Thunder-Chasing Footwork
So you had a plan all along? (3) EP.78 Thunder-Chasing Footwork
“That bastard definitely has the flag! Catch him and kill him!”
“He’s damn fast!”
Hundreds of players with half-rolled eyes screamed at the top of their lungs as they chased me with murderous intent. Every time I got close enough to grab, I pulled away; every time they thought they could reach me, I slipped further. It was only because I still had some mana left that I hadn’t collapsed mid-technique and been caught long ago.
Kwaaaang—!!!
Every time lightning flashed, the dark ground lit up like a flashbang before plunging back into darkness. The raindrops grew heavier, and the lightning strikes came faster. I could even see small hail-like pellets starting to fall—Namgung Cheonho’s periodic flame cannon fire had completely wrecked the weather.
‘About once a minute?’
Another flash tore across the darkened sky. I gripped the sword I already carried and the one Han Gamin had given me, then sprinted nonstop toward the lake where the fishmen had been hiding.
Over the past few days, Han Gamin and I had scoured the field and discovered all sorts of locations. One of them was this massive lake that felt almost like cheating, and the fishmen had naturally set up camp there, defending their position.
‘A head-on fight would be hopeless.’
I couldn’t gauge exactly how much stronger the fishmen had become, but they must have built near-perfect defenses before attacking. Once they seized the lake, they had probably steamrolled through other coordinates, snatching flags one after another.
Shwaaa! Splash! Splash!
The ground beneath my feet grew softer, turning into muddy terrain. That was proof I was getting closer to the water. Soon I reached the lake, where the fishmen stood on guard, staring in my direction at the noise.
“Halt!”
“Where did this guy come from…”
But their stern vigilance shattered in an instant. An unexpected crowd was following right behind me. They might have expected night wanderers from each coordinate to prowl around the lake, but they never imagined this many people appearing all at once.
“R-report to the upper ranks! We’re under attack!”
One fishman’s face went pale as he stared at me with grim eyes. He probably thought I had deliberately led the horde of players here. But the players chasing me finally sensed something was wrong and began slowing down sharply.
“Something’s off.”
“Everyone stop! This is the lake!”
They knew the fishmen had claimed the lake and were steadily stealing flags. Every night, the wanderers had swarmed here like mad, and the fishmen hadn’t left the area even once during the entire time. There was no way they didn’t know.
“Damn it! When did they get this far in?”
Still, they had been so focused on chasing me that they hadn’t had time to look around. Some might have noticed the strange atmosphere, but with so many pursuers, there hadn’t been enough time to spread the warning.
Players who finally came to their senses began stopping from the front. However, these people weren’t well-trained soldiers who could cleanly relay an order to retreat.
Among the groups that had reached the third floor, this coordinate boasted the largest numbers. And my wish to lure them all in for a single decisive strike was about to begin with the sword I was now driving into the ground.
Thud!
The ground was soft enough that the blade sank in more easily than expected.
‘Will this work?’
Han Gamin’s sword would serve as the lightning rod. The ground was thoroughly soaked, and with the heavy rain, water had pooled on the surface.
On Earth, in northwestern Venezuela, there was a river called Catatumbo. It was said to have the most lightning strikes in the world—averaging 280 bolts per hour. That place had far more active lightning than here. But its climate was similar to this one: humid air, strong updrafts, dense trees narrowing the passages so air circulated rapidly. On top of that, Namgung Cheonho was still firing flame cannons outside, so the conditions were only getting worse.
Flash!
Lightning struck the sky again. The problem was that it didn’t hit exactly where I wanted. That was precisely why I had come here—to guide the lightning.
Shing!
I drew the sword. From the lake, the fishmen poked their heads out of the water to glare at me. The players who had followed me seemed to think I had nowhere left to run and adjusted their grips on their weapons.
“Hoo…”
I took a deep breath of the damp air, then dashed toward the tallest nearby tree without hesitation.
Pat-pat!
“He’s climbing the tree!”
Someone’s shout reached my ears from behind. But because I had poured almost all my remaining mana into the footwork, the distance widened in an instant. I kept my eyes forward, feet moving only toward the treetop.
Crack! Zzzap!
I finally reached the top. The last branch I kicked off snapped with a loud sound. My view opened up to a vast sea of forest and the pitch-black storm clouds gathered directly above us.
“Quite the crowd.”
Whether they thought this was the final battle or not, even groups that weren’t the fishmen or my original pursuers began gathering. Perfect for me.
Even through the rain, I could feel the hair on my head standing on end—probably from the discharge building in the clouds.
‘Feels like I’ve become the god of thunder.’
Rumble…!
Ignoring the distant thunder, I raised the sword above my head. A famous hammer-wielding character from a superhero movie that once dominated theaters came to mind. Of course, I couldn’t shoot lightning at will or recall thrown weapons with my hand, but that didn’t matter right now. What mattered was my calculation that lightning would strike above me within twenty seconds.
‘20… 19……’
The final ten seconds. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cold object I had never used before.
◈ Increases wielder’s Mana by Lv.3
◈ Chilling Shield (B) available
◈ Ice Spear (B+) available
◈ Increases affinity with cold-attribute beings
◈ Increases hostility from fire-attribute beings
“Ice Spear!”
Ice lances similar to those the Knight of Frost had used in the individual match began forming in the air. As the cold started freezing the surrounding air, I didn’t hesitate—I hurled the sharp ice spears in every direction.
Crack-crack!
Frost formed wherever the spears landed, freezing the air. Humidity dropped rapidly in those spaces as moisture crystallized. After throwing about eight spears around me—
Flash!
‘Chilling Shield!’
Almost at the same moment I threw the sword skyward and activated the skill, a brilliant flash erupted above. Lightning split the sky. What I had done was create a path so the lightning would reach the sword Han Gamin had planted in the ground. The first guide was my own sword; the second was the frozen air that slowed the movement of electrical charges.
ZZZZZZZT—!!!
The lightning bolt that grazed past me followed the artificial path I had made and struck downward. It happened in the blink of an eye. When I came to my senses, I saw countless players collapsing to the ground, starting from the sword I had driven into the earth.
Crackle…! Zap…!
“Ugh… c-crazy……”
Thud.
One player, smoke rising from his body even in the rain, rolled his eyes and collapsed. A single strike had reduced most of my pursuers to ash. But for the fishmen as well, the sudden event was nothing short of a bolt from the blue. Only a few fishmen with strong endurance who had managed to raise protective barriers deep underwater survived, and even that was close to total annihilation.
Glub glub…
One surviving fishman, still enduring the tingling sensation, poked his head out of the water. A man was wandering around searching for something. The one who had soared into the sky and returned to the ground picked up a flag lying nearby with a wide grin.
“Still feels electrifying…”
The flag in the muttering man’s hand disappeared naturally. That meant the people in his coordinate had grown even stronger.
‘Is it over…’
They had already been difficult enough to handle. If they had grown stronger, there was no longer any chance of victory. The only option left was to hold the flag at the lake and endure until that man destroyed every other coordinate.
The field will finally collapse.
This area is designated as a collapse zone.
And the sky was truly not on their side. I had hoped the shrinking field might make the lake the final battlefield, but unfortunately, no such miracle occurred.
The fishman dove quickly toward the lakebed to report what he had seen and heard. He needed to escape without being noticed by the man. But at that moment, an incomprehensible shout echoed from behind.
— …No!!! This isn’t right!!!
The voice of the man who had dropped lightning on the field reached him faintly through the water’s vibrations. Something had clearly gone wrong. Then the fishman saw a message appear before his eyes and realized the truth.
The Constellations had granted the fishmen an advantage and the man an unfair disadvantage—all for their own amusement.
Numerous Constellations are amazed by one player’s wit.
The field’s collapse zone has been changed.
A sudden change of plans, and then—
You have left the collapse zone.
The final battlefield had, miraculously, become the lake.