Talon's words echoed inside Chin-Hwa's head as he blinked. Different level? His mind couldn't register what it ant at first.
But, his body definitely understood those words. The crushing strength, the instantaneous defeat, and the fear of death that ca with that sudden punch. They were all engraved into his senses and would probably never vanish.
The terror that Talon instilled in his heart in a split second without seemingly trying too hard. He couldn't understand how such a monstrous power could be in a human being. It was simply ridiculous.
'Monster…' Feeling a chill run down his spine, Chin-Hwa looked down as he tightened his fist.
"So you were that far ahead…" He murmured.
"Yeah, there was no chance for you to beat here," Talon replied in a straightforward manner. Others might think that he was being an for saying such things to a clearly broken person. But, Talon would rather tell him the truth than let him live in his delusion anymore.
Chin-Hwa's fist shook visibly as he tried to hold in his frustration. "Would I ever be able to shorten this gap?"
Talon stared at him silently for a few seconds before he opened his mouth. "No. I'm not going to sit idly and wait for you to catch up. I have many things I need to do in the future and I require more strength to achieve them. I won't stop improving any ti soon."
"..." Chin-Hwa nodded his head faintly. It was all now clear. He was defeated, ntally and physically. It was an utter loss on every single level and it wasn't even a challenge to his opponent.
The pain he felt at that mont was far worse than anything he ever felt before, even worse than when Hyun-Jae severed their friendship once and for all. The reason for that was his realization that not only did he lose everything, but he also had no chance of actually taking back everything he wanted.
His desire to challenge Talon and beat him was simply a pipe dream, one that took weeks for him to wake up from and when he did, he did it in the worst way possible.
'What am I supposed to do now? I have nothing left to try for.' Dark thoughts filled his head and made him feel like he was falling deeper and deeper into a dark abyss, one that he would never wake up from. 'Maybe it would be better if I just vanished from everyone's lives… That would be better for them.'
Suddenly, he heard Talon's voice and it shook him up from his own dark world.
"But, who said you need to stop for you to catch up?" He asked.
"... Huh?"
"I'm saying, you're trying to cut the gap between us short and prove that you aren't just a huge moron with an ego as big as the earth, right? Then prove it with your actions. No one is going to forgive you for being an idiot if you don't change your antics. Hearing say that you will never catch up made you feel depressed? How pathetic.
I thought you had far more ambition than this." Talon said as he crouched down and stared at Chin-Hwa coldly. His tone was as condescending as it could be.
The latter blinked in shock, he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"So what if your opponent said that, huh? Who is he to determine what you can and can't achieve? If you want to reach my level, do it, don't let or anyone else stop you. anwhile, I'm going to stay at the peak and climb even higher so that you will always find as a challenge that you will need to overco."
"..."
"Tsk, as for Hyun-Jae, you think she will forgive you just because you defeated ? How egotistical can you be? She isn't a damsel in distress waiting for you to save her. Even if you defeated ten thousand clones of , she would never forgive you for what you did unless you truly showed her that you changed."
Each of Talon's words hit a string in Chin-Hwa's heart that he never even thought existed. It made him angry, sad, hopeful, and even determined. Talon had told him everything he didn't want to hear and made him realize how ignorant he was the entire ti.
'He's… right…' Chin-Hwa thought to himself. 'I am a big fool…'
Everything he thought about himself was wrong. Even if he was brilliant in many things, Chin-Hwa lacked what was important and that is understanding himself.
Sitting there silently, a raging war of emotions broke inside his head. All his depressed thoughts vanished and were replaced with a hopeful desire to turn things over. He realized that perhaps, it wasn't all over. Giving up before trying was indeed the worst move he could've taken and Talon made him realize that.
anwhile, Talon watched how Chin-Hwa's expression kept changing. He could see his dark aura disappear slowly which made him exhale a small breath.
'I guess this should be enough to change his mind a little. If he doesn't do the rest of the work, then I can't help anymore.' Talon thought to himself as he stood up and turned around.
"Show is over, folks. Get back to work. We have a very important day tomorrow." He clapped his hands as he made all the students disperse.
Even as they walked away, he could hear them talk about him. They were still heavily affected by what he did.
"Did I show too much strength?" Talon asked himself as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Anything you could've done would've shocked them. This was probably the best you could've done." Acrypha approached him as she said.
"Really? Damn, I guess there is no helping it then." He shrugged.
"Talon."
As he was like that, he heard a soft voice calling for him from behind. When everyone left, she approached him quietly with a complicated look on her face.
"Hey, what's up?"
"What did you tell him?" She asked as her eyes fell on Chin-Hwa. He was still sitting on the ground as he looked down, seemingly deep in thought.
"Hmm, let's say I helped him understand what to do a little."
"Huh?"
"Don't worry about it. I think you will be delighted with what he will do next." Talon said with a smile as he tapped her on the shoulder. "For now, just leave him alone. We will see what he does."
Talon said as he started walking away. Hyun-Jae looked one last ti at Chin-Hwa before she started walking with him.
The only one left in the empty field after that was Chin-Hwa. A loneso figure that was slowly realizing his mistakes and developing a new path for himself… A path that will change the fate of countless people forever in the future.
But, that's a story for another ti.
***
*A few hours later*
The winds whistled violently and the sky had turned a grim grey. The distant sound of lightning striking could be heard from inside the gymnasium. The light of the sun had completely vanished and was replaced by the darkness of the clouds and the night itself.
It was a very gloomy night by all ans. However, the students had no ti to even look at the sky as they worked relentlessly, getting ready for tomorrow, arguably the most important day in their entire lives.
Tomorrow, they will infiltrate the Research Center, a mission that was seemingly impossible considering the sheer number of monsters that guarded that place. They knew that it wasn't going to be easy at all, even with Talon on their side.
They had to be ntally prepared to see death in front of them and even look it in the eyes.
The tension was heavy inside the building. But, no one dared to relax or let their thoughts wander to what could happen tomorrow. One of the most important rules to survive was to keep an optimistic ntality no matter what. Losing hope, even for one second, ant death, no other choice.
While everyone was working hard, Talon stood outside as he looked at the sky.
"It's going to rain tonight…" He murmured as he squinted his eyes.
He went outside to check the terrain and the condition of the place where the battle would ensue. The weather was certainly a part of that inspection.
After that, he climbed one of the buildings and sat down and next to him, he put down a bag of chips that he brought with him to snack on.
'I'm going to spend the night awake watching the forest. That girl must be planning sothing.' His sharp eyes turned colder. 'I won't let her have any chance.'
Far into the distance, Talon could see the cluster of monsters squirming and moving as usual. Nothing was out of the ordinary, at least from what he was seeing. Except for so rare instances of fighting ensuing between the different monsters.
'I guess even she can't make them follow orders 24/7.' He thought to himself.
"Hmm…" Talon humd quietly as he opened the bag of chips and started eating it. "Want so, Acrypha?" He asked as he looked to the side.
However, much to his surprise, his companion seed completely occupied with sothing.
Her eyes were looking at the sky, precisely at the Core Dinsion's Gate. Her sharp eyes peered through the clouds and stared directly into that massive hole.
"Don't tell …" She murmured as her expression grew darker and darker.
(A//N: Thanks to everyone who supports the book with power stones and golden tickets, you guys are the best:) )
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