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Chapter 61: 4th Week Strategy Battles (3)
She stepped forward confidently but the two boss-level trolls were not such easy opponents.
A basic plan needed to be devised before engaging them.
In the current scenario, resembling a 2 versus 2 battle, which was effectively 2 against 1, a strategy of whittling them down from a distance seemed the safest.
But this approach could potentially take all day when considering their resistance and regenerative abilities.
The challenge was to accumulate damage rapidly to bring them down, and for that, a different tactic was necessary.
Close combat.
It was a thought most mages wouldnt dare entertain.
Yet she aspired to be an all-rounder type caster.
Although she was inexperienced she had learned some close combat skills.
The ruby embedded in her wand flashed a bright red.
[Overheat]
Gentle flames began to flicker and blaze around Hong Yeon-hwas body.
And after raising her staff to point directly at one of the trolls, she signaled the start of the battle.
Kraaaa!
The two trolls charged at her at the same time.
Hong Yeon-hwa walked straight towards them while quickly weaving a spell with her free hand.
Buzz!
She deftly tilted her body to dodge an incoming club and immediately stepped back to avoid the wild swings of two axes, moving out of their reach.
Her movements were so agile that it was hard to believe she was a mage.
This was the effect of a fire-type physical enhancement skill [Overheat].
Even as she dodged, she kept a certain distance between them.
Far enough so that a melee attack might just miss, but close enough for her spells to hit their target directly.
Soon, a fireball the size of a human head formed in Hong Yeon-hwas hand,
[Flame Orb]
Boom!
The trolls upper body was engulfed in flames.
But the monster seemed to be unbothered by the heat and it swung its club again.
She dodged and created some distance. Then she noticed faint burn marks on the still smoldering upper body of the troll.
At the same time, identical burn marks appeared on the body of the other troll wielding the axes.
Hong Yeon-hwa frowned in frustration.
Life link? Really, such a typical dungeon trick
[Life Link]. A spell that shares life force between its users.
When one entity takes damage, the linked pair shares the harm. So they each bear half.
So, a 100 points damage would split into 50 each.
And with magic resistance already reducing the damage to 90 or 80, this division further reduced its impact.
Moreover, the trolls high regenerative ability quickly healed the shared damage.
Did they really have to be so stingy with the points?
Implementing such a petty strategy on the last two creatures was exasperating.
Whoever designed this artificial dungeon was truly small-minded, miserly, and despicable
Whoosh!
Her train of thought was abruptly cut off by another incoming club.
Leaping back, Hong Yeon-hwa cast her second Flame Orb.
I can still do it.
The reason the damage wasnt very good wasnt only because of the [Life Link] cast on the trolls, but also because the fireball had been made too small.
Reducing the casting time by making it smaller seemed like a good idea, but it also reduced its power.
This time, she thought that she would make it bigger.
Boooom!
A much larger explosion engulfed the upper body of the club-wielding troll.
To check the extent of the damage, one only needed to look at the axe-wielding troll instead of the club-wielding one engulfed in flames.
The damage was shared after all.
Seeing the burn marks spreading rapidly, it seemed this time she had inflicted significant damage.
Kaaaa!
Despite this, the creatures didnt seem to feel pain or perhaps they transformed their pain into rage and continued their assault even as their bodies were aflame.
A burning club was swung at her.
At the moment she dodged something white and swift cut through the air toward her with a whooshing sound.
Swish!
!
Dodging took precedence over checking what it was.
As Hong Yeon-hwa swiftly tilted her body to the side, a few strands of her hair were sliced off and fluttered away.
It was only after seeing the axe-wielding troll holding just one axe that she realized what had whizzed past her was a hand axe.
Kaaaa!
The axe-wielding troll did not stop there but leaped forward before bringing down its remaining axe in a powerful strike.
And as if to coordinate with its friend, the club-wielding troll lowered its stance and swept the ground.
It was a chained attack targeting both the upper and lower body at the same time.
It was unexpectedly well-synchronized for monsters.
Hong Yeon-hwa focused intensely.
She kicked off the ground lightly and floated into the air just as the club passed beneath her feet.
And the moment she landed, she kicked off again to escape the range of the axe attack.
In that brief moment, she hurled the Flame Orb she had prepared.
Boom!
The damage kept accumulating.
Yet, the trolls continued their chained attack without any hesitation.
?!
Hong Yeon-hwa felt a sense of unease and hesitated for a moment.
In a brief moment, she discerned the source of her unease with a calm gaze.
Theyve reversed the pattern.
This time, the club was aimed at her upper body, and the axe targeted her lower body.
If she had actually responded just like before, leaping into the air would have resulted in a direct hit from the club which would end badly for her.
But there was more to it.
Swish!
A whooshing sound approached from behind.
Whats this now?
She hastily threw her body to the side just as a hand axe whizzed past where she had been, only to be deftly caught by the axe-wielding troll.
It had made a full circle and returned to its owner like a boomerang.
A thrown weapon enchanted with a [Retrieval] spell.
Hong Yeon-hwa was dumbfounded.
Isnt that cheating?
What kind of artificial dungeon boss carries both [Life Link] and magical items?
Even as she thought it was excessively unfair, Hong Yeon-hwas determination only grew stronger.
Lets see who will win.
Kaaah!
The battle which had been in a lull for a short time resumed when the axe-wielding troll hurled one of its axes.
The pattern of their chained attacks remained the same.
One would strike from above, the other from below.
However, the clubs erratic swings, alternating between high and low, were particularly disorienting.
As if that wasnt enough, Hong Yeon-hwas hands and feet suddenly became dizzy as she tried to avoid the hand axes flying back and forth from time to time.
There seemed to be no opportunity to weave in any spells.
If this continued, any damage she had managed to inflict would simply be healed.
She needed to find a way through.
The most troublesome aspect was the hand axe that flew like a boomerang but neutralizing it seemed to be difficult.
The club.
In that case, lets destroy that club first.
Deciding to deal with the club first, Hong Yeon-hwa focused her mind and used her skill, causing one hand to glow red up to the wrist.
She dodged the swinging club and, seizing the moment it returned, gripped it firmly.
[Phoenix Grip]
Crack! Crackle!
The middle part of the club was crushed and turned into firewood.
Undeterred by the splintered club, the troll discarded it and charged while swinging its fists.
On top of that,
Whoosh!
The sound of a hand axe slicing through the air came from behind.
When Hong Yeon-hwa prepared to dodge,
Swoosh!
A blurred object rapidly approached from the front.
She quickly examined the axe-wielding troll and found that it was completely unarmed.
In that moment, Hong Yeon-hwa realized a simple truth.
Ah, right.
If one hand axe could be thrown, then surely two could be thrown at the same time.
This seemed unavoidable
In that brief instant, a myriad of thoughts raced through her mind.
Would a hit mean instant defeat?
What would it feel like to have a hand axe embedded in her skull?
Im about to find out.
The moment Hong Yeon-hwa flinched and tightly shut her eyes,
Thud! Thud!
An unfamiliar sound of collision echoed near her head.
When she slowly opened her eyes, Kim Ho was standing in front of her, having arrived at some unknown moment, and the hand axe that had been flying towards her was now deflected far away.
!
Hong Yeon-hwas mind became even more jumbled.
Among the flurry of thoughts, two stood out: What took you so long to help? and At least youre helping now!
The other troll charged aggressively while swinging both fists.
Kim Ho didnt even attempt to dodge; he stood his ground to confront the monster.
Then he stepped forward and placed a hand on the trolls shoulder,
Thud!
The trolls hefty frame staggered and took several steps back.
When Kim Ho glanced sideways, Hong Yeon-hwa instinctively straightened up.
Kim Ho spoke.
Youre the battery now. (TN: As in artillery battery but here it means a DPS-role or burst mage.)
Ba-battery? What kind of spell?
Fire Pillar.
A spell that conjured a pillar of fire within a designated area.
She had used it as a trump card during the placement test against Kim Ho, only to painfully discover that it hadnt even managed to reduce 1% of her opponents health.
It was a spell of overwhelming power but its drawbacks were just as clear.
If the enemy stepped out of its range, the spell became useless.
Therefore, the first question that needed to be addressed when using this magic was How to keep the enemies within range?
Yet, for some reason, Hong Yeon-hwa felt that this question was unnecessary.
Without further ado, she positioned herself and began chanting the spell.
Complex characters were etched into the ground and started gradually forming a round magic circle.
The trolls seemed to have sensed that something was unusual and tried to escape the range of the magic circle, but
Thump!
Kim Ho circled around them, blocked them, and pushed them back in.
His movements seemed light and he was merely tapping them, yet they were helplessly pushed back with each touch.
Kaaaahh!
The axe-wielding troll hurled one of its hand axes.
But when Kim Ho flicked it with something resembling an iron bar, a bizarre clash resounded, and the axe was embedded into the ground.
His foot firmly pressed down on it as it trembled, seemingly trying to return to its owner.
Whoosh!
Then a second hand axe flew towards him.
Kim Ho effortlessly reached out, caught it, and threw it back.
The hand axe that was returning with terrifying speed lodged itself into the shoulder of its owner.
???????
Hong Yeon-hwas eyes widened in shock when she saw that scene.
The spell she was casting almost got canceled, but she desperately concentrated her mind and managed to prevent that from happening.
Well, lets just not think about it
Hong Yeon-hwa decided to erase what she had just seen from her mind.
Right now, it was important to fulfill her role.
She would focus on completing the Fire Pillar first.
As the man in front of her toyed with the two trolls and kept them within the circle, the magic circle started glowing with a bright red color.
Kim Ho kicked the last struggling troll back into the circle and lightly leaped backward.
In the next moment, a pillar of fire erupted fiercely and engulfed the creatures.
Whoooooosh.
After the two of them watched the flames for a while, the results appeared.
[Remaining Monsters: 0]
[Clearance: 100% = 800 Points]
+[Clear Bonus: 200 Points]
[Total Score: 1,000 Points] * 0.8 Multiplier
= 800 pts
It was the highest score possible in this weeks strategy battle.
Now, they could go their separate ways, but
Um, excuse me.
Hong Yeon-hwa still had something she needed to address.
Facing Kim Ho, she hesitated for quite some time before finally speaking up.
Could you, um perhaps keep the replay. private?
This strategy battle had shown her in a more flustered state than usual which was quite out of character for her.
She had been particularly unnerved by Kim Hos presence.
A prime example was when she crawled into a burrow.
Kim Ho had suggested she check it out but when she thought about it, she realized how she didnt really need to crawl in.
She could have simply unleashed a torrent of fire magic inside.
But that was just one of many embarrassing moments that would haunt her at night
It was a replay that had no benefit whatsoever for the people that might buy it.
But the issue was that Kim Ho would see no compelling reason to give up the points he might gain from the replay being bought.
Feeling the need to balance things out, Hong Yeon-hwa pulled out a ruby from her inventory.
In exchange for this
I dont need it.
Kim Ho shook his head.
Was he implying that such a tiny ruby was nowhere near enough?
Quickly, Hong Yeon-hwa fetched another ruby from her inventory.
This one was several times larger than the first.
Kim Ho silently took it and looked it over without saying a word.
As the silence stretched, Hong Yeon-hwa kept glancing at him, wondering if this too was insufficient.
Is this still not enough? Damn it, I have nothing left.
The ruby she had just handed over was the most valuable item she possessed at the moment.
As she watched him with bated breath,
Kim Ho slowly nodded his head.
Alright. Youve worked hard.
With that, he walked out of the dungeon.
Hong Yeon-hwa blinked her eyes in disbelief and started doubting her own ears.
Did she mishear his last words?
Did he just say youve worked hard?
Did he just praise me?
******
TN: One toxic relationship lol.
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