Chapter 284: Power of the Upgrade 2
Nid watched Kilraden get killed and immediately tried to kill Junhyuk. Nid mounted all kinds of attacks on Junhyuk, and he ran toward Nid with his swords in hand.
Suddenly, Nid’s saw-bladed sword became translucent. Junhyuk had expected Nid to use his power, so when the enemy’s sword headed his way, he didn’t try to parry it, but focused on dodging it instead. Nid was using a wild sword technique, twisting it around multiple times as he aimed his strikes at Junhyuk.
However, champions of that level had similar skill levels. Kilraden’s dagger skills were similar to Junhyuk’s swordsmans.h.i.+p, which, in turn, was similar to Nid’s swordsmans.h.i.+p.
It was more difficult to dodge now than parry, and when Junhyuk evaded the critical hit, he seized the opportunity. Nid’s blade grazed his shoulder, and he took the chance to counter.
Nid had the power to make his weapon immaterial to other weapons, but that also meant that the champion couldn’t defend himself while using that power. Seizing that moment, Junhyuk counterattacked.
The Blood Rune Sword slashed Nid’s arm. Each had attacked the other, and both had avoided critical hits, so both Junhyuk and Nid lost 10 percent of their healths each.
However, Junhyuk recovered 2 percent of that in the process. Still, the situation wasn’t good. While paralyzed, he had lost 40 percent of his health. And prior to rescuing Gongon, he had taken Nid’s spinning attack and lost 30 percent. So, before the exchange, he only had 30 percent of his health in total.
He had just lost 10 percent and recovered 2 percent, which put him at 22 percent, but he was at a disadvantage.
Nid attacked him again, and Junhyuk gritted his teeth and teleported. Appearing behind Nid, Junhyuk successfully stabbed the back of the champion’s neck. The strike was a critical hit this time, and Nid lost 20 percent of his health. Junhyuk recovered another 4 percent, but he was not out of the wood yet.
After attacking Nid, Junhyuk retreated. Nid turned around while swinging his saw-bladed sword, which just missed Junhyuk, who heaved a sigh of relief. Junhyuk wanted to avoid all critical hits and slowly take down Nid.
Junhyuk pointed the Frozen Rune Sword forward, and Nid shouted and ran, swinging his saw-bladed sword. Junhyuk had been thinking that recovering his own health was the priority, but to win in a battle, he had to slow down his enemy.
Junhyuk dodged the flying saw-bladed sword and closed in, swinging the Frozen Rune Sword. He slashed Nid’s ribs and pa.s.sed him by, rolling on the ground ahead.
Clang, clang!
Nid’s sword pa.s.sed by where he had been standing and grazed the ground. Getting up, Junhyuk smiled. Nid had missed the most recent swing because his speed was debuffed.
Nid still had 63 percent of his health, however.
Junhyuk looked at Gongon and Aktur. Gongon had been grabbed by Kraken, who was twisting the hatchling’s limbs.
“Ugh! Octopus head! I’ll kill you!”
Gongon was losing health, and Junhyuk frowned at little. Kraken had also lost a lot of health, so things between the two would be coming to a close soon.
Because of that, Junhyuk decided to kill Nid as soon as possible, but the champion glared at him while swinging his sword at Junhyuk. Nid’s swordsmans.h.i.+p depended on his instincts, so the blade was wild and didn’t follow a regular path. It was the most difficult thing about dealing with the champion.
However, Junhyuk had his own sword skills to use and induce an opening on Nid. Seeing the blade coming toward him, Junhyuk used acceleration again. He watched as the two saw-bladed swords slowed down and learned, for sure, that he could use acceleration in the Dimensional Battlefield.
As the two swords converged on him, Junhyuk pa.s.sed between them and stabbed ahead with his own sword. Nid’s attack speed had been debuffed, so Junhyuk was able to close in with the stab, a critical hit.
Soon after, the acceleration wore out, but he had already been through it once, so he wasn’t surprised by it at all. Junhyuk raised his sword.
Clang!
Junhyuk parried the saw-bladed sword, taking a step back while smiling. Nid’s health had gone down to 43 percent, and his health had gone up to 30 percent. The upgraded Blood Rune Sword was dealing more damage, and naturally, when he attacked with it, he was recovering his health quicker.
And now, the Spatial Slash’s cooldown was almost over.
Junhyuk was about to ready his sword when he heard Gongon scream. Curious about what was happening, he looked around and saw Gongon slamming against the castle wall. After twisting him like a rag, Kraken threw Gongon at the castle. Seeing the archers shoot at the hatchling, Junhyuk frowned.
Gongon only had 15 percent of his health. If anything went wrong, Gongon would be killed by Kraken. Meanwhile, Kraken only had 10 percent of its health left, but Gongon was under attack from the archers.
Because Junhyuk was focused on what was happening to Gongon, Nid was able to slash his thigh even though Junhyuk dodged the brunt of the attack. The wound wasn’t the important part, however. Because of the injury, Junhyuk movements slowed down.
Nid smiled at him and swung his sword, which Junhyuk parried.
Clang!
Putting weight on his leg felt uncomfortable, so Junhyuk was pushed back. He grimaced and took some steps back to reposition his stance.
Nid was smiling with satisfaction and ran toward him, swinging his sword. Junhyuk threw himself forward and used the Spatial Slash. While running toward Junhyuk, Nid’s mouth hung wide, and the champion lost all of his health.
[You’ve killed Nid and earned 3,000G.]
Junhyuk sighed and lowered his sword. Turning around, he saw Kraken attacking Gongon. Kraken was ignoring attacks from Aktur and joining the archers in taking down Gongon, who was losing health quickly, instead.
Gongon was dodging Kraken’s tentacles, while swinging his tail at Kraken. The tail strike dealt the octopus a surprising amount of damage, and Kraken was gone.
[Gongon killed Kraken.]
However, the archers had been concentrating their arrows on the hatchling, who started disappearing.
“Gon!”
Stuck through with arrows, Gongon fell and said only one sentence, “End it now.”
He disappeared, and Junhyuk gritted his teeth. Gongon had died because Kilraden had pressured him in the beginning. If the a.s.sa.s.sin had attacked Gongon while hiding, the hatchling would’ve died even sooner.
Realizing that, Junhyuk shuddered at Kilraden’s capacity, turning to Aktur, who had 50 percent of his health left.
“Let’s destroy the wall at once!”
“Right.”
The enemy champions were all dead, so the archers weren’t buffed anymore. It was time to take the wall down. Junhyuk grabbed one of the bodies of the lizardmen and used it as a s.h.i.+eld to block the arrows from above while he pounded at the wall. The gate was strong, but the two champions could break through it.
When they finally did, Junhyuk threw the corpse of the lizardman covered in arrows away, heading up the wall to kill the archers. After doing so, Junhyuk was breathing heavily when he asked, “What do we do now?”
“How much health do you have?”
He frowned and answered, “I have 45 percent.”
“You can gain more, right?”
“When Kilraden revives, he could kill us both.”
Considering Kilraden’s powers and damage capability, he could end the two champions.
“If we find ourselves in danger, we can always run. Any damage we do to the castle will help us,” Aktur said calmly.
Junhyuk nodded and said, “Let’s go. Watch out for your health as you fight.”
He took the lead, and Aktur followed him. Junhyuk decided he would strike first, but he saved his defensive power just in case. He ran and used the Spatial Slash.
Crack!
There was no such thing as a critical hit against a giant golem. The golem didn’t have a weak spot, and the damage wasn’t very high. But, he had to decide things before their enemies revived, so Junhyuk went all out.
After the Spatial Slash, he closed in, and three skeleton soldiers followed him, Aktur’s power. It was the appropriate time to use them to help their efforts. Junhyuk slowed down, and the soldiers went in first, which made the golem focus on them.
Junhyuk wanted to debuff the giant golem, so he attacked with the Frozen Rune Sword, slas.h.i.+ng the golem’s leg. As he did, he dove forward and dodged the golem’s attacks.
The skeleton soldiers had grabbed the golem’s attention, but one of them had already been destroyed. Then, Aktur ran ahead, raising his claw-like nails, and attacked. By the time the golem toppled over from their joint attacks, Kilraden reappeared from within the castle’s force field.
Kilraden was thinking, and they could see him. The a.s.sa.s.sin was worried because he couldn’t see how much health the allies had, and he was trying to figure out how he would deal with two champions at the same time.
Junhyuk had wanted to kill the golem before Kilraden had made up his mind, but before that could happen, Kilraden left the force field and disappeared.
Junhyuk ran toward Aktur, touched him and teleported as quickly as possible. Kilraden appeared where he had been standing, and with a rare smile on his face, he disappeared again. Knowing he had to wait for the Spatial Slash, Junhyuk frowned.
“Run!”
The giant golem was rus.h.i.+ng toward them, but the allies were faster. However, they couldn’t see Kilraden, which meant the a.s.sa.s.sin had to be hiding.
Junhyuk was weighing his options. He could raise the force field, but if he didn’t, they would have to keep running until Kilraden reappeared. However, he didn’t have to worry for long.
“Argh!”
Aktur, who had been running next to him, screamed and fell.
[Kilraden killed Aktur.]
Junhyuk could withstand Kilraden’s critical hit, but Aktur was killed in a single hit, and he realized things had gone from bad to worse.
Junhyuk swung his sword at him, but Kilraden didn’t make to dodge it, and that’s when he realized the a.s.sa.s.sin was going to use his counterattack, so Junhyuk teleported.
As Kilraden’s dagger tore through the empty air, Junhyuk slashed the a.s.sa.s.sin’s neck from the back. It was a critical hit, and Kilraden lost 25 percent of his health. Junhyuk had dealt more damage than before with a regular attack due to the Blood Rune Sword’s upgraded damage.
Kilraden teleported, and Junhyuk, without hesitation, raised his force field. Kilraden was suddenly bounced off of it, but Junhyuk ignored him and ran toward the golem.
He could always deal with the enemy after the golem had gone down, so he ran toward it, and the golem ran toward him, but the golem couldn’t get through the force field. As Junhyuk watched the golem pound the force field, he focused on it and felt the living spirit connect to it. As he did, he pushed his will toward the living spirit, and it responded by decreasing the radius of the force field and changing its shape. Then, Junhyuk attacked the golem ferociously.
The giant golem was going down slowly, and Junhyuk turned around. Kilraden was there, and he couldn’t allow the a.s.sa.s.sin to return to the castle’s force field. However, he didn’t have enough health to fight Kilraden head-on. Junhyuk had 50 percent of his health, and Kilraden had 75 percent.
Kilraden could only teleport once more, and Junhyuk’s Spatial Slash came off cooldown. He had used it at the beginning of the battle with the golem, so enough time had pa.s.sed. Also, because his sword had been upgraded, it was possible that he would be able to kill the champion with one hit. So, Junhyuk readied himself, and Kilraden did the same while holding his dagger.
“You won’t get there.”