Chapter 97 - Looming Omen
The warmth of her cheek against his carried the elegant scent of roses.
A deep and dignified fragrance, like thousands of blossoms in full bloom.
A raven-black rose, blooming in profusion.
Its meaning: "You are mine forever."
A twisted desire clung tightly to a blessed body, wearing an expression of utter, breathless joy.
Wasn't it said that crows have a habit of collecting shiny things?
For Michelle, this moment might have been exactly that.
"Haa."
The moment her exhilarated breath brushed against his nape—
Jin had a thought.
Was this a standing guillotine choke?
Should he avoid ground battles if possible?
Jin knew at least a dozen choke techniques that could follow from this position.
Deeming the situation dangerous, he threw his upper body back forcefully, breaking free from Michelle's grip around his neck.
"Off you go!"
Normally, Jin would have followed up by kicking his opponent in the chest to create distance, but this time, he didn't.
Michelle's reaction was too lukewarm for such a fiery counterattack.
Had she let go too easily?
Did she even have any intention of fighting in the first place?
Jin tilted his head, his gaze fixed on the woman still standing tall before him.
"Not going to attack?"
Michelle responded with a subtle smile.
At a glance, it was merely beautiful.
But upon closer inspection, there was an unsteady tremor at the corner of her lips, as if she were desperately holding something back.
There was no way to mistake her for someone in a normal state of mind.
"What's going on? Why aren't you moving?"
"You just hugged me, didn't you?"
"Is this some invisible battle of wits?"
Even the spectators were tilting their heads in confusion.
How much more bewildered must Jin have been, standing face to face with her?
It takes two hands to clap.
How was he supposed to get fired up when the opponent was acting like this?
Just as a frown began to form on his face—
"Jin Evernight."
Michelle finally spoke.
And then, with a clear voice, she added—
"You are beautiful."
"...What?"
"You're different from before. When did you ascend to the second world? Were you happy about it? How far do you intend to go?"
Michelle's tone was as dark and shimmering as her eyes.
"Limitless potential. A contradiction in existence itself. Yes, now I can be certain. You've been blessed by mana."
The masked plague doctor let out a silent laugh.
"You have the right. The right to usher in a new era. I just wanted to tell you that."
Michelle slowly spread her arms wide, as if to say,
"Come to me, don't be shy."
Her silk-like black hair, falling to her waist, swayed gently.
"Can I hold you one more time?"
Of course, Jin didn't respond to her invitation.
He simply muttered under his breath with an unimpressed face.
"I shouldn't have listened."
The moment purple lightning erupted from his body—
Michelle spoke again.
"...What a shame. But I suppose it can't be helped. It'll be tough, but I'll try to hold back a little longer."
And that was the end of it.
In the compressed flow of time, as Jin lunged toward her—
He came to a screeching halt.
"...Eh?"
A strange noise escaped his lips.
Anyone would react the same upon discovering that their opponent had blinked far outside the arena.
A flawless, indisputable ring-out.
"What the hell."
As Jin stood there dumbfounded, the equally flustered announcer hurriedly grabbed the mic.
"T-The winner! Jin Evernight!!!"
There was no roar of applause.
The arena was in an uproar for a while.
A fighter who had made it to the quarterfinals had willingly forfeited the match.
And not because they were injured or had lost the will to fight—
She had simply walked away with a bright smile, not a scratch on her.
Oh, what a tragedy.
It was enough to drive people mad.
How could there not be an outcry?
"Gyaaah! This is a joke, right?"
"Are you kidding me? How does this even make sense?!"
"…Shit, I bet everything on this..."
"Mom, your son is sorry."
Gamblers who had lost money collapsed, clutching the backs of their necks.
These people were like artillery crews stationed near the ceasefire line—
if a war broke out, they'd be the first to die.
The scene of them foaming at the mouth, screaming "Ack! Ugh! Gah!"
was like watching a row of dominoes topple over.
In a way, it was almost like performance art.
But of course, there was no sympathy for them.
Not when the betting odds had been
Jin -840, Michelle +611.
What did that mean?
It meant you had to bet 8,400 credits on Jin just to win 1,000.
Whereas betting 1,000 credits on Michelle would have earned you 6,100.
Jin's victory had been a near certainty.
Think about it—
A dark horse who had taken down a major player like Kendrick,
versus a relatively unknown contestant.
Naturally, the odds were bound to be lopsided.
But gamblers, ever chasing the long shot,
had only dug themselves into a deeper hole.
Some had even replaced their internal organs with cheap implants just to scrape together funds, abandoning their purist beliefs in the process.
Even the casual spectators were furious this time.
These were people who had struggled to get tickets.
Every match was precious.
And yet, they had been robbed of a proper fight.
"They should refund at least 25% of the ticket price."
"If she was going to quit, she should've done it beforehand. This is just deflating."
"Ban her from competing again. Seriously."
Grumbles spread through the crowd.
Naturally, Michelle became the target of their ire.
And so, Jin found himself in an awkward position, despite having won.
"Shit."
Of course, he had nothing to feel guilty about.
Everyone had seen Michelle walk away smiling.
He had played no part in that decision—not even as much as a speck of dust.
Yet, despite winning without breaking a sweat, he couldn't shake the unpleasant feeling.
Clicking his tongue, Jin leaned back in his chair.
Glancing between the noisy spectators and the arena,
he mused—
What the hell is with that woman?
Michelle Riley.
Thinking back, she had been strange from the very beginning.
'I like you.'
Back then, he had chalked it up to her being a little unhinged.
But maybe her condition was worse than he thought.
Rambling nonsense to herself, suddenly forfeiting a match,
acting in ways he simply couldn't understand.
Ah, whatever.
Better not to overthink it.
Just as he was about to clear his mind, scratching his head—
"What are you thinking about?"
The scrape of a chair moving back.
Anna sat down beside him.
A plain white T-shirt and jeans.
Nothing flashy, but with her figure, she always stood out among men.
She looked a little tired.
Understandably so.
She had just fought Katrina to the death.
"Are you okay?"
"Bearable... No, it hurts."
Anna corrected herself and turned her chair slightly, extending her arm.
"Is it bad?"
"Are you kidding? What the hell is this?"
Jin flinched in surprise and muttered.
Against her pale skin, deep bluish bruises stretched out like tangled branches.
But the response didn't come from Anna—it came from Raph, sitting beside her.
"Oh, that's the power of Frostbite. Ice crystals smaller than dust seep into the skin and absorb the opponent's mana, blooming into crystalline flowers. Over time, it shreds the mana circuits to pieces. That's why the Marzie family is considered advantageous in long battles..."
He sounded like a walking encyclopedia.
Despite trembling from the pressure of his upcoming match, Raph delivered a flawless explanation.
"Hmm... So it's like a stacking debuff. Anyway, you should drink some warm water. You'll collapse at this rate."
"I'm f-fine..."
"Want me to warm you up?"
Raph tried to brush off Jin's concern, but when Anna offered, his expression turned reverent.
"Th-then, it would be an honor, yes."
"Hold on."
The next moment, with a small flick of Anna's hand, the temperature within a three-meter radius noticeably warmed.
It felt like it had risen by about three degrees.
Raph's shivering visibly slowed.
"Thank you for your kindness, Miss Anna. My name is Raph, and I am like a sworn brother to Jin here, yes. We first met on the Hyperloop, and yes, we got along unexpectedly well, leading us to stay together all this time. We even swore to die on the same day..."
"Nice to meet you. You're competing against Sister Cecile, right? I hope you get a good result."
"Oh. Thank you. Even if I lose—no, I won't consider losing. I will uphold my master's honor..."
What's wrong with this guy?
Jin let out a small laugh as Raph suddenly spiraled into nonsense, rambling without coherence.
This wasn't just nervous stuttering—was this because of Anna?
Meanwhile, Raph even managed to shake hands with her before elbowing Jin in the ribs.
Then, barely moving his lips, he murmured in a low voice full of resentment.
"...Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"If you knew Miss Anna, you should have told me sooner..."
"Didn't I? But does it matter?"
"I—I told you I'm an Anna fan..."
As Jin scratched the back of his head, Raph let out a frustrated sigh.
"Match is starting."
At Anna's words, a long horn sounded.
Jin turned his gaze to the arena just in time to see Ryucard and Dayor clash.
Another duel between noble families.
Anarion, masters of swordsmanship.
Hakan, masters of the earth.
The scoreboard showed a historical record of 45:55 in favor of the Hakan family.
But that was based on the previous generation.
Now, the Anarion family was represented by none other than Ryucard.
A peerless swordsman who had never lost his presence, even in the overwhelming shadow of the Sword Saint.
He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
"Brother! Here I come!"
Dayor shouted.
Though the audience couldn't hear him, they all saw his body become enveloped in a silver aura.
The Hakan family, devoted to the power of the earth, possessed an innate ability to drastically enhance their physical resistance.
The mana armor they conjured was renowned for its nearly unmatched durability.
Because of this, against similarly skilled opponents, they held an advantage over sword-wielding families like Anarion and Gerstein.
Anna's fan, Raph, provided commentary.
"Honestly, with all the big names in this tournament, Dayor's gotten a little overshadowed. But he's a major prospect in the Hakan family. Isn't he just 19? The fact that he was chosen over all his older siblings says everything..."
His lecture wasn't even finished when—
Sching.
As Dayor charged forward, Ryucard drew his sword.
The slash that followed resembled a comet streaking across the night sky.
In the next moment, the two men stood with their backs to each other.
"..."
"..."
The silence was deafening.
Only the sound of Ryucard resheathing his sword echoed clearly.
Dayor blinked, sensing something was off, and slowly turned his head.
The mana armor covering his entire body cracked.
A sharp, shattering sound, like ice breaking on a frozen lake, rang out as his defense collapsed.
Crash!
Shards of glowing mana scattered like glass.
And yet, Dayor stood unharmed.
"...I lost."
Rather than summoning more mana, he admitted defeat outright.
For a moment, the entire audience was silent.
Then—
"Uwaaaaaaaah!!"
A thunderous cheer erupted.
Jin couldn't help but clap.
"That was insane."
The world had waited a hundred years for such a genius.
There was a reason they called him a peerless swordsman.
That diagonal slash—Jin barely registered it.
Could he dodge it?
If he pushed his Rotation to maximum output, maybe he could react in time.
A surge of competitive spirit flared inside him.
His gray eyes remained locked on the silver-haired swordsman walking away.
No wonder the Sword Saint confidently declared his son would reach the finals.
He wasn't a "future Sword Saint"—he was simply Ryucard.
Jin clenched his fist.
"D-damn... I'm up next."
Reality hit Raph like a truck.
His face went pale as he rose to his feet.
At this point, Jin didn't even question it.
It wasn't stage fright—it was waiting that scared Raph.
Because once the match began, he always gave it his all.
So Jin simply smacked him hard on the back.
And so, the final match of Group 4 began.
Anna, watching Cecile enter the arena, spoke.
"I never thought Sister Cecile would beat Carlos."
"Neither did anyone else. That's why people are freaking out."
"Theo was just a ridiculous genius, but Cecile struggled to accept that. She was overly sensitive to public criticism."
"But now, won't her reputation completely change? She beat Carlos."
"...Yeah."
Anna smiled faintly.
Then, just as the horn sounded and Jin turned his head—
A system window blocked his vision.
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
Family Tournament (Looming Omen)
After seven years, the purists' festival has returned.
Win the tournament to prove yourself, or
???? the ??? of ????.
Reward: Perk XP 30,000, ????
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
And then, a scream tore through the arena.
"...?!"
Jin instinctively looked up.
Something was flying high into the air.
Blood sprayed in a spiraling arc.
It was—
Raph's arm.