Chapter 78: Exchange Match (3)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 78: Exchange Match (3)
“Dae-hyun! Guard!” Yoon Sang-hyeok shouted sharply.
In what felt like an instant, the single massive golem before them had multiplied into two, then three.
One golem made of steel.
One golem covered in ice.
And the green golem they were already fighting.
They hadn't come from the sides, either, so the team had no choice but to face them head-on.
“—.”
“——.”
Short, low chants erupted almost simultaneously.
Yoon Chae-ha’s eyes glowed red like a blazing fire, and white mist began to escape Jo Yu-ri’s lips.
BOOOOM!
Yoon Chae-ha’s Fireball was the first to explode, striking the steel golem square in the chest. The golem’s body glowed a searing red.
SHIIING!
Immediately after, several of Jo Yu-ri’s Ice Spikes struck the exact spot that had been heated.
The moment the cold ice met the red-hot steel, a white steam billowed up with a loud tssssss-.
On the metal surface, unable to withstand the drastic temperature change…
Crack, crackle.
…spiderweb-like cracks spread rapidly.
In that instant.
Swoosh.
Yu Hana dashed forward, piercing the center of the cracks.
Her longsword cut through the air, striking precisely between the golem’s fissures.
From within the gaps, flower petals blossomed.
Crumble….
The steel golem lost its balance and collapsed. A cloud of dust rose from the ground.
But there was no time to breathe.
Vwooom!
Grrrrr….
Enemies still remained.
“…!”
But Yoon Chae-ha’s gaze kept drifting to the left flank. She bit her lip without realizing it.
For a while now, she hadn’t been able to focus her entire attention on the battle.
A faint wave of mana reached her.
The sharp, intense sensation of a clash pricked at her skin.
Jung Hae-in was definitely on the left flank.
But a fair amount of time had passed, and the fight was still ongoing.
She had never seen him struggle against someone for this long.
He should have been done ages ago.
She knew it was a needless worry, but her eyes kept turning in that direction.
Her blazing red eyes wavered slightly.
Just then.
“Are you going to focus?”
It was Yu Hana.
Her eyes were fixed on the golem, her expression unwavering as she spoke in a low, firm voice.
“Do you think Hae-in is going to lose?”
“…”
“Don’t falter.”
Yoon Chae-ha’s lips trembled slightly.
She was right.
Yu Hana’s cold words snapped her back to her senses.
“Hoo…”
She took a short, deep breath.
The Jung Hae-in she knew would never, ever lose.
She fixed her gaze once more on the enemy before her.
The red flames in Yoon Chae-ha’s eyes began to burn fiercely again.
*
SWOOOSH!
An arrow flew toward me, tearing through the wind.
I twisted my body reflexively and swung my spear.
CLANG!
The sound of metal clashing rang out.
The deflected arrow once again embedded itself deep into a nearby tree trunk.
But the attack didn’t end there.
“Catch me if you can~”
With a playful whisper, Sion’s form vanished into the thicket in an instant.
Her presence faded, her location growing more and more indistinct.
Then.
SWOOOSH! SWISH!
From within the shadows, a volley of arrows rained down from unpredictable angles.
From atop the trees.
From beneath the bushes.
From beyond a broken window.
Sion was using the terrain to maximize her archer’s advantage.
As expected, she was a hero who excelled at adapting to her environment.
CLANG!
Again, I swung my spear and deflected the arrows.
As long as I could perceive them coming, the arrows were no threat. Sion knew this, too.
The arrows she was firing now weren’t meant to be attacks, but rather threats to pin me down.
I lowered my stance and took a short breath.
I’d fought Sion countless times since we were kids.
There were plenty of times I won, and plenty of times she won, but…
Whenever Sion won, there was always one constant.
‘If I can’t close the distance.’
I lose. No question.
Rustle.
I kicked hard off a tree and leaped straight into the thicket where Sion was hiding.
In that moment, my senses sharpened.
[All-Encompassing Perception has been activated!]
All my senses became as sharp as the point of a needle.
I could feel the sounds around me, the flow of the air, even the vibrations in the ground.
The slight rustle of the bushes.
And behind them, the faint breath of Sion, holding perfectly still.
Truthfully, it might have been more effective to use Phalanx and just blow away that entire area, but I didn’t want to do that.
‘It’s not like Sion is a Mine.’
Besides, I just felt like having a good old-fashioned scuffle with my childhood friend.
This was just a mock exchange match, anyway. The moment Sion came this far, this left flank had become largely irrelevant to both of our main forces.
Without hesitation, I threw myself recklessly in her direction.
“Hahaha!”
Sion, who had been hiding, rose with a bright laugh.
Her eyes sparkled. As if she felt the same way, her expression was full of life.
Keeping her eyes locked on me, she drew her bowstring to stop my charge.
A single arrow flew straight at me, then suddenly split apart in mid-air.
Instantly multiplying into dozens of arrows, they changed their angles, drawing sharp trajectories from all directions to surround me.
Each arrow was imbued with mana, moving as if it were alive.
“Wow.”
Three hundred and sixty degrees.
Arrows shot toward me from every direction.
A perfect Eclipse Kill.
It was a realm of skill that surpassed simple Rapid Fire.
Once again, Sion’s growth had far exceeded my expectations.
‘Dodge? Where to?’
In truth, there was a single, small opening in the encirclement of arrows Sion had created—a way to escape behind me.
If I threw myself that way, I could evade the arrows.
But in that instant, my eyes met Sion’s.
She was smiling, the corners of her lips turned up as if luring me in.
That was exactly what she was aiming for.
If I turned my back here, the distance between us would only grow.
I would never be able to catch her again.
The decision was made in a flash.
I didn’t stop my advance.
Instead, I threw myself forward faster, more boldly, and swung my spear wildly.
CLANG! CLANG! KANG!
The spearhead left afterimages in the air as it struck down the incoming arrows.
The mana-infused arrows were sharply deflected, while the ones I couldn’t block grazed narrowly past my side and cheek.
‘Just protect the vitals.’
As long as it wasn’t a vital spot, a few hits wouldn’t trigger an Elimination.
In the blink of an eye, the distance closed.
“Sion!”
A hint of laughter crept into my own voice.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had such a thrilling, enjoyable fight.
Sion’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of me emerging from the shower of arrows.
In preparation for a possible close-quarters fight, she drew the dagger sheathed at her waist.
Then she immediately tried to pull back, planning to kick off the next tree to retreat.
‘She fell for it.’
I had predicted her movements up to that exact point.
Instantly, I threw my spear hard at the branch she was about to step on.
Swoosh!
The spear pierced the branch perfectly.
Crack!
The branch shattered to pieces, and Sion, losing her footing, lost her balance.
“Ugh!”
Caught by the unexpected attack, her body was thrown into the air with a small gasp.
Not missing that brief moment, I quickly launched myself forward and dove into her arms.
I pushed her down, pinning her against another thick tree.
Thud!
I settled on top of Sion, whose back had slammed against the hard wood, and sealed her movements.
I pressed one knee against her abdomen and used one hand to firmly bind both of her wrists.
It was a pinning position she would be familiar with.
We’d done it countless times since we were kids.
“Hoo…”
“Euh…”
In an instant, the distance between Sion and me became extremely close.
Our breaths tangled together, and the intense heat of our bodies transferred clearly through our skin where it pressed together.
“…Got you.”
My low murmur broke the silence.
The rapid beat of her heart traveled up her wrist and into my palm.
Beads of sweat had formed on Sion’s skin, trickling slowly down the line of her neck.
In the sunlight filtering through the branches, the sweat on her pale skin glistened strangely.
“Hah… hah…”
Sion’s eyes had darkened.
From between her cheeks, flushed with heat, and her slightly parted lips, a constant stream of breath that sounded like a soft moan escaped.
It seemed she had used a great deal of energy executing her escape and the Eclipse Kill.
I looked down at her and smiled lightly.
“I win.”
I carefully took the small dagger she was clutching from her tightly bound hands.
At that moment, Sion’s eyes shook violently, and she suddenly gripped my wrist.
“Hae-in…”
Her voice was trembling slightly.
The fingertips gripping my wrist trembled minutely as they slowly traced my skin.
I let out a small laugh.
She must be frustrated and disappointed about being eliminated.
“Well, who told you to come this far?”
I muttered lightly, slowly bringing the tip of the dagger to the side of her neck.
As the cold metal touched her heated skin, Sion’s body flinched sensitively.
Tzzzt.
The small barrier that had been spread over her vital point distorted as if it were being torn.
With the barrier on her vital point broken, she would soon be considered to have sustained a fatal wound and be ejected from the mock exchange match.
And yet, Sion still couldn’t let go of my wrist.
Grip, grip….
Even while bound, Sion’s hand fumbled for my wrist slowly, persistently, as if in desperation.
“Hae-in… Just a little longer…”
Sion closed her eyes and whispered desperately in a small voice.
It couldn’t be helped, even if she was frustrated.
Still, thanks to Sion, I’d had a good time for the first time in a while.
It felt like my forgotten combat senses were reawakening.
“See you in a bit.”
I smiled as I watched her figure slowly fade away.