After learning a little about his new team, Junhyuk did not hesitate to speak up.
“This is my first time in Nightmare Mountain, but the peak must be important. Can I head there?”
Malone shook his head and said, “It is important, so you shouldn’t go alone.”
Junhyuk was facing a dilemma. If he couldn’t work with them, it would be better for him not to have a team at all. Malone stared at him some more and said, “I want to make sure this goes our way. I’m the only one with a brain among us.”
Dressed in a robe, he had to be a wizard, which meant that he had to have a lot of intelligence runestones, making his intelligence greater than the rest.
Smiling, the wizard continued, “First, try to remember this place is different from the Valley of Death. There’s more verticality than the previous battlefield. We will send one to the left of the mountain, two to the peak and two to the right.”
Malone was speaking, but Junhyuk was only keeping what he deemed worthy of keeping from his speech. For now, Junhyuk simply listened.
Malone kept going, “We need to send someone strong to the left since that person will be alone. Balonte, as a tank, you’ll be the best fit on the left. To the right, we’ll send Embla with her buff and Aldrac with his long range attacks. Junhyuk and I will take the peak.”
Junhyuk pondered everything. He wanted to find out how they fought and what their powers were so that he could decide on whether he would team up with them or not. He had to fight with them for now.
Junhyuk nodded and said, “The minions are valuable now, so we must pay close attention to their formation.”
Malone nodded.
“To begin with, let’s each of us take fifty minions.”
Embla walked toward him and said, “Don’t think this place will be like the Champions’ Battlefield. This place is made for heroes, yeah?”
She patted his cheek lightly and left, and that was when Junhyuk realized that they had been seeing Bebe’s Black Armor. In the Champions’ Battlefield as well, he had always looked like he had been wearing Bebe’s Black Armor, so now, the heroes were looking down on him. Still, he didn’t think it necessary to show himself to the allied heroes. He just wanted to check out their powers, so he let them lead for now.
Balonte looked at him and cackled.
“Then, let us do our thing.”
After Balonte left with the minions, he watched Malone gather his own minions. The wizard walked up to him smiling and said, “Then, time for us to move.”
Junhyuk nodded and followed him. Malone was a real wizard, and as Junhyuk walked with him, he asked, “Did you start out in the battlefield as a hero?”
Malone laughed.
“Ha-ha-ha-ha! That’s right. I even own my own magic tower.”
Vera also had her own magic tower, so he thought Malone had to be like her. Junhyuk was curious as to why Malone had broken up from his previous team, but he couldn’t ask the wizard that now. He wanted to experience what Malone was capable of.
“What are your powers?”
“I create light powers. I have a light bombardment, which drops light bombs within a certain area.”
That was an area-of-effect attack, so it wouldn’t deal high damage.
Junhyuk nodded, and Malone continued, “I have a light spear, which pierces through opponents in a straight line.”
“Those might not work against minions.”
“I can’t waste powers on minions,” Malone said and continued, “I can also create a light orb, but only one at a time. When it hits an enemy, it creates a massive explosion that damages the surrounding area. The explosion has a radius of ten meters.”
All of Malone’s powers dealt damage to an area, and Junhyuk thought he seemed useful in team battles. However, Malone wouldn’t be much use going against another hero by himself. Wide range attacks didn’t mean much in a single duel.
“What is your ultimate?”
Malone smiled and said, “My ultimate is a seven-hit light combo. It’s different from my other powers in that it focuses on a single enemy I choose.”
Junhyuk nodded heavily.
“You don’t have any powers that debuff or pierce through enemies’ defenses.”
“I don’t, but even without powers like that, I can kill them.”
Junhyuk wanted to say that the enemies were also heroes, and they wouldn’t get hurt that easily.
After leaving the castle, Junhyuk looked up at the mountain and saw a stairway leading to the top. Looking at it, he sighed.
“It looks really high.”
It wasn’t a joke. It would take them at least four hours to reach the top. At the top of the mountain, there was a tower. On it, there was a flag that bore the allied crest, and that crest seemed to be the source of the new buff.
Junhyuk walked proudly ahead and said, “Let’s go.”
“Huh… I have bad knees. It’ll be hard for me to climb that.”
Ignoring Malone, Junhyuk walked forward. He was curious about the enemies he would meet. Junhyuk took the lead, and Malone and the minions followed him to the top of the mountain.
It wasn’t easy getting to the top. They climbed for four hours before reaching the zenith. At the top, Malone checked on his knees.
“Uff, I’m about to die.”
Junhyuk looked at the wizard, speechless.
“You are a hero. How can you be tired?”
“I get tired. I feel like I’m gonna die.”
Still speechless, Junhyuk looked at the minions. He hadn’t rushed, so the minions had been able to follow him to the top. Junhyuk looked ahead.
At the top of Nightmare Mountain, there was a path. On it, the tower and the flags with the buffs.
The enemies were also aware of Nightmare Mountain, and three of them had made it to the top: a blond armored knight holding a bastard sword, a horned woman with a fire whip and an ice golem. They had fifty humanoid lobsters with them.
“Their minions are lobsters?”
Junhyuk was calling them lobsters, but the minions were human-sized, with huge claws and hard shells. The minions certainly had changed, and the lobsters looked like they might be difficult enemies for other minions.
The blond knight holding the bastard sword looked at Junhyuk and said, “The star of the Champions’ Battlefield is a hero now?”
Junhyuk stepped forward and replied, “I don’t know who you are.”
The knight rested the bastard sword on his shoulder and answered, “I’m the Knight of Justice, Kamel.”
Kamel pointed kindly to the woman standing behind him, and the woman stepped forward.
“I’m the Demon of Love and Lust, Ellencia.”
Junhyuk turned to the golem, who spoke slowly, “I’m the Ice Core, Mantes.”
Three enemies had appeared, and both Kamel and Mantes looked sturdy. He also had no clue about their powers.
Junhyuk looked at Malone and asked, “Were they heroes in the last battlefield?”
“That’s right. I’ve heard about them, but I’ve never fought them.”
He nodded and asked, “What do we do now?”
“We fight,” Malone announced, looking at him and smiling. “Your defense seemed to be quite high, and you have a force field. Lure them in for us, and I’ll sweep them away with my magic.”
Junhyuk smiled bitterly. While his defense was high and he did have a force field, he did not like how quickly he had become bait. Nevertheless, he stepped forward.
The tower was in the middle of the path. The allies and the enemies had gathered in front of it. As he approached the enemy heroes, he smacked his lips. He could not forget about the minions.
Each lobster minion could deal 1 percent of damage to him. There were fifty of them, and they were so wide that just four of them could block the path.
Junhyuk looked at his own minions and said camly, “Raise your shields! Your job is to stop those lobsters.”
The minions nodded, and Junhyuk looked ahead.
The three enemy heroes stayed out of the tower’s space. They believed in their own powers, and each of them had four powers. Junhyuk knew what that meant. Because Malone only had area attacks, Junhyuk had to step forward at that moment.
Junhyuk closed in against his enemies, and as he walked toward him, Kamel raised his bastard sword. That’s when all enemies stopped.
Kamal smiled widely at him and said, “I know everything about your powers, but I don’t know your ultimate yet.”
The enemy heroes had watched him fight in the Champions’ Battlefield, so his enemies knew everything about his powers. However, he did not know about theirs.
Junhyuk smacked his lips. The situation was back.
Then, Kamel pointed the bastard sword toward him and shouted, “Attack!”
The lobsters ran at him, their claws wide open, and he grimaced. He could not use his shockwave to kill minions now. He had to kill them one by one, but while he was doing that, the enemy heroes would also attack him.
Looking back, Junhyuk said, “Deal with the incoming lobsters!”
“I can’t kill them by myself!”
“Use our minions!”
Junhyuk turned to the allied minions and shouted, “If you don’t want to die, raised your shield and block!”
He stepped back. He had to remain patient now that he was his enemies’ target. The lobsters engaged in a brawl against the allied minions.
Clang!
The minions’ shield were dented by the shock of the lobsters’ attacks, but the allied minions stood their ground.
A light arrow zoomed from the back and hit a lobster’s head, and Junhyuk also slashed at them.
No lobsters died from the shockwaves generated by Junhyuk’s attacks. He had to kill the one by one.
The enemy heroes were closing in fast, already within range of his Spatial Slash, but he clicked his tongue.
“Fine. Come closer.”
