LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 230
Chapter 230: The Second Hundred Steps Ceremony (4)
Boom!
Yuri took another step forward.
‘Thirty… three!’
The pressure closing in from all directions made it hard to breathe.
As the lack of oxygen made his vision swim, Yuri bit his tongue to regain his focus.
Gulp.
He swallowed the blood pooling in his mouth and looked straight ahead with blurry eyes.
‘How much… time has passed?’
With blood circulation failing, his thoughts were slow and disjointed.
How could he keep track of time properly in such a state?
He only realized that a considerable amount of time had passed.
Sssss-!
Yuri took a deep breath and focused his eyes.
‘I need to reflect on this.’
He had been a bit arrogant.
He thought that with the growth he had achieved in the past year, he would easily walk at least 50 steps…
In his mind, he had been taking this Hundred Steps Ceremony lightly.
But Yuri realized how foolish he had been.
‘The difference between one step and the next… is this severe.’
He was only on the 33rd step.
Not even halfway through the hundred steps.
What kind of world awaited beyond 50 steps or at the Sword Master’s side?
Grit-.
Yuri gritted his teeth and reflexively pushed his leg forward.
He tried to take the thirty-fourth step.
Crackle-.
But it felt like his soles were glued to the ground; they wouldn’t budge.
Facing immense resistance, Yuri fiercely summoned his mana.
‘Ugh!’
His mana core, already more than half depleted, barely responded.
Yuri steadied his breathing and his eyes sharpened.
‘I’m fine. I still… have room.’
Despite the Hundred Steps Ceremony being far tougher than he anticipated, Yuri felt no fear.
He believed in himself.
‘With what I’ve built up so far…’
With all the time he had accumulated, he believed he could go further.
With that belief, Yuri lifted his leg.
And took another step.
He thought back to his early days in the Dragon’s Cradle and the countless sparring sessions with Theresia.
The relentless dedication Theresia had taught him.
The foundational time Yuri spent in the Cradle allowed him to take his thirty-fourth step.
Boom!
The theory of Strength, Endurance, Fire, Magic, and Nature learned in the Cradle.
The time spent researching to unfold the fake Chwisung and the resolve to defeat Greta Wigun led him to take his thirty-fifth step.
Boom!
The monthly evaluations competing with his fellow cadets.
The relentless attempts to break through challenges and quests.
The endless duels with Theresia, Arin, Poppy, and Gunther created Yuri’s thirty-sixth step.
Boom!
The moment when he risked his life to defeat the Demon King.
The enlightenment gained from Segyung’s metallurgy allowed him to take his thirty-seventh step.
Boom!
The time spent compensating for his lacking basics through the ranking battles became his thirty-eighth step.
Boom!
The mana core restored with Johan’s help and the relentless efforts to fill it with mana paved the way for his thirty-ninth step.
Boom!
Stabilizing the realm of Official Sixth Level and consolidating his foundation allowed him to take his fortieth step.
Boom!
Thus, all the moments Yuri had built up enabled him to take those forty steps.
“Huff— huff—.”
Yuri panted in pain.
Forty steps.
He had poured almost everything he had accumulated to reach this point.
As a result, his whole body ached as if it were about to break, and his mana core had less than 10% mana remaining.
But Yuri had no intention of stopping.
He still had time.
Recently accumulated moments were yet to be used.
‘I can… I can still go further!’
The Union Quest for first to third-year cadets.
The confrontation with Gunther Ryder.
These moments would drive him forward.
‘This Hundred Steps Ceremony is my battle… So I’ll reach it with only the time and abilities I’ve built over this year! Watch closely… Old Man!’
As Yuri made his resolve, looking up into the high skies.
Bzzzz-!
A golden light burst from his entire body.
Then, a soft glow flowed along Yuri’s body, tracing thin golden lines.
Woooong-!
Energy surged through Yuri’s body, his mind cleared, and his vision brightened.
Caught up in the elevated sense of exhilaration, Yuri’s lips curved into a wide smile.
‘This feeling… it’s incredible!’
He grinned broadly.
Boom!
Yuri took his forty-first step.
As Yuri took his forty-first step, Johan sprang up from his seat.
‘Is that… no way?!’
Golden geometric lines etched across Yuri’s body.
Though they differed in form from what Johan knew, the essence was unmistakably similar.
No, it was identical.
‘No way…?!’
Johan’s eyes widened at the sight of something beyond imagination.
Yuri’s physical transformation stunned not only Johan.
“……?!”
Gunther leapt, instantly appearing at the front row of the audience.
Not only did his body leap forward, but his eyes seemed ready to pop out as well.
He stared, unblinking, with eyes wide open as if struck by a typhoon.
“This… no, this can’t be!”
He tried to deny the reality before him.
But Gunther’s reason persistently refuted his denial.
Yes, it’s true.
It’s exactly what you think.
‘No way… it’s impossible…!’
The golden lines spreading across Yuri’s body.
They bore a striking resemblance to one of the Ryder Family’s secret arts.
A technique that heightened physical abilities to superhuman levels.
“…Black Blood?!”
A technique known as ‘Black Blood.’
Thanks to his time spent facing Gunther Ryder, Yuri managed to steal the technique, Black Blood (黑血).
Based on it, Yuri swiftly regained his vitality and even his depleted mental energy, and continued to walk step after step.
Forty-two – Boom!
Forty-three – Boom!
Forty-four – Boom!
The Hundred Steps Ceremony, which began around noon, had the sun setting in the west, painting the sky with twilight, but Yuri kept walking.
Slowly but surely.
Moving steadily towards the Sword Master.
Boom!
As he moved past the forty-eighth and forty-ninth steps and was about to take his fiftieth step.
Bzzz-!
The golden lines on Yuri’s body flickered.
A clearly precarious sight.
And then finally.
Sss-.
With his mana core completely depleted, Yuri’s Black Blood lost its glow and vanished.
But Yuri’s Black Blood did its job to the very end.
Boom!
As the golden light faded, Yuri successfully took his fiftieth step.
Along with that came an overwhelming sense of powerlessness.
‘Ugh!’
A splitting headache and fatigue overwhelmed him.
A crushing pressure, like a massive chain wrapping around his body, weighed down on Yuri.
And the intense presence of the Sword Master, sustained for hours, was enough to extinguish Yuri’s flickering consciousness like a matchstick.
But he did not stop.
‘This is only… halfway!’
Fifty steps.
To some, it might be ‘half’ of the hundred steps, but to Yuri, it was just ‘barely halfway.’
‘I can’t… I can’t fall here!’
He pushed forward a little closer to the Sword Master.
And to Johan.
“Aaaaaargh!”
Blood dripped from Yuri’s eyes and nose.
He couldn’t withstand the pressure any longer.
To top it off, he vomited blood as it surged from his insides, yet Yuri desperately thrust his right foot forward.
Toward the other half, and beyond.
“Gaaaaaaaaah!”
It seemed like he might die at any moment.
As if questioning if it was truly necessary to go this far.
Yuri’s condition was beyond desperate.
But in that desperation.
Boom.
Yuri’s right foot touched the ground.
Followed by his left foot.
Boom!
As if saying this was as far as he would go, Yuri’s legs firmly rooted themselves to the earth.
He planted himself precisely in the fifty-first section.
At the same time, Yuri’s head drooped forward.
Drip— drip—.
Blood dripped from Yuri’s face and chin, falling to the ground.
At that moment.
Rustle—.
The Sword Master rose from his seat.
And suddenly, he was standing in front of Yuri.
Yuri felt the oppressive pressure around him lift, and he raised his head.
‘…He’s here.’
In his blood-tinted vision, ‘he’ stood there.
The absolute of this era, who had been seated far away.
Yuri laughed when he saw him.
‘Hehehe!’
The fact that the Hundred Steps Ceremony had finally ended.
And that he had made the Sword Master come to him once again brought Yuri an immense joy.
The Sword Master met Yuri’s eyes and spoke.
“This time, you didn’t collapse.”
A year ago, Yuri had fallen at the Sword Master’s feet in the same position.
Hearing the Sword Master’s words, Yuri grinned.
“If I fell now, I wouldn’t be able to get back up.”
A year ago, Yuri had struggled desperately to rise after falling.
Today, one year later, he fought desperately not to fall.
Nevertheless, Yuri smiled nonchalantly, looking at the Sword Master without showing any sign of his struggle.
“I’ve surpassed… halfway.”
Not just halfway but reaching beyond it.
Now, there were only forty-nine steps left.
Closing that gap would be an even harsher process than now.
But Yuri wasn’t afraid.
He gazed at the Sword Master with determined eyes.
“Next time… I’ll reach you.”
The audacity of a mere first-year in the Cradle declaring that he would reach the Sword Master.
No, it was beyond audacity; it was practically insane.
Like a puppy barking at a dragon.
But to the barking of that puppy…
“Whenever you feel ready, challenge me anytime. I will gladly wait. You… have earned that right.”
The old dragon paved the way, inviting the puppy to keep barking.
And the puppy, without fear, climbed onto the stage and barked even louder at the dragon.
“It’s a promise. That you’ll accept my challenge anytime?”
Seeing the Sword Master silently nod, Yuri…
“Hehehe.”
Let out a low laugh.
And that was the last thing he did.
Yuri collapsed, losing consciousness completely.
The Sword Master quietly observed as Yuri fell backward, then looked up to the sky.
“…….”
For a moment, the Sword Master stared at the still clouds.
Then, his figure vanished like a mirage.
Thus, the Hundred Steps Ceremony came to an end.
The arena was wrapped in silence.
But suddenly.
“Wow!”
A brief cheer erupted and spread like wildfire.
Soon, it became a roaring tribute to the young boy who had earned the Sword Master’s recognition as a challenger…
Waaaah!
The arena echoed with thundering applause.
Johan, who had locked eyes with the Sword Master just moments ago, kept his gaze fixed in the direction where the Sword Master had disappeared.
And at that moment.
Waaaah!
The cheers that reached Johan, even at his high vantage point, made him shift his gaze.
He looked toward the center of the arena, at the protagonist of those cheers, Yuri, who lay sprawled out, unconscious.
‘…That kid.’
Johan’s eyes held a complex mix of emotions as he looked down at the fainted Yuri.
Once only able to take fifteen steps, today, he had walked fifty-one.
‘…What an absurd kid.’
Johan knew Yuri possessed monstrous talent.
But he had found some comfort in the belief that there was still a significant gap between them.
But no longer.
‘I was complacent.’
Watching Yuri’s Hundred Steps Ceremony today, Johan’s thoughts had changed.
It seemed Yuri had deliberately avoided using his Magic Flow technique.
Instead, he displayed a bizarre technique mimicking Black Blood.
And the relentless determination to keep getting up, even after reaching his limits.
Yuri was growing faster and more explosively than Johan had anticipated.
Of course, Johan had been surprised by Yuri’s growth many times before.
But what truly frightened Johan was Yuri’s tendency to break through his limits each time they seemed near.
‘That guy is not just growing… he’s evolving every day.’
In a year, where will that kid be?
Johan could no longer be certain.
“Heh…”
Johan let out a low laugh.
Looking at the unconscious Yuri, the complexity in his gaze was replaced with a burning intensity.
‘I can’t afford to be complacent.’
If he kept underestimating the situation, he might not just lose to time but be overtaken by the monster known as Yuri Holland.
Even the Sword Master had acknowledged Yuri as his challenger.
That young boy had been declared worthy.
With that, the fire in Johan’s eyes burned even brighter.
‘I need to step up.’
He no longer saw Yuri as a mere student to be taught…
‘If I don’t want to be caught up to by him.’
Johan began to view him as a rival.
『#Season.01 – End』
#Season.02 Teaser
“Yuri, assemble!”
A monotonous routine repeated.
Yet, within it, subtle distortions began to seep in.
As a result…
“Wait a second, let me remove this before we start.”
The sealed monster awakened.