Chapter 183

“Drаmоs!! I bеt mу entire fоrtunе оn уоu!! I’m counting on уоu, man!!”

“Mаke sure уоu win, Drаmоs!! Likе аlways, finish it in оne seсоnd this time tоо!!”

“Whаt nоnsеnse!! Оur Sir Khаn is the onе whо’ll win!! Dоn’t уou know mаges аre the best?!”

“Yоu’rе talking nonsense. Dоn’t уou know swordsmen naturаllу have the advantаgе in one-оn-onе duеls аgаinst mages?”

Perhаps beсаusе it was the finаls, thе sрectаtors’ enthusiаsm was several timеs hоtter than bеfоre.

“Аs it’s the finals, thе excitеment hаs rеached its peаk!! Bеtting is сurrеntly undеrway, sо рlеase сheсk thе bеtting оdds!!”

Вetting wаs still gоing оn as thе mаtch hadn’t started yet.

Until now, not many people had been betting on Dramos, but suddenly in the finals, Dramos’s betting odds were rising sharply.

“Oooh!! Contestant Dramos’s betting odds are rising sharply!! Contestant Khan, who showed overwhelming magic, is seeing his betting odds fall behind for almost the first time!”

The current betting odds between Khan and Dramos were about 4 to 6.

In real-time, Khan’s betting odds were continuously dropping.

The first person to step into the underground arena was Dramos.

Then, Khan also stood up from his seat to head to the arena, looking at Sharin and Byutek.

“I’ll be back.”

“Hy-hyungnim!! Please don’t push yourself too hard!!”

“Master!! Fighting!”

At Byutek and Sharin’s words, Khan nodded and walked towards the arena.

Stepping into the arena, Khan was truly feeling nervous for the first time in a long while.

Thump, thump, thump…

Ominous thoughts kept surfacing in Khan’s mind.

Perhaps because of that, his heart rate was gradually speeding up.

‘If I lose in the finals, I’ll be trapped living forever in this game world. If that happens, I’ll die soon after.’

Since <Geo Arc>’s game setting was that the world would be destroyed a few years later, if he left the Ancient Tower where the final boss awaited untouched, the world would be destroyed and he would die.

[Skill ‘Sage’s Heart’ has been activated.]

[Skill ‘Sage’s Heart’ has been activated.]

As the Rank 10 Hidden Skill, Sage’s Heart, activated, he regained his composure in an instant.

However, not even a few seconds later, ominous thoughts began to creep up again.

‘If I lose in the finals, I won’t be able to receive Main Quests anymore, so it’s basically game over.’

Moreover, he wouldn’t obtain the Ancient Magic Tome, the prize for winning this underground arena tournament.

Since sometimes Ancient Magic Tomes contained incredible skills, he absolutely had to win this finals match and become the champion of the underground arena tournament.

[Skill ‘Sage’s Heart’ has been activated.]

Once again, the Sage’s Heart skill activated, and Khan resolved not to have any more weak thoughts.

‘Since I’ve obtained the best skill I can get right now, I should be able to win sufficiently.’

As the Sage’s Heart skill activated three times, his pounding heart finally calmed down.

“Now, I will close the betting! The final betting results are truly astonishing!!! The final betting odds are 7 to 3, with Contestant Khan significantly behind!!”

“Wooaaah!!! Dramos will definitely win!!”

“If you bet on Dramos, you’ll make money, right?!”

“Hah, I was just quietly trying to profit alone… It’s a shame the odds decreased.”

After Rodion announced the betting closure and displayed the final betting odds on the screen, people in the spectator seats were shouting loudly, each with their own opinions.

“Our hyungnim is behind? Hmm….”

“Even so, Master will win anyway, right…! Right, Byutek oppa?!”

“Y-yeah.”

Byutek seemed unusually cautious, perhaps because it was a match involving Khan, whom he served as his master and hyungnim.

After checking the betting odds, Khan wore an indifferent expression.

‘It seems people also think Dramos will beat me. Honestly, I think so too, but… my chances of winning have also increased quite a bit.’

If it were Khan from a little while ago, he would have lost without even properly reacting to Dramos’s attacks, but not anymore.

His Mana Capacity had greatly increased compared to before, and most importantly, he had obtained the ‘Absolute Sight’ skill that allowed him to grasp his opponent’s movements.

‘If I time it well when he uses a big technique, my chances of winning are sufficient.’

Moreover, Dramos had consumed quite a bit of Stamina and Mana in his match with Sharin, so this match had favorable conditions for Khan.

‘The most concerning thing is that his Level has increased compared to before.’

[LV.392 Swordsman Dramos, Former Kingdom Guard Captain]

When he first saw Dramos, his Level was a bit lower than that, but it seemed Dramos’s Level kept rising the more matches he fought.

‘The Level difference is over 300. Still, I have enough chance of winning.’

Khan and Dramos stood facing each other on the arena.

Suddenly, Dramos took a few steps forward and spoke.

“Kheukheuk… To reach such an incredible level at your young age… Just in case I’m asking, you haven’t dabbled in Dark Magic, have you?”

“Don’t worry. I have no intention of touching something dirty like Dark Magic.”

“Hahahaha!! If you say so, it must be true! Then let’s have a good match. You’re different from those I’ve faced before, so I’ll face you seriously.”

“Understood. I’ll be serious too.”

Khan wasn’t scared at all, even with an opponent over 300 Levels higher right in front of him.

Thanks to Sage’s Heart, he was unfazed, and he actually had confidence in winning.

“Now, I will begin the long-awaited finals of the underground arena tournament! Starting the countdown now!”

With Rodion’s shout, the countdown began.

As soon as the countdown ended, Mana erupted from both Dramos and Khan’s bodies.

However, Dramos’s preparation was faster.

Before he knew it, a thirty-meter-long Aura Sword had formed on the sword in his right hand.

“Do you think an Aura Sword is stronger just because it has more Mana and is longer?”

“…….”

Dramos suddenly looked at Khan and posed a question.

‘I wondered why he hadn’t used it until now… As expected, he was deliberately not using it…’

Khan deliberately didn’t answer Dramos’s question.

He could roughly guess what he was going to say anyway.

“Hmm, seems you don’t know. You seem to have been born with incredible magical Talent, but I also had the world’s greatest Talent with the sword. So this is possible too. Huuup…!!”

As Dramos let out a Battle Cry, the thirty-meter-long Aura Sword he was holding began to shrink rapidly.

A moment later, only a very thin aura remained on his sword, but the aura was so dense it went beyond blue, almost reaching indigo.

“This is the realm one can reach upon attaining the extreme of the Aura Sword. Knights call this ‘Aura Blade’.”

‘Aura Blade’, the next stage of the Aura Sword, a skill usable upon reaching the extreme realm as a swordsman or knight.

Having raised swordsmen or knights while playing <Geo Arc>, Khan knew very well about Aura Blade.

‘Aura Blade is something that can cut through everything just by grazing it. I must absolutely not let it graze me…!’

Khan urgently drew up Mana and used his skills.

[Used skill ‘Barrier’.]

[Used skill ‘Flame Curtain’.]

[Used skill ‘Dark Flame’.]

It was the most powerful defensive skill Khan could currently use.

A massive Dark Flame curtain formed in front of Khan, with an additional layer of Barrier coated over its surface.

This should block most attacks, but it was too early to feel relieved.

‘Run around as much as possible…’

Just as Khan was thinking in his head about how to move.

Dramos, holding the Aura Blade, instantly closed the distance to right in front of Khan and swung the Aura Blade.

The Dark Flame curtain and Barrier Khan had created in front of him vanished the moment the Aura Blade touched them.

‘If this continues, I’ll die…!’

Dramos’s movements were even faster than Khan had anticipated, causing a delayed reaction.

If he hadn’t obtained the new Rank 5 skill ‘Absolute Sight’, he wouldn’t have even reacted and would have had his head cut off by the Aura Blade long ago.

‘I wanted to save it as much as possible… Damn it…!’

Khan had no choice but to use a skill immediately.

[Used skill ‘Space-Time Leap’.]

Using Space-Time Leap to move to the opposite end of the arena, Khan finally caught his breath.

‘Reorganize…’

At that moment, Dramos appeared before Khan’s eyes again.

“Kheukheuk… Where are you trying to run off to?”

He was swinging the Aura Blade at Khan once more.