Chapter 141

Chapter 141: Friendly Rival – (3)

Sanghyun smiled and asked back.

"Want me to tell you?"

Of course, he had no intention of telling him.

Above all, he knew well that Do Kyungsoo would never ask.

Do Kyungsoo himself was also a man of many secrets.

Just as he considered his own secrets important, he always cherished others' secrets as well.

Mystery.

He was someone who understood well that it raised a player's value.

"It’s no fun if I know."

As expected, Do Kyungsoo shook his head.

Then he took a few steps back from Sanghyun and positioned himself. His grip on his sword, now readjusted, was light and fluid.

"I'm planning to use Grand Onslaught. But I’ll tone it down so it’ll only graze you at most. How’s that sound?"

"Sounds good. If it's just the sword aura of a weakened Grand Onslaught, even if I fail to counter, I won't get seriously hurt."

"Should I go even easier?"

"Then I might not stay tense. That strength sounds just right."

"Alright. Tell me when you’re ready."

"I'm ready."

With the Frenzied Demon Sword in his grasp, Sanghyun focused his gaze entirely on Do Kyungsoo.

This was the first time in both his current and past lives that he would face Do Kyungsoo’s Grand Onslaught head-on.

He was trembling, yet also excited.

In his past life, he had only admired him from afar as a fan.

Now, as a benevolent rival, they stood face to face, measuring each other's abilities.

"Take this!"

Paaang!

At Do Kyungsoo’s shout, a blade of sword aura flew toward him.

It was definitely Do Kyungsoo.

The crescent-shaped sword aura, as long as his height, shimmered with a white light as it surged forward.

Though the strength was suppressed, if it had been a serious attack, even a graze could have severed limbs.

“……”

His body analyzed Do Kyungsoo's Grand Onslaught more instinctively than his eyes did.

The speed of the incoming Grand Onslaught wasn’t consistent. It intensified rapidly with each acceleration.

Off-beat timing response!

His body read the timing.

Clenching his teeth, Sanghyun activated a skill, deliberately shifting the rhythm half a beat off from what he had calculated.

『Counter Veil』

Shiiing!

With a high-pitched boom, a veil appeared about a meter in front of Sanghyun.

It resembled a defensive barrier, but the difference was that it was completely transparent.

Had Sanghyun not felt the unique aura of the Counter Veil, he might have thought the skill had failed to activate.

The next moment.

Sparrrk!

The sword aura of the Grand Onslaught struck the veil, bounced off with a rubbery sound, and reversed direction 180 degrees.

"Oh!"

It was Do Kyungsoo who let out an exclamation. He hadn’t expected the sword aura to bounce back so cleanly.

‘What kind of insane skill is this?’

Do Kyungsoo gave a baffled chuckle.

Counter-type skills weren’t particularly rare. Plenty of players had those.

Especially tank-type swordsmen specialized in defense often possessed reflection-type skills that returned some of the damage.

A representative example was Jo Jinho of the Eden Guild—someone both Sanghyun and Do Kyungsoo knew well for his fame.

But Sanghyun’s skill just now was entirely different from what Do Kyungsoo had imagined.

Most counter-skills inflicted some damage on the user before returning the attack.

But in Sanghyun’s case, the veil was deployed in front of him, so he was entirely unaffected.

Taaang!

Do Kyungsoo immediately unleashed another Grand Onslaught to intercept his own returning sword aura.

The sword aura had come back with nearly all of its original energy intact. The skill had returned it, quite literally.

Do Kyungsoo raised his voice.

"With this skill, you could even deflect long-range attacks from archers and mages who try to keep me in check."

"That seems likely. But it’ll need some practice. I only just acquired the skill."

"A new release, huh?"

"Yes, that’s right."

"Heh, and I’m the first one you tested it on? I’m honored."

"Since it’s just us going into the Snowy Mountain, how about we try syncing our coordination now?"

"I was just about to suggest that myself."

The two were on the same page.

While Sanghyun and Do Kyungsoo climbed the Snowy Mountain, heading toward the Altar of the Defeated at the summit—

The rest of the Sword Demon–Sword God team, along with Lee Gah Hee and Jung Junhyuk, would need to hold off the incoming undead horde.

Ultimately, the responsibility of taking down the boss monster, the core of Phase 3, rested on Sanghyun and Do Kyungsoo.

After that,

The two began coordinating rapidly by using various skills on each other.

For inexperienced players, simply understanding each other’s tendencies and skill forms would’ve taken ages.

But for seasoned fighters like Do Kyungsoo and Sanghyun, who had matured through many battlefields, it wasn’t hard.

Do Kyungsoo was impressed by how naturally Sanghyun blended into his rhythm and patterns, like a chameleon.

Even among teammates he’d worked with for nearly two years, no one had understood him this well.

Yet Sanghyun, with just about an hour of practice, had become a perfect supporting partner who filled every gap.

This wasn’t possible without sharp insight that thoroughly analyzed each skill—

And the seasoned ability to adjust his own rhythm to match his partner’s.

Watching Sanghyun’s various charge, dodge, and defense skills, Do Kyungsoo saw hope for clearing Phase 3.

Up until now, Phase 3 had always felt hopeless, frustrating, and infuriating to him.

But after practicing with Sanghyun, he started to feel like it might actually be doable. It gave him a sense of hope.

Their practice and training continued from early dawn until daylight broke.

Neither of them grew tired, and both wore bright smiles the entire time—an enjoyable and meaningful moment.

And then.

The moment of the final battle approached.

* * *

"To save more time, it’s probably best if we push forward starting now."

"We’ve conserved plenty of stamina, so that’s no problem. Think you can run nonstop all the way to the Snowy Mountain?"

"If my stamina runs low, I’ve got a backup plan for that too. Don’t worry."

Sanghyun and Do Kyungsoo stood at the border leading into the Snowy Mountain.

Behind them stood the entire Sword Demon–Sword God team and the mercenaries.

Where the green meadow ended, and the white snowy field began. The moment they crossed that line, the 5-hour countdown would begin.

"Three. Two. One. Let’s go!"

At Do Kyungsoo’s shout, the two of them began sprinting at full speed.

Do Kyungsoo took the lead first.

Kiheeeek!

With a bizarre wail, Do Kyungsoo activated the skill 'Sword Demon Possession.'

At that moment, black wings spread out from his back and began to flap.

That alone gave him a tremendous speed boost, and his legs became a blur from the acceleration.

‘I can't lose either.’

Not to be outdone, Sanghyun used his own skill.

While under the effect of Acceleration, he utilized backstep and Brave Charge.

In an instant, Sanghyun’s figure flickered like a blinking light as he chased after Do Kyungsoo.

Along the way, he designated Undead monsters as targets of his charge to increase his acceleration.

He also used the Ghouls afflicted by abnormal status as sacrifices for Predation, allowing him to leap 7 meters tactically.

At some point—

Do Kyungsoo was surprised to see Sanghyun maintaining the same line directly beside him, matching his pace and gaze.

He had thought that no one could keep up with the mobility of Sword Demon Possession, but that was a complete misjudgment.

Sanghyun shouted.

"I’ll take the lead for now! I’ve got more leeway to absorb enemy pressure!"

He had to raise his voice because their sounds kept getting swallowed up by the wind as they dashed forward.

"Alright! I’ll back you up!"

"Thank you!"

Their formation changed.

Sanghyun moved about 5 meters ahead, while Do Kyungsoo took the rear.

Then—

KWAANG!

With a thunderous boom, a Demon Archer perched on a distant rock loosed an arrow.

Judging by the purple hue of the arrow, it wasn’t an ordinary shot—it was imbued with serious power.

But Sanghyun didn’t dodge.

Instead, he ran straight toward the direction of the Demon Archer, taking the arrow head-on.

For a moment, even Do Kyungsoo was alarmed at such a reckless move.

Sanghyun had a trick up his sleeve.

First, he wrapped his entire body in a Defensive barrier.

On top of that, he had activated the Willpower skill’s barrier by maintaining an unhit state for 100 seconds.

It was a double-layered defense.

Thud!

An arrow from the Demon Archer struck Sanghyun squarely in the shoulder.

However, aside from being pushed slightly backward, he closed the distance without a single wound.

During that brief moment, an updraft he created launched the startled Demon Archer high into the air.

Having lost his balance and center, the Demon Archer had no rosy future as he plummeted.

Only the gruesome sight of the sharp blade of the Frenzied Demon Sword soaring skyward awaited him.

Slash!

Without even a chance to counter, the Demon Archer’s head flew off and he died on the spot.

Immediately after—

Sanghyun found a path slightly off the original route, but one that looked viable, and shouted.

"This way!"

Simultaneously, he unleashed a storm of cold in all directions, freezing the Demon Warriors guarding the path.

"I’ll take care of them this time!"

Now it was Do Kyungsoo’s turn.

While Sanghyun caught his breath, Do Kyungsoo darted past like a gale and butchered the Demon Warriors.

Against the sharp sword aura of the Grand Onslaught, the frozen Demon Warriors departed this world together.

"What fantastic teamwork!"

"I think so too!"

"This path looks weaker than the original route. How about we head northeast?"

"I agree! Let’s cut through the flank and speed up our climb to the Snowy Mountain!"

"Let’s do it!"

Their pace increased.

Thanks to their flexible mindset, they adapted to the situation instead of rigidly sticking to a plan.

To maintain momentum—

Sanghyun used Illusion Mediation, sending illusions toward a group of clustered monsters.

The Demon Warriors sneered, gesturing as if saying, "You think we’d fall for such a trick?"

At that moment, Sanghyun triggered Mediation properly and swapped positions.

Followed by a taunt skill.

Caught completely off guard, the Demon Warriors were swept up by Sanghyun’s attack and lost their lives to a single blow of the Frenzied Demon Sword.

Do Kyungsoo also activated his Sword God Possession skill, scattering sword aura in all directions.

Just like Sanghyun’s Wind Mastery increased the number of projectiles, the Sword God Possession skill amplified the quantity of sword aura.

As a result, the beasts targeting Sanghyun and Do Kyungsoo from all sides were mercilessly struck down.

Engrossed in the blitz, they forgot the passage of time and broke through previous records with overwhelming speed.

What once took them an hour to reach the foot of the Snowy Mountain, this time took less than 30 minutes.

Do Kyungsoo glanced at a special dungeon-exclusive watch—his timepiece—and smiled in satisfaction.

They had shaved off 30 minutes.

That time saved was incredibly important for climbing the Snowy Mountain. And all the credit went to Sanghyun!

"This time, I really owe you a lot! I won’t forget your major contribution to this raid!"

"Let’s settle that after we’re done! We haven’t even started on the boss yet!"

"Am I getting ahead of myself?"

"We need to see it through to the end! I’ve come this far—I’m determined to finish it with my own hands!"

Sanghyun’s words were sincere.

Defeating the boss monster in a large-scale raid dungeon? It would bring unimaginable rewards.

Not only epic-grade Artifacts, but even legendary-grade Magic Stones worth over a trillion won could be in reach.

This dungeon was the epitome of a life-changing opportunity.

‘I’m securing my jackpot!’

Sanghyun’s goal was unwavering.

To kill the dungeon’s boss monster and claim the sweet reward! That had been his plan from the very start.