125. Finals (4)
“Hup!”
HunGyo exploded the energy coursing through his entire body.
Along with the blazing heat erupting from within, an astonishingly fast flurry of sword strikes unfolded.
Clangclangclangclang!
The sound of HunGyo’s sword colliding with the claws of the Yellow Dragon and White Tiger!
—Krrgh!
Of course, their power was overwhelming, so he had no choice but to be pushed back.
Even so, HunGyo did not give up. Maintaining his concentration, he held off their attacks.
‘A little faster.’
Kwa-gwagwagwag!
HunGyo began forcing his internal energy into overdrive.
‘Think of them as a Tower of Trials boss.’
Rachel’s official record was clearing the 50th floor of the Tower of Trials.
That meant the combined assault of those two had to be considered even stronger than a 50th-floor boss.
Once he thought of it that way, there really seemed to be no answer.
Maybe it would have been different if Lamba’s stacks had been fully built up, but they were not.
—Hwaaaap!
HunGyo shouted as he exerted himself.
Clangclangclangclang!
The metallic crashes grew even faster.
‘I can’t just keep blocking forever.’
He had to find the rhythm.
Even while defending, he had to constantly search for openings in the enemy’s attacks, and the instant he saw a vital point, he had to immediately send his energy flying.
And then, at that moment.
Slice!
HunGyo’s sword cut off one of White Tiger’s whiskers.
Khuoooaaaar!
Enraged, White Tiger stopped attacking and let out a thunderous roar.
‘Ha.’
HunGyo inwardly lamented.
The same went for the Yellow Dragon, and for White Tiger as well.
Every time they let out a cry, it felt like his whole body was stiffening. That roar almost felt stronger than their normal attacks.
“.....You’re holding up better than I expected.”
Rachel’s expression darkened.
She knew it too.
If she left Baek Jinwoo alone over there, the attack speed of that scythe-wielding Grim Reaper would only get faster.
She had known for a long time what kind of summon the Wind Fairy was.
‘How am I supposed to stop this?’
Rachel had been going all out for a while now.
She had let White Tiger move on instinct, while controlling the Yellow Dragon with extreme concentration.
‘Of course.’
She had tried not to use her skills unless absolutely necessary.
She needed to conserve MP if she wanted to unleash them all at once when she faced Baek Jinwoo head-on.
‘Even so.’
It was just too strange that a mere E-rank summon could block the combined assault of two S-rank summons like that.
Besides, wasn’t the Training Instructor originally a summon specialized only for training?
As far as she knew, its innate power was not supposed to be that strong.
Kwa-gwagwagwagwag!
The Yellow Dragon’s headbutts, tail swipes, and claw strikes.
None of them could get through to HunGyo.
He looked like he was being pushed back, yet every time he suddenly launched an attack into a gap, it sent a chill down her spine.
At this point, she could not afford to keep saving her skills.
Glance.
When she looked into the distance, Baek Jinwoo and the Wind Fairy were visible at the edge of her sight.
About halfway between them sat the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer, gathering energy.
She could not delay any longer.
“Okay, I’ll admit it.”
Rachel slowly nodded as she watched HunGyo desperately hold them off.
“You’re a summon that’s almost on the level of S-rank.”
She did not know why.
But that summon called the Training Instructor was one that had once been deleted in an old balance patch.
And the current God Ji-nu possessed it.
That meant he was anything but ordinary.
“White Tiger.”
Swish.
As Rachel raised her hand, the atmosphere of the energy filling the entire area began to change rapidly.
-Khuooooooaar!
Along with another deafening roar!
Grim Reaper, White Tiger - Divine Beast Possession (Activation).
With white energy surging from its body, White Tiger’s size began to grow much larger.
“You can consider it an honor. This is the first time I’ve ever had to go this far against a mere summon.”
Divine Beast Possession was a self-buff secret technique.
It instantly doubled its stats and even increased the range of its basic attacks.
And that meant?
The claws that originally could not reach.
Kwaddeuddeudeuk!
Had now started reaching HunGyo’s body. And they were much stronger and much faster.
Khuheoooong!
The gigantic White Tiger began to devour HunGyo.
* * *
- O-oh, this is an incredible exchange!
- It looks like Baek Jinwoo has currently moved back and is using a strategy of building stacks before detonating them all at once.
- That’s right. Judging by how the Wind Fairy is continuously swinging its staff, it seems to be trying to raise the attack speed of that scythe-wielding Grim Reaper!
- Hoo, then the key is going to be how long HunGyo can hold out, isn’t it?
- Even so, he’s holding on extremely well! Honestly, it’s miraculous! Most ordinary players struggle even against a single Yellow Dragon!
Kwa-gwagwagwag!
White Tiger tore through the space in front of it, smashing the ground and splitting the air.
HunGyo, who had now reached the limit of simply blocking, was dodging desperately for his life while blood poured from him in streams.
“Waaaah!”
“HunGyo! HunGo! HunGyo!”
“Hang in there, HunGyo…! Just a little longer!”
The people of South Korea were sweating nervously as they became completely absorbed in the match.
But.
Crunch!
When even the Yellow Dragon’s interference was added into the mix, he could not help but get hit.
- A-ah! White Tiger has bitten his left arm!
- Up until now it had only attacked with its claws, but this is the first time it has used its teeth!
—Kyaaaak!
HunGyo screamed.
White Tiger’s sharp fangs were already sunk properly into his left arm, leaving him unable to escape.
Drip, drip.
Bright red blood flowed down.
No matter how much HunGyo had been tempered through training, enduring that pain was not easy.
‘...Is this impossible after all?’
Still, he had already held out for nearly five minutes.
To last any longer here, the opponent was simply far too strong.
Creak.
Grinding his teeth, HunGyo tried to stab White Tiger in the eye with the sword in his right hand, but—
Clang!
The Yellow Dragon noticed it like a ghost and blocked it.
‘What should I do?’
Was there any way to buy even a little more time here?
There was only one.
He was somewhat reluctant to do it, but there was no other option now.
—Hwaaaaaaap!
With a shout, HunGyo decisively cut off his own left arm with the sword in his right hand.
There was not the slightest hesitation.
No matter what injury he suffered, it would all be healed the moment he was resummoned anyway, so it did not matter.
Puhwak!
Blood burst out, and HunGyo’s arm dangled inside White Tiger’s mouth.
- D-did HunGyo just cut off his own arm?
- That’s right. You can feel the tremendous resolve of this summon, determined to buy time no matter what.
- Unbelievable! How can such loyalty even be possible?
Ordinary players build affection with their summons through various methods in order to control them properly.
And if that affection is not sufficiently built up?
They may fail not only in battle, but even at proper control.
Affection is also related to loyalty as well...
- At that point, isn’t it basically max affection? No, beyond even that level?
- Right. Ordinary summons may obey their players well enough, but they’re not usually this self-sacrificing!
- Just how on earth did he raise it...! In any case, this is an incredibly enviable moment!
Even the commentators were in shock.
“Waaah.......”
“That’s actually possible?”
“...You’re seriously so cool, HunGyo.”
“At that point, isn’t he basically an independence fighter?”
Even the audience, who had been cheering with desperate hearts, could not help but marvel.
HunGyo, enduring and buying time for the player’s victory by any means necessary, was not just cool anymore. He was downright lovable.
“I almost fell for a summon just now. No, I already did.”
“That’s enough. You really did well, HunGyo!”
“HunGyo! HunGyo! HunGyo!”
Everyone watched HunGyo with one heart and one mind. They cheered on his path with all their hearts.
Tap, tatat!
With graceful hand movements, HunGyo sealed the pressure points in his left arm and ran to the right.
‘Now I really can’t win. I have to hold out as long as possible.’
You could tell just by looking at Rachel’s expression over there. Beyond shock, it was now tinged with impatience!
She would probably start forcing out her skills more recklessly now.
“.......”
In truth, Rachel was extremely flustered.
‘A summon cutting off its own arm of its own will, not by control?’
Ah.
‘I was arrogant.’
HunGyo was throwing himself into this battle that desperately.
And yet?
She had been conserving her strength, thinking ahead to her battle with God Ji-nu.
Even though this was a situation where she absolutely could not afford to give him time.
‘Get a hold of yourself, Rachel.’
She reflected on her own arrogance.
Even now, it was not too late.
She had to kill HunGyo as quickly as possible and go after God Ji-nu.
If she was truly any late, she might actually lose!
Swoosh.
She stretched out her hand.
Then another summon appeared.
Mermaid (A-rank).
A water-attribute summon she had brought along in case the Explosive Dragon Sorcerer’s overpowering strength became a problem.
‘What was that Explosive Dragon Sorcerer again... Devour, was it? That skill got balance patched, didn’t it?’
An absurd latent skill that permanently increased destructive power.
She had brought this summon in consideration of the possibility that Baek Jinwoo had learned it, to neutralize it even a little.
‘It was one of my hidden cards, but I’m using it first.’
Bubble, bubble.
As the female Mermaid raised her trident, a violent wave began forming along HunGyo’s escape route.
One of the Mermaid’s skills: Escape Route Blockade!
HunGyo’s face twisted at the immense flow of magic power before him.
An unknown force dragged at his body, and there, charging seriously toward him, were White Tiger and the Yellow Dragon.
So this was where it ended.
HunGyo lightly closed his eyes and poured all of his internal energy into his sword.
Yes.
‘Even if I’m going down, I’ll show them before I go.’
Let me unleash that martial art I learned diligently as I trained the other summons alongside my lord.
The name of the technique he had learned together with Resonance Demonic Art, which controlled energy with one’s life on the line, was none other than Heaven-Breaking Divine Art.
As the name suggested, it was a martial art meant to shatter those as strong and lofty as the heavens.
It was still incomplete, but it was also one of the martial arts he had originally been saving to teach Aso.
—Sssssup!
He drew in a breath, then stopped.
The sword infused with power slowly began to rise.
Shishishishishik!
Then it transformed into an absurdly fast blade.
Starting from HunGyo, sword strikes spread like a spiderweb, as if they would cut the world into countless pieces.
Thin, slender threads connect heaven and earth.
‘What is this!’
Rachel was horrified.
How could an E-rank summon release power with that kind of presence?!
It was so sharp and keen that even White Tiger, who had been charging fiercely, lowered its head and dropped its stance.
Kwa-gwagwagwagwag!
The Yellow Dragon enlarged its body and soared into the air to stop that force.
‘That’s a skill he’s using with one hand?’
Was that really a summon that had been on the verge of death?
Even while fighting him, Rachel felt wronged.
This had gone way, way beyond the line!
But.
Rachel was not someone who would be taken out at the stage of dealing with HunGyo before even fighting Baek Jinwoo.
“White Tiger!”
Khuheooong!
“We’re using it too!”
White Tiger nodded and began charging with a low roar.
One of White Tiger’s finishing techniques that consumed half of its MP.
Grim Reaper (Activation).
White Tiger - Massacre.
Pure white energy wrapped around White Tiger, and it began charging forward while outright ignoring the sword strikes HunGyo was unleashing.
As if it meant to bite his throat out before that skill could fully unfold!
But brilliant light was already streaming nonstop from HunGyo’s eyes.
In the end, it covers the universe.
The rising spiderweb-like sword strikes grew even larger and stronger.
And then.
Heaven-Breaking Divine Art, Secret Technique - World-Destroying.
A tremendous energy began to wrap around the entire stage.
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