At first, Jeong Jin-myeong and Mo Yong-jun probably thought that a non-aggression pact alone would be enough.
However, Team B unexpectedly surged ahead quickly, and to make matters worse, several of their key forces were even transferred over with [Transfer].
In a situation like this, it’s impossible not to feel a sense of crisis, and in reality there’s only one solution.
Strengthen the alliance.
From “Let’s not fight each other.”
to
“Let’s gang up and beat them together!”
Soon, the enemies would come pouring into Team B’s territory, either to attack or interfere.
If we clash like this, we’ll definitely lose.
Their numbers alone were double ours, and the same went for item cards.
We brought three people at the level of promising students or disciplinary committee members, but if Teams A and C combined, even that advantage would disappear.
Of course, I had expected things to turn out this way, and had even partially guided events in that direction.
And in order to make the next move, the decisive move, I selected only the elites and brought them along.
Just like on the second day, we headed straight toward the volcano.
We didn’t run into any other Teams on the way. Since it was early morning, it seemed they were still preparing.
Before long, the terrain gradually rose in elevation, and the altar where we had obtained the hidden piece came into view.
“We came this far yesterday.”
“Grr.”
The tiger let out a gruff sound.
It seemed the battle that took place there hadn’t been a pleasant one.
After all, it had been running here and there among enemies that kept pouring in without end.
Of course, today’s goal wasn’t the hidden piece.
And the battle ahead would be far more dangerous. Contrary to what the tiger might have hoped.
As I walked toward the volcano’s summit, I gave the order.
“Get ready.”
“From this point on, enemies could appear at any time.”
Go Hyeon-woo echoed my words.
We weren’t firing a pillar of light into the sky to advertise ourselves, but this was their territory.
It was only a matter of time before they realized we had entered.
Before long, a group of monsters came down.
As we had often seen before, it was the usual combination of fire elementals and draconic soldiers.
Seo Ye-in immediately aimed the barrel of her gun forward.
“We’ll take them down.”
“Take! Them! Down!”
With a spirited shout, Han So-mi kicked off the ground, and not to be outdone, the rest of the melee party members shot forward as well.
After wiping out the first wave in an instant, we continued advancing as if nothing had happened.
Soon another group of monsters came down, and Han So-mi spoke.
“There are more of them!”
The group was more than twice the size of the previous one.
The proportion of draconic soldiers had also increased.
It seemed they had realized the first wave had been wiped out faster than expected and sharply increased both the quantity and quality of their forces.
Still seems insufficient.
Judging by how quickly the second wave was annihilated as well.
Boom!
The enemies blasted away by the spiral explosion were swept aside by Go Hyeon-woo’s sword energy.
He had been halfway to sheathing his sword, but after glancing upward, he drew it again.
“More are coming.”
An even larger group of monsters was descending from the volcano.
The third battle began.
As I cast wind magic, I thought to myself.
Whoooosh—
If we really wanted, we could shake them off.
We could even pass by using [Concealment].
Even so, there was a reason we were fighting them off as they came down.
We’re clearing out the trash mobs in advance.
It was to further increase the chances of success for what we were about to do.
Soon, our efforts seemed to start paying off.
The fourth group of monsters that appeared was smaller in size, but far more elite.
Looks like they’ve stopped sending elementals now.
It seemed they had realized that no matter how many they summoned, it was just a waste of mana.
There were barely any dragoncale soldiers left, and the group was now composed mostly of dragonfang soldiers with a few dragonclaw soldiers mixed in.
“We’re almost there. Just a little more.”
“Okay…!”
Hong Yeon-hwa nodded and began chanting a spell.
Red magic circles started appearing one after another beneath her feet.
***
Around the same time, in Team B’s territory.
Shin Byeong-cheol was running for his life.
“Good grief, what rotten luck I’ve got.”
What a nasty way to start the morning.
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a sharp, tearing sound cut through the air behind him.
Swiiiiiishh—!
Thick arrows of mana came rushing toward his back.
Shin Byeong-cheol focused all his concentration as he moved with stealthy footwork.
“Hah, chahap! Thahap! Chwat!”
It didn’t look very impressive on the surface, but the effectiveness was excellent.
Several arrows narrowly grazed past him.
For the ones he couldn’t avoid in time, he flicked out his chopsticks.
Bang!
There was too much of a difference in power to completely cancel them out, but he was able to slightly deflect their trajectory.
In any case, since all the arrows ultimately missed, Shin Byeong-cheol curled the corner of his mouth and spoke toward his pursuer.
“Hmph, so a promising student isn’t that—”
—Kiiiirrrk—!
“—Actually pretty impressive! My apologies!”
He kicked off the ground again as he shouted his apology.
The chase didn’t last long.
Shin Byeong-cheol, who had been running frantically with thief’s steps, suddenly slammed to a halt and leaned his body back.
Creaaaak!
A fierce blade of sword energy swept past right in front of him.
Soon, several swordsmen climbed over the rugged terrain and revealed themselves.
“Figures a thief would be quick on his feet.”
They were the swordsman party led by Sa Gong-wook.
A yellow “C” was attached to their chests.
Cha Hyeon-joo, who had been chasing him, also landed nearby with the members of Party A.
She frowned deeply as she spoke.
“Say that again. What was that about a promising student?”
“Hey now, don’t take it so personally. You know I didn’t mean it, right? I was just in a rush and blurted out whatever came to mind. Hehe.”
Shin Byeong-cheol gave a servile laugh.
Then he glanced back and forth between Sa Gong-wook and Cha Hyeon-joo and asked,
“But you two seem to be hanging around together a lot these days. Getting close?”
“Shut up.”
“Shut up.”
They both said it at the same time.
Ever since the failed infiltration of the temporary storage facility, the relationship between the Archery Club and the Black Faction had grown even worse, and the same was true for them.
They had only ended up chasing Shin Byeong-cheol together by coincidence.
Sa Gong-wook stepped forward with his sword hanging loosely at his side.
“Enough wasting time. Hand over the crystal.”
“And you’ll let me go if I do?”
Shin Byeong-cheol asked, holding up an empty crystal.
But silence filled the area.
“……”
“……”
“……Ah, whatever. Dead either way.”
Shin Byeong-cheol held out an item card toward Cha Hyeon-joo.
“Discharge!”
But the card only glowed briefly before turning into black ash and scattering.
Pssshhh…
At the same time, a similar cloud of ash scattered on Cha Hyeon-joo’s side, as if Protection had activated.
She scoffed.
“Did you think we were idiots?”
“Oh my, of course not. Not idiots at all.”
Still bowing and scraping, Shin Byeong-cheol pulled out another card.
“Of course, neither am I. Return!”
“Damn it…!”
The swordsmen hurriedly swung their blades, but Shin Byeong-cheol was already surrounded by a burst of light.
Flash!
“Goodbye everyone! May your love be beautiful!”
“What the hell are you—”
And in an instant, he was sent flying back to Team B’s base.
Flash!
Shin Byeong-cheol landed in a stylish pose.
He walked over to Song Cheon-hye and reported what had just happened,
While grabbing the back of his neck as if he were exhausted.
“Ah~ it was a bit rough. I had to deal with Sa Gong-wook and Cha Hyeon-joo by myself. I fought a desperate 1-against-10 battle, and in the end I had no choice but to use Return.”
“I see.”
Song Cheon-hye replied indifferently.
She clearly didn’t believe a word of it.
Feeling awkward, Shin Byeong-cheol handed over the empty crystal.
“Anyway, I brought this back. That card was worth the cost, right?”
“Yes, good work.”
Flash! Flash-flash!
The other team members were also flying back one after another using Return, each holding one or two empty crystals.
Song Cheon-hye praised their efforts as well while thinking to herself.
So far, everything’s going according to plan.
Just as Kim Ho had predicted, many members of Teams A and C had crossed over and started causing trouble.
No matter how they dealt with it for now, they would only end up taking losses, but they couldn’t simply stay holed up at the base either.
So she selected only the faster members of the team, gave them cards, and sent them out to search for empty crystals.
Recharging them could be done later once the situation calmed down somewhat, but the crystals taken by the other teams couldn’t be recovered.
After this, we should wait…
Song Cheon-hye glanced toward the volcano.
What on earth had he been thinking when he went there?
***
We continued climbing the volcano, fighting battle after battle.
Fortunately, it didn’t seem like we would need to reach the summit.
The group of monsters that appeared this time clearly had a very different atmosphere from the ones before, even from a distance.
The others seemed to think the same, their expressions tense.
“……”
“……”
As the distance closed, we could make out their composition.
There wasn’t a single elemental among them, and even the dragonscale soldiers and dragonfang soldiers could be counted on one hand.
Instead, there were dozens of draconic soldiers.
A heavy tension filled the area, and rather than attacking, they slowly began to surround us.
“Grrrr…”
Bum raised his fur and crouched low.
The others were also fully prepared to fight at any moment, but because of my orders, they didn’t launch a preemptive attack.
Before long, one of them stepped forward from the group.
Like the other draconic soldiers, it had a half-human, half-dragon form, and its build was slender, as if it belonged to the mage type.
What stood out was its tail. It was nearly as thick as its own thigh, with red scales protruding like armor.
It was quite long as well, coiled all around its body.
Dragontail Soldier.
A dragon’s tail doesn’t detach and regrow like a lizard’s; its importance is almost on par with its wings.
If it had been created using [Dragon Crafting] with that as the material, then its fighting power would likely be similar to the Dragonwing Soldiers of Craft Haven.
A+ rank.
It looked over us one by one, then finally fixed its gaze on me.
“Your potential has no visible end. I’ve never seen a case like this before. If you’d had ten years, no….five years, you would have become a tremendous threat.”
“……”
“But it’s unfortunate. You’ve stood before me through a reckless decision. All of you will perish here.”
“I didn’t come to fight.”
At my words, the Dragontail Soldier showed a puzzled expression.
“You climbed all the way here, and you’re saying you didn’t come to fight?”
“Sorry about taking out your guys on the way up, but they kept getting in the way, so we didn’t really have a choice.”
“You say interesting things. Then what did you come here for?”
“I want to borrow some strength.”
“……?”
The Dragontail Soldier seemed deeply intrigued by my answer.
If its personality and way of thinking had been the same as a human’s, it might have burst out laughing.
Soon, it pointed toward the groups of Team A and Team C and asked,
“It must be because of those humans over there, right?”
“That’s right.”
“Sooner or later, I plan to wipe them all out anyway. Is there any reason I should move according to your wishes?”
“For the record, this isn’t a request or a proposal. It’s a notice.”
When I said that with a grin, the Dragontail Soldier once again showed an intrigued expression.
“Everything you say is amusing. If it were up to me, I’d like to keep listening, but my duty is to protect my master. I can’t delay any longer.”
Then it slightly loosened the tail wrapped around its body and pointed the tip toward us.
“Kill them.”
Just as the draconic soldiers were about to rush in from all sides,
We each pulled a card from our pockets.
“[Freeze].”
“[Freeze].”
Five cards activated at once, and the area filled with the sound of freezing.
Crack-crack—!
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