Chapter 260: Reward (1)
For Coco, it felt like a moment frozen in time.
Golden fragments fluttering around.
A white flash grazing the tip of her nose.
And then, a faint slicing sound.
All these happened almost simultaneously, and time, which had stopped for Coco, started to flow again.
The first thing Coco did was to step back.
Tak-.
Coco swiftly increased the distance between her and Yuri.
“…….”
Without saying a word, she lowered her gaze to her cigar.
The cigar, which had about half of it remaining, was neatly cut at the boundary.
And the cut-off portion was…
“Looking for this?”
Yuri had it balanced vertically on the tip of his sword, smoke curling upwards.
The red embers and thin smoke looked like incense that Yuri had lit.
Coco stared at it blankly, her eyes gradually filling with astonishment.
‘…How?!’
She had anticipated that Yuri’s holy sword would come close to her chest.
But that was as far as her predictions went.
Suddenly, the holy sword scattered, and from within, the blade emerged and sliced her cigar.
This was something completely undetectable within her domain.
No, it wasn’t just that it was undetectable.
In that instant, Yuri’s presence completely vanished from her domain.
And what that signified was simple.
‘My domain… was nullified?’
The moment Coco arrived at the answer, she finally looked at Yuri straight on.
She realized that something about him had changed.
Before the fight, Yuri’s aura had been fierce and massive, noticeably more advanced than it was 20 days ago.
But now, it was different.
The storm-like aura that had been raging and wasted had disappeared, completely reined in.
Now, he exuded the calm and solid feeling of a great mountain.
Realizing this, Coco let out an incredulous laugh.
‘This guy, I thought he was just going to take a leap… but he took off completely!’
Twenty days ago, she knew that Yuri was preparing to make a big leap.
However, she hadn’t thought he would completely break through the wall and reach a new level.
That was only natural, after all.
The wall between an official 6th dan and 7th dan was high and solid.
Breaking through that in just 20 days was impossible.
And yet.
‘Someone who could do that… was right here.’
To break through the wall and open his domain in just 20 days.
If she told anyone else, they would dismiss it as a lie.
‘Honestly, even though I saw it myself, it’s hard to believe…….’
What about those who hadn’t seen it?
“Ha!”
Coco let out a short sigh, expelling the astonishment that filled her chest.
Meanwhile, Yuri looked at the tip of his sword and smiled.
‘Got it.’
The sensation he felt just moments ago.
It was unmistakably the sensation of opening a domain.
And the true sense of domain that Yuri felt was on a completely different level than the pseudo-domain created by the threads of magic flow.
If the pseudo-domain felt like touching an object with a stick to analyze its shape and information.
The true domain was akin to directly touching and feeling the object with one’s hands.
In terms of the speed at which the senses could grasp information, the pseudo-domain was no match for the true domain.
However.
‘This… overlaps?’
Curiously, the true domain and the pseudo-domain could be used simultaneously.
Yuri figured that it was likely because the activation mechanisms of the two domains were different and didn’t think too much of it.
In fact, he was more concerned with something else.
‘What was that earlier?’
Just now, he had clearly opened his sensory domain, but suddenly, he felt as though the domain had disappeared.
So at first, Yuri was unsure if he had properly opened his domain.
But now, he could distinctly feel the domain again.
Yuri’s expression grew serious.
‘Is my domain… defective?’
It seemed that rushing to open his domain at the last moment might have caused issues.
Damn it, to think that a domain he had worked so hard to acquire was defective!
With this troubling thought, Yuri finally couldn’t hold back and asked Coco.
“Um, excuse me…”
“……?”
“…Is it possible for someone to open a defective domain?”
“A defective domain?”
“I mean, can the domain you open have flaws?”
“What on earth are you talking about?”
“Well, it’s just that…”
Yuri explained to Coco what he had experienced.
Upon hearing this, Coco’s eyebrow twitched.
“You… what exactly did you learn from Old Man Johan? You don’t even know the basics of domains?”
Coco’s tone, as if it was obvious she knew about Yuri’s relationship with Johan.
Yuri, expecting as much, responded without much care.
“That old man isn’t particularly good at teaching people. He just roughly explains whatever he feels like.”
Coco let out a hollow laugh at Yuri’s words.
“Hah? So you’re telling me that I lost to a guy who doesn’t even know what nullification is?”
“Nullification? What’s that now?”
Yuri tilted his head, flicking the still-burning cigar ash off the tip of his sword.
Seeing his innocent expression, Coco sighed and decided to give him a basic lesson on domains.
A moment later.
After hearing Coco’s explanation, Yuri’s eyes sparkled.
‘So, it’s not defective?’
It wasn’t flawed; it was just one of the ways to use a domain.
Moreover, it was a technique that was essential to master in order to fully utilize domains.
This information made Yuri’s heart beat a little faster.
‘Nullification, huh….’
The nullification caused by the collision of domains.
This was an unavoidable phenomenon for those who wielded domains.
But what was surprising was that this nullification effect didn’t occur with the pseudo-domain.
Yuri could be sure of this because he had fought countless times using the pseudo-domain against Coco until now.
Moreover, he had been able to slice Coco’s cigar earlier because, even though the true domain had vanished, the pseudo-domain remained intact.
Yuri’s eyes shone.
‘So to summarize… if I use nullification, the opponent’s domain becomes useless.’
As a result, his own domain would disappear, but the pseudo-domain would still be usable without any issues?
‘Which means I’m perfectly fine while the others are helpless?’
Now that he had opened the true domain, he understood.
For an official 7th dan, the domain was their eyes, ears, nose, and mind.
But to render others unable to use it while only he could—!
Realizing the powerful weapon he had acquired, Yuri’s lips twisted into a smile.
It was a smile tinged with a pungent stench.
“Heh heh heh.”
After laughing like a madman, Yuri quickly composed himself and held out the nearly extinguished cigar butt to Coco.
“So, did I pass?”
In response, Coco took the cigar stub from her mouth between her thumb and index finger.
The cleanly cut end, unmarred by any soot.
Seeing this, she couldn’t deny it.
“Yes.”
Originally, Coco’s condition was for Yuri to at least brush her clothing.
But Yuri had deliberately chosen to cut the cigar instead.
Coco knew this was to avoid instantly burning the cigar like before.
It was far more challenging than just cutting her clothing.
‘Anyway, even if I didn’t acknowledge it, with the domain he opened, he could touch my clothing whenever he wanted.’
For any other official 7th dan, even if they had opened their domain, they wouldn’t be able to lay a finger on her if she fought with all her might.
But not this guy.
If it was Yuri, with his bizarre ‘pseudo-domain,’ brushing her clothing would be easy.
Coco forcefully ground the remaining cigar stub between her fingers.
Tsst-.
“I, Deputy Commander Coco Romani, certify that the 50th Cadet, Yuri Holland, has cleared the Hell Difficulty of the Hundred Days Tower Quest.”
As she flicked the crumbled remains of the cigar onto the ground, Coco made the final declaration.
“I guarantee it.”
Upon hearing the answer he had longed for, Yuri beamed.
‘Damn, it’s finally over!’
After being trapped in this accursed tower for a hundred days, he could finally get out!
Yuri couldn’t hide his joy.
And more than escaping the tower, what made him even happier was—
“What about the quest rewards? The betting prizes? My present?!”
…The fact that he was going to receive quite a bit from this quest.
Coco answered nonchalantly, seeing Yuri’s bright eyes.
“Don’t worry, with the betting items included, you’ll get thirty quest reward boxes… I won’t cheat you out of them.”
“The present?!”
The gift Coco had promised if he entertained her.
Yuri’s eyes sparkled with anticipation, wondering what it might be, but Coco responded with a mischievous smile.
“Well, I don’t know? I think I’m not done playing yet?”
Her voice was laced with laughter, causing Yuri’s face to crumple instantly.
“…Are you seriously going to change your mind now?”
“When did I say I wouldn’t give it to you?”
“Then?”
“I said I’m not done playing.”
“Hah? Isn’t that basically the same thing?”
Yuri’s expression instantly turned sullen.
If she wasn’t done playing, then it meant she wanted him to entertain her more.
That was practically the same as saying she didn’t want to give it to him.
Seeing Yuri’s displeased reaction, Coco spoke softly.
“Once you leave here… how do you plan on practicing domain nullification?”
“…?!”
A lightbulb went off over Yuri’s head.
Ding-!
‘Oh, right?!’
Yuri had planned to quickly stabilize and internalize his newly opened domain once he left the
tower.
That part was fine, but what came next was the problem.
‘To practice nullification… you need a domain to nullify, right?’
But in the Cradle, there was no one who had opened their domain except for the Black Sword Corps.
Moreover, even within the Black Sword Corps, those who were official 7th dan or above were department heads and extremely busy.
‘If I go to them asking for help practicing nullification… would I get stabbed?’
And even before getting stabbed, where would he even find these department heads who were so hard to meet?
In other words, if he wanted to practice nullification, he would have to play along whenever Coco asked, without making excuses.
No, even if Coco begged him to leave, he would have to cling to her hem and hold on.
Realizing this instantly, Yuri quickly wiped away his disgruntled expression and replaced it with a servile smile.
“Oh my, if our dear Coco says she’s bored… I shall devote my humble self and perform earnestly!”
…Correction, it wasn’t a servile smile, it was a pitiful one.
Seeing Yuri bowing repeatedly, Coco smiled in satisfaction.
“Really? Then let’s see how entertaining your performance will be, shall we?”
The quest was over anyway, so there was no time limit, and Coco no longer needed to smoke her cigar.
She reached behind her waist, her face gleaming with excitement.
She drew out a pair of nunchucks.
Seeing this, Yuri’s face stiffened slightly.
Because in her other hand, Coco already held another pair of nunchucks.
In other words, she had two nunchucks.
‘So the nunchucks… were supposed to be two?’
While Yuri was momentarily surprised, Coco casually swung the two nunchucks.
Chrrak- Whoosh-!
Silver afterimages whirled menacingly, stirring up a fierce gale.
Yuri’s throat bobbed nervously at the sight.
Gulp-.
‘Oh, shit…….’
Seeing that, it was clear.
Coco hadn’t shown even half… no, even a quarter of her true skills until now.
Realizing the truth, Yuri’s face went pale.
‘…I’m screwed?’
If he wasn’t careful, this could turn from a talent show into a funeral.
Yuri, feeling a chill down his spine, raised his hand high and shouted.
“Waiiiit!”
His voice echoed through the ninth floor.
Seeing Coco pause her nunchucks and look at him curiously, Yuri spoke in a meek tone.
“I’m hungry… Let’s eat first.”
Even a ghost that died full would look better.
If he had to go, Yuri would at least eat before he died.
* * *
After a short spring, summer had arrived in June.
A strange rumor began to spread throughout Dragon’s Cradle.
It was that Yuri Holland, while performing a quest, had died.