Chapter 90: A New Hero 2
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Junhyuk gulped and stared at Bater and his absurd arms. His looks resembled Minota"s in regards to strength and physical fitness. In the team battle, he would be the leader of his team, and Artlan would lead his. He seemed focused on attacking, so he didn"t seem as st.u.r.dy as Minota or Grangsha.
What type of a hero is Bater?
He kept staring as Bater spoke to Artlan.
"You may receive help from those children standing behind you," Bater said.
"If you are strong enough," Artlan replied.
Bater exhaled the cigar smoke for a long time and asked:
"Then, shall we begin?"
Bater ran forward. He wasn"t using his powers. He wanted to test his opponent"s strength first, so he punched at Artlan.
Clung!
Artlan swung against Bater"s fist and took a step back. It became obvious that Bater had strength superior to Artlan"s, but Artlan parried and counterattacked.
Artlan"s swordsmans.h.i.+p was astoundingly fast and free. As he attacked, Bater went on defense from time to time. The thing was that his fists were so big that just by swinging them he was able to block Artlan"s attacks. Each of them was more effective than Grangsha"s s.h.i.+eld, and he had two of them. He was more dangerous than expected.
They fought at close range, but then they moved a fair distance apart. They stared into each other"s eyes, and Bater grinned.
"You"re not just trash talk."
Bater looked at his mechanical fist. It was full of of small scratch marks, so he knew how strong Artlan"s saber was. Then, he hit his fits against each other and said:
"Now, let"s fight for real!"
Without using their powers, they had had a taste of each other. Bater had more strength, and Artlan moved faster than him. Now, it was time for them to check out each other"s powers. Between them, there was a distance of about fifty feet. Both of them would be able to use his own power against the other.
Artlan never waited to be attacked, so he jumped in the air and dropped on Bater. Bater hadn"t expected him to attack first, but he laughed and lifted both arms to block.
Clung!
Simply swinging a sword was different from swinging while using powers, but each time one used his power, he had to wait for the cooldown, so using powers was not necessarily advantageous.
And Bater was blocking the attacks with his arms, so he wasn"t that hurt. He took a few steps back, but soon, stepped forward with his fists in front of him.
Boom!
The clash generated a loud noise, different from before, and Artlan was thrown back. He was still blocking with his sabers, but it was obvious that he was hurt. He slid backward until he came to a stop, and Bater ran at him, laughing.
"Time to get hot!" Bater said.
He ran quickly and took a big step and punched at Artlan. With his huge fists, he threw a one-two combo.
Clung!
Because of the shock, Artlan was pushed back again. The shockwaves travelled through his sabers to his arm, and they felt like they were about to break. Bater was extremely strong.
This guy"s attack and defense are both at the highest level.
Artlan had thought he was the strongest hero among heroes who had advanced, but he realized he was weaker than Bater. He knew that from all the experience he had gained. He knew that the guy in front of him was slightly superior to him.
Artlan avoided attacking head-on and decided to attack him from the side. He felt like frontal attacks would have no meaning, so he decided for a hit-and-run approach, and Bater laughed at him.
"Are you scared?"
Bater lifted his fist sky high and slammed it against the ground.
Boom!
Shockwaves extended out of the impact zone in concentric circles, and Bater hit the ground again.
Boom!
The shockwaves travelled farther and farther. Artlan couldn"t escape, and Bater slammed the ground.
Boom!
Three shockwaves were created, reaching Artlan. Artlan staggered and retreated, while Junhyuk watched everything. Bater had created the shockwaves in concentric circles that covered sixty-five feet.
The first hit created a shockwave of sixteen feet in diameter; the second one had thirty-two feet in diameter; the last one reached sixty-five feet in diameter.
The attack covered a large area, and it was very dangerous. Bater could rush the allied position and use his power to inflict ma.s.sive casualties. He was that dangerous.
Junhyuk looked at Artlan. While Artlan staggered, Bater took the time to puff on his cigar before running at him.
"You"re all trash talk."
Bater yelled and tried to punch Artlan, but he moved. He was hurt by the shockwaves, but Artlan wouldn"t just sit there to get hit. He dodged the fist, got closer to Bater and slashed Bater"s ribs with his saber.
Bater had thought he was going to win and swung very wide with his last attack. The momentary mistake left him with a deep wound. He no longer held the advantage in that fight.
He had been winning after he used his power, but now he was losing. Bater stepped back, and Artlan looked at him and grinned.
"You"re not ready to claim victory yet."
"Right."
Bater was not hot-headed like Minota. Despite his heavy appearance, he was calm, and opponents like that were bothersome. Bater didn"t threaten Artlan, but he ran at him again. He attacked deliberately instead of being overcome by emotion, and Artlan couldn"t find any weak spots.
While the two fought, Junhyuk looked at Sarang.
"We should help him," he said.
"Is it OK to interfere?"
"We should hide your power."
"What are you going to do?"
"Just trust me."
Sarang"s power was useful in killing opponents, but if their opponent found out about her power, he would try to kill her first. JUnhyuk could escape by using his force field and teleporting, and if he died, he would reincarnate. However, Sarang couldn"t, so it wasn"t the time to display her power yet.
Junhyuk watched as Artlan and Bater"s fight became fiercer. They were going all out, drawing blood from each other.
It looked like they were fighting evenly, but Bater was so muscular and big that Artlan seemed to be in danger.
Junhyuk understood he couldn"t interfere. Bater"s fists would pulverize him. There was only one way that he could help out. He focused on them and looked for an opening while they used their powers in battle. They weren"t having a precise exchange of blows, instead swinging strong and wide. Artlan would win the fight as soon as he launched the force field around him. Junhyuk approached them to make sure he was within range to launch the force field and kept watch on the fight.
The fight became even fiercer, and Artlan used his power. First, he dodged Bater"s mechanical fist and attacked him continuously. His attacks flashed like lightning.
If Artlan succeeded, he would make quick work out of his opponent.
However, Bater was nervous, so he was prepared and used his mechanical fists to block the attack, grinning.
Artlan didn"t have the time to wait to use his power again, and Bater"s power was ready for use. At close range, he could deliver one-two combos. Their destructive power was deadly to heroes. Bater was about to hit Artlan when Artlan smirked and moved to the side. Bater didn"t understand. His fists were so big that even if Artlan moved, they would still graze him, and when the punch landed, it would break Artlan.
And Artlan smirked?
He was contemplating that reaction when Artlan was covered by an ivory-colored light.
Clang!
Bater"s attacks bounced off the force field. Artlan has this kind of power?
Bater wanted to know everything about the force field. He tried to punch him, and Artlan leaned away, and the attacks bounced off. Then, Artlan countered. If Artlan were to be hit with a frontal punch, Bater would launch the force field away with Artlan inside, but Bater"s attacks were just grazing the surface of the force field.
Artlan was using Junhyuk"s power to the fullest.
He continued to parry the attacks and counterattack. Bater"s expression turned serious due to the counterattacks. Artlan was ignoring defense while attacking, and there was little Bater could do about it.
Bater continued to be wounded and retreated. Until that moment, they had been neck-and-neck, but now, Artlan was winning.
However, Bater had no regrets. Artlan"s force field disappeared after ten seconds, but during those ten seconds, Bater"s health plummeted. Bater realized he had no health left and ran toward Artlan.
His specialty was rus.h.i.+ng, even at close distance. He didn"t stomp the ground like Minota, but he created explosions at short distances.
Smoke billowed out of the mechanical arms. Bater"s sudden rush was hard to defend against, so Artlan used his saber to do it.
Boom!
Artlan was pushed back. Meanwhile, Bater didn"t hesitate and turned away. He knew he couldn"t continue and had to escape.
Artlan had been waiting just for that moment, when Bater turned around and ran, and launched his saber.
The saber was stuck to Bater"s back, and Artlan jumped. He landed and jumped again, and at that moment, Bater understood. His rush wouldn"t work, so Bater turned around to fight him again.
Clung!
Bater defended himself, and Artlan said:
"This is the end."
After he spoke, he swung his saber. He was stronger when he wielded two sabers, but he was still strong enough with one. Bater had one saber stuck to his back and couldn"t handle any further attacks from Artlan.
The movement of Bater"s arms became unnatural, and Artlan stabbed him in the chest. They were facing each other at close range, and Bater took another drag off his cigar.
"Whew! I didn"t know about your force field. Is that your ultimate?"
Artlan had attacked continuously and slashed him, and if throwing his saber was part of his ability, then the force field had to be his ultimate.
Artlan had no interest in answering Bater, who had been tricked by Junhyuk"s power.
"You can"t win because of it."
Bater started disappearing.
"It lasts only ten seconds. Next time, I"ll show you how it"s really going to work between us," he said.
Artlan pulled out the saber from his chest and beheaded him with it.
"We"ll see about that when we meet."
Bater disappeared, and Artlan shouted:
"Attack! Destroy the watchtower!"
He took the lead, and Junhyuk followed him. After Bater"s death, the next step was destroying the watchtower before the other heroes got there, giving the allies an advantage.