Lyka's Full-Power Assault
There was the CSS styling at the top, but ignore it for translation. "Summoner: Gold Sun 20"
I moved toward Jang Bori. At that moment, a sharp arrow pierced through space, flying at supersonic speed. If I hadn't been prepared, it would've been impossible to dodge.
Pew!
But preparation changes everything. The arrow, roaring with a sonic boom, barely grazed past my forehead. I'd feigned vulnerability to heighten their guard.
Lyka was an unparalleled long-range dealer, one of the rare SS-grade talents. Just because he wasn't in sight didn't mean I could relax.
I dodged the arrow, but the killing intent from its tip rippled through my body. It had been aimed for a headshot right between my eyes. Lyka's arrow embedded itself in the factory wall without hitting its mark.
"Th-this is…!"
Jang Bori panicked. She clearly hadn't expected Lyka's sudden move. Her father, Jang Segun, wasn't exactly father-of-the-year material, but Bori loved him anyway. She'd probably told Lyka to stay back while she handled it alone.
Which meant this attack was Lyka acting on his own. A perfectly rational response. Bluntly put, to Lyka, Bori mattered—not her dad.
"Lyka! Stop it!"
"Bori. To end this SS, we have to take him down."
The air shimmered. Lyka materialized. A ghostly, elusive ability. Like Aros, he had Blink, but Lyka's version was superior in every way.
"If you're gonna snipe from a rat hole, why show yourself so boldly? Ballsy move, huh."
"That way, I'd never beat you. No more dragging this out. Let's settle it here."
Lyka's expression was resolute. But hilarious. Without his soul vessel, he couldn't unleash his full power.
"Cocky look you've got there. Think dumping your soul vessel makes you hot shit?"
Unease hit me as those words slipped from Lyka's mouth. He knew the vessel limited him, yet he'd revealed himself. Unless he was an idiot—and he wasn't, being one of the smartest champions in the original story—there had to be a reason.
Woooong!
An ominous energy surged. A swirling vortex core formed around Lyka. Unsettling. Full power without a vessel? Nowhere in the original.
"I can fight at full strength without it. Downside is, my soul vanishes."
Unmentioned in the original. The vessel was just a risk mitigator.
'Full-power Lyka's no joke.'
I clicked my tongue and stepped back, aiming to grab Jang Segun as a hostage. That's when it happened.
"Not so fast!"
A familiar sharp voice blocked my path. I knew who it was from the tone alone. Achilles.
I hadn't summoned her here. She should be at my mansion right now, pussy dripping in anticipation.
"Achilles!"
Achilles grabbed the nape of Jang Segun, who was tied tight to the chair, and hurled him toward Bori like a kitten.
Thud!
"Mmph! Mmph!"
A groan leaked from Jang Segun's gagged mouth. But he didn't seem badly hurt.
"Achilles! Betraying me here!?"
"I never allied with you in the first place! What betrayal?"
She had a point. I'd just fucked her like a sex slave—no alliance. Hell, I'd stolen her beloved Bucephalus. Reasons for her to turn on me? Plenty.
'Got complacent.'
With the grand plan nearly complete, I'd slacked on the cleanup. Everything needs a clean finish.
"Looks like the tables have turned. The world doesn't bend to your will!"
Lyka glared and barked at me.
Ridiculous. The world revolved around me. I was chosen by the Unix Cube. A mere creation's puppet daring to yell at me? Laughable.
"You're not even a frog in a well—you're a maggot spewing shit from your blowhole."
"Still haven't grasped the situation? You can't take us both at once, right?"
Lyka's bow trained on me. No hostage meant he'd go all out. The taut bowstring created a cold, rigid tension like ice.
"No Bucephalus, but I'll help."
Achilles gripped her sharpened mop handle. Pathetic compared to her mythic spear, but I couldn't underestimate her.
"Lumiia."
Hearing my voice, Lumiia stepped forward. Not her usual thin outing clothes, but gleaming silver plate armor. A greatsword as big as her torso slung on her back.
"Lumiia! Hasn't this guy humiliated you countless times!? Join us!"
Achilles's eyes flashed like a beast's. Lumiia pursed her lips silently, inner conflict flickering.
But she drew her greatsword—aimed not at me, but at Achilles and Lyka.
"I'm the Summoner's champion. No matter how much shame he's given me, he's my Summoner."
The brainwashing training paid off now.
"Tch! No talking sense into her!"
Achilles spat bitterly. Lyka, calm as ever, spoke up.
"Doesn't matter. Achilles, you take the champion. I'll handle the Summoner."
Achilles nodded. The massive power radiating from Lyka ratcheted my tension. I'd need to go all out.
"Here I go!"
Lumiia and Achilles vanished almost simultaneously. Distance zero in an instant. Lumiia struck first, Achilles right behind. Greatsword met wooden spear.
Clang!
Lumiia's gear outclassed hers. But Lumiia had barely grown in this SS because of me. Their skills were evenly matched.
"Don't get careless, right?"
Shiiiing!
A fighter jet takeoff screech assaulted my eardrums. A sonic boom trailed Lyka's arrow.
Ripping air viciously, it grazed my side. Lucky I hadn't dropped my guard—or I'd have lost my life easily.
'Time Pose!'
Time Pose (Lv 2)(SS-grade)
Consumes 99% of your HP and MP to illogical stop time for 2 minutes. Passive skills and item effects are unaffected. Usable once per hour.
Time froze. I popped a jujube to recover the spent energy.
Normal foes? Dead with a fatal blow here. But Lyka didn't stop—despite Time Pose.
'Must be his weapon, White Shooting Bow.'
White Shooting Bow (Baksagung)
The mythic bow that shot the sun.
Matching Bucephalus in grade, loaded with effects. One: immunity to debuffs. Light has always symbolized purity.
'But not total immunity. His movements are definitely slowed.'
Lyka was a ranged dealer. All ranged dealers suck up close.
'He showed himself thinking full power—soul as cost—would beat me. Your mistake.'
I stomped forward, launching myself. Boom! The ground cratered, shockwaves blasting outward.
Distance to Lyka: under a meter. Fist loaded with ki and mana flew at his face.
'True KHC - Straight Fist!'
Lyka moved. Archer agility shone—he slipped the punch's range. But the fist-shaped energy blasted backward, shattering the factory wall.
Whoosh!
Lyka vanished. Blink. Another White Shooting Bow perk.
'Darkness Radar.'
70m range. Picked him up instantly. Blink doesn't let you flee far. And as an archer—not an assassin like Aros—his range was limited.
"There!"
Strong energy pulse from behind the factory. Fired about 20 Holy Missiles. They smashed walls en route, homing on Lyka.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Factory walls crumbled like styrofoam. Even in Time Pose, physical interference advances time.
Lyka unscathed. Too far for direct hits anyway. Never intended that.
Shick! Shick! Shick!
Three arrows pierced the dust cloud. Dodged two; one grazed my shoulder.
"Kgh!"
Burning pain—worse than expected. Like a venomous bug bite.
My shoulder blackened instantly. No time to check—next arrow incoming. Slower this time. Side-stepped it.
Then the arrow glowed and exploded at my side.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Blast like two or three grenades.
'Air Pocket!'
Artificial air barrier blocked most. Not all. Explosion hurled me through a window, out of the factory.
Rolled on the ground, sprang up on rebound. Shoulder pain gnawed my mind, but no room for lapse. Lyka was on the factory roof now, glowing eyes glaring down.
"Fuck. That superior look from up there pisses me off. When I kill you, I'll gouge those eyes first!"
"From now on, the distance between us won't shrink by a single step."
No bullshit. Full-power Lyka could manage it. His declaration made me swallow hard.