He had been curious whether the team to make it to the finals would be Greina’s from the United States or Rian’s from Russia, but in the end, it was Russia’s Lione Guild that took the stage. Even with Greina using his foresight to support his allies and give commands, the difference in power between the Russian and American teams was too great. The Lione Guild had risen to the top by systematically eliminating Russia’s major guilds from the bottom up, making their experience in interpersonal combat a decisive factor in their victory.

Rian raised her sword high, then pointed its sharp tip at Sa-yoon. The blatant challenge sent a roar through the crowd. As the spectators showed their excitement by shaking their fists and waving flags, the referee hyped up the atmosphere, announcing the final match. Sa-yoon savored the crazed battlelust that started in the center of the stadium and, like boiling water, slowly spread to consume the entire Colosseum, before he took a step forward.

“Let’s go.”

He led the Noah members onto the stage. The leaders of the two groups faced each other.

“I didn’t expect you to beat Greina.”

“His foresight is a skill worthy of recognition, but his guild is not.”

“Well, that’s true.”

Even the best weapon can only perform at its peak if the user has a certain level of skill. Possessing Greina had certainly raised the United States’ evaluation, but that was all. The American custom of always forming a raid party of at least twenty people for a gate clear had made them strong as a group, but it had slowed the individual growth of each hunter. So, in a battle like the Unity Games, which favored small, elite teams, they were at a disadvantage. They had thought Greina could make up for that gap, but in hindsight, it was a premature judgment.

In a case like this, it was one of three things.

Either the American side was too weak, or Rian’s side was too strong. Or both.

In any case, the fact remained that Rian’s guild was one that broke the mold of existing guilds, where the leader was the strongest and the rest were just so-so. Under normal circumstances, even the Noah members would have had a tough fight.

That is, under normal circumstances.

Sa-yoon, with a smiling-eyed grin, gave his old student a once-over and then looked at the referee. The referee, who had been waiting for the right moment, raised his hand. Noah and Lione returned to their positions, the distance between them widening.

When everyone was armed and facing each other from a hundred meters away, the referee gripped his whistle.

Pweeeeeeet!

The whistle blared like a horn. Sa-yoon and Rian moved simultaneously.

Rian, with her sword drawn, kicked off the ground and charged at Sa-yoon. Sa-yoon, in turn, concentrated frost energy in his palm. He didn’t dodge the sword tip that flew toward his face, but waited for the right moment and blew a breath onto his palm.

Whoooooosh!

A chill swirled, and Pale Day activated.

Swish!

In that instant, the sword was right in front of his nose.

The sharp blade was on the verge of piercing his eye.

For a split second, everyone held their breath, but Sa-yoon, in contrast, let out a shallow one.

Craaack!

Rian’s sword tip collided with a suddenly formed ice shard. She twisted her wrist, rotating her sword, intending to shatter the shard with a powerful impact. Sa-yoon leaped backward and snapped his fingers. P-p-pow! The newly formed ice shard exploded, showering Rian.

Since the shard was small, the explosion was also weak, so he hadn’t expected it to have any restraining effect. Rian, who had taken the attack head-on, brushed off her clothes, looking disappointed at the failed surprise attack, and readjusted her grip on her sword.

“Everyone, stay put.” The Noah members had started to move to provide support at the clash of the two leaders, but Sa-yoon stopped them. Rian, on the other hand, gave her guild members a look, signaling them to take care of the other Noah members.

As the enemy moved, the Noah members naturally responded, and the battle began. Sa-yoon clicked his tongue at the similar pattern to the Crimson Flame Guild fight and looked at Rian.

“Not coming?”

“I was just about to.”

With a firm reply, Rian’s hair fluttered. As she held her sword horizontally next to her head and assumed a charging stance, Sa-yoon used Void Steps.

There was no need to insist on a tiring ground battle against Rian, who never let go once she bit down. Seeing Sa-yoon soar high, Rian kicked off the ground and leaped up. As if she had springs in her legs, she shot up to an unbelievable height with just her physical strength. Sa-yoon snapped his fingers. Countless shards, just like in the first match, formed and took aim at Rian.

Swissssh!

Rian deflected the incoming shards with her sword, and sometimes even used their sides as a foothold to leap even higher, dodging them all. It was the growth and response expected of the most promising talent among the rookies he had seen at the Festival of Harmony.

“But it’s still not enough.”

Sa-yoon’s eyes turned an even deeper shade of blue.

With the use of Pale Day, the rank of his Frost skill had risen by one stage. In a world where a single, seemingly minor evaluation could decide a match, the difference between an SSS-rank skill and an SSS+-rank skill was, though it might seem slight on the surface, an undeniable gap.

When the smile was wiped from Sa-yoon’s face, the atmosphere grew so cold it could have been mistaken for a battlefield, not a spar.

The sun hid behind the clouds. The frost energy began to run wild.

“…Hup!”

Rian, who had been shattering the shards as she ascended, swung her sword in a panic. The shards she had just broken were recombining and continuing their attack. Not just one, but all dozens of them. In the meantime, Sa-yoon was creating additional shards in the air.

Pale Day maximized the water vapor in the air. This meant it drew out the maximum efficiency of his Frost skill.

Thanks to that, Sa-yoon, who could now increase the number of his simple, long-range ice shard weapons into the hundreds with only a slight consumption of mana, soared even higher, to the very edge of the Pale Day range, and looked down. He could see not only Rian but also the battling Noah guild members.

Haaa.

As he breathed out, round frost pellets formed around him.

All at once.

With the mutter, he clenched his fist.

“Gah!”

“Aaargh!”

“…Ugh!”

Screams erupted from below. The ice, shooting out from the frost pellets in a straight line like a laser beam, pierced the shoulders of the Lione guild members. The ice, which had pierced through skin and muscle, embedded itself in the ground. The guild members, now literally skewered, looked up at Sa-yoon in shock.

To match the number of opponents, the Lione Guild had six members, excluding Rian. To simultaneously attack all six of them, and for the attack locations to be identical, as if done by a precision machine, was a level of control that defied common sense.

The focus in the eyes of those who clutched their bleeding shoulders wavered. Rian, sensing the damage to her guild members, let out a roar.

A lion-like roar echoed through the space, boosting the morale of the dazed Lione guild members. What a beastly guild, Sa-yoon thought, gritting his teeth. He watched Rian, who was persistently trying to reach him, deflecting the shards, and swallowed a bitter smile.

He had actually been hoping that Greina would have made it.

This wasn’t a hand he had wanted to play against Rian.

But the opponent was already decided, and the plan couldn’t be changed. He opened his palm. Blue frost pellets gathered from his hand and shot upwards. Higher, higher. They flew as if they were winged creatures, reaching just below the ice barrier of Pale Day.

Zeeeeeeeeng!

The frost pellets and the ice barrier resonated and merged. Slowly, a massive ice cloud formed above Sa-yoon’s head.

Sa-yoon looked down, as if surveying his domain. The bottom of the ice barrier covered the stadium, freezing the ground. Thick ice, in the shape of waves, covered the floor.

It was a grade just below L-grade. An application that could show the essence of his enhanced Frost skill. Sa-yoon, feeling his mana being drained like an ebbing tide, looked down at Rian, whose expression had hardened, and moved his finger.

K-K-KRAK!

The sound of ice breaking was a prelude that engulfed the stadium. A few seconds later.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

From the sky, ice awls rained down, and from the ground, the power of frost, in the shape of a dragon, shot up like a waterspout and attacked Rian. The ground itself buckled, and all the Lione guild members staggered, screaming as they fell. Those who had been unable to move, their shoulders pierced, were swept up in the force, their cheeks torn, their feet buried in ice shards, crying out in pain.

In an instant, the stadium became a scene of chaos. Only the Noah members remained untouched in the pandemonium, as if under the protection of the frost. Rian, who had coated her weapon in a grey sword ki and had been enduring the swirling force from above and below for a few seconds, was finally unable to withstand the power and was pushed back.

The barrier made of sword ki shattered, and the frost seeped in. Just before the thorn raining down from the sky pierced Rian’s heart, Sa-yoon withdrew his skill. As if it had all been a hallucination, the temperature returned to normal, and the spears and dragons vanished, stabilizing the stadium.

Sa-yoon descended and caught the falling Rian.

That’s for show. I can’t do that twice.

His mana was at rock bottom. Thinking he had made quite a scene, he swallowed a sigh. Rian, who was covered in so many wounds there wasn’t a single uninjured spot, looked up at him. Her lips moved with difficulty. At the faintly audible sound, Sa-yoon lowered his head.

As he brought his ear closer, her voice became clearer.

“…Five… five minutes, you said…?”

“Ah.”

The battle had taken seven minutes.

According to his interview, his skill should have ended long ago. He was dumbfounded that she had been timing it during the battle, waiting for an opportunity. He then smiled kindly.

“You believed that?”

“…”

Rian’s face hardened. She glared at him with narrowed eyes, as if to say she wouldn’t forget this. The referee, who had been watching the Lione Guild Leader, who was now gasping for breath as if her strength had left her, blew his whistle.

“Confirming that most of the Russian team’s players are unable to battle, the winner of the final match is Team Noah!”

This time, there were no cheers, no curses. Everyone just sat there, stunned, as if they had just witnessed the impossible. In the silent stadium, Sa-yoon gathered the Noah members and, seeing the interviewer approaching with a pale face, smirked.

Today, the two syllables of his name would be engraved in everyone’s mind. The hunters would never forget his name. And they would remember this match for a long, long time.

As they realized just how powerful the flame that would lead them was.

For he would become the sacred fire that would burn even the gods.