[Nameless Divine Technique, Annihilation God’s Secret – Blood Cross.]
The Shadow sword ‘Eclipse’ cut horizontally without mercy.
And then…
“Huh…!”
Shooosh-!
The Russian warriors’ armor and weapons disintegrated and turned to dust. The scattered metallic dust appeared to follow Eclipse’s sword’s path.
Pook!
The metallic particles turned into steel and began to embed deeply in the ground.
After that…
Swoosh-!
A Pure Phoenix Qi followed Eclipse, cutting vertically like flowing water.
As seen moments ago, a simple gesture of drawing a cross in the air appeared to be a simple attack. However…
“Un… bel… ievable!”
Thump! Thump!
Vladimir’s heart was racing like crazy. Seong Jihan had only shown two swings, but his Berserker mode was emitting a stronger warning than ever before.
It wasn’t just that some of the metal used to make his axe and armor had flaws.
Swoosh-!
The life force bound to the axe quickly dissipated, and that energy flowed with the rhythm of the spear, completing Seong Jihan’s Blood Cross.
Boom!
Vladimir was thrown far away, and ‘Blood Rage’ dispersed into the air, disappearing into nothingness.
“Iyiik!”
Indeed, the opponent was formidable. Player Seong Jihan, while only at the Gold rank, had shown an astonishing achievement. Even though he was outclassed in terms of power, Vladimir hadn’t let his guard down at all.
Originally, it was impossible to wipe out the Diamond-class national team in one go.
However…
“My own Qi…!”
The Skill Rampage manipulated Qi and life force together. It was beyond his imagination that everything flew over to the other side.
Pah-!
The ground had changed.
Steel was embedded horizontally.
The blood was dyed vertically.
The cross pattern was carved into the floor of South Gate in an instant using iron and blood, one stroke at a time.
“Urgh!”
“Ugh, I can’t move!”
“…!”
Vladimir, despite the fact that only his blood flow bound to the axe was taken away,
The other Russian warriors were in critical condition. Blood poured from their bodies like sweat, creating puddles on the ground. It was terrifying to see their blood pooling together.
Seeing this, Vladimir regained his senses and made a decision.
“I’ll take on Seong Jihan! Go!”
The best way to earn points at South Gate was ultimately to cross the gate. There was no need to risk one’s life to kill the last remaining opponent. While the opponent was buying time, even if just one other player passed through, they could earn points!
“I’ll go all out!”
Vladimir activated his Berserker skill with all his might and charged towards Seong Jihan.
Shwoosh-!
With each approach, his armor disassembled and stuck to the ground, and the crimson blood energy weakened.
‘This should be enough…!’
Vladimir had made up his mind to pour out everything he had.
Thud!
When his axe and Seong Jihan’s sword clashed, a massive shockwave spread out.
“Ugh…!”
Vladimir took one step back as a result of this collision. His pupils dilated. It was Berserker mode at full power. He’d gotten not only the team’s buffs, but also the triangular formation’s synergy. Even with his all-out assault, he appeared to be no match for Seong Jihan, who had used the ‘Area’ skill.
“No way!”
Vladimir swung his axe downward, dismissing the notion.
He struck with all his strength, but Seong Jihan, who had used the ‘Wide Area’ skill, was still equal in terms of numbers.
“Iyiik!”
Of course, the pressure was less than facing the Sword King. However, it was still a Gold-rank, and Seong Jihan had plenty of room for growth even at this level. What would happen once time passed? Vladimir was becoming impatient.
“First, I’ll go ahead…!”
“Alright. Just get through!”
Under Vladimir’s mark, some Russian warriors passed by Seong Jihan. They tried to stay as far away from him as possible and moved along the edge. Although it might have seemed like a ridiculous action to underestimate a Gold-rank opponent when they were all elite warriors above level 225, they were all deadly serious.
“We must win a match against Korea right now!”
“Later, we might not be able to win for real!”
Even Russia’s top warrior, Vladimir, couldn’t contain his desire to win one match before Seong Jihan grew even stronger. Nevertheless…
“Hmm…”
Seong Jihan casted a quick glance to his side.
“What are you looking at?”
Vladimir shouted and unleashed his ultimate strike.
Clang! Clang!
Weapons clashed multiple times. Despite being pushed back, Vladimir managed to land counterattacks sporadically, preventing himself from being overwhelmed.
This situation was enough to buy time. And…
“Alright…!”
One Russian warrior finally attempted to cross the point at Southgate. With 25 people charging forward, over half of them were drawn towards Seong Jihan, leaving only three players who reached the point. It was a critical moment.
“Anyway, the important thing in this game is crossing that line… Huh?”
Then…
Pook!
Seong Jihan brought down the Phoenix Qi to the ground, causing a vibration across the floor, which was marked with the Iron Blood Cross.
At the same time, the central point of South Gate’s battlefield, marked by the cross, started turning white.
“…!”
Vladimir sensed something ominous.
“T-This…! Run!”
The light that appeared to erase the central part of the Iron Blood Cross wasn’t a skill limit, as he had previously assumed.
“This is different!”
Vladimir attempted to warn his teammates to flee, but a flash of light struck Seong Jihan’s spear, causing a white liquid to seep into it.
Thunk!
The connection ring of the Iron Blood Cross was instantly severed.
“Kuk…!”
Then, the Russian warriors who were about to reach the point at Southgate all turned into dust and disappeared, without any resistance.
“What… What’s happening right now?!”
Vladimir’s vision became hazy. Until now, warriors who could withstand having their blood taken away had vanished all at once?
“What the hell is…!”
Then, a system message appeared before his eyes.
[Instant Death triggered.]
[Human Species Detected. Resistance failed.]
[Death confirmed.]
“Insane…!”
Those were Vladimir’s last words.
As a Berserker holding his axe, he turned into dust.
The Russian national team’s warriors, starting with him, had all perished.
*****
*****
–Ah, Seong Jihan played well. But… the numerical disadvantage was inevitable!
–It’s a shame… However, there was hope in this match! We lost, but they fought well!
The commentators who were lamenting their loss and accepting defeat as a fact of life when the Russian players were about to cross the point had no idea what was happening.
–Wait, what the hell is this?!
–Why did everyone suddenly disappear??
–What on earth are we witnessing?
When Seong Jihan stuck his spear into the ground, causing everyone to disappear, no one could comprehend the situation.
“Heh… Haha…”
Coach Noh Youngjun, who had been watching the game, couldn’t help but burst into laughter at the current outcome.
Vladimir, a terrifying berserker, had been erased with such a skill.
“There was a reason Jihan didn’t need the first team.”
Shoooo…
And so, the first match ended in Korea’s Victory.
As players emerged one by one from the BattleNet Connectors, they all looked surprised.
Even more surprised were the warriors who had been blocking Southgate alongside Seong Jihan.
“Wait… Instant death? Instant death, seriously?!”
“I don’t know… What is that… It’s terrifying…”
Even after the Russian warriors’ formation was broken, some of the South Korean warriors who survived were swept away and turned to dust in the final attack that severed the Blood Cross.
They received the same system messages as the Russian warriors, and they couldn’t understand it at all. What kind of crazy skill is this?
However, for a moment…
Flash!
Unlike other players, Seong Jihan, who entered the national team’s match without using the BattleNet Connector, returned from the void.
“Good job!”
The warriors who had fought together bent their waists 90 degrees to greet him. Among them, those who had experienced instant death even shivered slightly as they looked at Seong Jihan.
“Jihan, well done.”
“No, it’s not like that. I was lacking, and I almost lost the match.”
Lacking? Who said that?
The players who heard this were puzzled, but Seong Jihan thought, ‘I still have a long way to go.’
Despite winning the first match, he thought “‘ couldn’t fully utilize my power, even with buffs from national-level players.’
The buffs granted by South Korea’s top players. Seong Jihan didn’t show much efficiency to them.
‘If I had drawn out all my strength, including the buffs, it would have been an easier victory.’
Even though Russian warriors were thought to be stronger than Korean warriors, not everyone was as strong as Vladimir in their team. The efficiency of the buffs, on the other hand, allowed Seong Jihan to hold out against them.
While the Russian warriors used all of their buff effects,
The buffs of the Korean team had little effect on Seong Jihan. Therefore, finishing the match with a single strike was impossible, as it happened during the national team selection test.
“I need to practice using it with the Shadow Sword more. With this level of proficiency, I can only use Blood Cross in the Mythic Realm.”
The Mythic Realm.
Unlike the Heaven Thunder Realm and Dark Shade Realm, where each martial art was united with light and darkness, the Mythic Realm allowed each martial art to play independently.
However, in the Mythic Realm, the five attributes of the martial arts were linked to the Five Elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water.
‘Blood Cross is a metal martial art.’
Because it has a metal attribute, it’s the easiest martial art to use in the Mythic Realm.
Blood Cross required two weapons, one of which was a ‘spear’ in the martial arts manifestation.
‘It has to be a spear rather than a sword (as a manifestation). A spear is needed to sever the cross’s connection lines.’
Blood cross dismantles the armor (Takes metal from various objects nearby) and steals vitality (Takes blood from nearby humans). However, if it only had these effects, the martial arts in the previous two realms would be more powerful.
The true power of the Blood Cross is revealed when the cross is severed.
‘The instant death effect on the human species remains.’
When the cross is severed, all humans die. There was no exception to this.
Even if the world’s best tank had all kinds of buffs, there was no resistance to instant death.
So, when Seong Jihan used Blood Cross in his previous life…
Players from other countries had to run away first.
Because they knew from experience that if they stayed in that spot, they would die no matter how they defended.
‘No one knows, so it’s easy for me.’
Thinking like that, Seong Jihan thought about Blood Cross
‘I understand it now, In my past life I didn’t use the skill through the system. This martial art is strange.’
Before, when the SSS-grade skill ‘Nameless Divine Arts’ was registered in the status window, he didn’t think deeply about Blood Cross.
He just judged it as a skill that became available as his level increased and his power grew.
However, after using this martial art, it was clear that Blood Cross was somewhat unusual.
‘Why is there a need to create a cross in the first place?’
Two lines, one of blood and the other of steel. The power that appeared when it was drawn wasn’t bad, but as the Russian warriors demonstrated, there was a limit to the amount of damage it could inflict on the enemy.
There was no need to draw a cross for no reason.
It would be great if I could just use an attack that severs and instantly kills the humans.
‘There is hidden martial knowledge within this that I still don’t understand. It would be fantastic if you could simply bring the instant death effect and modify it…’
While Seong Jihan was wondering if there was a need to draw a cross like this, a message appeared in the system:
[ Martial Soul has increased by 1.]
“Huh?”
So far, he had invested points in Martial Soul, but the attribute that had not increased even after leveling up suddenly increased just by attempting to understand Blood Cross.
‘…From now on, to grow, simple point investment won’t be enough.’
To raise Martial Soul, research on the Mythic Realm and strengthening of Nameless Martial Arts became essential.
With these thoughts, Seong Jihan prepared for the second round.
“Jihan, but… What was that skill earlier?”
“It’s a lightweight instant death skill. It works amazingly well on humans.”
What’s light about an instant death skill? Does being lighter mean you die less?
Coach Noh Youngjun couldn’t believe it, but he thought, ‘…Since we’re on the same side.’
When it came to things that were strong on the same side, he decided not to worry about balance.
If it’s a cheat, so be it. Winning is what matters.
“So… In what situations is this skill most effective?”
“It’s effective in maps with important points like the South Gate. By the way, in the second round, we’re on the attack, right?”
Seong Jihan smiled broadly.
“Let’s serve them another instant death.”
Blood Cross, This martial art had many weaknesses. Once the cross is drawn, all you have to do is run away and avoid the final blow.
However…
Now, in a map like the South Gate, where the priority was to defend, it was very effective. And…
–Hey! Hey hey hey! The enemy’s collapsing!
–Seong Jihan’s skill leaves no room for a comeback! Vladimir! Is instant death supposed to make sense?! They’re freaking out!
–We asked the same thing last time about the berserker skill! Hahaha! Isn’t it all cyclical?
In the second match as well, Seong Jihan easily secured victory with Blood Cross
While the martial art of the Mythic Realm was unfolding in Seong Jihan’s hands…
Suddenly…
“Who dares…!”
In the Star of the Martial Gods, someone stood up.
“He’s awake. No… He woke you up.”
The old man in front of him, Dongbang Sak, turned to speak.
“Longinus.”
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