Oasis Showdown
The broadcast crackled with excitement right before entry. "The Bureau's referee is stepping up in front of the gate. Four guilds converging on the entrance! The psychological warfare is off the charts."
"Whoa! Look at those eyes. As expected from a marquee matchup, the sparks are already flying!"
"Oasis's Guardian. Level 7. Desert field. The monsters that appear have sand and desert attributes. The format is base defense."
"The bases are the heart of this gate. How quickly and efficiently you secure good ones will have a massive impact on the rest of the raid."
"The moment I say that, the referee raises both hands overhead and... begins..."
"Beeegiiins..."
"NOW!!"
"NOW!!"
Guild War Korea Round 14.
Competitive Conquest Battle, Group 2.
LV7. Oasis's Guardian.
Four guilds exploded out of the gate like bolts of lightning.
The first thing that hit was the raid leaders screaming at the top of their lungs.
"Search!!"
"Run!!"
"Move exactly as trained!"
"Secure the bases first!!"
It was a show of dominance against their opponents and a massive morale boost for their own teams. It might seem like nothing, but sometimes those roars were everything. The other raiders answered in kind, shouting as they sprang into action.
The Core Guild and Challenger Guild split neatly into four directions—east, west, south, north—racing across the desert sands. It was the optimal formation for scouting while keeping safe from the Sandmen rising up everywhere and the other desert monsters.
While those two guilds moved with textbook precision, the Taeyang Guild and Mir Guild were playing a completely different game.
"Spread out!"
"Fan out, all of you!"
Teams of two, or solo. They split as far as they possibly could.
Sandmen? Monsters? We can handle as many as you throw at us.
It was the sheer guts only a super-team at the absolute peak could display.
The raid parties scattered in every direction like blooming flower buds. And when those buds burst open brilliantly, something else drifted out like dandelion seeds.
Summons.
The summoners from both sides had made their move.
"Vita."
Light gathered in the air, forming a golden laurel wreath that settled onto Mountain King Kim Jong-pil's head. A moment later, Vita soared up behind him.
Not in her usual cute miniature form, but a perfect adult body. Those arrogant eyes swept the surroundings before she threw her head back and cried out toward the sky in a brilliant burst of light.
Soon a massive flock of wind hawks blanketed the sky like clouds, slicing through the heavens.
On the other side, it was the earth that answered.
"Rise."
Black Star Gong Ju-in swung her scepter like a whip. The Lich King's skull ornament on its head ignited with eerie flames. The moment she mounted the Hellhorse that rose beneath her feet—
Flash!
A wave of magic power exploded outward from her. The sticky, tar-like energy washed over the desert for a brief moment. Then came a grotesque sound of things assembling, and wherever the wave had passed, white bones burst up through the sand.
It was Black Star's skeleton legion, the army of the Death Commander. Easily four digits in number. They hadn't earned the title "one-man army" for nothing. Two world-class summoners showing exactly how broken their class could be.
While the wind spirits and skeleton legion scattered in every direction to search for bases, the speedsters from Mir Guild and Taeyang Guild began competing in earnest.
Crack!
Blitz Yurira became a streak of golden lightning, shooting straight toward the center of the desert. She had already surpassed the limits of speed. It was destructive velocity worthy of her title.
But her brow had been furrowed for a while now. A sandstorm on the other side was keeping perfect pace with her.
"What the—old man! You're not usually this fast!"
"I am Horus. The desert is my homeland. If anyone should be surprised, it's me. How are you able to match my steps?"
Horus's movement wasn't simple agility. It was a divine authority that combined sand sorcery and holy power. A near-miraculous ability that could manifest his will within a desert field.
That was why even the usually calm Horus had his jaw hanging open. The short girl in front of him was keeping up with his divine authority using pure speed alone.
"Tsk! Stop following me!"
"You fall behind first!"
Their forms blurred and vanished, transforming completely into lightning and a sandstorm. Blitz and Horus tore across the desert in a dizzying whirlwind.
The other side was no less intense.
The Sandmen that had filled the desert were suddenly sliced in half at the waist all at once. Through the oxidized magic power, the swordsman Park Gwang-seob charged forward. The Sword Master himself.
And matching him was a pure white flash shooting from the opposite side. Baek Yeon-woo raced across the desert in perfect parallel.
"Kid, you've been getting on my nerves lately. A swordsman who doesn't even use a sword—what kind of nonsense is that?"
"A weapon is a weapon. What does the shape matter... yah!!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Baek Yeon-woo planted his feet. His bent upper body snapped back like a spring, and a white flash shot from his hand.
It was the Cheon-bong, morphed into a spear.
The spear tore forward, creating a sonic boom that pulverized everything in its path. Baek Yeon-woo became a ray of light, racing down the newly opened corridor.
On the other hand, Park Gwang-seob had already raised his greatsword high.
Sliiiice.
A terrifyingly silent downward cut. When the blade stopped, the world along its trajectory cracked diagonally. Terrain, space, sand, monsters—everything twisted and slid away along that slanted line.
The Genius and the Sword Master displaying overwhelming divinity befitting their roles as vanguard captains. Mir Guild and Taeyang Guild charged across the desert, carrying that fighting spirit forward.
Who would become the savior of the desert?
The dragon and the sun were clearly aware of each other as they advanced.
"Don't lose!"
"Run!"
"A lot of people have been wondering about this, and there's been plenty of talk even among those of us in the industry."
"That's right. What would a direct clash between super-teams look like? How fierce would it be? And how well could they actually compete against Mir Guild, who many consider untouchable?"
"This is what fans of the Korean league—and really, fans of leagues around the world—have been dying to know. What kind of showing will Taeyang Guild put up against Mir Guild?"
"Just tell us already! So what about Taeyang Guild?!"
"It's still early, so I'm being cautious, but at least so far..."
Gulp.
Baek Seong-jae swallowed so loudly it could be heard over the mic, then forced the words out.
"...it's a massive success! Taeyang Guild is pushing Mir Guild back!!"
In numbers, in speed.
In strategy, in combat power.
They weren't losing in any category.
"Even Lee Shin and the Mountain King must be inwardly shocked. Mir Guild's movements right now aren't bad at all, are they? They're practically perfect. Look at those routes—it's like they measured them with a ruler. You can tell they sharpened their blades for this."
"Which makes it even more astonishing. Taeyang Guild is standing toe-to-toe with Mir Guild, who are showing untouchable-level performance."
It was truly a clash of dragons and tigers, a perfectly even match.
The commentators were getting worked up over a match that already had everyone on the edge of their seats despite being in the early phase.
One could only imagine how loud the chat was.
While regular fans expressed their excitement with whoas and damns, the dedicated supporters were all hammering their keyboards with T_Ts.
The Yongbungs were smashing their keyboards like they were having a collective heart attack over their hunters' performance.
Not to be outdone, the Sunflowers—Taeyang Guild's fandom—were fighting just as hard.
Of course the Sunflowers were outnumbered by the Yongbungs. That was only natural—the other side was a worldwide super-fandom. They were bound to lose in chat share, firepower, everything.
Yet even so, they burned with fighting spirit for their guild and their hunters.
And perhaps the heavens were moved by their passion?
The Taeyang Guild's charge, which had been racing to find a good base, finally came to a stop.
"Have they found one? Guardian has dismounted from her tiger and is examining the surroundings. Is this the spot they've chosen? What do you think, analyst?"
"High ground, rear blocked by a cliff, plenty of rocks nearby... If they set up properly... this is excellent. This is an S-rank base!"
"Ah! The moment we say it, Guardian breaks into a huge smile!"
That's right.
The first guild among the four to secure a base was—
Taeyang Guild!
"Taeyang Guild and Guardian take the lead on the battlefield!!"
Guardian Yeo Eun-seo ran around the area, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Activate the base immediately! Those setting up base camp, head that way! Those on first defense, over here!"
While the Taeyang raid party moved busily, Yeo Eun-seo sprinted to the oasis, crouched down in front of it, and carefully dipped her hand into the lake. She then channeled her magic power.
The moment ripples spread across the murky water, sparkling magic power like an aurora bloomed around the oasis.
The base had been activated.
Which meant there was only one thing left for them to do.
"Prepare for battle!!"
When she turned around, the desert around the oasis began to writhe. Monsters revealed themselves with monstrous shrieks.
Grrrrr—
Kiiiiii—!
Hundreds? Thousands? There was no way to count them all. The 'Desert Gnolls' and 'Venom Scorpions' covered the area so completely that the desert sand itself was no longer visible.
The Desert Gnolls licked their canine muzzles, staring at the oasis with hungry eyes. The Venom Scorpions pointed their poisonous tails toward the water, showing clear hostility.
A moment later, the monsters charged.
The monster wave had begun.
"Master!"
"Yes, sis."
The first to clash with the Desert Gnolls was Black Star's skeleton legion.
On the front line, skeleton shieldbearers formed a bone-shield phalanx. The frantically charging gnolls slammed into the shield wall and crumpled. Behind them, the second line of skeleton spearmen thrust their long spears through the gaps. Gnolls pierced by the spears screamed and collapsed to the ground.
Finally, the third line of skeleton mages raised their staves toward the front.
Group chanting.
A black flame downpour instantly incinerated the already densely packed horde of gnolls.
Fwoooosh!!
Kiiiiii—!
While Black Star held the frontline with overwhelming majesty, Guardian and the other main member, Specter, weren't sitting idle either.
Guardian, mounted on her Bengal tiger, led her combat squad using a whip, spear, bow, and every weapon imaginable.
Specter, on the other hand, was doing what he did best—acting alone. Holding two crossbows in his hands, he dashed between the skeleton legion, firing arrows like a madman.
A spectacular battle unfolded. Specter possessed stealth, illusions, clones, smoke screens, and even a short-range teleportation skill.
He even had an invincibility skill.
"Hup."
Specter held his breath, scattered like smoke, and instantly passed through the skeleton shield wall. He plunged into the heart of the monster wave and swept everything around him away.
It was called Wraith Form.
An ultimate-grade invincibility that ignored collisions, passed through terrain, and nullified damage. It was the ability that had made the current Specter one of the top three in the world when it came to survival.
With the three main members at the center pushing back the wave, the base camp was finally finished. The rest of the raid party joined in, and the number of monsters spawning balanced with those being eliminated. The base finally began to stabilize.
This should be enough. Yeo Eun-seo crushed a scorpion's head, looked around, and nodded.
"Squad 1, rest. Master!"
The skeleton legion that had been holding the line instantly transformed into a bone fortress. With a sound like air leaking, several of them withdrew from the front and collapsed onto the ground.
As raid leader, Yeo Eun-seo encouraged her exhausted comrades, then quickly used the radio to contact the scouting team.
"How's it going? What about Mir Guild?"
She didn't care about the leftovers.
Yeo Eun-seo's nerves were focused solely on Mir Guild.
And in response to her urging, the voice coming through the radio said:
"Uh... Boss. These guys seem crazy?"
"...What?"
Around the time Black Star, Guardian, and Specter had helped Taeyang Guild secure their base, Mir Guild had also secured one through the efforts of Hwarang and Seo Ye-na.
"Everyone worked hard. Is our princess okay?"
"Grr, I'm going to get revenge. I will get revenge, Representative."
Up to this point, everything had been fine.
Yes, up to this point it had been perfectly normal, perfectly by the book.
At least until they saw what was happening at the other base.
"Bokchi, move with me."
"Don't leave my side. Noona."
Baek Yeon-woo holding the Cheon-bong that had transformed into a crescent blade, and Park Su-bin with Gigant's engine pushed to full power.
And.
"Pahaha!! Now this is reassuring!"
The Potato Valley girl.
Kang Malsuk dipped her hand into the oasis and activated another base.