The Hero Returns

Su-hyeun's declaration brought about a sizeable ripple to the arena.

Usually, the main competition and the final match would take place over several days. However, by doing what Su-hyeun had suggested, this year's Ranking Wars would be over in one day.

He even placed a significant restriction on himself.

"Well, it's certainly intriguing, but..."

"Wouldn't the tournament end far too quickly in this case?"

"More than anything else, though, would anyone agree to do something like that?"

"He sure has great confidence in himself, doesn't he?"

The crowd was getting curious.

The number of S-Rank awakeners currently in the main competition was about 30 percent of all S-Ranks dispersed throughout the world, and Su-hyeun was saying that he would face them all in a one-on-one fight.

Was something like that even possible, though?

They wanted to see it.

Also, they were curious about the "one opponent" Su-hyeun was talking about and the potential battle between the two.

"It must be Gordon Rohan."

"There isn't anyone else."

The spectators thought that Su-hyeun's only opponent today would be Gordon Rohan, the current number one, the organizer of the Ranking Wars, and the one called the strongest awakener in the world before Su-hyeun entered the scene.

And right at that moment...

The one they were thinking of, Gordon Rohan, finally said something. "Hmm… That suggestion puts me in a bind. However, it's also a rather intriguing idea, isn't it?"

He revealed himself from the top of the arena.

The wings of an angel were on his back, allowing him to fly in the air. While being subjected to the attention of every single spectator in the arena, he looked down at Su-hyeun on the ground.

Even though he wasn't using a megaphone, Gordon Rohan's voice was clearly heard throughout the arena. Just like how it was with Su-hyeun's voice earlier.

"Why don't you tell us more? For one, shouldn't you also put forward a reward or compensation for the participants who decide to accept your suggestion?"

What Gordon Rohan said just now was indeed correct.

The contestants' goal for entering this year's Ranking Wars was not to win the whole tournament. Gordon Rohan was to worry about, and with Su-hyeun also in the mix, they no longer even dreamed of winning.

What they wanted now was to earn more fame through the Ranking Wars.

However, the opportunity to do that would be gone if they went along with Su-hyeun's suggestion.

"You're right. It's fine even if you don't win against me. If any of you manage to hit me and leave behind even a small nick or a scratch, I'll pay you double the amount of the reward money."

"From your own funds, I presume?"

"Of course. And also," Su-hyeun scanned the contestants currently sitting among the grandstands. "If you want, I'll let you join the Paragon Guild as well. However, if that's not what you want, I can also give you one of the items in my possession."

"What...?"

"The Paragon Guild?"

"One of Kim Su-hyeun's items?"

Now those were astounding incentives, alright.

It didn't matter even if they didn't win. All they had to do was to hit him somehow.

Winning might be out of the question, but wouldn't something like scratching him a bit be possible to pull off? That was the thought that popped up in the contestants' heads, along with the greed sprouting in their hearts.

If they could join the Paragon Guild, their fame and fortune would get an instant boost. Not to forget, the Paragon Guild was seen as the world's strongest elite guild—a guild that hadn't accepted anyone since its inception, to boot.

The same also applied to Su-hyeun's items. A portion of the awakeners said that the half of Su-hyeun's incredible strength must've come from all the top-class items in his possession, after all.

"This is a jackpot."

"Hey, this is better than winning the tournament, isn't it?"

"And the reward payout is doubled, too..."

There didn't seem to be any negatives to consider, at least according to the offer.

And so, only two issues remained: one, whether or not Gordon Rohan would agree to this suggestion, and two, solving the dissatisfaction of the spectators who didn't like this suggestion at all.

However, the solution to these two problems wasn't that difficult at all.

"We'll hold it in the event match format," Gordon Rohan aired his idea after pondering the answer for a little while.

The event match format?

It sounded like a last-minute improvisation, but it didn't sound so bad as a pretext to get things moving.

By holding the competition in the event match format, it would be possible to accept both Su-hyeun's suggestions and continue with the main matches.

With this, the spectators feeling dissatisfied by the shortened length of the competition should be appeased to a degree.

"However, your rankings will still be affected. Any objections?" Gordon Rohan asked loudly.

No one voiced their objections.

The atmosphere had become even hotter, instead.

Gordon Rohan smirked deeply, "In that case, let's not beat around the bush and get started."

* * *

Even though he said that time was still required before the event match could get underway, he said that to call for those contestants who were not scheduled to participate in today's main matches. Gordon Rohan also granted the contestants who were already eliminated permission to participate.

It was for the sake of hosting a grander event, even if the scale got grander only by a little bit.

During this brief lull in the competition, Gordon Rohan glanced at Su-hyeun, who was currently standing all by himself in the middle of the arena, and pondered, "Did his personality change?"

From Su-hyeun's expression to the light in his eyes and the way he spoke or the offer he made, everything seemed different somehow.

More importantly, his unrestrained display of power and judgment was sharp enough to subdue Thomas in one strike.

Every single one of those actions and words seemed a little different to "Su-hyeun" that Gordon Rohan remembered.

"Still, it suits him well."

Su-hyeun didn't look awkward at all.

A few among the spectators might think that something was a bit off with Su-hyeun's current behavior. It seemed to be at odds with how he came across in past interviews and such. However, Gordon Rohan didn't think the same as they did.

"The best of the best should act like one, after all."

No matter what, Su-hyeun was the best of the best.

Even Gordon Rohan, a man with overflowing pride, acknowledged that. Su-hyeun's powers had reached a realm so high that no one could even look up anymore. And it happened a long time ago, too.

However, Su-hyeun's personality didn't suit such a powerful man occupying the "best of the best" seat.

His usual nature was rather laid-back, and when there was no urgent matter to deal with, he sometimes came across as a hippy. Not only did he lack ambition or desire, but he also didn't have much of an ego or outward confidence.

Yet there he was, standing all by himself in the center of the arena.

The first challenger soon stepped forward.

"Allow me to be the first one."

He was someone Su-hyeun was familiar with: Bak Yun-gyu, the Korean S-Rank who ranked among the very best in the world—after excluding the Paragon Guild members, of course.

His current ranking was sixth, which was definitely not low by any measure. On the contrary, it was incredibly high.

The crowd erupted in cheers at Bak Yun-gyu's challenge, but Su-hyeun remained standing still. He then slowly nodded as if he couldn't hear them.

He was silently telling his challenger to give his all.

Step—

Bak Yun-gyu took a step forward.

As he yanked his sword out, a humongous image materialized right behind him.

[Heavenly Sword King - One Sword Cutting Through Everything]

"I already know that tricks won't work on you, Mister Su-hyeun."

Gu-gugugu—

The aura gushing out from him was strong enough to seemingly split the arena in half. A massive quantity of magical energy enveloped Bak Yun-gyu's figure, the image of the giant behind him, and the humongous sword the giant was wielding.

"That's why I'll go all out from the start."

He had been participating in the Ranking Wars every year, but this would be his first time feeling excited to this degree. His competitive spirit burned stronger than any other time he could remember.

The reason for Bak Yun-gyu going all out from the start was simple enough: It wasn't to defeat Su-hyeun but to leave behind even a tiny scratch on him.

"With this, maybe I can...!"

The Heavenly Sword King's blade grew larger and larger.

Having devoured the offered magical energy, the giant powerfully swung the massive sword down.

KWA-AAAAAH—!

Gu-wooooong—

For a moment there, the entire arena shook around.

A powerful impact force caused the ground to rock while the scattering magical energy spread out in ripples to heavily suppress the air.

A loud roar left behind ringing in the ears of all who watched. The arena's floor exploded and overturned, creating a thick curtain of dust.

Huff, huff...

Bak Yun-gyu panted laboriously, having never exhausted this much quantity of magical energy in a single strike before.

He had the look of agitation, however. His massive sword that went for a hit didn't touch the ground. A slim gap separated the sword and the ground.

"It's not touching?"

There could be only one reason for that small gap. No matter how much power Bak Yun-gyu exerted, the weapon couldn't go any lower.

Crack, craaack—

CLANG—!

Instead, the Heavenly Sword King's blade, which aim was to split the arena in half, cracked and shattered into pieces.

This weapon was created through magical energy and Bak Yun-gyu's skill, so it quickly morphed into bluish smoke and scattered in the air once it came undone.

Gu-gugu...

The center of the arena was deeply caved in. That was where Su-hyeun could be seen standing tall, with his sword held up.

In other words, he stood his ground and used nothing but that small sword to defend against a much larger sword.

"I concede defeat," Bak Yun-gyu sheathed his sword and then bowed his head.

There was no need to continue the fight. That strike of the Heavenly Sword King was produced by pouring in most of his magical energy reserve.

Yet Su-hyeun just stood there and blocked it with his sword. In all honesty, he probably didn't have to defend against it, either.

Considering Su-hyeun's powers, evading that strike would've been child's play to him.

Bak Yun-gyu's magical energy reserve was empty, too. All things considered, there was no point in extending this fight. He failed to inflict a single wound even after going all out, which was basically the same as this fight being over right there and then.

"Not dodging and blocking it was probably his way of thinking about me."

That little bit of consideration only resulted in Bak Yun-gyu acutely learning about the insurmountable gap between them. However, he didn't feel hollow or anything like that.

"Thank you for coming," Su-hyeun called out to the next challenger while thinking that the Heavenly Sword King's attack was surprisingly heavy. "Is there anyone else?"

Maybe the aftermath of Bak Yun-gyu's challenge was to blame here, but no one dared to step forward right away.

Unsurprising, since those with a lower ranking than Bak Yun-gyu would have lost their confidence just then.

When the silence continued for a while longer, Su-hyeun's gaze shifted over to two people among the crowd. One was Gordon Rohan, while the other was Sun Wukong.

"They don't seem to be interested in joining the fun."

In the case of Gordon Rohan, he had no reason to enter the event match in the first place.

The results of the fights were supposed to affect the rankings, but he was already ranked number one in the world. Meaning there was no reason to challenge Su-hyeun here.

Not only that, but the merit of potentially joining the Paragon Guild or the monetary rewards didn't matter to him at all. Basically, Gordon Rohan should be entirely excluded from this event match.

As for Sun Wukong, he seemed more interested in spectating the fights for a bit longer.

He was clearly holding himself back. He was like a man patiently waiting for the fruit to ripen some more so that it would taste even better.

For the time being, he was probably thinking of sitting back and observing Su-hyeun fight off other challengers first.

"I'd like to change the condition," Su-hyeun looked at Gordon Rohan while saying that.

The expected reply was swift.

"It's your event match, anyway. Tell us already," said Gordon Rohan.

"It doesn't matter if you want to form a team. I will also not place any limitation on the number of the challengers making up the team."

"Will that be fine?"

"I told you this already, didn't I?" Su-hyeun replied dismissively since it's annoying to repeat himself. "There's only one opponent for me here today."

What an overbearingly confident declaration that was, saying that it didn't matter how many attacked him at once since none could harm him.

All the contestants present were proud of their own strengths, so the new suggestion ended up touching their nerves.

Not to forget, they were all S-Rank awakeners.

One couldn't reach the realm of the S-Rank unless your potential as an awakener were great, and you were prepared to put in the hard work. These men and women possessed excellent skills and powers and stood as the proud representatives of their respective countries.

In the blink of an eye, the whole arena was filled with an intense desire to fight.

Permission was granted in no time at all.

"Very well."

Clap—

Gordon Rohan clapped his hands, "You all heard him."

Those words served as a trigger, prompting the contestants to step forward one by one.

Here was their chance.

This was what they were all thinking in their heads.

If only one person faced Su-hyeun at a time, then it would be impossible without a doubt. However, several people working together might result in an opportunity. Even if it was Su-hyeun, there was simply no way he would not get injured while dealing with hundreds of S-Rank awakeners at once.

And the one to inflict that wound would be one of them.

Now would be their only chance.

"That worked out."

Su-hyeun smiled faintly while watching the contestants rushing toward him like a tidal wave.

Facing one person at a time would be not only annoying but also time-consuming. The numbers game didn't even matter to him, anyway.

Indeed, this was actually better for him since he could get a sufficient warm-up before the main course was served.

"Even Hak-joon joined them?"

Hak-joon was the current number two in the rankings.

Thomas was third, while the fourth rank belonged to the Necromancer, Daian Gedeck.

All of them had stepped onto the stage. The arena was vast enough to accommodate not just a few hundred but tens of thousands. However, the entrance of all these giant heavy hitters instantly made it seem tiny.

The moment all the contestants stepped into the arena...

"I hope you won't disappoint me."

Step—

The biggest giant on this stage took the first step before the others could.