As soon as I changed my clothes and went out to the stands, the first thing I heard was the cheers of the audience.
Wow-
Bless and Jet Blade face each other with shouts.
"Okay, then, round 2, match 2. It begins now!"
Beep-
The starting signal sounds along with the word 'START' on the scoreboard.
The first to move was Bless.
The moment she kicked her foot, her body reached right in front of his nose, her fist wearing a gold glove extended.
"Haaah-!"
"hmm!"
Thud-!
With a sound like the ringing of metal against metal, Jet Blade's body retreated, kicking up dust over the smokescreen.
Bless quickly dug in, as if he wasn't going to give up any distance, as he retreated, holding the greatsword wrapped in bandages that had been on his back with both hands.
"Haat!"
A fist that is raised with a shout.
The speed was something that could be perceived with the naked eye compared to me and Kingdom in Game 1.
Everyone in the stands must have thought so.
As Jet Blade lightly rolled his body to the side to dodge, Bless's fist, missing its target, slammed down toward the ground.
bang-!
As soon as the fist hit the ground, a crack about 3 meters long appeared around the fist.
The staff of Cheonryong, who had been cheering with confidence in victory until just a moment ago, fell silent for a moment.
"It's creepy. Really."
Compared to Kingdom's punch, it is a punch that is only recognizable to the eye, but the power that comes from super strength cannot be ignored.
Having seen her grab the front of the truck and lift it up in front of her, I didn't want to imagine what I would look like if I got hit by her swinging fist.
"Wait, if Christine wins here, does that mean I get to fight her in the next fight?"
Suddenly realizing the truth, I clenched my fists and looked at Jetblade without realizing it.
Please, at least do something.
*
"This is dangerous."
Despite someone's fervent wish, Jet Blade was grimacing beneath the hood covering his face at the sight of Bless's fist that had just passed by.
"Surely, even with that level of strength, the ability measurement is still inconclusive. This is a disaster."
"Hahaha, sorry. I don't think the test results are back yet."
Judging by the sincerity in her apologetic smile as she looked at herself, she must truly be unaware.
In fact, the night the match with her was set.
All of Cheonryong's staff worked day and night to somehow obtain more information about Bless's abilities.
Originally, the heroes who were registered at the top of the popularity vote registered in advance had no choice but to have their abilities clearly revealed to the competitors through the H app.
So when the second round of the popularity vote top 10 tournament matches came up, every company was prepared in advance to figure out the abilities of their heroes and their opponents.
But what about Bless?
Information about her abilities registered in the H app cannot be confirmed.
Even in the first round match, which was the only chance to test her abilities, she was given a bye due to her opponent's forfeit.
Thanks to this, among the top 10 heroes in this tournament, excluding Vigilante and Number One, who are not registered in the H-app, Bless in front of me was the one whose abilities were the least exposed.
"As our boss, Mr. Chang, said, he's a man of few words. Your boss is."
"I said it wasn't me."
At her words, Jet Blade nodded quietly.
"Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will be victorious in every battle. Certainly, it is a brilliant strategy. Then—"
Jet Blade, who had agreed with her words, pulled at the bandage tied to his greatsword.
As the bandage flowed down from the greatsword, which was closer to a club than a sword, an exclamation of "Oh!" erupted from one side of the audience who saw the sight.
In some ways, it looks like a kitchen knife.
The only difference is that the thick blade attached to the back of the knife is not an ordinary blade, but a kitchen knife with a nozzle.
"I will do my best to give it my all."
As soon as he spoke, his figure disappeared.
Bless's pupils widened as he lost sight of him for a moment, and his gaze, which had been quickly looking left and right, quickly turned to looking straight ahead, crossing his arms in an X shape to cover his face.
Thuong-
With the sound of dull iron clashing, this time Bless stood his ground.
Bless, who did not back down easily from his power despite being weaker than her, soon smiled as she saw Jet Blade looking down at her with his sword blocked in front of him.
"Okay, stop it-"
The moment I tried to smile in relief, thinking that I had stopped it,
Pew-
With a sound like an explosion, Bless's body was thrown into the air.
"What is this?" As her thoughts began to comprehend, the jet blades, with a light leap, rushed towards her, who was floating defenselessly in the air.
"Huh!"
With a slight roar, as if applying force, his body did a somersault and his thick greatsword flew forward.
'You can't get hit, defend yourself-'
Even though he didn't know what had just happened, he instinctively stretched out his arms in the direction of the sword's slash and caught the thick blade that was coming down at him.
Pew-
Once again, with a sound like something exploding, the greatsword, imbued with the centrifugal force of a somersault, accelerated further and spun around in the air several times, holding onto her.
Shhh-
Bless, who was soon thrown back by the centrifugal force, drew a white parabola again and flew out of the smokescreen, then slammed straight into the smokescreen from the same angle.
Bless's body rolled around the smokescreen several times due to the strong rotational force and bounced back up on the floor like a water splash.
Pain seeped from her lips beneath her mask, but Bless gritted her teeth and immediately straightened up, adjusting her posture.
"That was a great dodge."
Jet Blade landed with his greatsword in front of Bless, who was breathing heavily and shaking his head at the dizzying sight as he spun around on the floor.
Landing as light as a feather, Bless slowly got up and smiled weakly at the sight of him looking at her with his greatsword slung over his shoulder.
"That's strange. I've never lost a fight in strength."
"It's not that surprising. Just like your boss, I've found ways to utilize my abilities in various ways."
Bless's gaze quickly turned upwards, letting out a shallow breath at his answer.
She glanced at the VIP seats above the stadium at the end of her line of sight, then quickly looked back at the Jet Blade in front of her, smiled, and straightened her posture.
"I really need to find out what that method is."
Jet Blade chuckled softly as he watched her clench her fists, then adjusted his grip on his thick greatsword.
"If you can figure it out, figure it out. Unless you fall down before then."
As their gazes met, the two ran towards each other again.
*
The 5th underground shelter located in the basement of the VR experience center.
"It's midsummer outside, but it's like a cave in here."
"Thanks to that, I always have the fan running. If even moss grows, it's a big problem."
Number 9, who followed the instructions of the guide dressed in a maid outfit, took off the sunglasses she always wore as soon as she got off the elevator.
A light that illuminates the underground shelter instead of sunlight.
The room, which should normally be brightly lit with lights on like daytime, was completely different from the dark atmosphere of the room, but there was not a single light on, and only the emergency lights on the floor were shining.
"...That's strange."
"what?"
"Even though he doesn't go out much, No. 5 tends to have a regular routine. If things were normal, he'd be awake right now, so there's no way he'd be so completely turned off—"
"Say that quickly!"
Before the maid could finish speaking, No. 9 started running hurriedly along the passageway into the underground shelter, and the maid soon started running after him.
There were several code numbers that assisted Ariel, but excluding Woojin, the number 1 who was directly connected, there were basically three important code numbers.
Aside from Number 2, who directly protects her, and Number 9, who acts as her legs, the most important member is Number 5, who is in charge of Ariel's information and everything.
'If she falls into the hands of a slaver, their future movements will become unknown. No, more than that, the 'plan' will be disrupted.'
A quietly closed door.
The automatic door, which had only the emergency lights on and no lights on, slowly opened at his movement as he stood in front of it, and a room filled with darkness came into view.
"No. 5, are you alive?"
As soon as the door opened, No. 9 quickly ran into the dark room.
I immediately stopped dead in my tracks when I saw something.
"This is..."
Five monitors glowed in the darkness, unable to see even an inch ahead. And the image of No. 5, sprawled out on the chair in front of the monitors, was reflected in his pupils.