Chapter 178
The dark elve’s winds were as sharp as blades, leaving razor-fine cuts wherever they passed. Blood welled from Jae-Hyeok’s and Do-Jin’s arms and faces.
Shit!
Do-Jin gritted his teeth. He wanted to use Flash Steps to escape, but he couldn’t see through the swirl of dust, bark, and shredded leaves.
This was the power of an AOE Skill.
The whole area was devastated.
“Human males,” Railmaru, the Named dark elf, boomed. “You dare come here to harm the forest. Not even your lives can repay your sins!”
Railmaru pulled its bowstring, and blue-black mana swirled at the center of the bowshaft. As the mana condensed, its rate of revolution increased. In moments, a line of whirling energy in the vague shape of an arrow took form.
Swirling Arrow, Railmaru’s original Skill.
From the tip of the Swirling Arrow, a black light shone.
“This shameless bastard! You are the one who destroyed the forest!” Do-Jin growled, only for a black dot to appear on his forehead.
“Die.”
The storm stopped as soon as Railmaru let go of the bow. Then, a thunderous explosion shattered the breath of silence.
The dark blue arrow left the bowstring and flew toward Do-Jin’s forehead.
“U-uh?”
Do-Jin froze.
If he had been calm, he could’ve used Flash Steps the moment the storm subsided. However, he was shaken by the arrow’s speed and power.
“Get yourself together!”
Jae-Hyeok shouted with rare urgency.
“......!”
Jae-Hyeok began calculating the path of the arrow, only for the arrow to suddenly split in two—one arrow, black; the other blue. One veered toward Do-Jin while the other veered for him.
Am I also marked?
Jae-Hyeok took out Heavy Moon and threw it to Do-Jin.
“Cover your face!”
Do-Jin caught the round shield and placed it in front of him. Now wasn’t the time to question.
The legendary-rated Heavy Moon absorbed the impact completely, and the arrow scattered.
On the other hand, Jae-Hyeok was in a bad position.
He confronted the arrow with the flat of his half-drawn blade. However, Jae-Hyeok’s wrists felt as though they would break under the arrow’s rotational force.
Damn. It was only a few minutes ago that I warned myself not to try something like this again. The power of the Named monster’s Swirling Arrow was comparable to that of the Sky Bow.
Just when Jae-Hyeok managed to dissipate the arrow, a cold voice reached his ears.
“You have been annoying me since earlier.”
Railmaru appeared before him and swung a small dagger at tremendous speed. It was as if small lightning bolts were falling one after another toward Jae-Hyeok.
“This...!”
The sight of Jae-Hyeok trying to defend himself without time to draw his sword made the guild members nervous.
“Hurry! Hurry and help him!”
The team leaders rushed over first.
Showing their backs to the Sky Bow was less than ideal, but they had witnessed Jae-Hyeok’s skill. Working with him was essential if they hoped to kill the Named monster before them and ultimately escape this gate.
A new squad of dark elves darted from the surrounding thicket to cut off the team leaders.
“Where are you going in such a hurry?”
“Damn, these monsters respawn endlessly!”
“You dare invade our home and call us monsters? Shameless humans!”
The dark elves charged, and the white armored players met their energy, bulldozing ahead with shields raised high.
The dark elves relied on their superior speed and dexterity to slide, vault, and dash around the players’ shields, yet few succeeded.
The players of Guardian were defense specialists.
For the elves sliding low, they dropped their shields like guillotines. For the elves attempting to vault over, they angled their shields, knocking them to the ground and trampling them under their armored boots.
Of the elves that did bypass the shields, most managed one or two dagger strikes, which skipped across the player’s armor, before being whirled on and crushed.
However, the players’ one-sided dominance was short-lived—
“It’s coming!”
“A-avoid it!”
A great arrow crashed into the players’ formation and knocked them over as easily as a child slapping at a line of dominoes.
“Potion! Hurry and get out your potions!”
"Damn! The potion doesn’t work!”
There were already many people suffering from potion poisoning.
Elder Gu Suk roared, “Support team, see to the injured. Everyone else, resume formation. You must break through!”
The effects of the curse weighed heavily on Elder Gu Suk’s old body. Unable to keep pace, he’d fallen behind. Trapped between the dark elves and the Sky Bow, the players felt his absence keenly.
Elder Gu Suk knew this, too. Even so... We have to save Young Master Kang...
The old man’s deep eyes were locked on the boy who was silently enduring Railmaru’s onslaught.
Just then—
The first Crusher in South Korea’s history, Gu Suk-Jeong, stomped the ground like an enraged bull. His tanned muscles bulged. His hair, a swept-back mane, bristled.
“I will fill in for Grandpa! Everyone, stay out of my way and follow behind!”
What followed could only be described as a line of destruction drawn across the battlefield.
Be it the dark elves themselves, or their arrows, daggers, and Skills—if it even brushed Gu Suk-Jeong’s shoulders, it was sent flying.
This was the effect of his charge—so long as he didn’t stop, Gu Suk-Jeong was almost invincible for the next three seconds.
“Get looost!”
“What is that monster?”
The dark elves were frustrated. This man with skin dark enough to rival theirs was throwing their comrades around like dolls.
However, dark elves were intelligent.
“He can’t stay that way for long! Endure it! He will surely fall on his own!” one of them called. Moments later, its prediction proved correct.
Gu Suk-Jeong was breaking through enemy lines, recreating Moses’ miracle, when the duration of his Skill ended and he came to a stop.
Puk!
“Ugh.”
With his Charging effect gone, the next arrow to arrive found purchase, digging deep in Gu Suk-Jeong’s shoulder.
“That’s it!”
“He gets tired even faster than a wild boar! Haha! Die!”
Desperate to wash away the humiliation of their comrades, the dark elves nearest to Gu Suk-Jeong regained their confidence and closed in with cold sneers.
However, with the dark elves’ formation now shattered, the players of Guardian advanced like machines. A space opened between their shields, and Da-Hee and Hae-Rin shot out, arriving before Gu Suk-Jeong and slashing the elves' throats.
“Mr. Jae-Hyeok!”
“Jae-Hyeok, hold on!”
The girls shouted.
Jae-Hyeok was still on the defensive. Railmaru moved like lightning, and under the endless flurry of its dagger arts, Jae-Hyeok had no opportunity to draw his sword.
Da-Hee dashed forward and began a deadly dance among the dark elves. Elves died in concert with her every step, their foreheads anointed with a single bloody hole.
It was the epitome of float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
Da-Hee pushed her rapier arts to the peak.
Unlike swords, rapiers were unsuitable for slashing. In trade, however, the rapier's narrow form maximized speed and accuracy. Add to that Da-Hee’s sword talent and rapier techniques, and the rapier had become like a touch of death.
Even so, the single-target nature of the rapier made it difficult for her to kill many people in a short time. Da-Hee knew this well
This can’t continue.It is my first time using it in actual combat...
Coming to a stop, Da-Hee straightened to her full height before drawing a deep breath. Small bubbles leaked from her mouth, and she slashed her rapier in the direction of the remaining dark elves.
Tsunami.
The tip of her rapier drew a blue line in the air, from which a torrent of water poured forth and swept the dark elves off their feet before carrying them away.
Of course, the elves were mostly unharmed. Her Initial Skill, Tsunami, was an AOE Skill—the disadvantage of such Skills was their low damage output at low levels.
Still, it was enough to neutralize the few remaining dark elves and clear the path ahead.
“W-what? Hey! If you could use something like that, you should’ve done so sooner...”
Gu Suk-Jeong cradled his arm and grumbled, only to shut his mouth.
Chae Da-Hee collapsed.
The grass and soil felt cool against her cheek.
Weakly, she called to Hae-Rin. “The rest... I’ll leave it to you.”
“......”
Hae-Rin didn’t reply.
She came next to Da-Hee only to stop, seemingly having no intention of going ahead to help Jae-Hyeok now that the path was clear.
Da-Hee forced her eyes open. “Why are you quiet... Ah!”
In the distance, Railmaru’s head was flying through the air.
A Named monster dwelling in an S-grade gate had died at the hands of a sixteen-year-old boy.
“The Kang family... ” At this unreal scene, people couldn’t help but recall the signature of the Kangs—
The sword-drawing technique.
A pinnacle one-hit kill art.
“Yes... The fact that this is the habitat of the dark elves is a good thing for him.”
The boy who remained composed as they set off on the S-grade gate expedition.
From the time they first set off on this expedition, the boy had always been calm. Now, Elder Gu Suk finally understood the source of Jae-Hyeok’s confidence.
The dark elves were classified as otherworlders, just as beastmen.
And otherworlders, similar to humans, lacked a health bar.
With that one swing, Jae-Hyeok had left a message louder than words.
‘I am going to kill you all in one blow.’
How mature. Elder Gu Suk ignored the fleeing dark elves and walked toward Jae-Hyeok as if possessed, but when he neared, he abruptly stopped.
He saw it then—how many razor-thin cuts lined Jae-Hyeok’s arms, and how badly Jae-Hyeok’s hands shook while applying a potion to his wounds.
“Are you alright—”
“I am an aristocrat.” Jae-Hyeok cut off Elder Gu Suk’s words and smiled at his friends who were running toward him. “I was taught not to show weakness.”
“This... Indeed.” Elder Gu Suk smiled. “That’s indeed what the child of the Yaksha would say.”
He had never thought there would come a day when he would admire someone his grandson’s age. Even in my old age, the world is full of endless transformations.
Elder Gu Suk gestured to the other players.
“Let’s get out of the range of the Sky Bow and rest.”
“Huh? Ah, yes...”
The guild members’ eyes were still on Jae-Hyeok as they answered in a dazed manner.
***
At the same time, in the Gyeongnam branch of the Players Association.
“Kang Jae-Hyeok? Kang Dae-Seong’s younger brother entered a gate?”
The branch president smiled widely at the news.
“I might be able to relieve the president’s resentment.”