I’m Here to End This Fight

Chapter 164: Ranking (3)

Yuri’s words telling them not to mind him and go about their business.

No one misunderstood the attitude that seemed to say, “Don’t drag me into your affairs.”

‘Are you saying you and we are on different levels?’

‘You mean you’re not interested in the competition below since the top spot is already yours.’

‘Are you saying that position is reserved for you?’

And, as if to prove it, Yuri’s name was boldly displayed next to the first-place spot.

Originally, the basic principle was to consider ranking changes and list names on nameplates accordingly.

However, Yuri completely ignored such principles and simply wrote his name in the first place position, as if it had nothing to do with him.

Even though he knew that this ranking board would be continuously used until the completion of the cradle.

“……”

“……”

“……”

As the audience fell silent, Yuri suddenly noticed the stares directed at the board and feigned a clueless smile.

“Oh, this?”

His long finger pointed at ‘Yuri Holland, 1st Place.’

“Hey, what’s the point of a nameplate when my name will be hanging there until the end anyway?”

The predictions of the 50th batch were spot on.

That guy really put his name on the board with the intention of keeping it in first place.

His attitude of dismissing everyone else only intensified the coldness of the crowd.

But they knew it too.

‘As annoying as he is, the skills that guy showed a month ago… were real.’

‘Honestly, if we were to pick the top rank among us, it would be him.’

During the second integrated quest, the quest to steal the armband, Yuri only displayed his strength in the initial stages.

Of course, it was his cunning that allowed him to seize the quest’s victory.

Separate from that, however, the strength he showed at the start—destroying several squads on his own—was enough for the 50th batch to secretly consider Yuri the strongest.

But that was, literally, only ‘secretly.’

‘No matter how great his skills are… he can’t just dismiss us like this.’

‘Fine, let’s see how strong you really are this time!’

‘I can’t just hand over the first rank without a fight, can I?’

Among the 50th batch, those who had confidence in their skills showed strong determination and enthusiasm.

And with good reason.

Their perception of Yuri’s skills remained stuck a month in the past.

They had no idea how much Yuri had grown in the past month.

They didn’t know how far his growth had deviated from normal bounds.

They held onto the hope that ‘You never know until you try!’

“How arrogant, Yuri Holland!”

Someone shouted, stepping forward.

A slightly angular face and short brown hair.

A strong impression with bold features.

He was Huey Mermon.

His end-of-month evaluation scores were in the early to mid-10s.

Huey glared at Yuri.

“I know your score in the end-of-month evaluation is 1st, but that doesn’t represent your actual skill.”

In response, Yuri scratched his ear lazily.

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

His casual response, as if he wasn’t interested, hardened Huey Mermon’s expression.

“…You should learn some humility. In battle, there are matchups, and you never know when the matchup that can take you down will appear.”

“Yeah, that could happen. But…”

Yuri replied, blowing off the earwax on his pinky finger.

“I don’t think that matchup is you.”

Huey, provoked to the end, gave up trying to stay composed.

“Fine, then let’s go at it, you bastard! I’ll prove whether you really belong in that top rank!”

At Huey’s shout, Yuri covered his mouth with both hands as if in shock.

His pupils shook violently.

“P-proof?”

Yuri pointed a trembling finger at Huey.

“You…?”

The trembling finger then returned to point at his own face.

“…Want to prove me?”

As if he’d heard something he shouldn’t have, Yuri teared up and screamed.

“N-no way! I didn’t go through all that training to end up being judged by some weakling! I didn’t suffer all that just to see this!”

“……”

“I’d rather bite my tongue and die than suffer this humiliation!”

Yuri’s genuine-looking tears ran down his face, prompting applause from Arin and Poppy.

Meanwhile, Pana clicked her tongue.

“…Huey lost before they even fought, didn’t he?”

“…Yeah. The mental blow must be significant.”

Ivan nodded in agreement.

Huey, who had been hit by the tear attack, wore a blank expression.

Then, clenching his teeth, his fists began to tremble.

“That, that, that bastard…”

It wouldn’t have been strange if he’d drawn his sword right there.

In fact, he was reaching for the hilt of his sword.

And then it happened.

Thud.

A hand landed on Huey’s shoulder.

Huey turned his head, furious.

“What is it?”

Standing behind him was none other than Gunther.

With a calm and composed face, Gunther gently pressed down on Huey’s shoulder.

“Calm down.”

A flat voice.

For some reason, hearing it caused Huey’s anger to dissipate.

‘Why?’

Huey initially couldn’t understand why his anger had vanished.

But then he realized why.

‘Oh…’

Gunther’s hand was on his shoulder.

However, his steadfast gaze never wavered from Yuri.

And deep within Gunther’s green eyes lay an unwavering determination.

Huey’s anger had been overwhelmed by that strong emotion.

Crunch.

Gunther’s hand pressed harder on Huey’s shoulder.

“…I would like you to let me have the first go.”

“S-sure.”

Huey nodded, even though he didn’t know what ‘first go’ meant.

Retracting his hand, Gunther walked past Huey and stepped forward.

And he stood before Yuri, who was still pretending to cry.

“Yuri Holland, I challenge you to a ranking match.”

At that flat declaration, Yuri finally stopped acting and raised his head.

Gunther stood with a straight posture and an expressionless face.

Seeing the strong determination radiating from him, Yuri smiled broadly.

“A ranking match, huh… So, you’re challenging me? Acknowledging me as first place?”

“Yes.”

“Oh! That’s 100 times better than some idiot spouting nonsense about proof without knowing his place.”

“That’s fortunate.”

“Alright, alright, as the top rank, I can’t refuse the challenges of those ranked below me. Let’s have a match!”

Huey’s face twisted as if he had just swallowed something bitter, but no one paid him any mind.

Everyone was just intrigued by the sudden matchup.

“Yuri Holland versus Gunther Irons…”

“This is going to be something to watch.”

If Yuri had recently emerged as the strongest among them, then the one who held that role before was Gunther.

In other words, they were the (former) strongest and the (current) strongest.

Additionally, the stark contrast between the two made the duel even more fascinating.

Gunther, born into a prestigious family, had received good education and possessed a proper character.

Yuri, on the other hand, though his origins were unclear, was clearly someone who hadn’t been raised with such manners.

Gunther had been renowned as a genius since childhood, not only in the Croton Administrative District but also in neighboring districts.

Yuri, however, appeared out of nowhere, like a comet with no known background.

How could people not be interested?

‘During the last quest to steal the armband, Yuri Holland won outright.’

At that time, Gunther had ripped his armband himself, conceding defeat.

But that outcome had been determined by strategy.

Thus, many among the 50th batch had wondered:

If it came down to pure combat ability, who would win between the two?

…That was the question.

Schleiman Hans, who enjoyed gathering information, had concluded:

‘Yuri Holland has a 60% chance of winning.’

Gunther Irons, the holder of the White Dragon Plaque, and Yuri Holland, the holder of the Black Dragon Plaque.

Based on the overall performance each had shown so far, Schleiman assessed the odds at ‘6:4’ in favor of Yuri.

Watching Gunther face Yuri, Schleiman’s eyes sparkled.

‘Gunther Irons, can you overturn the 6:4 odds and defeat Yuri Holland?’

But, in truth, that wasn’t of primary importance to Schleiman.

Above all, what mattered most to him was that these two would go all out in this match and reveal as much information as possible.

Especially since Yuri had only revealed vague details about his individual skills and magic body techniques, Schleiman’s anticipation was naturally high.

And Schleiman wasn’t the only one thinking this.

‘This is perfect. I’ll finally figure out what kind of magic body techniques Yuri Holland has mastered… I’ll observe every moment and figure out exactly what you’re capable of, Yuri Holland!’

To claim the top rank, they needed to overcome the obstacle that was Yuri Holland.

Everyone with aspirations to challenge Yuri wanted to identify his weaknesses through this match.

Whether Yuri was aware of this or not, he smiled at the first challenge he faced.

“Well, shall we begin?”

Gunther shook his head.

“Sorry, but I need some time.”

“Why?”

“I want to give my all in this match, without any regrets.”

“Hmm…”

“Thirty minutes should be enough. I’ll be ready by then.”

Gunther’s voice, laced with a hint of earnestness, made Yuri shrug.

“Well, it’s not like it’ll make a difference anyway, but it’s better than later claiming you weren’t in top condition or that you didn’t give it your all.”

“Thank you for understanding.”

Gunther gave a short bow to Yuri, who was waving him off, and then walked away.

Although the match was delayed, none of the 50th batch left their seats.

They were worried that the match might start while they were gone, causing them to miss the spectacle.

After about 20 minutes had passed.

“Yaaawn…”

As Yuri let out a big yawn, Gunther appeared.

Clad in a splendid, full silver plate armor.

Clank, clank.

With a helmet tucked under his arm, he marched steadily towards Yuri.

The 50th batch seated in the round arena widened their eyes in astonishment.

“…Where did he get that?”

“Full plate armor isn’t sold in the special sales, is it?”

Gunther’s full plate armor was a high-quality item that could be worn by a single person.

While everyone was curious about where he had acquired such equipment, someone revealed the answer.

“Oh, that’s why!”

Pana nodded as if she had just figured it out, drawing Nellie’s attention.

“What do you know?”

“I sold it to him.”

“What?”

“The equipment creation rights I got from the last integrated quest. Gunther offered a good price, so I sold it to him right away. I guess he used it to make the full plate armor.”

Ivan scowled.

“That was stupid. You boosted a competitor’s power just because you were blinded by points.”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Ivan. Even if it wasn’t me, someone else would’ve sold the equipment creation rights to Gunther. So it was better for me to sell something I didn’t need and get a profit, don’t you think?”

Having learned how Gunther acquired his full plate armor, the group turned their gaze back to Gunther.

Clank.

“Thank you for waiting.”

Gunther confidently faced Yuri.

Slowly, he placed the helmet on his head.

“Hoo…”

Gunther briefly closed his eyes and exhaled deeply.

Flash.

He opened his eyes wide and lowered the visor.

Click.

Through the narrow slit, Gunther stared at Yuri as he drew his sword and held it upright in front of him.

“Gunther Irons, eldest son of the Irons family, seeks to cross swords with Yuri Holland, without regrets.”

Gunther’s display of knightly etiquette was both disciplined and solemn.

The audience naturally became immersed.

Meanwhile, facing Gunther, Yuri was…

‘Wow, wow, wow… Wooooow!’

Cheering strangely inside, he looked at Gunther with overly bright eyes, almost too eager.

Unaware of Yuri’s inner excitement, Gunther completed his salute and moved his sword behind him.

Clank.

He slightly bent his upper body.

The tip of the sword in his hands pointed down at an angle, nearly touching the ground.

“…Here I come.”

Gunther muttered, as if giving a warning, then stomped his right foot hard.

And then.

Boom!

Dust scattered as Gunther’s body charged forward with terrifying momentum.

It resembled the kind of battering ram used to break through castle gates—a powerful charge.

The only problem was that the target of this charge wasn’t a massive gate but a mere human made of flesh and bone.

To the audience, it seemed as if the human named Yuri would be shattered by the silver battering ram.

Gunther’s charge was just that overwhelming.

And finally.

Whoosh!

The moment the silver armor reached right in front of Yuri’s nose.

Zeeeeng—!

A thunderous sound erupted as Gunther’s waist folded back, flinging him away.

At a speed several times faster than that of his initial charge.