Chapter 217: Power Activation 1
He ran through the emptiness without end following the light and opened his eyes, exhaling roughly.
"Huck!"
He felt his chest open, grimaced and murmured, "s.h.i.+t, Jean Clo."
He felt the same way every time he died, and it was not something he wanted to feel. The endless emptiness always left a scar behind on his soul. Even if his soul grew with each scar, he did not like it.
Junhyuk shook his head and looked around. The display said 170,760G. He had accrued more than ever before, which, to him, was a type of consolation. Junhyuk laughed at himself and then slapped himself to pull himself together.
[You"ve died once. You have four revives left on this battlefield.]
"I know. I don"t want to experience that again."
It was the first time in a long time that he used one of his revives. Junhyuk exhaled deeply and stepped forward.
[You may exit through the main doors.]
He walked toward the exit. Junhyuk had been killed once, but he was not giving up.
[Champion Junhyuk Lee deployed.]
He opened the door to meet the others who were waiting there. Artlan grimaced, and Junhyuk laughed.
"You got killed as well?"
"But we"ve killed Jean Clo. The second tower will be destroyed."
"Good to know."
"What happened to Regina. Didn"t she come to the castle?"
"Halo and Nudra came, so she ran away."
Junhyuk recognized that Regina acted wisely, but they had lost Regina nearby, which meant she could attack the castle any time she chose to.
"What are you going to do?"
"We"ll push hard when we get the opportunity. Now, both teams are in the same condition."
They had destroyed both towers on the lower path, so their side could advance to the castle through it. With both teams under similar conditions, a new battle was about to start.
"What about the castle?"
"We"ll operate in the same way we"ve been up to now."
If he had to use the return stone continuously, he would incur a monetary loss. It did cost 500G to recharge.
"Should I go with you?"
"Yes," Artlan said with his arm around Junhyuk"s shoulder. "This time we"ll destroy their castle."
"Right."
Each side had made their move on the other, and the allies wouldn"t be pushed around. He went with Artlan and meets Halo, Nudra and Sarang. Eunseo was still standing on castle wall.
Artlan smiled at Sarang.
"You did well."
"I had no other choice. I can"t fight Regina."
He nodded and looked at the group.
"We"ve destroyed the second tower on the lower path. I thought it would be hard for Vera and Diane to go to castle, so I told them to go to buff-monster hunting. Once we join them, we"ll push through and attack."
"What about this place?"
Artlan touched Sarang"s shoulder and said, "I leaving it in your care."
"Don"t worry."
Junhyuk was relieved with that decision. If she stayed in the castle, she wouldn"t be in danger, and even if the danger came, she could send a message, and the heroes would come. It was the safest place.
Artlan"s eyes sparkled.
"We won"t take the minions."
"Won"t it be dangerous?"
"The minions will slow us down. We are now fighting time as well."
"Right. Let"s move."
Junhyuk"s movement speed was comparable to the heroes", so he wouldn"t slow them down.
They went out of the castle and ran at full speed. Since they could kill a buff monster with just two heroes, their groups task was to push to the castle.
Junhyuk could smell his own breath as he ran. He had never run so fast.
They ran for a while until they regrouped with Vera and Diane, who had killed the Gale Queen Harpy. At that point, Vera walked over and bearhugged Junhyuk.
"You got killed because of me!"
"I only did what I had to do."
He raised his head from between her bosom, and she tapped his helmet lightly.
"Now, let"s move?"
"Let"s."
The group headed to the castle. There were no ambush, and they arrived there safely with their enemies waiting for them.
Junhyuk realized they were missing a hero, "Regina is missing."
"She must be looking for an opportunity."
Junhyuk hesitated and asked, "Can we return while fighting?"
"No, you can"t return in the middle of combat."
"So, what if Regina attacks the castle while we are fighting?"
"What do you want to do?"
"It"ll be best if one hero refrains from fighting. That person can go stop Regina if necessary."
"No. Everyone will fight. If Regina shows up, one of us will retreat and then return."
"Sure."
Junhyuk smacked his lips and looked at the enemy camp. The allies would be fighting without any minions. Although, minions weren"t much help. When Junhyuk stepped forward, he would sweep through all enemy minions in a single breath.
Jean Clo and Bater stepped forward from their camp, Artlan said, "Junhyuk Lee."
"Yes?"
"Without their archers, we will win."
The allies had more heroes, and Junhyuk understood what Artlan had meant.
"Then, I will return."
"You?"
Junhyuk nodded.
"Even if Regina shows up, I can deal with her."
"Surely, you can deal with her."
"Isn"t that enough?"
Artlan took a moment to think and nodded.
"OK. Use your Spatial Slash on the archers and at other important moments then retreat."
"Sure."
They had decided what to do, so there was no more need to worry. Artlan and Halo stepped forward, and Nudra was covered by the Rising Dragon while moving.
Jean Clo and Artlan clashed while Junhyuk ran. The five heroes had moved at the same time, so the enemies had no time to pay attention to Junhyuk. He knew that, so he ran. The archers were buffed and releasing their arrows, but Junhyuk used the Spatial Slash to surprise attack them.
It was important aim for the center with the Spatial Slash. The shockwave generated swept through the surroundings, and half of the archers were gone.
He retreated. THe battle was already very intense.
Jean Clo chokeslammed Artlan, and Bater rushed on Halo. They fought fiercely, and Junhyuk stood next to Vera.
When Nudra attacked Bater, all of the allies focused on him as well. They had the superior firepower, and Bater was quickly losing health. If things continued, the allies would win by a large margin. However, at that moment, the summoned Kasha shouted, "Regina is here!"
Junhyuk frowned and looked at Artlan. While fighting, his eyes met Junhyuk"s, and he nodded as if to say it was OK for Junhyuk to leave. Junhyuk extended his hands toward Vera.
"I will go protect the castle."
"Do it."
That place was extremely chaotic, but even without Junhyuk, the allies would win. On the other hand, the castle stood little chance without him.
Junhyuk raised the force field around Vera, and from inside it, he returned. The force field protected him from all attacks, so his return couldn"t be cancelled. Junhyuk felt bad that he couldn"t help the heroes, but his priority at that moment was to protect the castle.
Once there, he kicked the doors and exited the little room.
He was running, and he saw Sarang and Eunseo on the castle wall. They couldn"t go outside, so he went up to see an infantry of riflemen heading toward them.
"Did Regina escape with the riflemen last time?"
"They had dispersed, so they must"ve regrouped."
There were only thirty of them, but they could attack the archers.
The Spatial Slash was still on cooldown, and Regina commanded the riflemen to attack, while she pounded at the gate herself.
"I can"t let her smash through the entrance."
Junhyuk inhaled deeply and jumped down from the wall. He started running as soon as he landed, but even if he ran as fast as he could, he wouldn"t be able to get away from Regina. She had natural speed buffs.
Junhyuk ran at the riflemen and swung his sword. His attack swept through the riflemen who were attacking the archers on the wall. The shock wave erased them forever.
Then, he stopped and looked at Regina. She glanced at him once and turned to pound at the gate. The archers couldn"t do much damage without the buff, and Regina knew it, so she ignored them and worked on the gate.
"Do you want me to come to you?"
Without thinking twice, Junhyuk ran. If the gate fell, the allies" victory would be in jeopardy, and the following enemy attack would be even more dangerous.
Regina was still working on the gate when he closed in. However, she had been watching his approach and fired at him.
Junhyuk teleported next to her to escape from the attack. Then, aiming for her head, he swung his sword. Regina blocked it with her cutla.s.s, and he quickly swung the Frozen Rune Sword at her thigh in response. However, she blocked that as well, with her pistol that time. She was extremely skilled with both of her weapons and as much of a dual wielder as he was.
Regina fired her pistol, and he retreated, but she went after him, swinging her cutla.s.s and firing her pistol.
He swung his dual swords, but she easily deflected his attacks and pressured him. She was winning. He couldn"t touch her with his swords. It felt like she knew where he would be attacking and defended perfectly.
However, she could reach him with the pistol. He had already been shot in the thigh and lost 5 percent of his health.
At the same time however, when he got shot, Regina let her guard down when she shot him, and when he saw the opening, he sliced her with the Frozen Rune sword on the ankle. He got lucky enough to cut her twice, stacking two debuffs on her. Then, he distanced himself.
Regina laughed at him.
"You think you can run away from me?"
Regina boosted her speed and went after him again. At the same time, Junhyuk cut his palm three times with Blood Rune Sword.
[You"ve been sliced by the Blood Rune Sword three times, causing a 30 percent increase to your attack speed and a 15 percent increase to your movement speed.]
He felt himself losing health and shouted, "Heal me!"
Sarang extended her hands and cast her magic on him. Even the injury on his leg was healed, and he smiled at Regina.
"You got slower, and I got faster. Let"s rumble."