SS Awakening: My Monster Merging System!

"Ladies and gentlemen! The first Semifinal of this Chosen Tournament—is about to begin!"

As Mithrash’s voice, nearly strained to its limit, boomed throughout the entire Central Arena through the amplification crystal, the spectator stands, which had only just quieted down, were like a tranquil sea struck by a meteor.

The cheers of hundreds of thousands of people erupted completely in the span of a single instant, while countless flags, banners, and projected emblems rose into the air at the same time. The insignia of humanity almost covered every corner within sight.

Because no matter who won or lost this battle, humanity would have a representative in the finals.

Even so, almost no one was willing to treat this match as nothing more than an ordinary civil war between humans, because the two people standing at opposite ends of the battlefield represented completely different legends. One bore the Vilhart name, enough to make countless factions bow their heads, while the other had, within only a handful of matches, gone from a complete nobody to the greatest dark horse that had set the entire First Layer ablaze.

"Lucien!"

"Zich!"

"Lucien!"

"Zich!"

Two completely different chants continuously surged from every corner of the audience. At first, they were somewhat chaotic, but they soon became like two crashing tides, colliding head-on again and again, shaking even the energy barrier that covered the entire battlefield. Even the figures seated in the highest VIP section, people long accustomed to witnessing grand spectacles, unconsciously focused all of their attention on the arena below.

High above, on the commentary platform.

Mithrash tightly gripped the amplification crystal before suddenly pointing toward the eastern contestant passage, which had already lit up completely.

"Making his entrance first is the Sun Warlock from the Vilhart Family, who concealed his true strength throughout the tournament until the Quarterfinals, where he defeated Jayden head-on with only three Solar Arts!"

"Lucien Vilhart!"

BOOM—!

Golden radiance suddenly burst forth from the depths of the passage.

Moments later, a tall figure dressed in a spotless white mage’s robe slowly emerged.

Lucien still carried neither staff nor weapon. Golden patterns slowly flowed along the cuffs and collar of his robe, and with every step he took onto the battlefield, the lingering chill of the morning air visibly began to fade. Even the sturdy black ground beneath his feet gradually became covered with a faint layer of golden light.

Although he made no effort to release his aura nor did he flaunt his power, the moment he truly stood at the center of the battlefield, that presence, as though somehow resonating with the sun hanging high in the sky, made everyone in the arena clearly realize that the smiling young man before them was undoubtedly far more terrifying than what he had displayed during the Quarterfinals.

Just as whispers quietly spread through the audience, Mithrash had already turned around and pointed toward the opposite contestant passage.

"And his opponent!"

"No prestigious family! No supreme faction paving the road ahead for him!"

"In fact, before this Chosen Tournament officially began, very few people had even heard his name! Yet with nothing more than a slime, a group of skeletons, and a combat style that no one has been able to completely understand even now, he has defeated opponents once believed to be invincible, again and again!"

"In the Round of Sixteen! He personally ended the Nullborn’s undefeated record!"

"And now, he stands only one step away from the Grand Final of this Chosen Tournament!"

Mithrash suddenly raised his arm high.

"Let’s welcome—Zich Grave!"

RUMBLE—!!!

At this moment, the cheers belonging to Zich completely overwhelmed the entire arena.

From the western passage, Zich slowly walked out.

He was still wearing the same plain black combat suit without any extravagant decorations. A storage pouch and several unused alchemical tools hung from his waist, while the Frost Scythe rested in his right hand. Slimy sat atop his left shoulder, and seemingly infected by the deafening cheers surrounding them, its entire body bounced up and down while waving its tiny tentacles enthusiastically toward the audience.

"Slimy!"

"Over here!"

"Zich! Keep creating miracles!"

"Pull the Sun Warlock down too!"

Upon seeing the spectators waving Slimy dolls, Zich’s footsteps never paused, but the corner of his eye still twitched uncontrollably.

Only one day. Those merchants had not only produced dolls.

They had even released Standard Editions, Battle Editions, and a "Venom Spray Commemorative Edition."

The speed at which those people made money was very scary!

’Mine. I need to trademark Slimy. All this money is supposed to go to me.’

"Bo! Bo!"

Slimy was obviously completely unaware that it had likely earned countless gold coins for certain people without knowing it. It continued excitedly wobbling its body in every direction.

Zich reached out and pressed it down.

"Don’t get too excited. The first one getting beaten up later is you."

Slimy’s movements instantly froze.

"Bo?"

It seemed to suspect it had misheard.

Zich offered no further explanation. He merely lifted his head and fixed his gaze upon Lucien, who was already standing opposite him.

The two stood several hundred meters apart.

One was surrounded by gentle yet incomparably scorching golden radiance, like the morning sun itself.

The other had no overwhelming energy fluctuations surrounding him. Apart from a seemingly harmless slime, not a single summon could be seen.

Yet when their gazes truly collided across the battlefield, the audience, which had been shouting without restraint moments earlier, seemed to be influenced by some invisible force. The voices gradually quieted before the entire arena once again fell into a silence that made everyone’s heartbeat quicken.

High above, Dragon Count narrowed his eyes slightly.

"He didn’t summon in advance."

Mithrash was momentarily stunned.

"You mean Zich?"

"That’s right."

Dragon Count calmly replied, "Against a Sun Warlock, placing a large number of summons onto the battlefield beforehand would only turn them into living targets for the first wave of Solar Arts. He’s clearly not planning to fight the way he has in the past."

"But if a Summoner doesn’t establish a numerical advantage beforehand, once a Warlock suppresses him at close range, won’t he lose the opportunity to summon afterward?"

"That’s precisely what makes it interesting."

Dragon Count looked toward the white-haired youth below.

"Now let’s see what exactly he has prepared."

...

Lucien stood where he was, his expression still gentle.

"It seems you have no intention of summoning them."

Naturally, Zich understood that by "them," Lucien was referring to his skeletons and other summons.

"So I can release them now and let you burn them?"

"Indeed."

Lucien nodded gently, seemingly unconcerned that his abilities had been so directly exposed by his opponent.

"It would make my job far faster and easier."

Slimy understood nothing about undead creatures or the sun.

It only knew that the person opposite seemed to be threatening its companions, so its body suddenly swelled as it let out a hostile cry toward Lucien.

"Bo!"

Lucien glanced at it.

"Though that one certainly seems full of spirit."

With an expressionless face, Zich reached up and removed Slimy from his shoulder.

"Hopefully you’ll still be like this later," Lucien added with a smile that seemed to be excited.

Slimy: "..."

Right then, Arthur’s raised hand suddenly fell.

"The match—begin!"

BOOM!

Almost the very instant the final word echoed through the arena, the air behind Lucien violently distorted. A golden solar wheel over ten meters in diameter instantly unfolded behind him. Terrifying heat spread outward alongside countless golden motes of light, while the black ground beneath his feet turned glowing red in only a brief instant.

The moment this scene appeared, countless mages throughout the audience changed expressions simultaneously.

"Instant cast?!"

"A Solar Art covering such a huge area... and he cast it instantly?"

"He really wasn’t using his full strength against Jayden!"

However, Lucien made no move to attack immediately.

He simply raised his right hand. The golden solar wheel behind him slowly rotated, and countless tiny sparks, as though drawn by some invisible force, rapidly condensed into twelve golden fireballs, each the size of a human fist.

"Let’s begin with something simple."

The moment those words fell, all twelve fireballs disappeared simultaneously.

They did not fly. Instead, they transformed directly into twelve nearly impossible-to-follow golden rays that pierced across several hundred meters from different directions, instantly sealing every route Zich could use to evade.

Too fast!

Before countless spectators even realized what had happened, the golden light had already reached Zich.