BXBX NOVEL Chapter 257: Scout (4)
Seeing Lavan Vargas step back as if expressing his unwillingness to intervene in the fight, Yoon-seok looked to the King of Steel again.
“Pfft. Bahahahaha!”
The King of Steel stopped laughing and spoke bluntly to his other guest, Lavan Vargas.
“Lavan Vargas, you’re in the way, so come back next time.”
“I’ll refuse. I can’t miss this great fight.”
“But if you’re here…”
“If my Unique Skill is a problem, I’ll put it away.”
There were two key points to Unique Skill the {Cultivator}: sealing all skills of every being who has fifteen or more within a 300m radius and sealing the enemy’s power. This wasn’t a simple guess, but a fact as Yoon-seok possessed the skill and confirmed it with the tablet. However, did he have a new ability at Rank S?
「All skills and powers sealed by {Cultivator} are normalized.」
In an instant, the effect of {Cultivator} was lifted. The skills sealed by the penalty still didn’t return, and most of the returned powers wouldn’t work on King of Steel.
‘It wasn’t 300m then, so the distance has changed….’
If so, was the range expansion and this on-off switch the Rank S effect of b Cultivator}? Regardless, Lavan’s biggest change wasn’t that, but something else.
‘The aura and the way he talks have changed.’
At that time, it felt like he was conscious of being a nuisance to magic users, but now there was no trace of it at all. Just as Yoon-seok had changed in many ways from when they met on the 18th floor, Lavan had also grown. Of course, that wasn’t important right now.
“Then let’s have fun.”
When Lavan lifted the skill, the King of Steel narrowed the distance without hesitation. As long as he didn’t interrupt the fight, he didn’t seem to care if Lavan spectated.
“Isn’t it better to go somewhere else?”
Was he worried that the palace would get destroyed when they fought? When Lavan Vargas said that, Yoon-seok and the King of Steel answered simultaneously.
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t care.”
“If it breaks down, I can rebuild it.”
The reason for the King of Steel’s lack of concern was that he could restore it later, whereas for Yoon-seok…
“It’ll be over soon anyway.”
There was no need to leave.
It was a provocation. Lavan Vargas, who was watching, thought so.
“Well, that muscle king would rush in because he agrees.”
“Bahahahaha! This is fun!”
As expected, the King of Steel kicked off the ground and flew forward. And at that moment, the ground was carved out from the force of his leap, and shock waves rippled through the air.
Whoosh-!
‘He’s still a monster. As expected, we have bad synergy.’
Then, what about the mysterious masked swordsman? He said he defeated King of Steel not long ago, but how was that possible? Lavan watched with a frown.
’Why isn’t he moving?’
The King of Steel was narrowing the distance quickly. Looking at the distance, his sword could already reach. Nevertheless, he just stood still.
’Why hasn’t he picked up his sword yet? Does he use a quick-draw style?’
Lavan mastered various styles. That’s why he knew a sword technique that pursued extreme speediness to find a gap and win instantly existed.
’But it’ll be hard to deal with that muscle king with a short sword.’’
A short sword wasn’t ideal against the muscle king in terms of synergy. Then what was it? What sword would that mysterious swordsman use to make the muscle king acknowledge defeat?
At that moment, Yoon-seok’s hand moved.
Whik.
Not a sword handle, but a fist to meet the King of Steel.
Boooooooooom-!
As soon as their hands collided, shock waves spread through the chamber.
’…Didn’t he say he was a swordsman?’
Lavan couldn’t understand at all. It was surprising enough that a swordsman used his hand instead of a sword and that he was still standing there intact without being pushed back.
But that was trivial compared to what happened next.
Clench-
He was spreading out the King of Steel’s fingers.
“…!”
The King of Steel’s arm twisted. Lavan couldn’t believe it even though he was watching. The King of Steel, the owner of that gruesome physique…
’He’s being suppressed by strength?’
His hands were caught and unable to move. No, beyond not being able to move…
Flop.
When he tried to use more strength, he was forced to kneel. Lavan, who had experience against the King of Steel before becoming a challenger, knew this was ridiculous.
‘Just how high is his strength stat…?’
Before this swordsman arrived, Lavan exchanged a few blows briefly with the King of Steel. The King of Steel’s strength was definitely a few levels higher than himself at Rank SS. But this man’s was higher than that? Overwhelmingly so?
“I’ll say it again.”
This mysterious swordsman made the King of Steel kneel before him with strength.
“Become my colleague.”
Lavan put his hand on his sword without realizing it. It was reflex as his instincts recognized the danger.
Clenchhhh-.
Yoon-seok put more strength into his hand, snapping the King of Steel’s fist. But the King Steel didn’t even wince. As if he couldn’t even feel pain, he looked at Yoon-seok with confusion. He didn’t seem to understand the current situation, but…
“…”
Of course, the King of Steel’s biggest weapon was his body. His overwhelming strength was on par with Yoon-seok after activating Last Command. But that weapon was no longer useful.
「Due to the effect of triggering Compressed Muscle, magic stats drops to F-.」
「Due to the King Muscle effect, muscle efficiency increases by 1.5x.」
In front of Compressed Muscle that bottomed his MAX magic, King Muscle boosted it further…
’Did you think I would be the same as before? It ended easily because you rushed in.’
Ignoring skills, ignoring items, ignoring power. For the challengers who used points into those things, the King of Steel was a tyrant. All he had to do was invest the points he had earned so far in stats. The King of Steel gained the upper hand as a result. Yoon-seok also used Last Command in the last battle to fight the King of Steel.
However, for Yoon-seok now, the King of Steel was an easy opponent.
’But seeing how he still has a higher rating than me, I can win easily because of synergy.’
Perhaps for most rankers, the King of Steel would be more difficult to deal with than Yoon-seok.
“You still don’t have an answer?”
Yoon-seok asked again to urge him. However, the King of Steel didn’t answer.
“…”
He could accept both losing and dying in a fight with a smile… but was this kind of defeat hard to accept? It was quite awkward for the King of Steel, who was always confident and laughing loudly, to make this expression.
But it wasn’t bad.
‘He’s the type that’ll comply if I organize the rankings clearly.’
The King of Steel was unpredictable in many ways. He needed a leash to make him an ally.
Clench-.
Yoon-seok put a little more strength into his hand. Only then did the King of Steel come to his senses and look at Yoon-seok.
“Why would people like you need colleagues?”
“Because I don’t have enough power.”
When Yoon-seok answered as natural, the King of Steel asked again with a gloomy voice.
“Not enough…?”
“Yes. It’s an enemy that I’m not sure I can win against.”
The Tower and the Queen. To deal with these two, being alone wasn’t enough. Yoon-seok was able to get here now with the help of Cheon-ma, Lee Su-yeon, and Ashton. He needed more help.
But was that so funny?
“…Kehehe, hahahahahaha!”
The King of Steel burst into laughter.
“Haha! Is that so…! Is there something even you can’t deal with…! Somewhere in the world!”
He seemed frustrated, yet he was happy.
“Alright. I’ll be your colleague.”
Yoon-seok didn’t know what went through his head to agree to this. However, the King of Steel wasn’t one to take back his word.
“Yeah, what do you need to do to deal with that enemy? Is it this country? Or, should I kill someone?”
Yoon-seok shook his head.
“That’s not what I want. I just need one thing right now.”
“One thing, what’s that?”
The King of Steel asked with a confident gaze as if he could grant all of his wishes. Therefore, Yoon-seok also spoke more comfortably.
“A promise to listen to me well.”
From now on, the King of Steel just needed to listen carefully. Don’t try to move on his own, just what he was told to do.
“…That’s what the finance minister tells me every day.”
He didn’t react much other than nodding and saying that… but the King of Steel looked slightly depressed.
Cheon-ma, Lee Su-yeon, King of Steel. Including Yoon-seok himself, he managed to gather four people.
’Maybe it’ll be five.’
Yoon-seok, having successfully recruited King of Steel, shifted his attention toward the next candidate.
“You’re Lavan Vargas, right?”
“…That’s right.”
“Let’s introduce ourselves first. I’m Choi Yoon-seok.”
“Choi Yoon-seok, I remember…”
Was it because he watched the King of Steel lose without being able to do anything? His eyes and tone became quite cautious.
“So, what do you want to say to me?”
Lavan asked carefully, and Yoon-seok smiled. He was just asking to confirm; he had already guessed why Yoon-seok suddenly changed his target to talk to him. However…
“Please become my colleague.”
“I refuse.”
However, it wasn’t a stubborn rejection like the King of Steel earlier.
“I just heard your name now. I don’t even know what kind of person you are or who you’re fighting against while gathering colleagues like this.”
Yoon-seok nodded as he listened. That was right.
“Then can you tell me who the enemy is?”
“I can’t give you a definite answer. But I’ll consider it.”
It was a stern tone, but… he was probably normal. Thinking about it, it was strange the King of Steel refused without hearing what the favor was but later agreed, still without hearing it.
’But I think it’ll be annoying if he says no after telling him everything…’
Yoon-seok stared at the King of Steel, and he explained it step by step.
Who he had to deal with in the future, and why he was gathering colleagues.