Chapter 86
Chapter 86
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 86
Chapter Title: Death Struggle
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Close-range Beast Mage—the Druid concept offers a variety of builds, but Agwi's current form was unmistakably a Blade Storm Druid.
Blade Shield and Storm's Blessing were among the defensive spells available to mages with low durability.
Both were skills that dealt magic damage to enemies who closed in, but orthodox mages only toyed with them in low-level zones—they weren't skills worth mastering deeply.
An orthodox mage's focus was on one-shotting foes with long-range firepower before they could get close. If you couldn't kill them outright, you either kept them at bay or used an escape skill. Investing in close-range defensive damage skills became a waste the further you progressed into the late game.
That was why Blade Shield and Storm's Blessing were ignored in orthodox mage builds, but for a close-range Druid with added bare-fist combat, there was no better staple skill.
Even if you learned close-range magic, a Druid was ultimately a hybrid magic warrior blending warrior and mage. No matter how you raised a jack-of-all-trades character like that, their raw specs would always fall short of a pure mage or pure warrior.
But if you sealed off equipment slots to secure ample bonus stats, even a Druid could claim basic human rights. With those specs in place, you rubbed up a Blade Storm while unleashing high-damage physical skills and close-range magic—that was the Blade Storm Druid.
It wasn't without flaws. No matter how much resistance you stacked, the core playstyle revolved around tanking hits and grinding away, so it struggled against orthodox mages or ranged warriors who kited from afar.
In the game, those weaknesses were covered. You could crush with levels, overwhelm with stats, or if all else failed, bait patterns, dodge, and create damage windows.
Yuri knew the Blade Storm Druid's weaknesses all too well. Back when users flooded the leaderboards in droves, challenging for first place only to get obliterated and solidify the top ranks—that was when Lee Soo-hyuk had posted strategies for all sorts of builds, knocking the top spot down repeatedly. His guides naturally included counters for extreme matchups like this.
The horrifying part was that this wasn't a game anymore. No—even if it were a game, it was still that dire.
To put it in game terms, the enemy outleveled Yuri. Stats went without saying. And the matchup was the absolute worst. Yuri was an evasion-based close-range warrior. If he could use High Exhaust Eternity, he'd gain lifesteal, but right now, Yuri couldn't.
His opponent, meanwhile, was a Blade Storm Druid grinding out damage up close. Hit-and-run? Could he really strike and retreat from something that blocked Extreme Pleasure's Self-Rotating Thunder Isle head-on? To create an opening, he'd have to dive straight in and aim for a lucky punch with Holy Flame Force Emission—but while going for that gap, Agwi's Blade Storm and Druid close-range firepower would shred his body to rags.
[Wh-what do we do?]
Lacy stammered the question. Though obsessed with orthodox lightning mage builds, her game knowledge was hardly lacking.
There were no PvP elements in Seronis. But humanoid bosses were everywhere, so hypotheticals weren't hard to imagine. The matchup between close-range unarmed fighter Yuri and Blade Storm Druid Agwi was the worst possible. Even at the same tier, it'd be grim—let alone with a tier gap like this. No variables even existed.
Variables.
*Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art.*
Those flames devoured and burned everything else. If Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art could devour even Agwi's Blade Storm, it could serve as a solid variable.
Other potential variables... Lacy unloading spells as an orthodox mage, and Ha-ryeong adding auxiliary damage with hidden weapons? Even as a close-range assassin, her projectile skills would be top-notch.
[Ha-ryeong.]
Yuri had reached the same conclusion. No talking their way out anymore. Yuri drew the Black Fang from his waist and handed it to Ha-ryeong.
[What do you mean by this?]
Her gaze on the Black Fang turned ice-cold. She didn't want to imagine what it meant for him to return the dagger she'd gifted him in a situation like this.
[Don't tell me you're planning to die?]
[No.]
Yuri still didn't want to die.
[Cover my back while I hold out. If that bastard targets Lacy...]
[I understand, if that's the reason.]
The Black Fang passed into Ha-ryeong's hand.
[6th tier.]
Yuri bit his lip and sent her a mental message.
[How long to ascend?]
—Boom! The vibration from outside shook the world. In response, Agwi took a step forward. *Crunch-crunch-crunch...!* The pitch-black Blade Storm swirling around the massive beast's body reduced the surrounding walls to ash.
[...Five minutes.]
Lacy stammered her reply. She'd thought she could reach 6th tier anytime, but she'd never actually tried it before. Attempting it right now was uncharted territory for her.
'Five minutes...'
That was how long Kwon Rang had lasted in his duel with Full Moon Play. Even then, Full Moon Play had gone easy on him. If she'd been serious about killing from the start, Kwon Rang wouldn't have lasted five minutes—maybe not even one. He might've died in a single blow.
'Say I'm Padrip Immunity?'
It might resolve the immediate crisis, but what came after was the problem.
'What if I really joined the Chaos Cult?'
Could he keep things going with Ha-ryeong as they were now?
He'd become outright enemies with Estor. As heir to the Orsia Family, Estor despised cultists.
Lorellia went without saying. The priestess of the Order Church—nicknamed Order Injector—would hunt Yuri down and kill him by any means if he became a heretic.
Elena?
“...”
Becoming a cultist meant Yuri severing everything he'd built in this world. Even without joining, just revealing Padrip Immunity would tie him to Agwi and the Chaos Cult. Dodging the crisis now still meant facing the Chaos Cult eventually.
'Five minutes.'
A time he'd never thought of as long before, but the next five minutes would be excruciatingly endless. Yuri was confident he could kill dozens of 3rd-tier martial artists—two tiers below him—within five minutes.
Yuri had too much he didn't want to lose.
[I'll hold out.]
With those words, Yuri stepped forward. He had to make Agwi drop his guard. Better to drag out the pain and let the beast toy with him than get one-shot.
To do that, he had to hurl this body into the flames of death. Thrash and burn bright without dying in those flames.
Yuri's protective aura ignited like flames. Initiative would naturally be Agwi's, but Yuri didn't hesitate—he charged.
—Boom!
He thought he'd charged, but suddenly he was airborne. Like getting hit by a truck. A brief blank in the flow of the crash.
He'd charged, seen the fist, tried to dodge but mistimed it, so he'd braced. That's what he'd attempted, but he hadn't blocked smoothly.
His original plan was to take Agwi's fist and deflect it aside. Instead, Yuri's body flew skyward.
'My arms...!'
He flipped midair to regain posture. His arms were numb beyond tingling, but thankfully not crushed.
'If I hadn't drunk the elixir, my arms would've been torn off.'
Not just his internal energy—his body had benefited from the elixir too. As Yuri slowly plummeted, he condensed aura outside his body. *Crackle-crackle!* A large orb crackling with electricity formed before him.
Haiderga's second magic formula, Explosive Thunder Illusion, unleashed as Self-Rotating Thunder Isle aura. With external mana frozen in this space, Yuri's only ranged option was aura spheres.
'An Aura Orb?'
Agwi's eyes gleamed. No, it wasn't a true Aura Orb yet. Just aura balled into a sphere. But it was a technique on the path to Aura Orb—beyond what a 5th-tier could manage.
"Hmph."
Agwi swatted it away like a fly. In that instant, as his arm swung open a gap, hidden weapons poured in—magic projectiles bought in bulk from yesterday's alchemy workshop.
—Kaboom! An explosion blinded Agwi's vision. The raw power couldn't threaten him at all, but the noise and smoke briefly obscured his sight.
It was pointless. The beast's eyes behind the mask pierced the smoke unhindered. The incoming Explosive Thunder Illusion was shredded by the Blade Storm cloaking Agwi's body. *Crackle!* The lightning burst on shredding assaulted Agwi, but it posed no threat.
"Pathetic tricks."
Agwi sneered mockingly. To him, all this was mere light entertainment. The fool who'd boasted of being a Thunder Dragon was just a worm he could crush anytime.
They wanted to stall until outside reinforcements arrived, but that was futile too. Agwi needed time as well. Harvesting happy souls with the Spirit Wood took time, and completing the rift took time.
Judging by their attacks' power, the makeshift sanctuary wouldn't crumble before the souls were harvested and the rift finished.
So their desperate struggles were just amusing games to Agwi. He even hoped they'd flail more pathetically—it would make the wait less boring.
'Don't break too easily.'
The Explosive Thunder Illusion fizzled out lamely, but Yuri didn't stop. Fleeing created no variables, and running would let Agwi target Lacy.
Yuri closed in on Agwi again. He hadn't even gotten that close when his instincts screamed a chilling warning. *Slash-slash-slash!* Blades slashed wildly before him.
He couldn't even approach. Facing a Blade Storm Druid—who mindlessly ground with his body—not in a game but reality felt like this. Yuri couldn't close the gap properly. Agwi didn't even need other attacks; just standing in a crowd would enable mass slaughter.
Still, he had to close in. As a martial artist, he had to force his way, strike, and shatter. With a stinging headache, Yuri glared wide-eyed.
Blade Shield was 4th-tier common magic; Storm's Blessing, 5th-tier. 'Common magics' were distributed up to 6th tier, though even those numbered few.
By 6th tier, you'd established your own unique spells anyway—no need for more commons. That made Storm's Blessing top-tier among commons.
Agwi was an adult. He'd realized the game's Blade Storm Druid build perfectly. But as an adult, he'd surely refined it further, so those two spells weren't mere commons.
Even so, they fit within the 'magic' framework. Mana was suppressed here, but Agwi ignored it. Yuri's 'eyes' saw the mana around Agwi constantly shifting into spells.
The formulas were too advanced to comprehend. Yuri didn't aim to understand. He wanted to read the trajectories of that intricate magic offense-defense unity. If he anticipated the moment mana became phenomena via formulas, he might counter with Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art flames—burn and devour before spells manifested.
'But the Blade Storm is already active and sustained.'
Reading each wild slash's trajectory one by one was impossible now. Like with Kwon Wang, 'seeing' and reacting wasn't feasible.
He wanted to slam Explosive Thunder Illusions from range to destroy even a chunk of the blades, but Yuri's aura spheres lacked punch beyond a fist's power.
He couldn't infuse separated external aura with intent yet. Yuri gritted his teeth, concentrating Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art aura into both fists.
If ranged couldn't pierce, he'd suffer with his body. He'd steeled himself for this from the start. Yuri boldly met the Blade Storm with Wild Heaven Cloud Fist.
—Crunch-crunch-crash!
The instant he thrust his fists forward, aura was sliced and torn. Before Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art flames could burn, his side crumbled first. But it didn't shatter instantly. Despite the tier gap, the flames held a bit. Not enough to disrupt the Blade Storm, but that 'bit' granted Yuri fleeting respite.
Fleeting moments chained together. Don't stop thinking or moving. Unify them perfectly. A tiny mistake led straight to critical injury or death.
Blades shredded his sleeves to bits and closed on his body. At the razor-edge moment of slashing, he shifted his fist's motion. Trying to bait the blades' pursuit—but there were too many.
Against Old Tree Hag's countless 'hands,' Yuri had held total dominance. Dodging and deflecting every assault.
Against Agwi, it failed. The instant he barely dodged, he was caught. *Slash!* Blood sprayed from his first-slashed forearm, but Yuri's expression didn't change.
He'd fought countless times to earn the Thunder Cloud moniker. Near-deaths aplenty, injuries beyond count. This pain was familiar.
He was slashed repeatedly. Scattered blood droplets were minced midair and vanished. Agwi casually dragged his foot back. A taunt meaning Yuri's approach was pointless, no matter how he braced for wounds.
It was true. Yuri's arms were blood-soaked, but he hadn't disrupted a single blade. Watching from a short distance, Ha-ryeong unwittingly bit her lip.
Five minutes? Had barely one passed? At this rate, Yuri's arms might shatter beyond recovery.
The grotesque wolf monster was toying with him, retreating just enough to maim. If it changed its mind, Yuri died in a second.
'Better if I close in too...'
She had ranged projectile skills, but the monster's blade defenses were too solid. Even dumping all her hidden weapons wouldn't breach them.
With elixir-boosted body and internal energy, wouldn't it be better to close in equally and share Yuri's wounds?
The moment she thought that, Agwi's eyes snapped toward her.
Ha-ryeong hadn't moved yet, hadn't shown killing intent. Agwi glanced because of Lacy's silence.
Lacy had her eyes squeezed shut, focusing her mind. To cross the 6th-tier wall she'd lingered at for years. Ambient mana was still, but her thoughts expanded, soulforce swelling.
'What scheme is this?'
Trying some grand magic beyond her tier? She had to attempt something to turn the tide, but to Agwi, it was pointless. Tier-transcending magic posed no threat to him.
Letting it play out for greater despair might amuse, but he wanted to see twisted faces now. *Slash!* Agwi's swung claws became a massive cleave toward Lacy.
Ha-ryeong focused protective aura and blocked with crossed black-white twin daggers. Clear killing intent backed by the power to realize it. Unable to fully withstand, her body flew back.
The trajectory passed through Lacy. *Boom!* She barely twisted to avoid collision, but crashed into the tangled maze walls.
Her back and guts buzzed in pain, but Ha-ryeong rose instantly. She'd nearly died just now, yet Lacy stood unmoving.
Intending to assist Yuri in close quarters, Ha-ryeong had to rethink.
Deep in meditative trance, Lacy couldn't respond to external threats now. So Ha-ryeong had to guard her thoroughly until she broke through.
*Sting.*
At the wordless killing intent, Agwi bared fangs in a grin. Thunder Dragon. The sight of bloodied arms swinging to block his path was laughably pathetic. Agwi cackled, concentrating Blade Storm on Yuri while striding forward.
Countless blades surged at Yuri. Defenses shifted to offense. All attacks converged on one spot.
'Me.'
The wild area-slicing Blade Storm now focused solely on Yuri. That suited him fine.
'Can't just watch the Blade Storm.'
The opponent was a Druid. Close-range beast mage. Blade Storm dominated the damage cycle, true—but a Druid with bare-fist penalty skills had high damage from beast-form strikes and magic too. Whether this one had bare-fist penalties unknown, but this world's priests gained power via taboos and oaths to their gods.
'Even pure physical specs surpass mine.'
Focusing only on Blade Storm left him open to claws or other spells—death. Don't stop thinking. Not just now—think ahead.
A situation where dying wouldn't be odd. This path led to death. Yuri didn't want to die. That's why he was doing this.
To avoid death, ignite the flames. Devour the blades, reduce to ash. Burn like that.
Something creaked in response.
Overworked, blood-drenched arms screaming? No—his arms felt light. No pain. Impossible, but Yuri was so immersed he felt none.
Heavenly Principle Annihilating Evil Art incantation flowed in his mind.
*I am the flame that executes heavenly punishment.*
Become the asura that annihilates evil. Infuse heavenly punishment into your fists. The blaze in his chest burned hot. Dream-felt emotions became flames outright.
Yuri thrust his body toward the oncoming blades.