Season 1 Side Story Chapter 15. Witch (4)
When Almond first came up with this strategy, a thought first crossed his mind.
'Shouldn't I also consider Lete’s opinion?'
After all, the owner of this body was Lete. If Almond chose to use this strategy, it wouldn't be good for Lete’s body.
In the worst-case scenario...
'Thank you for answering.'
Almond looked down at his arm and muttered to himself.
It was a message written in blood.
[Protect Ran...]
He didn't know when it had been etched, but it was clearly a message from Lete to Almond.
***
"Where are you going?! Huh?! Where are you going?!"
Nemesis charged with a voice filled with madness.
Zap!
A red bolt rushed before his eyes.
Ran spoke in a firm voice that slightly trembled, "Come!"
Whoom!
His shield reacted to his shout and glowed even brighter.
'Just twice. I just have to withstand it twice.'
Almond told him to endure just two times. Ran clenched his teeth and stood in front of Almond.
'He must have found a way.'
The approaching red lightning spun around his waist and struck his foot.
Boom!
It delivered a different kind of shock this time.
"Kugh..!"
Ran flew back.
"Hahaha! Did you know? I can break it like this!"
Zap...!
Red mana gathered in his clenched fist.
Boom!
In an instant, a tremendous force crushed the shield.
"Heugh..."
Air escaped from Ran's mouth, which he had been holding in.
The two times had already ended, but the shield remained intact.
'...?'
The impact on the shield was much less than before. Instead...
"Cough!"
Swoosh.
A chunk of flesh fell to the ground. Seeing this, Nemesis laughed maniacally.
'Is he trying to injure me?'
It seemed he decided to destroy Ran, who held the shield, instead of the shield itself.
"You're stupid," Ran grinned maliciously. "It's actually easier for me now."
While the amount of mana determined the shield’s durability, his physical body could endure in various ways if he simply endured.
Ran thought this was better and clenched his teeth. He stared directly into Nemesis' eyes.
"Try it again."
Sparks flew from both Nemesis and Ran's eyes.
***
Thud!
Boom!
Almond tried his best to ignore the noises coming from behind and sat in front of a potion box, frantically gulping down the potions.
"Huff... Puff..."
Gulp. Gulp.
By the time he emptied one box...
Thump!
A body flew next to him and rolled.
"...?"
It was Ran.
"Ra... Ran?"
"... Ah... Almond... I... held on... for so long..."
Almond checked Ran's pulse. He was still alive for now.
Without hesitation, Almond poured an entire box of potion into Ran.
'This is do or die.'
In the face of potential death, concerns about side effects didn't matter.
"Just drink one of these for now. Wait."
Almond got up and checked the time.
[Time Remaining:]
[00:02:03]
If he had been given this amount of time to solve a four point math question in a college entrance exam, he probably would’ve felt differently.
'... It's a long time.'
It felt like an eternity for the current Almond.
'If I can just figure out its attack patterns...'
Tap. Tap.
He brushed off the glass shards on his knees and circled around Nemesis.
Strangely, the creature didn't recklessly attack.
"You..."
It seemed to have noticed a change.
"Who are you?"
"Almond."
Pleased with his own answer, Almond quickly glanced at the chat window.
— Lololol
— Nonchalantly stating an unknown name lol
— My name is Almond, The Advertiser. Hehe.
Nemesis showed a different smile this time. Its reptilian yellow eyes followed Almond's movements.
"... An unfamiliar name. Are you the champion?"
"I read about it in a paper."
"A paper?"
"When someone is in the trance state, the Blue Hole, and excessively consumes a potion..."
The paper discussing the trance state mentioned this:
[It's not just a simple descent of spirits when reaching a state of explosive overdose, but there is also the possibility of an invocation to the extent of opening a gate. Although it's hard to take it literally, several cases indicate reaching a distinct trance state...]
"They say it's a different dimension."
Snap!
Almond drew a line across his palm.
'And I know what that is.'
This state made using an ultimate possible. In the game, it referred to reaching Level 6 and being able to use the ultimate skill.
He wasn’t sure how it would be implemented here.
Zap!
Red lightning enveloped Almond.
[Ultimate Skill - LazySoldier]
He invoked it. Even without an invoking skill, the actual invocation of the champion manifested.
"...?"
But the name...
— Lolololololololololololol
— So you got the form, but lol, ^ LazySoldier ^
— I'm dying lol
— Lololol
— Is he the Ridic Hero? Lol
— Ridiculous Hero! That's it!
Although the name sounded a bit off...
Crash!
Regardless, the invocation was powerful. Not just Nemesis, even Ran sipping on potions watched in awe.
Other mercenaries who were still alive stepped back and looked at him in terror.
Once the storm of red lightning subsided...
"Wow."
Almond looked down at himself. It wasn't the small, frail body of Lete, but his own appearance now.
— Instant popularity boost
— Woah~
— Guess the invoking skill is a face buff
— Lete’s invoking skill is so OP lol, totally changed his life.
The viewers felt excited when they saw Almond's appearance in the story mode.
[Time Remaining:]
[00:01:31]
They had wasted quite some time. Surprisingly, Nemesis stopped attacking. However, it seemed to be conserving energy for a subsequent fierce attack.
"Huh? Then—"
Flash.
Nemesis instantly disappeared and threw out a fist.
"What changed!?"
Whoooosh!
The fist missed its mark.
'Things have changed.'
Almond effortlessly dodged by slightly bending.
"...?!"
Almond now moved with a body almost like his own. It felt entirely different from controlling Lete.
Moreover, he had always been strong. Even when he played as Ran, he possessed the same skills. No, now he was even more powerful without Ran's sluggish movements.
[Charging]
Zzzzzap.
Electricity gathered at the tips of Almond's fingers.
Meanwhile, Nemesis' foot came down from the sky. It had jumped up unnoticed.
Boom!
Its heel missed and shattered the ground.
Almond lightly dodged again.
— Insane speed;
— How did he dodge that?
— Wow, he's gonna use an AoE attack now.
"Try dodging this!!"
Nemesis' expression distorted.
Zzzzzap...!
He gathered red electricity for the AoE attack from earlier.
Swoosh!
He swung his hand for the attack that targeted every direction.
Kabooooom—
Dust covered the area.
"...!?"
As the dust settled, numerous red shields appeared.
"... What, what is this?"
Almond created several red shields. Not only did they protect him, but they also defended Ran, the mercenary commander, and the surviving members with maximum efficiency.
The shields were thrown here and there like a sword technique.
Almond smirked and murmured, "This works too."
"You can control mana like this?"
Such a feat was possible due to Almond's multitasking skills.
— Nemesis, such a newbie lol
— This is the essence of Korean Ran! You bastard!
— Lol, the thrill
— Wow...
— Why not just kill him? Probably can't due to the system lol
— Nemesis should be thankful that Almond doesn't turn him off and on today lol
Almond brought forth the pure white crystal he had charged earlier. He could create shields with one hand while charging with the other. It felt like playing Ran at his most powerful. An entity that couldn't be in the actual game because of balance issues and only existed in the story mode.
Almond found this quite fun.
[Release]
He released the attack and said, "Pop."
— Lmao
— Pop lol
— LOL
— What kind of pop, Sang-Hyeon...?
Whooosh—
Red electricity directly struck Nemesis' forehead.
Kabang!
Nemesis' waist snapped back from the impact. He hadn't anticipated an attack because of the shields and got hit head-on. Of course, he got up immediately and fumed with anger.
"You little bastard!!"
Nemesis went berserk and executed his wide-range attacks in succession.
Kaboom!
Kabang!
Of course, the shields blocked all the attacks. However, it wouldn't be so easy next time.
'The efficiency of distributing the shields...'
Almond could protect them a few times, but this method was inefficient. He needed to use the most efficient method.
"Will this work?"
Swish.
As Nemesis took a moment to recharge, Almond summoned and recombined the shields.
Then...
He pointed precisely toward Nemesis with his index finger.
Kwoong! Boom!
The densely intertwined shields surrounded Nemesis. The final piece covered him up.
Boom!
"...!"
Nemesis wore a dumbfounded expression on his face. He ended up trapped inside the shields.
— ??
— How many are you controlling at once?
— Haha, so it can work like this.
— Ha, finally breaking through with physical strength. Hahaha, this is great. Hahaha
— It's the first time I've seen Nemesis look so pathetic. Hahaha
— Nemesis' expression = my current expression.
[Time Remaining:]
[00:00:52]
"There isn't much time left."
Nemesis wouldn't be able to attack for fifty seconds. He was already freaking out inside and doing all sorts of things.
Slam! Slam!
"Let go! Let me gooo!"
It wasn't clear what he wanted, but he was even screaming. However, there was no change.
'It seems like no damage is being done.'
Nemesis couldn’t deal any damage regardless of what he did. He simply had to wait like this for Lorang.
Then...
"... Almond?"
Someone called Almond from behind.
The mercenary commander finally got up.
"...?"
Almond turned around to see what was going on and was taken aback.
The commander threw off her helmet and revealed her tear-streaked face.
"...Raina."
It was unmistakably her with her tousled, but shining golden hair and clear blue eyes along with her beautifully arched eyebrows.
'Is this even possible?'
Almond felt the same as Raina slowly approached and couldn't believe it either.
It was impossible to count how many times her eyes wavered. She approached and gently touched his blood-streaked face.
"Ah...... Ah...... Almond... Is it you? Did you become a champion? Almond Demian, is it you?"
Why? Although he was just a game character, Sang-Hyeon felt a warmth deep in his chest.
As Almond looked away for a moment, the distance between the shields widened.
Nemesis raged, "I'll kill you! I'll end you!"
Bang!
Raina stepped back in surprise.
"It's okay. It's over."
As Almond said, there was nothing left to fear because time was up.
[Time Remaining:]
[You have successfully survived!]
The moment this message appeared.
Boom!
White smoke suddenly covered Nemesis.
"Baaaah..."
And he turned into a sheep.