Vanguard of the Eternal Night

translator: xiin

editor: kara

Since Odin's debut, everyone had felt like they'd watched a cold but miraculous black horse come into being. Then, they'd watched the black horse grow like it had gained wings, starting from the free-for-all brawl and going all the way to win the district championship… and ascending the throne as the War God in the Earth District!

Many people felt that this would be it. The War God of the Earth District would be the same as Vantico, who had entered the National Championships by coming in second place in the provincial competition. The rankings after that would all be based on luck… as a result, ha-ha. Reality had used an unquestionable method to slap them all in the face repeatedly.

Someone had calculated it before; when Odin had first participated in the brawl, the betting company had offered odds with a ratio of 1:15, which was normal for a newcomer. When he had won first place in that fight, the odds had risen to twice as high as the previous time, but it hadn't seemed optimistic about his future in 1v1. Then, as Odin rose up, even his fans became scared. They were worried that the next game would be his limit, and the odds steadily went up again. By the time he fought against Geng Chen in the top 30 for the first game of the provincial competition, the odds had once again been extremely high.

The result was something they really had never expected!

Not only had Odin won, but he'd also won in an amazing way! His victories in 1v1 were a complete repeat of his performance in the team battles--unstoppable and unmatched. Any enemy who stood in front of him was the same as the rest!

At the time, some people had calculated that if one had used a dollar to bet on Odin winning right from the start, they would have made over a thousand times the amount by now.

This caused countless e-sports fans to howl and lament their ignorance back then. They wanted to go back in time and wake up the earlier versions of themselves who had looked down on a free-for-all battle contestant--especially those who had originally placed bets and then failed to continue when they saw that the risk was so great. They were now so regretful that they were beating their chests, and their intestines were green. Heaven knew how many times they would have flipped the initial investment if they'd betted all the way from the start until the Odin vs Geng Chen match…

Then, another thing had happened that nobody had ever thought would happen!

Geng Chen was far from being Odin's limit. Once again, they'd been too young, too ignorant, and too naive.

And, this was how Odin had reached the top of the Second Star Province.

This position was one that even Vantico had come short of by two points. However, the difference between Vantico and Odin was too big; Vantico was a contestant who kept improving through competitions. He had even failed before in the district competition for the Earth District. When he had played in the provincial competition, his progress was obvious, and by the time he had played in the National Championships, it was clear that he'd honed himself further, had become more tenacious, and with a bit of luck, it had allowed him to successfully reach third place. As for Odin…

Odin was like a bottomless abyss. Whenever someone felt that this was all he had, he would show them new strengths and use actual facts to prove that this wasn't the peak of his actual strength. He was only putting on a perfect, flawless act!

Back then, some people had thought that Odin had displayed his full strength in the first free-for-all battle, but he'd ended up winning the district championship. These people thought that they'd misjudged and that this was only 50% of his strength.

Later on, some people thought that the district championship was a result of his all-out effort, but he then had qualified for the provincial competition. These people all shattered their glasses and admitted that there were problems with their vision. It seemed that they had only seen 20%.

Then, some people felt that his full strength would only get him shortlisted in the provincial competition, but he was now the provincial competition champion…

"……"

This group of people finally discovered that what they'd seen back then had been merely 5%, and they were complete, utter fools.

.

Those who'd thought they had seen through it all back then were all fools, and those who'd been dead-set on Odin due to his face back then all laughed themselves into silly fools.

Their male god had won!

Whether or not everything had gone smoothly, whether it had been thrilling or not, romantic or not, all of these deeds had become part of the golden glory of a champion. This resume was really too exaggerated, and there was no other objective for it except for this slightly perverted word, because Odin had really never lost a single game&#k2013;&#k2013;

There was nothing in the world more exciting than a 100% victory rate!

… No, there was!

It was the first time that the iceberg War God, the one who was like a flower of kaolin, asked to make a speech!

The fans smiled like sunflowers, surrounding the male god on the stage like he was the sun. They only wished their smiles could be like solar power, charging 100,000 volts of electricity right at him.

The fans: "OvO what does the male god want to say?! We'll clean our ears to listen carefully… Oh, no, we'll kneel and listen! Your Majesty, please give us your orders!"

"It definitely isn't a 'no' this time, could it be a 'thank you' instead? Kneeling and begging the male god to say two words instead of one. It's not easy for us to make little video clips, we've waited and starved for so many days for just a little audio clip…"

"Aaaaahhhhhh…"

The ones who could do nothing but scream shrilly were the real face-cons, because they were already at a state where they couldn't hear anything. They had already set themselves to boil up automatically whenever they looked at his face.

The collective high tide of the audience lasted for several minutes during which their iceberg male god finally adjusted his thoughts.

He had been holding the microphone for two minutes and was suspiciously silent. He looked at Victor, who was beneath the stage, then looked up at the fireworks, and finally seemed to have fully armed himself and was now willing to start--

"……"

From when he uttered the first syllable, everyone at the scene seemed to have suddenly become adjustable-volume surround sound, the volume dropping instantly from 1000% to 10%. One second later, all sound disappeared completely.

It was horribly quiet.

And, they discovered that they couldn't understand it.

What kind of language was it? It wasn't like any of the languages used in the alliance, but it carried a classical and graceful rhythm that made people first want to listen to it, then immerse themselves in Odin's deep, low voice.

The audience was completely quiet as they looked at Odin and listened to his short speech. They seemed to have been completely suppressed by him.

Tyron's first words were in Elvish.

His native language was Elvish, so he had to first state his intentions in Elvish. This was because in the world of gods, all proposals, promises, and vows would attract the attention of the gods, and the master assassin was a pivotal identity.

Tyron stared fixedly at Victor.

His tenderness was like that of the elves in the forest who watched over their sleeping lover, but his hegemony was like that of a demon appreciating a captive who couldn't escape.

After finishing his first sentence in Elvish, he translated it into the common language of the alliance. He said, "I have lived my whole life without meeting an adversary I couldn't beat, so I have been rebellious for a lifetime, and there were none in the four oceans who caught my eye."

Because Elvish was elegant but imprecise, he had to spend some time to express the same thoughts in another language, making his statement slow and somber.

It was because of this that his wording was also very classical. Every word seemed to carry a heavy weight to it like thick ink and heavy colors engraved into wood.

Victor blinked his prickling eyes and thought to himself: Ah, my old antique…

However, he couldn't move. Not only did he find it impossible to move his gaze, but he also was already almost out of breath.

He felt like a tree, shaking in front of the wind. Every single one of his branches was facing the wind, and the ultimate sweetness flowed out of the depths, passing through to his four limbs and turning into a tree's green leaves and colorful blossoms. He wished that all the flowers of the entire world were his crown so that he could present it to the wind and blame it: This is all on you! It's all because of you! You, you, you!

Tyron paused for a moment, then continued to speak the second part in Elvish before translating it again. He said, "I used to think that all dead and living beings could be fought. If gods or buddhas blocked the way, I could also test my blade against them."

At this point, his arrogance seemed to gain substance, aggressively pressuring everyone present to bow their heads.

"Until there was a battle where I went all out…" Tyron shifted the topic and spoke calmly yet forcefully, "A formidable enemy stood in front of me, and I was defeated."

--A formidable enemy stood in front of me, and I was defeated.

Tyron spoke such words with a smile.

There was a rustle of noise from the audience. They whispered amongst themselves, and it was as though they'd suddenly been awakened by this nuclear bomb: Odin lost? How did he lose? He'd clearly never lost in the dozens of battles he'd fought since his debut! He hadn't even died once in the arena. How could he have been defeated?!

However, Tyron didn't concern himself with anyone else. He looked at Victor and said another long sentence in Elvish.

He walked down slowly from the stage, then walked to the first row amidst the bright lights on the stage. He seemed to pause for a while, and then, he smiled suddenly.

This was the first time he'd ever shown a real smile in public. In this moment, the ice and frost didn't just disappear, but the plum blossom on the sacred mountain also seemed to gain seven parts brilliance and three parts proudness.

"I'm willing to be bound, led by the neck, and killed without the slightest bit of resistance." There was a sense of pride on his face as he knelt down naturally on one knee and looked at Victor. He continued, "If I'm lucky enough to be spared, I will swear loyalty to him. From then on… regardless of whether it's good or bad, rich or poor, healthy or ill, I will trust, love, treasure, and treat it as precious. It will last forever until death."

He finished speaking and brought out a ring.

Victor looked down at him and abruptly covered his face.

Tyron paused, reached for Victor's arm, and asked, "You… Are you crying?"

There was a first time for everyone, and for the master assassin, he was fumbling and confused for once. He suddenly didn't know if he wanted to see Victor cry until he turned into a little fool.

Victor covered his eyes and absolutely refused to let him see.

The old antique was going crazy, "Do you agree?"

Victor stretched out one hand to hold the ring in the palm of his hand, but he still didn't say a word. Tears began to flow down his wrist.

Tyron glanced at it twice, and then, his entire person seemed to flash and disappear--

He'd gone offline.

Then, he flung away the virtual network equipment, strode into the real audience from behind the scenes, and shook out his coat to cover Victor.

After that, Tyron pulled Victor to him and left. He ignored the scene that had erupted like a volcano, left behind the host, who was chasing behind him with the trophy in hand, and directly ran off.

The two of them walked through the bustling crowd and noisy lights.

Tyron asked, "So, are you saying yes?"

Victor clutched the ring tightly and said, "I… I don't want you to lose to me. I want you to be the most invincible in the whole world. I want you to be rebellious and invincible forever… my Tyron Odin."

The master assassin who'd proposed for the first time was inexplicably moved, but he was still confused, "So, does this mean you agree?"

Victor: "……"

Victor shouted, "Yes! No problem! I promise! Absolutely willing! Let's get married!"

xiin: !!!!!!!