Chapter 568

“W-What?!”

“

Eh?

I thought this was a private arena?”

“Hey, can you check the arena settings?”

“Did someone invite him?”

The other Adventurers thought that someone had turned the arena into a public arena by mistake or someone had invited Siegfried.

“Huh? Nothing’s changed in the settings. The password is still there,” the Adventurer in charge of setting up the private arena replied with a baffled look.

“Then who invited Siegfried-nim?”

“Nobody? Nobody invited him?”

“What the heck?”

“What’s going on?”

“Not me...”

The Adventurers asked among themselves to find out who had invited Siegfried, but it turned out that none of them had done so.

“What the hell? Then did he find out the password?”

“Hold on. Shouldn't he enter the room from the entrance if he had typed in the password? Why the heck would he appear from a hole in space?”

“Oh? You’re right.”

“What’s going on...?”

They tried to come up with an explanation for Siegfried’s sudden appearance. They pondered for a while before simultaneously looking at him as if they had agreed to do so on the count of three.

All of them had the same question in their heads, and that question was none other than how in the world did Siegfried enter a private arena without knowing its password?

“

Haha...

This is so embarrassing,” Siegfried said with an awkward laugh and scratching the back of his head.

Of course, he was lying when he said he was embarrassed.

“I’m sure all of you must be confused by my sudden appearance. But don’t worry! I’ll leave as soon as I settle my business here!” Siegfried said. Then, he added, “Ah, also, I’ll be grateful if none of you tries to get involved. I have a personal business to settle, so please don’t get in my way.”

He sounded so courteous and polite that the Adventurers were even more baffled.

It was then.

“If you don’t want to die,” Siegfried added in a very icy tone.

Those words sent chills down the Adventurers’ spines.

Siegfried blatantly threatened the pro gamers to kill them if they dared to get involved before turning his attention to Kaosin.

One of the Adventurers, who was quite close with Kaosin, growled in anger, “Look at this arrogant prick. He should just shut the fuck up and lay low if he got here through abusing the—”

It was then.

“Hey, isn’t that the Halo of Innocence...?”

“Hold up, yeah, I think that’s the Halo of Innocence.”

“So he wasn’t an abuser?”

“What the hell...?”

The Adventurers were stunned after seeing the shining halo behind Siegfried’s head.

The Halo of Innocence was given by the Church of the Martial God to those who had proven that they hadn't committed any wrongdoings despite the accusation against them. The presence of the halo could only mean that Siegfried was cleared of all accusations.

In other words, he was not an abuser and had obtained his perfect record through his skills.

“H-He’s not an abuser...?” The Adventurer muttered in disbelief.

“Hey, I already warned you. I’m going to kill you if you get involved,” Siegfried threatened.

“...”

“Got it?!”

The Adventurer flinched the moment Siegfried raised his fist and voice. The Halo of Innocence was all he needed to prove his perfect record was not the result of game abuse, which was more than enough to overwhelm the pro gamers.

Siegfried ignored the others in the private arena and turned his attention to Kaosin this time.

“You seem to have been quite busy,” Siegfried said, throwing the hundreds of papers at Kaosin’s face.

The papers hit Kaosin’s face before falling to the ground.

“That should’ve taken a lot of your time. Did you really hate me that much?” Siegfried sneered.

“You bastard... Do you have a death wish? Do you want me to kill you?” Kaosin growled in response.

“Kill me? With your pathetic skills?”

“What?!”

‘

Has he gone mad?’

Kaosin could not believe his ears. He actually dared to speak of skills to a world-class PVP specialist?

Kaosin held great pride in his PVP skills, so Siegfried's words just now had definitely struck a nerve inside of him.

“Hey, you crazy bastard. Do you think I’ll believe you?”

“Believe what?”

“You’re just a fucking abuser.”

Kaosin refused to believe the Halo of Innocence was real.

“You can fool everyone else but not me! How can a pathetic fool like you do something even I had failed to do? Ah, it seems like BNW will soon hit the gutters. They can’t even catch this shitty abuser.”

Kaosin insisted that Siegfried was an abuser, and he glared at Siegfried with a gaze full of contempt.

“If the beehive investigates this issue, they might ban you for—”

It was then.

Thud!

A top-tier potion fell on Kaosin’s feet, thrown by Siegfried.

“...What’s this?” Kaosin grimaced and asked.

“You must’ve lost half your HP just now.”

“...?”

“I like my catches fresh. What’s the point of catching something half-rotten?”

It was then.

“You’re fucking dead!” Kaosin roared, pulled out his saber, and lunged at Siegfried after getting provoked.

***

‘

He’s fast,’

Siegfried was surprised by Kaosin’s speed. As expected, Kaosin was truly an expert. He was able to quickly recover after getting hit by the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and had even prepared to counterattack by scanning his surroundings.

This proved that Kaosin possessed near beast-like reflexes, which only those who were born with such talent could possess. There was indeed a reason why the pro gaming teams wanted him so badly.

‘

But he’s slower than Bruce.’

Unfortunately, Siegfried had been training with a sparring partner much faster than Kaosin, Bruce, so he managed to read Kaosin’s movement without much difficulty.

Kaosin appeared in the blink of an eye and swung his dual swords, but Siegfried parried both swords with his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp and kicked Kaosin in the chest, widening the distance between them.

Then, the +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp turned into a lance that went after Kaosin’s heart.

“...!”

Kaosin’s instincts screamed at him, warning him of danger, and he hurriedly jumped back just before the lance could pierce his chest.

‘

W-What the hell is this guy...? I thought he was just an abuser, but it looks like he has a few tricks up his sleeves,’

Kaosin thought, feeling shocked by what happened just now.

Kaosin was a veteran PVP specialist who had dueled countless pro gamers and Rankers. The instincts he had honed from his experience in the arena told him that what Siegfried did just now was something only high-ranking pro gamers could pull off.

‘

This bastard...’

Kaosin growled inwardly, feeling slightly nervous.

“Hey, aren’t you going to use that potion? I can kill you in one hit with your current HP, you know?” Siegfried sneered.

“Shut your fucking trap, you dick-faced asshole,” Kaosin retorted. He had been controlling his mouth to

wash

his reputation for the upcoming tournament, but he ended up hurling curses at Siegfried after getting provoked.

Kaosin kicked off of the ground and rushed at Siegfried.

Bam!

They clashed weapons, and a fierce exchange of blows followed afterward.

Kaosin was a dual-wielder specializing in sabers. He was a master of unleashing a flurry of attacks at his enemies. He was the type that wouldn't give his enemies any room to breathe.

He took a few steps back and got into his stance. Gripping the sabers in both hands, he used his dual-wielding swordsmanship to perform dozens of slashes per second.

Everyone watching was convinced that the momentum had fully swung to Kaosin’s side the moment they saw the ferocious attacks, and they believed Siegfried would get cut into dozens of pieces if he were to make even a slight mistake.

Clang!

However, Siegfried responded by transforming his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp into a shield and blocking every single slash.

“I-Is he a machine? How can he defend like that?”

The pro gamers watching the duel could not hide their amazement. Siegfried’s defense was so perfect that he blocked every single one of Kaosin’s blazingly fast attacks as if he were a machine.

“Wow...”

“He’s really blocking every attack.”

“Can a human being even do that?”

The other pro gamers were equally surprised and amazed by Siegfried’s impregnable defense.

Meanwhile, Kaosin was shocked to see his lightning-fast slashes getting blocked.

However, Siegfried’s defense was not the problem right now.

‘

H-Huh?’

Kaosin had a strange feeling that his movements were getting impaired the more he attacked Siegfried. It felt as if he was the one getting driven into a corner when he was the one on the offensive.

However, he was not someone who would get disheartened from something like this.

‘

Let’s see if you can still keep that shield up after this,’

Kaosin thought smugly before preparing one of his skills—Clone Sword Dance.

Shwiiiiik!

Kaosin suddenly split into dozens of copies that surrounded Siegfried in the blink of an eye. Then, the clones simultaneously raised their sabers and attacked, performing a literal blade dance.

This was the skill that had helped Kaosin reach his current heights.

“Oh! It’s here!”

“Whoa...”

“I think he can't block that.”

The pro gamers were excited after seeing Kaosin’s Clone Sword Dance and intently watched the duel.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

The Clone Sword Dance was very difficult to defend against. A small mistake from Siegfried, and he'd get torn to shreds in the blink of an eye.

The pro gamers were interested to see how Siegfried would defend himself against such a skill.

Perhaps Siegfried was aware of what they were thinking, so he reacted in a manner that did not disappoint them.

The +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp in his hand turned into a saber this time.

“A saber?!”

“Why would he change his weapon into a saber?”

“W-What’s he up to?”

While the pro gamers were reeling in shock, Siegfried’s Black Crow Wingsuit fluttered.

Shwaaaaaa!

And a flower rain of death ensued...

***

Siegfried used Torrential Flower Rain against Kaosin’s Clone Sword Dance.

“Oh!”

“Kaosin versus Siegfried!”

“This is amazing...”

Scores of spectators were now coming into the private arena. They took their seats and watched the duel between Siegfried and Kaosin.

This was a decision that the host of the private arena had made. He changed the private arena into a public arena, allowing anyone to enter, and he changed the name to Kaosin Versus Siegfried Practice Duel, attracting the attention of everyone.

The host had decided that it was a waste not to share this rare sight of two potential candidates to win the Super Rookie Tournament dueling before the tournament even began.

Among the spectators were also reporters from various virtual sports media outlets.

“Kaosin... Siegfried...”

“This is a scoop!”

“It doesn’t matter who’s going to win. This will surely attract attention!”

The reporters started recording the duel while writing their scoop on the spot.

Flash!

The power of Torrential Flower Rain was limited to just a third of its original power because Siegfried had decided to preserve his mana. He only used it to deal with Kaosin’s Clone Sword Dance.

Shwaaaa!

The Torrential Flower Rain ripped Kaosin’s clones into pieces.

“W-What is this?!”

“W-What is this?!”

“W-What is this?!”

Kaosin’s clones screamed at the same time before the projectiles ripped them to shreds.

“...!”

“...!”

“...!”

The jaws of the spectators dropped to the floor.

Overwhelming power...

The skill Kaosin prided himself in, Clone Sword Dance, was powerless against Siegfried’s skill, Torrential Flower Rain, which resembled a work of art—no, a godly work of art.

Chwak! Chwaaak!

The Torrential Flower Rain shredded all of the clones before returning back to the Black Crow Wingsuit.

Seuk!

However, that was not the end of it...

Siegfried grabbed his +13 Vanquisher’s Grasp, which had transformed into a saber, and charged at Kaosin.

Time to attack!

Siegfried decided it was his turn to show what he was capable of and to show everyone the meaning of the word "destructive."