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Chapter 40: Mock Monster Battle (4)
"What did you just say?" Lee Han-Wol rubbed his ear with a ballpoint pen and asked, his expression full of confusion.
Undeterred, Baek Yu-Seol spoke again. "Five monsters. I’ll give you the list now."
Lee Han-Wol shook his head, his tone incredulous. "Have you finally gotten insane? Well, I knew you were crazy, but this is a bit too much..."
Baek Yu-Seol calmly responded, "When did I go crazy?"
"Think about it with using your whole head.”
“My whole head?”
Baek Yu-Seol frowned and then shrugged his shoulders, while Eisel announced the list of five monsters.
"Please summon these monsters: blaze dragon, shadowhorn beast, black mantis, flash fish, and grim hunter."
Her words carried more weight, and Lee Han-Wol immediately nodded and ordered the monsters to be summoned.
Within minutes, all five intermediate monsters had appeared, and the group of monster researchers who had been observing the performance opened their eyes in surprise.
"That combination… Hmm?" one of them muttered, unable to hide his shock at the unusual lineup of monsters.
Since they were the ones who fully understood the hidden characteristics and traits of monsters, they had already visualized that combination in their minds.
However, only those with extensive professional knowledge or practical experience like Lee Han-Wol could imagine the uniqueness of this combination in their mind. Others present in the room, even the seniors, were perplexed.
Even the magic professors were struggling to understand, let alone ordinary students who couldn't catch any hints from this obscure combination.
"Hey, Ma Yu-Seong. Do you get it?"
"I'm not sure..."
Hong Bi-Yeon and Ma Yu-Seong were just as clueless. Even Flame, who was silently observing from behind, couldn't find any hints in this enigmatic combination.
"Summon complete. Are you ready?"
"Yes."
Oddly enough, Eisel and Baek Yu-Seol took the center of the arena, surrounded by the five intermediate monsters.
Eisel repeatedly tried and failed to calm her pounding heart. After all, it was her first time using this method in real combat.
"Hey, can you do it?"
"Of course."
"You just have to trust me completely."
"Do I have to keep hearing that from you?"
"Sorry, it was a trendy phrase in my hometown."
"Well, I think it must have been outdated there too. You sound like an old man trying to brag."
“How did you know?"
"Heh, it was obvious."
As Eisel turned her head and caressed her staff, she suddenly realized that she felt relaxed now. It was all thanks to Baek Yu-Seol’s rambling.
"Phew..."
With Eisel beginning to calm herself down, Baek Yu-Seol looked at the five intermediate monsters standing around him.
Attacking five intermediate monsters with just two people was simple.
To take on two or more intermediate monsters in Aether World, players had to face countless challenges.
With hundreds of monsters to choose from, players could create many different combinations.
A certain player discovered that certain monsters reacted to the characteristics of other monsters.
After realizing that, the remaining method was simple.
All they had to do was dig deeper into those characteristics and create a situation where the monsters were hostile to each other.
It was called borrowing a knife to slay the enemy. It was a strategy of killing the enemy using someone else's sword without revealing your own strength.
“One last thing, who decided on this list?"
"I did."
"I see. You're a knight, so you can still score points in these extreme situations. However, priests can’t do that. Isn't this strategy too harsh for a priest?"
In response to Lee Han-Wol's sharp question, Baek Yu-Seol confidently replied, "No. This is a strategy designed exclusively for priests."
People whispered at his words, but Lee Han-Wol nodded his head slightly, believing Baek Yu-Seol’s words to some extent.
"Well then, let's begin."
As soon as his command was given, the monsters gained consciousness and turned their gazes to Baek Yu-Seol and Eisel in the center.
The distance between them wasn’t far. A simple dash would be enough to reach them in an instant.
During the brief time before the monsters’ eyes became clear, Eisel did something unexpected.
She let go of her staff and levitated slightly off the ground.
As soon as the resonance of mana spread out with a booming sound, the professors were amazed and shot up from their seats.
"That's... hyper resonance!" one professor exclaimed in disbelief.
“That’s impossible. Hyper resonance only occurs when magicians of the 6th class or higher enter a completely unconscious state…”
Eyes closed, Eisel stretched her arms wide with her staff spinning in front of her, gathering mana.
It was a deep blue, cold, and icy mana.
"However, hyper resonance cannot be performed unless the safety of the performer is fully guaranteed.”
"Even if it's just an illusion, there's a risk of mana backflow turning Eisel into a cripple when the monsters attack.”
"Hey, Instructor! Stop the performance evaluation immediately! It's too dangerous!"
The professors were in a state of panic, but Lee Han-Wol paid them no heed. He didn't think there was any real danger, and Eisel seemed to be calm.
‘Has it begun?’
Baek Yu-Seol briefly admired the scene unfolding before his eyes. Her concentration power was so immense that it could easily be described as monstrous.
There were only a handful of geniuses in Class 3 who could perform resonance, and besides Eisel, Baek Yu-Seol knew of no other.
‘Well then, maybe I should give it a try.’
As she started to concentrate on her task, it was now Baek Yu-Seol’s turn.
[Flash]
He turned into a blur and suddenly reappeared behind the intermediate monster, blaze dragon, stabbing it in the abdomen with his Teripon sword.
"Aaaaargh!"
"Blaze dragons emit a red light from their forehead when experiencing pain.”
As the blaze dragon’s forehead emitted a red light, another monster that looked like a robust bull reacted.
"The shadowhorn beast becomes crazy when it sees red light and runs toward it, leaving scattering dust into the air."
"Kru, kru, kru!"
The shadowhorn beast, which had a huge muscular body like a bull, charged at the blaze dragon.
Unfortunately, Eisel happened to be in the path of the mad bull, so Baek Yu-Seol used his teleportation ability once again, this time moving beside the bull.
He then struck it with all his might, causing it to charge in another direction and narrowly miss Eisel.
“What the...”
The mages were completely taken aback. It wasn't because of Baek Yu-Seol’s actions, but because of Eisel’s inexplicably powerful concentration.
She had to have heard the shadowhorn beast’s roar and the sound of its thunderous charge, not to mention the wind pressure it unleashed, but Eisel did not stop concentrating.
“Unbelievable… What resolve…”
“No. Perhaps it's because she trusts the knight to protect her perfectly.”
Kwoong!!
As the two intermediate monsters collided, an enormous amount of dust was scattered in all directions from the shadowhorn beast’s body at the center.
The dust touched the flash fish’s skin, causing it to dry up and generating an enormous quantity of water.
Sensing the threat to its life, the flash fish stopped in its tracks and started secreting water.
Since the platform was surrounded by a barrier, the water began to accumulate.
“If the grim hunter senses moisture, its roar would reach at least seven octaves.”
Kiyoohhh!!!
The black mantis was a monster that was sensitive to sound and attacked indiscriminately when it detected sounds above seven octaves.
Suddenly, the five intermediate monsters began to tangle with one another, generating a loud commotion. The mages who were watching finally realized the strategy behind the combination.
From the beginning, Eisel’s group thoroughly understood the characteristics and attributes of the monsters and aimed for that kind of phenomenon.
"Oh, my goodness. Do they know the characteristics of all monsters?"
"I majored in monsterology, yet I’ve never even thought of such a thing..."
"It's too reckless."
"But..."
Thud, kukugung!!
The monsters were too busy fighting one another to pay any attention to the Eisel group in the center. The dust swirled, the water on the ground continued to rise, and the red light became more and more intense.
In the midst of it all, Baek Yu-Seol performed his role as a knight perfectly.
As his name suggested, he was responsible for protecting and blocking enemies until the priest cast her spell.
When a monster rushed blindly toward Eisel, Baek Yu-Seol instantly teleported and struck the monster’s ankles with his sword, causing it to fall.
It was instantly attacked by the other monsters and remained unable to get back up.
Another monster charged in, but Baek Yu-Seol blocked it with his body. At the same time, he flashed to intercept an incoming attack from the opposite direction.
"Woah, amazing. So damn cool."
He kept moving back and forth.
Because of Teripon’s sword beam, a trace of blurry light was left wherever he used Flash.
Slowly but surely, these flashes of light began to captivate the audience.
He flashed to the east and flashed to the west.
It wasn't just cool to look at; he was perfectly efficient in his movements, defending the priest from all directions alone.
His figure depicted the most fantastic form of a knight.
A knight who flawlessly protected his charge.
As the fight became increasingly intense, the monsters gradually became tired and injured.
Flash!
Finally, Eisel opened her blue eyes and grabbed her staff.
The accumulated water on the ground froze, and a giant flower grew high in the sky.
It was an ice flower that emitted a cool blue light from its petals.
"Crystal flower."
It was dazzling and beautiful.
"Pretty...."
"Wow...."
Its beauty was unsurpassable.
The professors no longer evaluated the student's magic. They simply appreciated the magic of a mage.
Her magic was so high level that she couldn’t be considered a mere student. No mage could perform such beautiful magic.
The intermediate monsters writhed on the ground, their injuries and exhaustion rendering them unable to move under the resistance of the freezing water that had almost risen to their ankles.
With time, the ice would eventually be shattered and their attention would be drawn to Eisel due to her high-profile attack.
“Shatter.”
However, before that could happen, the brilliant and beautiful flower shattered into pieces, transforming into sharp weapons that fell in all directions.
Whoop! Whoop! Quadduk!
Kreuk! Kreuk!
Hundreds of giant ice spears struck the bodies of the intermediate monsters.
Their skin tore apart and froze simultaneously, and when they tried to move, their wounds opened, causing mind-numbing agony.
However, the situation was not yet properly resolved.
Pssshhh...!
At that moment, steam started to emerge from the grim hunter’s body. It was one of its hidden abilities. When it felt excessive moisture and coldness, it emitted tremendous heat.
Thanks to this ability, the frozen lake slowly began to melt.
"Ah..."
"In the end, they couldn't finish it."
"The strategy was well planned, and the battle was beautiful, but they didn't consider this hidden ability."
"It's a shame. But at their level, they can still receive a high score."
The strategy narrowly failed.
Just as they were about to make that judgment, Eisel stretched her hand into the air.
Until then, no one had noticed.
The blue light cluster that had been serving as the petals of the crystal flower still hadn't disappeared.
They had all thought it was part of the ice flower because it bloomed with the ice and turned into petals.
But that was a misconception.
Her specialty was magic that combined ice and lightning at the same time.
Zzzt, Zzzt!
The mages gasped in astonishment at the sparks flying through the air.
Since ice was close to an insulator, it could not effectively conduct electricity. Therefore, people assumed that Eisel had cast the crystal flower magic by sacrificing her other specialty which was lightning.
Unfortunately, she was not content with just being born with the blessing of ice; she also had a great love for lightning.
She couldn't resist the urge to summon it.
Baek Yu-Seol had come up with an extraordinary plan.
"Why don't we freeze it and then melt it again?"
Drip! Drop!
The sound of dripping water from the melting ice echoed. Water in solid form may be an excellent insulator.
"Uh...?"
"Wait, could it be...?"
However, liquid water was an equally excellent conductor.
As the people finally realized what was happening, they began to moan in despair.
"Strike it down."
A beam of blue light plunged into the ground.
Crack!
The sound of deafening lightning rang through the vicinity.
The world was bathed in a blue glow, and the flower bloomed.
This time, it wasn't an ice flower or a crystal flower.
It was a blue flower.
A flower that shone brighter and more splendidly than anything else in the world.
Could one really say that the pure beauty created by magic was not art?
Anything that could resonate with the human psyche could be said to be a work of art.
Her magic was close to art, a highly destructive art aimed at annihilating her enemies. As long as her attacks did not hit Baek Yu-Seol, anyone would be amazed at the beauty of the artwork she created.
"Hah..."
Eisel stared blankly at the spectacle she’d created.
‘This is my magic…’
She could hardly believe it. Even the formidable Hong Bi-Yeon had not demonstrated such magic.
It was a magic that was only possible because of her.
“What the hell is this plan? It’s a perfect plan, right?” she asked him.
“Of course. Well… maybe 1%,” he replied.
‘What did he say?’
Eisel remembered how stunned she was when she first heard the plan from Baek Yu-Seol.
“The remaining 99% is up to you. If you don't do your part, I'll be the one who's screwed.”
“Me...?”
She couldn't believe it. He entrusted her with his grand plan of defeating five intermediate monsters.
“You can do it,” he said.
“That's…”
“No, you have to do it. My score depends on you.”
She thought he was crazy. If he did this just to boost her confidence, it was a complete failure. She believed that whatever plan he had, he would inevitably fail if he trusted and relied on someone like her.
But Baek Yu-Seol smiled confidently as he spoke and seemed to trust her more than anyone else.
“I believe in you,” he said.
“That's…”
“So just trust me once. Because you can really do it.”
That was the first time he seemed serious. Although he was still smiling, his expression and tone were sincere, creating a sense of burden in her chest.
However, it was not a bad feeling.
“You can do it, right?”
Eisel reluctantly nodded her head.
"Yeah."
Somehow, she came to trust him.
Was she persuaded by his foolish words?
She didn’t know herself.
Anyone who could resist his sincere appeal had to be heartless.
So she ended up doing such a dangerous thing, all while being lost in the belief of Baek Yu-Seol.
"Ah..."
But then…
"It’s pretty..."
He didn't even know that she could do it so perfectly.
Eisel slowly closed her eyes, her mind replaying the fragile blue flower that encompassed the world.
She was someone who lived with just a tiny flicker of hope.
And even that small hope was fading away.
Until Baek Yu-Seol woke her up, saying, "You can do this."
Until now, she’d felt like she was adrift in an endless sea.
No matter how hard she tried to charge ahead in that sea, there were moments when she wavered, wondering if she was on the right path.
But not anymore.
Far ahead, Baek Yu-Seol had left a light in the middle of the vast sea. It looked like a star in the night sky or a lighthouse.
The light was telling her how far she needed to go.
How much more effort was required.
So she decided to follow that light.
Perhaps she wouldn’t be lost anymore.