NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 66
Chapter 66. A Hope That Doesn’t Exist
“A forest?”
As far as the eye can see, there’s nothing but trees. The sight, similar to the one during the inter-school competition, brings a slight sense of relief.
“Lucky us. It seems like this won’t be a waste after all.”
Placing the bag on the ground, a sniper rifle and a ghillie suit are pulled out from within.
Although camouflage uniforms were also requested, the ghillie suit is the best option for a forest.
Quickly changing and shouldering the sniper rifle, the search for a vantage point begins.
“Alright, let’s do this.”
There’s no need to fight many ability users.
Just be the last one standing.
◇
Third-Person Perspective
The location shifts to a grassland stage.
There, Leon has been transported.
“Great! Come at me, all of you!”
The grassland. With nothing to hide behind, all the transported ability users can see each other clearly.
In other words, there’s no escape.
Despite such a situation, the fact that an Absolute One is on the same field makes the contestants turn pale.
Then, the contestants quickly make eye contact, nod at each other, and prepare to fight Leon. They all judged that they couldn’t afford to fight among themselves with an Absolute One present.
Absolute One vs. 42 Ability Users.
While the field is silent, the venue is filled with cheers at this spectacle.
Contestants, all strong in their own right, and an Absolute One whose power defies logic.
Since Absolute Ones have never participated in events before, and their overwhelming power is unknown, the audience is excited, thinking even an Absolute One might lose.
If Hayato were in the audience, he would have laughed at the spectators’ foolish chatter and left for the concession stand.
After all, watching a match with a foregone conclusion isn’t interesting in the slightest.
The ability users facing Leon simultaneously activate their abilities.
Amidst approaching boulders, water spears, and tornado-like flames, Leon welcomes them with a ferocious smile, unfazed.
“[Leo]!”
Responding to the shout, jet-black gauntlets appear on Leon’s arms.
The red, vein-like patterns etched into the black gauntlets glow faintly, as if excited for the battle.
After opening and closing his hands a few times, Leon strokes the void with his left gauntlet.
“””Wha-?!”””
With just that, the countless attacks approaching Leon vanish.
Not only do the attacks fail to reach Leon, but the ability users facing him can’t hide their astonishment at not being able to make him move even a step. However, they are seasoned warriors with real combat experience.
Suppressing their panic, they quickly move to their next attack.
A contestant with a longsword and another with a hammer flank Leon from both sides, unleashing their strikes.
The longsword vibrates at an extremely high speed, making its cutting power incomparable to a normal blade, and the hammer possesses the force to shatter buildings to pieces.
But no matter how much power they boast, it’s meaningless in the face of the absurd.
“Not bad. If you had acted a few seconds earlier, I might have dodged.”
Leon takes the attacks without moving a step.
He isn’t defending with his gauntlets or using any special ability.
However, the longsword and hammer stop just a step away from Leon, a hair’s breadth from his skin, and no matter how much they try to push forward, they don’t budge.
The principle is simple: he’s concentrating his fighting spirit to create a pseudo-armor.
But the density of it is nothing short of abnormal. Moreover, as seconds pass, the density increases further, leaving the two ability users dumbfounded and momentarily freezing their bodies.
Not missing the obvious opening, Leon’s arms pierce through the abdomens of the two ability users, leaving afterimages.
Naturally, the two, pierced through their stomachs, vanish into particles, and Leon turns his gaze to the remaining ability users.
“Tch! This is too ridiculous!”
“We have no choice but to keep pressing! The longer this goes on, the worse it gets for us!”
“Close-range types, hold him down! Rearguard, keep firing your abilities continuously!”
Their actions weren’t wrong.
Indeed, continuously attacking was necessary, and having the vanguard hold him down was the best strategy.
However,
He was too fast.
Too strong.
The ferocious lion was an Absolute One existence, leaving no room for hope for the ability users facing him.
No matter how much the rearguard fired their abilities, compared to Leon’s speed, it was as if they were standing still, and the time the vanguard could hold him down was at most two or three seconds per ability user.
About three minutes after the battle began.
Only the King of Destruction stands alone in the grassland.
“Looking forward to the semifinals…”
◇
Maze Stage
Jack walks through the ruins built within the maze.
“Pretty well made. It’s testing how we react the moment we encounter an enemy.”
Despite not knowing where the enemy might appear, Jack moves forward lightly. However, there’s no sound, and he remains aware in all directions, without even a hint of complacency.
Clunk
A sound echoes from somewhere.
“And there are traps too, which must be mentally taxing.”
A rumble sounds from behind, and something approaches Jack at considerable speed.
“Whoa, how cliché…”
Stopping and turning around, Jack checks what it is.
A few seconds later, a round boulder about five meters in diameter appears. The maze’s passage is just about five meters wide, making evasion impossible.
Jack draws the longsword at his waist while keeping an eye on the approaching boulder.
“Here goes.”
With a light voice, he slashes from above.
Despite being about ten meters away, the sword’s slash flies, cutting the boulder in two without losing any power.
“Hmm, it’s really troublesome to take them down one by one as we meet.”
It takes time, and it’s not very fun… Frowning slightly, Jack holds his longsword and faces the maze wall.
“It’s not against the rules, right?”
With a wry smile, thinking he should have checked the rules more carefully, his expression changes, and he focuses his nerves. An invisible sword aura leaks from Jack, the color of the space fades slightly, and small stones begin to tremble.
The longsword amplifies its glow, and upon reaching its limit, Jack quietly opens his eyes, holding it above.
“Disappear.”
The space screams, tears, and is filled with auroras.
Before the Sword Saint’s strike, the labyrinth’s walls are too fragile, and what remains before Jack is the aftermath of the labyrinth, destroyed in a fan shape.
◇
Colosseum Stage
Unlike the grassland and maze stages, this stage, without an overwhelmingly powerful presence, is in a state of chaos, making it the most tournament-like match in a sense.
Among them, a contestant with a rapier seems to stand out, skillfully handling the numerous strong opponents and taking them down one by one.
“Hah!”
Not only is their skill remarkable, but the ability users facing the rapier, whose trajectory moves freely, are struggling.
The match hasn’t even been going on for ten minutes.
Setting aside the abnormal situation where two stages have already ended, the audience and commentators turn their attention to the remaining two stages.