Chapter 114 : Surrounded
As soon as Sora reunited with Kara, he felt their Soul Link reconnect and sent her a telepathic message. "Long time no see… How have you been? So, you’re in the Fox group with the guild leaders."
"I’m doing fine. From our Soul Link, it seems you’ve really pushed yourself. Did you raise your talent? The feedback I’m getting is incredible," Kara replied, her tone filled with genuine surprise.
Sora, equally impressed by the surge in her life force, level, and aura, responded, "Don’t give me too much credit—I was taken down in seconds in one of my earliest fights here… And it seems your progress is just as amazing. I wanted to tell you I’ll keep an eye on you, so let’s help each other when necessary."
Sora exchanged a look with Netsu, preparing for the coming battle and sharing buffs with nearby players. Checking the map, he noticed a cluster of yellow and red dots moving closer at a slow pace. Since players from his own faction didn’t appear on the map, he suspected even more enemies were approaching.
As enemies began encircling them, tension in the group rose. Kara’s sigh echoed in his mind. "Looks like they’ve formed a coalition based on groups, not races… This isn’t good for us."
He understood her point. While they could manage against enemies from a single race, facing a coalition of players from multiple groups made the situation far riskier.
Soon, three groups appeared in the sky from different directions: Foxes, Vipers, and Chickens. The humans immediately repositioned, each group moving to face their weaker counterpart.
’This is going to be chaos. No way they’ll let us pick matchups without fighting back,’ Sora thought.
Just then, a werewolf player from the Fox group, floating in the sky, sneered at them.
"You humans really are naive. Did you think you could use a team event to hunt the other races without anyone turning the tables on you? Today, we’ll make sure your group is the first to fall," the level 163 werewolf declared, his confidence radiating as he stood alongside his temporary allies.
Looking around, Sora observed three groups of about 25-27 players each. He recognized many—some from his own faction, others enemies he’d hunted down earlier. However, he noted the absence of Demons and Dragonborn in the coalition.
Inspecting the enemy lineup, Sora noticed around ten players from the Spirit and Elemental Golem races. ’I need to stay away from these players—they’re almost immune to physical damage which is my specialty. Both are a pain to deal with,’ he thought before sending a message to Netsu. ’Focus on the two Ice Golems, levels 145 and 138, since they’re vulnerable to fire. Avoid the level 152 Water Golem; fire won’t damage it. After that, target the Spirits from a distance—they’re weak to elemental attacks.’
From an earlier fight, Sora had learned that Spirits were highly vulnerable to elemental damage but had strong mental attack and defense capabilities. Their presence gave him a bad feeling. They appeared fragile but skilled Spirit players could break through his mental defenses in seconds if he wasn’t careful.
He quickly assessed the enemy lineup, identifying targets he could eliminate quickly and species with exploitable weaknesses. Dark Elves were balanced like humans, while orcs had overwhelming physical strength but limited mana control. From Pedro, he had learned that the Beast, Werewolf, and Dwarf races relied heavily on their bloodlines, focusing more on inherited abilities than traditional class skills.
Clémence, the highest-level human, smiled and taunted, "You’re all a bunch of trash we killed today… It’s fine to feel frustrated, but did you have to come back and give us more points?"
Sora chuckled at her words, finding her savagery refreshing. Watching many enemies twitch at her provocation, he raised his weapon, ready for battle. His new boots, enhancing his speed, would give him an advantage over his opponents. Nearby, Netsu was condensing an extremely dense orb of fire, ready to strike.
The moment a Dark Elf from the Fox group released a skill, chaos erupted.
Sora, focusing on short-range combat, stayed near his group, ready to welcome the orcs leaping down from the sky, his sledgehammer in hand.
Just as the level 150 Orc reached the front line, Sora appeared between him and a woman who was preparing an incredibly powerful ability to support the human side.
The Orc was startled to see someone appear beneath him just as he directed his mace down toward the woman releasing a dangerous aura. The small human seemed to be swinging a weapon directly toward his… lower body.
Sora grinned at the Orc’s slow reaction and, with calculated timing, gently swung his sledgehammer upward, obliterating the Orc’s precious area with a brutal, merciless strike that sent chills through everyone who witnessed it.
The Orc was sent flying in the sky, his fate unknown.
[You have eliminated a Fox: +1,000 points (Eliminated)]
Sora noted that the Orc had been fully removed from the trial. ’Why would this idiot charge ahead, with one life left, into a group of Vipers... when he’s a damn Fox?’
Still amazed at the "brilliant" move by the Orc player, Sora watched as the woman beside him teleported all players and familiars who had been charging an attack. In an instant, they appeared in the sky, directly behind the enemy lines. The enemies barely had time to react before a barrage of attacks rained down on them, taking out several players.
[You have eliminated a Fox: +1,000 points (2 lives left)]
[You have eliminated a Fox: +1,000 points (1 life left)]
Netsu, who had been among those teleported, reappeared beside Sora, fatigue etched on his face. The woman had positioned him perfectly, directly aligned with two Ice Golems, getting two elimination in one attack.
’Mass teleportation, telepathy, flawless timing, understanding of her allies and spatial awareness… So this is what a true mage genius looks like,’ Sora thought, genuinely impressed.
As Sora focused on protecting the woman, a few more enemy players charged in, following the ’smart’ Orc’s lead. They quickly outnumbered Sora’s group of ten Vipers. Many of the enemies radiated a red aura, clearly intent on maximizing their buff by targeting the group they had an advantage against.
He summoned clones, sending them to intercept his enemies and buy himself time.
The [Blood Clones] held a fourth of his physical power, limited to brute strength or self-detonating with the mana stored within them.
With [Lava in My Veins] active since the beginning of the fight, Sora felt incredible as life force rapidly repaired his body. Combined with his [Adaptive Regeneration], he could feel the strain on his body lessening, and the power he could tap into grow.
Grateful for Kara’s support, he pushed his body even harder, glad that his frequent use of the skill had built resistance—even in his heart, which had been his weakest point during earlier usages.
Using slightly larger [Crystallized] mana, the solid mana had become so hot that it started burning the blood it flowed near. The scorched blood was expelled through his skin, replaced by newly formed blood.
His body, once emitting black smoke and intense heat, underwent further changes as the smoke turned red, blood seeping from his pores before evaporating almost instantly. The temperature around him rose to suffocating levels, and the whites of his eyes turned blood-red.
’It’s the same technique, but the effects are even more exaggerated than before… This might be overkill. I feel like a human torch,’ Sora thought, feeling so hot that he considered stopping the transformation and summoning a waterfall to cool himself.
Sensing the abnormal phenomenon, his allies instinctively distanced themselves, each engaging an opponent distracted by one of his clones.
Sora didn’t have the luxury of choosing his own opponent, as he’d spent too much time taking his new form. A Werewolf player, surrounded by a red aura, charged toward him.
Sora tightened his grip on his hammer, his entire body contracting before unleashing all his power in a devastating downward swing. The Werewolf, too eager to catch him off guard, had no time to dodge. The sledgehammer smashed through his skull, neck, and chest, slamming him into the ground with a shockwave that was abruptly halted by a barrier appearing out of nowhere.
Some players gulped in fright at the savage scene. It was clear this ally wasn’t holding back.
Surprised by the absence of a notification and noticing the shockwaves being deflected, Sora spotted an ally summoning barriers to ensure that others could fight freely, deflecting any stray skills that might interfere with nearby battles. The short man glanced back at him and gestured toward the sky.
Sora looked up to see the Werewolf he had just crushed, glaring at him with fear in his eyes. He was holding his head, visibly in pain.
’What was that? A save point? A second life? Just how many powers am I going to encounter today…’ Still baffled by his opponent’s survival skill, he dashed toward another battle, where a teammate was surrounded by two dwarves mounted on beasts, one of whom he recognized.
Spotting Brodus on a [Black Tortoise], Sora was reminded of the Beast Race’s reliance on familiars. Many dwarves could "fuse" with their mounts, creating a combined creature with the dwarf integrated into the beast’s back, multiplying both attack and defense. The strength of this technique depended on their mastery and the amount of bloodline essence fed to the familiar, making them formidable enemies based on their mount choice and nurturing.
As Sora approached the dwarves, he suddenly noticed everything around him accelerating. ’Someone is manipulating time!’ Realizing the danger, he canceled his [Lava in My Blood] form, instantly releasing all the [Condensed] and [Crystallized] mana he had accumulated, manipulating mana from his surroundings to exhaust the time manipulator’s mana.
The accelerated world around him began to slow as cracks appeared in the time bubble, shattering it. With his [Crystallized] mana depleted and his strongest form unusable, he prepared to escape using [Lightning Movement]. Just then, a searing pain cut across his back.
Turning in shock, he saw Rachel standing there, sword in hand.
’Fuck.’ That was Sora’s final thought.
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