The glorious final match.
Its beginning stemmed from a conversation between the two.
"To think that a body made of flesh from the fabric of the earth can exert such power. Unbelievable."
[And yet, you handle that metal like it’s your limbs.]
"Desperation turns the impossible into the possible. When I was young, the continent was teeming with soldiers and mythical creatures armed with countless mysteries."
Armored Taejong still remembers.
The days when mysteries breathed life into the continent.
"That era was humanity’s hell."
"Humans were torn apart by cruel fairies who treated them like insignificant insects, their limbs ripped off, their screams echoing as they were trampled by the hooves of savage beasts."
The world of gladiator training was born for struggle and bloodshed.
It was only natural that all races would open their eyes to cruelty.
[So you swore to become cruel before all the mysteries? Just like you delivered death to my master, Cloud Dragon Azisahab?]
"A dragon is the pinnacle among all soldier races and mythical creatures. It was a natural enemy that humanity had to eventually destroy. In that sense, I must thank you."
Unlike Lee Hae-chan, who had been defeated by death and broken in spirit, Armored Taejong did not lose his resolve even in the cold, freezing weather that could chill even a massive piece of metal.
"Having built a relationship and attachment to a being like Cloud Dragon, a dragon who was once impossible to kill, surely it left a vulnerability, didn’t it?"
Your existence was the weakness of Cloud Dragon Azisahab.
You were the greatest contributor to his defeat.
The sly words spoken by the enemy who killed your master.
Ha Eung Eung’s heart grew as cold as the frozen capital of the Great Iron Country.
Like the sword of northern ice, brought about by the North Sea Ice Palace.
A murderous intent more intense than ever before was tempered and sharpened.
[Don’t worry. Every master’s weakness lies in the life of their disciple.]
Both were disciples who had once killed their own masters.
Fated to stand in this place, the reality was an unavoidable destiny.
With that resolution.
The time for fighting spirit and resolve was now over.
The power that could crush any mystery in this world.
The strength capable of toppling any giant in this world.
The techniques honed against mysteries and giants.
The sharpened strike of vengeance.
Each clash felt like measuring the sincerity of each.
"They’ve finally clashed! The final strike between two strongest warriors— the arena is—! Shaken!!"
The eagerly awaited, heart-pounding clash resounded throughout the arena with a loud cheer.
[Invincible]
[Invincible]
[Invincible]
Such was the force of the impact that the words "Invincible" appeared around the shield protecting the audience from the shockwaves, rising up everywhere!
Before the words could fade away, the second and third strikes collided, obscuring the view with new phrases.
"To think a human would contest with Armored in a battle of strength."
"A terrifyingly powerful strike indeed."
"Is that why they call him the Silent Swordsman?"
The notorious trio of Changwon Guild.
Ahn Chang-yoon, Kim Gil-tae, Lee Jeong.
They genuinely trembled at the clash of powers, feeling the sensation of electricity running through their bodies.
It was on a whole different level.
They had seen battles between strong warriors before, but this was their first time feeling this kind of electrifying battle.
"Watch closely. Opportunities like this to witness such high-level combat without direct experience are rare."
Changwon Guild’s Guild Master, Lee Chang-won.
He had opened his eyes to the potential of virtual reality games after the experience of the Half-Demon Valley Sensory Link.
Behind the trio, the senior experts of Changwon Guild and executives were seated in a line for the same reason.
"Guild Master, if the goal is indirect combat experience, wouldn’t it have been better to just watch through a Sensory Link?"
"How long do you think you could last? After just a second of exposure to that terrifying cold, you’d be frozen and your senses would be completely distorted."
"......"
Even Lee Chang-won himself, if the Silent Swordsman entered full combat, was not confident that he could endure the Sensory Link for more than a minute.
Let alone the juniors, they would barely last 10 seconds.
Boom—
Boom boom boom—
The fierce struggle between the steel giant and the human fighting to delay the end.
The true clash of powers was something that stirred the hearts of onlookers.
"I don’t know. I have no idea how they’re doing this, but I know this fight is amazing!!"
Iron Spear Kim Gil-tae.
In his eyes, there was a reflection of superhuman strength.
"How much mana does he even have? The residual attributes left even after filtering through the barrier still exert this much pressure."
Telekinetic Sorcerer Lee Jeong.
In his eyes, the overwhelming gap between him and those two was reflected as he couldn’t even handle the energy backlash.
"Haha, amazing. I thought I was good with unconventional techniques, but using mana like a bomb? I’ve never seen anything like that!"
Phasing Transmuter Ahn Chang-yoon.
In his eyes, new possibilities for utilizing mana and powers were unfolding.
-Are these the power analysts?
-They analyze well.
-Information gathering.
-Shortened to "BoChu."
-?
-???
-Please don’t shorten it like that...
-So you must have "BoChu" in Changwon Guild?
-Doesn’t BoChu mean Eom Gil-dong?
-That’s just an annoying guy who needs a smack.
The Changwon Guild, seriously immersed in analysis, had gathered a sizable audience of over 20,000 viewers in their live broadcast.
Though it wasn’t the only broadcast with more than 10,000 viewers, it was the most watched one for Changwon Guild’s channel.
"Everyone seeing this? That giant’s swordsmanship. It’s eerily similar to the 3rd and 7th forms of the Nationalist Swordsmanship that Lee Hae-chan used often."
Swordsmanship expert streamer, 2 Da-hye.
A tragic second-in-command who always placed second in swordsmanship tournaments behind Lee Hae-chan.
She had started watching the Silent Swordsman’s broadcasts early on, and could estimate his specifications with relative objectivity.
"Want to analyze the specs needed to face Armored Taejong? First, a technique to manage the mass of an extra-large armored figure over 1km in size is essential."
-?
-Excuse me?
-That’s impossible from level 1, right?
-Not even Hercules could do this, I think.
-Probably impossible for a human, haha.
-Cats might be able to do it though.
-Cats are amazing with counterattacks.
-So, the solution is just to become a Beastman?
-?
-What’s the conclusion here?
2 Da-hye knew very well.
That no one but the Silent Swordsman could pull off such a feat.
Even an awakened being, unless they were an extremely high-level one, wouldn’t dare to even dream of it.
"That just shows how incredible Armored Taejong is. He’s an ultimate human weapon made with the full support of the hegemonic nation of Gladiator Training."
To face such an opponent, one needed either the same level of support or the strength to match it.
In modern times, only an S-rank Awakened being, regarded as the nation’s strongest force, would stand a chance.
It was an over-spec, practically impossible to achieve under normal circumstances.
"If I were to start Gladiator Training now, and if Armored Taejong stopped growing, it would take at least 20 years to catch up."
That’s assuming victory over countless rankers, earning special victories and resources at a national budget level.
Realistically, the chance of that happening was infinitesimally low, almost negligible.
"The odds would be like winning the lottery."
-Lottery Gladiator, wow.
-How would that even happen?!
-So, if a +25-strength Beastman wins the lottery, they could beat Armored Taejong?
Da-hye sighed heavily.
Those relentless Beastman fans, really.
"Yeah. That’d work, sure. You satisfied now?"
-Should we try making one?
-Why would you make that?
-I’m actually curious to see what kind of weird thing you come up with.
-Haha, really.
Every time Gladiator Training was mentioned, a tenth of the viewers streamed in from the Beastman fanbase.
Where on earth do they hide when it’s not mentioned, and then suddenly appear when it’s brought up?
The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.
Do they blend in as regular viewers and suddenly reveal their true colors like triggered beasts?
‘What is that? So weird.’
Da-hye grew more afraid of the Gladiator Training viewers than the Silent Swordsman.