Chapter 102: The Ruler of the Battlefield (1)
Whoong-.
The Valiant Battleground that boasted a majestic grandeur reminiscent of a giant colosseum.
And on the end of either side, the fighting power of the Polaris Guild and the Lotus Guild began to be summoned in order.
Ian was summoned right in the middle of the camp on the Lotus Guild’s side.
It was an obvious as he was the only partic.i.p.ating user of the Lotus Guild.
‘It’s been a long time, Valiant Battleground.’
Before resetting, when they had done guild wars during the height of their efforts to raise the guild rank, he had entered this place two to three times a week and had become familiar with it.
However, as that was something that already happened months ago, it was a new experience for Ian.
• 30 seconds from now, the war will begin.
The system message that popped up.
Ian began to observe each and every one of the users that were being summoned in the enemy camp on the other side.
As he couldn’t even move a finger before the battle began anyways, the only thing he could do was figure out the fighting power on the opponent’s side.
‘Those idiots entered without even putting their levels on private…’
Ian, who saw a couple users with their levels set up to be revealed, cluck his tongue inwardly.
It was a part that showed how much the guild on the opponent’s side thought the battle in the Valiant Battleground would be easy.
‘First of all, amongst the twelve whose levels are visible, there isn’t even one that is over lv 100. Is the highest level around lv 95?’
The problem was the remaining fifteen or so users whose levels weren’t visible.
Amongst them, a strong person could be mixed in.
‘Since they’ve seen that I’m the only user, they probably let down their guard, right?’
And Ian’s a.s.sumption was right.
The Polaris Guild, who studied the Lotus Guild’s camp from afar, were already certain of their victory.
“Millun, I was right, no?”
At Rukin’s words, Millun grinned as he nodded his head.
“You really were. I never expected for the Lotus Guild to trash the Valiant Battleground this blatantly.”
“Huhu, I’m itching because I want to run in right now.”
“The last hit is mine. Look for someone else.”
“Very funny. Try if you can.”
Rukin and Millun had asked their Guild Master to let them partic.i.p.ate in the 1st match and entered as volunteers.
The reason was obviously because they thought that the Lotus Guild would use the Valiant Battleground as a card they were throwing away.
On top of that, seeing that there was only one user in the camp of their opponent’s side right now, the two people’s bodies were itching.
This was because, if they won in the Valiant Battleground, depending on the level of contribution, they received a Fame reward, and if there was only one opponent user, they would be able to gain 100% of the level of contribution as soon as the judgement was made that they killed that one person.
If one consumed 100% of the level of contribution for victory in a Diamond-cla.s.s guild war, in all probability, they would probably be able to obtain an outrageous amount of Fame.
Staring at Ian, who was far away, Rukin mumbled.
Of course, he hadn’t recognized Ian.
“Speaking of which, that dude is really pitiful.”
Millun also agreed.
“No kidding, he’s the definition of a meat s.h.i.+eld.”
Because they were far away, they couldn’t check Ian’s face, and to have only one user partic.i.p.ating from the opponent guild meant he was a card they were throwing away, so they thought that they wouldn’t have had a strong user partic.i.p.ating.
In the two people’s eyes, Ian was just an excellent prey.
“We would have seriously regretted it if we had invested even one hired soldier in the first match.”
At Rukin’s words, Millun nodded his head as he agreed.
“That’s right. If we did that, it would have truly been a waste. Since we wouldn’t have been able to take the level of contributions.”
Separate from the two people, who were happy thinking of the enormous Fame they would gain, Ian was thinking over how he should fight in order to minimize the damage he would receive and win.
While he was doing so, the NPCs and the spectators began to be summoned in the arena on either camp.
Whiing- Whing-.
Herz and Fiolan, who had entered the arena, hurriedly checked the fighting power of the Polaris Guild.
“Most of them are around lv 90, Herz.”
At Fiolan’s words, Herz nodded his head as he wore a worried expression.
“Yeah. From the looks of the equipment they’re carrying, it doesn’t look like there’s a high-level user amongst the ones with their levels on private either… But as there are a lot more than I was expecting, I’m not sure if Ian will be able to cover everything on his own.”
“We’ll find out if we keep watching, I guess. Ian fights really well in a one-vs-all battle like a demon, so I think he has a chance of winning.”
At Fiolan’s words, Herz, who remembered Ian’s active part in the Forlan dungeon, was able to shake off some of his uneasiness.
Herz’s gaze turned towards Ian.
‘I believe in you, Jinsung.’
And shortly after, a system message began to pop up in front of all of the users that entered the arena.
• The battle will begin 5 seconds from now.
• 5, 4, 3.
Ian focused all of his mind and calmed his heart.
‘Let’s think of it like I’m group hunting.’
Ever since Pin had grown, Ian was able to easily gather and kill even the monsters in the northern continent that were over lv 110.
Of course, users would be stronger than Common-rank monsters, but if they weren’t even at lv 100, then there was no need to worry too much.
• 2, 1, Start!
As the battle began, Ian quickly summoned his Familiars first.
“Ly, Lake, Pin, Halli, Summon!”
Ian, who had summoned all of his Familiars besides Ddukdae, turned his head towards the NPCs that were lined up behind him.
And amongst his retainers, he called over the two whom were Warrior-cla.s.ses and spoke to them.
“They probably just have their eyes on me and will lunge at me crazily. Loreuten, Mallaim. You two lead the soldiers and line up on either side, and once I start the battle, raid them from both sides.”
He wasn’t expecting much from the lv 60-range soldier NPCs anyways.
It was enough if they could just rush into the battleground and increase the opponents’ confusion.
The two retainers bowed deeply at the same time as they replied.
“Yes, Lord!”
“Your command will be honoured!”
And to Tenpus, who was a Priest-cla.s.s, Ian commanded him to concentrate only on recovering his Vitality.
Because the moment they got Ian, it would be their defeat in the battle, so they needed to be as careful as possible.
To Cerius, the Magician, and Celia, the Summoner, he gave the same command to the two.
“You two, after Ddukdae uses Abyss Hole, pour out all of your attacks then, understood? Especially Cerius, you need to use your AoE magic first.”
“By Ddukdae, you mean that Abyss Golem, right?”
At Celia’s question, Ian nodded his head.
“That’s right.”
While Ian gave out commands, the users of the Polaris camp began to recklessly rush towards Ian.
Because they were all just targeting Ian, naturally, the formation became cl.u.s.tered.
And that was also what Ian was aiming for.
‘If Ddukdae’s Abyss Hole just hits properly, we’ll be able to wipe all of them without much bleeding.’
That was the reason why Ian was waiting without summoning Ddukdae.
He was planning on summoning Ddukdae at the point where the best angle for Abyss Hole would be and tie down as many individuals as he could with Abyss Hole.
Ian held his breath and waited for his opponents to come right up to his nose.
‘I need to at least tie down all of the close-ranged combat-type cla.s.ses.’
Even though his opponents entered the range where he could shoot his Magic Spheres, Ian stood still and waited.
This was because of his calculation that he could be alerting his opponents with the destructive power of his spheres if they were directly hit.
‘Just a little more…’
Ian’s concentration had reached its height.
This was because depending on how the start of the battle was opened up, it was something that could influence the war situation.
‘Now…!’
Ian, who caught the timing, summoned Ddukdae.
“Ddukdae, Summon!”
As he did so, Ddukdae, who was gigantic in size, appeared while letting out a heavy sound in front of the users of the Polaris Guild who were at the head.
Thud-!
At the unexpected situation, the Polaris users flinched.
“What the h.e.l.l? This. That dude was a Summoner?”
“This is a Familiar I’m seeing for the first time!”
Because Ddukdae was an Abyss Golem that was born through evolution by Ian, it was obvious that it was their first time seeing one.
However, as one of them yelled loudly, all of them began to charge towards Ian again.
“Ignore the golem and just beat that dude to a pulp!”
Their decision that looked reasonable at a glimpse.
However, to them, who didn’t know that Ddukdae had an Inherent Ability called ‘Abyss Hole’, that was their worst mistake.
“Ddukdae, Abyss Hole! Pin, Roar of the King!”
Along with Ian’s shout, a giant vortex began to spew from both of Ddukdae’s arms, and Pin, who had fully grown to an adult now, cried towards the air.
Kyaaoh-!
And as the slowing effect that the Roar of the King had and the effect of the Abyss Hole overlapped, the fifteen or so users that ran towards him at the head were tied down.
“What the h.e.l.l is this!”
“This crazy, what kind of slowing effect is like this?”
As the users who were sucked into the range of the Abyss Hole began to be fl.u.s.tered, Ian lifted his hand straight up in the air.
“Everyone, attack!”
The minute that Ian’s words finished, Lake’s Breath attacked them first, and Pin flew up into the air.
Hwaaak-!
The firepower of Breath that came out of lv 117 Lake’s mouth was enormous.
“This crazy! My Vitality has been cut down to half from just one hit!”
“f.u.c.k! It’s a trap!”
The users of the Polaris Guild, who finally realized that something was weird, began to run about in confusion, and the flaps of Pin’s wings, who was flying through the air, was poured down on them.
Kwaaah-!
The wind that spewed out of the large, golden wings of Pin, who was now over lv 100, created a violent whirlwind, and that began to mercilessly rage towards the users of the Polaris Guild.
• Familiar ‘Pin’s Inherent Ability, ‘Crush’, has been invoked.
It was a catastrophe.
Bang – Ba-Bang-!
As the situation turned like this, the long-range cla.s.s users that were a bit far off and didn’t enter the range of the Abyss Hole began to focus their firepower towards Ddukdae.
It looked as if they thought that it was most urgent to cut off Abyss Hole first.
It was perhaps an obvious decision as Abyss Hole needed to be cut off first in order for Ddukdae to move and avoid the AoE attacks.
And as a concentrated fire was poured out, the Vitality of Ddukdae, who boasted an incredible resilience, dropped to almost half in an instant.
Ian, who saw that, let out a command to Celia.
“Celia, heal Ddukdae!”
“Alright!”
Celia’s Inherent Ability, ‘Familiar Healing’, was invoked.
• Retainer ‘Celia’ used ‘Familiar Healing’ and has recovered 60% of Familiar ‘Ddukdae’s Vitality.
The users, who were taken aback as a matter of fact since Ddukdae was holding out for quite a long time, fell into a panicked state as the Vitality that they struggled to cut down was completely recovered.
“Ah, I’m going to go insane!”
The cries of the Polaris Guild users, which sounded like a cry with their feelings intact, could be heard.
Unable to do this or that, the close-range cla.s.s users, who were helplessly mangled by the AoE attacks, began to die off one by one.
Amongst them, there was also Rukin, a Warrior-cla.s.s.
“d.a.m.n it! What the h.e.l.l is up with this damage!”
And Ian’s form caught the fl.u.s.tered Rukin’s eye.
“Ian! It was you!”
And at his shout, Ian’s attention turned.
Ian was dumbfounded.
“What the h.e.l.l, why is that idiot here again?”
And a Magic Sphere was shot out from Ian’s staff.
Pung-!
As Ian’s ability to accurately hit with projectiles was close to superhuman skill, hitting Rukin, who was right in front of him, was basically equivalent to eating cooled down porridge.
• You have hit the target with the Magic Sphere and have dealt 7720 damage to ‘Rukin’.
• As you have successfully hit the opponent, 5 Spirit Magic has been recovered.
The Summoning Magic of Ian, who had reached lv 114, had become so strong that it was difficult to even compare with before, and the Magic Spheres of Ian, who were like that, had enough destructive power to get rid of Rukin, who didn’t have much Vitality left.
• You have killed user ‘Rukin’. You have obtained 3.7% of the contributions towards the battle.
“Ack-!”
While looking at Rukin, who disappeared into a grey light with a resentful expression, Ian shook his head.
“Why am I constantly getting involved with this imbecile? Putting me in a bad mood.”
However, just then.
A purple energy flowed out of Rukin’s dying corpse and was absorbed into Ian.
‘Hmm…? What is this?’
Ian, who was nervous that it was an attack of a type that he was seeing for the first time, began to focus back to the battle as nothing else happened.
And Ddukdae’s Abyss Hole, which the charging time for was fully completed in that duration, let out a boom as it exploded out.