Junhyuk destroyed the first tower and started heading to where the sorcerer was. Suddenly, he saw Sarang’s face floating in front of him.
“Did you kill them both?”
“Yes, I killed them.”
It hadn’t been easy, but he had done it. Things were going as expected, and he was on his way to the Swamp of Despair.
“Go straight to the Swamp of Despair, and we’ll fight them again over there.”
“Sure.”
They disconnected, and he shook his head.
“How come there is no news from Gongon?”
Kraken was sturdy, but Gongon could take care of him. Junhyuk had run for a while when he heard the expected announcement.
[Gongon killed Kraken.]
Junhyuk smiled. He had already destroyed the tower and was making his way to the Swamp of Despair. It had been a while since he had walked alone.
[The High-Ranking Sorcerer in the Swamp of Despair has woken up. Help him out, and he’ll reward you.]
As he heard the announcement, he shook his head lightly and murmured, “We’ll we have to fight again at the swamp?”
Kraken had died late, so the octopus would be late to join. Gongon would probably be late too, so he would have to fight Nid and Kilraden with Sarang again.
Junhyuk reached the Swamp of Despair, but he saw nobody else. He was faster than everyone else, which is how he got there first.
Junhyuk knew he had the upper hand by getting there first. He could place himself in advantageous spots around the island.
Kraken could use its tentacles to create havoc, but the others were different. Kilraden could teleport, but Junhyuk was sure he could shut him down.
By placing himself on the island first, he could use his Spatial Slash before Kilraden could teleport. So, he crossed the stepping stones toward Hatma, and the sorcerer touched his chin.
“Shocking.”
“What is?”
“Your growth.” Hatma was appreciating him. “Even a human being can be useful.”
He smiled at Hatma’s compliment, and the sorcerer stared at him.
“Are you carrying a living spirit within you?”
“You know about living spirits?”
Hatma nodded.
“Sure. But your living spirit is fully grown.”
“What?”
Hatma told him that his living spirit had reached maturity, but Junhyuk could not feel it, and Hatma laughed at him.
“Your living spirit is fully grown, so it is now time for you to absorb it,” Hatma said, and Junhyuk’s heart started pounding. The living spirit was aware of the mana around him, and it could carry mana throughout his body, but once it reached maturity, Junhyuk had to absorb it.
That was the first step toward becoming a hero. Junhyuk realized that he would soon become a hero, but first, he had to activate another power.
He was glad for the information, and Hatma continued, “You must get something for me.”
The sorcerer was giving him a quest, and he stared at Junhyuk.
“Today, you must bring me the heart of the Doppelganger King.”
“Do I know this Doppelganger King?”
Hatma shrugged and answered, “I am not sure about humans, but sometimes, dimensional mistakes take place that create doppelgangers. Where there should exist just one being, sometimes there are many. Such doppelgangers grouped together in order survive. They have a king, and the king has a heart the carries dimensional error energy. Bring me that heart.”
Junhyuk nodded in agreement. The previous enemy, the Ten-Thousand-Year-Old Centipede, had been shockingly powerful. The three champions together had barely managed to kill it, so he was worried about this mission.
However, he would go anyway.
After picking up the quest, he turned to head out and saw that Sarang had gotten to him.
“Big brother.”
He looked at her, and she walked quickly toward him while pointing toward the opposite side.
“They are here.”
Junhyuk looked toward the direction she was pointing, and as expected, Nid and Kilraden were there. They were blocking the path on the opposite side of the island, which the allies had to take to complete the quest.
The allies had to go through their enemies as the champions were creating an unavoidable situation for them. Junhyuk laughed. The enemies had made a mistake. The allies could see Kilraden.
Kilraden could be killed easily when visible. Two Thunderstorms or a Thunderstorm and a Spatial Slash would take care of him.
Junhyuk told Sarang, “Gongon is heading this way, but we’ll finish before then. Kraken can be bothersome.”
Sarang nodded.
“Should I use my ring’s ability?”
“If you think it’s necessary, use it. But try to save it for now,” he answered. The enemies might figure out a way to dodge the Thunderstorm. Junhyuk smiled and added, “Use Thunderstorm on Kilraden first.”
“So, I attack first?”
“Yes. He can dodge my Spatial Slash, but if Thunderstorm lands on him, I’ll can use it without worry.”
Sarang nodded.
“OK. We’ll kill him for sure.”
The allies had made their plan and stepped forward, and Junhyuk stepped on the stepping stones. At that moment, Kilraden looked at Nid, and Nid took the front, stepping on the stepping stones. As Junhyuk watched Nid heading toward him, he frowned.
Kilraden had stayed on the opposite side. He could teleport, so the champion could join at any moment, but that was unexpected.
Nid could die from a Thunderstorm/Spatial Slash combo, so the allies couldn’t understand Nid’s courage.
Junhyuk told Sarang, then, “Kill Nid first.”
She nodded. As Nid came within range, she extended her orb, and thunderbolts crashed on top of his head.
Craaack!
Junhyuk was looking for a chance to use the Spatial Slash after Nid had been hit by Thunderstorm, but something totally unexpected happened.
Nid’s body glowed bright red, and the thunderbolts that fell on him changed direction, flying straight for Sarang instead. Junhyuk couldn’t do anything about it.
“Ahhh!” she screamed and was launched back.
Junhyuk saw that she had been left with 20 percent of his health and looked at Nid.
“Are you a hero now?”
Nid was smirking. His body was still shining bright red, so Junhyuk couldn’t use his Spatial Slash either.
He touched Sarang and teleported back. Nid came spinning like a corkscrew in their direction, landing where they had been, and Junhyuk stared at him from the island.
As Nid walked toward them, he said, “I want to thank you.”
When someone became a hero, all of their powers received boosts. Nid was now totally different from before. Even without upgrading his equipment, all of his stats were higher, and he was full of confidence.
Sarang healed herself, and Junhyuk watched the bright red glow fade from the hero. It seemed that Nid’s ultimate was on a timer, and now, the allies could fight him.
Junhyuk stood in front of Sarang and said, “Careful, he is a hero now.”
On the Champions’ Battlefield, he had already seen champions activate their ultimates. However, that usually happened at the end of the battle. This time, though, Nid had become a hero in the middle of the fight. It was the worst situation possible.
A hero against champions.
Nid’s ultimate was a counter, and Sarang had been hit by her own power. It seemed like Nid could throw back everything the allies would send his way when it was active.
Junhyuk sighed heavily. There was a hero there, and that was the worst. If Nid had upper hand, the allies wouldn’t be able to do anything.
It was like they were in the pits of hell, but it wasn’t time to retreat.
Junhyuk said again, “Just be careful.”
Nid had used his rush as well, but the hero still had two powers left. The allies had wasted the Thunderstorm, and Sarang had healed herself, so the allies had already used two powers.
Kilraden was also crossing the stepping stones, and Junhyuk ran toward Nid and shouted, “Use your judgement!”
Junhyuk wanted to fight Nid. Nid was a hero now, but Junhyuk had his equipment, so only their basic stats were different. And Junhyuk wanted to feel that difference.
Junhyuk swung his sword, and Nid swung his saw-bladed sword in response.
Clang!
The swords clashed, and he knew. The clash felt totally different from before. Nid’s saw-bladed sword strike was much faster now, and if his sword was moving faster, that meant that his speed had increased.
Even if Junhyuk used acceleration, it wouldn’t make much of a difference.
As Kilraden ran forward, he suddenly disappeared. There was nothing Junhyuk could do at that point, so he stepped back and raised the force field.
He could at least protect himself from Kilraden’s hiding power. The force field lasted longer than it.
Under the force field, Junhyuk closed in against Nid and swung his sword. Nid, however, had lost interest in the fight once the force field had been raised, so he withdrew quickly, and Junhyuk chased after him.
While Nid retreated, he suddenly started bleeding from his neck. The Spatial Slash had hit its target, but NId had only lost 40 percent of his health.
“Holy shit! His health increased that much?”
It wouldn’t be easy to kill Nid, and Junhyuk might not be able to. Nid had a chaotic swordsmanship, and his speed had increased. Junhyuk wouldn’t be able to keep up with regular attacks.
On top of that, Nid’s health had increased as well, so he couldn’t rely on his Spatial Slash anymore. And, Nid also had an ultimate, which he should be wary of.
Junhyuk had gritted his teeth when, suddenly, an electric arrow flew by him. Sarang had absorbed a lot of mana since she started training, so the speed of her arrow had increased. It hit Nid dead on.
Luckly, Nid got paralyzed by the attack. Junhyuk had to seize that opportunity, so he swung his sword at the hero.
Junhyuk could do a lot more damage with the Blood Rune Sword, but he attacked with the Frozen Rune Sword instead, stabbing the already open wound on Nid’s neck.
The Spatial Slash had made a gaping hole on Nid’s neck, and Junhyuk twisted the sword in. It was only for a short while, but he had been able to damage the hero, and the attack was a critical hit, taking another 15 percent of Nid’s total health.
Kilraden reappeared right behind Nid. The champion had wasted his hiding power, but he still had two other powers.
“This is the worst,” Junhyuk murmured without realizing he was talking to himself.
