Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 508

The sky was gradually turning red, and the surroundings darkened as the sun began to set. One by one, the lights on the Colosseum’s ceiling illuminated the arena. As the audience’s anticipation peaked, gladiators from both teams emerged from the entrance tunnels.

Simultaneously, a roar erupted from both teams’ fans, chanting slogans to encourage their gladiators. The Gods Knights’ fans, though fewer in number, were just as fervent, shouting as if they were a hundred strong until their voices were hoarse.

“Gods Knights, win! Victory will make you champions!”

“Chaplin Whisper! Protect your points! Even a tie secures the championship!”

Bum-suk, waving in response to the cheers of the away fans, stood tall in the center of the arena. He glanced at Amelie, who was sending him an intense stare, and smiled faintly. She was the key player of the opposing team today, and he needed to project a relaxed demeanor to reignite her fear of him.

“Yo, Amelie! How have you been?”

Amelie ignored him and turned her head away. Seeing this, Bum-suk looked with a slightly resentful gaze toward the VIP room above his cheering section. He realized that President Fritz, who had expressed his support for the Gods Knights’ victory, hadn’t really done much to help.

If the president had shown Amelie even a little favoritism out of affection for his son-in-law, the victory today would have undoubtedly belonged to the Gods Knights. She was an elf under President Fritz’s direct command.

‘Tch. President Fritz. I don’t need mere verbal support.’

But there was nothing he could do. President Fritz, bound by familial obligations, couldn’t easily order Amelie to throw the match. Perhaps it was for the best. There was no need to taint the joy of victory by introducing unfairness into the championship final. In any case, if they won, the championship would naturally belong to the Gods Knights.

Bum-suk, standing at the front of the formation, shouted to his team, “Everyone, form the Crane Wing formation!”

As the Gods Knights began to form a triangular formation resembling a crane’s wing, Chaplin Whisper, led by Amelie, also began to form their formation: a phalanx [a close-ranked and file formation, typically rectangular]. As expected, they were aiming for a draw in the first round. Since a tie was enough to secure their goal, there was no need to attack recklessly.

Amelie slammed the ground hard with the whip in her hand and commanded, “Alright! Everyone, just defend thoroughly! Hold your positions until I give the order! Got it?”

“Yes, Sister!”

Bum-suk frowned at their resolute shouts. A phalanx with Chaplin Whisper’s strength seemed excessive.

“Hey! Isn’t this a bit unfair? What are we supposed to do if you just defend?”

“Of course, it is. But today is an exception. We must win. And the phalanx is a legitimate strategy in gladiatorial combat. I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong, are we?”

Amelie retorted sharply, and Bum-suk lowered his tone. She wasn’t wrong.

“Hey, still, it’s a bit much. You guys aren’t just any gladiatorial team. Why are you only focusing on defense?”

“Does it matter? Whatever we do, it’s all the same if the Gods Knights win. Or we can just lose. Victory is a cold thing. You just need to get the best results under your circumstances and conditions.”

Of course, but that wasn’t the case when considering the entire gladiatorial world. If teams focused too much on defense, the matches would become boring, and fans would eventually lose interest and switch to other sports.

But when he tried to voice this concern, it seemed pathetic. Amelie only cared about her master, President Fritz. As long as she knew that President Fritz wanted Chaplin Whisper to win, the opinions of the fans were meaningless. Besides, the Gods Knights hadn’t completely avoided defensive battles either.

Bum-suk gritted his teeth and glared at her. “Alright. As you said, winning is all that matters. Just don’t regret saying that later! The tables might turn in the second round.”

At those words, Amelie stared at him intently. He was right. If the Gods Knights won the first round, Chaplin Whisper would face considerable difficulties in the second round because the situation would be reversed. But it didn’t matter.

They couldn’t keep their main force in the game. They could turn it around enough. Chaplin Whisper’s second string was stronger than the Gods Knights’ second string.

“Heh heh. Do you think it will be that easy?”

“Yeah, we’ll see.”

After saying that, Bum-suk patted his gladiators and began preparing for the final battle. He saw the referees in the referee’s seat becoming increasingly active. The match was about to begin.

– Peeep!

The whistle signaled the start of the match. But both teams, as if they hadn’t heard it, remained in place, merely glaring at each other. The Gods Knights couldn’t recklessly launch an attack, and Chaplin Whisper didn’t need to attack.

A moment of tense silence hung in the air, but it vanished with Bum-suk’s shout. “Everyone, charge!”

The Gods Knights charged forward, their points raised sharply. Two whips flew toward them simultaneously. Bum-suk, leading the charge, bent his back to let them pass behind him and continued to run quickly.

They were from Ionis and Landra. The opponent he had to stop was Amelie.

Moreover, Tiela and Prisika were following behind him.

“Prisika! Tiela! Block those whips!”

At the same time as the shout, two more whips flew toward Bum-suk. This time, it was Amelie’s. The dazzling curves with which they were fired made her intention clear. He grabbed the spear in one hand and drew the katana [a Japanese sword] from his waist, deflecting the tips of the whips that were being swung down.

Clang. Clang, clang.

The whips continued to lash out, swirling as if they were going to engulf him. As he had expected, he blocked them again by alternating between the spear and the sword. Then, he kicked Nencia’s shield, which was right in front of him, and leaped powerfully into the air.

Jumping with both legs off the ground was a very dangerous action, but he had no choice. To catch Amelie, he had to get close, but she was at the very end of the formation.

“You’re taking a risk!”

Amelie shouted briefly and flicked both hands, simultaneously launching two whip ends toward him. He swung his katana to deflect one whip, but the other whip wrapped around his arms and torso. If she slammed him to the ground as he was, it would be the moment to eliminate Bum-suk. Amelie smiled with joy and swung her right arm down.

Bang!

Bum-suk’s body, violently thrown, rolled across the floor. It was a situation where she would have normally shouted with joy of victory, but Amelie’s expression was the opposite. Unlike other times, the sensation was strange.

Soon, Bum-suk, who was getting up, smiled faintly and grabbed the whip with both hands. “Heh heh heh. What risk? You fell for my trick.”

Immediately after saying these words, Bum-suk pulled the whip with all his might. There was no way one hand could withstand the strength of two hands. Amelie soon had to abandon the whip in her left hand.

Bum-suk, grabbing the whip that was being pulled in weakly, swung his arm forcefully and threw it toward the audience seats. Now there were only three whips left. Moreover, Amelie was right in front of him.

– What on earth is going on! Gladiator Oh Bum-suk, who was thought to have been hit, stood up without any damage and snatched one of Amelie’s whips. What exactly happened?

At the announcer’s question, the commentator said with an admiring expression, “Amelie has been properly tricked. The reason why Gladiator Oh Bum-suk attempted a reckless jump just now was to induce Amelie’s attack.”

– But didn’t Amelie’s gravity technique work as it was?

– Yes, of course. She definitely slammed him to the ground.

– Then he should have been at least partially incapacitated, but he is unharmed now, isn’t he?

– Yes, that’s right. However, the problem is that Gladiator Oh Bum-suk performed a breakfall [a technique used to minimize injury from a fall]. If you look at the slow-motion scene, you can see that the moment he falls, all parts of his body naturally flow across the ground, and there is a scene where he rolls on the floor several times. No matter how strong Amelie’s gravity technique is, it’s useless if you disperse the force like that.”

The announcer, who watched the slow-motion video, had a very surprised expression. He had confirmed that the breakfall was perfectly executed.

– I, I see. Ah, this is really amazing.

– Heh heh, right? As expected, he is a master of martial arts. Unlike other gladiators, Gladiator Oh Bum-suk is also skilled in martial arts, isn’t he?

– Yes, that fact is widely known, so I know it well.

– Hahaha, yes. Anyway, it looks like Amelie is going to have a hard time. Now that she has realized that the gravity technique doesn’t work on Gladiator Oh Bum-suk, there will be a limit to her whip attacks.

The announcer nodded. Since hitting him with a whip wouldn’t incapacitate him, Amelie’s only effective whip attack technique was now one.

– Yes, that’s right. Now there is only the attack using the iron tip of the whip. But it’s difficult to control, so it doesn’t seem like Gladiator Oh Bum-suk will be easily hit.

– That’s obvious. Now Amelie will have to make one choice: either take up dual swords or give up the whip. And I predict it will be dual swords.

– Yes. In a situation where the gravity technique has failed, it is impossible to use a whip that doesn’t work with Gladiator Oh Bum-suk right in front of her. Anyway, this is getting interesting.

As the commentators predicted, Amelie drew dual swords. As expected, it was difficult to use the whip with Bum-suk right in front of her in this situation. She crossed the swords in both hands and stared intently at Bum-suk.

“As expected, you are Bum-suk, hiding such a trick.”

“Heh heh. What trick… It’s all my skill.”

Although he was smiling, Bum-suk was sighing in relief. He had taken a risk just in case, but it was uncertain whether it would succeed. That’s how scary her gravity technique was.

But now the story was different. Now that he had succeeded once, there was no guarantee that he wouldn’t succeed next time. No, now that he had experienced it once, he could execute the breakfall technique even more perfectly afterward. Now her whip attack was useless.

Amelie looked around anxiously. Bum-suk was in front of her, and the Gods Knights’ main force led by Prisika was behind her. Both sides were equally burdensome.

‘This is a disaster. I can’t support the phalanx because I’m keeping Bum-suk in check.’

The strength to maintain the formation when forming a phalanx did not only come from the front line. A solid defensive posture only came from the force pushing from the sides and back lines. But now, because she was paying attention to Bum-suk, she couldn’t properly support the phalanx.

She couldn’t allocate her strength to other sides because she had to block him if he ran. Moreover, it was difficult to attack the Gods Knights’ main force because she had given up the whip.

However, the Gods Knights’ rushing power was weakened by Bum-suk’s absence. It wasn’t easily breached.

“We must break through! That’s the only way we can win!”

As the tug-of-war between the main forces continued, Amelie came forward to engage Bum-suk. She knew that she was likely to lose if she fought one-on-one, but if she could catch him, their victory in this round was certain.

She also called Kaneloa, who was at the very end of the back line. The main force could become unstable, but support was needed to defeat him for sure.

“Kaneloa! Come out! Let’s defeat Bum-suk together.”

“Yes, Sister!”

Amelie, who was slowly approaching Bum-suk, said to Kaneloa again, “Never rush recklessly. It’s over if you get hit.”

“Yes.”

“And don’t follow him if Bum-suk lures you. If they keep adding free roles, we can fall into a melee.”

Kaneloa nodded. She had been a gladiator for a long time, so there was no way she wouldn’t know Amelie’s concerns. If they got closer to the Gods Knights’ main force, they could implement a melee tactic. Then the situation in the first round would flow unfavorably.

“Yes. Don’t worry, I know.”

Bum-suk, who was watching this scene nearby, frowned slightly. He was worried about whether to face them or return to the main force. Even for him, facing Amelie and one other person at the same time was very risky.

However, it was difficult to back down like this. If he returned, they would return too, and then another boring stalemate would unfold. But if he won here, victory was certain.

‘Okay, let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work out, I can just run away.’

Bum-suk put the katana back into its scabbard and laid the long spear horizontally near his waist. He was about to show the Bongseon Spear Technique [a specific martial arts technique] right away. He couldn’t face those two at the same time with ordinary techniques.

“Come on!”

At his shout, Amelie and Kaneloa kicked off the ground with all their might and ran out. And as soon as they approached Bum-suk, they simultaneously scattered the swords in their hands.

Soon, the long spear, spinning like a whirlwind, deflected the three swords as if engulfing them and flew quickly towards Kaneloa’s abdomen. The intention was to eliminate the weakest opponent first. If she wasn’t there, he could easily face Amelie.

Clang.

However, his intention was blocked by Amelie’s spinning dual swords. She was also showing off her ultimate skill.

============================ Author’s Notes ============================

Everyone, have a nice day. I’ll see you again tomorrow.