The World Is Mine For The Taking-Chapter 1234 - 191 - Leon Vs. Veronica - Round 1 (1)

Chapter 1234: Chapter 191 - Leon Vs. Veronica - Round 1 (1)

Leon’s POV

The day of the finals had finally arrived.

You could feel it in the air the moment you stepped into the arena. It wasn’t just noise. It was pressure. The kind that pressed against your skin and settled into your lungs. The most anticipated fight of the entire tournament was about to happen, and everyone knew it.

Over the course of the competition, the crowd had decided to give us nicknames. Somehow, that became part of the spectacle. Calling people by their actual names felt too ordinary and too grounded. This was entertainment. This was drama. Titles made it better.

And I had been given one.

The Silent Swordsman.

At first, I thought it sounded a bit exaggerated. But the more I heard it echo through the stands, the more I understood why it stuck. I had won every match without much expression. There was no yelling. And I didn’t do any flashy reactions. There was no visible frustration or excitement in my face as well. Just steady breathing, calm eyes, and clean cuts.

I didn’t smile when I won. I didn’t frown when I was pressured. I simply moved.

Apparently, that unsettled people.

The way I fought made it look like I wasn’t even trying. Like I was hiding something. Like there was always another layer beneath the surface. I never revealed my hand and never showed how much effort I was actually putting in. And because of that, they decided I deserved something dramatic.

Silent Swordsman.

Honestly... it wasn’t bad. A little dramatic? Sure. But I’d be lying if I said it didn’t feel good hearing thousands of people chant it. There are worse things to be called.

Then there was Veronica.

The Swift Assassin.

Now that one fit her perfectly.

If my fights were quiet storms, hers were lightning strikes. She stepped into the arena, moved once, maybe twice, and the match was already over. She didn’t do any wasted motion as well as any unnecessary flair. Just clean, efficient dominance. Half the time it looked like her opponents hadn’t even processed what happened before they were on the ground.

She didn’t sweat. She didn’t rush. She didn’t need to.

Watching her was like watching someone casually flip a switch. Done. Next.

And now, those two titles were about to collide.

The Silent Swordsman versus the Swift Assassin.

Even I had to admit—it sounded cool.

We stood across from each other on the raised platform, the arena roaring around us like a living creature. The stone beneath my boots felt steady and grounding. The air between us felt charged.

The umpire repeated the rules, his voice amplified across the coliseum. It was mostly the same as before. There was no lethal strikes as well as outside interference. They were just standard boundaries.

Except this time, it was a best of five.

That changed everything.

One clean win wouldn’t be enough. One mistake wouldn’t necessarily end it either. This was going to be about endurance. Adaptation. Reading each other.

The umpire finished speaking and gestured for us to prepare.

I adjusted my grip slightly. Veronica rolled her shoulders once, casual as ever.

The umpire raised his hands.

The noise in the arena dimmed—not completely, but enough to make the silence between us louder.

He paused for a moment, stretching the anticipation until it felt almost cruel.

Then he brought his hands down.

***

Shredica’s POV

Before the match officially began, I had already taken my seat among the spectators.

The arena was packed to the point where it felt like the entire capital had decided to show up. Every row was filled. Conversations overlapped. Excited whispers blended with loud debates. The energy was restless, like everyone was collectively holding their breath.

As I scanned the crowd, I noticed something interesting.

The heroes were here.

That alone was unusual. Up until now, they hadn’t attended any of the matches. They had been busy with training and their preparations, and anything but sitting in an arena watching other people fight.

It seemed the Commander had instructed them to observe this one. Perhaps it was meant to be educational. Watching how this world’s strongest fighters moved, adapted, and strategized could give them valuable insight.

Or at least, that was probably the official reasoning.

If I were being honest, though, they looked more curious than studious. Like the rest of us, they wanted to see what would happen.

And I couldn’t blame them.

This would be my first time witnessing a match of this scale up close. I had heard about Veronica’s strength countless times. Vice Commander wasn’t just a title. It was a proof that she was strong. She was fast, deadly, and composed.

But Leon...

Leon was unpredictable.

There was something about him that didn’t quite fit into neat categories. He wasn’t loud or flashy. He didn’t posture or boast. Yet he kept winning. Calmly. Methodically. Almost disturbingly so.

If I had to guess, this wouldn’t be a one-sided fight.

It would be close.

Maybe uncomfortably close.

The people around me were already arguing about it. I could hear bets being placed left and right.

"Ten gold on the Assassin!"

"Fifteen on the Swordsman!"

Some were confident. Others were nervous. A few sounded like they were betting purely based on vibes. It was chaotic, but in a strangely entertaining way.

This wasn’t an everyday event.

This felt like one of those rare moments people would talk about weeks later. The kind that turned into stories.

And when the signal finally came, the arena erupted again.

The finals had begun.

***

Kaori’s POV

I sat down beside Ayaka and the others, trying to steady myself.

Hasegawa-sensei leaned forward slightly, her gaze fixed on the platform with open interest. None of us had been here before. This was completely new territory.

The scale of it alone was overwhelming.

"Oh... it’s that person," Hasegawa-sensei murmured, almost to herself.

I followed her gaze.

She was right.

The two standing across from each other weren’t strangers to us.

We couldn’t call them friends. We weren’t close. But we knew who they were.

One was Miss Veronica—the Vice Commander of the Magic Knights.

The other was Leon... the Princess’s lover.

If both of them had fought their way through countless opponents to reach this stage, then their strength wasn’t up for debate. You didn’t survive a tournament like this on luck alone.

My eyes lingered on Leon longer than they should have.

I didn’t mean to stare.

Really.

But there was something about him that made it hard to look away. Something that tugged at the back of my mind.

The way he stood. The quiet in his expression. The stillness.

It reminded me of Tsubasa. So much.

And that thought hit harder than I expected.

I felt my chest tighten slightly. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Was it okay for me to look at someone else and see Tsubasa?

No.

It wasn’t fair. Not to this person. Not to Tsubasa.

I knew that.

And yet... I couldn’t completely stop the comparison from happening.

I forced myself to look away for a moment, exhaling slowly.

"Who do you think will win?" Ayaka asked beside me.

Her voice was light and curious, but there was a hint of seriousness underneath.

It pulled me out of my spiraling thoughts instantly.

I blinked and refocused on the platform, where the two figures stood facing each other under the roaring sky.

The match was about to start.