Breaking the Crescent Moon Array

The magic-bullet barrage covering every direction.

Lightning raging like a storm.

And finally, large-scale attacks that interfered with space itself to penetrate defenses.

Honestly, I was pretty impressed.

“You can say that again.”

Ability usage. Coordination. Not a single flaw.

“Those guys all use the same category of abilities though.”

Whether swinging swords, drawing bowstrings, or casting spells, they all shared the medium of elementals, so linking their attacks was easy.

Our guild members?

They had nothing in common.

Barrier specialist, clone user, commander, dimensional harpoon, firepower maniac.

What possible common ground was there?

Yet these wildly individual personalities moved as one living organism and drew out maximum firepower.

“Well… maybe.”

Admiring my comrades’ growth ended here.

Even for me, taking this kind of onslaught without any defensive preparation was slightly burdensome.

Attacks tightening mercilessly from every direction with no visible gaps.

If I couldn’t see an opening, I simply needed to twist the whole thing apart with greater force.

I lifted my foot and slammed it down hard. The shockwave of power drawn from the ogre’s essence vibrated the ground beneath me. Layered with the aura blade, the impact struck the entire area like an earth-attribute grand spell—Earthquake.

Had this been normal soil instead of desert, the destructive force would have been far greater.

The dimensional shards split by the scythe’s arc were swallowed by sand soaring dozens of meters high and fragments of aura blades.

“Huuu…”

My breathing grew ragged from Giga Impact’s aftereffects. Even with my high stamina stat, I wasn’t completely free of the skill’s penalty.

It was fine. I had already prepared the next move knowing this would happen.

There was no need to move strenuously. I spread the wings that had sprouted from my back to their fullest, sprayed explosive ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠demon qi, and spun in place while firing in every direction.

“They hit no matter where I throw them. Why bother with precise control?”

I was standing in the middle of the crescent moon array. Everywhere except one spot was enemy territory. The lightning qi swirling from all sides was annoying to deflect one by one, so I decided to crush it with sheer volume.

Ratatatatat!

The battle was evenly matched. My shoulders ached from the array’s penalty, yet I held my ground right where I stood.

“I still have plenty of cards left.”

The guild members were probably thinking the same. Turning this into a war of attrition here wouldn’t be bad at all. The mana I had poured into the previous attack was only about ten percent of my total reserves. A considerable amount, but not burdensome.

Primordial Dragon Heart.

The heart I had strengthened by weaving various essences into the Dragon Heart obtained during the tutorial granted me virtually infinite mana. Even after wrapping explosive demon qi around the thorns missiles and launching them, my mana recovered steadily.

But.

“This won’t be much of a test, will it?”

This wasn’t a fight where lives were on the line. To properly gauge the guild members’ level—

“Exactly.”

The stamina penalty from Giga Impact had worn off. Time to cut loose for real.

I flapped my dragon wings and charged straight into the center of the U-shaped formation.

I hadn’t come unprepared. This much I could endure. There was a way to overcome the slowing effect.

A skill created by gathering charge-type essences. At this moment, even the crescent moon array’s debuff could not bind me.

Twitch— snap—

The sound of something breaking echoed in my ears. In a single stride I closed the distance and raked my claws across the clone at the center of the formation.

Schlick!

The claw-shaped energy blade over a meter long sliced Ping Lei’s clone into six pieces. Since it was only a clone, it vanished in a puff of smoke.

“One isn’t enough.”

I jerked my left hand back. One of the Ping Lei clones forming the array was dragged forward and torn apart by my right hand.

The hole created in the center of the U-shape. The pressure weighing on my shoulders vanished.

“You broke straight through the encirclement formation?”

“Hyung-nim. This isn’t the end, is it?”

“We’ve prepared plenty, so please don’t be disappointed.”

Brother Youngsu wore a startled expression but refused to retreat. The rest of the guild members wore similar faces.

Good. Show me more. Show me exactly how much you’ve all grown.

Thump— thump—

My Sixth Sense screamed in warning dozens of times within a fraction of a second.

Killing intent rushing in from every direction. Dozens of Ping Lei clones thrust their staffs according to the secrets of the Heavenly Flower Staff Technique. The faint qi wrapped around the staffs was small in quantity yet carried enough power to crush even steel.

Oh. Manifesting qi on all thirty clones—impressive concentration.

Black blades spinning like saw teeth. Sword aura? Nah. Sword qi was plenty.

The staffs held by the clones shattered. The clones exploded into mist and scattered in every direction.

“Ugh!”

“What’s wrong? Something not going your way?”

Ping Lei, having lost all his clones, bit his lip hard.

The most annoying one really was Ping Lei. The way he spammed clones gave Brother Youngsu’s command ability an extra bonus and tied up my feet with multiple formations.

I closed the distance in one breath. The instant I tried to neutralize Ping Lei—

Kwaaaaang!

A vibration barrier blocked my path.

My fist, strengthened by Fatal Charge, warped the shield. The ten-layered barrier crumpled with a crunch and shattered.

“Thanks.”

“If you know that, buy me dinner later.”

Tsk. Right. You were here too.

The Wall of Lamentations. Jiyoung’s barrier required aura blade level to destroy ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠in a single strike. Even if I broke through at once, the barrier’s unique repulsive force forced me to pause for a moment—roughly 0.1 seconds. In daily life it would be imperceptible, but in a battle this fierce it was a massive opening that could steal an entire breath.

A torrent of water formed above my head and crashed down violently. I braced both legs but was still pushed back several meters.

“Such powerful water release in a place with no water at all.”

It was possible because he had coordinated the technique with all thirty clones.

This time the clones formed an O instead of a U. A defense-specialized formation. The true purpose of the water release had been to buy time to reorganize. Even though I knew it, I had no choice but to receive it.

“I don’t plan on just taking it.”

I transformed into my dragonkin state. At the same time I released the spells I had kept in reserve.

Spheres possessing opposing attributes appeared once more. Brother Youngsu’s eyes widened.

「Jiyoung!」

He shouted urgently.

Yeah. It’s already too late.

I deployed Polar Night for spatial control the same way I had when interfering with Carla, then collided the two spheres I had created at point-blank range.

My ears went deaf. My retinas were covered in pure white light. I had adjusted the energy to spread forward, but the explosion’s aftermath still swallowed my body instantly.

Sssssss!

True Dragon Armor melted away. From head to toe, every hair follicle burned under the heat. My eyeballs felt so dry they seemed to be scorching.

It wasn’t a mistake. It felt like breakdancing on a superheated grill, but colliding the two spheres at close range had been intentional.

“Jiyoung… can’t… react to this.”

Ah. My throat was so dry no sound came out.

Still. The effect was certain. Every clone that had regrouped was erased. Ping Lei and Brother Youngsu were caught in the explosion and sent flying far into the distance. Jiyoung, Carla, and Enrique suffered comparatively less damage, but taking out two core guild members so easily was a bargain.

“I’m teaching them.”

That even if it meant sacrificing their own bodies, if they could win, they had to do whatever it took. And that the enemies we would soon compete against would think and act with the same mindset.

Bubbles rose across the skin that had been burned by Weldon. Glossy black hair sprouted from my now-smooth scalp.

Whew. Good thing even hair regenerated. Otherwise I wouldn’t have risked such a drastic move.

“An opening.”

“That was intentional too.”

Thud!

The scythe embedded in my shoulder. The moment Carla tried to retrieve it, I locked it in place with regeneration.

“……!”

When she released the staff and attempted to leap through space, Polar Night had already filled every direction, interfering with space and blocking Carla’s movement.

“You must learn to use openings as well.”

There’s a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠saying about giving flesh to take bone, right? Players specialized in destructive power and mobility like Carla needed to beware of exactly this kind of situation.

“Ah.”

Bam!

Carla flew back from a single punch. I had controlled my strength. She wouldn’t die.

“Uncle! I’m here too!”

A mass of steel tore through space. A part of Titan had been summoned. Enrique, forcibly synchronized, swung the fist.

An iron fist falling from the sky. Enveloped in aura and glowing blue, it looked like a meteor.

“Hmm.”

What to do…

“Should I treat this like real combat?”

Ah. Guess I had.

“All right. Decision made.”

Let’s give Enrique a taste of real combat too. It would cost a bit of money, but after selling the Blood Demon Sword Yamaoka my pockets were full. I could afford to spare some.

The moment I decided, I inhaled with all my strength.

The black ray that erupted from my mouth struck Titan’s left arm. At first the aura coating it like plating was shaved away. After exhausting every last bit of aura, a hole appeared in the fingers, then the interior was destroyed.

“U-uaaaaah! Stop! Stop it!”

“Do enemies stop just because you beg them to?”

“Damn it! This is supposed to be sparring!”

The left arm of Titan vanished beyond space. If retrieval had been even a moment slower, it would have been completely destroyed.

While Enrique was still fuming, I wrapped explosive demon qi around my dragon wings, used it as propulsion, and closed the distance in an instant.

“Ah, time!”

Doing it twice would be unfair.

Kwaaaaang!

With a sound like a massive drum being struck, Enrique’s body slammed into the ground.

“Now only you remain.”

“Teeeeeacher…”

“Got something to say?”

“Hehe. Well, you see…”

Jiyoung made the cutest face she could manage.

“I surrender.”

Both arms thrust straight up, knees planted on the ground in complete submission.

“I told you earlier.”

“……If I ask you to stop, the enemy won’t stop, right?”

“You do it even though you already know the answer.”

“Fuck.”

A moment later, with a dull thud, Jiyoung’s head also hit the floor.