REAPER SCANS
The Five-Time Regressor Walks the King’s Path
[Translator – Anwen]
[Proofreader – Valirius]
Chapter 61
“Seren’s next opponent.”
“It’s some girl called Ha Yeon-Ji. She reached this far, but it’s too bad for her.”
Voices of pity sounded all around.
I quietly watched as they gave Yeon-Ji, sitting in the waiting area, a look of sympathy.
There was no sign of defeat in Yeon-Ji’s eyes.
Low-level Sword Master? So what?
I could crush Sword Masters without even using aura and Yeon-Ji had been sparring with such a person. There was no way Yeon-Ji was scared due to the title of Sword Master.
‘The moment you get scared, you lose.’
The confidence that you could defeat any opponent was a powerful weapon.
Easily giving in to others who point out that it’s futile and agreeing with them was foolish.
Like the past me, who gave up everything when I was on Earth.
“In the finals, we have Ha Yeon-Ji and Seren.”
Both of them went up to the stadium.
Tall Seren, with long purple hair fluttering behind her, was looking down at Yeon-Ji while Yeon-Ji also looked up at her.
“Get ready for the round… and let’s get started.”
After checking to see if they were ready, the host went down to the bottom of the stadium and the noisy sphere appeared.
BEEEEEEP!
And thus it marked the round’s start.
Seren immediately swung her sword, perhaps intending to end Yeon-Ji with a single blow like before.
Clank!
However, Seren’s eyes turned from excitement to surprise.
Although it was clearly a blow containing the aura of a Sword Master, Yeon-Ji was able to keep up with her eyes and counter.
Of course.
Because the sword I swung was much faster than that.
Moreover, Yeon-Ji continued to learn from me how to effectively deal with aura.
Even though Yeon-Ji was still a high-level Sword Expert, the two participants had a big gap in experience.
Seren swung her sword once more.
This time, as Yeon-Ji blocked the sword again, Seren’s look began to change.
She started to realize that it was no coincidence that Yeon-Ji was handling her strikes.
“I was unaware. I didn’t think there would be anyone in this competition who could hold off my strike.”
With that said, Seren grew more serious than before and raised her aura.
As a Sword Master-level aura flowed from her, people around shouted in excitement.
“You sure do have great confidence.”
Yeon-Ji scoffed at Seren’s words and slowly raised her aura as well.
Compared to Seren, it certainly was very weak.
Destructive pressure was not present, and the aura was not strong enough to dominate the surrounding.
Again came the looks of pity.
Soon, Yeon-Ji and Seren collided.
They went back and forth several times, but Yeon-Ji, who should have been overwhelmed by Seren’s amount of aura alone, was doing better than expected.
Even while receiving and striking away all of Seren’s attacks, she sometimes mixed in her own attacks, displaying equal skill.
The look in Seren’s eyes that stared at Yeon-Ji began to change even more.
“You know how to fight the strong. There aren’t many kids who can wield a sword like that.”
Like Seren said, Yeon-Ji intensively poured aura into her arms and sword every time she collided with Seren.
On the other hand, Yeon-Ji would reactively focus her aura on the legs and feet when it was necessary to avoid an attack.
Of course, that alone was not enough to pierce the defenses of Seren, who had the Sword Master’s aura surrounding her entire body. That was why Yeon-Ji’s attacks weren’t successful even one time.
“Because if I didn’t even do this every day, I wouldn’t be able to do anything.”
Yeon-Ji pursed her lip and fiercely confronted Seren.
Their swordsmanship was rampant.
In terms of aura, Seren was far superior, but Yeon-Ji was not falling back in terms of swordsmanship.
However, it was not an overwhelming advantage.
Eventually, due to the difference in aura, Yeon-Ji was getting pushed back little by little and the small scratches littering her body increased.
Still, was it because the fight took longer than expected? Seren was also starting to grow noticeably tired.
As she had won the previous fight with just one sword strike, the sudden appearance of a strong enemy, Yeon-Ji, caused nervousness, mental, and physical fatigue.
‘Slowly, Yeon-Ji can continue to cause that nervousness.’
A person who has always had the upper hand was gradually consumed by impatience once things started to not go their way.
On the contrary, the ones who were always at the bottom, instead of feeling impatient, constantly poke about to find a way to victory.
During her training with me, Yeon-Ji learned how to chew off her opponent bit by bit from below.
Although the wounds increased and her stamina decreased, Yeon-Ji’s eyes remained unwavering, focusing only on Seren’s slip-ups.
No matter if a person was a Sword Master, there was no way one could continue to have aura all over their body.
The pressure to quickly defeat her opponent caused Seren to put too much force into her attacks.
Seren’s attacks became even stronger.
The amount of aura amplified, and that energy was soon concentrated on the sword.
Yeon-Ji began to fall back. She couldn’t respond to the attacks which were stronger than before.
Realizing this, Seren’s attacks became more intense and Yeon-Ji chose to dodge as much as possible rather than face them directly.
As time passed, Yeon-Ji’s heel reached the stadium’s edge.
When both girls realized that Yeon-Ji could no longer step back, their eyes met.
Seren’s eyes glowed intensely as she was confident of her victory.
She gathered all the aura she had left and poured it into her sword, causing it to glow brightly.
Dragon scales sprouted over Seren’s body and her pupils turned to slits.
Planning to strike the final blow on Yeon-Ji, Seren fiercely swung her sword.
‘In most cases, the last sword strike takes up all the strength. She probably doesn’t think her attack will fail.’
Yeon-Ji thought this and kicked off.
Attacking rather than avoiding.
Seren’s eyes expanded when she saw Yeon-Ji running toward her aura-filled sword.
In order to not miss that brief moment, Yeon-Ji created Breath with her mouth.
Yeon-Ji’s Breath, which was created by suppressing the aura that was trying to leak out again and again, would definitely injure Seren, the aura around her body having weakened due to focusing the aura onto her sword.
Realizing that fact, Seren immediately created Breath as well while maintaining her sword-swinging stance.
Due to the difference of skill level, she was able to produce Breath at a faster rate than Yeon-Ji. Two Breaths violently clashed.
BAAAANNNNNG!
The sound of the explosion hit my ears and the spectators fell backward off their chairs due to the wind pressure.
The panicked audience quickly stood up and looked toward the stadium, but the smoke obscured their sight.
Yeon-Ji had not stopped even after firing her Breath.
Despite suffering many lacerations from Seren’s own Breath, she appeared right in front of her.
At that moment, Seren tried to swing her sword again.
She fiercely attacked Yeon-Ji, but Yeon-Ji paid no heed to it and swung her sword.
The two swords cut toward each other.
The first one to reach would win.
The two knew that, so they explosively poured out their aura enough to distort even the space around them.
In the end, two swords simultaneously froze midair.
One was above Yeon-Ji’s head.
One was pointing at Seren’s neck.
They caught each other’s eyes and soon, a quiet sigh escaped from small gaps in their mouths.
If it had been a real fight, I don’t know whose head would have been cut down first.
But in a competition like this…
“Seren and Ha Yeon-Ji. It’s a draw.”
That marked the end of the fight.
Cheers and screams erupted from the audience the moment the host announced the result.
They were more directed toward Yeon-Ji rather than Seren.
Yeon-Ji, a Sword Expert, led the match to a draw against Seren, a Sword Master.
I don’t know how it would have ended in a real match, but Yeon-Ji overcame the difference in level and showed an amazing performance.
When the fight ended, Yeon-Ji went down and received treatment in the waiting area.
The difference in level between the two was clear in the final Breath.
Yeon-Ji suffered from more wounds because she was not covered with enough aura to withstand Seren’s Breath.
On the other hand, Seren withstood Yeon-Ji’s attack using her aura as soon as the Breath came her way.
It was obvious from how Seren came out unscathed compared to Yeon-Ji.
However, Yeon-Ji was able to end it in a draw by looking for that single opportunity.
‘But for her…’
I got up from my seat and headed to the waiting room.
After informing the staff that I was Yeon-Ji’s parent, I walked down the hallway and arrived in front of the room.
I opened the door and saw Yeon-Ji sitting on a chair.
She glanced up and got up from the chair.
Yeon-Ji came closer and hugged my waist without saying a word.
With her head buried, she soon began to tremble. I saw her shoulder shake and looking down, I placed a hand on her head.
Yeon-Ji had a strong obsession with winning.
And she knew how to perceive the outcome of the fight.
As I said before, since this was a competition, the result was a draw, but when considered comprehensively, the victory actually went to Seren.
In fact, just before Yeon-Ji’s sword touched Seren’s neck, her aura had resurfaced again.
And that aura was something Yeon-Ji could not cut.
If it weren’t for this being a competition, Yeon-Ji’s sword would have never reached her and she would have been cut by Seren’s sword.
“You always lost to me. Are you upset that you lost against her?”
She wasn’t even this upset when she lost to me the first time.
However, losing to me countless times, she must have engraved it in her heart.
That she would never lose to anyone but me. She made me the only exception.
“I didn’t lose. It was a draw.”
Yeon-Ji yelled and I just shrugged at the inaccurate claim. I took her out of my arms.
Her face was covered in snot and tears, and she raised her hands to rub them off.
“The child I raise must be the strongest.”
“Then I must have been raised wrong.”
“No, you just haven’t reached your full potential. I’m saying that there’s still a long way to go.”
Having said that, I asked her.
“What do you want to be in the future?”
With her talent for swordsmanship as the basis, she had a vague desire to become stronger.
And while training with me, the resentment must have pushed her to blindly aim to grow stronger.
Giving a new path to the heart that had lost its way.
A sense of purpose was important to people.
A firm goal rather than a vague one allows a person to move forward.
I knew this better than anyone else because I had lived without any goals in the past.
The reason I am where I am today was because I entered Crown Road.
“…I want to become stronger.”
“To the point where I won’t lose to anyone.”
I pointed to the ceiling.
“Do you remember what is up there?”
“The Land of Dragons.”
Land of Dragons, a stage on Floor 31 that would open only when Yeon-Ji turns 15.
The moment I mentioned that place, Yeon-Ji’s eyes turned to me.
“The Dragon Lord is the most powerful position in this world. The highest of all beings you will ever meet. Can you do it?”
The question hit her hard.
Although she was only ten, being young does not mean that her mindset was inferior to that of an adult.
Yeon-Ji bit her lip tightly when she heard me ask if she could do it.
“That’s easy. I will become the Dragon Lord and after I defeat everyone and become the strongest, I’ll beat you too.”
“Well, the last one will be impossible, though.”
I gave Yeon-Ji a light smile and nodded.
“Let’s go out. If you make up your mind, you have to be strong enough to take responsibility for it.”
Yeon-Ji seemed to have already forgotten the feelings of resentment she felt earlier and burned with great fighting spirit.
Good. With this, her will and purpose is definitely set in stone.
‘Now I can go harder on her.’
With that much will, no matter what I did in the future, she would endure well.
It seemed like Yeon-Ji had no idea what I was thinking, but I was just looking forward to seeing how much further she would grow.
[The ‘Proprietor of Floor 30’, ‘Gentleman that Walks the Sky’, shakes his head at you.]
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