Chapter 139 (1/2)

<< But, why is he here? >>

Adel couldn’t believe his eyes as he blinked repeatedly to confirm Su-hyeun’s face. The South Korean ought to be still fighting upstairs against the awakeners including Stjepan. So, how…

“What do you mean, what? We, alone, can’t deal with this bastard!”

That was from the conversation with Stjepan, which got unceremoniously cut off by Gordon Rohan’s attack. His urgent cries were ringing in Adel’s ears.

He thought that the other team must be struggling too, but as it turned out, the battle there had already come to an end.

“The number of people on this side is actually higher,” said Su-hyeun.

He took a look at the awakeners surrounding the arena and nodded his head, prompting Gordon Rohan to ask him a question.

“So, did they come for you, too?”

“Yes. Ten of them showed up.”

“Did you kill them all?”

“No, I let six of them live.”

“Did they escape, or did you let them go?”

“I let them go. Who would stop the dungeons appearing in Europe if they were all dead?”

Su-hyeun looked completely at ease, judging from how he shrugged his shoulders. Despite fighting ten people, he wasn’t even exhausted in the slightest.

It was already quite taxing on the European awakeners to fight against just Gordon Rohan alone. But what if Su-hyeun was to join the fray?

<< It’s over. >>

Adel shook his head. Then he turned around towards Gordon Rohan. “Your promise. It’s still in effect, yes?”

“My promise?”

“No reprisals or consequences.”

“Ah, that?” Gordon Rohan rested his spear on his broad shoulder and asked, “What’s wrong? Scared?”

“How can I not be? After all, you’re the world’s most powerful man.”

“Busy kissing my ass, aren’t you?”

Still, all that sucking up did work wonders. Even if that wasn’t strictly the case, Gordon Rohan wasn’t the type to change his mind.

“As long as you’re willing to make a promise of your own, I’ll keep mine.”

“What will that be?”

“Don’t run away tomorrow.”

“…?”

“I’m talking about the finals, obviously. I hope you won’t get scared by your failures today and run away with your tails between your legs tomorrow.”

Gordon Rohan’s provocative remark managed to wipe away the subtle grin that was always etched on Adel’s face.

Upon seeing that, the American’s smile grew even wider. “You’ve been grinning all this time, but well, now… That expression suits you better. Makes you look more manly and all.”

“Well, then. I shall see you tomorrow,” Adel replied, before turning around to leave.

No one there criticized him for doing so. The dissection of their failures would have to wait until later. Now was the time to escape from this place.

Gordon Rohan asked Su-hyeun, “Will you be fine with letting them go like that?”

The latter nodded his head. “As I said before, it’ll be a problem if all of them died here today. After all, the shortage of S-Ranks can potentially make some dungeons impossible to raid.”

“Is that your real reason?”

“What else could there be?”

“You’re kinder than I thought. No, wait. Should I change that to ‘righteous’ instead?”

Gordon Rohan stared at Su-hyeun as if the latter was an alien.

But then again, he was quite self-centered and individualistic. Thus, from his perspective, Su-hyeun worrying about strangers in some distant lands did come across as rather bizarre.

Their opinions on letting these fools go didn’t clash, which was a relief, but despite them making a broadly similar choice, their reasons were clearly different.

“Those punks, they’ll come knocking again. Not just at me, but at you too,” said Gordon Rohan.

“Yes, I know.”

Su-hyeun recalled how the European Union’s awakeners hurriedly escaped from there.

Although it was slightly puzzling to see them appear before him, he wasn’t too surprised by them either. He was thinking that it was only a matter of time before he would clash against them.

<< I had no idea that they fought against Gordon Rohan at this point in history though. >>

The European Awakener Federation.

This organization had publicly announced its existence at the end of the year 2022 and had proved to be quite problematic in a variety of ways.

They were strictly profit-based, so as long as no benefits were promised, they would not make a single move regardless of what the issue at hand was.

At times, they even became sources of outbreaks by suddenly changing the schedules of the raids that were supposed to take place in some other countries – raids that they had already signed contracts for.

<< That’s the problem with an organization that no one can control. It only seeks to bolster its own freedom and rights above all else. >>

The organization ballooned to a massive scale, and no one could control it. It boasted the membership of over thirty S-Ranks, plus tens of thousands of high-ranked awakeners too.

Another organization had to be created in order to keep them in check, and that inevitably led to endless conflicts and standoffs instigated by the awakeners worldwide.

<< They started discussing it around this time, is that it? >>

Su-hyeun didn’t have much information regarding the events surrounding the Ranking Wars, so getting his hands on the news of the European Awakener Federation being established around this period was an unexpected windfall.

If he played his cards right, then he might be able to stamp out a budding source of future troubles.

<< When going up against many… >>

Su-hyeun clenched his fist tightly, his eyes gleaming dangerously.

<< Fight with an even greater level of one’s strength. >>

The stage wasn’t bad at all.

This was the Ranking Wars. The attention of the entire world should be focused on the competition. And on this very stage, he’d get to meet the various members of the European Awakener Federation, including Adel.

The backdrop wasn’t so bad either.

Thanks to them making a move first, it was easier for him to make his move now. The fortress he needed to bring down with much hard work since forever began crumbling all by itself.

“What are you so engrossed about?” Gordon Rohan asked.

“I was thinking about tomorrow, and it’s making me really pumped up.”

“Tomorrow?” Gordon Rohan smirked. “Feeling confident, aren’t you?”

It seemed that he had misinterpreted the reply as Su-hyeun looking forward to fighting him.

Since the latter didn’t feel like correcting the older man, he simply nodded his head along with his answer. “Pretty much.”

“Haha, hahahah!”

Gordon Rohan guffawed loudly as he held on to his tummy at that confident answer.

He continued to laugh for a while, then clapped his hands and made his much-delayed reply. “I like such confidence. I really do. Honestly, I’m also looking forward to tomorrow.”

Tap, tap-

Gordon Rohan lightly patted Su-hyeun’s shoulder as he walked past.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then. Get a good night’s rest, and be at the most optimal condition, okay?”

Having said what he wanted to say, he then stuck his hands in his pockets and strode out of the arena.

In the meantime, Su-hyeun scanned the completely ruined arena to muttered to himself.

“I hope this won’t pose a problem.”

Act 4

BANG-!

Crack-

Adel’s fist slammed down, shattering a sturdy desk.

After returning to his room along with his group, he began grinding his teeth non-stop.

As for the expressions of his group nearby, they were all gloomy, to say the least.

Not only did the opportunity to win the Ranking Wars fly out of the window due to the failure of this mission, he even made enemies out of Su-hyeun and Gordon Rohan.

To make matters even worse, several members of the European Awakener Federation had been killed too. This issue couldn’t be overlooked as a minor slip-up anymore.

Regardless, they needed to take full responsibility for this mission’s failure. As their actions had not been officially sanctioned, dealing with the consequences would prove to be much harder later on.

As Adel imagined how those governments who lost their precious S-Ranks would react at the news, he thought his vision was fogging up in wane yellow color.