Battle Royale (2)
Hwang Jiwoo steeled herself.
"Atreve-se a subir ao céu?"
"Vamos fazer isso rápido e vamos lá!"
The Brazilian players shouted something or other, but she ignored them.
In any case, without an Interpreter Bird nearby, communication was impossible, and she did not need to hear them to know they were hostile.
Whoooosh!
Because flames spewed from the mouth of the bird they were riding.
— Kyaaaaaaah!
The Ice Bird did not stay still either.
Curling its body into a circular shape, it dodged their flames, and at the same time, flutter! it shook out its frost-covered wings.
Frozen Field!
A wide-area spell that drastically slows the movement speed of all summons within sight.
Crack, craaack!
The air began to freeze solid.
The weakness of this skill was that it affected the caster's own summon as well!
But Hwang Jiwoo was fine.
All of her summons were ice-attribute summons, and she had Frost Cat, whose cold resistance had been pushed to the absolute limit.
'Sir Jinwoo told me.'
He said this combination was originally an overpowered setup that all the veterans knew about.
'It just was not used often because the damage output was low, but he said I was different.'
And that was true.
The Brazilian players, their faces thrown into confusion, were at a loss.
— Kyaaaaaaah!
The Ice Bird shot high into the sky.
The enemies tried to follow, but because their movement speed had dropped, the distance between them widened.
Swoosh!
Hwang Jiwoo calmly extended her hand.
This is not enough.
Hadn't this been the combo I practiced countless times during training?
"Lich!"
Wooooong.
The Lich floating in midair emitted an eerie glow from its eyes.
At the same time—
Whoooooosh!
A snowstorm began to rage.
A top-grade wide-area ice-attribute spell that consumes half of the user's MP, reduces the enemy's attack speed, and inflicts continuous damage!
A Blizzard began to sweep through the battlefield.
* * *
The UK's main broadcast screen caught South Korea's Hwang Jiwoo and Brazil's Gabshiva and Piris.
There was no way they could ignore an aerial battle so blatantly displayed on the main camera.
— They have already engaged!
— Yes, and it is not a ground battle, but an aerial one!
— Who is it?
— Hold on! We are zooming in!
At the caster's instruction, a staff member at the broadcast center smoothly pulled in the zoom.
At the same time, the battle between the Ice Bird (A-rank) and the Charge Wyvern (B-rank) came into view!
— If it is a Charge Wyvern, that means Brazil! Brazil has always been strong in aerial combat, right?
— That is right. In fact, they are Brazil's rank 1 and 2 players! Lucky, too! To run into each other in the same place right from the start!
— That is because they control the skies. No matter how vast the forest is, if you are in the air, it is easy to spot one another!
— By the way, what is that bird?
— Ice Bird! It is an Ice Bird! A well-known A-rank summon among gamers! The orthodox setup is to use it together with a B-rank Lich, and it looks like they are operating it exactly the orthodox way—
As expected of British commentators, perhaps?
Their knowledge of summons was extensive.
— Then who is the player controlling that Ice Bird?
Swoooosh!
This time the zoom came in even closer, revealing the East Asian woman riding atop the Ice Bird.
— Jiwoo Hwang! A member of South Korea's national team! Uh, but... wait a second.
At the same time, the commentator's flustered voice rang out.
— This woman is unranked.
— Unranked? You mean she is not on the world rankings?
— No, it is not that... She is not even on South Korea's rankings.
— I-is that true? And yet she is showing that level of control?
It was not something dazzlingly flashy.
But by using her skills at exactly the right moments, she was defending and enduring in a way that prevented the Brazilian players from launching proper attacks.
An unranked player, not even on her national rankings, was holding her ground against world-ranked players spoken of as giants.
At that same moment!
Because the main screen was focused on Hwang Jiwoo, South Korea was in an uproar too.
"T-there!"
Hwang Jiwoo's father leaped to his feet and pointed a finger. At the same time, foam practically formed at his mouth.
"Those damn Brazilian bastards are attacking our daughter!"
"Honey, calm down."
"Aaaah! What if our daughter dies!"
"Dying in there does not mean she really dies. Good grief, everyone is watching. You are embarrassing me, honestly...!"
Hwang Jiwoo's parents were also in Yoobaek City.
Since Hwang Jiwoo was a guild member, that was only natural.
The South Korean commentators were also shouting at the top of their lungs.
— Hwang Jiwoo dodges the Charge Wyvern's breath attack once again! And she counterattacks immediately!
— Yes, but her damage is far too low.
— Their movement and attack speeds have definitely dropped, but if this keeps up, she will inevitably be taken down. Hwang Jiwoo has no choice but to keep going up! The moment she descends, she will fall into the Brazilian players' trap!
— Hurry! Baek Jinwoo needs to move faster!
On the two split screens, Hwang Jiwoo and Baek Jinwoo appeared respectively.
Hwang Jiwoo enduring. Baek Jinwoo chasing.
Sssshaaaak!
Baek Jinwoo was gripping the horn of the Celestial Wyvern and hurtling forward at tremendous speed.
But—
Before long, he too would enter the range of Frozen Field.
— Ahhh, this is bad!
— If this happens, Baek Jinwoo will slow down too!
— I cannot believe Frozen Field's range is this long!
The Ice Bird's field of vision was broad.
Crack, craaack!
Sensing the surrounding air beginning to freeze, Baek Jinwoo smiled.
'Hwang Jiwoo. You are doing well.'
If she were the sort to lose to a mere wyvern like that, he never would have accepted her as his disciple in the first place.
"Explosive Dragon."
Nod.
Explosive Dragon lowered her head and gripped her staff tightly.
"Use Transformation and let it rip."
—...!
He was taking the Explosive Dragon Wave accumulated so far through Link and transforming it through Transformation.
How?
Like this!
Fwoooosh!
Flames burst from Explosive Dragon's dragon-head staff, and in the next instant, a tremendously long corridor opened up in front of Baek Jinwoo.
Use Explosive Dragon's firepower to offset Frozen Field.
If the air freezes?
Then heat it back up!
Sssshaaaaaak!
Thanks to that, Baek Jinwoo's speed did not drop in the slightest.
— Woooow! What is that?!
— It is my first time seeing it too! What kind of skill is that? Is it one of Explosive Dragon's techniques?
— Baek Jinwoo is approaching without being affected by Frozen Field at all! At that speed, there is a chance! More than enough!
The commentators were fired up.
Naturally, the public was swept up in that excitement too.
"Waaah!"
"Niiice!"
"God Ji-nu! God Ji-nu! God Ji-nu!"
Everyone watched the screen with one heart and one mind.
The opponents were Brazilian rankers.
Not just any rankers either, but world ranks 40 and 100.
South Korea had never even set foot near the edge of the world rankings, and ordinarily these were players who would have been busy running away rather than daring to face them.
And yet?
Hwang Jiwoo was holding out.
Baek Jinwoo was charging in to take them down.
'So this... is SKY under Baek Jinwoo's leadership?'
'Is this really the level of our national team?'
'Baek Jinwoo aside, Hwang Jiwoo is insane too. I take back everything I said when I criticized them for picking an unranked player. She endured that like that?'
'At this point, even if they lose, it is still a respectable loss. They fought well!'
The public was moved by Hwang Jiwoo, who held out to the very end through sheer tenacity.
And they marveled at Baek Jinwoo's boldness as he charged forward for the struggling national team, even unveiling a new skill.
Something hot and tingling rose in their chests, goosebumps spreading over their entire bodies.
And at last—
"Porra!"
"O que é aquilo?"
The Brazilian players stared at Baek Jinwoo approaching at tremendous speed and panicked!
"Sir Jinwoo!"
In contrast, Hwang Jiwoo's complexion brightened instantly.
Baek Jinwoo sized up the enemy's entire force at a glance.
'A Charge Wyvern loaded all-in on damage?'
Even the other four summons were all support summons. Buffers that continuously restored the Charge Wyvern's speed and MP.
'They came in thinking only about aerial combat.'
That was why Hwang Jiwoo must have looked like an easy target.
"Hwang Jiwoo, you held out well."
Dealing with them in the air was hardly any trouble at all.
Tahht!
HunGyo, who had been hanging from the claw, leaped toward Gabshiva with perfect timing.
Ssssss...!
Gale Slayer, likewise still in a transparent state, moved behind Piris.
And at the same time—
Slash!
HunGyo's sword split the Charge Wyvern's neck clean in two,
And whirlllll!
The scythe of Gale Slayer, who had suddenly appeared, spun over a dozen times.
At tremendous speed, too!
Puwaaak!
Blood sprayed from the wyvern and the summons riding on it.
And that was the end!
The wyvern's HP was far too low to withstand the combined assault of two damage dealers with stacked endgame rune Lamba effects in midair.
[South Korea, Baek Jinwoo 2 kills!]
[South Korea, Baek Jinwoo 3 kills!]
HunGyo fell after finishing them all off.
Ssshaaaak!
Baek Jinwoo lightly controlled the wyvern and caught him.
At the same time, he signaled to Hwang Jiwoo with a hand gesture.
It meant for her to come down this way!
Baek Jinwoo had made an explosive debut on the world stage.
* * *
— W-what was that?
— Just now, South Korea's national team... how many seconds did it take them to finish off those two giants?
— I do not think it was even three seconds.
— Even if their movement speed and attack speed were restricted... this is really a hidden card, isn't it?
The world erupted.
Everyone watched the highlight of the aerial battle and could not close their mouths.
The scene of HunGyo, hanging from the claw, flying off at the perfect moment and cutting the wyvern's neck was replayed over and over in slow motion.
And everyone was full of questions about the Grim Reaper of death who had suddenly appeared.
The Brazilians, in particular, were the most shocked.
A middle-aged woman covering her mouth with both hands.
A young man clutching his hair, looking like he was about to cry.
An old grandmother in tears.
An old grandfather screaming in despair.
How could they not be?
Their nation's rank 1 and 2 players, practically their hope itself, had been cut down in a single instant.
If it had been Rachel, that would have been one thing.
But this was supposedly some ranker from a weak country they had never even seen before.
No, was he not even a ranker?
— The main screen has changed!
— Rachel! Rachel has started moving!
But in a survival game featuring 92 countries, they could not keep showing only that one scene.
The screen changed in an instant, and the expert British commentators smoothly shifted the subject of the broadcast.
* * *
"Sir Jinwoo!"
Hwang Jiwoo landed safely on the ground and greeted him with an excited voice.
Her eyes practically asked, Did I do well? Praise me!
But Baek Jinwoo was in a hurry.
'The hidden reward.'
He did not want to give up the reward given to the player with the most kills.
To do that, he had to move quickly from here on out.
"First, make contact with the Explosive Dragon."
"Yes!"
Hwang Jiwoo lightly tapped the back of Explosive Dragon's hand.
With that, the time limit on the sudden quest reset back to one hour.
"As for kills... you are still at 0 kills, right?"
"Yes, sir. I ran into those guys as soon as it started."
"Then from now on, funnel all the kills to me."
"Yes, of course."
"First, we are going back into the air."
Come to think of it, securing the skies was not a bad choice.
They had said there was a high probability of items being on high ground...
First, secure air superiority and search every high place.
If there is an item?
Take it.
If we spot an opponent?
Eliminate them.
Glance.
Baek Jinwoo looked toward the upper right.
[Players Remaining: 850]
Seventy had already dropped out.
Baek Jinwoo had only taken out three of them!
There was not much time.
"Let's go right now!"
"Yes!"
The Ice Bird and the Celestial Wyvern took to the skies once more.