NOVEL NEXT Chapter 527
[The overtime has begun. The remaining barrier is 51 to 11, with NoName in a commanding lead. Now, only one step away from securing victory!]
[NoName is really giving Saudi Arabia a night they won’t forget at Engbalid Stadium. This truly is Engbalid Shock, a nightmare for Engbalid!]
[It seems like a breath-holding stand-off is happening. Ah, Suphian Hakim finds it hard to make a move! The barriers are barely holding up!]
As Na-me leaned her upper body forward, Hakim flinched and took a step back.
“Hmmmm.”
“What the heck…”
It feels like the game could end with just a light touch.
Suphian Hakim didn’t only represent Saudi Arabia.
With over a billion Muslims around the world watching, losing was not even an option for him.
[Conjuration: Barrier Setting]
[4th Circle Spell: Kazm Baraka]
Once again, the 4th Circle barrier magic circle was activated.
Kugugugugu-!
A translucent dome erupted from the ground, enveloping Na-me and Hakim.
Geometric patterns engraved on the outer walls began to glow with thousands of Arabic letters.
“The one is He, eternal, with no Son or Father, and no one is equal. Experience it firsthand. The infidels shall not escape from this barrier.”
The wind turned icy in an instant, filling the barrier with a heavy, vibrational air.
The golden glow in Na-me’s eyes calmly observed the situation inside the barrier.
The currents of mana tangled with each other.
Trying to write a magic circle in the air turned the particles into sand, slipping through her fingers.
Na-me’s barrier was melting slowly, though just a little.
Could 4th Circle magic interfere on such a large scale?
This was a problem that could easily be deduced even with basic arithmetic, not needing physics or magic studies.
‘That can’t be; I just have to find the device that twists the mana stream.’
Setting the boundary layer with a thin coat of mana, somewhere inside the barrier, there must be a propeller-like device manipulating the mana flow.
“You describe Allah’s essence as uniqueness, eternality, and incomparability, right? Believe what you want. But what now? Your magic seems far from Allah.”
“…?”
Na-me’s voice resonated through the barrier, clearly reaching Hakim’s ears.
“Are you an infidel? Selling Allah’s name with such crude magic?”
“That’s not something I should be the one saying!”
Hakim was momentarily flustered.
The golden aura surrounding Na-me gradually intensified, violently pushing against Kazm Baraka.
The aura stretching through the barrier revealed subtly differing layers.
Hakim continued to pour his magic power to strengthen the magic circle.
As Na-me’s aura clashed with the light flowing from the barrier, Kazm Baraka began to lose its intensity.
In this finely balanced power struggle, Na-me completed the spell of release.
She located the mana interference device and fixed the wildly spinning threads of magic.
Finally, with a mocking tone, Na-me said,
“Ha, are you kidding? This is worse than 1q2w3e4r?”
“No way! How do you know Arabic…!”
“Allahhu Akbar, you infidel!”
Bzzzzzt-!
[Release: Kazm Baraka]
Blue lightning surged from the Cheonghwa Sword, piercing through the ceiling of the barrier.
Crack!
The sky was marred with fractures like shattered glass.
Magic energy exploded in liberation, and the barrier vanished in a blast.
When the two fighters emerged from the barrier, Na-me stood calmly while Hakim struggled to stand, glaring at each other.
The audience held their breath in tense silence.
[Conjuration: Barrier Setting]
A geometric circuit of magic spread from Na-me’s hand.
Wuuuuuuu-
A golden hand started to take shape, enlarging from Hakim’s left.
Just as he tried erecting a sand shield to block it,
Na-me revealed her left hand, manipulating the same magic circle from behind.
Not a leader, but a union.
Double casting.
That meant another identical barrier was there on the opposite side.
“Namu Amida Butsu. Convert, kid.”
[Spell: Deus Apacto – Buddha’s Palm]
A massive hand radiating brilliant light crushed Hakim’s body from both sides.
Bwaaaah-!
The clash of barriers overturned the training arena.
Though it was the same spell, it had opposing polarities, releasing immense energy just before the clash.
Before he could even scream, Suphian Hakim’s eyes rolled back as he collapsed.
A trickle of blood oozed from his ear, staining the grassy field red.
Warm light spread throughout the training arena, seeping into the audience seating.
In the blinding light that overturned the stadium, the gaze of Saetbyeol, who bit her lips, followed Na-me.
‘Did I really win this time? What’s with the delay, sister…!’
Today, Na-me also prepared a ceremony without fail.
She flapped her wings made of aura with all her might.
As she maximized her output, her feet lifted about 10cm off the ground.
Na-me spun once in mid-air before landing on the ground,
Lifting the Cheonghwa Sword high into the sky.
[Time: 34:18]
[NoName (Republic of Korea)] [56% | 47%]
[Suphian Omar Hakim (Saudi Arabia)] [
11% (irreparable) | 
3% (total destruction)]
Beeeeep-!
[The match has concluded!]
[Republic of Korea! Korea advances to the quarter-finals! Delivering a nightmare for Saudi Arabia at Engbalid and achieving the remarkable feat of reaching the quarter-finals after eight years!]
[Ah, I’m really proud of NoName. Many fans were worried when she said she was preparing alone for the National Exchange Tournament. But now we can confidently say it! NoName is indeed a strong contender for the championship!]
““Waaaaaaaah!””
Fireworks exploded across the stadium.
On one side, there was despair, on the other, joy manifested as cheers.
Suphian Hakim lay sprawled on the training arena.
Saudi Arabian medical staff rushed in with a first-aid kit and a stretcher.
When asked about his condition, Hakim could only shield his eyes with his arm.
‘He must be embarrassed.’
Na-me clicked her tongue, watching the half-conscious Hakim.
Thud-
“Ouch!”
“Are you okay? Hakim?”
“Can’t you hold it properly?”
“The handle broke! I think we need to find a new stretcher.”
“…”
It was a continuous streak of bad luck.
Just when they thought the handle of the stretcher came loose, Hakim fell to the ground.
“Uaaaaagh! What the heck is going on today!”
He shouted in frustration and stormed off across the arena.
*
[Summary) High Wizard NoName defeats Saudi Arabia in the National Exchange Tournament and advances to the quarter-finals]
[184% single-game maximum barrier damage inflicted by NoName… creating a nightmare for Engbalid]
[Unfortunate circumstances… Suphian Hakim faced disgrace while being carried away on a stretcher]
[Shaolin Temple whose national exchange tournament participation was thwarted… “Thanks to NoName for showing the Buddha’s Palm as a finish”]
[NoName’s ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ sparks outrage among Muslim netizens… “Just ran out of mana and changed the strategy” explained]
[‘Engbalid’s Nightmare’, ‘Arabian Nightmare’… all Arab nations eliminated from the quarter-finals]
Movies are no match for V-tube summaries, and Netflix pales in comparison to TikTok.
Short-form content has even eclipsed traditional sports, making magic dueling ever more popular than football or baseball.
Unlike other sports, there’s less motivation to catch live broadcasts since the tournaments don’t happen daily.
However, in recent years, with the rise of barrier theories, dueling has been criticized as too monotonous.
Viewers want to witness exciting, nail-biting battles, not integral contests.
Thus, highlights reducing 30-minute matches to 10 minutes, and then again to 3 minutes, have become the trend.
But Na-me’s matches always stood as exceptions.
[FULL MATCH: Korea Republic vs Saudi Arabia | Round of 16][View Count 61,290,000 · 1 day ago]
When the highlights reached 10 million in 24 hours, the full match video had already surpassed 60 million.
Every moment was a highlight.
To those who mocked, “She’ll win in the same pattern again,” Na-me always unveiled new combat strategies.
[NoName’s second half barrier damage 
]
(NoName vs Hakim second half match stat.jpg)
While reducing the barrier by 100%, Hakim only managed to cut it by 4%. What the heck
[Comments]
– It feels like a comic book character who should only exist in imagination broke through the screen.
└ And not just any protagonist. Na-me is a god who came down to Earth out of boredom, you know?
– When she didn’t end it with just 1% remaining, everyone was worried she might get reversed
└ Na-me seems to have plans all along?
└ Honestly, I thought something serious had occurred when the magic was released. Phew…
– Honestly, I’m embarrassed for Hakim at 4%
– This is the power of living Buddhism.
[Fresh NoName voice release ]
(Did you go to overtime?)
(Allahu Akbar, you infidel!)
(Namu Amida Butsu. Convert, kid.)
Wow, the pure evil of a kid is beyond imagination
[Comments]
– Did you go to overtime (kidnapping)?
– The classic believer is calling someone infidel
– How does NoName know Arabic?
└ Doesn’t Na-me speak 10 languages?
└ No, 16 languages.
└ No, 50 languages.
└ No, 248 languages.
– Telling a pure-blood royal Muslim to convert is just top-tier
[Now Muslims caught in a historical dilemma ]
From their perspective, they probably feel severely insulted throughout the match, yet Na-me keeps creating escape routes.
Q. Why can’t you finish the game and drag it out?
A. Didn’t Na-me say her mana ran out?
Q. Don’t bullshit me.
A. So it’s your fault for not being able to capitalize when I went easy on you? Especially when Hakim was the one who started with unsportsmanlike tactics (grabbing at halftime, slow entrance in the second half).
Q. Why did you insult a religion you know nothing about?
A. Isn’t Kazm Baraka something that can only be forcibly destroyed without faith? Na-me released it properly, hmm…?
Q. … Still, eating pork belly before the match seems to imply some impure intention.
A. Na-me treated the Saudi people who came to disrupt her rest with 1,000 servings of halal food.
Na-me, the unstoppable legend
[Comments]
– Really pathetic to hold onto the pork belly before the match.
– Hence, chaos also erupts even among their own people.
└ Well, there are still people who believe she’s a messiah.
└ Fact: Surprisingly, Na-me has a good image among Muslims.
– Honestly, claiming she ran out of mana just isn’t believable
└ True
└ True
└ Then, were the Demon King’s Horn and Black Aurora all delayed castings?
[Announcement for NoName’s next broadcast has arrived!!!!]
(NoName Broadcasting Station main page notification.jpg)
(View of Nice Beach.jpg)
(Parasols.jpg)
(Na-me’s toes on the sandy beach.jpg)
Big event incoming?
[Comments]
– Wow, it’s a pool party featuring NoName!