Cornelia’s Mess-Up

『You have killed an enemy!』

Fiona successfully dispatched the enemy Chronomancer. From the side, it might have looked effortless, like she had everything planned out to a T. But honestly, this play kept her at the edge of her seat the entire time. The margin of error was very high here.

Fortunately, her opponent was sufficiently easy to read. That allowed Fiona to naturally chain the plays she planned in advance. There were practically no surprises, so the main hurdle was execution.

I can call it a success... for the most part. Fiona's brow twitched as she checked the developing situation in Top. That was the one awkward aspect of this whole idea.

What gave birth to this entire opportunity was Cornelia's diversion in Top. It was thanks to her keeping Hitter occupied that Fiona did not have to deal with two enemies at the same time. But, it also meant Cornelia was alone out there, fighting an opponent she would never admit was stronger than her.

For the most part, Cornelia did her job fine. She entered Berserk mode and attacked the Viking, forcing him on the defensive. That much was according to Fiona's design.

Alas, from there, things did not proceed as Fiona hoped. Instead of only keeping the enemy occupied, Cornelia went all in with her attack. At some point along the way, she must have forgotten her original mission and got serious about dueling her opponent.

"Fall before my noble might!" Cornelia unleashed her dual axes at lightning speed! The Viking could only retreat in the face of such an oppressive attack!

Unfortunately, Fiona did not have the luxury to monitor the situation in Top while she was preoccupied with killing Average. As such, she failed to stop this assault in time.

Just how did she manage to end up in that position…? Fiona sighed.

At some point, Cornelia found herself overextending into enemy territory. There, she was surrounded by a pack of bloodthirsty pirates. Clearly, Hitter had every intention of taking her on.

To make things worse, the Berserk mode was about to expire. Needless to say, Cornelia's situation was dire.

"Cornelia, retreat," Fiona ordered.

"H-Hmph, it appears I have no choice!" Cornelia responded against her will. No matter how overconfident the girl was, she had to admit that this 1v6 situation was extremely unfavorable for her, even if it was one noble against six peasants.

"Very well, I shall make a tactical retreat here," Cornelia declared. "You peasants should be grateful that I allow you to walk out of this disrespectful situation without any punishment, hmph." 

On that note, she turned around and used Noble Leap to escape the pincer. It was a far more effective movement skill than Dodge Roll, which befitted a noble such as her.

Her aristocrat Berserker jumped high into the air, flying far away from the danger zone. With this useful retreat skill, she was supposed to easily evacuate the area, but...

Oh, so the girl is finally retreating. Roi cracked a laugh at his opponent's late response. That girl was something else for sure. She just charged straight at him without any plans at all, and for a moment there, it looked like she was seriously gonna 1v6 him. Like, what did she expect to happen, lol.

Like, duh. Of course Roi was gonna pincer her with his ult once she came close. It felt like she didn't see that obvious play coming.

To be honest, I almost thought the girl was baiting me at first. Roi recalled. But, good thing I just said "screw it" and went for it, lol.

Unstoppable Raid forced Lady into a difficult position, and the girl's response was hilariously late. Roi and his vikings managed to get a bunch of hits on her before she finally jumped away. Her HP had already dropped down to 60%, so of course she had to foot it.

But, not so fast! Roi hurled his big axe, aiming it ahead of where the Berserker was going to land. Then, he activated Axe Blitz and blinked to the axe in an instant!

"Surprise, lol!" Roi charged at the girl with Takedown as soon as she hit the ground. "Gotcha, bitch!" He wrapped his muscular arms around the wannabe aristocrat chick and pushed her down.

For a moment there, it looked like a romance bait scene from an action flick. The muscular barbarian was pushing down a refined strong lady.

But, too bad for you, I'm already taken. Roi flung the noblewoman across the lane like a sack of trash, sending her right back the way she came from. And naturally, his viking bruddas gave a warm welcome.

HACK! SLASH! The barbarians ganged up on the poor girl. They drove their axes and blades into her before she even got off the ground.

In just a second, the girl's HP dropped from 60% to 40%. And, this was just the first wave of the attacks. There were many more to come.

Berserker's Savage Leap had a short cooldown, but it wasn't so short that it'd allow Lady to jump again so soon. So, she'd had to stick around and be a punching bag for a while.

SLASH! HACK! They attacked without mercy. That noble girl was as good as dead, lol.

But, she didn't despair. Despite how hopeless the situation was, she tried her best to get out of there alive. It was pretty commendable, actually.

Y-You shall not take me alive! Cornelia dashed away with all her might. A noble such as myself will not fall to such a flimsy coup d'etat...!

She still had over 20% HP, so the situation was not lost yet!

With that said, this revolting commoner is making things difficult for me. Cornelia clicked her tongue, but elegantly, of course.

Given Berserker's high Movement Speed in Aristocrat mode, Cornelia should have had no trouble getting away. The only obstacle in her path was that pompous Viking, who stood right between her and the tower.

No doubt, Cornelia would have successfully retreated if she were to remain in Aristocrat mode for a while longer. Alas, her noble buff was about to run its course. Such was the cursed fate of noble families, they were bound to experience eras of both prosperity and decline.

If we are being honest, what are my odds of surviving this…? Cornelia gulped. The front is blocked. As for the back, there are all these scoundrels chasing my noble blood. Is this really the end...?

The world around her was turning dim. Cornelia already saw herself falling from noble grace, succumbing to this barbarian coup d'etat.

But, in this dark moment of her noble life, a fellow noble reached out a hand to her!

"Cornelia, head into the jungle," Fiona advised. "If you can reach me alive, I should be able to fend off the Viking."

"Y-Yes! Much obliged!" Cornelia immediately jumped at the first ray of hope to shine upon her. To think there was such an unconventional option available for her!

In this tense situation, all Cornelia could see in front of her was her low HP and the tower ahead of her. Thus, she believed her only option was to get back to the tower before her HP expired.

Fortunately, Fiona managed to come up with a completely different solution. Indeed, it took a fellow great noble mind to think up such a grand idea!

"Alright, I'm on my way!" Cornelia announced as she changed directions.

Instead of trying to bust through the Viking, she ran sideways, toward the nearby jungle entrance. There, her savior was waiting! Or, at least, that's what Cornelia believed. In practice, things weren't that simple…

Unfortunately, she will most likely perish. Fiona calculated. Based on the current state of the board, that was the most probable outcome.

Of course, there is the possibility that Aegis will choose to play this safe and order his piece to avoid a frontal confrontation with me. That is the only imaginable turn of events that will save Cornelia.

So, what will it be? Will Hitter give chase and run the risk of getting killed? Or, will he stay his hand and let his prey escape alive…?