Chapter 116

BOOM!

Where Phoenix’s blazing inferno had torn through, the Adjudicator remained, scorched black and stumbling.

All the momentum belonged to Hikaru now!

The moment to settle the duel had arrived.

— Haap!

Fwshshshsh!

Tai Chi Maiden alongside the Wind Archers launched an onslaught that dissolved Olivia’s forces one by one.

“Haah.”

A soft sigh escaped Olivia, her face wearing a look that seemed almost like peace.

Naturally, she had desired victory, but deep down, she never truly anticipated it. Not when facing him.

He stood as one of the legendary Five Emperors, the second-highest ranked player on earth.

“Your skills are truly remarkable, Hikaru.”

She dipped her head, accepting her defeat with poise.

“However, you still won’t be able to defeat my Unni.”

Hikaru offered no verbal retort to her claim. He merely offered a slight grin.

Fwoosh!

His true reply manifested as Phoenix’s blazing heat swallowed up the remainder of Olivia’s forces.

— Ahh, truly the performance of a master!

— To think Olivia would fall so rapidly. Absolutely magnificent, Hikaru!

— He is proving once more that the sole individual on this planet capable of halting his advance is Rachel!

“Haaah!”

Hong Ari, who had been watching the match with white-knuckled fists, finally let out the breath she was holding back.

It was the exact same Phoenix, certainly, but the one commanded by Hikaru existed on an entirely different plane regarding raw destruction and dazzling splendor!

She shifted her gaze to Baek Jinwoo.

“Guild master.”

“Hm?”

“Should I look into obtaining a wind element companion as well? A Wind Archer? I’ve been hearing those are exceptionally potent.”

“You could certainly do that, but there is no real necessity for it.”

“Why is that?”

“Because the flaw in that strategy is glaring.”

The arrows unleashed by the Wind Archer?

Such tactics only yielded results against novices who lacked proper command over their forces.

If those projectiles were directed at me?

Drill Sarge could easily sweep them aside with a single sweep of his blade.

Finesse and control don’t mean much.

Once you close the distance, the match is decided.

“In my view, focusing entirely on Extreme Fire is superior to combining Wind and Fire.”

“…What exactly do you mean by that?”

“Instead of diluting the element with wind, it is far more effective to simply possess an overwhelming, absolute mastery of fire itself.”

Stormy served as the ultimate proof of this philosophy.

She never utilized a single gust of wind, yet her destructive capability was utterly terrifying.

Our Stormy, who is bound to claim the title of the world’s strongest before long.

Baek Jinwoo gently stroked the head of Stormy, who was nestled tight against his flank.

“Leaning too heavily on tactical maneuvering to gain an edge has its boundaries. If your goal is the true pinnacle… you must possess intrinsic power, not just clever positioning.”

The Tower of Trials operated on that exact principle.

Up to a specific threshold, a challenger could survive on pure finesse, but eventually, such tricks became useless.

He understood firsthand the agony of watching one’s forces shattered before a wall of absolute, brutal power.

“For the time being, concentrate entirely on the fire element.”

“Understood. If that is your judgment, it must be the correct path.”

At this point, the guild members’ reliance on Baek Jinwoo’s insight had reached an absolute hundred percent.

Given everything he had demonstrated to them, anyone harboring lingering doubts would have an issue that went far beyond mere gaming strategy.

“Hyungnim! Watch the screen!”

Just then, Ki Jaehyeok pointed urgently toward the monitor.

The selection cycle for England had concluded, and the visage of a woman materialized.

Rachel Rose.

“Rachel is stepping up!”

“Oh.”

“Ohhh.”

The guild members who had been focused on the exchange between Hong Ari and Baek Jinwoo instantly redirected their gaze to the broadcast.

— A-at long last!

— She has finally entered the fray!

— Our Rachel! The supreme female player across the globe!

— The commander of the S-rank golden dragon takes the field to crush Japan!

Wow.

Even Baek Jinwoo found himself taking note.

Deploying Rachel immediately following Olivia?

How fascinating.

This clash was turning out to be quite captivating.

In this exact interval, he had entirely wiped tomorrow’s confrontation with America from his thoughts.

He had reverted to being a mere member of the audience.

And one of the specific battles he had been dying to witness was this exact pairing: Hikaru facing off against Rachel.

“Phew!”

Hikaru let out a sharp whistle as he observed Rachel making her graceful stride onto the field.

“…Hikaru.”

“Hey, hey, don’t go calling out my name. We don’t have a translator function in here. My English is practically nonexistent.”

Regrettably, the hastily prepared combat grounds lacked an interpreter bird within the perimeter.

Moments like this made him long for the classic era of Battle of Summoners.

In those days, a player could freely communicate via chat, and every dialect was converted instantly……

“You understand, right? Nothing personal.”

Swish!

Rachel touched her hand to the crimson rose insignia adorning her chest.

Hikaru grinned.

The exact vocabulary escaped him, but the underlying sentiment was perfectly clear.

“Nothing personal? Of course. Just rotten luck. Out of everyone waiting in the final four, I had to draw you.”

The connection between the two was that deep.

It was only logical that the entire lineup of the Five Emperors shared a close bond.

They were comrades who had maintained an ongoing group conversation for half a decade within the game and four years in the physical world.

However.

Hikaru pressed his teeth together firmly.

I won’t make this an easy victory for her.

He had thoroughly analyzed every piece of data regarding her golden dragon.

It was bound to be grueling, without a doubt.

But it wasn’t an impossible feat.

The grade of a summon carried immense weight in Battle of Summoners, naturally, but the capacity to bridge that divide through pure strategy was what made this arena so exhilarating.

I am discarding the Wind Archers right now without a second thought.

The Wind Archers had already exhausted their supply of specialized arrows. They were essentially hollow resources at this stage.

That was perfectly acceptable.

Rachel relied strictly on her solitary golden dragon regardless, making numbers advantage entirely pointless.

“Shall we get started?”

In response to Hikaru’s prompt—

“Very well. Let us begin.”

KRRRRRMMMMMM……!

A compact golden dragon manifested, wrapping around Rachel’s form before ascending.

It circled her body twice and then settled directly above her, its jaws parted wide, embodying the absolute majesty of an Eastern dragon.

A truly awe-inspiring sight.

Tap!

Initiating the assault was Hikaru’s Tai Chi Maiden.

Hikaru had intentionally preserved the magical resources of his other forces, expending only what belonged to the Wind Archers.

— KYAAAAAA!

The golden dragon lunged downward with bared claws, yet—

— HAAAAAP!

The Tai Chi Maiden, channeling the fundamental balance of all matter, redirected the heavy strike using the fluid, absorbing motions of tai chi.

Swoosh, swish-swoosh!

Simultaneously, both Wind Archers maintained a relentless stream of covering fire!

However.

— Krrk!

The instant the golden dragon slammed its talons into the terrain, a surge of golden radiance erupted directly underneath the Wind Archers.

CRACK, CRA-CRACK!

The sheer velocity of that golden radiance was catastrophic, binding the Wind Archers tightly and splintering their skeletal structures.

— GAHH!

— URGHH!

“Falling Blaze!”

Following Hikaru’s command, Phoenix loosed a deafening cry and went into a steep, vertical plunge from the heavens straight toward Rachel.

FWOOOOOSH!

The spectacle resembled an aerial flamethrower unleashed with absolute, unbridled fury.

“Impressive.”

Rachel muttered, genuinely startled.

“You have already unlocked the hidden capabilities of Phoenix?”

She was managing to withstand the blazing vortex by maneuvering her golden dragon, but the onslaught was dealing severe damage.

Furthermore, Tai Chi Maiden kept feeding currents into the conflagration, causing the inferno to burn even brighter.

Golden dragon.

A slight smirk played on Rachel’s features.

The golden dragon functioned less as an independent entity and more as an extension of herself.

It rested inside Rachel’s very core and executed her exact intentions.

The mechanic was highly reminiscent of how Song Yeonhui managed her dolls.

It was as though the competitor themselves transformed into the entity.

Naturally, no other player across the globe was aware of this detail.

Rachel had taken extreme care to ensure it remained a secret.

The golden dragon spun around Rachel with escalating velocity, starting to push back the encroaching wall of fire.

Swish.

Hikaru’s face grew incredibly intense as he lifted his arm.

With that motion— shhht! — a fresh entity materialized on the field.

What is that supposed to be?

Rachel’s brow twitched with curiosity.

She had wondered why he chose to deploy only four entities initially. So this was the hidden asset he was holding back?

The creature Hikaru had brought forth was a shimmering, emerald phantom.

An A-rank tree spirit……

Nothing particularly striking regarding its basic attributes.

Yet it stood as the ultimate countermeasure against entities of the golden dragon variety.

The reason was its specialized ability to paralyze and halt an opponent’s physical movements.

Swaaaaaah!

The miasma emitted by the tree spirit began to slowly drift across the battlefield toward Rachel.

“How did you manage to uncover that secret, Sugoi?”

“…Please, we’ve competed against each other for years. Did you honestly believe I wouldn’t piece it together?”

“A valid point.”

Rachel chuckled softly.

She had utilized this method for nearly three years. It was inevitable that someone would deduce the mechanics eventually.

Particularly an individual belonging to the Five Emperors.

The reality was.

There remained a crucial detail that even Sugoi was entirely blind to.

The ultimate technique of the golden dragon!

CLENCH!

The moment Rachel closed her fingers into a tight fist—

— KYAAAAAAAA!

The golden dragon let out a piercing shriek and soared directly toward the heavens.

Along with its ascent, Rachel’s physical form left the ground, levitating into the open air.

Hikaru stood paralyzed as he bore witness to a phenomenon he had never encountered in all his time.

Phoenix’s Falling Blaze was nearly entirely spent as well, leaving him without any means to contest the golden dragon using fire elements anymore.

“Tree spirit!”

Swaaah, swaaaaah!

The numbing toxin of the tree spirit, formulated to bypass a competitor’s defensive shielding, was progressively locking up Rachel’s hands.

Nonetheless, the ultimate ability had already been set into motion.

Golden Dragon!

Ascension Breath!

KRA-KOOOOOOOM!

Obliterating every defensive measure in its path, a monstrous dragon swelled to the highest reaches of the sky.

Its proportions were on a completely massive scale compared to the version that normally enveloped Rachel’s body.

In that very instant—

CRAAAACK!

The colossal beast’s maw split open wide, and from its depths, a concentrated torrent of golden brilliance shot straight down.

SHWAAAAAAAAAA!

A localized blast possessing the sheer magnitude to reduce anything in its path to absolute dust!

“Wh— WHAT IN THE—”

“WHAT IS THAT?!”

It wasn’t merely Hikaru. Every individual observing the broadcast across the globe leapt to their feet in utter bewilderment.

“…Unbelievable.”

Baek Jinwoo’s gaze widened completely, his entire frame locked in place.

The tree spirit had already dissolved into absolute nothingness.

Tai Chi Maiden, the heavily armored vanguard?

What vanguard?

She had been utterly atomized beyond all recognition and forced into an unsummoned state.

A solitary strike. That was all required to completely settle the field.

— A-AAAAAH!

— AAAAAH……

The display was so profoundly shocking that even the broadcast talent, who typically spoke without pause, could only sputter out broken noises.

Moments later—

— THIS is the true power of an S-rank entity!

— This represents Rachel’s absolute peak strength all along…!

— This is the first instance the global audience has ever witnessed this, correct?! The breath attack of a golden dragon…!

— Hikaru was left completely helpless! He was utterly DESTROYED!

“That is terrifying.”

“Hyungnim, do we actually stand a chance against England?”

“Even taking the guild master into account, confronting an absolute monster like that seems…”

“To be frank, even Drill Sarge would likely dissolve under an assault of that scale.”

Even the core guild members who maintained absolute conviction in Baek Jinwoo were shaking their heads at the display they had just observed.

The sheer scale of power was that devastating.

“Wow, look at the expression on Hikaru’s face.”

“His mouth is wide open. That is the look of absolute hopelessness.”

“…Can anyone truly blame him? His entire lineup was completely wiped out by a single offensive move. When you encounter an adversary you cannot overcome regardless of how intensely you prepare… that realization brings nothing but pure despair.”

“……”

The devastating beam finally faded.

Hikaru remained frozen, watching the golden dragon steadily diminish back to its standard proportions.

“No.”

However, a single individual—

—only Baek Jinwoo disagreed, shaking his head.

“The match isn’t decided yet.”

“Pardon?”

“Not decided… What exactly do you mean by that, guild master? Are you implying Hikaru still has a path to victory?”

The guild members exchanged thoroughly perplexed looks.

How could he possibly offer such an analysis after witnessing that absolute devastation?

“…Take a close look over there.”

Baek Jinwoo pointed a finger toward the lower section of the display monitor.

A compact egg, surrounded by flickering embers.

“Phoenix.”

Baek Jinwoo whispered, giving a small nod of understanding.

The remnant egg of the Phoenix was already generating a brand new lifespan within its shell.

There existed only a solitary method to halt the undying loop of the Phoenix.

To shatter the egg completely before the rebirth process could finalize.

However?

“Look at her current condition.”

This time, Baek Jinwoo directed their attention toward Rachel.

The debilitating toxin from the tree spirit was still taking its toll; her face was twisted in discomfort, her fingers twitching uselessly.

Furthermore, the golden dragon wrapping her frame had depleted its entire repository of energy, appearing smaller now than it ever had previously.

“She is completely immobilized. How is she supposed to destroy that egg in her state?”

Sugoi, you clever bastard.

It appears you truly entered this match with a complete blueprint.

You have made incredible progress.

Baek Jinwoo let out a smile, a sense of genuine admiration showing clearly across his expression.