Eleven Against Ninety
11 versus 90. The odds were overwhelmingly against me.
Do you feel the danger now?
"Not really."
You have a habit of smiling in the most unpleasant way when danger strikes, partner.
Only after hearing Nyx's words did I notice the corner of my mouth had curled upward.
A habit that would definitely earn me the label of lunatic.
"This is finally getting interesting."
After taking down Jeong Sinho, Bathory's contractor, I hadn't felt any real tension for a while.
With stats boosted far beyond normal through Devour, and skills deployed at the perfect moments, danger had never felt real.
The same had been true against the Black Tiger team, the Blood Fiends, and the Demon's Eye.
Yet now, watching ninety enemies charging with killing intent, a chill ran down my spine and a smile formed on its own.
Truly a sadistic personality.
You're the one being dramatic.
"Just give me the buff."
Blessing of the Night
All stats increased by 40%. Darkness recovery maximized.
This goddess shall assist you as well this time.
Nyx merged with my Polar Night. An alien energy tickled the crown of my head.
"Do it properly, Goddess."
Trust only in me.
With Thorn Carapace covering my entire body, I charged straight into the middle of the Chinese players.
"First and second companies, hold Yu Jinho. Third company, clean up the minions."
At Ping Lei's command, the Chinese players moved with military precision.
Since when did they start playing army?
Mud Trap activated.
Grace of Greed activated.
Skull Hand activated.
I laid a swamp in front of the flanking Chinese players, reinforced its viscosity with Grace of Greed, and placed Skull Hand beneath it.
"Get stuck in that swamp and hold them for me."
Even outnumbered, buying time was something I could manage.
"You dare show such leisure while facing us, Yu Jinho!"
At Ping Lei's roar, colorful magic bullets rained down.
Burst Flare
Electric Orb
Water Javelin
…
Minimum two-star, most of them three-star. Not a single one-star skill among Unranked players?
This goddess shall block all but the strongest magic bullets.
Sssssst!
The power of Polar Night split into dozens of strands and collided with the incoming magic bullets.
The bullets veered off course.
I operated Polar Night the same way I had once deflected magic attacks in the past.
Canceling destructive force head-on required equal power, but changing trajectory needed far less.
The real difficulty lay in reading the energy of dozens of simultaneous spells and deflecting them all at once!
Though some Polar Night was consumed, Blessing of the Night restored it instantly.
The flames will be difficult to deflect.
"Leave that to me."
I extended my right hand.
Devouring Maw — Internal Skill: Mana Absorb
Gulp. A strange energy flowed from the ring and swallowed the Burst Flare.
The distance closed.
When the gap to the lead group shrank to thirty meters, I activated Fierce Charge.
My fist slammed into a tank's shield, forcing his hand downward.
Couldn't take him down in one hit.
Instead, the tank froze in place, body trembling violently.
"Chinese players really are on another level."
This is no time for praise!
Her temper was as short as ever.
I gathered my fingertips into a spear and drove them into the exposed tank's chest.
Thinner than the shield, yet still reinforced with iron plating.
Penetration
Part of the impact ignores the opponent's defense.
The tank's head dropped forward after his chest was pierced.
Moments later, he crumbled into gray dust.
"Feng Xue fell in the blink of an eye."
"Don't panic. He's close—surround him!"
More Chinese players rushed in.
Nyx spread Polar Night wide and shoved the nearest enemies back with force.
Their formation remains unbroken.
"All the better."
The more the Chinese players fixated on me, the more their defensive line would fall apart.
They intended to finish me quickly and then deal with my minions, but would their plan really work?
"Let's go, Goddess."
Leave your back to me.
I shook the tightening Chinese encirclement once more.
* * *
Chinese players surrounded me on all sides.
With venom in their eyes, they slowly tightened the noose.
"We'll keep the ppang-jeu pinned here."
"Bind his feet and we'll catch him in no time."
With so many of them, escaping the encirclement after closing in was nearly impossible.
Not that I planned to retreat anyway.
Agile Hind Legs activated.
Cloud Flow Steps, Sprint, Agile Hind Legs, Swift Escape, Backstep—all my movement-related skills.
Sprint was a fusion of Agile Hind Legs and Swift Escape, yet both could still be used separately.
"Properly surround him!"
After piercing through their ranks with an explosive leap, I showed them my back and used Swift Escape to widen the distance.
A sharp pain stabbed at my crown.
The moment my sixth sense warned me, lightning flashed from above.
Just before a bolt thick as a pine tree could fall, I activated Fierce Charge and rushed the nearest player.
"How could a ppang-jeu possibly understand the mysteries of Taiji?"
The Chinese player's hands moved like soft mollusks.
Claiming softness defeats hardness, he tried to redirect my force with Taiji Fist.
The essence of Taiji was using the opponent's power against them and keeping the target of the strike unpredictable.
Thousand Eyes
The opponent's movements become visible.
Thousand Eyes let me see every tiny muscle twitch.
Combined with my combat experience, it produced an effect close to precognition.
His openings were glaringly obvious.
Right before collision, I shifted my charge angle slightly and drove into the gap in his Taiji stance.
"How?!"
"Guess that fancy martial art isn't all-powerful after all?"
My fist slipped between his arms and struck his abdomen.
Completely exposed, the player couldn't withstand the blow and turned to dust.
Shwaaaak!
At that moment, attacks rained down on my back.
Slow
Hold Person
Debuff skills that activated instantly on a designated target.
My legs felt like they were weighed down with lead—I couldn't move.
Even movement skills like Backstep were sealed.
By the time I broke free, attacks would already be pounding my body.
Heh. Without this goddess, you can do nothing.
Polar Night surged from beneath my feet and deflected every magic attack raining toward my back.
Thud-thud-thud— the deflected spells shook the ground.
Through the rising smoke, the Chinese players charged.
"Hup."
After reading the curse's wavelength with Thousand Eyes, I channeled inner energy into my feet and unraveled the mana pattern.
My legs were free again.
The slowing curse still clung to my body, but it no longer hindered me much.
Heavenly Chain Strike
Shield Bash
Projectile Technique
Inner-energy-infused attacks slammed into me all at once.
I twisted the spear's trajectory with Blood Claw Technique and took one step forward.
The attacks drew closer.
Unless they targeted vital points, I ignored them.
A razor-sharp blade tip struck my collarbone.
A sharp pain jolted through me and my posture wavered, but I mitigated the impact with inner energy.
I deflected the incoming staff with Fierce Tiger Blood Claw, dodged the dagger aimed at my neck from a hidden angle, and drove my claws into the attacker's throat with the second form.
"Krrk, kgh."
That resentful expression.
You tried the same trick yourself.
Thorn Carapace durability fully consumed.
Cannot regenerate carapace on that area for 1 minute.
Thorn Carapace durability 7% consumed…
One hand cannot block ten.
Deflecting every incoming attack was impossible.
Moreover, most close-combat players had trained in martial arts, making their strikes even more powerful.
Martial arts lacked endurance, but their raw power was nothing to scoff at.
Attacks targeted the broken sections of my carapace.
Swish!
Wounds began to accumulate one after another.
How dare they lay hands on this goddess's contractor!
Polar Night spread wide like a tidal wave.
"Nyx, focus the power."
If you remain surrounded, you will be in danger.
"Ignore minor damage."
Even if an arm flew off.
Even if a chunk of my thigh was torn away.
As long as my body could still move, I could fight.
Right now, my goal wasn't to defeat all ninety Chinese players.
The victory condition was simply to endure.
In that case—
Showing them just how sharp my fangs were would be most effective.
As you wish.
Nyx's voice sank with sudden calm.
The power of Polar Night split into multiple strands and twisted into spiral forms.
This goddess shall teach those who wounded her contractor the weight of their sin through equivalent pain.
Polar Night completely dominated the space.
Moving freely from every angle, it targeted the vital points of the Chinese players.
"It's the ppang-jeu's sorcery—don't be afraid!"
"Don't be deceived by illusions. Push forward…"
Puak!
After wounding a close-range dealer, Polar Night split into dozens of strands and took root inside his body.
"Kuaaaaaargh!"
You call this goddess's power sorcery?
"Th-this level of pain from the Tower?!"
Tremble. This night is this goddess herself!
The rampaging power of Polar Night.
I nearly forgot we were in battle, entranced by the wavelength of power Nyx wielded.
If my control of Polar Night was at the level of a toddler's first steps,
then Nyx's mastery was that of an Olympic sprinter.
The gap in skill was that vast!
Chinese Twin Guardian Tower A has collapsed.
Chinese Twin Guardian Tower B has collapsed.
The barrier protecting the Dominion Crystal has vanished. Direct attacks are now possible.
While most Chinese players were clustered around me, two towers had fallen.
My allies were performing better than expected.
I had bought as much time as possible with the swamp reinforced by Grace of Greed.
"Ignore the ppang-jeu and clean up the minions!"
Ping Lei screamed.
But entering was easy—leaving was not.
I activated the Rage of the Evil Spirit I had been saving.
Since the skill effects did not overlap, my stats surged even higher.
Some Chinese players turned away from me toward the Dominion Crystal.
I couldn't allow that.
Provocation
The players who had been running turned their gazes toward me by force.
A brief opening.
That was enough.
I activated Cloud Flow Steps and Sprint simultaneously.
A blue line swept across the battlefield and struck the player trying to escape.
Blood Claw Technique, First Form—Fierce Tiger Blood Claw.
Bang! Kwaang!
My body shuddered from repeated impacts.
A gap created by moving too forcefully.
Attacks poured into my completely exposed back, shattering Thorn Carapace entirely.
Partner, your back…
"It's bearable."
Thanks to Rage of the Evil Spirit, movement wasn't impaired.
In the Age of Destruction, I had suffered far worse injuries.
"Yu Jinhooooo!"
With a roar, a player burst forward.
Ping Lei charged, even using Reverse Blood Qi Art.
This might be difficult.
Even with Regeneration, Earth Mother's Blessing, and the life-steal effect from Rage of the Evil Spirit all active,
my breath came in ragged gasps and my entire body creaked.
One Ping Lei would have been manageable.
But the other Chinese players coordinated their attacks as well.
"Looks like I'll have to stake my life on this. Are you ready, Goddess?"
I am nearing my limit, but I can at least share your final moments.
"Good."
I grinned.
Moments later, long cracks spread across the surface of China's glowing red Dominion Crystal.