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He’d already accumulated a lot of damage and couldn’t risk being struck. If he couldn’t defend himself against Giga Lightning, his life would be at risk – the notion of winning and losing paled in comparison.

Thoughts spun wildly around Kang Min-hyuk’s head, and time seemed to slow down to accommodate the mass of ideas.

“I can’t use my sword…”

“How will I survive the lightning strike with steel alone?!”

“No matter how strong Klinssman’s body is, there’s no chance it can sustain the blow.”

Suddenly, a possibility emerged from the back of his mind. If he could escape the hold’s restraint, he could use both sword and steel, in which case he could survive the oncoming attack. But how could he do it?

The hold was stronger than Chris Kyle’s variation, which he had freed himself from in the first round of dueling. The giant hold was significantly stronger than an ordinary grip, though – Dominic Green was smart to have used it. His strategy implemented both offense and defense in one fell swoop by utilizing firepower through Magic Space’s safety. The cumulation of three engraved spells produced an impressive outcome.

Within two or three seconds, Kang Min-hyuk’s divided brain offered several solutions to the immediate dilemma. He chose one instinctively – to reverse mana’s power.

Kang Min-hyuk infused his mana into the giant hold. He had memorized its system and moved mana through the reverse order – through this process, he weakened the hold and accomplished the miraculous effect of escaping the bondage.

Crack!

Submerged in the mist generated by Giga Lightning’s electrical bundle, his accomplishment was missed by the audience and his opponent alike.

Kwakwakwang!

Rumble.

He managed to evade the attack, used sword, and steel and raised all of his remaining mana to counter Giga Lightning’s attack. He experienced tremendous pain, and tears filled his eyes.

He considered the existence of the guardian gate’s wild-card but suppressed the thought…the situation wasn’t urgent enough to demand such emphatic action.

Thump!

Passusu.

Kang Min-hyuk knelt. The situation did not break his will to fight. His eyes, still alive, were fixed on Dominic Green, and Kang Min-hyuk gripped his sword despite the pain that seemed to want to crush his skull. Still, he couldn’t do anything. Electric magic is amplified with each sequential attack. Due to the damage accumulated inside, Kang Min-hyuk had no strength to move, but he refused to fall.

Will transcended the flesh and forced him upward. It was then that he saw the medical staff running toward him. Kang Min-hyuk realized that he had been defeated and eventually let go of the string of consciousness he was barely keeping hold of.

Beep-!

Beep-!

Beep-!

“Huh? Klinssman is upright!”

The nurse was frightened. When Kang Min-hyuk woke up from his dream, the hospital room’s white ceiling was the first thing he saw.

* * *

“Your resilience is great,” the Doctor began,

“I wouldn’t have been surprised if you had died – most people would struggle to hold onto life after what you’ve been through. Skin necrosis was also progressing, but your skin is already regenerating. Although we did all we could, this level of resilience is a miracle.”

Medical magic helped Kang Min-hyuk to recover. The lifeblood of a fortified warrior is durable. Danjeon’s power restored his body, proving Klinssman’s physical regeneration power to be great. The doctor continued to praise his recovery, but Kang Min-hyuk did not listen and thought instead of Dominic Green’s duel.

“I lost.”

Eventually, he was defeated…though he didn’t collapse, even if the duel had continued, he wasn’t sure he could have gone on. Dominic Green didn’t give up until the very end, using every last drop of his mana. He had the tenacity to hold on to the end. The guardian gate’s wild-card – opening – was only to be used in an actual life-or-death situation. Even if it had secured his win, Kang Min-hyuk wouldn’t have been happy in having to use it.

“Why did I lose?”

He found himself asking over and over. Was it the opponent’s strength? That was the natural assumption. However, Kang Min-hyuk had opportunities to secure victory, but he couldn’t make use of them. The same was true of the duel with Chris Kyle. Kang Min-hyuk had greater power than Chris Kyle but had trouble with the bizarre power of magic.

“The power of the unknown. I had no choice but to suffer because I didn’t know what was coming.”

The Hold trap, Blink, Mirage, and engraving magic, amongst others, were all strange techniques that Kang Min-hyuk was unsure how to handle. He had recently read up on Blink and Giant Hold in his studies of fifth circle magic, but his theoretical experience wasn’t enough to immediately counteract hundreds of variables. Even if you know the techniques, you don’t know what kind of magic your opponent will choose to use. There were hundreds, thousands of options; magic has so many variables. In the end, he had to experience it firsthand.

Only after confirming what kind of magic it was could Kang Min-hyuk belatedly respond. ‘It was a fight I was destined to lose. A warrior’s strength can overcome most magic aspects, but magical power can create something from nothing. I was wrong in my opinion that if the powers of each other are similar, the reinforced warriors will be more advantageous.”

Had he known more about the 6th Circle Wizard’s combat method, his defeat would not have happened. It left a bitter taste in his mouth. However, he had experienced defeat often enough throughout his childhood training, so he knew that it didn’t have to lead to despair. It presented an opportunity for growth.

Kang Min-hyuk decided to learn more about magic – as much as he could to be as strong as a wizard and prevent future defeat. The poison had risen, and the desire for victory bloomed. His failure at the hands of Dominic Green filled Min-hyuk with aspirations for growth.

That afternoon, Harry Wilson visited the hospital, still reeling from the events of the duel.

“You beast! You survived several hits of Giga Lightning. You got a big hit! The CCTV video from the Green Dragon situation was aired alongside the video of the duel, and the name on everybody’s lips is Klinssman’!”

While he’d been in the hospital bed, a lot had been going on outside.

* * *

Klinssman fell in the quarter-finals, but people couldn’t hide their surprise when they saw the process rather than the loss. During the duel’s broadcast, the MC said,

“It was an awesome game! Dominic Green is a proven War Mage that has made a reputation for breaking barriers. Everybody assumed Elisha was his only real competition, but Klinssman pushed hard with just a sword. People said that the power of assassins was dead, but Klinssman proved that magic isn’t the only strength of this world.”

The MC praised Klinssman passionately.

Chris Kyle and Dominic Green attacked Kang Min-hyuk by digging the trap layer by layer, but Kang Min-hyuk broke through it and showed his strength to the end. It was a very surprising scenario. Nobody had witnessed such brute physical force against magic in the 2000 year history of the civilization. The new power focused people’s attention on the birth of a nation.

“Magic is the only force that can destroy monsters. Those not magically gifted are excluded from battle and choose to live like ordinary people. Sometimes physically gifted people take the path of defenders, but the cases were few. Now, however, Klinssman has shown a new form of power which must be acknowledged.”

People were enthusiastic. People who had never raised a weapon before began to use farming equipment to train and built dreams of becoming a warrior. Klinssman gave them hope that with practice, they could become strong. Klinssman was approached with offers of recruitment from numerous Towers.

“How would you like to research and develop swordsmanship with us? We’re prepared to offer you any support you require in exchange for your research.”

“We’d like to invite you to become a swordsmanship teacher.”

Various forces were hungry for his knowledge.

In their view, Klinssman was a pioneer in swordsmanship. Even if swordsmanship didn’t define civilization, it would achieve tremendous power within society as an alternative to magic.

They smelled power.

Avid was among them.

“The wizard who passed the tower of trial chooses a sword rather than magic? I knew that the sword was the center of your power in the Green Dragon situation, but, surprisingly, your power has developed so much. Where did your power come from? Were you taught, or did you manifest it yourself?”

He had many questions.

However, Kang Min-hyuk kept his mouth closed. He did not accept any proposals and did not give Avid the answer he wanted.

Over time, Kang Min-hyuk got a strange feeling. People were enthusiastic about his power, but wizards were a little closed to him. With only one force supporting the world, swordsmanship’s birth posed a threat to the status quo. So, Avid could either recruit Klinssman or analyze the information his progress unleashed. Like Avid, many people tried to find out the starting point of swordsmanship by asking many questions.

The state of the boundary wasn’t enough – more strength was required to fight against disaster effectively. Even before the gate incident, magical society chose to coexist with the physical prowess of warriors. Then, things changed, and the top priority became self-preservation as opposed to mankind’s preservation.

For the first time, people living in brilliance were forced to consider their mortality. Kang Min-hyuk was unsure as to how to proceed for the best.

A few days later, Elisha was announced as the winner of the tournament.

As Dominic Green fell against Elisha, Kang Min-hyuk was able to organize his thoughts.