Chapter 18: The Great battle of illusion(8)
The arena fell into a sudden silence.
For a moment, the thoughts of everyone present froze.
- What? What’s happening?
- I don’t know…
- A Guardian Star…? Did Yoo Soha actually summon a Guardian Star?
- What’s with that beat-up armor?
- Isn’t it just going to get crushed by Hidelixus?
Murmurs like these filled the arena.
The whispers that followed the profound silence reached Yoo Soha’s ears, every trivial word clear. She understood the crowd’s reaction—she had reacted similarly when she first saw Eclipse.
But they would soon realize.
They would see just how overwhelmingly powerful this unassuming knight was.
As she scoffed at the murmurs, Eclipse spoke to her.
“Soha.”
“Yes?”
“There’s no need for you to help. I can handle this alone.”
“…Alright.”
His words echoed through the arena, and the crowd looked at him in disbelief.
A Guardian Star claiming he could defeat Yoo Danha and Hidelixus alone?
Some even speculated that Yoo Soha didn’t know her own Guardian Star’s capabilities.
The shock of her summoning a Guardian Star faded as Yoo Danha recalled they were in the midst of a tournament. She eyed Eclipse coldly. No mana emanated from him, suggesting he couldn’t match Hidelixus. The ten-meter-tall giant could crush this worn-out knight with a single punch.
Yet, for some reason, the knight called Eclipse radiated confidence, staring at Hidelixus without even drawing his weapon.
Sensing he was hiding something, Yoo Danha cautiously aimed at him. Hidelixus, perhaps irked by Eclipse’s dismissive attitude despite having grown stronger with the Fragment of Knowledge, stepped forward, ready to charge at Yoo Danha’s command.
The arena shook as the massive figure moved.
Yet, despite the situation, Eclipse stood still, as if daring them to make their move.
Yoo Danha, never having been so blatantly ignored, fired a shot from her already-aimed rifle.
Bang!
The anti-material sniper bullet roared toward Eclipse’s head.
Clang!
But with a flick of his hand, Eclipse deflected it.
His speed was so incredible that the bullet was knocked aside before Yoo Danha could detonate the mana within it.
“…What?”
Deflecting a mana bullet before it could explode?
Yoo Danha was stunned by the absurd feat.
“I see. I understand now.”
Muttering, Eclipse clenched his fists.
There was no need to draw his greatsword. In fact, doing so would be dangerous. His control over its power was still imperfect. If he swung it, the two would not survive. Right after Yoo Soha summoned him, Eclipse realized an incomprehensible power had been imbued in his broken greatsword—a power too dangerous to wield recklessly. Thus, he sealed it away, knowing a single swing could unleash catastrophe.
But his body, he could control. Clenching his fists, he stepped forward.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion, far louder than Hidelixus’s threatening step, reverberated as the ground shattered beneath Eclipse.
Yoo Danha and Hidelixus, wincing at the noise, lost sight of him.
“…Huh?”
[Where…?]
They looked down and finally spotted him.
“This…!”
They couldn’t finish the word. By the time they located him, Eclipse was already swinging his fist.
BOOM!
One punch. Just one.
Yet, it sent Hidelixus’s massive body crashing into the arena’s barrier, installed for the audience’s safety. Yoo Danha, perched on his shoulder, suffered the same fate, her mind reeling from the immense impact.
“Guh!”
The sight of a ten-meter giant being flung across the arena by a single punch from a knight barely two meters tall was utterly surreal. But both Hidelixus and Yoo Danha, A-rank awakener and Guardian Star, didn’t lose consciousness. Recovering from the shock, they realized this Guardian Star possessed absurd strength.
Yoo Danha stowed her sniper rifle and pulled out a machine gun, pouring all her mana into the bullets. A rain of explosive mana bullets sprayed toward Eclipse. Yet, even as the bullets detonated, he charged forward at a speed that defied perception, unscathed. Each step he took shattered the arena floor, sending shockwaves through the stadium. The barrage of bullets and the storm of mana explosions left not a scratch on his worn armor.
From one end of the arena to the other, Eclipse covered the vast distance at an impossible speed. As he appeared before Yoo Danha and Hidelixus, Hidelixus swung his mana-charged gauntlet.
BOOM!
With a deafening roar, the gauntlet shattered, and the giant’s arm was flung back. Another single punch. As Hidelixus staggered, Eclipse leaped, grabbing the giant’s thick neck with unbelievable strength. Lifting the fallen giant with one hand, he slammed him back into the ground.
BOOM!
[Argh!]
The impact knocked Hidelixus unconscious, unsummoning him. The backlash caused Yoo Danha to collapse, blood trickling from her mouth.
“No… way.”
She muttered in disbelief.
The crowd, having witnessed the spectacle, was speechless. The image of a ten-meter giant being lifted and slammed into the ground by a knight under two meters was surreal enough.
Amid the silenced crowd, Eclipse approached Yoo Soha.
“It’s over, Soha.”
“…Y-Yeah.”
Even Yoo Soha was stunned. She had expected Eclipse to overpower Yoo Danha and Hidelixus—after all, he had effortlessly defeated her and her bodyguard team. But she hadn’t imagined it would be this overwhelming.
Who was Yoo Danha? Beyond humiliating Yoo Soha last year, she was a top-tier Hwanryeong awakener. Yet, she was sent crashing into a wall with one punch. Her devastating barrage, feared by countless awakeners, did nothing to Eclipse. He hadn’t even drawn his greatsword, his presumed main weapon.
Typically, when Guardian Stars are summoned to Earth, their weapons are imbued with power proportional to the hardships they endured in their past lives. Eclipse’s broken greatsword, like Hidelixus’s indestructible shield and formidable gauntlet, was a divine artifact born of his trials. Yet, he defeated Yoo Danha without using it.
A shiver ran through Yoo Soha, goosebumps rising in exhilaration. Clutching her arm, she looked at Eclipse.
“Good work. Really.”
“It wasn’t much. Honestly, the people of this world are quite weak. I had high hopes for your sister, but it wasn’t even a warm-up.”
“…”
Yoo Soha smiled brightly at his nonchalant response, while the arena remained cloaked in silence. But the quiet didn’t last long. The crowd erupted as the reality sank in: Yoo Soha’s Guardian Star, absent for ten years, had appeared and single-handedly crushed Yoo Danha and Hidelixus.
The only thing awakeners and Guardian Stars needed to satisfy the masses was strength. Yoo Soha and Eclipse had more than delivered, sparking thunderous cheers unlike any she had ever heard. Gone were the boos and jeers, replaced by pure awe.
Yoo Soha basked in the moment, and Eclipse, seeing his contractor’s joy, smiled—though his worn helmet hid it.
“Good heavens.”
Yoo Hyuk and Yoo Hajun stared at the screen in disbelief, their eyes fixed on Eclipse, who had just displayed astonishing prowess.
“Is this… even possible?”
Even the great Yoo Hyuk was stunned, knowing how strong Yoo Danha was.
“I had a hunch, and it was right,” Lumern said, slightly surprised but far less shocked than her husband and son.
“Do you know something?” Yoo Hyuk asked.
“Soha didn’t want to reveal it, but when I met her earlier, I saw her Guardian Star. He was strong.”
“How strong?”
“I couldn’t gauge it. He had no mana.”
“Then how did you know he was strong?”
“A feeling. The kind only those who reached the pinnacle in my original world exuded.”
“Good lord.”
Yoo Hyuk was floored, as was Yoo Hajun. In Lumern’s world, those who reached the pinnacle were transcendent beings. Lumern herself was one of them. She was saying Yoo Soha’s Guardian Star was at least her equal.
Yoo Hyuk nodded at her words.
“I wondered why Soha didn’t have a Guardian Star for ten years. Perhaps she was waiting for such a formidable being.”
“I think so too. Everyone was shocked when she awakened her mana.”
“Indeed. They called her a prodigy back then.”
When Yoo Soha first awakened her mana, everyone was astonished. She had inherited Lumern’s iron-based mana, wielded it skillfully at a young age, and possessed an immense mana reserve. Everyone wondered what kind of Guardian Star she would summon.
Recalling that time, Yoo Hajun remembered a recent hypothesis sparked by Yoo Hyuk’s earlier mutterings.
“Speaking of which, Father, have you heard the recent hypothesis?”
“What hypothesis?”
“That Guardian Stars might be chosen based on the awakener’s caliber. It fits Soha’s situation perfectly.”
“I’ve heard of it. Wasn’t it from the awakener academy?”
Yoo Hajun nodded and continued.
“Yes. If that hypothesis is true, the reason Soha couldn’t summon a Guardian Star for so long might be that there wasn’t one matching her caliber. The moment one appeared…”
“She summoned it?” Yoo Hyuk finished.
“That’s the only explanation, Father. It’s just a hypothesis, but still.”
“It’s too plausible to be mere speculation.”
“Exactly.”
Yoo Hyuk let out a hearty laugh.
“I should look into the paper behind that hypothesis.”
“I was thinking the same,” Yoo Hajun agreed.
“By the way, it’s been a while, hasn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Soha’s smiling.”
On the screen, Yoo Soha was beaming brighter than ever. Yoo Hajun gazed at her, then said to Yoo Hyuk, “It’s been years since I’ve seen her smile like that. I might finally get some peace of mind.”
“Same here. I’ve been worried sick, but this is a relief. Oh, but… is Danha okay?”
“I’m not sure…”
They suddenly remembered Yoo Danha, crashed into the barrier, and their expressions hardened.
“I’ll contact the medical team,” Yoo Hajun said.
“Hurry.”
“Yes.”
Realizing this wasn’t the time to celebrate Yoo Soha’s Guardian Star, Yoo Hajun quickly called the medical team. After a brief conversation, he turned to Yoo Hyuk, relieved.
“She’s injured but not in critical condition. The medical team says she’ll recover quickly.”
“That’s a relief. It seems Soha’s Guardian Star held back.”
“It does.”
Finally at ease, they could rejoice in Yoo Soha’s summoning of her Guardian Star. Lumern, quietly listening, lifted the corners of her mouth in a gentle smile.