129. G1 vs Rin - Explosive Strike - Barrage (10)
129. G1 vs Rin - Explosive Strike - Barrage (10)
***
—1.
The moment the countdown ended and the match began, the silver-haired woman surged forward at speed.
Tap-tap-tap!!
—Bloodstained Step.
As she lightly worked her legs across the Colosseum floor, her movement—shooting forward as if bursting into motion—was utterly natural.
Watching Serin, Kang Hyeok couldn't help but feel, suddenly, that something was different.
A very small... subtle sense of dissonance.
No matter how much someone played, no matter how many hours they poured in, there ought to be a gap.
Yet for some reason, he felt none of that from Rin. As if the character itself were her.
Seen from the arena, Rin's movement was, in itself, close to miraculous.
Tap!
Kang Hyeok drank in Serin's movement as she closed in on him moment by moment, as if searing it into his eyes.
As if determined not to miss a single instant, his gaze tracked Rin's every move.
He had focused on every preceding match to the very end, so now her movements came into clear view.
There was undeniably something about Rin's elusive movement—embroidering space with bloodstained footprints—that drew the eye.
'...Star quality, huh.'
Minseong's words suddenly came back to him.
That Rin had star quality.
Now that Kang Hyeok stood in the arena himself, those words hit home completely. His eyes were certainly drawn to her. And because of that, he was even more eager.
More than her beautiful appearance, the monstrous skill within.
—Blood Frenzy.
Kang Hyeok clenched his hand slightly. The core technique of the Berserker Class unfolded.
Crack-crack!
The hand gripping the greatsword—shaped like the fang of a colossal dragon—swelled enormously in an instant, and veins rose savagely along his forearm, generating an overwhelming presence in a heartbeat.
——!!
A rough, violent, immense power surged through his bloodstream and wrapped around Kang Hyeok's entire body at once.
At the same time, he activated another technique.
—Omen.
Already clad in jet-black armor and bearing a massive greatsword, Kang Hyeok's form now radiated an even more oppressive presence, crimson flames rippling fiercely.
Shing.
Kang Hyeok lifted the massive greatsword with one hand.
Considering the rapidly closing distance to Serin, Kang Hyeok immediately prepared his technique.
'This will definitely work.'
Even before the scrim, he had endlessly replayed Rin's movements in his mind. Watching today's earlier matches, he had kept recalling them as well.
—How to counter her.
He had run simulations dozens, hundreds of times, imagining her movements.
And now.
Kang Hyeok had arrived at a countermeasure.
Reaction speed that was hard to believe for a human.
Response ability that went beyond comprehension, as if she had predicted everything depending on the situation.
Movement in which no opening itself was visible.
And yet, Rin's opening movement was comparatively simple.
She used Bloodstained Step and, with utter confidence, closed the distance to her opponent.
There was not a trace of hesitation in that movement.
An unhesitating movement built on overwhelming confidence in her own skill.
To Kang Hyeok, that was the expression of a confidence that would never permit an opponent's attack, no matter the situation.
Superior skill—a confidence bordering on arrogance, possible only because she was close to perfection.
And so, he needed to exploit it.
Clack!
Kang Hyeok's hand gripping the greatsword swelled as if about to burst, and the crimson energy rising from it rippled even more savagely.
***
Tap!
The instant she kicked off the ground, Serin's form shot forward, accelerating endlessly.
Bloodstained Step, the Dancer movement technique, was an unusual mobility skill whose duration was determined by the user.
Because it continuously consumed stamina throughout its use, it could have a duration incomparably longer than the mobility skills of other classes.
If she used Bloodstained Step from the first step and burned through her entire stamina gauge, she could reach her opponent within seconds of the match starting.
And right now, Serin knew exactly the total capacity of her stamina gauge and the maximum duration of Bloodstained Step.
Originally, it was '7 seconds.'
And now.
Thanks to the treasure item called the Dwarf's Ring, the maximum duration had increased by about 0.5 seconds.
Bloodstained Step's current full duration was 7.5 seconds.
And already 4 seconds had passed, meaning she had consumed about half her stamina gauge.
—Swish!
Serin swiftly passed the rock-like obstacles scattered throughout the Colosseum, leaving bloodstained footprints behind.
Her gaze was fixed on a single opponent across from her.
'What's he planning?'
Even after the match began, her opponent hadn't moved a muscle.
The sight of the Berserker simply standing in place, raising crimson energy, was itself alien.
The crimson energy flowing over the jet-black armor carried a bleakness like killing intent, and the display of raw strength—holding a greatsword shaped like a dragon's fang in one hand—gave Serin a sense of dissonance.
While preparing for the scrim, Serin had spent more time on Kang Hyeok than on any other player, paying him particular attention.
G1's captain and ace.
The image of him achieving a reverse all-kill against BS had been so impressive that even Serin remembered it.
Through prior research, she knew all of his distinctive movements and even the techniques he used.
Berserker Class.
The only pro player who wielded a greatsword and won through aggressive close-quarters combat.
She had been surprised during her research to see him win with bold strategy even against Baekya, the player called the Archer Class specialist, in ranged sniper mode.
At the end of that train of thought, Serin decided it didn't matter much.
Once Bloodstained Step had been active for 6 seconds, Serin cut the technique off precisely.
Only about a quarter of her stamina gauge remained, but it was enough.
Her opponent was already within the range of her Crescent-Moon Weight.
Tap!
Kicking off the ground, Serin rose into the air and immediately rotated her body, unfolding a technique.
—Single Kick.
Serin's snow-white leg, wreathed in blood, traced a single line of crimson through the air and struck it with speed.
BOOM!
With a sound like the air itself bursting, the aftershock of Single Kick propelled Serin's form forward even faster.
Unlike her earlier matches, Serin had deliberately risen into the air from the start to use Single Kick—largely to strengthen the technique so she wouldn't be overwhelmed in a contest of strength against Kang Hyeok.
And also to crush Kang Hyeok's momentum in the very first exchange.
—Heavy Spike.
A massive line of blood slashed down through the air, as if to split space itself.
Match 1. The devastating technique combination that had ended the match against Minha in an instant unfolded once again.
WHOOSH!!
The Crescent-Moon Weight curved exactly as Serin intended, having gained an additional layer of destructive power from Single Kick's bonus effect in the air.
A direct hit would leave even a high-HP Berserker near death.
That moment.
Fwoosh!
A massive crimson heat haze blazed up from Kang Hyeok's body.
Kang Hyeok, who had been preparing while watching Serin trace a line of blood and slash down at him, began to move. The crimson heat haze coiling savagely around his body burst outward as if exploding, and Kang Hyeok raised his leg and slammed it into the ground.
BOOM!!
The Colosseum floor sank deeply.
"...!"
Serin's expression, as she gripped the Crescent-Moon Weight's blade and slashed fiercely down toward Kang Hyeok, changed in an instant as she twisted her body sharply.
—Explosive Strike - Barrage.
Kang Hyeok swung the greatsword he held in one hand in a wide slash through the air, then spun his body rapidly, gripping the greatsword with both hands and slashing as if to cut through the entirety of space.
He slashed wide, as if to sever an overwhelming expanse of air.
The massive line of blood following Serin's hand wavered for an instant as it met Kang Hyeok's first slash through the air, breaking through the attack in a flash.
But then, facing the second crimson strike that carved through space on a massive scale.
Serin, who had twisted her body, forcibly wrenched the blade of her Crescent-Moon Weight.
SCREEEEEECH!!!
As the line of blood and the crimson strike clashed fiercely, Serin's form floated in the air for a moment, as if buoyed.
By twisting her body as if slashing wide with her arm, Serin miraculously succeeded in deflecting the massive crimson strike aside.
FWOOOOOSH!
Then the massive crimson strike, having missed its original target, shot upward as if to burn the entire sky.
Even though she had deflected the attack, Serin couldn't fully erase the aftershock of Explosive Strike.
FWOOSH!!
The crimson flames clung to her as if grazing her, wrapping around one of Serin's arms.
At the same time, the line of blood slashed down toward the ground.
BOOOOM!!
A massive crater formed where the line of blood struck, sending out a shockwave, but Serin only frowned slightly.
By twisting her body, the direction of her attack had gone off target as well.
She had only realized what technique her opponent's counterattack was at the very end, and though she had managed to deflect it belatedly, her own attack had achieved nothing. Rather, she was the one who had taken damage from the aftershock.
Just as Serin, having carved a massive crater into the floor, was about to right her stance.
Kang Hyeok had already taken another step forward and activated a technique.
—Charge.
Kicking off the ruined Colosseum floor, Kang Hyeok surged toward Serin at an unbelievable speed and immediately spun his body.
WHOOSH!
The greatsword shaped like a colossal dragon's fang traced a massive semicircle, producing a chilling sound of tearing air.
A barrage of attacks, as if he had predicted this exact situation.
Serin watched Kang Hyeok impassively, then immediately pulled the cord of her Crescent-Moon Weight to retrieve it and unfolded a technique in response.
—Jeolyeon.
A massive line of blood split space once again.