Battlefield 2 [30]

Jin-Woo chuckled dryly before turning his attention to the other sides of the battle. While he was certainly the member of the raid with the most influential kills, that didn't mean he was the only one working hard.

Taking down the Constructs was only a portion of the battle.

Choi Jong-In burned down everything in his path with white flames—an effect of his Soul Attribute—while an ice mage—Kei from the Draw Sword Guild—froze everything in his path. Their teamwork was blindingly brilliant.

Kenzo Tanaka, Tatsumi Fujishima, and Minoru Hoshino all moved in sync with one another. Kenzo lead with overwhelming power while Tatsumi and Minoru covered his blind spots with their sword skills. Minoru's blade flickered with powerful electricity while Tatsumi's was enchanted with simplistic yet powerful mana. The latter showed signs of Monsterization, small golden horns growing from his head.

Akari Shimizu hung to the back, casting useful buffs and healing anyone who got hurt from a distance. Atsushi Kumamoto, Ippei Izawa, and Mari Ishida all protected Akari, warding off enemies from near or far.

Without words, the guild instantly formed groups to deal with any problems that could arise. Even though the Hunters Guild and the Draw Sword Guild weren't particularly used to one another, the groups worked out well.

However, Jin-Woo still couldn't find Kim Byung-Ho or Kanae. He assumed Byung-Ho was hiding somewhere, possibly under a barrier he didn't notice, but he couldn't think the same about Kanae. He kept a close eye out on the battle as he caught his breath.

Goto and Cha flickered around Yogumunt, moving in sync. Goto unleashed a flurry of mana slashes, using his sword as if it was an extension of his body. However, the attacks, were either brushed off by Yogumunt's thick barrier or a nameless Construct's body was used as a meat-shield. Either way, his attacks weren't getting through, and the Sovereign wasn't reacting.

Cha flowed through the attacks more efficiently than anyone else, never even being scratched by an enemy. Goto suddenly threw his sword towards her head, which the Hunter nonchalantly dodged, the blade sliding inches past her eyes. The sword lodged itself deep into the chest of a nearby Construct, causing it to topple over and hit several of its allies.

Goto shot a strand of mana towards his blade, enveloping the handle of his weapon.

[Goto is using the Soul Attribute skill: Mana Attribute Shift -> Sticky Mana.]

A white string of mana connected Goto's palm and his sword, allowing him to pull his sword through the Construct's chest before decapitating its fallen allies. The sword arced towards Yogumunt, but such a simplistic move was easily blocked by his Soul Shield. However, as his mana densened, Goto created a sword of pure mana and jabbed it towards Yogumunt's head. That was blocked just as easily.

Cha's twin blades came next, slamming into Yogumunt's chest. They were blocked too, but Yogumunt's expression started to morph. The dark red spots of mana protecting him started turning into a lighter shade.

Suddenly, Jin-Woo noticed an abnormally dark spot on the floor near Yogumunt's feet. Before he could even Observe it, Kanae leapt out from within it, her sword shooting towards Yogumunt's neck. In an instant, the sword slammed into Yogumunt's Shield, blasting through it.

Yogumunt's eyes widened, and right before Kanae's blade could hit his skin, several Soul Spears appeared around the Hunters. Goto, Cha, and Kanae were each surrounded by six weapons, all of them moving to run through the Hunters.

However, the attacks halted.

[Skill: Unchained Howl has been activated.]

[All of target's stats will be lowered by 40% for one minute.]

Jin-Woo leapt off towards Yogumunt, Fanzer and Ichigo trailing behind him. His sudden skill activation stopped Yogumunt from killing the Hunters. Of course, the skill didn't last long—

[The target's resistances are too high. Unchained Howl will be dispelled.]

—But it didn't matter, since the Hunters were safe in that small period. Kanae's body slipped back into the ground, Cha took a dozen steps back, flickering through the Soul Spears, and Goto slashed through all the Soul Spears with another mana-formed sword before taking his own retreat. In a second, they were all out of harm's way.

Jin-Woo glanced at the notification for Kanae's skill, a flicker of interest shooting through him.

[Kanae is using the skill: Darkness Evanesce.]

As Kanae disappeared, the Necromancer, Gambler, and Gourmet all rushed forward, aiming to take the place of the three S-Ranks. Even without words, the trio knew Yogumunt's biggest weakness.

The only times he reacted to attacks were when multiple people were driving attacks into him at once. Otherwise, he would sit still and let people attack him. His defenses were so sturdy because his offense was left entirely to his Constructs.

However, his defense wasn't impenetrable. When Goto, Cha, and Kanae all were trying to lay into him, he reacted. The trio took that information and ran with it, sensing a spot of weakness within the Sovereign.

The Constructs were almost gone entirely, save for Kali, Enkidu, and a few stragglers, Yogumunt was clearly already put under pressure by the trio of S-Ranks, and they essentially had Yogumunt surrounded with over ten S-Ranks Hunters. The numbers, timing, and situation were all on their side.

The situation was perfect. In that moment, Jin-Woo knew—he just knew—that the Hunters would win. Things were too perfect for them not to.

Then, he saw Yogumunt's expression. It was calm, cool, and confident, a smile plastered on his face.

Then, the moment passed.

The boom of thunder drowned out all other sounds, and the constant rumbling didn't stop, even as crimson lightning shot down from the incoming clouds, striking the ground in front of the charging trio. Fanzer barely threw up a shield of mana to absorb the shockwave, but it shattered in a fraction of a second.

The scattered energy threw the three backwards in different directions.

Jin-Woo carefully landed, and his gaze unconsciously flickered back to Cha. Their eyes met, and he could clearly see the terror rising on her face. Following her gaze, Jin-Woo stared into sky, horror arising within him.

Behind the dark clouds a massive four-winged figure was unveiled by the crimson lightning. There was no doubt for what the mighty beast was, and everyone knew it, however, Fanzer spoke regardless.

"Was that…." Fanzer's voice rung across the battlefield. "A fucking dragon?"

High above the Hunters, a thunderous roar shook the ground before the clouds parted, the dragon bursting through them. It was a blue and white scaled dragon, jagged edges powerful and unforgiving. It dived towards the ground, crimson electricity rising around the beast powerfully.

The sky warped with heat as the dragon descended. The result of such a large thing slamming into the ground was guaranteed to be incredibly dangerous, and several things happened in an instant.

Akari held nothing back with her buffs, throwing tons of her energy towards Kei. Even before she had moved, his hands slammed into the ground, a dome of dense ice forming from the ground up. The expenses were instantly taken care of, but there was no area to enter or exit the dome. As such, whoever wasn't inside would be stuck outside.

Cha and Goto grabbed the Hunters closest to themselves—Fanzer for the former, and Ichigo for the latter—and slung them into the area.

With everyone out of the immediate danger, Goto leapt back towards Kei, but his eyes were locked onto Cha, who wasn't doing the same. There was no time for words, but he followed her gaze to Jin-Woo's back. He was right underneath the incoming attack.

There was no saving him, it would've been a useless death. Goto knew that there was no doubt about it. The distance necessary to cross wouldn't be possible, and it would lead to the deaths of two Hunters instead of just one.

Goto knew this. He knew Cha knew it too. He knew she'd try regardless. His hand shot towards her, white mana wrapping around her and pulling her back. She was caught off-guard, so she flew without much problem.

She met his gaze with widened eyes, despair rising within her gaze. Her eyes shot back to Jin-Woo's back. He seemed so far away.

At the same time Akari and Kei acted, Jin-Woo moved. He had no idea why he was moving, but he was moving, that's what he considered important.

He layered everything he could, enhancing his speed severalfold. He pushed himself beyond his limits, but the dragon moved too fast. He couldn't stop it, he knew that.

But he could stop Yogumunt, he realized. A single step forward and he was there, Legacy outstretched and wrapped in all the mana Jin-Woo could muster. He knew that his death would be fine if Yogumunt died too.

The other Hunters were strong, he told himself, they'd be able to kill the dragon if Yogumunt was gone.

As the dragon threatened to come down atop him, Jin-Woo met Yogumunt's gaze steadily. The Sovereign didn't flinch as Enkidu's roots shot from the ground, Sung in their line of fire.

The dragon was about to crash into Jin-Woo when—

Suddenly, he was pulled away, Ichigo's hands wrapped around his waist. She wrapped her body around his as Soul Fusion abruptly faded, leaving him almost entirely defenseless. Fanzer appeared a second later as the dragon came down on top of them. He held his hands between his fleeing allies and his terrifying enemy, mana flowing out of his hands seemingly endlessly.

A dense half-sphere formed right before the dragon impacted, crimson electricity cascading across the battlefield. The energy shattered Fanzer's barrier, sending the trio soaring backwards helplessly.

Fanzer's body was struck with the brunt of the force, bolts of lightning making clear imprints in his aura, barely blocked by his immense amounts of mana. Ichigo was thrown away from Jin-Woo, slamming into Kei's ice wall. She hacked up blood as she fell to the ground, but before she hit it Fanzer managed to land and grab her wrist.

Jin-Woo didn't have the same luck. He landed on the ground, still positively electrified from the dragon's attack. The energy flew across his body constantly, a consistent amount of his HP dropping with every passing second. Without anything to defend him, he fell to one knee, breathing heavily even as he was electrocuted.

The Necromancer glared at Yogumunt. All around the battlefield were the fried corpses of any of the other Constructs. Whether they were unnamed or named, they died from the dragon's sudden appearance. Even Enkidu and Kali couldn't put up a fight.

Jin-Woo glanced above the dragon's head, a frightening sight instilling horror within him.

[Perfected Dragon Construct, the Dragon God]

[Longshen]

A Perfected Construct, he Observed. It was a being of overwhelming strength. Whether that came from being aa dragon or being a Perfected Construct, Jin-Woo didn't know. His attention didn't linger on the dragon for long. More importantly, his gaze landed on Yogumunt.

The Sovereign walked up to Longshen, his hand reaching up and touching the dragon's neck. He grinned.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so late, my perfect Construct," Yogumunt sighed, shaking his head. The dragon let out a puff of air, its eyes locked onto Jin-Woo. "Now that I've got some reliable protection, I can do what I've needed to."

Jin-Woo slowly rose to his feet, taking a heavy step forward. Even though his body was ravaged by the crimson lightning, he continued to walk forward, Legacy in hand.

Yogumunt looked at Jin-Woo contemplatively, a grin rising to his face. "You're awfully determined, not-Ashborn! It's so unfortunate that you're just a puppy."

Jin-Woo continued forward, his footsteps heavy. His face was dark, unrecognizable.

Yogumunt glanced around, looking at the many corpses of his allies, his smile was unfading. "Why don't you bring them back, hm? You're a Necromancer, aren't you? Oh wait, you probably can't, can you?"

Sung glanced around the battlefield, but the notification he was expecting to see wasn't appearing. He looked over the souls of the fallen Constructs, but even when he tried to bring the summons back, nothing happened. Looking closer, he could easily see why.

Yogumunt's aura branched out in all directions, connecting with the many souls of the deceased Constructs. Because of that, there was technically nothing for Jin-Woo to bring back to life. He kept on moving.

Yogumunt laughed, clapping to himself. "And despite being constantly electrocuted and alone, you still continue moving! You're pretty incredible, not-Ashborn! But…."

Longshen growled, a deep rumbling sound stirring within the monster. The dragon peered past Jin-Woo, glaring at the injured Ichigo and exhausted Fanzer. The two stood atop Kei's Ice Dome, staring down at the scene.

"Jin-Woo, stop!" Ichigo yelled, halting the Hunter. "You can't get past that dragon! You've gotta stop!"

Jin-Woo clenched his weapon tighter.

"Oho? Your friend doesn't believe in your abilities, not-Ashborn. Isn't that just devastating? After all—" Longshen growled, staring down at Jin-Woo. "—She's right."

Jin-Woo glanced back, his eyes dark. "There's no way I'll stop and let this maniac do as he pleases."

Yogumunt clapped excitedly. "Good, good, what a good show! But—"

[Yogumunt has finished the skill: Soul Absorption.]

Jin-Woo could barely see Yogumunt move before the Sovereign's palm pounded into his chest.

"—Are you strong enough to stop me?"