The effect of [Freeze] is to render 10 random targets in front unable to act.
With five cards, that naturally makes 50.
Looking at all the monsters in this area, 50 would be only a handful, but through the earlier battles we had already filtered out the trash mobs and left only the elites.
As a result, most of the draconic soldiers were frozen.
The Dragontail Soldier seemed a little surprised by this, but it did not lose its composure.
“So you had a trick up your sleeve.”
“That’s not all.”
I replied as I kicked off the ground.
In one hand I held the Crow Tree, and in the other the Immortal Pot I had just borrowed from Seo Ye-in.
If the Dragontail Soldier were frozen, everything would be pointless, so I deliberately didn’t use [Freeze] on that side.
Because of that, several draconic soldiers still remained around it, and they attacked all at once as if to block my approach.
But the next moment my body blurred.
Swish….
Slipping through the barrage with Ghost Dance, I reached right in front of the Dragontail Soldier.
Its figure suddenly vanished.
Of course it would use Blink.
Since it was a mage type, I had already expected it.
I immediately used Blink to follow, but it tried to widen the distance again with another spatial spell.
Of course I had anticipated that as well, and I had no intention of letting it happen.
I thrust forward the Crow Tree and spoke the trigger word.
“Caw?”
“…….!”
When its skill activation was interrupted and canceled, the Dragontail Soldier showed genuine panic for the first time.
Seizing that moment, I thrust forward the Immortal Kim Ho Kim Ho Pot.
“Borrowing this for a bit~”
[Severed Space]
A space like the night sky opened wide and swallowed it.
At that, every draconic soldier on the field turned their heads at once and charged straight at me.
Dodging the pouring fireballs and flaming weapons, I shouted,
“It’s done; fall back!”
At once, each of my teammates pulled out a card.
They were the [Return] cards I had distributed earlier according to the number of people.
Six cards flashed, and everyone was wrapped in a burst of light and sent flying toward the base.
Flas-flash-flash-flash-flash!
Meanwhile, I still had one more card in my hand.
[Transfer].
The moment I used it, the blue B on my chest faded and turned into a yellow C.
Then [Return] activated right after.
Fwaaash!
My body turned into a streak of light and shot upward.
However, since my affiliation had changed, the direction I flew was different from my party members.
Soon, I landed right in the middle of Team C’s base.
From today on, this is our home.
Looking around, the base didn’t seem to have many facilities. It looked like more things had been destroyed than built.
The [Bombardment] we fired last night must have contributed to that too.
Compared to Team B, the difference was like a new city versus a slum.
– Hey! Who’s that?
– Is he from our team?
– Isn’t that Kim Ho?
Our team members (temporary) gathered around and started whispering among themselves.
Among them was our team leader (temporary), Jeong Jin-myeong.
I didn’t see Lee Seong-hyeon or Jo Byeok, which meant they had likely been dispatched to Team B’s territory.
Then things are probably going to get pretty rough over there.
Of course, that’s not really my concern.
Jeong Jin-myeong widened his eyes and asked,
“Why are you here?”
“I came to make a delivery.”
With an evil smile on my lips, I pulled out the pot and released [Severed Space].
A space like the night sky opened up and spat out the Dragontail Soldier.
The moment it appeared, it spun at tremendous speed and whipped its thick tail in every direction like a lash.
Shockwaves spread outward, followed by fiery explosions.
Boom-boom-boom-boom!
It happened so suddenly and the power far exceeded expectations that our team members (temporary) couldn’t react in time.
About half were blown away, while the other half were engulfed in flames.
Jeong Jin-myeong was no exception.
He barely avoided being completely incapacitated, but the damage was severe, and he seemed dazed.
“What the hell is this…?”
Even so, the Dragontail Soldier kept its eyes fixed solely on me.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve been outplayed by a human. Everything has gone exactly as you intended.”
“I told you. It was a notice.”
You were part of the plan from the beginning.
With a grin, I threw out a question.
“You’re not going to refuse, are you?”
“Didn’t I say it already? Sooner or later I’ll wipe them all out. Of course—”
The moment the Dragontail Soldier slashed through the air, I stepped with Feather Step.
Its burning claws barely grazed past me.
Whoosh!
“—after turning you into ashes first.”
“I don’t burn very well.”
“We’ll see about that.”
Then the Dragontail Soldier floated up into the air, as if preparing to launch a full assault.
It began moving toward me—
Swish-swish-swish-swish!
Boom! Boom!
All kinds of ranged projectiles and magic concentrated on it.
The survivors had launched a counterattack.
They didn’t know the full situation, but it was clear an enemy had appeared.
However, a blazing barrier soon formed and cleanly blocked every attack.
“Annoying.”
The Dragontail Soldier muttered briefly and raised one hand above its head, firing a pillar of flame into the sky like a flare.
Rumbleeeee!
In response, a vibration spread through the ground beneath our feet.
I glanced toward the volcano.
Near the summit, flames were gathering at a terrifying speed.
Looks like it’s about to erupt.
And just like yesterday, long-range bombardment and a large number of reinforcements would soon come flying in.
So what do I do here?
First, [Transfer].
I used my final card to switch my affiliation back to Team B.
I could just use [Return] right now—
But if I’m going to do this, I might as well finish it properly.
Just then, Jeong Jin-myeong staggered to his feet and held out a card toward the Dragontail Soldier.
It was [Discharge].
Just as [Freeze] had worked on the Dragonscale Soldiers, this would work on it as well.
In other words, it could send the creature flying back to its stronghold, the volcano.
But just before it activated, I stepped in front of Jeong Jin-myeong, and the card that had been about to glow crumbled into pitch-black ash and scattered.
Fwoooosh……
At the same time, ash was scattering from my own chest.
[Protection] had been activated.
This is why I switched affiliations first.
So that both the Dragontail Soldier and I would be included as targets of [Discharge], then be repelled by [Protection].
For reference, [Freeze] works a little differently.
Instead of nullifying the activation itself like it did just now, everyone except the person with [Protection] simply freezes in place.
Since it’s a hidden piece and the number of targets is as high as ten, the chances of it being blocked are high.
In any case, this meant that Team C no longer had any way to deal with the Dragontail Soldier.
Jeong Jin-myeong looked at me as if he couldn’t believe it and said,
“Hey, isn’t that a bit too much?”
“We’ve got to survive too.”
When they’re teaming up with other groups and pressuring us, we can’t just sit there and take it.
I was about to add something else when I hastily threw myself to the side.
Jiiiing—!
An extremely compressed beam of flame grazed past me and continued to chase after me, following the Dragontail Soldier’s pointing finger.
“To think you’d be so ungrateful. I even stopped the Discharge for you.”
“You speak nonsense.”
Jiiiing—!
I diligently used Feather Step, but that alone didn’t seem enough to shake it off.
And since the beam had almost caught up, close enough to touch, I used Blink and instantly moved to a corner of the base.
The next thing that appeared before my eyes was a tower shining brilliantly in various colors.
[Crystal Tower (C+)]
The other facilities were practically slums, but perhaps because they had invested in this one consistently, its rank was fairly high.
Of course, it wouldn’t last long.
Boom!
An Iceburst struck the tower, freezing it over.
It didn’t budge at all, likely because it had a fair amount of durability, but that alone was enough.
Besides, there wasn’t any time to keep hammering at it.
The moment I quickly stepped with Feather Step, flaming arrows poured down like rain.
Swish-swish-swish-swish—!
The Dragontail Soldier had followed me with Blink.
When it clenched its fist, dark crimson flames ignited from within.
I spoke in Song Cheon-hye’s tone.
“That’s a prohibited skill, you know? It’s against the school rules.”
The Dragontail Soldier thrust its fist forward as if my words weren’t even worth responding to.
A storm of flames surged toward me.
Whoooooooooosh—!
I barely managed to escape the blast radius again, but the situation was only getting worse.
At last, the volcano erupted.
A massive fireball crossed a vast distance and crashed down into Team C’s main base.
Booooooooom—!
And from within the flames, Dragonscale Soldiers came rushing out in droves, immediately attacking the members of the other team.
Watching the scene with satisfaction, I thought,
I’ve done more than enough.
At this point, even if they used up all their [Discharge] cards, there would be no way to clean up the mess.
Looking up at the Dragontail Soldier, I said,
“Well then, I’ll be going.”
“You think I’ll let you escape?”
“You already did.”
Flaash!
Then I used [Return] and left the spot.
The surrounding scenery whipped past my vision at tremendous speed, and in an instant I crossed the long distance and landed at our main base.
Feels good to be home.
Especially with these state-of-the-art facilities.
Meanwhile, my party members were waiting nearby, resting as they kept watch.
The moment I returned, Hong Yeon-hwa came running over.
With a face mixed with relief and worry, she asked,
“Are you okay…?”
“I’m fine.”
Though if I had stayed a little longer, I probably would’ve taken a hit.
There’s still quite a gap in our specs, so it can’t be helped.
Next, I returned the pot to Seo Ye-in and looked at Song Cheon-hye, who had just come running over.
“Things were going well, right?”
“Yes, just like you told me, we only secured the crystals. We used almost all of our [Return] cards, though. Did everything go well where you went?”
“It’s all taken care of.”
Sure enough, before long the sub-quest was updated.
[Side Quest: 17th and 18th Week Final Exam] (In Progress…)
▷Condition: Fail upon retirement
▷Objective 1: Eliminate competitors (45/20)
▷Objective 2: Eliminate Draconic Soldiers
Dragonscale Soldiers: 41
Dragonfang Soldiers: 24
Dragonclaw Soldiers: 14
▷Objective 3: Destroy the rival team’s Crystal Tower (1/1)
▷Objective 4: Place 1st with your team
▷Reward: Varies based on completion rate
The Crystal Tower had already been destroyed, probably because the Dragontail and Dragonclaw soldiers were causing proper chaos.
My contribution couldn’t have been more than about 1%, but a contribution was still a contribution, so the count went up.
Since quite a few members from the other teams had gone down, Objective 1 of eliminating competitors had increased a bit as well.
I said to Song Cheon-hye,
“Use [Reconnaissance].”
“Where to?”
“Team C.”
Perhaps curious herself, Song Cheon-hye immediately pulled out the card.
The other team members gathered around as well, their faces full of curiosity.
Flaaash!
Soon a large screen appeared, showing the scene at Team C’s base.
The moment they saw it, sighs and groans escaped from here and there.
“Wow……”
“Huh…”
Not a single facility was left standing. Everything had been completely burned down.
There wasn’t a single survivor in sight either.
They must have either been swept away along with the base or abandoned the hill and fled.
Meanwhile, the Dragontail Soldier that had caused this devastation was returning to the volcano with its subordinates.
I had done quite a few things to thoroughly piss it off, but its top priority was protecting the Flame Emperor Dragon, which had entered its dormant phase.
It must have decided that attacking our main base could wait a little longer.
I had taken that into account when making my plan.
If it somehow did come, we could just blow it away with [Discharge].
As soon as the screen disappeared, I spoke to Song Cheon-hye again.
“This time, use [Observe].”
“On Jeong Jin-myeong?”
Since he was Team C’s leader, she must have thought I wanted to check whether he had survived.
But I shook my head.
“No, on Mo Yong-jun.”
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