The bookshelves came down. Now, when everyone was not around, the Kaiser of gold and Sungjin faced off.

  “I wanted to investigate you specifically, which is why I set you apart from the others.”


  “Were the results satisfactory?”


  “Mm. You have amazing teammates, but at the same time, they won’t be able to breach the god’s realm, nor mine.”


  “Yes. They do lack in some areas.” Sungjin smiled. There was no point in denying it. “But they are my teammates.”


  “Yes. Then will you protect their backs?”


  “Of course.” Sungjin pulled out his sword. Dawn Bringer. The sword of destruction of legends shone brightly.

  Antherer’s eyes suddenly shone in interest. “Ho, that sword…… That is your sword.”


  “For now.”


  “For now…… Is it…… I see,” Antherer mumbled in a strange tone. “It’s a good sword. I won’t say that it’s the best, but it’s fitting for you.”


  “I agree.”


  “Show me how it’s used.”


  “Gladly.” And Sungjin charged forward toward the Kaiser of gold, Antherer, and…… Calculating every moment he and his opponent could make, Sungjin’s sword rapidly approached Antherer’s weakness.

  Until now, he had fought on the same level as those who were more powerful than him, and the sword had not failed him in suppressing those who had the same specs as him, but……

  “Hm, amazing. Amazing.” Even while Antherer praised him, his staff kept pushing Sungjin’s sword into a corner.

  Antherer wasn’t physically stronger than Sungjin. He had a strength that was unnatural for his age, but that was just about Sungjin’s strength, except he had more moves. He calculated both of their moves as much as Sungjin could calculate them. They were moving according to each of their calculations, but Antherer’s calculations went beyond Sungjin’s. There was no meaning to Sungjin’s Bringer ability before Antherer’s staff. It was a level where no skills were used but that suppressed Sungjin.

  “You have already arrived at the level that I had reached when I was three hundred. It is amazing that you’ve reached that level in twenty years.”


  Several more moves were exchanged. Sungjin stood firm, but his stance was slowly blurring, and in a minute, the staff pushed away the sword and attacked Sungjin’s shoulder. “Ah……”


  His teammates, who were watching him, exclaimed in pity. The girls, who had already been removed from the fight, had no choice but to cheer Sungjin on from the sidelines, but no matter how much they saw, Sungjin’s calculations were always a step behind his opponent’s.

  A level…… No, two levels.

  “At least he wasn’t defeated in a single move like us, but……” Eustasia lightly bit her lip.

  Sungjin had become much stronger than the time he had fought against her father. He had reached a higher level after several fights, except the Kaiser of gold…… was beyond him. If he was the old Sungjin, he would have been defeated.

  “You’re faster,” Sungjin acknowledged after the single attack. He wasn’t talking about his physical speed; his opponent’s calculations were faster.

  Even if he could calculate the most advantageous moves in the same given moment, the Kaiser of Gold could read more and therefore move faster.

  And that small amount of difference was what made the current difference.

  “What will you do? You won’t accept your defeat here, will you?”


  “Of course not.”


  Sungjin shot forward in a second attack, but the Kaiser of gold deflected the fiery attack as if they were having a conversation, and suppressed Sungjin once more.

  At the repeated sight, Ereka became more uncomfortable. “What should we do?”


  “We can do nothing but cheer him on.”


  “But……”


  “Let’s keep watching.” But would there be a difference between the first and second fight?

  The sword and staff clashed against each other once more, and after three minutes, Sungjin allowed an attack to his leg.

  “Again!”


  Even after continuous defeat, Sungjin ran forward once more, and…… his teammates’ spirits started to rise. It’s been over eight minutes, and he’s still holding on?

  The Kaiser of gold was still more powerful, but the difference between them was growing smaller.

  Ten minutes passed. Sungjin allowed another attack, and that was that. When Sungjin began his fourth attack, they were on the same level. Even after thirty minutes, no one could gain an advantage.

  The Kaiser of Gold stepped back and smiled. “Haha…… To think you’ve caught up this fast.”


  “I was researching for such a long time, but managed to complete it faster thanks to you. I thank you.”


  “To be at the age where you may want everything, but at the same time learning to understand you must let go of some desires.” Antherer nodded in acknowledgement.

  “Yes. there is honestly no difference in our brains. If there was a difference, it would be that you’ve tried to calculate everything until now.”


  “Until now, that made me more comfortable against my opponents.”


  “Yes. The answer sometimes lay in the most unexpected places. That’s research.”


  When one brain suppressed the other, it was more than enough to consider every circumstance. But it was different against an opponent of the same level.

  “But sometimes it’s better to leave the unknown as it is and execute your moves. Emptying your mind to have everything.”


  Until now, Sungjin had met opponents who could be suppressed with his brain. That was why he was good at revealing the best in the worst conditions, but not with the Kaiser of gold. He was the first opponent with the same intelligence as himself. Sungjin went against him by considering only one aspect of the fight and moving his body even faster.

  “But you are fast. Fast. I knew that I shouldn’t measure the human’s capability against you, but to think it would be like this. Haha. A thousand years.” Antherer stroked his beard and looked toward some place far away with a smile. “But I suppose that’s the right of later scholars. But being on the same level doesn’t mean a victory. What would you do?”


  “Of course, from now on, it’s my counterattack.” Sungjin’s sword levelled itself against Antherer and drove forward.

  At the moment the sword and staff hit each other, a small vibration occurred in Antherer’s hands. As Antherer’s staff wavered, Sungjin reached out with his fist.

  Antherer avoided the attack by thoroughly reading its route, but Sungjin immediately tilted the direction of his fist, and before it could even reach Antherer, an explosion occurred near his chest.

  Antherer flew back, vomiting out an exclamation. “Kuk.”


  “This is the Kaiser of White Silver’s special skill. The complete control over ki.” He coughed due to the disturbance in his breathing.

  Controlling ki didn’t come from understanding its theory. Beyond comprehension, it had to be done with perfect physical strength and control.

  “You’ve learned the mobility of ki beyond your mental prowess.”


  “Yes, from my previous fight.”


  “If you had used this from the beginning, we would have begun with an equal fight.”


  “You learn faster through experience. No?”


  Sungjin smiled. He had purposely fought with his body like the Kaiser of gold to absorb anything that could be advantageous to himself.

  “Haha. I see. You were searching for the path to greatness even during your fight. You do have the right to challenge me.”


  “I think you still have something to show me.” Sungjin didn’t rush. The fact was that the Kaiser of gold hadn’t used a single one of his skills. It could be presumed that the tools he had pulled out were a part of his skill, but it seemed to be only one part of it. There should be another main skill.

  “Yes. I have underestimated you. But this is not everything I’ve calculated.” Antherer raised his staff. “Overcome yourself and feel the truth of this universe. May the truth shine upon you!”


  White light exploded out of his staff.