Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 206

Whir. Whir.

Simultaneously, the tips of four whips lashed out like striking snakes. It was Amelie’s twin whips, along with those of Ionis and Landra. The gladiators of God’s Knights had learned from Beomseok how to defend against whips before the match, but amidst the chaos, Lin was caught. She was yanked into the air and slammed brutally into the ground.

“Kyaaaaak!”

Having lost a teammate so quickly, Beomseok bit his lip and surged forward to engage. Any more losses would guarantee defeat in this round. He had to block the whip attacks at all costs.

“Don’t scatter! If we scatter, it’s over!”

The best defense against the whips was to maintain a tight formation. With no gaps between them, the whip tips couldn’t penetrate, preventing them from being ensnared. The gladiators of God’s Knights, thoroughly trained in this tactic, closed ranks and attempted to push through.

“Break through! Target Amelie!”

“We must take down Amelie!”

Closing the distance to Amelie proved difficult. The Chaplin Whisper team gladiators skillfully retreated, disrupting their advance. However, completely stopping their breakthrough was equally challenging. Despite the Chaplin Whisper team’s skill, God’s Knights remained the physically strongest team in the Delroy Wide League.

“Everyone, do your best to block their advance!”

Just then, Oscar’s greatsword swept across in a wide arc. The eerie sound of the air being sliced momentarily intimidated them, but Yamiya and Kaneroa managed to block it by bracing their two-handed swords against it. However, the force of the impact was unavoidable, and Yamiya lost her footing and stumbled.

Seeing an opening, Beomseok lunged forward and plunged his sword into her side.

Whiriririk!

As Beomseok retreated after taking down Yamiya, two whip tips descended like eagles diving from the sky. A direct hit would be incapacitating, so he hurriedly swung his sword. However, the whips cleverly avoided his blade and struck both of Oscar’s shoulders with brutal precision. Seeing this, Kaneroa immediately thrust the tip of her sword into the abdomen of the now-slumped Oscar.

“Kyak!”

Beomseok, glancing at Oscar collapsing, shouted to his team,

“Everyone, watch out for the whips from above!”

But his warning came too late. Only Beomseok, Rapine, and Remi possessed the skill to track the whips while engaged in close combat. The other members of God’s Knights relied solely on their brute strength, lacking the necessary combat awareness. Before long, Violet and Siya were also struck, shifting the power dynamic to 11 against 8.

‘No, this won’t work. At this rate, we’ll be defeated without achieving anything.’

With their strategy of targeting Amelie exposed, God’s Knights’ defeat seemed inevitable. Furthermore, the numerical disadvantage meant they were now being outmatched in terms of raw power. Without a countermeasure, they risked handing the first round to the Chaplin Whisper team without landing a single significant blow.

‘I have to find a way to turn this around.’

Just then, Beomseok’s sharp gaze landed on the number 4 gladiator positioned at the very back of the opponent’s formation. It was the captain gladiator, God’s Knights’ only hope.

Chaplin Whisper boasted powerful gladiators, but they had a critical weakness. The nine gladiators with skills at or above the Central League level, including Amelie, occupied the front and mid positions. This arrangement, likely intended to maximize their offensive capabilities, left the rear and captain gladiators filled with Wide League-level fighters. And now, the Chaplin Whisper gladiators were forming a formation to protect Amelie. Consequently, their dedication to protecting the captain was lacking, presenting an opportunity for a surprise attack.

Taking down the captain gladiator would secure victory in the first round. Beomseok determined that this would have a greater impact than defeating Amelie and decided to drastically alter his strategy.

“Rapine! Now’s the time! Activate it!”

A faint smile touched Rapine’s lips, and her eyes turned bloodshot. She had activated her trait, Berserker of Fighting Spirit. She grabbed a Zweihander [a large two-handed sword] in each hand and charged forward like a raging bison.

“W-What is this! Stop her!”

Rapine, now a berserker, possessed incredible strength. The Chaplin Whisper’s tightly formed defense began to crack and crumble. Amelie, surprised by her power, hurriedly sent out her whips, but Rapine grabbed them, slowly dragging her forward.

“W-What! Rapine is amazing!”

“Unbelievable! Amelie, who is said to be physically perfect, is being pushed back in terms of strength! This is incredible!”

The audience erupted in excitement at Rapine’s sudden surge of power. If Amelie was being dragged around like that, it meant Rapine’s strength had reached a world-class level. When Amelie, overwhelmed, eventually dropped one of her whips, the crowd roared with approval. During the four practice matches, no gladiator had ever pushed her this far alone.

“Rapine! You’re doing great! Yes, keep pushing her like that!”

Before they knew it, the fans were swept up in the underdog narrative. The prospect of the much weaker God’s Knights winning was far more thrilling than seeing the powerful Chaplin Whisper dominate.

This situation held even greater significance for the sports reporters in attendance. A victory for God’s Knights would be a major scoop, sending viewership ratings for the evening sports news soaring. They stood up and aimed their camera lenses, eager to capture every moment of Rapine’s performance.

‘Good, now’s the time!’

As flashes went off everywhere, Beomseok began to move swiftly. This moment, with everyone’s attention focused on the duel between Rapine and Amelie, presented the perfect opportunity to intercept the number 4 gladiator. He quickly issued instructions to those behind him.

“Operation J7!”

Operation J7 was a formation tactic designed to attack a distant opponent. Having practiced it countless times, Remi and Hestia, positioned directly behind him, immediately clasped their hands at their knees.

He quickly placed his feet on their hands and shouted,

“Now! Throw me with all your might!”

Using their momentum, Beomseok launched himself high into the air, soaring over the Chaplin Whisper formation and landing directly on the last gladiator. He stepped on the shield of the number 9 gladiator, who was staring blankly before hurriedly raising his defense. Beomseok grabbed the neck of the number 8 gladiator next to him and executed a rolling breakfall [a technique to safely break a fall]. Rolling through the dust, Beomseok mercilessly slashed the neck of the bewildered number 8 gladiator, immediately got to his feet, and charged towards the number 4 gladiator.

With a bang, the number 9 gladiator hurriedly blocked Beomseok’s path in front of the number 4 gladiator, who was staggering backward. With the number 8 gladiator, a rear teammate, defeated, he was now the only one protecting the captain. However, his opponent was Beomseok, known as the strongest in the Delroy Wide League. Before even receiving a single blow, he was terrified and shouted to his teammates.

“The captain is in danger! Someone get here, quick!”

Amelie turned around at the sound of that voice. Beomseok had already grabbed the number 9 gladiator’s shield and sword-wielding hands, throwing him over his shoulder. The captain, number 4, tried to step in and protect the last remaining rear gladiator, but Beomseok kicked him, sending him stumbling backward.

Realizing things weren’t going well, Amelie looked at her students and colleagues, Hiyas and Emires.

“You two! Take care of Lapine!”

“Yes, Amelie!”

Hiyas and Emires blocked Lapine’s path, and Amelie quickly lashed out with her whip. Beomseok, who had just finished off the number 9 gladiator and was charging towards the number 4 gladiator, felt a chilling sensation and quickly turned his body, knocking away the whip’s tip with his sword. The impact throbbed in his wrist, but Beomseok approached Amelie with an excited expression. He was disappointed that he couldn’t capture the captain during this golden opportunity, but she was also a formidable opponent.

“Amelie. So, we finally meet like this.”

“Indeed. I didn’t think I’d have the chance today.”

Amelie slammed the whip in her right hand hard against the floor. The force sent a burst of dirt and debris flying, pelting Beomseok’s helmet.

He brushed the dust from his face shield and said,

“Why are you hitting the innocent floor? I don’t know if you know this, but this is our team’s home stadium. If the stadium rental fee goes up because of maintenance costs, will you take responsibility?”

“Well, doesn’t it not really matter? I heard you made quite a bit of money because of me this time. Just settle it from there.”

Beomseok chuckled. Perhaps it was because of her extensive experience, but her way of speaking was quite remarkable.

“Huhu. I guess so. Understood. I won’t be sending a separate bill for damages.”

“Thank you. But we don’t have time for this, do we? I don’t know if you realize it, but I don’t have much time to fight you either.”

Beomseok glanced at the battle near their base. Although Lapine was fighting fiercely in a frenzy, she was gradually losing due to being outnumbered and outmatched in power. As she said, his fight with Amelie wouldn’t last long.

He held his sword at the ready. He considered taking out the spare katana he had on his waist to fight with dual swords, but Amelie only had one whip, so he decided to fight as is.

“Well, then, come at me.”

“Yes, I will.”

In that instant, her wrist twitched, and the whip moved as if it were alive, raising its tip and flying towards Beomseok. However, perhaps because it was just a preliminary attack, it was full of technique but didn’t seem to have much power. He immediately flicked his sword, hitting the side of the whip and changing its trajectory.

“Isn’t this too boring?”

“If you think so, you’re mistaken.”

No sooner had she said that, the whip’s tip, which had been moving away from Beomseok, coiled around and began to constrict him. Judging that a full-fledged attack was beginning, Beomseok quickly dashed forward, nullifying the attempt to bind him, and swung his sword at Amelie. As the best defense is offense, he intended to push her so hard that she wouldn’t be able to handle her whip properly.

Swish. Swish.

The continuous slashes of his sword grazed past her sides. Startled by the sharp sound, Amelie realized that he was more formidable than she had thought. Even though she only had one whip, she had allowed him to approach too easily.

For now, Beomseok had the upper hand in the fight. It was a moment that clearly proved the saying that swordsmanship surpasses whip-handling in close combat. He was restricting Amelie’s movements and relentlessly pouring down the sword.

‘As expected, he’s worthy of being the gladiator who easily defeated Rebecca. This is not easy.’

Barely escaping the attack range by stepping back, Amelie quickly moved to Ionis’s side and snatched a spare whip from her waist. Since it was quite difficult to deal with him using only one whip, she needed to use two. She twisted her body to avoid Beomseok’s incoming sword and immediately put momentum into the whips held in both hands.

“Tch! Now it’s getting serious.”

Beomseok, gripping his sword tightly, glared sharply at the two whip tips flying towards him. He seemed quite nervous, thinking that Amelie’s true skills were now being revealed. He widened the distance a bit in preparation and deflected the approaching whip tips one after another.

‘I need to observe Amelie’s moves for a while. If I recklessly go in and she has a hidden move, I could be in danger.’

The common strategy for a swordsman facing a whip user was to somehow close the distance. However, Amelie was an experienced and veteran legendary gladiator. Since he didn’t know what kind of trick she might have up her sleeve, he needed to carefully observe and learn her attack patterns.

Besides, even if he wanted to approach, it wasn’t easy. He was barely able to block the extremely sharp attacks that kept coming. The unfamiliar and rapidly changing rhythm of the whip was enough to make him nervous.

– Amazing! Gladiator Oh Beomseok! He’s fighting the legend without being intimidated at all! This is exciting!

The announcer was frantically commentating on the battle between Beomseok and Amelie. He was so tense that he accidentally knocked over a nearby water cup while reaching for it.

The commentator next to him was the same. Until he came to the Lima City Colosseum today, he thought that Beomseok could never be Amelie’s opponent, but he was showing an unexpected performance. Although he seemed to be slightly pushed back, it was only minor, and Beomseok was deflecting all of Amelie’s dual-whip techniques. Of course, it was strange that he wasn’t attacking at all, but seeing him 대응ing [Coping/Responding] without backing down, it seemed like he had something in mind.

– Hahaha. Wow. I’m surprised that Oh Beomseok was this kind of gladiator. I knew he was great, but I had no idea he was this good. Hahaha.

– Yes, that’s right. However, there are some concerns. As far as I know, Amelie used to have a special move called Tornado Snake, didn’t she? She hasn’t shown it since returning as an active gladiator, but if that technique comes out, wouldn’t it be difficult to judge that Oh Beomseok can easily block it?

Tornado Snake. A technique that Amelie showed about 40 years ago, and the media named it Tornado Snake because it looked like a storming snake. It had been forgotten because no one had ever used it since, but it was now being mentioned again by the announcer.

The commentator, recalling the past, nodded.

============================ Review of the work ============================

Have a nice day, everyone. I’ll see you again tomorrow.