Return Match (1) and Return Match (2)
“I was thinking of just dropping it, but looking at it now, this method seems more reliable.”
“That sight… It’s a little creepy.”
Kurrrrr!
While having a short conversation, a huge door blocking the passage opened.
This is the road to the core organ of the magic circle of the Pentacle.
“Let’s move quickly. I have to break it down and go back.”
Hyun urged Louise.
According to Genie’s report, the number of Skybridge Abyss users is gradually decreasing.
Besides, just now, Louise was also consuming a lot of magic power because of the excessive blowing of the black wind.
Since the possibility that the heavens had noticed this side increased, they had to hurry a little more.
***
Ugh. Whoops.
Several priests cast spells on someone and asked.
“Are you ready?”
“of course. I was waiting for today.”
A low, restrained voice answered.
Before the final ceremony, the priest warned once again.
“Swear. Prioritize the will of the oracle over your personal will.”
“Well, try your best.”
“… All right. Then we will start sending right away.”
300, 299, 298.
As the count decreased, countless memories flooded and subsided in Latisse’s head.
Moving theory, skill linkage, cooldown, etc.
In order not to repeat the same mistake as last time, it was necessary to raise the senses to the highest level through image training.
Before the transfer, someone’s face appeared in Latis’ mind.
If the oracle helps, I’ll run into her soon. We will fight with everything once again.
I’m not sure of victory.
Rather, I expected it to be a little disadvantageous.
People who know his personality, even arrogant at first glance, are astonished!
It meant that Latis was looking at his skills objectively.
‘Ain.’
Latiss chewed on the name.
After analyzing Ain’s play countless times, now I know for sure.
No matter how much you improve your skills, you can’t guarantee a ‘sure victory’ against her.
In order to break the opponent, you had to be prepared to break yourself.
‘You’ll have to concentrate this time too.’
But now it will be the other way around.
Latis calmed her breathing and waited for the time to pass.
***
“As directed… The northern institution has been completely destroyed.”
When Hyun and Louise arrived at their original location, Nangbo was waiting for them.
It was a straight line and the distance was close, so Shatin was quickly returning from his mission.
However, in the report that followed, there was a significant content mixed in.
“There was an attack by enemies along the way… .”
“enemy… ?”
“It seemed human, but… He killed them all… .”
‘A human enemy?’
Hearing Shatin’s report, Hyun’s expression became even more serious.
There are no ‘human guards’ in the celestial prison.
If what she said is true, the identity of the enemy is the scouting party who sensed Magi.
It was the same as meaning that the enemies downstairs had flowed into the prison.
‘Do I have more time than I thought?’
Fortunately, this plan was progressing step by step.
「Hyeon, I just broke the organ!」
Ain brought good news.
Pod! When using the ability of the coupling, Ain was immediately summoned in front.
She looked around and screamed in bewilderment.
“what? I’m last… ?!”
“Your area was the farthest.”
In that way, three of the vertices of the pentagram were destroyed, but there were still two organs left to be destroyed.
the two furthest away. Hyun entrusted one place to Ain this time as well.
Then he took the rest of the party and moved to the other side.
To destroy the last organ.
“sorry. I forgot to tell you.”
While running, Hyun sent Ain a whisper.
“Did you forget?”
“Thank you.”
“huh… ?」
“It was a bit of an unreasonable request, but I think you thought you would do it.”
“Ah, no… Isn’t it too much?!」
“sorry. But since I still have the ring, I had no choice but to entrust it to you.”
Short conversations with nothing in particular.
However, after the whisper was over, Ain’s eyes widened in surprise.
The corners of his lips were also going up.
Wasn’t that just a confession?
I think I said it back because I was embarrassed… ?!
I can’t think of any other reason for Hyun to say thank you for mentioning the coupling!
Suddenly, Ain thought that his body was burning.
Actually, I was noticing it to some extent.
The reason why it ends ambiguous no matter what kind of drip I hit on Hyun… Maybe it’s because he was a high school student.
But I don’t go to school anymore. Then you’re out of student status now, right?
then… Wouldn’t it be okay to try something that I’ve been thinking about for a while?
‘No, I’ll think about it after all of this!’
Ain shook his head slightly, clearing his mind.
A request from Hyun. I never wanted to fail.
If he can’t fulfill his mission, the prefecture’s efforts so far will be in vain.
‘Direction… This way!’
I crossed the aisles of a prison full of complicated magic circles.
a little faster!
He slashed the monsters he met along the way and stacked potential explosions whenever he got a chance.
By the time he reached his destination, Ain’s whole body was enveloped in red aura.
It was a phenomenon that occurred when both magical power and agility reached maximum overlap.
‘huh?’
Finally arriving at his destination, Ain burst into question.
To get to the engine department, you must pass through a room guarded by a gatekeeper.
However, the room was already full of traces of battle.
These ‘traces’ do not remain for long because recovery magic circles are scattered everywhere.
In other words, this means that a fight has recently occurred here.
‘Who is it?’
Ain moved slowly while having doubts.
The goal is to destroy the core organ. If you didn’t have to fight, it was rather welcome.
The moment Ain tries to move to the passageway to the engine department.
“laugh… !”
Quadduk!
Ice suddenly rose at her feet.
Right after a chill passed across my cheek, I thought.
attack? where?!
Ain quickly looked around.
It was to find an enemy hidden nearby, but there was no need to find it.
“As expected, the reaction is quick.”
again. again.
In-young, with a low voice, slowly walked out.
Her face was still hidden in the darkness, but Ain was able to intuit Inyoung’s true identity from the silhouette holding a long sword.
Because his unique voice and atmosphere were something that no one could imitate.
“If it were you, I knew you would avoid it.”
Latisse let out a cold smile.
Even though his attack missed, he rather liked it.
“Ah, you… !”
Today is the second time the two are facing each other.
About three months had passed since their first meeting, but Latis had never forgotten that day.
The time I was made fun of by Ain in Iluna.
Yes, while the time of 3 months had passed, Latis realized that it was a ‘play’ at that time.
And I’ve been looking forward to this day again.
To prove that you are different from back then!
‘Ain.’
Latis felt that an oracle was useful in its own way.
Wasn’t he able to face her alone thanks to that?
“Did you catch the Guardian here?”
Ain’s sudden question.
Latis looked around slightly and answered.
“If you’re talking about that scrap metal, you’re right. I’ve removed everything that could get in the way of a duel.”
“duel? Thank you for taking care of the Guardian, but I’ll do the duel later.”
Ain tried to pass him by.
Kwajik! I had to step back because of the blade of ice that surged up again.
Again, he looked at Latis, who had his longsword pierced into the ground, and opened his mouth.
“I’m a bit busy today.”
Before I knew it, Ain’s eyes had changed to resemble Latis’s.
“Can’t you see?”
clap. The moment the scythe of vigilance formed in Ain’s hands, Latis’ eyebrows twitched.
Intelligence was essential for rankers.
No, even if you’re not a ranker, if you’re a user interested in Assrian, you’ve probably seen that weapon somewhere recently.
“I didn’t know it was your weapon. suck… !”
In an instant, Latis’s pupils widened.
It was because Ain fired an attack instead of an answer.
A flash of light flying in an instant!
After that, the fireworks flew with a delay of 0.2 seconds!
This pattern of blocking the radius of movement and aiming for a follow-up hit is sure to hit anyone who has seen it for the first time.
“… !”
But it wasn’t the first time for Latisse.
I died in hundreds of ways in the apostle’s test, and I imagined thousands of types of patterns in image training.
Latisse unconsciously moved in the most risk-reducing way.
The result is an amount of damage equivalent to a light flash of flame.
[Takes 1517 damage!]
‘It was dangerous!’
When only one sum was exchanged, Latis could be sure.
‘It can’t be compared to the Apostle Quest!’
The actual Ajin is many times higher than the shadow Ajin!
Kwajijik! It was the next moment when several half moons tore apart the spot where Latis was standing.
***
“Ah, this one is over!”
It’s already the third time I’ve heard Hyun’s whisper.
“Is that still there?!”
Ain had not yet responded to the whisper.
It was because the battle with Latis had been going on for more than 30 seconds.
‘Sheesh, if I used the ultimate, it would have been over at the beginning… !’
There was no time to reply to Hyun’s whispers.
Right now, killing this guy is an urgent priority.
Kwadeuk! Quadruped!
The moment he used the resolution of extinction, Ain’s whole body froze.
With ears and a tail made of frost, Ain looked like a cat, not a wolf or a fox.
The appearance may have become a little cute, but even its power can’t be seen as cute.
It was because ifrit’s claws and Prosia’s ice blades were activated at the same time as the skill level increased.
‘What?’
The moment Ain put the scythe behind him, Latis’s eyebrows narrowed.
The distance between each other is more than 10 meters.
It’s definitely not dangerous… Why is the spine creeping?
Taang! Quadd!
The gunshot rang out and Latis raised the ice at almost the same time.
A shotgun mode that fires dozens of rounds at once.
The damage and accuracy of the shotgun mode, which lacks research, are at a disastrous level, but users with a light weight cannot use the recoil to instantly increase speed.
According to the same principle as Louise’s wind, Ain’s body received the reaction of the bullet and was shot forward.
In an instant, the ice pillars that Latis had erected were sliced like tofu.
Caang! The scythe of vigilance collided with Latis’ long sword, scattering sharp chills.
‘What speed… !’
Latisse’s eyes widened.
If he hadn’t sensed something strange and slowed down the Ain’s charge with the ‘Divine Fence’, he would have been lying on the floor by now.
Latis, who had become cold, raised Ain’s danger distance.
‘The attack range is also longer than before. It’s dangerous to approach within 15 meters!’
Considering that normal users maintain a distance of 3 meters in a duel, Latis’ actions are excessive.
However, Latis judged that even that could be dangerous.
‘Because I have that skill.’
Because I know that Ain has a mobile device with almost no pre-motion.
Until the skill fell out, he couldn’t use his movement skill recklessly.
Skip. Latisse’s movement changed strangely.
It was to cope with Ain’s attack with moving, not skill.
‘What about this move?’
Ain also noticed the change in Latis.
Moving that leaves an afterimage diagonally behind it.
This is a useful move if you want to focus on dodging instead of giving up an attacking opportunity.
‘What, are you trying to pass the time… ?!’
The strategy was modified.
It was because if this composition continued, there was a high possibility that the duel would flow into a long-term battle.
‘I have to drive them into a corner!’
It’s not that I don’t have confidence in the long-term, but right now the time is too tight.
In order to finish quickly, it was necessary to make the wall back to prevent the opponent from using that move.
At one point, the scythe of vigilance swept through space.
Tear the giant.
A blow that instantly increased the range by 8 meters and increased strength by 800 aimed at Latis’ torso.
The power of 800 is a spec that is hard to see even from named NPCs.
What will happen when it is in the hands of the user?
Kaaang! The moment his longsword and scythe collided, Latis was thrown back nearly 50 meters.
It must have gone farther than that had it not hit the wall.
‘Okay, that’s it!’
Ain did not miss the opportunity and followed the steps of a god of death, then created an afterimage in the air to restrict the enemy’s movement path.
Cut afterimages.
It is a skill that leaves an afterimage of about 1 second on all types of attacks using a scythe.
The afterimage had not only a shape, but also damage and impact.
‘I can’t escape like this!’
The moment I was about to finish off the opponent who had turned his back on the wall.
Hard!
Countless pieces of ice rose from the floor.
Awesome! Awesome! Pillars of ice being cut off by sharp afterimages.
Before I knew it, the two were placed in the middle of the smoothly cut ice pillars.
shit. The corners of Latis’ mouth rose as he exhaled heavily.
“Kuh, it was a mistake to cut it too neatly.”
‘huh?’
“I didn’t want to use any other technique, but… You’re not the only one learning a new skill.”
‘what? laugh… !’
Fire! At the same time as his back ached, Ain twisted his body.
With a reaction speed comparable to that of a cat!
[Takes 5552 damage]
But at that time, it was after the stamina had already been shaved off by close to 1/4.
‘What did you just hit?!’
Ain thought quickly.
How did the attack come from behind?
Looking ahead, I realized.
Whoa!
Like the laser attached to a sniper rifle, beams of light emanated from Latis’ sword.
‘light… ?’
The beam of light was reflected back and forth on the pillars of ice around him, shining on his back.
[Snowball’s Brilliant Lv.3]
-Aim at an enemy and fire a radiance.
– Each time it is reflected by ‘Divine Ice’, its power doubles. (up to 5 times)
-Brightness reflected more than 5 times creates a stigma on the target.
– Stigmatized enemies receive 32x damage from ‘Brilliance of Snowball’ for 10 seconds.
(Cooldown: 1 second)
(Holy power consumed: 1000)
self. At the same time that a ‘stigma’ formed on his forehead, Ain bit his lip.
It was a skill I knew.
He was also well aware of how dangerous this skill was to himself.
‘I made a mistake!’
Was it wrong to try to decide the game in a hurry?
Ain decided that he could avoid any counterattack.
However, very occasionally, there was an attack in the form that Assrian could never avoid.
Especially if you have to take such an attack… .
Perhaps this made it more likely to lose than to win.
***
‘at las… .’
At the same time the stigma was created, Latis sensed victory.
If you think about it, it was a lucky streak.
From accidentally missing the first attack, to avoiding all of the attacks with dozens of fakes.
If even a little bit of concentration was distracted, or if I chose Lee Ji-sun-da wrongly, I would have died.
It was decisive that a spider’s web of blades had formed in the air.
Was Ain in a hurry?
Anyway, thanks to that, I was able to reduce the effort of directly cutting the ice pillar, and even succeeded in activating the brand of light.
No matter how good your reflexes are, you can’t avoid ‘light’!
This skill was a skill that became a fatal counter to users who were quick like Ain but had low physical strength.
‘I won!’
The duration of the stigma is 10 seconds. On the other hand, the cooldown of brilliance is 1 second.
Just 3 or 4 more hits out of 10 would drain Ain’s stamina.
This was because the maximum damage of the skill was always applied to the branded target.
As Latis extended his sword as if to sentence him to death, a beam of light projected onto Ain’s chest.
After aiming like that, Latis began to fire one strand of brilliance.
‘God of death steps!’
Flash! As soon as the light flashed, Ain activated his mobile device.
[Takes 5013 damage!]
I couldn’t dodge by car.
In an instant, around 1/4 of the physical strength was further reduced.
Now, the remaining stamina is slightly more than half.
‘Come again!’
There was no room for a counterattack.
Because the opponent’s attack flies once every second!
Needless to say, there was no cover nearby.
It was because Latis had destroyed all the ice pillars around her after the stigma was activated.
“It’s great… !”
A ray of light passing through my sight again!
As he twisted his body as hard as he could, Ain felt his cheeks heat up slightly.
brushed across the face
However, there is no judgment that ‘grip’ exists in light, so even such a minor form of damage had no choice but to come in as it is.
Looking at his stamina, he only needs to get hit twice in the future.
If the fatal blow exploded, it might end in one shot.
‘Dangerous… !’
In an instant, Ain’s time began to flow slowly.
The peak of concentration made it possible to think of many thoughts even in a short moment.
You can’t see the light and avoid it.
Even if it responds as quickly as possible, it takes at least 0.1 second for the human brain to send a signal.
So how can I avoid it?
“… !”
Flash! The brilliance flashed again.
Ain realized it belatedly.
The fact that he completely avoided the light just now!
‘Isn’t that right?!’
For some reason, I thought it was now, so when I changed direction, an attack came.
‘Why didn’t it fit… ?’
For a moment, Ain couldn’t understand how he had avoided it.
If asked, he would have said he sensed danger instinctively.
The identity of that instinct is rhythm.
Latis was sending beams of light every time the cooldown filled up to unleash as many attacks as possible during the 10 seconds she was branded.
That is, exactly once every second.
Flash!
And Ain’s biological clock was unconsciously measuring the flow of time.
As if to prove that what just happened was not a coincidence, the beam of light once again missed Ain.
An impossible move if you can’t divide the time of 1 second to the second decimal place.
‘Am I avoiding the light right now… ?’
Even though there was no clue of rhythm in Ain’s head who was moving like that.
They just subconsciously sense danger and avoid it.
Like a beast that instinctively senses danger!
If ‘theory’ and ‘instinct’ could produce the same result in a duel where the situation was rapidly changing, naturally, instinct was more advantageous.
It was because if there was no calculation, there was no need to distribute consciousness in unnecessary places.
‘what!’
Latis’ eyes widened when more than half of the duration of the stigma had passed.
‘Is it a coincidence?’
He is clearly aiming at the center of Ain’s torso with a beam of light.
And the speed at which the brilliance explodes is literally the same as the speed of light.
It would be impossible for humans to react.
However, Ain changed direction twice in a row according to the timing of the attack.
As if reading your thoughts.
‘No, it’s not a coincidence!’
For an instant, Latisse’s mind flashed.
Ain is ‘sensing’ the timing of an attack!
In order to attack as much as possible within 10 seconds of being branded, he was firing the brilliance as soon as the cooldown returned.
Because of this, a ‘rhythm’ was created in which the attack flew every second!
As soon as he realized that fact, he changed his attack pattern.
irregularly this time.
‘how… .’
But the next moment, Latis doubted her own eyes.
The attack was clearly off-beat. Because it didn’t fit this time either.
Latis belatedly realized the reason.
‘That’s right, it’s a half chance.’
Ain was blurryly separated, like two people.
Moving ice that travels quickly back and forth over short distances.
It was a technique that Iluna also used.
Light’s attack judgment is literally ‘momentary’.
Therefore, there was a 50% chance of missing either of the two afterimages.
Latis, who became desperate, checked how much time the stigma lasted.
3.5 seconds remaining.
‘Do you have three steps left… !’
Ain’s speed was dizzyingly fast and erratic.
Enough to miss a movement if you wake up for a second.
Latis focused her mind as much as possible and fired the brilliance.
Flash! Flash!
One shot hit, but the other missed.
It was clear that Ain’s physical strength was close to the bottom.
One last step left.
Can I fit it or not?
Fire! Ain suddenly rushed in while Latis was preparing for the final blow.
A charge using the same round-trip movement as before.
Latis felt as if two deities were attacking her.
‘huh?!’
For an instant, Latis’ eyes flashed.
Because I noticed that parts of the two afterimages overlapped.
‘If I match that part, I can win!’
If you aim accurately at the overlapping parts of the afterimages, the accuracy rate will be 100%, not 50%!
It was an extremely small area, but Latis drew extreme concentration.
Flash! The last light exploded.
While moving at high speed, Latis’ ability to snip at that minute section was astonishing.
However, in the next moment, the brilliance hit the metal surface and bounced away in vain.
It was the moment when the blow of conversion was intercepted by the scythe of vigilance.
‘Hot, I blocked it!’
Ain sang joy inwardly.
The last attack was expected to fly there.
A very small gap intentionally created.
Even if it was Hyeon, he probably aimed at the same place as the opponent, right?
‘I caught it this time!’
Taking over the charge, Ain narrowed the distance right in front of Latis.
A distance where you can see the expression of the opponent with wide-eyed eyes.
Double Ifrit’s claws on the spot.
He immediately took out his scythe and cut Prosia’s ice sword three times.
It is a linkage technique that hides ice between flames.
In an instant, five attacks exploded.
‘… … .’
Surprisingly, the feeling of getting caught in Ain’s hand was only one last time.
At the place where Latis was standing, grains of light slowly fell.
The death effect was belatedly shining.
After seeing that scene, Ain could be sure of his opponent’s death.
‘How long has it been?’
Ain suddenly came to his senses.
I was so focused on the duel that I lost my sense of time.
What is the current situation? Didn’t you hear a very urgent voice earlier?
I have to destroy the magic circle quickly!
Ain started moving again and sent a whisper.
「Hyung, I just fought with Latis!」
“… … .”
There was no answer.
Ain, who was terrified, was relieved after looking through his friend’s window.
Hyun was still online.
I don’t know if the reason why there’s no reply is that I’m in such a hurry that I can’t even whisper!
“Since I just caught it, I’ll break the magic circle right now!”
Got the card!
It didn’t take long for the core organs to be destroyed with Procia’s ice knife as the ultimate continued.
When he used ‘Giant Split’, whose cooldown had returned, the surroundings filled with magic circles were completely devastated.
“It’s okay, Hyun, I’m done!”
“hyeon… ?”
“What’s going on?!”
The moment I screamed like that.
Suddenly, the air shook, and the body of Pat and Ain disappeared somewhere.
***
[died!]
[Death penalty is reduced by skill!]
[Unable to connect for 24 hours!]
After the message came to mind, Latis did not move for a long time.
Inside the extinguished capsule, I quietly recalled the duel I just had.
what was missing? What caused the defeat?
kuk kuk. Eventually, Latis burst into laughter.
So much regret, resentment, and even joy.
It was a laugh with many meanings.
It had been a while since Latisse had stopped laughing.
“good… .”
Latisse thought back to the last moment.
The part where afterimages overlap.
If he hadn’t attacked that place, or had his attack slightly missed, he would have won.
Didn’t make a single mistake.
Rather, they lost because they did not make mistakes.
“At least it’s much better than last time.”
Today’s Ain did his best.
And obviously, he pushed such Ain to the brink of death.
This meant that the time had not been wasted.
“But not yet.”
It was almost close, so it was similar skill?
If there were people who watched the duel, they might say so, but Latis himself didn’t think so.
The one end difference that decided the game.
That’s a huge gap, and a huge gap that we don’t know how long it will take to fill.
“I can reach you if I go a little further.”
I got a job to do.
Latisse displayed the video that had just been recorded on the screen.
24 hours.
Since the death penalty was reduced due to an accidental opportunity, Latis decided to analyze the duel all day today.
