Chapter 65

Chapter 65

Four matches remained.

When Dojae returned to the stands, the perverted old Gray Elf was playing the game.

“Why aren’t you doing anything?”

“Hey! Do something, anything!”

For some reason, the opposing participant had stiffened up completely and couldn’t move.

The elderly gray elf eagerly pushed the frozen opponent out of bounds, eliminating them.

Group 5 ended that quickly, while Groups 6 and 7 proceeded in a back-and-forth fighting style, much like the earlier Group 1 match.

Through these two matches, Dojae learned a great deal.

‘It’s not just about raw strength and speed. Those seemingly unnecessary attacks in between are ultimately confusing the opponent.’

The matches between the four fighters in Groups 6 and 7 were diverse.

They feigned movements to deceive each other, stabbing their swords in between.

Hunting less intelligent monsters wouldn’t require such feints, but when an opponent could predict incoming attacks, these feints created confusion about whether the strike was real or fake.

‘If you can wield a spear reasonably well, it can be a far more advantageous weapon than a sword.’

Especially the gray elf named Fukun from Squad 7 wielded a spear as tall as himself. Though his physical prowess seemed somewhat inferior to his opponents, he overcame that with his overwhelming reach advantage.

Opponents struggled even to close in on Hokun. Even when they managed to get within striking distance with their swords, he blocked them with the steel shaft of his spear.

Moreover, while a sword, even when gripped with both hands, didn’t allow for concentrated force since the grip wasn’t at the center of gravity, a spear could channel the full, balanced strength of both hands, making it far more powerful.

‘I’d love to experience that guy’s spear technique myself. But of course, the next match is against the tournament favorites…’

Only Group 8’s match remained.

Katania said both of them were dangerous opponents.

Dojae, too, had sensed after seeing Salta in the waiting room that he wouldn’t be easy.

But strangely, he sensed nothing from the Skull Mask.

So he couldn’t tell at all whether the Skull Mask was strong or weak.

But he would see in the match about to begin.

Dojae waited eagerly for the final match of Group 8 to begin.

***

“I imagine many spectators have been waiting just for this match!”

Wooooo-!

The crowd roared with an immense cheer, as if they had been waiting only for this moment.

The already packed stands were now completely filled to the staircases with late-arriving Grey Elves.

Most of them had come specifically to see Salta’s match.

“Now, please welcome the players onto the field!”

Woo-hoo! Clap clap clap clap!

Thunderous cheers and applause resound.

The crowd’s excitement reached almost its peak.

Dojae, finding the crowd’s reaction strange, asked Catania beside him.

“Why are the spectators so excited? I thought he was dangerous.”

Katania replied, her eyes fixed on the arena.

“They just don’t know. How crazy that guy really is. He’s become a completely different being from his past self.”

“Past?”

“This is his fourth tournament. First time, 15th place. Second time, 7th. Third time, 2nd. Everyone was captivated by his growth, and his name started spreading even to villages deep in the continent. But ten years ago, something happened… and he completely lost his mind.”

“What happened?”

“Well…”

Katania stopped speaking.

She grimaced and bit her lip.

“If it’s hard to talk about, you don’t have to.”

Dojae picked up the snack he’d set aside and handed it to Catania.

It was a bread-like snack he’d bought for Sari to eat during the 6th team match.

“No, somehow I feel like I should tell you. There’s something special about you.”

“…So? What’s this incident from ten years ago?”

“You know about the spatial erasure incidents happening all over the continent since the Great Cataclysm, right? Ah, maybe you don’t. Anyway, these mysterious events are causing a lot of pain to our kind. And one of the victims is Saltaji.”

“They lost their village….”

“You know about it? Right. He lost his entire village, save for himself and one other person. Not just the residents, but the very houses they lived in.”

“It’s heartbreaking, but surely more than one or two villages vanished like that.”

Nod.

“Exactly. That’s why that guy’s gone mad. He can’t accept it. The fact his village vanished, the fact his beloved brother is gone.”

“His brother…”

“While we’re on the subject, let me reveal one more fact: that one person I just mentioned is me. And Salta is my husband.”

“Hmm… Complicated family history…”

“We were newlyweds, and Salta and I were traveling, so we avoided the spatial erasure incident. When we returned to the village after our trip, there was nothing left. We sat there for days, grieving. And then he changed. Salta. He erased all his memories himself and began wandering, thinking only of his brother.”

Katania still couldn’t take her eyes off the arena.

Salta and the Skull Mask had ascended onto the arena to perform the Forest Oath.

But Salta stood motionless, not taking the oath.

Doja wondered if it was because there was no forest left to swear to.

“I don’t know why Salta suddenly entered this tournament.”

“Has he finally come to his senses?”

“No. Salta still doesn’t recognize me. Anyway, I’m uneasy. Until now, he’d smashed everything in his path searching for his brother. The rumors about Salta didn’t spread partly because I blocked them, but also because he left not a single opponent alive. So now he suddenly enters the tournament, and I have no idea what’s going on!”

When Catania shouted, the surrounding spectators’ eyes turned to her.

But it was only for a moment. Soon, the crowd turned their heads back to the arena, chanting Salta’s name.

“Lee Dojae, stop Salta. It might just be a feeling, but you’re different. You don’t feel like you belong in this world. I think someone like you might have the power to stop my husband.”

Catania’s eyes grew moist.

Scratch scratch-.

Dojae nodded, thinking he’d gotten himself tangled up in something unnecessary.

“I understand. If Salta wins that match, then…”

Dojae pointed toward the arena.

The fight between Salta and the Skull Mask was about to begin.

***

“What? What’s going on?”

“What just happened? Someone explain this!”

Amidst the countless Grey Elves, only a few shouts filled the arena.

The Grey Elves were so stunned by the scene unfolding before them that they couldn’t even utter a sound.

“…Game over! Game over! Healing squad, hurry…!”

Before the referee’s shout had even ended, the skeleton-masked figure was enveloped in light and vanished somewhere, leaving only Salta’s sword stuck in the ground.

“The… winner is Salta!”

…….

…….

Waaah-!

Waaah-!

Waaaaaah!

The crowd’s cheers spread like a wave.

Only a handful of Grey Elves had properly seen what had just happened, but since the winner was Salta, the crowd’s cheers didn’t stop.

“Did you see that?”

“Yeah.”

Katarina asked, biting her nails, and Dojae replied curtly.

From the moment Salta’s match began until the sword pierced the back of the Skull Mask, only two seconds had passed.

Simultaneously with the referee’s signal, Salta vanished as if teleporting, reappearing to thrust his sword into the back of the Skull Mask.

“You said I’d understand once I saw it. But the Skull Mask didn’t show me anything.”

“I didn’t know either… that Salta was that strong…”

Salta pulled the sword from the floor and descended directly below the arena.

The crowd couldn’t contain their excitement at Salta’s arrogant demeanor.

“But Catania. Don’t you feel something strange about Salta?”

“Strange? Not really sure.”

Dojae glared at Salta as he headed toward the waiting room.

In that split second when he thrust his sword into the skull mask, Dojae felt something.

That sticky, slimy feeling.

That same feeling emanating from Kang Young-chan and the Red Oak Priest. It was only for a very brief moment, but he felt it from Salta too.

“Going to the waiting room? I’ve got the next match.”

Catanica rose from her seat.

Since the quarterfinals were being held today, she was heading off to prepare for her next match.

“Yeah, let’s go together. Nothing else to do anyway.”

Dojae followed Catania and stood up from his seat.

They said there’d be talent shows from each village at the stadium until the next match, but he wasn’t really interested.

It was better to return to the waiting room and gauge the mood of the other players.

***

After the Round of 16.

A bulletin board listing the participants’ wins and losses was hung in the waiting room.

[First Match, Tarutan : Hauka] [Tarutan Win]

[Match 2, Catania : Kurahatton] [Catania Win]

[Round 3, Detun : Sita] [Sita Wins]

[Round 4, Tubartan : Idojae] [Idojae Wins]

[5th Match, Shibatag : Tahul] [Tahul Wins]

[6th Match, Hikkan : Salinian] [Salinian Wins]

[7th Match, Tisokan : Hukun] [Hukun Win]

[8th Match, Salta : Itol] [Salta Win]

Dojae quietly scanned the waiting room.

Even with sixteen people, the atmosphere had been tense, but now the tension was so thick it felt suffocating.

‘If I had to pick the one to watch most closely…’

Dojae slowly shifted his gaze.

Having watched the first and second matches himself, he could gauge Tarutan and Catania’s abilities to some extent.

He had also watched the sixth and seventh matches clearly, so he understood the level of Salinian and Fukun.

The problem was the third, fifth, and eighth matches. He hadn’t been able to properly observe the third and fifth matches because he’d been waiting in the waiting room preparing for his match against Tubartan.

‘Tahul… So that old man’s name was Tahul.’

Dojae was watching Tahul, the elderly Grey Elf.

This time, Tahul was flirting with a female gray elf tournament official, making him the most unpredictable opponent.

Fortunately, since the tournament rules were a knockout format, even if he faced Dojae, it would only be in the finals—provided he defeated Salrta first.

Of course, if he lost even to that Salanian fellow, Tahul wouldn’t be someone worth worrying about anyway.

‘That Sithahran fellow wields a very long sword.’

The guy he’d face in the next match was Sithahran, the Grey Elf.

His weapon was truly peculiar—it was ambiguous whether to call it a spear or a sword, a very long, needle-like thing.

Dojae wondered how he would fight with that weapon.

“Attention, everyone!”

A new official entered the waiting room.

In his hand was a transparent jar, identical to the one used during the draw.

“Ladies and gentlemen, congratulations on your first victory in the main tournament. Before the next match, we will conduct the arena draw. Please come forward one at a time and draw a paper.”

Another spectacle of the tournament.

From the quarterfinals onward, matches are held not in square arenas, but in arenas where specific environments are magically created.

And that arena draw was about to begin.