Chapter 164: Next (2)
A huge hologram floated over the arena.
The Vega displayed on the hologram glanced past the celestials in the stands and sent a cold glare at Deneb.
Ohjin followed Vega's gaze and looked to the place where Deneb was seated.
'Are those Deneb's apostles?'
Behind Deneb, who was seated in an extravagant chair, were a total of ten females and males standing in a line.
The two people amongst Deneb's twelve apostles who didn't show up were those who were a part of the 'Seven Stars' like Allen Oscal.
'Well, I guess there's no need for all of them to gather.'
The match was based on defeating three of Deneb's twelve apostles. As Deneb already stated that he wouldn’t send out apostles belonging to the 'Seven Stars' like Allen, there was no reason for them to attend.
'Let's see…'
Ohjin activated the stigma of the Hunting Dogs and observed each and every one of the Awakeners lined up behind Deneb.
They certainly weren't Awakeners that had received the stigma of a North Star for no reason. The thick smell of mana emitting from Deneb's apostles was so strong that it stung his nose.
"Is he the Lightning Wolf?"
"Considering he's the Star of the Weaver Girl's apostle, he doesn’t look like much."
"Right? The energy he emits is also pretty normal."
While Ohjin observed them, Deneb's apostles were also observing Ohjin. and their eyes shone with interest. They put on expressions of disappointment, as there wasn't anything about Ohjin that seemed special.
"Well, I heard that it's only been one year since he awakened."
"But does becoming a 7-Star Awakener in one year make sense? What if he's actually not a 7-Star and lying?"
"We'll know once we face him."
Deneb's apostles observed Ohjin from head to toe while they chatted.
"Quiet."
"Ah."
Deneb's apostles flinched once Allen Oscal's ice-cold voice left his mouth.
"The match is going to start soon. Everyone should focus so that you do not damage Sir Deneb's reputation."
"Yes."
Deneb's apostles shut their mouths according to Allen’s orders and started to focus on controlling their mana.
When the unnoticed battle of nerves was happening between Deneb's apostles and Ohjin—
[Ah, ah. Can everyone hear me?]
—a voice that rang out in everyone’s head directly got everyone’s attention.
It was the voice of Spica, the celestial of Virgo that Ohjin had met at the entrance.
After floating up into the air and flying a lap around the arena, she placed a circular marble near her mouth and shouted out with her unique, clear voice.
[Hello, everybody! My name is Spica, and I have been entrusted with the role of being today's host~!]
Her frivolous manner of speaking made it hard to believe that she was a celestial of one of the 12 Zodiacs, but even that frivolity looked cute while she hopped around the air with her wavering pink hair.
[Today's proxy match is between Lady Vega and Sir Deneb! It's no less than a match between the apostles of a North Star!]
Cheers erupted from the crowd following her lively voice.
—A match between the apostles North Stars.
There was no celestial that wasn't excited to see the unprecedented match.
[The rules are simple! Lady Vega’s apostle will be deemed victorious if he defeats three of Deneb's twelve apostles!]
"Three?"
"Hm… isn't that a bit much when one of them is already hard enough?"
The celestials started to make a commotion once they heard the rules. They had all heard about the rapid growth of Vega's apostle, the Lightning Wolf, but the public opinion was that he still couldn't match up to Deneb's twelve apostles.
Despite that, he had to take down not one but three of them consecutively.
The condition felt brutal.
[Regarding the rules… it was set up this way because Vega only has one apostle!]
"Hmm. Well… I guess the number of apostles is also important."
"But still, aren't three too many?"
Everyone slowly nodded their heads as if they weren’t completely convinced but understood to an extent.
You couldn't outright say that it was unfair because the number of apostles was also an important factor that made up divinity.
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Translator - Maccas
Proofreader - ilafy
* * *
[Well then! May both celestials come forward before we start the proxy match!]
Deneb jumped off his seat and landed on the ground while Vega walked to the middle of the arena as her silver dress fluttered.
[Vow on thine names that thou shall carry out the match with integrity and yield to whatever the result may be.]
As if her frivolous attitude until then was all an act, Spica looked at the two of them with a serious expression.
[I vow it.]
"I vow it."
Owooong!—
Blue light poured out Vega and Deneb's bodies and started to intertwine.
[Both of you do understand that you have to put your feelings behind you after the end of this proxy match, correct?]
Vega and Deneb nodded their heads.
Spica smiled brightly and flew up into the air.
[Now, shall we get things started right away? First off, the blue corner! Lady Vega’s one and only apostle! The Awakener who is famous for his name of Lightning Wolf! It's Awakener Gwon Ohjin!]
Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap!!!—
Ohjin went up onto the stage with a big applause.
The eyes of the celestials that filled up the stands focused on Ohjin.
—The Lightning Wolf.
They looked at him with excitement like they were looking forward to what kind of show the Star of the Weaver Girl's only apostle would put on.
[Next, on the red corner! The youngest of Deneb's twelve apostles! It's Líu Yǐ-háo, an Awakener known for his title of 'Silver Blade'!]
The young man with snow-white skin lightly kicked off the railing and landed elegantly like a fluttering swan.
"Hm."
After stepping onto the stage, Líu Yǐ Háo glared at Ohjin with cold eyes.
"I heard that Young Warrior is a 7-Star Awakener. Is this true?"
"Yeah. I achieved it around one or two months ago."
Ohjin slightly nodded his head.
An exclamation left Líu Yǐ-háo's mouth after hearing his response.
"One to two months ago… it truly is a speed that's hard to believe."
It had been around a year since the news of Vega obtaining an apostle spread around, but Ohjin already managed to become a 7-Star Awakener.
Naturally, Ohjin would've been granted a much more dense stigma than Líu Yǐ-háo had, as he was Vega's only apostle, but even when taking that into account, his achievement was no less than marvelous.
However—
"You do know that all 7-Stars aren't the same, correct?"
—there was bound to be a difference between the two of them, as it had already been ages since Líu Yǐ-háo became a 7-Star Awakener.
Even more so if the stigmas they owned were both of a 'North Star'.
"Of course I do."
Ohjin smirked while nodding.
Líu Yǐ-háo grinned after seeing Ohjin's nonchalant attitude with not a speck of nervousness in sight.
"It seems that you've let the victories against Awakeners with second-rate stigmas get to your head."
He nodded his head like he understood.
"I was also like that at first. I was filled with conceit and vanity when I saw Awakeners with a higher star rank than me get defeated easily."
Líu Yǐ-háo looked up to the sky with eyes that seemed to be reminiscing on the past.
"However…"
Exhaling a deep breath, he shook his head.
"I realized that there was another sky above the one I knew."
"Are you a liberal arts major?"
"...What does that mean?"
"Nevermind. Continue where you left off."
Feeling unpleasant after getting cut off, Líu Yǐ-háo continued with a frown.
"I realized it when I met Great Warrior Allen. The ones I faced until then… were nothing but fakes."
—Arrogance that couldn't help but develop as a North Star's apostle.
The marvelous sword strike Allen had displayed to Líu Yǐ-háo had blown away his arrogance.
"Young Warrior, you will also come to realize the truth not far from now."
Líu Yǐ-háo looked at Ohjin gently like he was a young child and then got into his stance.
[Are you two finished preparing?] Spica asked as she came down to the middle of the arena.
Ohjin nodded his head while taking out and turning the steel rod on his belt into a spear, and Líu Yǐ-háo did a fist-and-palm salute while deeply bowing his head.
[Alright! It seems that the preparations are finished!]
Clap!—
Spica clapped and spread her arms out wide.
Owoong!—
Pastel-pink light spread out of her body and covered the arena.
[This Sacred Ground is only in use as a precaution! There are no recovery effects, so keep that in mind!]
Spica continued explaining with a cheerful smile.
[It’s over if one of you loses your consciousness or becomes incapable of continuing the fight! It's also over if the opponent acknowledges their defeat!]
She emphasized her sentence by raising her index finger like a teacher informing young students.
[You naturally won't die, as you're on a Sacred Ground… but you mustn't cross the line of killing one another! Understood?]
"I shall keep that in mind."
"Yes."
Even if it was a proxy match to solve disputes amongst celestials, if the match turned into a brutal slaughter, grudges couldn't help but form for various reasons.
To avoid that kind of scenario, the match needed to be closer to that of a spar rather than a real fight.
'Though I'm not sure if things will go that way.'
With both parties knowing that they wouldn't die in the Sacred Ground, it was unknown if neither of them would use life-threatening skills.
[Now, don't forget that the ultimate goal of this proxy match is to end the dispute!]
Spica flew high up into the air once again.
[Let the match begin!!]
Pop, pop, pop!—
With countless pink rays of light exploding in the air like fireworks, cheers and applause erupted from the celestials in the stands.
"Hmm."
Schwing—
Líu Yǐ-háo slowly drew his sword from his scabbard.
Fitting his nickname of 'Silver Blade', his sword shone with an elegant silver color, and a cold, white aura swooped over the area the moment he drew his sword.
He looked at Ohjin with a caring smile.
"Isn't the culture of seniors and juniors important in the ranks of Awakeners?"
He slowly lowered his sword and continued.
"As your senior, I shall yield the first strike to you."
"Really?"
The action of yielding the first strike to an opponent was no different than blatantly looking down on them—
"Then I guess I'll attack first."
—but Ohjin gratefully accepted and lowered his stance with a smirk.
There was no reason to refuse when the opposing side was willing to give him an advantage.
'Charge'
Bzzzzzt!!—
He condensed lightning into his legs.
It condensed so much that his legs could be mistaken for blue lightning and blazed like flames.
"Indeed, I feel a powerful energy fitting that of a North Star's stigma."
Líu Yǐ-háo looked at Ohjin with surprise.
'You probably shouldn't be surprised yet.'
Charge, Charge, Charge, Charge.
Lightning went through five condensations and wrapped around Ohjin’s legs.
Ohjin smiled brightly and straightened his body.
And then—
BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZT!!!—
—A single thread of blue lightning flashed across the arena.
“Wha—”
Líu Yǐ-háo’s arrogant expression was dyed with shock. Ohjin appeared right in front of his nose before he was even able to react.
Crack!—
Ohjin held Líu Yǐ-háo’s face with his right hand and kicked his legs with a sweeping motion.
While Líu Yǐ-háo’s legs lifted into the air—
Booooooooom!!!—
—Ohjin slammed the back of his head into the ground.
Dense clouds of dust spread out.
Líu Yǐ-háo was unconscious with his eyes rolled into the back of his head in the middle of the destroyed arena.
[...Huh?]
“Wh-What just happened?”
“What is this…?”
The celestials froze on the spot while being unable to comprehend the situation.
Ohjin left Líu Yǐ-háo behind and slowly straightened himself to face Deneb.
Moving his finger back and forth, Ohjin provoked Deneb, who was looking in his direction with shock.
“Next.”
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