Returnee's S-Rank Management Guide

Chapter 164 : Rumor (4)

Rumor (4)

KWAANG!!!

With a massive shock, Sol Mayer—or rather, Chester Mayer in his face—felt the scenery around him racing past.

Spectators and reporters stared at him in shock.

Employees from the Korean and British Hunter Associations.

As their faces flashed by in an instant, Chester realized that his body had just been hit by something and was now flying through the air.

"Keu-heok!!"

Chester spat out a scream-like breath, forcibly righted his posture, and barely managed to land.

With the pain radiating from his abdomen, he felt as if his knees might buckle at any moment.

'What the hell happened?'

When he stabilized himself and looked forward, he saw Yeon-ji with her fist raised high—he hadn't noticed when she had gotten there.

Yes, it all came back to him.

The moment the signal for the match sounded, Yeon-ji had dashed forward even faster than he could activate his magic.

'No, it wasn't even just a dash.'

It was as though she had flown toward him.

With incredible physical ability and an instantaneous burst of magic power, she had closed the ten-meter gap in a split second.

In fights between Awakener, ten meters was by no means a long distance.

Especially for Hunters specializing in close combat—for them, ten meters was well within attack range, and at that distance, mage-type Hunters typically struggled to defeat warrior-type Hunters.

That was why, during the Challengers event in the US, Yeon-ji had worked so hard not to let Liam, Eugene's lieutenant, get close.

However, in the duel between Yeon-ji and Sol Mayer, they had kept a ten-meter distance simply because both of them were mages.

A typical duel between mages is decided by each keeping their distance, bombarding each other with spells, breaking through magic barriers, and subduing the opponent.

Interfering with each others' chants, disrupting spellcasting, and using more and faster spells than your opponent—that was the way of mage versus mage combat.

Therefore, a weaker mage could never 'ever' defeat a higher-rank mage.

Whether by interfering with chants or manipulating magic to manifest spells, the higher-rank mage always held the upper hand.

There were far fewer variables compared to fights between warrior-type Hunters.

That was how things were supposed to be.

But who could have expected the opponent to initiate close combat?

"Damn it...!!"

Chester placed his hand on the ground and blasted the earth beneath him.

It was to prevent Yeon-ji from drawing any closer.

'I thought it would end easily!'

Frustration bubbled up to his chin.

It was an S-rank versus an A-rank match.

Naturally, he had assumed it would be over quickly.

Even if his own power had come through the Conceptualization Technique, he was still using Sol Mayer's strength. All he needed to do was figure out the magic Yeon-ji used and relay it to Sol Mayer later—an easy task.

But Yeon-ji hadn't used a single spell yet.

"...!!"

Whoosh!!

Shards of earth and the shockwave of magic flew as the ground exploded.

But Yeon-ji crashed right through it all, closing in on Chester with her bare body.

'Her physical durability—is beyond human.'

The blast of magic he had just unleashed wasn't something an A-rank Hunter could simply ignore and charge through.

But Yeon-ji had cloaked herself in protection spells and powered through it with just her body.

It was like fighting a bulldozer or a tank.

As if any extra distance would doom her chance of victory, she had committed to ending the match within this short range, no matter what.

'A spell—!'

He tried desperately to use magic to shake Yeon-ji off.

Each time, though, a foreign force—a little different from magic power—interfered, disrupting his chant and preventing it from completing.

For an average mage, that interference would have completely destroyed their chant and stopped them from casting any magic.

But Chester, being a higher-tier expert than Yeon-ji, even if there was some delay, could still complete his spell.

That delay lasted about 0.5 seconds.

It wasn't a long time, but in a fight between Hunters, it was more than enough to decide the outcome.

'She's interfering with my magic chant?'

This was standard fare in mage battles.

If Yeon-ji had used magic, Chester, the more skilled mage, could naturally interfere with it.

But all Yeon-ji did was disrupt, using that 0.5 second delay to get just a step closer to Chester.

Bang! Bang-bang-bang!!

Chester could only hurriedly retreat, deploying defensive spells just in time.

He had no opportunity for attack spells.

It was as if he was fighting a veteran Hunter highly experienced in battling mages.

Any attempt to cast a spell, Yeon-ji's fist would strike his body. She was simply faster than spell activation.

Having already taken one punch from her, Chester knew that a second would be too much to bear.

He hadn't realized surrendering the initiative would hurt so much.

'Is—this—the skill of a teenager?'

It was absurd.

Chester ground his teeth as he glared at Yeon-ji.

Brilliant talent could explain some things.

But this required experience.

Only someone who had fought many Awakeners and learned their ways could move like this.

'Can a genius even imitate experience?'

A teenager challenging S-rank head-on—this genius named Yeon-ji, who perhaps could surpass even Sol Mayer, left Chester gritting his teeth in frustration.

Genius, talent.

Chester was deeply envious of such prodigies.

He wished for that kind of talent.

He wanted to see the world as they did.

Maybe that's why.

Chester had managed to awaken the Conceptualization Technique earlier than his skills would normally allow.

Even though he barely scraped into A-rank, it might have been due to the peculiar nature of his Conceptualization Technique.

To analyze the structure of the target's power and steal a portion of it.

His first target had been his younger brother, Sol Mayer—the genius.

But he hadn't known that the power stolen that way couldn't so easily be gotten rid of.

Nor that there was a limit to how much could be stolen.

Even though Chester had clearly stolen Sol Mayer's magic, he was always a step behind.

Sol Mayer always grew beyond what Chester had taken.

Each time, Chester was forced to strengthen his Conceptualization Technique, stealing more power and pushing forward.

No matter how much less he was compared to Sol Mayer, at least he could become an S-rank Awakener.

Or so he thought.

'An A-rank, just an A-rank...'

The same rank as his former self, before he became S-rank.

So why was he being overwhelmed?

He should have magic power and control on par with Sol Mayer.

KWAANG!!

The moment Chester's latest barrier shattered, he released half his remaining magic power into his surroundings. There was no longer even time to complete a proper chant, and he needed to shake off Yeon-ji, no matter what.

This time, even Yeon-ji hesitated, as if realizing she couldn't just withstand it.

In that short moment, Chester broke through Yeon-ji's chant-disruption and instantly completed a spell.

A spell of a level no A-rank could possibly block.

"Huh!!"

Someone nearby swallowed dryly.

Normally, in battles between mage-type Hunters, the higher-ranked Hunter would show some consideration.

Using a spell too powerful for a lower-ranked Hunter to endure could be life-threatening.

But Chester had forgotten all those basics, provoked by Yeon-ji's relentless pressure.

Watching Yeon-ji felt like his own past was being invalidated.

If he lost to an A-rank, the S-rank he'd attained by stealing from others would lose all meaning.

KWAANG!!

From Chester's fingertips, a glaring red flame erupted, melting the ground and enveloping the space in a fierce firestorm too intense to approach.

No matter how strong Yeon-ji was, she shouldn't be able to push through that blaze.

He was sure she couldn't block it.

As Chester pointed his hand at Yeon-ji and prepared to fire—

Thunk.

"...!!"

A black chain shot out from a shadow under the raging fire, yanking Chester's hand upward just as he aimed at Yeon-ji.

The direction of the magic shifted, and the flames veered skyward.

A flustered Chester tried to correct the trajectory, but a cascade of chains erupted from the shadow, binding his body in place.

He tried to break free, but the huge magic expenditure just now meant he didn't have enough power left to snap the chains.

'No way.'

Only then did Chester realize.

Everything had been a trap leading up to this moment.

He had been goaded into using excessive magic, leaving him unable to break free from the restraints.

'She purposely never used magic until now.'

An A-rank had less total magic power and less refined chants compared to S-rank.

So Yeon-ji had saved every bit of her magic, pouring it all into those chains.

No matter how much magic an A-rank possessed, it was still far less than an S-rank.

She had to make sure even an S-rank's power wouldn't break through.

She needed a split second to create a perfect opening.

Breaking through the shimmering steam of heat rising off the melted ground, Yeon-ji stepped forward.

They were now so close, their faces reflected in each other's eyes.

"You."

Yeon-ji smiled at Chester.

"You're a fake, aren't you?"

Chester's pupils shuddered at her whispered words.

And the moment Chester tried to deny her accusation—

KWAANG!!!

Yeon-ji's fist slammed into Chester's face, faster than his words.

***

Sol Mayer's defeat.

No one could have foreseen it.

The moment Yeon-ji's fist landed, Sol Mayer—breaking the black chains and flying several meters before collapsing—fell unconscious.

True to an S-rank Hunter, he had avoided serious injuries, but his nose might have been broken.

"You won, huh?"

"Hmph, he was a fake. There's no way an ordinary S-rank would lose so easily."

Yeon-ji spoke casually, wiping the blood from her face.

Even though he was a fake, he had still possessed higher specs than Yeon-ji.

His magic skills were better, he had more magic power.

The fact that even with Yeon-ji's chant interference, he could only be delayed by 0.5 seconds was proof enough.

If they had fought only with magic, Yeon-ji would have failed to cast any spells at all. If he hadn't resorted to a powerful spell at the end, he might even have prevented her from using the chains altogether.

But the massive firestorm, the steam and heat distortion in the air, and the psychological pressure from being pushed by an A-rank had left the fake Sol Mayer blind to Yeon-ji's spell activation.

"Good thing I learned a bit from you."

"Right?"

Recently, Yeon-ji had been learning close combat techniques from me in her spare time.

It seemed she wanted to make proper use of her greatly enhanced physique.

'It must be because of her fight with Shim Chun-hoo.'

Back then, even with a clear physical advantage over Shim Chun-hoo, Yeon-ji had lost at close quarters.

She hated losing, and for her, that loss must have stung her pride.

"Anyway, that guy definitely wasn't S-rank caliber."

"I'm sure you know already, but that wasn't the real Sol Mayer. If he were real, he would have had several other ways to respond to me."

It wouldn't have been just defensive spells—he would have used a much wider range of techniques.

What made Sol Mayer so dangerous was his ability to create and possess a wide variety of spells that didn't even exist in the modern era.

None of those unique magics were displayed in this fight.

On top of that, he never used the Conceptualization Technique, either.

"Judging by his stored magic power and proficiency, he really was at S-rank level, but..."

"There was definitely some trickery involved. Even his uncanny resemblance to Sol Mayer is strange from the start, don't you think?"

"True."

I narrowed my eyes as I watched Sol Mayer being carried away after collapsing.

It seemed like I'd have to ask Enok or Chairman Song Hyun-seung to investigate for information.

I had a bad feeling about this.

It clearly wasn't over yet.

"Manager Park!!"

At that moment—

Hunter Association President Gong Do-yung came running toward us with a bright smile, waving his hand.

-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=

A fake is a fake after all.

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