episode_0158

158. Shadow.

Whoaaaaaaa-!!!!

At the same time, a heaven and earth-shattering roar echoed through the Colosseum. Soon, a white light enveloped the parties involved in the match.

Poof- and Sarah disappeared from Johan’s sight.

Johan lowered his head and looked at the yellowish Colosseum floor. First, he saw Sarah tapping her scabbard, and then he saw a huge black man with gauntlets on both hands.

Seeing Sarah appear here, it seemed like this was Arena 5. He was lucky.

‘Michael and Harden, huh…’

They were names that sounded like they’d be pretty good at basketball. Anyway, Johan carefully gauged Michael Harden’s strength.

And he soon felt relieved and leaned back against the backrest.

‘He’s totally scared. Of Sarah.’

Right now, Michael Harden was agitated to an almost pitiful extent. He couldn’t properly meet Sarah’s eyes, and his little toe was visibly trembling slightly. Michael Harden was barefoot.

It wasn’t just Johan who noticed that. Players with some discernment all noticed Michael Harden’s condition.

“Why is that guy like that? He’s trembling like a puppy that needs to pee?”

“Is that woman in front of him that much? She doesn’t look like much.”

“Hey, hey, she’s the woman who was with that monster magician. There must be something there.”

Then everyone’s attention focused on Johan. Johan ignored them and looked at the two men and women.

‘By the way, how am I supposed to watch the fights in the other arenas?’

Johan’s question was quickly resolved. A light flashed next to him, and a player he didn’t know disappeared.

“What is this again…”

Soon, a blue window popped up above his field of vision, as if waiting.

[You can select the match you want to watch at any time.]

[Arena 1.]

[Arena 2.]

[Arena 3.]

[Arena 4.]

[Arena 5.]

Five blue windows were blinking at a constant rate. Johan casually pressed the window that read ‘Arena 1.’

Then, whoosh- and he moved to a new Colosseum. This time, Johan pressed ‘Arena 5.’

Flash-

‘So it was like this.’

Johan clenched and unclenched his left hand, and was silent for a moment. Immediately afterwards, a good idea came to Johan.

‘This seems like it could be a good research material?’

When moving from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor of the Tower, when moving from the waiting room to the Colosseum. The Tower instantly moved the players to a new space.

Some people just passed it by thinking, ‘I guess that’s how it is~’, but Johan was different.

‘What’s the principle?’

After encountering magic, Johan’s way of thinking was different from others. He wanted to explore the essence of the phenomenon, and he wanted to reproduce that phenomenon using magic.

Teleport.

A technology that Johan temporarily named, unique to the Tower.

‘Even if I can’t reproduce it, let’s at least try to resist it.’

Johan steeled his resolve.

***

After that, Johan kept moving from arena to arena.

This was to continuously feel the sensation of teleportation.

Whoosh- Whoosh- Whoosh-

Some players whispered at Johan’s bizarre behavior.

“Why is that guy doing that from earlier?”

“I don’t know, do you have to be crazy to get better at magic?”

But that was only once or twice, and when Johan continued to do strange things, everyone lost interest.

Rather than having their attention taken away by Johan’s bizarre behavior, the match unfolding before their eyes was more interesting.

Someone watching the match said.

“That oriental woman. She’s been just dodging from earlier. Is she doing that on purpose?”

“I feel bad for the black man in front of her. He’s being completely toyed with.”

The match between Sarah and Michael Harden was too one-sided. She wasn’t even drawing her sword, and she was toying with Michael Harden with leisurely movements.

Unable to endure the humiliation she was giving him, Michael Harden gritted his lips and shouted.

“Fight properly! You yellow monkey woman!”

“……”

Michael Harden’s voice was so loud that Sarah’s hair fluttered from the mere volume. But Sarah still had a blank expression.

She wasn’t deliberately humiliating Michael Harden. She was just gaining experience in combat. She hadn’t had many opportunities to fight against boxers.

‘I wonder if this is enough.’

Sarah tilted her head slightly to the left. Whoosh- and Michael Harden’s punch grazed her right earlobe.

“Hup!”

Michael Harden’s eyes widened. He instinctively sensed his defeat.

Slice-

Immediately afterwards, Sarah’s slash cut Michael Harden’s neck. He looked at her face with a bewildered expression.

‘Huh…’

She was still calm.

Michael Harden fell to the ground with a thud. Afterwards, a white light swirled around his body, and he appeared near the seat where Johan was sitting.

“Huck, huff… Hoooock!”

Michael Harden, who had arrived at the seat, grabbed his neck and made a rough, metallic sound. No matter how many hardships a superhuman had gone through, the sensation of death was a sensation that could never be gotten used to.

“Oh, indeed. So it’s like this. With this, I can fight without worry. Since I won’t die anyway.”

“Funny. Aren’t you the type to surrender immediately if someone stronger than you comes out?”

At his friend’s sarcastic remark, the man nodded nonchalantly.

“That’s true.”

“……”

Johan narrowed his eyes and looked at Sarah on the Colosseum floor. Their eyes met. She waved her sword around and greeted him happily.

Johan also smiled back. He expected it, but seeing her win, he didn’t feel too bad.

Whoosh-

After that, Johan was enveloped in light and disappeared from his seat.

While Sarah was fighting Michael Harden, Johan made quite a bit of progress. The ticklish feeling became clearer and clearer.

‘Now, it seems like I’ll start seeing results soon.’

***

While Johan was continuously repeating teleportation, Johan’s turn finally came.

[Match 55: Shin Johan VS Muyeong. *Colosseum 5*]

Whoosh- and a white light enveloped Johan. Immediately afterwards, lightning flashed through Johan’s mind.

‘……!’

He had felt a similar sensation when he first used a spell.

Is this what it feels like for a young baby to take its first steps, Johan closed his eyes and concentrated.

“……”

Something, some unknown force was trying to grab Johan.

And now Johan had the power to resist it.

Is it a proof of the new sense blooming, Johan instinctively resisted that power.

“Kuh.”

Then he felt a splitting headache. In addition, the magic power that existed in his body began to drain away like the ebb tide.

Johan hurriedly stopped resisting. At the same time, Johan arrived at the bottom of the Colosseum.

Thud-

“Huck, huff…”

Johan grabbed his temples and groaned. The players who saw his staggering gestures whispered.

“What, why is that guy like that?”

“The match hasn’t even started yet? Did that guy in front of him do something?”

“……No, more than that, that monster magician. Didn’t he appear a little late? Is it my imagination?”

They looked at Johan and Muyeong with interested eyes.

Johan showed off his high level of magic skills in the waiting room. Everyone was paying attention to what kind of spell he would cast this time.

“……”

Muyeong’s expression became strange. He didn’t do anything, but just looking at the situation, it seemed like he had used some kind of cowardly trick.

Anyway, it was good for Muyeong. Johan was definitely a strong opponent, and even for Muyeong, it was a difficult opponent to easily predict victory against.

‘I’m lucky.’

Muyeong took out two daggers from his pocket and twirled them around.

He held the dagger in reverse grip with his left hand, and in a regular grip with his right hand. And he glared at Johan. He looked like a wild black panther.

At that time, an inorganic blue window floated above the two men’s gazes.

[The match begins.]

Swish-

In an instant, Muyeong’s figure disappeared into the ground. Literally, he had entered the shadow (影).

“Heo.”

Johan, who had regained his breath to some extent, widened his eyes. This was the first time Johan had seen this kind of attack method.

But he didn’t feel it was very threatening. It would be different in a field, but this is a Colosseum with all sides open.

‘In the end, the goal is my neck. Then…’

Snap- Johan flicked his fingers. Then, a hazy shield was built from his feet.

It’s a shield that covers 360 degrees in all directions. No matter how good the ability seems to be at surprise attacks, it’s useless if you don’t give it a chance.

No matter how thin the thread is, it cannot pass through a solid rock.

“Oooooo! The response is quite fast! As expected of a monster magician!”

“Muyeong, was it? I feel bad for him. His compatibility with the monster magician is the worst.”

The players who were watching said as if they were immersed in the match.

When they first saw Muyeong’s ability, they were also surprised, but when they thought about it, it was a useless ability in the current situation.

In a place where all sides are so open, an assassin can’t perform properly.

“……!”

It was then. Johan felt the hairs on his body stand on end.

At the same time-

“In this world.”

Swoosh-

A black-haired, black-eyed assassin gently ‘passes through’ the shield. A leisurely movement, as if walking on a promenade with a clear path.

His entire body was dyed black.

“There is no such thing as a defense without gaps.”

Shuaaaaaa-

The assassin’s blade seeps into the magician’s neck.