I Escaped the Exile Story Only To Find It Was a Regret Trope

37 – 7# The Redhead Doesn’t Die!(3)

Meina was one of Hyunwoo’s most cherished forces.

At the moment, Meina was one of the strongest, not only among the second-year students but also among the third-year students. Yet, such a Meina was defeated without doing anything.

Where did that monster come from? I heard it was a servant, a servant? Isn’t that the setting the author tried to use for summoning creatures but failed miserably?

Indeed, as Hyunwoo said, servants and summoners were not well-regarded in the main scenario. At best, they were just tools for measuring combat power.

So when Hyunwoo heard that Yushin’s servant would be the first opponent, he honestly thought it was an easy win. The power of a servant is inevitably inferior to that of its master.

And in Hyunwoo’s opinion, Yushin was just a commoner who had luckily made it to the S class. Simply in terms of skill, he was even worse than Meina, a piece of trash.

But Meina losing to such a trash summoner?

Impossible. First, secure one win, and then Hofran fights in the second round and wins. That way, it might not even come to his turn.

‘Should I give them a chance for a comeback at the last minute?’

However, Hyunwoo’s arrogance was shattered into pieces as Athena easily took down Meina. The power of the demigod Athena completely overwhelmed Meina.

As a result, Hyunwoo wasted one of his three chances absurdly. This time, he couldn’t even blame Meina. The opponent was just too strong.

“I’m sorry, Hyunwoo.”

“No, it’s okay. The opponent was bad this time.”

‘Damn it, everything is just so annoying.’

Outwardly, he showed encouragement to Meina, but inside, Hyunwoo couldn’t contain his anger. He frowned. What to do now?

Should he change the order even now?

But there was no guarantee that Hofran would beat Yushin. Of course, Hofran wasn’t weak either, but more than anything, he wanted to crush Yushin with his own hands.

“Hofran, can you win this time?”

“The opponent is a first-year, leave it to me.”

“Okay, I trust you.”

Yuri wasn’t an easy opponent, but no matter what, she couldn’t beat Hofran. Hofran, like Meina, was one of the top second-year students.

And as expected, in the second round, Hofran easily overwhelmed Yuri. Yuri fought her best, but the difference in experience and skill was too great.

As a result, Yuri felt the wall today. The pride she had as the top first-year student was shattered against the wall.

“Are you here?”

“Sorry, brother. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t win.”

“It’s okay, I just have to win.”

Even Yushin couldn’t say anything because the defeat was so overwhelming. It just showed the basic difference in skill. It couldn’t be helped.

At least it was Yuri, so the fight was established. If Hayoung had gone out, it would have been a joke. Yushin nodded and said,

“Watch from the back.”

Yushin wasn’t the type to get angry over something inevitable. Especially if it was his own people. Besides, there was no problem anyway.

As long as I win, it’s fine, right?

The opponent thought the same. High-fiving Hofran, who returned with a victory, Hyunwoo thought. This time, they won.

There was no way he would lose to someone like Yushin.

Last time, he lost because he was too careless in the S-class promotion test. This time, he had no intention of being careless. Especially since his sister was watching this time.

‘If I win, my sister’s heart will come back to me.’

Hyunwoo was no longer thinking straight. The proof was that he had no idea why Seolyeon was worried about him.

Seolyeon actually hoped that Hyunwoo would lose this duel. Only then would his arrogance diminish, even if just a little. Realizing that there is always a sky above the sky.

He would realize his mistakes and reflect on them, even if belatedly. But Hyunwoo had no idea about Seolyeon’s feelings. No, to be precise.

You could say he didn’t want to know.

His self-righteous arrogance had already reached a point where even his family couldn’t break it. He didn’t even know the reality right in front of him, so what difference would family make?

Finally, the time had come.

The arrogant man who thought of himself as the protagonist stood on the stage. He likewise glared at his opponent coming up from the opposite side.

“The moment has finally arrived.”

The time to set everything right.

* * *

The blazing flames of Hyunwoo signaled the start of the duel.

Dodging the torrent of flames pouring down like a flood, Yushin looked for an opening, but he couldn’t find any due to the wall of flames Hyunwoo had set up in advance.

Yushin clicked his tongue. At first glance, he seemed like a madman, but facing him directly, there were no openings. This guy is quite strong in his own way.

It seems the fact that he is a candidate for Class S was not an exaggeration. Hyunwoo had earned Yushin’s recognition in his own way. But Hyunwoo didn’t stop.

What Hyunwoo was aiming for now was not recognition, but victory. Last time he lost because he was careless, but this time he was determined to go all out and crush his opponent.

‘There’s no time to be picky. I’ll use all the remaining items.’

Items are precious assets that can only be obtained by clearing specific quests. Naturally, they have the performance to immediately change disadvantageous situations.

Until now, Hyunwoo had saved his items as much as possible, but in his current state, he didn’t care about that. Even if he had to use up all his items.

He was determined to win against that damned guy. That was Hyunwoo’s mindset. But Yushin, unaware of this, was calmly looking for an opportunity and a gap.

‘It looks like he’s attacking and defending at the same time, but in reality, he’s more focused on defense.’

From experience, in such cases, one is usually aiming for something while defending. And as Yushin predicted, Hyunwoo was currently concentrating his power for his bloom.

Hyunwoo’s bloom was still incomplete. It took time to properly implement it. Therefore, he had to make up his mind from the beginning to use the bloom.

If he tried to use the bloom after changing his mind midway, it would only increase the gaps. That’s why Hyunwoo lost to Hojun in the Class S promotion test last time.

If he hadn’t been flustered by the unexpected blow and had responded properly. At least he wouldn’t have lost to Hojun that day. But it was all in the past.

Now, he focused only on the present.

Hyunwoo, who had decided to go all out, was a rather tricky opponent for Yushin. The wall of flames was layered two or three times, making it hard to break through.

That didn’t mean he wasn’t attacking. He kept pressing with flames filling the surroundings. Thanks to that, just standing there was quite a blow.

‘If this state continues, there’s no answer.’

He couldn’t use the Gonic Slash. Using the Gonic Slash in this state would be like throwing himself into a burning house.

‘There’s no other choice.’

Yushin stepped back and focused solely on igniting the flames. Knowing that there was no answer in the current state, he decided to bide his time and look for an opportunity.

Surprisingly, the opportunity came quickly.

After some time had passed, Hyunwoo, who had fully recharged his power, finally completed his transformation. He removed the barrier of flames and revealed himself at last.

Blazing flames were attached to his back like angel wings, and a burning ring floated above his head. Hyunwoo looked like an angel of flames.

Transformation

Phoenix

Though incomplete, the transformation took time, which meant there was still room for growth. Hyunwoo laughed loudly and shouted.

“Finally! I can use my full power…!!”

But at that moment, intoxicated by the immense power filling his entire body, he was shouting. That moment became a perfect opening for Yushin.

Yushin immediately charged towards Hyunwoo, who had revealed himself without any defense. A deadly slash, close to a mutual destruction, without any concern for defense.

Slash!!

Yushin’s blade cut off one of Hyunwoo’s wings. Yushin tilted his head. What? He was sure he aimed for the neck. Why was it the wing that got cut instead?

“Ugh! This b*stard?!”

“Ah, I get it now.”

Hyunwoo staggered and glared at Yushin, seemingly not expecting an immediate attack. However, even with intense anger, he couldn’t hide his weakness.

“Did you say Phoenix? It seems it allows you to avoid fatal injuries.”

“……!!”

“Probably, the number of times is equal to the wings on your back. Am I right?”

In fact, Yushin aimed to knock Hyunwoo out by targeting his neck. However, Hyunwoo was still standing, only his wing was cut off.

Moreover, the firepower Hyunwoo was emitting had significantly weakened.

Having quickly identified the weakness, Yushin smiled and pointed his sword.

Let’s end this now.