p.ation.
"I almost made a big mistake because I didn’t trust you."
"Rules are rules, so you weren’t doing anything wrong. It"s my fault for waking up too late."
Had he understood? Arnold smiled at Rahmadat’s words before asking, “Anyway, I’m your teacher, so why are you speaking informally to me?”
"Indra, Shiva, and Vishnu are the only ones above me. Oh, I"ll let Buddha squeeze in."
‘This punk...’
Arnold shook his head and tapped him on the back. “Go on, then.”
Arnold was curious. What would emanc.i.p.ation look like if a human used it rather than a werewolf?
“…”
Rahmadat slowly walked over to Seo Jun-Ho. The latter’s cold and wary expression was unfamiliar to him. Seo Jun-Ho was wearing the same expression he had worn when they first met many years ago.
"Jun-Ho."
Seo Jun-Ho raised his hand to stop Rahmadat. Rahmadat could see hostility in Seo Jun-Ho’s eyes. The light in those pair of eyes was something he had never seen before.
"I’m sorry, but I"ll consider you an enemy for now. Otherwise, I won’t be able to go all out."
“Is that so?” Rahmadat nodded slowly. He finally understood why his friend was suddenly cold and forlorn.
‘No, this isn’t the first time…’
Seo Jun-Ho had always been alone since he woke up after defeating the Frost Queen.
‘Friend.’
Yes, friend. The word made their relationship seem beautiful.
‘But in reality, the word friend has always been a burden to him since he woke up.’
Skaya, Gilberto, Mio, himself, and anyone else. No one had been able to stand side by side with him since they emerged from the ice statues. They couldn’t walk next to him.
‘I have always been feeling sorry for that, but…’
Rahmadat felt like he would go crazy with frustration. Therefore, he immediately accepted Arnold’s offer for him to undergo the Arch Warrior Trial.
"I understand.” Rahmadat could understand Seo Jun-Ho’s feelings, so he wasn’t planning on taking this spar lightly.
"I"ll attack with the resolve to kill you." Seo Jun-Ho warned Rahmadat. “However, I think you won’t die. Probably…”
Seo Jun-Ho could confidently attack Rahmadat with all his might because of the latter’s Super Regeneration (EX).
"Shall I come? Or do you want to go first?"
Rahmadat closed his eyes and replied, "Let me go first."
He wanted to launch the first attack because he still had to emanc.i.p.ate.
Hooo… Haaa…
Rahmadat abandoned everything and opened his eyes.
"Golden eyes...?’
Seo Jun-Ho"s eyes narrowed. Rahmadat’s eyes looked like they could see the truth behind the universe. However, Rahmadat’s eyes weren’t the only change.
‘I feel tingly…’
Rahmadat’s aura made Seo Jun-Ho feel tingly all over. He was convinced that he would die if he were to let his guard down. At the revelation, Seo Jun-Ho’s expression turned grim.
"Wow..."
"All right. Here I come."
Rahmadat took on a stance. It was his first time fighting while emanc.i.p.ated.
‘I have no idea what’s going to happen if I use that while I’m in this state…’
Rahmadat prepared to execute Tandav.
Seo Jun-Ho"s Keen Intuition cried for the first time in a while.
- Partner! It’s dangerous!
Keen Intuition had shouted desperately, even though he had remained silent during Seo Jun-Ho’s recent battle against dozens of vampire apostles.
Seo Jun-Ho’s magic erupted.
"I know it’s dangerous…"
However, it was unavoidable. To be exact, he didn"t want to avoid it.
‘Prove it…’
‘Prove that you can walk next to me…’
‘Prove that I can leave my back to you…"
‘Prove it to me…!’
Rahmadat abruptly disappeared as he vanished at unbelievable speeds.
At the same time, Seo Jun-Ho"s magic pervaded the surroundings.
‘Freeze!’
Seo Jun-Ho briefly lost track of Rahmadat, but he soon found Rahmadat because the latter reappeared behind him.
Rahmadat sent a fist flying toward him, and in response, Seo Jun-Ho scattered flowers of darkness and ice toward the flying fist.
Craackle!
Moon Eye instantly turned Rahmadat into an ice statue. An ordinary person would have immediately died upon colliding with Moon Eye.
‘But…’
Seo Jun-Ho could feel a tingling on his nape.
Crack!
The ice statue exploded, and Rahmadat’s fist continued flying toward him.
"Ah!” Seo Jun-Ho flew backward upon being hit in the abdomen. It was only a punch, but Rahmadat’s fist shattered his bones and disturbed his organs.
"Haaa… hooo…”
Rahmadat breathed roughly out of exhaustion.
‘This… this is hard…’
Rahmadat couldn’t have expected that maintaining Turiya, executing Tandav, and taking the brunt of Moon Eye’s firepower would exhaust a ton of his stamina.
"How many times did I die?’
Rahmadat started to feel dizzy from the extreme exertion. However, Rahmadat forced himself to remain steadfast.
‘Not yet…’
It wasn’t enough.
He had to show Seo Jun-Ho that he was Rahmadat Khali—India’s hero, Shiva’s descendant, and Specter’s comrade.
"...Come, Rahmadat."
"I"m coming!"
Rahmadat didn’t choose to execute Tandav.
He stomped his way over to Seo Jun-Ho, and the sheer force behind his steps was so strong that his every step created a sonic boom.
"I can see it."
Seo Jun-Ho"s eyes deduced Rahmadat’s movements.
Rahmadat’s first was heading for…
‘My stomach…’
Boom!
There was a loud noise as Rahmadat’s fist collided against the darkness on Seo Jun-Ho’s stomach. At the same time, Seo Jun-Ho reached for Rahmadat’s arm and snapped it.
"Argh!"
The sudden pain made Rahmadat exclaim unknowingly, but Seo Jun-Ho’s action was of no use.
"I"m Rahmadat Khali!"
Super Regeneration (EX) made quick work of the injury, and Rahmadat swiped at Seo Jun-Ho next to him.
However, Seo Jun-Ho turned into darkness and reappeared a few meters away from Rahmadat. The former didn’t take any damage at all.
"Tsk."
‘It feels like I’m dealing with a ghost.’
Rahmadat grinned, showing his teeth. He was sure that the people who were unlucky enough to face Specter had to have thought the same as him today.
He looked at the expressionless Seo Jun-Ho.
‘You’re already there?’
While Rahmadat was sleeping, Seo Jun-Ho was already many steps ahead of him.
Rahmadat finally realized that, but he wasn’t discouraged at all.
Why?
It was all because fighting the strong had always been enjoyable for him.
Thump! Thump!
Rahmadat thumped on his chest.
"Here I come!"
“…”
He was on fire.
Seo Jun-Ho sighed and smiled softly.
‘He really is a genius…’
Seo Jun-Ho didn’t think that he was a genius. Compared to his friends, he wasn’t a genius at all. His friends were the real geniuses. They were geniuses who could derive a dozen other things from one thing.
"But…"
They had a long way ahead of them if they wanted to catch up to him.
“Eight days is still too short…”
Seo Jun-Ho had been grinding for decades. He felt something swell in his chest.
Rahmadat"s kick was flying toward his abdomen.
“Wheeew…!” Seo Jun-Ho exhaled all the breath he had collected.
King’s Breath.
The vacant lot instantly transformed into a snowfield after being subjected to the harsh cold of Seo Jun-Ho’s breath, which was reminiscent of the north winds.
“…”
The battle ended right there and then.
Seo Jun-Ho glanced at Arnold and said, "Please get him out."
"Uh, uh...?"
The bewildered Arnold stammered without realizing it.
‘I-Is he really human?’
If he was still human, then Arnold wasn’t sure how he would handle the idea that humans could become strong enough to turn everything around them into a snowfield with just their breaths.
In addition, it was spring, so winter was still many months away.
"A-All right…"
Arnold had to emanc.i.p.ate to rip the thick statue apart and rescue Rahmadat.
"Cough! Cough!"
Rahmadat shivered in the cold. His frostbitten figure gave off a ghastly bluish sheen.
“…”
Seo Jun-Ho slowly walked up to Rahmadat.
Rahmadat stared at Seo Jun-Ho.
‘D-did I fail…?’
Rahmadat’s face started to turn anxious, which was unlike his usual demeanor.
Seo Jun-Ho scowled and chided. "Hey, you punk. Why did you keep aiming for my abdomen?"
"Because it’s only natural to keep hitting where it hurts the most?”
"Geez, your attacks were so strong that I almost cried from the pain earlier.” Seo Jun-Ho reached out while grumbling. Rahmadat stared alternatingly between Seo Jun-Ho’s face and his hand before smiling softly.
Pa!
Rahmadat quickly slapped Seo Jun-Ho’s palm.
"It was a good match, my friend."
“Yeah, it was a great match, you genius punk."
Seo Jun-Ho sighed, and he couldn’t help but get worried.
‘What if Skaya also comes back as a monster like him?’
If Skaya were to claim second among them in terms of talent, then none of them would dare to claim first.
“This world is so unfair…” Seo Jun-Ho grumbled.
***
"A-a wise choice!"
The elders of the Magic Tower stood up and clapped. Their facade of pretentiousness couldn’t hold a candle against a real genius.
"Hahahaha! Indeed! What a wise choice! You’ve made a very wise."
The Tower Master of the Magic Tower, Marcus Asir, laughed while stroking his beard.
It wasn’t just him. Everyone else in the council of elders had fatherly smiles.
“Yes, His Majesty the Emperor is the ruler of this continent, but how dare he try to take our tower’s fortune?"
"Khmm. Sir Hart has pa.s.sed away, so I understand his desire to acquire talents. But this child isn’t an ordinary talent at all!"
“I won"t let her go, no matter what! Hmph!”
The elders were staring at a lovely woman sitting in a chair. The lovely woman had a playful look as she sat there with her pastel sky-blue hair.
The lovely woman was none other than Skaya Killiland, and she finally spoke, "I’m really grateful for this welcoming. I was worried because I had heard that I was about to get kicked out of the Magic Tower.”
"A-Ahem…”
"Who said that?! Who said something about kicking her out?!"
"Well, at the time, we thought she was looking down on the Magic Tower because she didn’t even consider taking our entrance exam.”
It was a bit unbelievable, but the Seven Elders of the Magic Tower were clearly trying their best to cling to a woman who was young enough to be their granddaughter. It was so unbelievable that anyone wouldn’t believe that it actually happened.
After all, the Seven Elders of the Magic Tower were famous for their strictness and strict adherence to their principles.
"Anyway, our Skaya declined His Majesty’s offer, didn’t she?" Marcus chuckled. "With that being said, no one should ever mention that this child does not value the Magic Tower again—especially in front of me.”
"Hmph. If someone is bold enough to say something like that, I’ll sew their mouth shut!”
"Who would dare to doubt her loyalty when even His Majesty failed to pouch her from us?"
“Hahaha, hahaha!”
For the first time in a while, the Seven Elders were laughing together.
Marcus turned to look at Skaya and asked, "What are you doing, Skaya?”
Skaya was suddenly storing items in her bag, so he couldn’t help but ask.
“I’m packing up.”
"Huh-huh, yes, yes. You’re packing up." Marcus repeatedly nodded. However, he felt that there was something wrong, so he couldn’t help but ask, "Wait, why are you packing up?”
Wouldn’t someone usually pack their things up whenever they wanted to move somewhere else?
Some of the irritable elders spoke up.
"Geez, Tower Master, why are you so dense?”
"Isn’t it obvious? She’s obviously asking for a better room. Let’s cover an empty room with pink wallpaper. I heard pink is a popular color these days.."
"That’s a great idea. I"ll fill the bookshelves with my books and magic scrolls.”
"No, I don"t need a new room.”
Skaya was finally done packing up. She smiled brightly after shouldering her backpack.
"You can also clear the room I was using. Give it to someone else.”
"Hmm, are you planning on becoming a minimalist?”
“No, I’m an anti-minimalist…”
It didn’t matter whether it was money, treasures, fans, or fame—the more, the merrier!
The Seven Elders didn’t know what to say.
Skaya then stuck her tongue out and exclaimed, "Uh, I learned a lot, so it’s about time I say goodbye. Goodbye, teachers!”
Skaya performed a two-finger salute before falling backward.
A rift in s.p.a.ce abruptly opened, and it swallowed Skaya Killiland whole.
“…”
A strange rumor eventually started making the rounds in Magino Novilis.
Marcus and the Seven Elders were apparently suffering from aphasia.