Chapter 116 : Mountain Beyond Mountain
Chapter 116: Mountain Beyond Mountain
-Is summoning-type supernatural ability hard without assistance?
-Well, Hackphysical is good at physical skills, so
-Still, only one unit is a bit underwhelming
-ㅇㅈ I thought he’d be able to handle at least three units easily, hmm
-“Hey! The first round just started, so let’s watch a bit more.”
-“That’s right. Once he gets used to it, the number could increase. You shouldn’t make such a fuss already. Let’s watch without wavering.”
-Fuss? Wavering?
-No fuss, no wavering
-What about singing instead of wavering? ← You get out
-There’s no such chat though;;
“Whew—”
The bewildered enemy player soon steadied their breathing and calmly adjusted their stance.
They realized that it didn’t matter why Baek Woohyun had only brought out a single unit despite the Steel Lord build being able to summon up to twelve units.
Whether he was conserving strength by ignoring them, or had customized the build, ultimately it would be fine as long as they defeated him and seized victory.
The enemy player, who had been building momentum, kicked off the ground and charged again before [Storm Thunder Spirit] ended.
Thwack!
Unlike before, the enemy player’s target became the Steel Knight standing guard in front of Baek Woohyun.
Rather than recklessly ignoring it and charging only to be stabbed from behind, the intention was to eliminate the Steel Knight first then aim for Baek Woohyun, the main body.
There was also the calculation that since there was only one Steel Knight, it wouldn’t take long to deal with it.
Since destroyed summons required a fairly long waiting time before they could be summoned again, the opponent’s choice was extremely rational.
This was even more true if it was a customized build that reduced the number of Steel Knights that could be summoned and increased their power.
If they could just overcome the Steel Knight blocking their path, they could also eliminate the defenseless Baek Woohyun and easily obtain victory in the first round.
“[Gale Wind—”
Shiver!
Just as they were about to unleash the powerful [Gale Wind Slash] to tear the Steel Knight apart, goosebumps ran up their spine and the enemy player urgently twisted their body to the side.
From behind the obstacle, from the blind spot in their vision, another Steel Knight’s sword that suddenly sprang out narrowly grazed the opponent’s waist.
It was truly an evasion made by a hair’s breadth. Even the person who dodged was convinced they would have been stabbed in the waist if they’d been just a bit slower.
“—Slash]!”
Kwagagak—!
What was fortunate for the enemy player was that they hadn’t yet unleashed their supernatural ability technique.
If they had even used their supernatural ability technique, they not only wouldn’t have been able to dodge the ambush, but also couldn’t have immediately punished the attacking Steel Knight.
The [Gale Wind Slash] fired at the changed target completely swept the surroundings, and thanks to that, the enemy player succeeded in completely shaking off the other Steel Knight.
Shhwik—!
“Kugh!”
However, because the attack from the Steel Knight they’d initially targeted continued in the meantime, the enemy player also had to retreat.
Their expression wasn’t very good since they had retreated without achieving anything. Well, it was a natural reaction since they had ended up retreating after being one-sidedly hit.
There was also the guess that if their condition hadn’t been good today, they wouldn’t have been able to dodge the ambush and would have been hit.
‘Still, I eliminated one unit, so…’
Just as the enemy player was about to think—it’s not like I gained nothing—another Steel Knight quietly revealed itself before them.
Even the Steel Knight they thought they’d eliminated staggered to its feet. Though it had taken considerable damage, it hadn’t been desummoned.
Though it was in tatters from taking a direct hit from [Gale Wind Slash], the Steel Knight still looked like it had no hindrance to its movement.
That made sense, since it was a Steel Knight, not a person, so there was no way it couldn’t move just because parts got torn off and damaged.
“Damn it.”
‘…No, wait a moment, something’s strange?’
The enemy player tilted their head while looking at the three Steel Knights.
They realized something was off, even if they couldn’t explain it clearly. Should they say the information in their head and the scene they directly witnessed didn’t match?
Staring at the Steel Knights slowly raising their swords and encircling them, they soon let out an “Ah.” in exclamation.
‘Their movements are completely different from what I knew.’
Originally, the Steel Knights summoned by the Steel Lord build moved strictly within a set range.
Like when given a charge command, they’d only rush a certain distance before stopping, and when given an attack command, they’d swing their sword once.
In other words, only very limited operation was possible—one command, one action.
But what about the Steel Knights before their eyes now?
Whether ambushing or encircling, weren’t they moving very naturally, like people?
That was clearly a situation outside the enemy player’s common sense.
‘Which means.’
Befitting someone who had climbed up to Master tier, the opponent player quickly identified the cause of why the Steel Lord build was different from what they knew.
It wasn’t difficult since one of the famous maxims on the PVP side talked about exactly this kind of situation.
‘When a supernatural ability shows effects different from what you knew, assuming the assistance system is taken usually hits the mark.’—what analysis fit better than that maxim?
‘If they can control each and every Steel Knight at their will—’
Shiver!
Goosebumps ran up the enemy player’s spine.
The total number of Steel Knights the Steel Lord build could summon was twelve!
And right now, the Steel Knights before their eyes had gradually increased from one to three.
In other words, if they dragged out time sluggishly like this, there was a high possibility more Steel Knights would appear to block their path.
Even though they’d been ambushed, they’d retreated without even being able to break through two units at once—if nine more were added to that, it would be practically the same as defeat.
Of course, they did think the opponent wouldn’t be able to perfectly control all twelve Steel Knights. That must be why only three were out.
However, they didn’t know how it would turn out, and the opponent player knew very well that in most PVP, it was better to assume the worst-case scenario.
‘I need to finish this quickly!’
-It increased to three units
-Didn’t I say it’d be at least three? lol
-Could it increase even more?
-I believe, I believe in Hackphysical
-“Haha. What did I tell you? Didn’t I say the number could increase once he got used to it? I’m looking forward to seeing how many Steel Knights Hackphysical can handle.”
-“From the looks of it, the opponent also seems to think that if they drag out time like this, more Steel Knights might appear.”
-If he uses all twelve units, that’d be insane
-Isn’t it basically twelve Hackphysicals? ㄷㄷ
-Won’t be quite that much because of the performance difference
-Even twelve downgraded Hackphysicals are equally scary lololol
“[Storm Thunder Spirit]!”
Thwack!
Having made a decision, the enemy player activated the buff skill again and rapidly charged.
However, this time the Steel Knights didn’t just stand still either. The three Steel Knights charged toward the enemy player in return.
While feeling a thrill at the utterly smooth movements of the Steel Knights, the enemy player realized an opportunity had come.
The fact that the Steel Knights charged toward them meant the distance from Baek Woohyun, whom they had to protect, had widened.
This also meant that if they could somehow shake off just the Steel Knights, they could face the defenseless Baek Woohyun.
‘I don’t even need to defeat them. I just need to shake them off!’
“[Gale Wind Slash]!”
Kwagagak—!
Gritting their teeth, the enemy player unleashed [Gale Wind Slash], whose cooldown had ended, toward the Steel Knights that had approached right up close.
An intense vortex that seemed like it would grind down everything within range bloomed from their fingertips, and the Steel Knights were inevitably caught in it.
However, since it was scattered over an area, the power was insufficient, so though the Steel Knights were pushed back, the damage didn’t seem very significant. They immediately charged toward them again.
Of course, the enemy player had naturally anticipated this situation. They already had the experience of hastily attacking once and not properly eliminating even one unit.
Therefore, what they aimed for wasn’t eliminating the three Steel Knights, but the momentary gap created when they were pushed back by [Gale Wind Slash].
Just as they’d thought before clashing, it meant they’d intended from the start only to shake them off.
“[Gale God Thunder]!”
Chijijijijik!
Thus, having made the Steel Knights retreat as intended, the enemy player suddenly kicked off the ground and sprinted.
Their speed, accelerated using even [Gale God Thunder], the signature movement skill of the Wind Thunder God build, was truly speed itself!
Baek Woohyun, defenselessly exposed to them charging while leaving three Steel Knights behind, looked like he’d be helplessly hit.
‘Got it!’
Just as joy was about to appear on the enemy player’s face at the development they’d wanted.
“……”
Snap!
When Baek Woohyun conspicuously snapped his fingers, two Steel Knights appeared blocking his path.
It was an appearance that shattered to pieces the enemy player’s naive belief that this time would be the same, since up until now they’d gradually increased by one unit at a time.
The Steel Knights even blatantly displayed their will not to rashly approach and stood firmly in place.
“Ugh!”
But the enemy player didn’t give up even though their plan went awry. Anyway, if they could just get past these two more units, they could win, couldn’t they?
Moreover, they had no choice from the start. If they retreated now saying they couldn’t break through, there was no way Baek Woohyun would just watch idly.
Like a hammer striking down on a lump of metal placed on an anvil, the enemy player would be beaten between the Steel Knights before losing.
‘In that case!’
Now was the time to gamble everything on victory or defeat.
The enemy player who judged thus gritted their teeth.
“[Storm Thunder Spirit: Rampage]!”
Whoong, pazizik—!
Using even [Storm Thunder Spirit: Rampage], which could be called a last resort skill, to temporarily boost their physical abilities greatly, the enemy player kicked off the ground again.
Summoning two units at once seemed to be somewhat of a strain, as the Steel Knights whose movements were rather unnatural couldn’t catch them.
Breaking through between them in one go, they finally succeeded in getting close enough to read even the expression of the main body, Baek Woohyun.
However.
Snap!
The sound of fingers snapping, like a death sentence to the enemy player, was heard, and three summoned Steel Knights blocked the enemy player’s path.
It was behavior that seemed to say, ‘Huh? Two units can’t stop you? Good, then I’ll summon three units!’
Additionally, it was also behavior that instantly made a fool of the enemy player who had desperately tried to close the distance even at the cost of leaving danger behind.
“Haha.”
‘What is this, an onion? I keep peeling but more keeps coming out.’
Having ended up surrounded by a total of eight Steel Knights—three in front and five behind—the enemy player let out a hollow laugh.
In fact, they had no choice. At first he’d been summoning them bit by bit one at a time, but once things seemed to be going badly, now he was summoning two, three units at once.
For Baek Woohyun, he was gradually increasing the number of Steel Knights because he was getting used to the supernatural ability, but from the enemy player’s perspective, it could feel completely different.
“…Yeah, fine. Let’s have at it!”
Pajijijik!
Despite being surrounded, the enemy player fought considerably well. The Steel Knights couldn’t seem to stop them at all as they rampaged while wreathed in wind and lightning.
Though they weren’t broken through, it also wasn’t a picture of the enemy player being perfectly sealed by coordination then defeated.
It was to the point where one might even feel regret wondering if it wouldn’t have been better to fight while steadily desummoning Steel Knights rather than forcibly aiming for Baek Woohyun.
“……”
However, such thoughts would completely disappear the moment they saw Baek Woohyun’s face. His extremely indifferent expression even revealed boredom.
Even in the situation where he seemed to be gradually losing ground, he was calmly coordinating the Steel Knights and just getting the hang of using the build.
As time dragged on like that, the Steel Knights’ movements became increasingly natural, and the enemy player who had been cocky also gradually hardened their expression.
“—Ah. Now I get it.”