Chapter 598: First Christmas (9)

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Kwon Lena lost her whip when Bang Yoonseob suddenly jumped.

It was a mistake to completely let her guard down from non-enemies.

Before she reflexively reached for the whip, Mok Wooram blocked her.

“Lena!”

Kwaaang!

Mok Wooram’s axe blade deflected the energy waves from Bang Yoonseob’s right hand.

The shockwave blew up the ground.

If Mok Wooram were a second late, Kwon Lena might’ve ended up like the broken floor.

Kwon Lena stepped down from the front line because Jo Euishin and the other freshmen arrived.

It was obvious that Kwon Lena, who lost her weapon, would only get in the way.

‘If Wooram and the others hadn’t come, I would’ve…’

Kwon Lena was angry, but she withdrew quietly because she was so afraid.

Her resentment was soon overpowered by fear.

By the time the unidentified royal lineage appeared, Kwon Lena was terrified and couldn’t move.

On the other hand, Mok Wooram and Min Geurin glanced at each other and silently nodded.

They were plotting an attack, assisting Kwak Gyungu and Joo Soohyuk.

‘Those two are going to fight!’

Mok Wooram, whose life was in danger so many times against dangerous enemies, has survived so far.

Min Geurin was extremely introverted and had little hands-on experience with people, but she became one of the school’s leading players.

The two didn’t closet their fighting spirit even against the powerful royal lineage.

Mok Wooram and Min Geurin were going to fight.

The two quietly turned around and moved after the royal lineage.

“And what’s the point of planning a surprise attack, kids? You’re already caught, so there’s no point.”

However, the two’s ambush plan failed.

The royal lineage’s eyes were sharp as he scanned Kwon Lena’s friends.

Seeing those eyes made Kwon Lena feel eerie.

She saw countless people and royal lineage with those eyes at the Hwanmong Auction.

‘Those eyes… they belong to someone who doesn’t hesitate to harm people.’

The royal lineage had eyes that didn’t see people as living beings.

Kwon Lena was sure that the royal lineage would attack them.

She felt terrified, yet resolved at the same time.

‘I should protect my friends this time around!’

Jo Euishin told her that she did something at the Hwanmong Auction.

Jo Euishin, in the form of the Red Wall Thief using Yeom Junyeol’s powers, saved her.

That “something” that Jo Euishin talks about isn’t enough.

In the end, Kwon Lena failed to save Saeum of April from the auction.

Kwon Lena wants to help her friends too.

‘But how am I going to do that…?’

She recalled all the things she learned at Eungwang High.

Kwon Lena is a player who barely escapes failure and she has no specialty weapon.

She couldn’t think of means to save players who were much more skilled than her.

As Kwon Lena began to get lost in her thoughts, the situation escalated quickly.

The royal lineage showed Choi Younghee taken hostage and threatened Bang Yoonseob.

Meanwhile, Kwon Lena was focusing all her energy on finding ways to protect her friends.

‘What should I do?!’

At that time, instead of a whip, an SSR-rank energy violin card came into Kwon Lena’s eyes.

She wasn’t very good at playing with energy waves yet, but she was born with a talent as a performer.

She mastered the violin in a short amount of time and was able to express her powers through it.

Back at the Joo-Oh Island, she was able to invoke her light skill Banquet of Illusions.

‘Can I deceive the royal lineage’s eyes by playing the violin…?’

Kwon Lena recalled how she dealt with an enemy in the simulator room when she was preparing for the final exam.

She tried to play the energy violin, but it refused to make a sound.

It wasn’t a real enemy but a practice opponent, but her friends were cheering for her.

She was more agitated and frightened now than then, so it was unlikely that the violin would work.

Then, she heard Jo Euishin’s voice.

“Everyone, evacuate! If you can’t, prepare to defend!”

Instead of breaking away or bracing herself, Kwon Lena looked at where her friends were.

The wind mixed with magic emitted from the purple eyeball shot a cloudy light at Min Geurin and Mok Wooram.

The two stepped back, their defense looking solid, but it seemed impossible to avoid the power of a superior being realized through the royal lineage’s stigmata.

But there was someone who stood in front of them.

“Vice President!”

Jo Euishin stood in front.

He doesn’t seem to have anything to defend himself.

He prioritized getting to the two as soon as possible rather than protecting himself with his energy waves.

Kwon Lena had a hunch that the benefactor who saved her was now going to sacrifice himself again.

‘Euishin-ah…!’

At the Hwanmong Auction, during her first and second attempts, throughout her school life…

Jo Euishin saved Kwon Lena numerous times.

Kwon Lena wants to save him too.

Just before the demon god’s power hit Jo Euishin, Kwon Lena instinctively actualized her energy violin.

***

I thought Min Geurin and Mok Wooram would die.

I rushed in, flying toward them without realizing it.

Rather than thinking of variables or anything else, I just didn’t want to see those two hurt.

Fwaaa…!

Shortly before being wrapped in a cloudy light, I belatedly tried raising my energy waves.

But it was impossible to do it in such a short amount of time.

Considering my physical ability, I judged that I wouldn’t die, but I had to prepare for immense pain.

I made up my mind and tried to think of my next move.

Fwiiiish…

But there was no pain.

In front of me, I could see platinum-colored debris dissipating as it swallowed the cloudy light.

Fragments of platinum were difficult to see what it originally was.

Unappealing curved strings and faded bridges rolled on the floor.

“Euishin-ah! Are you hurt? Are you stupid?! Why did you do that?!”

“Are you okay, VP?! Ah…”

While Mok Wooram asked how I was, he was shocked by the fragments that he saw.

He seems to know exactly what it was.

‘Don’t tell me the reason why I’m not hurt is…’

As the light emitted by the stigmata died down, I began to recognize the wreckage.

It was the platinum-colored energy violin that Kwon Jein gifted to Kwon Lena.

Min Geurin also looked at the remains blankly, knowing what it was.

“Lena’s violin blocked the skill…?”

High-rarity items can invalidate skills of a certain level.

Just like how the enemy’s corrosion skills didn’t affect Kwon Lena while she was holding her violin.

She threw it when she realized that I was about to get hit by the demon’s skill.

She could’ve played it to invoke her light skill, but Kwon Lena sacrificed her violin without hesitation.

“It’s a relief… That’s a relief…”

The energy violin was completely broken, but Kwon Lena murmured happily.

But I couldn’t feel the same knowing what the violin meant to her.

It was given by a violinist who gave hope to the frustrated Kwon Lena.

It is the one and only violin in this world made especially for her, gifted by her most respected and admired teacher.

Kwon Lena gave it up for us.

‘Wouldn’t it have been better if I got hurt?’

I can get myself cured if I get hurt, but the almost pulverized violin can no longer be restored.

Even Mok Wooram didn’t say anything empty like he’ll fix the violin for her.

It would take a strong recovery ability and high-rarity recovery items to heal me, but I don’t think even a superior being coming forward can restore the remains of the work of the only master craftsman in this world.

I had no idea how to compensate for Kwon Lena’s lost treasure.

Kwang!

“Don’t think of stupid things, Jo Euishin.”

At some point, Yoo Sanghoon came running and stood in front of me, planting his dueling shield on the ground.

There was nothing stupid on my mind though.

No, it may be useless in this current situation since we still have to fight against this demon.

“An item that blocked the power of Invidius-nim. It’s only one time, but how amazing. I should’ve taken care of you first if I knew this would happen.”

The priest looked at the remains of the violin with great excitement.

Then, he kicked some of the debris with his toes.

The only recognizable shape from the violin was soon pulverized too.

“Ah…”

I heard Kwon Lena sigh.

Seeing it, the priest instantly lost interest.

He broke the treasure of my playable character and treated it like trash.

“It’s not enough of an example to just crush a single item, is it?”

The priest stared at Bang Yoonseob again.

Bang Yoonseob was still held by Joo Soohyuk, preventing him from recklessly rushing in to save Choi Younghee.

“Let go! I said let me go! He’s off-guard right now!”

“He’s not. He’s just taking it easy!”

Bang Yoonseob was screaming at Joo Soohyuk to let go, but it was unlikely that he’d respond to the demon’s proposal.

The priest seemed to realize it too.

“Okay. I don’t want to waste energy waves, but shall I use one more shot?”

The demon priest fixed the umbrella with his other arm and raised his hand again.

He’s going to fire through the stigmata in his opposite arm.

‘If things aren’t set in place before the next attack, we should launch an attack from our side!’

The air becomes heavy and enemies more intense after the release of power from the stigmata.

With its opening, the surrounding area was eroded by the power of the demon.

The moment I became resolute to block that second attack even if our play would go awry…

[I will seal your power.]

A clear voice rang from somewhere.

The voice loaded with energy wave rang out with a ‘woong!’

The voice continued.

[You, or your minions, cannot move anymore.]

Kuuuung…!

A great force weighed down on the demon.

The hand lifted by Invidius’ priest trembled, but he couldn’t move.

Like an illusion, the enemies also stopped all attacks.

‘He’s finally here!’

He was later than expected, but one of the variables that I prepared had worked.

“I’m sorry I’m late. The students have been fighting and suffering for long. I am ashamed of myself as a teacher.”

Where time seems to have stopped.

A teacher with a pleasant face, the user of a Spiritual Word skill.

Jungeom (Correct Sound) Gong Cheonghwon arrived.

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