SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

The instant the names appeared, a wave of exclamations swept through the arena.

Inside the waiting area, Zich and Helen raised their heads at the same time, looking at each other.

While Zich’s expression was calm and neutral, Helen’s was bitter, and it seemed as though she was cursing under her breath.

"It’s actually the two of them?"

"This match is definitely going to be incredible!"

"Wait, don’t they already know each other?"

"Yeah, they do. I even heard they’re an item or something like that."

Under countless expectant gazes, the two slowly walked onto the battlefield.

Once the energy barrier completely closed, Zich placed his hand on his scythe, and his expression gradually became serious.

He understood Helen very well. And precisely because of that, he knew better than anyone just how difficult she was to deal with.

However, just as Arthur was about to announce the beginning of the match, Helen suddenly raised her right hand.

"I surrender."

Silence. The arena was immediately plunged into a suffocating silence, the kind that struck the entire Central Arena like a bolt of thunder.

"What?!"

"Surrender?"

"The match hasn’t even started!"

"What is Helen doing?!"

Even Zich froze. He looked at Helen standing opposite him, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Are you sure?"

Helen gently nodded.

"I’m sure."

She glanced at the wound on Zich’s chest, which, although already healed, could still be faintly seen beneath his collar.

Then a soft smile appeared on her face as she glanced toward the stands.

Zich followed her gaze and saw Mira sitting there, looking completely confused about why they were suddenly looking at her while she was eating a cucumber.

"You..." Zich tried to speak.

"I learned from her." Helen continued to smile. "Unlike her, I like fighting and the thrill that comes with it, but I believe you have a higher chance of winning this tournament than I do."

"So you’re not confident in yourself?" Zich asked.

"I..." Helen paused, then lowered her head. "I am... maybe not. It’s complicated. I struggled against Sorath. The Nullborn... they would be too much for me."

Zich was slightly surprised to hear this. After all, Helen had always projected the image of a calm, confident, and easygoing person. Who would have thought she had self-doubt as well?

Helen tightened her grip on her staff.

"I entered this tournament to prove myself, and also to see with my own eyes just how far this generation of humanity could go. And now, I have already received the answer I wanted. As for the championship..."

She paused briefly.

"I believe you can win it."

Zich opened his mouth. In the end, however, he did not say anything to persuade her otherwise because, in Helen’s eyes, he had already seen the answer.

This was not an impulsive decision. Nor was it pity. It was a choice she had made long ago.

The discussions among the audience gradually subsided.

Many of the people who had initially felt dissatisfied because they would not get to see the battle slowly fell silent.

Especially those who had watched the two of them advance all the way from the preliminaries to this point.

They vaguely understood what this surrender represented.

Zich slowly removed his hand from Frostgrave.

"I won’t waste this opportunity."

"Then win." Helen smiled and then winked. "If you do, I might give you a kiss."

"Erm." Zich’s face immediately turned red as he coughed more than necessary.

Arthur watched his daughter with a complicated expression on his face. He wasn’t angry that she had chosen to give up. If anything, he felt a trace of pride well up in his chest.

"Helen has voluntarily surrendered. The winner—Zich!"

There were no cheers like everyone had imagined. Only applause that continued for a very long time.

Zich stood in the center of the battlefield, watching Helen’s departing figure as his expression gradually became serious.

After Zich and Helen left the stage, the third match soon lit up.

[Helros]

Versus.

[Ainos]

The moment Helros of the Velhari race stepped onto the battlefield, he released an extremely powerful aura.

Battle markings appeared across his crimson skin, while the longspear in his hand emitted a deep hum as energy poured into it.

However, his opponent was Ainos, the same powerful Nullborn who had been dominating throughout the tournament.

Less than ten seconds after the match began, the longspear Helros had always taken pride in was directly corroded by black energy.

His defensive battle technique also completely collapsed after three consecutive clashes.

By the time Ainos’s short blade stopped in front of his forehead, Helros had not even managed to fully perceive his opponent’s true speed.

"The winner—Ainos!"

It was yet another suffocating display of suppression. Only at that moment did everyone clearly realize once again that Nameless’s defeat did not mean the Nullborn had become weaker.

It merely meant that Zich had accomplished something others could not.

Some time later, the last match began.

[Veyron]

Versus.

[Arnos]

When the names of the two Nullborn appeared on the projection screen at the same time, the entire arena fell into an extremely strange silence.

No one had expected the two remaining Nullborn to encounter one another in the Quarterfinals.

However, neither of them even entered the battlefield.

Arnos simply raised his hand as a sign of surrender without any explanation or hesitation.

It was as though the result had already been decided the moment the draw ended.

A wave of boos immediately erupted from the audience.

However, the Nullborn showed no reaction because, to them, rather than allowing two members of the same race to exhaust one another, it was better to preserve one contestant’s full strength for the Semifinals.

In the end, the Final Four of this year’s Chosen Tournament were officially decided.

Lucien, Zich, Ainos, and Veyron.

When the four names appeared simultaneously on the enormous projection screen, the atmosphere throughout the Central Arena rose to an entirely new peak.

From this moment onward, the true battle for the championship had finally begun.

In the air, Arthur appeared once again, and his booming voice echoed throughout the arena.

"The Semifinal matchups. The drawing begins now."

Buzz——!

The four names rapidly flashed across the projection screen. The hearts of countless spectators pounded.

Several seconds later, the first pair of names slowly came to a stop.