Perfect World [EN]: Chapter 492

“If you keep that up, you’re going to suffer a crushing defeat, you know?”

“Even if I do, it’s *me* who suffers. It’s not *your* shame, so don’t worry about it.”

“Hmph~ Your confidence is amazing. Your audacity is truly astonishing.”

“So, are you going to accept or not? If you don’t want to, just say so.”

Amelie chuckled and sidled towards the dropped sword. It was an annoying favor, but she decided to accept it. If she lost here, the team would be doomed.

“Of course, I wouldn’t refuse. A favor. I’ll gratefully accept it.”

“Hehe. Even gratitude……”

She said, picking up the sword.

“But can I ask you just one thing?”

“Of course~ Anything.”

“Are you perhaps going to give Zakid a chance like this too?”

“I already did.”

Amelie crossed her twin swords and chuckled.

“Hehe. Why?”

“Because Zakid was also losing his composure back then.”

“Then, could it be… me too?”

“That’s right. You also lost your composure, so I’m giving you another chance. It feels a bit… *wrong* to defeat you like that.”

“Why would you do such an absurd thing? Do you think I’m that easy?”

“That’s not what I mean. I told you before, the position of the strongest isn’t just about defeating opponents, especially in this gladiatorial match. We’ll be fighting several times a year for decades, so won’t you lose at least once? But if the title of the strongest changes so easily every time, then the meaning of being the best would be diminished. Don’t you think?”

“I suppose so. But what does that have to do with this?”

“It’s simple. Most people mistakenly believe they are better than others. So, the position of the best isn’t something you achieve by *thinking* you’re great, but something you attain when others acknowledge you. Otherwise, everyone would be the best. In other words, to become the strongest, I need to be recognized by the public and you gladiators. But if you lose in this state today, you might blame your condition and not acknowledge that I’m above you. So, I’m giving you another chance—until you accept it.”

Amelia stared at him with a blank expression, surprised by his passion for being the best.

She never thought there would be someone aiming for the top with such an ideology in the gladiator world, which only values records. It seemed like a foolish thing to do, but she knew he was serious.

She thought that if she lost today, she might deeply submit to him. No one could easily do such a thing.

‘I absolutely can’t lose. I must win!’

Amelie composed her scattered mind and straightened her twin swords in turn. She knew he would attack soon. Beomseok was now taking a fighting stance and glaring at her sharply.

Amelie shouted, not wanting to be intimidated.

“Come on!”

“Hehe. Of course.”

The tip of the spear flashed and flew towards her face. It was a fast and heavy blow, and Amelie jumped back with all her might to avoid it. She remembered dropping her sword after trying to block it forcefully earlier. But his spear tip didn’t stop and, upon colliding with the ground, twisted grotesquely and flew towards Amelie’s knees.

“Hyah!”

Amelie barely managed to bring down both swords at the same time to block the spear and quickly twisted her upper body. He closed the distance again and threw a punch. Thinking he was an opponent she couldn’t let her guard down against for even a moment, she moved to the side and got out of his attack range.

Following that, a barrage of concise and quick attacks. Amelie, with a bewildered expression, busily swung her swords to disrupt the points of impact.

Clang. Spear. Spear. Clang clang.

With each clash, Amelia’s expression grew more serious. She felt her wrists numbing from constantly blocking the spear imbued with centrifugal force.

In the past, when these two first faced each other, Amelie had unilaterally poured out attacks based on her superior strength, driving him into a corner. But now, the tables had turned, and she couldn’t overcome Beomseok’s power. Of course, it wasn’t as significant a difference as it had been back then, but it was truly a moment of *bitter realization* for Amelie.

‘Ugh. I knew this day would come, but… I didn’t think it would be this much….’

Amelie flinched and dodged, feeling a sharp wind graze near her face. It was impossible to feel the wind with a helmet on, but Beomseok’s spear tip was so fierce that it created such an illusion.

She trembled, deeply feeling that he was a truly fearsome opponent. He was arrogant, but he had the skills to back it up. But Amelie couldn’t afford to lose like this, so she had no choice but to fight with all her might.

‘Hehe. He’s still doing pretty well. But his swordsmanship relies on equipment, so there’s definitely a limit.’

Beomseok’s assessment of Amelie’s skills was as expected: Skillful movements with no mistakes, and occasionally sharp attacks. She was indeed a legendary figure who had once dominated an era. But that was it. Now that the spear’s reach had made the *byeonhyeonggeom’s* [transforming sword’s] transformations useless, she didn’t have the potential to fight at a similar level to him.

He swung his spear powerfully and pressed on. His opponent was almost exhausted, but there was no reason to let his guard down. If he lost this battle, he would suffer a crushing defeat.

“Come on. Keep pushing!”

“Everyone be careful! If someone gets hit first, it’s over!”

Meanwhile, the main base battle between the two teams was also escalating fiercely. The formations of both teams had already collapsed due to the previous skirmishes, and the gladiators were swinging their swords and spears in the chaotic battlefield.

The most prominent among them was undoubtedly Prisika. She was pushing Rakamiro, who was suffering from *nohwan* [age-related decline], and Bormia, who had climbed to 7th place in the world gladiator rankings, and gaining an advantage in the match.

The rank difference was only three places, but the skill difference between them was too great.

Before long, Bormia’s arms, holding his sword and shield, were sent flying into the air by Prisika’s rough movements, and his eyes widened. Prisika’s sword was quickly extending towards his exposed body. Soon, Bormia, who had suffered a powerful blow near his waist, rolled on the ground and stiffened his body.

“Alright. Got him!”

Prisika looked around, searching for her next opponent. And she soon spotted a woman with green hair and rushed towards her. It was Madel. She was approaching Lenka, who had just defeated Yoshiya and was facing another Chaplin Whisper gladiator.

“Madel! Where are you going! You’re my opponent!”

Madel, who suddenly tilted her head back, frowned. She was ranked 10th in the gladiator rankings, but her skills were somewhat lacking to face Prisika. Still, she couldn’t leave her behind. She put a lot of strength into the hand holding the hilt and deflected the wildly flying sword.

‘This isn’t good. Our side is at a disadvantage.’

Amelie, who was still facing Beomseok, kept glancing towards the main base. The numbers were still equal, but the Chaplin Whisper’s momentum was noticeably waning as Prisika continued to defeat key gladiators in the team one after another.

If even Madel were to be defeated, the tide would quickly turn in favor of Godz Knights.

At that moment, Beomseok threw a word at her.

“Amelie. What are you doing! Are you perhaps asking me to go easy on you again!”

Amelie snapped back to her senses and refocused her attention on him. She couldn’t afford to worry about the main base right now. Amelie was in as dangerous a situation as the main base.

“That won’t be the case, so don’t worry and come at me!”

“Of course, you should.”

Beomseok, with a frustrated face, rushed towards her in the form of a giant wave. The spear strikes pouring down as if to occupy all sides were so fierce that it was difficult to even move.

In an instant, the tip of the spear, sliding along the sword, grazed Amelie’s face. She had defended perfectly, but that was the problem.

Each of her movements was now being engraved in Beomseok’s mind, creating the perfect countermeasure.

‘Hehe. It’s almost over.’

Beomseok realized that the conclusion of the match was imminent. The newly applied changes to his spear strikes were working well. He had already grazed her body several times. If he continued to lead the match like this, Amelie would inevitably make a mistake.

“Alright. Here I come!”

With a bizarre change, along with a rotating body, a series of spear strikes poured down on her. She was still holding on well, but the hand holding the sword was slowly losing strength, so it was unknown how far she could go. Still, she pulled out even the strength she didn’t have and fought back. She felt that if she lost here, she would be forever under Beomseok.

– Unlike the duel between Oh Beomseok gladiator and Amelie, the Godz Knights’ main base offensive is too lax. Even though they have almost secured victory, they are just watching each other and letting go of the attack. If Oh Beomseok gladiator gets hit, they might miss this good opportunity.

– That’s right. I don’t know what’s going on right now.

Despite the concerns of the commentators, the Godz Knights’ main base had no intention of raising their momentum at all. The current numerical ratio was 7 to 5. They had two more people, so they could easily end the match, but the battle between the two main bases was boring to say the least.

It seemed as if they were hoping for a draw, and the fans were also dissatisfied. If the Godz Knights won the first round, it would be as good as winning this game.

“Why are they doing this? They can win easily… They’re not attacking at all.”

“That’s right. If we win this round, Chaplin Whisper will have no choice but to jump into the jungle battle. Then our victory is obvious.”

But the Godz Knights gladiators couldn’t help it either. Beomseok wanted to win against Amelie, so they couldn’t end the game here. As his subordinates and as lovers, they wanted to follow his will even if it meant temporarily postponing their victory. And when they looked closely, it didn’t seem like the match would last that long.

“Hyah!”

Amelie was gradually cornered. She could only barely block Beomseok’s continuous attacks, and she couldn’t even dream of a counterattack. And then the final moment came. As her arms were pushed back by his fierce downward strike, her right shoulder was cut by the *banwolnal buwi* [crescent blade area of the spear].

As one of the swords that had been knocked away fell to the ground, Beomseok’s restrained upward strike followed, and he greatly tilted back the remaining sword. He soon twisted both hands in reverse and deeply cut the area around Amelie’s neck with the back of the *changdae* [spear shaft].

“Ugh….”

She knelt weakly on the floor and fell forward without even thinking of looking at Beomseok. A complete defeat. Now Amelie also realized that she was not the strongest in the world. He had now become an insurmountable wall, heading towards that high place.

‘Hehe. It’s over. Alright. Shall we end this round?’

There wasn’t much time left, but winning was as easy as pie. The remaining Chaplin Whisper gladiators, seeing Amelie being defeated, were visibly intimidated and stepping back. With the numbers dwindling and morale low, and with Beomseok joining in, victory was too obvious.

Soon, Beomseok, along with his teammates, attacked the Chaplin Whisper gladiators and finally captured the leader, Abyss, to win the second round.

Waaaaah!! Waaaaah!!

“Godz Knights did well! You’re the best!”

“Alright. Please take care of the league championship!”

It was only the end of the second round, but the stadium was filled with the joyful echoes of the home fans. Those actions, as if the game was over, were perhaps natural.

Now, as long as the Godz Knights didn’t do anything stupid like launching a preemptive strike, victory was a foregone conclusion. With three of the world’s top *jeonggeuljeon* [jungle battle] masters, it was impossible for the Godz Knights to lose in the forest.

This was evident from the few away fans who were feeling despair and leaving.

“Congratulations. Master! It’s as good as we’ve won now.”

Diana smiled brightly and greeted Beomseok as he entered the dugout. However, she had a slightly worried look on her face, as she couldn’t yet know his intentions. If he was intoxicated with the victory over Amelie and wanted to go to the third round with an all-out war, it would be quite troublesome.

“Well. I was a bit lucky. Who knew Amelie wouldn’t be able to return to the main base from there. Hehehe.”

“Yes. There was that aspect too. But Master, what are you going to do in the third round?”

“Well, shouldn’t the main force go out again this time? We need to raise one more win by playing *jeonggeuljeon* [jungle battle].”

“Then you’re not going to have an all-out war today?”

Beomseok chuckled. Now that he had defeated Amelie, he had no regrets about Chaplin Whisper. Now, the Godz Knights just had to go on to win the championship.

“Of course not. Am I crazy? All I need now is the World League championship trophy. You should know that too.”

At those words, Diana smiled brightly and looked at the stadium. If so, it was truly a relief. There had been more than one or two times when he had made easy games difficult due to Beomseok’s stubbornness. Now that they were in first place alone, if they could properly manage the remaining games, their chances of winning were very high.

‘Good. I will definitely protect these 3 points. Then it’s the championship.’

As expected, the Godz Knights won the game and earned 3 points. It was a victory earned by defeating the strong championship contender Chaplin Whisper, so it was very sweet. There were still 26 games left until the end of the season, so they couldn’t rest assured, but it was still a fruitful foundation for the Godz Knights.

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

Everyone have a great weekend. I’ll see you again tomorrow.