Ranker’s Return

Suspended in midair, Hyeonu was exposed to countless pure energies in an unprotected manner. Nevertheless, he had his colleagues. An ice cage appeared in an instant with Hyeonu at the center, and a blue membrane was formed over the cage. Then a final wall of skeletons appeared around the blue membrane.

Tang-E, Yuri, and Sunny each used their defensive moves for Hyeonu. Their magic and Hyeonu’s crescent moon were struck by the offensive players’ pure energies that filled the air. The first thing that exploded was Sunny’s wall of skeletons. When the skeleton wall that surrounded Hyeonu broke, the blue hemisphere inside also broke.

The last thing that broke was the cage of ice spheres Tang-E had set up. Eventually, all of the magic that failed to overcome the bombardment of pure energies was destroyed. The three magics couldn’t stop the dozens of attacks, but for Hyeonu, the brief time they earned was enough.

Hyeonu skillfully used the Mysterious Sky Steps in the air. To be exact, he instantly created pure energy under his feet and moved by stepping on it. The offensive players’ array of colorful pure energy passed by Hyeonu’s body. The more the viewers saw, the more bizarre it seemed. It was truly incomprehensible how Hyeonu managed to avoid so many pure energies with really simple movements.

Nevertheless, no one in the battle was impressed or surprised by his movements. The players were all busy moving toward Hyeonu with tense expressions. They intended to end it somehow before Hyeonu’s feet touched the ground.

The first person to run over was Karelin. Hyeonu was unable to kill him a little while ago, so he now rushed to take advantage of the opportunity. Karelin rose in the air and aimed his gray-colored fist at Hyeonu. Hyeonu quickly placed the Mysterious Sky Sword into its sheath and reached out with his purple-colored hand to touch Karelin’s elbow.

At the very next moment, Karelin was sent flying through the air. Hyeonu stretched out his finger toward the defenseless Karelin, and the purple thread that emerged from Hyeonu’s finger pierced Karelin’s heart. Strangely, none of the other players rushed over to Hyeonu until Karelin died. Karelin simply died too quickly.

There were a few players who started running over at almost the same time as Karelin, but they were eventually unable to join the attack. The reason for that was the purple bear who was just below the smiling Hyeonu. Hyeonu had controlled the magic spirit to prevent others from approaching him while he fought Karelin. In short, it wasn’t that the other players didn’t attack Hyeonu, but that they couldn’t at the time.

‘Hmm...’ Hyeonu descended to the ground and looked around. The battle was definitely progressing in favor of Crescent Moon. Their ranged magician and a priest, who could heal, had survived.

‘Tang-E can also heal.’

Of course, Tang-E could take on both roles.

‘It is the end when their health runs out.’

On the other side, not a single priest or magician was still alive. They had all been wiped out.

‘I’m sure they will try to finish it quickly...’

Hyeonu could tell without looking. No, it was extremely obvious. There was no way the offensive side would let the match go on for a long time. They would naturally try to end the battle quickly.

‘Then I’ll accept it.’

Hyeonu had no intention of avoiding a head-on confrontation. After all, he was the one who would hold the advantage in it.

‘I have enough magic power.’

He was full of magic power as well as health. The cooldown for all of his skills had ended. It was like Hyeonu hadn’t fought at all.

‘The buffs are all active.’

His buffs were still in effect and with a long duration left as it had taken him less than a minute to kill Mascherano and Karelin. At present, Hyeonu and the magic spirit rushed out at the same time. They headed toward the attackers from the left and right respectively. As always, Hyeonu moved using Mysterious Sky Steps, and the magic spirit also displayed similar movements, appearing identical to its master.

The players faced the storm of movements and nervously infused magic power into their weapons. Since they weren’t Hyeonu, they wouldn’t be able to cope if they didn’t prepare in advance. Their swords were now filled with magic power, but they were unable to wield them because of Hyeonu’s sudden change in movements. As Hyeonu approached the players, he lowered his body and swung the Mysterious Sky Sword. Purple pure energy more than a few dozen meters long flew toward the players’ waists.

On the other side, the magic spirit waved its paws swiftly. Then five purple pure energies emerged and tore through the air in the trajectory of the swinging paws. Sensing an unusual momentum from the incoming attacks, the players’ expressions stiffened, and they poured out their skills. The pure energies of Hyeonu and the magic spirit crushed their opponents’ pure energies without being hindered for even a moment.

Some of the players were flustered by this sight. The problem was that these players believed in the power of numbers and used skills with moderate power. The first person to react was Reina.

Reina fired a huge pure energy at the magic spirit’s pure energy that was pouring toward her. Hundreds of rose petals flew out to face the magic spirit’s pure energy. The claw-shaped pure energy scratched the roses, and the latter scattered with the sound of ice breaking.

Then Ryan’s pure energy descended and crushed the magic spirit’s pure energy. Unable to overcome the pressure of both Reina’s and Ryan’s pure energies, the magic spirit’s pure energy exploded. The two of them sighed upon seeing the magic spirit’s mighty power.

“How can we not win against that summons?”

In the eyes of others, the magic spirit looked like a summons created by a skill. This was natural because they didn’t know the mechanism behind the magic spirit’s movements. It seemed to move on its own as soon as it was summoned. Knowing the truth would only make them despair.

While Reina and Ryan were blocking the attacks of the magic spirit, the people blocking Hyeonu were in a serious crisis. Five people used their main skills to block the Crescent Moon Cut that flew over from Hyeonu. Shortly thereafter, Hyeonu used Mysterious Sky Steps to cling to the players. He swiftly swung the Mysterious Sky Sword diagonally.

His goal was Aike, who was standing right in front of him. Aike barely managed to block Hyeonu’s attack.

‘Kuock...’ Aike resisted letting out a groan. Instead, he added magic power to his sword. Hyeonu’s abilities were at a level Aike had never even imagined. It was so ridiculous he felt that Hyeonu definitely wasn’t the same player as before.

‘Does this make any sense??’ Aike remarked inwardly. He only had one exchange of blows with Hyeonu, but his hands were already shaking, making it hard for him to hold onto his sword.

“Help!” Aike shouted with a desperate heart.

Upon hearing his request, the other players rushed to him. However, Hyeonu quickly swung the Mysterious Sky Sword at the players who were running over. Purple pure energy appeared and disappeared repeatedly around the Mysterious Sky Sword, binding the players in their current positions. The players simply couldn’t block Hyeonu who appeared and disappeared like a ghost. The moment he moved, Hyeonu’s pure energy flew at their necks. It was an absurd attack that they couldn’t escape.

Hyeonu continued to attack with the Mysterious Sky Sword without resting at all. He gained the upper hand through the use of his overwhelmingly wide range. The players who were reacting well and managed to block at first started to get hurt little by little. It was a time when their magic power had depleted, and the skills they could use had disappeared.

On the other hand, Hyeonu was exactly the same as before, and he kept wielding the Mysterious Sky Sword. His purple pure energy appeared and disappeared, digging deep into the players’ skin.

A victim soon appeared. JT Telecom’s Yoo Bin had his arm cut off during Hyeonu’s descent toward the ground, and he was logged out.

From there, the flow of the battle started to tilt sharply. It had already been leaning to one side, but it was now tilted at 90 degrees like water pouring down. On one side, Hyeonu and the magic spirit were attacking, while the other side had Tang-E and Sunny. The players on the offensive side quickly dwindled in number as they were unable to handle the attacks from all sides. This was even more so now because Hyeonu had removed all of their power.

The moment Reina fell due to the magic spirit’s claws, all members of the attacking side were logged out. The match was over. Crescent Moon succeeded in their defense.

***

“In 21 minutes and 58 seconds, Crescent Moon wiped out all the attackers and succeeded in their defense!”

“It is the first record ever. At Arena Week last year, all eight teams failed to defend during the siege.”

“I think it is likely to be similar at Arena Week next year. The defense can’t succeed without a change in the rules. However, Crescent Moon broke through these unfavorable conditions and succeeded in defending.”

The commentators praised Crescent Moon until their lips were dry and worn out. It was almost the level of exaltation, but no one criticized them as they all felt the same way. In the siege where it was important to hold on for as long as possible, Crescent Moon had overwhelmingly succeeded in defending. They were the only team that was in a different league from the other teams.

“Crescent Moon has achieved first place in both PvP and the siege, effectively winning this Arena Week overall,” the host said. Indeed, Crescent Moon was already the winner of Arena Week, regardless of the outcome of the remaining raid time attack. This wouldn’t change even if they abstained from the raid time attack.

“Everyone has worked hard. The reason why we could win first place today was due to everyone,” Hyeonu said to the gathered Crescent Moon players when he emerged from the cube.

The other team members had shown everything they had practiced as the siege was practically their last performance. They wouldn’t be playing a big role in the raid time attack.

“Hyung did the most.”

“What did we do?”

“I believed in Oppa.”

The others spoke in turn to Hyeonu. They knew that they hadn’t done as well as Hyeonu said. All of it was Hyeonu’s achievement from the start right until the end. Even when Hyeonu didn’t go into battle personally, Tang-E and the magic spirit roamed the battlefield actively. Both were related to Hyeonu, so his merit was ultimately still the largest.

“What is the point of arguing about it now? Let’s just take it as he said,” Sunny said to the Crescent Moon players who turned the achievement away from them. Unlike her calm words, there were tears in her eyes. She thought about how this was their last stage together, and her heart became even more restless.

Just then, the host called out, “The number one team in the siege, Crescent Moon! Please come up on the stage.”

The interview—the final scheduled program of the day—still remained.

“Let’s go.” Hyeonu stepped onto the stage that was prepared for the interview, and the other players followed his lead.