Semifinals (3)
Kwa-gagagagak!
In the spot swept through by Phoenix's flames, the heavily charred Judicator was limping.
The momentum was already completely Hikaru's!
It was time to finish it.
Haaap!
Pususususuk!
With Taiji Girl and Wind Archer firing in succession, Olivia's summons were dismissed one after another.
"Haa."
Olivia let out a sigh, her expression looking slightly relieved.
Of course she had hoped to win, but in truth, she had never really come in expecting that she would.
Wasn't he one of the famous Five Emperors and the world rank No. 2?
"You're definitely good, Hikaru."
She nodded and coolly admitted it.
"But you won't be able to beat my sister."
Hikaru merely smiled softly without bothering to answer that.
Whoosh!
He answered by wrapping Olivia's remaining summons in Phoenix's flames.
ㄴAhh, as expected, expected indeed!
ㄴOlivia is going down this easily. As expected of Hikaru!
ㄴThis once again drives into all of us the fact that the only person in the world who can catch Hikaru is Rachel!
"Haa!"
Hong Ari, who had been watching the match with both hands clenched tight, also let out a breath.
It was clearly the same Phoenix, yet Hikaru's Phoenix was on a different level in both power and brilliance!
Hong Ari turned her head and looked at Baek Jinwoo.
"Guild Master."
"Yeah?"
"Shouldn't I recruit a wind attribute too? Wind Archer? They say that thing is insanely strong."
"That'd be fine too, but there's no absolute need for it."
"Why?"
"Because its weakness is obvious."
Wind Archer's wind arrows?
They only worked on control-weak beginners.
'If those wind arrows were fired at me?'
HunGyo could neutralize them just by drawing his sword once and swinging it.
Control only went so far. All you had to do was catch up to it.
"Personally, I prefer extreme fire over wind-and-fire."
"...What's that?"
"Rather than mixing in wind, I prefer something that's just strong as pure fire itself."
In short, like Explosive Dragon.
She didn't mix in even a single bit of wind either, yet wasn't she insanely strong?
'Our Explosive Dragon, who'll soon become the strongest in the world.'
Baek Jinwoo reached over and tousled the hair of Explosive Dragon, who was sitting right beside him.
"There's a limit to gaining an advantage through control. If you really want to see the end... rather than control, it has to simply be strong in and of itself."
The Tower of Trials was exactly like that.
Up to a certain point, you could scrape by with control, but later on, none of that meant anything.
How many times had his heart ached watching his summons get torn apart before overwhelming force?
"For now, just focus on one fire attribute."
"Got it. If you say so, then it must be right."
By now, the guild members' trust in Baek Jinwoo had reached 100%.
After showing them this much, if they still couldn't trust him, that was an intelligence issue.
"Big brother! Over there!"
It was then that Gi Jaehyuk pointed at the broadcast screen with his finger.
England's dice had rolled, and a woman's face appeared.
Rachel Rose.
"Rachel's out!"
"Oh."
"Ohooo."
The eyes of the guild members, which had briefly been focused on the conversation between Hong Ari and Baek Jinwoo, returned to the broadcast.
ㄴF-finally!
ㄴShe's finally coming out!
ㄴOur Rachel! The strongest woman in the world!
ㄴThe owner of the S-rank Yellow Dragon appears to crush Japan!
Wow.
Even Baek Jinwoo was impressed.
Right after Olivia, Rachel right away?
'Well, this is…'
This match is fun.
At least at this very moment, he had forgotten all about tomorrow's match against the United States.
He had become nothing more than a spectator.
That was how much he was looking forward to the match between Hikaru and Rachel.
* * *
"Whew!"
Watching Rachel make her elegant entrance, Hikaru let out a whistle.
"....Hikaru."
"Hey, don't call my name. There's no interpreting here. I only know a little English."
Unfortunately, there was no Interpreter Bird inside the temporarily created arena.
At times like this, he missed the old Battle of Summoners days.
Back then, you could always type in chat, and every language would be translated automatically....
"You know, right? I've never had any bad feelings."
Swish!
Rachel placed a hand over the chest bearing the red rose emblem.
Hikaru smirked.
Because he felt like he could tell what she meant, even without understanding the words.
"Bad feelings, my ass. I was just unlucky. Of all things, I had to meet you in the semifinals."
The two of them were that close.
In truth, it was only natural that all of the Five Emperors were close.
They were friends who had kept up constant communication in a group chat for five years in the game and four years in real life.
'But.'
Hikaru bit his lip hard.
'I'm not going down easily.'
He had already finished all of his research on the Yellow Dragon she possessed.
It would be difficult, but?
It wasn't impossible to face it.
Of course, summon grade was important in Battle of Summoners, but the charm of the game was that you could overcome even that with ingenuity.
He boldly abandoned Wind Archer.
A Wind Archer that had already used up all its wind arrows was nothing more than an empty shell.
Still, that was fine.
After all, Rachel, who only used Yellow Dragon, had no need for mob control.
"Then shall we begin?"
At Hikaru's question,
"Okay. Let's go."
Kugugugugugug!
A small Yellow Dragon rose up, coiling around Rachel.
A majestic oriental dragon, with its mouth wide open above Rachel's head after wrapping itself around her body two or three times!
It looked truly imposing.
Taat!
The one who rushed in first was Hikaru's Taiji Girl.
Aside from Wind Archer, Hikaru had deliberately refrained from using the MP of his other summons.
- Kyaaaaaaah!
Yellow Dragon lunged with its claws outstretched, but
Haaap!
Taiji Girl, condensing the energy of all things, gently redirected that charge with the softness of tai chi.
Shung, shushushung!
Meanwhile, the two Wind Archers continued firing suppressive shots with their bows!
But.
Krk!
When Yellow Dragon drove its claws into the ground, golden energy began surging up from beneath the ground where the Wind Archers were standing.
Kwaduk, kwadeudeudeuk!
The force of that golden energy was so immense that it bound the Wind Archers' bodies and broke their bones.
- Kkeuat!
- Uheuk!
But.
"Falling Flame!"
With Hikaru's shout, Phoenix, roaring at full force, dropped straight down from the sky toward Rachel.
Hwarururureuk!
It looked as though someone in the sky was holding a flamethrower and firing downward like mad.
"Wow."
Rachel exclaimed in admiration.
"You've already unlocked Phoenix's latent ability?"
She was controlling Yellow Dragon and blocking the flames, but.... the damage was tremendous.
On top of that, Taiji Girl kept feeding oxygen into the blaze, making it burn even stronger.
'Yellow Dragon.'
The corner of Rachel's mouth twitched.
Yellow Dragon was less a summon and more like a single weapon.
It sat in Rachel's heart and moved exactly as she controlled it. It felt similar to the puppet Song Yeonhee used.
As though the player herself became the summon.
Of course, there wasn't a single player in the world who knew that fact.
Rachel had hidden that fact thoroughly.
- Kyaaaaaaah!
Yellow Dragon began circling Rachel even faster, sweeping away the flames.
But.
Swoosh.
Hikaru, wearing a grave expression, raised his hand.
Then, sseut, a new summon appeared.
'That is?'
Rachel's brow furrowed.
She had wondered why he had only brought out four summons, and it was to show that?
What Hikaru summoned was a green spirit body.
'An A-rank Tree Spirit....'
It did not have any particularly special abilities.
But it was also the perfect counter to Yellow Dragon-type summons.
Because it had a skill that restricted the player's movements.
Swaaaaa!
The energy emitted by the Tree Spirit slowly stretched toward Rachel.
"How did you know, Sugoi?"
"....We've both been at this for way too long. Did you think I wouldn't know even that?"
"I guess."
Rachel let out a small laugh.
She had used it for nearly three years, so there was no way it would stay hidden.
Especially not from one of the Five Emperors.
'But.'
There was still something even Sugoi did not know.
Yellow Dragon's ultimate move!
Clench!
As Rachel tightly clenched her fist,
- Kyaaaaaaaaaaaah!
Yellow Dragon roared and began ascending into the sky.
At the same time, Rachel's body also slowly floated up into the air.
'What is that?'
Hikaru stiffened slightly at the unfamiliar phenomenon.
Phoenix's Falling Flame was almost over as well, so he could no longer do anything to Yellow Dragon with the flames.
"Tree Spirit!"
Swaaa, swaaaaa!
Rachel's fingers gradually began to stiffen from Tree Spirit's paralyzing poison, which pierced through the player's protective barrier.
But the ultimate move had already been activated.
Yellow Dragon (Fire Scatter)! - Ascension Breath!
Kukwagagagagagagak!
Nullifying all attacks, a gigantic dragon rose all the way to the edge of the sky.
It was on a completely different scale from the Yellow Dragon that usually coiled around Rachel.
And at the same time.
Jjeoeoeok!
The massive Yellow Dragon opened its mouth, and from within it, golden light shot downward.
Sssaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
A breath that seemed ready to erase everything!
"Th-this is insane."
"What the hell is that?!"
Not only Hikaru, but people all over the world who were watching the scene stood up in shock.
"...Holy crap."
Baek Jinwoo's eyes widened like lanterns, and his whole body froze.
The Tree Spirit had already melted away and vanished.
Taiji Girl, who had been called a damage-tank?
What was that supposed to matter?
She had already been dismantled and reverse-summoned so completely that not even her shape remained visible.
Everything had ended with that single blow.
ㄴAh, aaaaaah!
ㄴAaaah....
The sight was so overwhelming that even the commentators, who had been chattering nonstop, could only keep stammering as if they did not know what to say.
Not long after,
ㄴTh-this is an S-rank summon!
ㄴRachel's true form...!
ㄴThis is the first time it's been shown to the world, right? Yellow Dragon's breath...!
ㄴHikaru got completely torn apart without being able to do anything!
"This is insane, isn't it?"
"Big brother, are we really sure we can beat England?"
"No matter how strong Guild Master is, dealing with a monster like that is a bit...."
"Honestly, even HunGyo would melt against that."
Even the guild members, who had placed absolute trust in Baek Jinwoo, shook their heads at that sight.
It was just that overwhelming.
"Wow, look at Hikaru's face."
"His mouth's hanging open. He looks completely hopeless."
"...Makes sense. Everything got wiped out by a single summon. When you meet an opponent you can't beat no matter how much you train, the feeling can only be despair."
"..."
The breath ended.
Hikaru stood frozen stiff, staring at Yellow Dragon as it slowly began shrinking again.
"No."
There was just one person, however, who shook his head.
Baek Jinwoo alone.
"It's not over yet."
"Huh?"
"What do you mean, it's not over yet... Guild Master, are you saying Hikaru could still win?"
The guild members all looked confused.
How could this still be uncertain?
"...There."
Without a word, Baek Jinwoo pointed toward the bottom of the screen.
Whoosh!
A small egg burning in flames.
"Phoenix."
Baek Jinwoo murmured and nodded.
Phoenix, now an egg, was creating new life again.
There was only one way to stop Phoenix's Immortality.
To finish it before it was reborn.
But?
"Look there."
This time, Baek Jinwoo pointed at Rachel.
As if Tree Spirit's poison was still lingering, she was frowning and twitching awkwardly.
On top of that, the Yellow Dragon around her seemed to have exhausted all its remaining energy, because it was smaller than usual.
"She can't move, so how's she supposed to deal with that?"
'Sugoi.'
Looks like this time, you really came prepared?
'You've improved a lot.'
Baek Jinwoo smiled with a satisfied expression.