Chapter 296: Chapter 295 - Changing the Strategy 2

Junhyuk looked at Bebe’s enhancement stones. They were different from the ones he had earned at the Champions’ Battlefield, and they increased attack and endurance by 20 percent.

He raised the Blood Rune Sword, on which he had used the reward enhancements stones from the Champions’ Battlefield and successfully upgraded it to plus five. The original damage had increased by 90, so its basic attack was at 250.

He could upgrade it five more times with the Dimensional Battlefield stones.

Feeling nervous, he started the upgrades by using the enhancement stones just like he had learned from Bebe. After he finished the upgrades, he raised the Blood Rune Sword, astonished. Its attack stat was beyond anything ever before. The Blood Rune Sword now had an attack of 622, and Junhyuk was deeply moved.

“Now, let’s go slice and dice them,” he said, and everyone laughed. They knew he had enhanced his sword, but he still couldn’t fight heroes alone.

His normal attack had dealt 1 percent damage to Keros, and his damage was now four times what it had been when they fought. So, his normal attack should deal about 4 percent damage. Junhyuk expected his Spatial Slash to do the job, but he couldn’t make that much of a difference.

“We are aiming for Tuelus. We have killed him already, so it should be easy to do it now.”

“But there is no guarantee we will meet him.”

“Even if we meet others, we’ll have the advantage, and because of that, we’ll win this time.”

The truth was that Junhyuk wasn’t expecting much. Even though he had gotten stronger himself, the enemies possessed unmatched strength.

“Push middle?”

“Correct.”

Junhyuk gathered his breath.

“Let’s go.”

The heroes were all better equipped now. They had all bought better items than the ones they had lost, so the new equipment should help out.

Artlan’s eyes beamed.

“Let’s go.”

The group started running toward the middle lane. There was nobody at the middle tower. The enemies had already destroyed the allied tower, so they had to be looking for the allies.

“Let’s destroy the first tower!”

It wasn’t a lot of work destroying a tower, even without minions.

“Please, your Spatial Slash.”

Without thinking about it, Junhyuk used the Spatial Slash. After he took care of the archers, they pounded at the empty tower, and that was all.

Once they destroyed the tower, Artlan said, “We can reach the second tower quicker than the enemy coming toward us. They must also destroy the second tower before following us, but we are faster.”

If the enemies destroyed all of the second towers in the allied territory, the allies wouldn’t have the advantage. But if the allies destroyed the second tower in the middle lane, they would be able to push forward at any time.

They all followed Artlan to the second tower and destroyed it as well. After the tower fell, Artlan sighed deeply.

“They’ve opened up all of the paths, but we also got one lane. Let’s return.”

“Return?”

Artlan nodded.

“We will head out after we return. If we vanish from here, our enemies will also return. Then, a few of them will advance in order to find us.” Artlan smiled and added, “When they split up, we’ll counterattack.”

Junhyuk nodded, and they prepared to return. It seemed like the enemies were winning, but things would be different. The allies would have a chance if they counterattacked when and if their enemies split up.

Junhyuk had returned with the heroes, and they were all inside the castle. They didn’t know where the enemies were and looked at each other.

“If we move, where do you want to take us?”

Artlan took a moment to think and said, “Three of them have to have stayed at the castle, so let’s take the lower path.”

The group moved again. They didn’t take any minions with them either this time. Currently, the allies were engaged in a type of guerrilla warfare, trying to split up their enemies.

Being legend candidates, their enemies were overconfident and moved in small groups. Three of them had killed five allied heroes before, so they had probably left three within the castle and two were out in search of them.

Now, the allies had to cut them down.

While they moved, Sarang asked Vera a lot of questions, and Vera answered her kindly. Junhyuk also wanted to learn, so he walked over to Artlan.

“Artlan.”

“What?”

“I want to learn things other than acceleration.”

Artlan laughed.

“Once acceleration is mastered, you can learn strengthening. Should I tell you about it?”

“Strengthening?”

Junhyuk was expecting something big. He couldn’t use acceleration in its original form in the Dimensional Battlefield, but it was still amazing. Strengthening would also help him, and he wanted to learn it.

“I want to learn it.”

Artlan looked at him and laughed.

“By the way, are you absorbing mana right now?”

“I can control it now.”

For a few days, Junhyuk had trained so that he could let the living spirit travel through his veins while he did other things. There was an enormous quantity of mana in the Dimensional Battlefield, and if he wasn’t to do other things while the living spirit absorbed mana, the spirit would only be a burden.

Hearing his answer, Artlan nodded.

“Strengthening is when you gather your forces and let it rip.”

“How is that different from compression?”

Artlan showed him his hand.

“You have to divide the living spirit.”

“Divide living spirit?”

“That’s right. It is a more advanced skill than acceleration. Divide the living spirit and sent it to the tips of your fingers. Do so in continuous waves. Gather the living spirit in your arteries and sent it to the tips of your fingers.”

Artlan extended his hand and added, “Then you make it explode.”

Junhyuk had already felt the living spirit traveling through his veins and dividing into small bits throughout his entire body. But he had not intended to do it, and he hadn’t tried it again.

Since the Dimensional Battlefield had so much mana, however, he could always try there.

After Artlan’s pointers, Junhyuk focused on the living spirit and tried to divide it. He had been using the living spirit intentionally for a while, but currently, it was impossible for him to divide it at will.

He was still focusing on the living spirit when the group reached the bottom tower. The watchtower could be seen from far away, and Artlan nodded slightly.

“The castle wall hasn’t been attacked yet,” Artlan said. “When we have the chance, let’s destroy the tower.”

The group attacked the tower, and while they did, Junhyuk focused on dividing the living spirit. It wasn’t an easy thing to do at will, but he had learned it now.

Suddenly, the reed field behind the watchtower started moving, and Artlan responded to the sound.

He turned to look and saw a person flying in at high speed. The person was using a power to close in as quickly as possible, and he was holding a massive sword.

Keros appeared with his sword, and Artlan, wielding both of his sabers, ran toward him.

Boom!

Artlan was pushed back, and Junhyuk turned to look around. If Keros was there, there might be others as well. And as expected, someone was running toward them along ten flying flare bombs.

Junhyuk raised the force field.

For ten seconds, the allies could do whatever they wanted to, so Artlan used the seven-strike combo on Keros. Previously, that attack had only dealt the hero 5 percent of damage. However, this time, it took 10 percent of the hero’s health. Artlan had gotten better equipment, but the damage was still phenomenal.

As Artlan attacked, Halo ran forward and used his flash attack on Keros, who raised his massive sword to parry.

Clang!

Halo started bleeding, and Junhyuk grimaced. Keros was trying to escape when a fire spear hit him.

Boom!

Keros frowned and stepped back. A volley of arrows flew his away, but he blocked everything and continued running away. He was trying to hide within the reed field, where Tuelus was already hiding. They were legend candidates, but they were also realistic.

They would be in danger for ten seconds, so they retreated. They were pros and had fought numerous opponents, so they wouldn’t let their guards down.

When Artlan saw then running away, he said quickly, “Pursue!”

The allies could chase down two enemies even without Junhyuk’s force field. The effectiveness of their new equipment was showing.

“How come you dealt so much damage now?”

“My attack is the same, but I sliced through the enemy’s defense,” Artlan frowned and said.

“How high is your piercing stat?”

Artlan didn’t answer. Instead, he smiled. He had intentionally increased piercing, and Junhyuk had renewed hope. The allies would be able to deal with their enemies now.

As they ran toward the reed field, the force field disappeared. They had advanced into the reed field when Keros’ sword exploded.

Boom!

Sword shrapnel flew all over, and the allies got swept in a whirlwind of it. Keros, knowing he was being chased, prepared his ultimate while in the reed field. As the ultimate took the allies’ healths away, Junhyuk learned something else: the allies had focused on killing and not on keeping themselves alive.

For example, Artlan had spent all of his gold on piercing boosts. Without that kind of investment, their attacks would be useless against their enemies, however. The best defense was a good offense, and their best chances at survival were in killing their enemies before they themselves were killed.

However, that was easier said than done.

Keros stepped back, and Tuelus stepped forward. The two machines created a flash that turned into a circle.

In the allied camp, things were chaotic all of a sudden. Tuelus combined the two machines into one, and Junhyuk shouted at him, “It won’t happen again!”

Junhyuk teleported, and right before he did so, the heroes touched him, and they all appeared behind Tuelus.

Tuelus fired the blue beam at the empty space, and Junhyuk used the Spatial Slash, slicing Tuelus’ neck, dealing 33 percent of damage to the hero. Previously, he had only dealt 25 percent, so the damage was much highers. His critical hit rate had also increased due to the set level-up, and he was witnessing those effects.

The Spatial Slash created a shockwave around Tuelus that swept through Keros. Nudra, covered in the Rising Dragon, jumped off Keros’ head, and Diane fired her explosive arrow.

Boom!

Tuelus got pushed back by Diane’s arrow, and Nudra landed on his head. Meanwhile, Artlan launched his saber.

When Tuelus staggered back, a fire orb exploded behind him.

Boom!

With that explosion, Tuelus turned translucent.