Chapter 55

Chapter 5. End (5)

At that moment, the faces of the players, including Baiyan, stiffened.

Pant ignored them and turned his gaze towards where Yanwu was. Yanwu was now close enough that his features could be distinguished.

Pant spread his feet shoulder-width apart, slightly bent his upper body, and clenched his fists.

Then he closed his eyes tightly.

Like a bull about to charge.

Like a calm night before the storm.

For a brief moment, a deep silence enveloped him.

A battle stance never seen before.

A stance only displayed when facing a true rival.

"Hoo...!"

With a short exhalation.

Flash!

When he opened his eyes, a yellow light glowed above his purple irises.

And.

Crack! Crack!

As his aura spread, yellow sparks began to fly from his thick fists and forearms.

〈Thunder Shift Fist〉.

A hereditary combat skill and secret technique passed down through the Qinglan family of the Unicorn tribe.

The sparks on his skin gradually intensified and began to connect. Soon, Pant's upper body was surrounded by electricity like armor.

The atmosphere around Pant boiled.

A hot gale accompanied by his aura began to counter Yanwu's ghostly aura and typhoon.

When the electricity seemed to have engulfed everything.

"Lost public contribution points, I just need to take them back."

Pant moved with a cold laugh.

Boom!

Pant charged forward like a cannonball.

Rumble!

The air was torn apart, leaving behind a trail of black smoke, yellow flames, and a deafening thunderclap.

The players blocking his path were all trampled.

There were no screams.

They were drowned out by the thunder, and the bodies exploded or were torn apart by the fierce electricity, leaving no trace.

The players had nowhere to run and could only panic.

In front, there was the ghostly aura and typhoon.

Behind, there was the strong aura and thunder.

With the two forces sweeping everything away, where could they run?

The lucky players managed to flee to a safe area.

But even that was dangerous within the skill's range, and they had to retreat as far as possible from the stage.

As the two forces collided.

Boom!

The stage shook violently.

The ground repeatedly flipped and cracked, losing its original shape.

The aftershocks continued to spread.

Collisions and explosions kept happening, making it impossible to see what was happening inside from the outside.

It seemed that the G sector itself might collapse, as the shocks continued.

At that moment, Baiyan, who had been observing the situation, moved.

Three swords, the highest magic swords of the Marcus lineage, simultaneously activated the runes engraved on their blades, stacking buffs.

Several magic circles appeared on the ground, and dazzling effects burst like fireworks.

The power that had been distributed to the army was now concentrated in Baiyan alone.

His mana amplified several times, and his senses became more acute.

The three swords felt like a part of his body, their sharp edges keenly felt.

Baiyan took a unique stance, holding one sword in each hand and one on the top of his foot.

〈Three Claws〉.

A skill he had barely mastered after a long mercenary career.

A skill that stacked different buffs and amplified their effects to maximize his senses and power.

However, it had the drawback of depleting his mana reserves and leaving his body exhausted for months after use.

‘I don’t have time to worry about that now.’

Baiyan gritted his teeth and glared at Yanwu and Pant.

If he didn’t act, not only would his remaining subordinates be taken, but the public contribution points they held would also be lost, making it difficult to maintain his fifth position.

He had to win this battle.

Whirl!

Baiyan spun his body like a top and slipped between the two forces.

Three white beams, like animal claws, scratched the ground.

Squeak-

They flew towards Yanwu and Pant's necks.

* * *

"Ah!"

"What is this!"

Yanwu and Pant moved their bodies to the side at that moment.

Yanwu was sweeping Pant's upper body with Vigrid, and Pant was launching a compressed lightning fist to knock Yanwu away.

Their attacks were intense and fierce, as they aimed to take each other's life.

However.

Three blades suddenly slipped between their attacks.

At that moment, their instincts simultaneously warned them.

Don’t ignore it.

If left alone, it would cut off their heads.

So, just before the collision, they exchanged a brief glance.

And simultaneously redirected their attacks to the side.

Yanwu to the left, Pant to the right.

Clang!

On one side, the typhoon erased the beam and pushed back.

Boom!

On the other side, the lightning tore the beam apart.

"Damn it!"

As the lightning exploded, yellow sparks scattered. Through the smoke, Pant's fierce eyes glowed with anger.

He had been looking forward to finally finding a worthy opponent after facing only weaklings.

But that pleasure was suddenly shattered.

However, Baiyan, as if he didn’t care about Pant’s thoughts, slid across the ground and swept their lower bodies again.

"Let's see this through, shall we? Fine. Let's see what happens!"

Pant maximized his lightning output and stomped his feet.

To crush both Yanwu and Baiyan, he raised his shoulders and charged.

Like a wild boar charging down a hill with its tusks.

Rumble-

Between the pressure from the two.

Yanwu slightly frowned and raised Vigrid high.

Then he struck it down forcefully.

Boom!

The ground sank again. The aftershock spread in concentric circles, violently pushing the two back.

Rumble-

"Ugh!"

"Oof!"

Just before Pant could throw a punch at Yanwu, he instinctively sensed the incoming shockwave and crossed his arms to protect his head.

The lightning surrounding his body disappeared completely. Pant felt a pain as if he had collided with a wall.

His insides shook, and his bones ached. His arms, which had taken the full force of the shockwave, felt like they would fall off at any moment.

Two deep grooves remained where he had been pushed back.

"Wh-What...?"

Unlike his initial confidence.

Pant lifted his head with a shocked expression.

He couldn’t believe it.

Born into a royal family and mastering various martial arts, he had also consumed the inner core of the Akasha snake, possessing an enormous amount of mana.

How could he be pushed back so easily?

Pant felt something was wrong.

So, he tried to summon the lightning again.

"Gah!"

Pant couldn’t hold back the blood that surged to his throat and vomited it onto the ground.

His insides were completely churned up.

And it was the same for Baiyan.

"Damn it."

He barely stood, using one sword as a cane. The other two swords lay scattered on the ground.

His clothes were torn, and his upper body was covered in wounds.

He felt dizzy from the blood loss.

But he stubbornly refused to fall. If he collapsed here, everything would be over.

Instead, Baiyan glared at Yanwu with a hateful look.

A bigger wall stood before him than Pant.

A wall that had pushed back even Pant in one strike. A wall that seemed impossible to overcome.

Baiyan felt despondent.

Pant and Edo had instilled a sense of inferiority in him, but now an even greater one had appeared.

If the tutorial was this intense, what kind of monsters would be in the main tower?

And what kind of beings would be at the top of that tower?

He felt a sense of self-loathing. Inferiority dominated his mind.

But with that, a sense of defiance also arose.

He would overcome it no matter what.

So, Baiyan decided to discard his remaining pride.

"Pant!"

Baiyan called out to Pant with a distorted face.

Pant turned his head sharply.

"What?"

"Let's attack together."

"What?"

Pant frowned.

What kind of nonsense is this?

But Baiyan didn’t care.

Victory was more important to him than pride.

"Anyway, he's a monster we can't beat alone. So, let's attack together for now. We'll deal with the aftermath later..."

"No."

"You...!"

Baiyan tried to shout, but Pant sneered and stood up, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

His eyes shone more fiercely than before.

"I told you, don’t treat me like one of you beasts. My path is the path of dominance. Do you think there’s room for such petty tricks in it?"

Crack! Crack!

Lightning began to surge around Pant again. Despite his churning insides, he forced his mana to flow.

A vicious smile appeared on his face, the smile of a starving predator.

"A king can know defeat, but never retreat! That is the royal path I learned from my father, the foundation of my being!"

Boom!

Squeak-

Pant charged at Yanwu again.

"Damn it!"

Baiyan was frustrated.

What kind of talk of the royal path from someone who can’t even take care of himself!

This was why Baiyan disliked those who were raised in luxury.

Their damn pride and arrogance often ruined things.

But he couldn’t just give up here.

Pant was acting recklessly without knowing his limits. Edo seemed to be rooted in place, showing no intention of joining the fight. It was impossible to know what he was thinking.

He had to secure his share in this battle somehow.

Baiyan reactivated his interrupted skill and moved.

If a frontal attack didn’t work, he would target the sides. Though he didn’t like it, he intended to support Pant while he faced Yanwu.

Swish, swish, swish-

Clang!

Boom!

Yanwu was pushed back for the first time.

Whirl, whirl, whirl!

Their attacks were fierce.

Pant continuously unleashed all his techniques, and Baiyan cleverly exploited the blind spots to confuse Yanwu’s senses.

The rapid and fierce attacks of Vigrid became disordered for the first time.

Boom!

The typhoon surrounding Yanwu split.

The ghostly aura dispersed.

Blades and fists crossed. Baiyan aimed to split Yanwu, and Pant aimed to crush him.

Clang! Clang!

Yanwu was pushed back endlessly.

He tried to counterattack. He deflected Baiyan’s sword to the side and attempted to burst his ghostly aura to decapitate Pant.

But.

If it were one opponent, it might have been possible, but facing a swordsman with stacked buffs and a member of the Unicorn tribe simultaneously was too much, even for him, who was almost fully equipped with hidden pieces.

He swung Vigrid to fend off the three blades and continuously threw Krashna’s daggers to block Pant’s approach.

But with the short blade of Vigrid, it was difficult to block the continuous onslaught of blades, and his movements soon became disordered.

At that moment, Baiyan, seeing an opportunity, unleashed a hidden buff.

Whirr-

〈Power Amplification〉.

A blue light enveloped the blade, splitting Vigrid.

And from the other side, the greatsword Yanwu had been holding was knocked out, and a fist charged with concentrated lightning struck his side.

It was 〈Thunder Heaven Strike〉.

Crack!

His ribs shattered. His lungs constricted.

Yanwu’s back bent.

‘Now!’

Baiyan didn’t miss the opportunity and swung his other hand forcefully, splitting Yanwu’s head.

And.

With a terrifying pain, darkness enveloped Yanwu.

-But that wasn’t reality.

It was something that ‘might’ happen.

Something that ‘should have’ happened.

However.

Yanwu had a final skill that he had never used in the tutorial.

A last resort he had never employed.

A unique skill that only Yanwu possessed.

[Time Prediction] (Special)

Proficiency: 0.5%

Description: Allows you to see a certain amount of time ahead. The duration of prediction is proportional to your mana and proficiency, and after the prediction ends, you suffer from severe dizziness as a penalty.

A skill that only showed a brief glimpse of the future, about 5 seconds.

Short, but long enough to see the future.

Activating it once consumed about 2/3 of his mana. Even with the immense amount of mana from the melted puppet and the inner core of the Akasha snake, it was a significant drain.

A skill that Yanwu had never dared to use until now.

But now, it was possible.

Thanks to this, Yanwu could find a ‘possibility’ within it.

Tick.

Tick.

The pocket watch in his pocket went wild.