The enemies relied on the giant golem and joined the fight. However, they made one mistake.
Ordinarly, they would’ve dispersed as they exited the force field, but now, they were bunched up. Junhyuk watched them like that and used his Spatial Slash.
The strike slashed the porcupine deeply. Because everyone was together, the enemies all got hit by the shockwave. The porcupine died, and the others received massive damage.
Suddenly, bolts of lightning fell on them.
Craaack!
The Thunderstorm made the mantis hero take his last breath. The others received area-of-effect damage, but Sarang used yet another Thunderstorm. She had triggered her item’s ability. The scorpion died as well.
The allies’ attacks against crowded enemies were deadly. Some died from direct hits, but others were still alive. However, they had lost a lot of health. Gongon grew and ran forward for a headbutt rush.
Those enemies with little health remaining tried to reenter the castle’s force field. Gongon slammed against the pig-headed hero’s back.
Boom!
After the hit, the pig faded away. The spider quickly webbed Gongon, who ended up tied up. However, Layla threw her katana at the hero’s neck, piercing it.
Abel did not participate in the attack, but all five enemy heroes died. If the enemies had dispersed, it wouldn’t have been that easy.
Junhyuk had been so focused on killing the heroes that he let an attack from the giant golem through. After slamming against the ground, he smirked and said, “Now, I’ll deal with you.”
He raised the force field, and the allies gathered inside. The allied minions outnumbered enemy minions, so the heroes focused on the giant golem.
The golems had a new power, but that was still no match for them. Three allied heroes focused on the golem, and the golem quickly fell. It cracked when it crashed against the ground, leaving many pieces behind.
Junhyuk picked up the item dropped by the enemy he had killed. Sarang picked up two; Gongon picked up one; and Layla picked up the last.
Junhyuk smacked his lips. If his extra damage had triggered, he would’ve gotten more items. However, he didn’t dwell on it, saying, “Let’s take care of the minions.”
With the enemy minions gone, they would have an easier time destroying the castle’s force field. Once the heroes stepped in, the number of enemy minions decreased rapidly. There had been a hundred, but soon, they were all gone.
The allied minions had killed a fair amount of them as well. Once they were all dead, Junhyuk shouted at the minions, “Destroy the force field, and we’ll return home!”
After he shouted, the allied minions started pounding against the force field. All of them focused on it, and Junhyuk didn’t have to do anything.
He looked at the other allies and said, “The team selection round is over…”
“Right.”
Looking at all of them, Junhyuk knew that he did not want Abel. So, without Abel, only the four of them would form a team. Abel was drinking out of his bottle of alcohol.
Four of them would choose each other, and the last one would have to depend on luck. The last member could come from Junhyuk’s former teams, or Gongon’s, or Layla’s.
As he looked them over, he saw Elise and Gongon talking seriously with each other. Shaking his head, he said, “With the next round, we’ll always be on the same team!”
A new season had begun, and the team selection rounds were over. Was he lucky? He had just become a hero and gone through team selection. However, Sarang had only gone through one round of team selection herself. She was even more lucky that she’d gotten three heroes on her team that she liked on the first try.
The castle’s force field was destroyed, and Junhyuk looked at everyone and said, “Then, see you next round.”
The battlefield disappeared, and with a bright glow, Junhyuk was transported back to the spawn room.
Ariel was there waiting for him, smiling brightly.
[Congratulations on your victory! The 200,000G reward has been added to your account!]
Still smiling, she asked, [Are you ready to make your selections?]
“Gongon and Sarang Kim.”
[Just the two of them?]
“That’s right. I don’t want Abel.”
Ariel nodded and replied, [Gongon and Sarang have also selected you. A total of four people comprise your team right now.]
Curious about something, Junhyuk asked, “We’re four, but what about the last member?”
[One of those who have selected you or your former team members will be randomly assigned to your team.]
After some thought, Junhyuk asked, “Can I have someone entirely new?”
[You want someone you’ve never met before?]
“Correct. If someone hasn’t been selected yet, then there’s something lacking with them.”
[Hm. Even if you end up with someone completely new, since team selections are over, that’ll also mean that person was never selected.]
Junhyuk understood what Ariel was saying, so he replied, “A newly-activated hero.”
[Not every team has finished their round of team selections. Some will only join teams after everyone is done, so I can’t give you a definitive answer. However, your opinion has been duly noted.]
“OK.”
Smiling, Ariel asked, [Are you placing any bets on the Champions’ Battlefield?]
Junhyuk shook his head.
“I don’t know any champions competing, so I don’t want to gamble.” He added curtly, “I want to return now.”
[There one more thing that requires your attention. Do you want to take Elise with you to the next round?]
“Of course!”
For Elise to survive, she had to be on his team. If she were ever in danger, he would keep her inside the castle.
[Your decision to keep Elise has been approved. You may return now. See you on the next battlefield.]
With overwhelming brightness, he returned to Earth. After that, Junhyuk used his communication orb and contacted the others, setting up a conference call. He could see Sarang and Gongon, but could only hear Layla’s voice.
“I didn’t include Abel on the team. Did anyone?”
“No. I want him as an enemy,” Gongon declared, and Sarang laughed.
“He was too spooky.”
Layla also chimed in, “He can’t be on our team. I didn’t choose him.”
Junhyuk calmly explained, “I told Ariel that I didn’t want anyone that I already met and asked her to get us a new hero. However, that’ll be completely unpredictable.”
Gongon said, “Sure. A hero that hasn’t been picked through team selections can be a problem.”
“I wanted a newly-activated hero, but we’ll have to wait and see.”
“Good thinking.”
Most heroes he had met so far had been disappointing. Gongon felt the same way. Now, everything depended on luck.
If a hero died too many times, that hero wouldn’t be able to advance, perpetually staying at a lower tier.
“Then, see you next round.”
“Right.”
Junhyuk disconnected with the others and got up. The next day, he would attack India’s monster area, so he was worried about how many of his team members would survive that.
Destroying the monster area was a problem, but Junhyuk was also worried about finally having five human heroes for the battlefield. They hadn’t reached that mark yet, which meant that the waves would continue.
Junhyuk could destroy the monster areas in time, but stopping the random monster waves was a problem.
Thinking about that, he called Elise, but she didn’t pick up. For heroes, time on Earth stopped while they were on the battlefield. However, champions, experts, novices and minions wouldn’t wake for an hour.
Elise would fall under that condition as well. After an hour, Junhyuk tried to call her again, but suddenly, he got a connection from his communication orb.
“Junhyuk?”
“Elise? Did you buy a communication orb?”
She giggled.
“I got one while Abel was drinking. This could change how we see communication on Earth.”
“Sure, and business will be good for us as well. Now that your magitek success rate has gone up, you can make even more equipment.”
“I’ll be working on new items with the ingredients I got, but I’ll make more invisibility cloaks to sell to get more gold. I’ll also research other items. By the way, will I be summoned again in two weeks?”
“Correct. In two weeks.”
“Will I be with you again?”
“Yes, we’ll be together from now on.”
“That’s nice.”
Elise was relieved to hear that she’d be with him, and he said, “Gongon is very skilled at magic. Try to talk to him as often as possible.”
“I’m trying to learn the basics of magic. To progress with magitek, that’s essential.”
Elise was at the forefront of scientific research in the world. Now, she was learning about magic.
“If you can learn it, that’s great.”
For a mage minion, learning magic was a good thing. However, Elise had started out as an expert, and she would not have been a mage minion. Still, she would do well.
“I’ll call you later.”
Elise disconnected, and Junhyuk smiled. He had gotten the two people he wanted from that last battlefield. The last one would depend on luck, but the four of them were still strong without someone else. That last team battle was proof of that.
“I’ll become a legend!”
He knew how difficult it was to become a legend, but with the right team and the right items, he would do it.
