Chapter 48: Evolution 2
Translator: - - Editor: - -
Standing in front of the castle walls, Sarang looked at Vera.
"Why is big brother not coming back?"
Vera was looking at the castle and answered calmly:
"Artlan died. They will come back together."
"Is that right?"
"By the way, how is your item?"
"This?"
Sarang lifted her hand and looked at a ring on her index finger. The black and silver colors were mixed exquisitely, and Vera said:
"It's a nice dropped loot."
"It is a nice item, isn't it?"
Sarang touched her ring. She had watched with anger when Junhyuk died and had shot her power and killed Skia. The ring was dropped by Skia.
---
Ring of Shadows (Inherent Item)
Moving speed +5.
One power's cooldown time may be skipped once. (recharge time: 24h)
Special powers were carried over with accessories, but there was a limit of one power per accessory. In the past, there was a legendary figure by the name of Dark Shadow that used this ring.
---
Sarang touched her ring with care and asked:
"Can I keep this ring? Is that OK?"
Vera caressed Sarang's head and said:
"You killed Skia. It's yours now."
"But..."
"Accessories have an ownership number limit. If you don't keep it, you'll have to sell it, and since it's yours, it's no use for us heroes."
Sarang touched her ring again, and Vera saw minions standing outside of the castle's gate, and behind the minions, there were people leaning against the castle's wall.
Five heroes were gathered in one place. They were not attacking because they were worried there could be more people hiding.
---
Minota crossed his arms and looked at Libya.
"Shall we just attack?"
"There aren't many minions left, and they are not all there yet," Libya agreed.
"But I can't see Nudra."
Minota, despite his heavy size, liked to use his brain. On the Dimensional Battlefield, among contracted heroes, stupid heroes were rare. Heroes had the apex position on the Dimensional Battlefield, and their abilities were astonishing.
Ellic tapped the ground lightly with his hammer.
"What are you worried about? You think they are hiding hundreds of minions somewhere?"
"That will be Artlan's job. It's just weird that Nudra isn't there."
Ellic shook his head hard and looked at Warren.
"We should attack now."
Warren was worried and spoke up:
"Artlan hasn't regrouped. We will win if we attack now."
Skia, who had been quiet, stepped forward and said:
"That little girl, I can kill her, right?"
Skia spoke, and everyone's attention was fixed on Sarang, who stood behind Vera. She was a novice who had activated her power.
"We will fight as a team first, then you can kill her. Last time, you tried to kill an expert and got yourself killed, and we lost that team battle," Minota complained and Skia frowned.
"Surely, you were the one who told me to kill him!"
Minota snorted hard.
"So, do you think you did well?"
"I did not do anything wrong."
There was a coldness between the two, and Libya asked:
"Why are we fighting amongst ourselves?" She looked at Minota and Skia. "We should fight as a team, not as individuals. We should win this team battle first. We will kill them first, and the remaining people should be easy enough to kill later."
"OK."
Libya looked at Sarang and said:
"When that child uses her power, I will hold her. Then, don't worry and take her."
Minota nodded and stepped forward. Artlan was the strongest among them. He had high defensive and attack powers. Without him, they had a good chance of winning.
Nudra could be hiding and could join later, but they still had the advantage.
Everyone followed Minota. Skia stayed with Libya, and Minota, Ellic and Warren took the lead.
"Woo, woo, woo!"
Minota mooed like an ox, and they all shouted. Minota dashed first, and Ellic and Warren followed him. They all moved very fast.
They ran, and a firewall appeared ahead of them. The firewall was made up of black flames, and they had to go through it first.
Minota went through the firewall, and Vera and her group retreated without looking back.
"He is not here yet! Chase them!" Minota shouted, and Ellic and Warren sped up.
Warren hunched over and shouted:
"I'll bite them!"
He began running like crazy on his four legs and closed in quickly on Vera and her group.
---
Junhyuk purchased a longsword from Bebe and engraved it to his wrist. Chris was looking around him when Junhyuk looked at him. Chris realized that this was a really safe place and asked Junhyuk:
"Could I stay here?"
Junhyuk looked at Chris blankly. Chris had to have an obsession with keeping himself alive. Junhyuk looked at Artlan, and he laughed a little.
"If you stay here, you can't return to your world. Is that OK?"
"Is… is that right?"
Bebe touched his chin and said:
"Correct. This place is in a different dimension. It's separate from the battlefield, and you can't return to your reality from here."
Junhyuk didn't know about that, and Chris sighed:
"Then, I will go with you."
Artlan looked at Chris like he was a useless minion and said:
"We should hurry."
Artlan's mood changed, Junhyuk asked him:
"What's the matter?"
"They are being chased by enemies. Hurry!"
"OK."
Junhyuk saw Artlan running at full speed and frowned. Heroes moving at that speed were astounding. Junhyuk follows him with all his might, and Chris lagged behind.
Artlan ran and said:
"Just follow this road. I will go first."
Artlan ran as he said that and soon disappeared. Junhyuk waited for Chris and ran with him. Chris asked him:
"Why aren't you in hiding instead of following him around?"
Junhyuk answered:
"Being with them is the safest option."
Chris didn't believe him. By being with them, he had to be on battlefield!
Junhyuk said:
"Follow me. It'll be dangerous."
Chris nodded and followed him. He was surprised. Junhyuk was so tall and also had a great constitution. Chris had been trained specially for that, but how could Junhyuk run so fast?
Chris heard a loud noise, and his body froze.
"If you don't want to end up as monster meal, you should join the minions. That's the way to survive," Junhyuk told him.
Minions did not die easily except during team battles. Junhyuk took the lead, and Chris followed him and saw the team battle for the first time.
A fire spear flew across the field, and there was a monster with an ox's head. It was like watching a movie and one very different from reality.
"What's going on?"
He hadn't heard about that at all. If he had known about the team battles, he would not have taken the job even if they paid him millions. Junhyuk yelled at him:
"Join them!"
Chris collected himself. Not far from the heroes, the minions were fighting the enemy minions. It did not look safe to him, but he knew the forest was even more dangerous, so he joined them.
Joining the minions, Chris began fighting. A green-skinned minion swung a hammer at him, but Chris managed to block.
Enemy minions were dangerous for sure, but less threatening than the monsters he had encountered in the forest. Anyone who had been trained would surely be able to fight enemy minions.
Chris picked up a dropped sword and began fighting minions with his sword and shield.
---
Junhyuk ran and saw Vera bloody and Sarang standing next to her.
"Sarang!"
"Big brother!"
Sarang was relieved after seeing Junhyuk. He stood next to her and asked Vera:
"What's going on?"
"There is no time for talk. Concentrate on the battle."
Junhyuk looked over the battlefield.
It looked like Artlan had just saved the situation by joining in. Among the enemies, he spotted Skia standing at the very back, with an arrow stuck to the shoulder and trying to brush off black flames. Lybia, who also had black flames on her, was next to Skia, and they both looked seriously wounded.
Everything was OK with Warren. Ellic and Minota were also heavily wounded.
Artlan was late, but was now dealing with Minota and Ellic simultaneously. They were both engulfed in flames, and Artlan was dealing with them easily.
Vera vomited blood, and Sarang asked Junhyuk while crying:
"What do we do, big brother?"
Junhyuk looked at her, Vera waived her hand and said:
"Don't worry about me. Halo was blocking for me while I launched meteors, and Skia attacked me. If it weren't for Sarang, I would've been killed."
"You got hurt while trying to save me."
Junhyuk looked curious, and Vera explained it to him:
"After I launched the meteors, Skia came using the shadows, but Sarang hit Skia with her power. Time stopped, and Diane shot her arrows at Skia. Skia tried to kill Sarang, and I stepped in."
Vera threw herself in to protect Sarang. Junhyuk could understand how she got hurt. If she had given up on Sarang, Vera could've killed Skia, but she didn't and got hurt in the process."
Junhyuk stood in front of them and looked over at the enemy camp.
Nudra had not arrived yet. The enemies were heavily wounded, but his side was not doing well either.
Halo had been targeted by the enemies when the meteors fell and was now being pushed back by Warren.
Diane was doing better, but some of her body was frozen, which was a sign that she had been attacked by Libya.
After Artlan joined in, he started pushing Minota and Ellic, but the bout was still indecisive. Junhyuk knew that to control the flow of battle he had to decrease the number of enemies.
They had all been hit by Vera's meteors, and the damages were heavy. Junhyuk looked at Vera.
"Can you use your magic now?"
"I can, but Libya and Skia are out of range."
They were well behind the engagement line. Junhyuk felt that Skia was the most dangerous.
"By seeping into shadows to move, how far can Skia travel?"
Vera laughed.
"I checked it. It's about sixty-five feet."
Right now, they were separated by 150 feet. That meant Skia couldn't get there. Junhyuk looked at Vera.
"I heard you were in danger while I was at the dimensional merchant. Is it possible to communicate?"
"By using an item, it's possible to communicate. Why?"
"Then, tell Artlan to attack Skia and Libya."
"What about Minota and Ellic?"
"Use a firewall to block them, and when Artlan attacks, Skia may seep into a shadow and run away, then you should attack Skia. You can damage them then!"
"Right. We also have Diane."
"Then, please. When Artlan attacks, I will make force field."
"OK."
Vera pulled out a crystal ball from her robe, closed her eyes and created a firewall in front of Minota and Ellic. Artlan abandoned them and jumped. He was aiming for Skia, and Junhyuk made a force field around Artlan.
As Artlan attacked, Skia just disappeared. Skia had to have seeped into a shadow.
Artlan did not chase after Skia, but he went after Libya.
Libya tried to run away, but Artlan swung his saber.
Crack!
Her wing was slashed, but she managed to escape and join Minota and Ellic. She was trying to use her magic when Artlan went after her.
With the force field around him, Artlan chased after her without hesitation.
Then, Skia appeared behind Halo. Skia's dagger slashed Halo's back, and Warren attacked him as well. Warren's claws were stuck to Halo's chest. No one had expected that.
Vera had been waiting for Skia to show up again and used her magic continuously. Fire orbs and fire spears flew in a row toward Skia, and Skia turned.
Skia smiled slyly and, as the fire spears approached Skia, Skia disappeared.
Junhyuk was very tense. Skia had the ability to parry attacks. Skia dodged, but it didn't mean Skia could cover all that distance.
After the fire orbs and spears went by, Skia showed up and ran toward him.
Five arrows flew toward Skia. Skia used the daggers to cover weak spots and kept running toward him.
Skia was closing in when Junhyuk grabbed hold of both longswords and ran toward Skia.
"I will kill you."
Skia swung the daggers, and Junhyuk relocated to the left. As Junhyuk disappeared, a flash of light blinded Skia's eyes.
Skia had been hit by it before. It inflicted a small damage, but Skia had been so seriously wounded before that it ended up in death. Now, however, Skia was healthier. Skia tried to move but couldn't.
Skia frowned as a fire spear and a arrow hit.
Boom! Thluck!
The fire spear hit Skia on the chest, while the arrow hit Skia on the neck. Skia couldn't move, and the heroes did not miss the chance to hit Skia's weak spots. Skia looked awful and started to disappear.
Junhyuk went over to Skia and lifted a longsword.
"This time, you are dead."
Skia could move again and shouted:
"You dare kill me!"
Slash!
Junhyuk cut Skia's neck, and Skia's head flew off in the air. The world shifted around Skia's head as Junhyuk swung his swords.
Skia's spinning head was sliced in four different parts, and Junhyuk stepped on the pieces.
"Don't mess with me."