Chapter 136: The Frostblade Tribe (2)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 136: The Frostblade Tribe (2)
A duel between warriors.
Once a proud warrior of the tribe had made his declaration, the other tribe members could not interfere.
Knowing this perfectly, Jinhyuk exploited his opponent's sole weakness.
"Everyone, just move on my signal."
Attack and defense.
And the timing that decided it all.
Only one person would issue the commands.
Jinhyuk lightly gestured with his hand.
Although he had never worked with the Dangun Guild before, their coordination was flawless, as if they had been partners for a decade.
This was because he had already analyzed every player's position, tendencies, unique abilities, and skills.
"Here we go!"
"Ohhh!"
On signal, the players unleashed the best skills they could muster.
Wind and lightning slammed directly into Caracal.
Crash!
Just like that, as the raging storm swept past—
[Lv10 'Glacial Shaping' has been activated!]
This time, tendrils of ice swallowed Caracal's entire body.
Dozens of snowflakes bloomed in midair.
"Ugh!"
Caracal groaned as the chill seeped into his skin.
He had never expected a race to be so utterly shameless, and because of that, he found himself in quite a predicament.
Caracal swung his spear horizontally.
Clang! Clang!
Crunch!
The snowflakes created by Glacial Shaping were completely shattered.
Living in the tundra, his resistance to the cold attribute was second to none, if nothing else.
But there was no time to catch his breath.
As if on cue, the Dangun Guild players lunged forward simultaneously.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Kaboom!
A barrage of various skills rained down all at once.
Magic armaments imbued with various attributes surged toward Caracal's body.
"Focus on supporting Player Kang!"
"We're almost there! Just a little more push!"
True to their status as players of a top-tier guild, once the battle began, they unleashed a ferocious onslaught.
A textbook formation and a textbook strategy.
With the addition of Jinhyuk, the ultimate veteran, the battle slowly began to tilt in their favor.
This made Jang Eun-seok anxious.
This can't happen.
Even as victory drew near, Jang Eun-seok's expression grew increasingly stiff.
He couldn't help it.
The raid was practically running on Jinhyuk's commands right now.
If the raid ended successfully like this, his standing would undoubtedly plummet.
After drinking the sweet wine of victory, reprimands and interrogation would surely follow.
Why he, the raid leader, hadn't taken charge.
Why all the spotlight had been directed to that man.
The arrows of blame for all of it would point directly at him.
Above all, he had to stop that monstrous veteran from boosting his reputation any further.
Hadn't they targeted the first clear of this raid specifically to stop his insane solo run in the first place?
His hesitation didn't last long.
"Step back! I am the one in charge of this raid!"
A sharp voice rang out.
Jang Eun-seok had drawn the line.
Making it clear who the boss was here.
"Jang Eun-seok!"
Lee Tae-ho hurriedly tried to stop him, but Jang Eun-seok's resolve was already firm.
"Vice Leader. Stay out of this."
Addressing him by his title rather than his name meant he was drawing a clear line between public duty and private relations.
Lee Tae-ho could no longer open his mouth.
"...Understood. Have it your way, then."
Jinhyuk didn't bother to argue. In fact, there was no need to.
Even this action of Jang Eun-seok's...
...was already within his calculations.
Yes. I knew you'd act like this.
The corners of Jinhyuk's mouth curled upward.
An incompetent raid leader, struggling raid members, shifting public sentiment, and the grand scheme built upon it all.
He could already clearly see the chess pieces dancing across the board.
* * *
A moment later, the chain of command shifted.
Jang Eun-seok had reclaimed the baton of leadership.
Although there was an awkward, jarring feeling that their coordination was no longer smooth...
...they had to keep moving for now.
Because regardless of who the commander was, they had to trust and follow him to survive this situation.
Gritting their teeth, the players pressed their attack even harder.
* * *
While the others fought for their lives, Jinhyuk watched the entire scene unfold from a slight distance.
As expected... that troll is quite something.
Bringing the Dangun Guild along as a combat power gauge was a stroke of genius.
They were the perfect sacrificial lambs to test Caracal's true strength.
Jang Eun-seok, who was at the very front, had already crossed the line between life and death several times.
He must be sweating bullets.
After all, not only the guild's honor but his very life was on the line this time.
Of course, Jinhyuk didn't have the slightest intention of helping. An arrogant punk like him needed to be dragged through the mud a bit more until his life hung by a thread.
But right then—
[Five fire-attribute magic spells have completed their formulas.]
[The conditions have been met.]
[Lv13 'Eraser' has been activated!]
An explosion on a completely different scale followed, carving a massive crater into the ground.
The magic-class players, who had been gathering mana in the rear, had finally unleashed their fire magic.
A high-tier spell equivalent to the 6th Circle.
Thanks to four players casting for over five minutes, its destructive power was beyond imagination.
"Yes!"
Jang Eun-seok let out a triumphant shout.
He had endured everything up to this point just for this single strike.
Whoosh!
As the snow melted away, the bare dirt ground was revealed.
Dark red flames still surged and flickered amidst the rising smoke.
Of course, the players who had been fighting Caracal in close quarters had been layered with multiple support spells to boost their fire resistance.
Even so, it was a good thing they had backed away as far as possible right before the spell activated; otherwise, they might have been swept up in it as well.
"...Huff. Huff."
"We... we did it! It finally worked!"
"To think he could fight ten of us to a standstill. How is a troll this damn strong? He's completely off the charts!"
"With Player Kang Jinhyuk gone, the difficulty suddenly spiked... cough."
"Shut your mouth. Can't you see the raid leader is already in a terrible mood?"
"More importantly, the other trolls won't swarm us now, will they?"
They worried that the watching trolls might rage over their chief's death, but strangely, none of them showed any sign of moving.
It was too bizarre to assume they were simply scared.
Yet, they didn't look like they had given up either.
But at that very moment—
The reason why the trolls had just stood by and watched was revealed.
Whoosh!
With a sound that tore through the wind, a spear shot out from the smoke.
It was fast.
But it was slow enough to block with a shield.
Lee Tae-ho, making the quickest judgment, stepped in front of the players.
At the same time, he blocked the path with his massive shield.
Or rather... he thought he had blocked it.
Thuck!
A spray of red blood erupted from his shoulder.
"Gah?!"
Lee Tae-ho's pupils dilated in shock.
He gaped, utterly bewildered by what had just hit him.
And for good reason.
The shield was unbroken. It remained perfectly intact, without a single scratch, still completely covering Lee Tae-ho's body.
Yet, the spear had passed right through the shield and pierced his flesh.
There was only one reason for such a contradiction.
...Defense ignore.
Jinhyuk's eyes narrowed.
That spear Caracal was holding.
Its appearance was different from before.
The spear, which had previously looked crude—nothing more than a blade lashed to a wooden shaft—
...had transformed into a blue spear adorned with intricate patterns.
Not only is his combat ability insane, but he also has a cheat-like weapon.
The ability to completely ignore the target's armor.
That was the unique ability of the magic spear known as 'Sleip'.
This is getting more and more interesting.
The battle would soon be over.
It wouldn't even be a proper fight; it would end in an anticlimactic, one-sided defeat.
Of course, it wasn't that the Dangun Guild raid members, including Jang Eun-seok and Lee Tae-ho, were weak.
It was simply that their opponent was absurdly strong.
* * *
Tremble!
The players' bodies trembled slightly.
Everyone's instincts screamed a warning.
That they must never face that spear head-on.
"D-Damn it."
"How are we supposed to survive that...?"
The front-line tanks faltered and took a step back.
When even their vice leader, Lee Tae-ho, had been taken down, who would dare stand boldly in front of that monster?
"You attacked with such vigor. Is this already the end? The numbers are still in your favor. Do not be afraid, and keep coming at me."
"..."
"I see. If you will not come, then I shall."
Enemies who tucked their tails had no value to be respected.
Caracal took his stance.
Lowering his center of gravity deep.
Boom!
Caracal's figure vanished like a shadow.
He was fast.
The distance closed in an instant.
The blue-glowing spear sliced through the air.
With every sweep of the spear, another player collapsed onto the snow.
"Aaaaargh! My leg... my leg!"
A female player, her thigh pierced clean through, screamed at the top of her lungs.
"B-Block him!"
"Damn it, protect the damage dealers! Hold the line no matter what!"
"Aaaagh!"
If the damage dealers fell, there would be no chance for a counterattack.
Knowing this, Jang Eun-seok desperately tried to protect the backline.
But it was futile.
A single strike.
No fancy flourishes were needed; he simply repeated thrusts designed solely to incapacitate his enemies.
And that was more than enough.
Thuck!
Thuck!
"Gah!"
"Aaaargh!"
Once. Twice.
Every time the spear moved, a new hole was carved into someone's body.
Against an attack that could neither be blocked nor countered, the battle reached a pathetic conclusion.
Except for Jang Eun-seok, who was the most skilled among them, everyone lay on the ground, severely wounded.
There was no chance of winning in a one-on-one.
Jang Eun-seok knew this better than anyone.
Of course, that didn't mean he had any intention of gracefully accepting defeat.
"Y-You damn beast! How dare you... how dare you do this to us!"
Spitting out curses, Jang Eun-seok leaped to the side.
He wasn't heading toward Caracal, nor the other troll warriors...
...but toward the young troll children who had only just learned to walk.
Snatching a young troll by the neck in an instant, Jang Eun-seok drew his dagger.
"Nobody move! I swear to fucking God, if anyone so much as twitches a finger, I'll slit this brat's throat!"
"Urgh!"
The blade pressed against the child's neck.
Drops of blood trickled down the blade.
"Cowardly...!"
"As expected of humans... are they all like this?"
The trolls erupted in furious shouts.
But Jang Eun-seok only scoffed.
"Ha! Cowardly? What's cowardice when it comes to life and death? And you over there, Player Kang Jinhyuk! Stop standing around and help us already! Damn it, we said we'd handle it, but I didn't think you'd actually just stand there with your arms crossed. Isn't this a bit much between allies?"
Jang Eun-seok poured out his words like a waterfall.
Wow.
Seriously.
Amazing. I'm not even joking, this is truly spectacular.
I'm starting to suspect that head of his was made by fusing a goldfish brain with a chicken brain.
Ah...!
If he actually discovered some new fusion recipe I didn't know about, I'd almost be impressed.
At any rate, it had been a while since I'd heard such utter bullshit, so it was quite refreshing.
"I think you're misunderstanding something..."
Jinhyuk scratched his head.
"I'm not on anyone's side."
I'm just on the side that's most likely to win.
Indeed, depending on the situation, he could fight angels or shake hands with demons.
After all, victory and survival were the ultimate prerequisites for climbing the Tower.
But you see...
"Even so, I don't have a habit of teaming up with trash."
As he always emphasized.
Those who cross the line are the exception to everything.