Season 4: Chapter 174. Avenger vs Guardian (2)

In truth, Black Pepper was fighting with a massive handicap. She hadn’t shown it to the Knights or even her own viewers, but she’d known from the start.

[Avenger skills do not inflict damage on Cheese Village residents.]

It was written as though it were a special perk.

‘What kind of sick joke is this?’

Of course, normal attacks like punches and kicks still worked. However, the special Avenger skills that made up the very core of her class did not. When she asked the devs about it, they hesitated before answering.

“Ah, well... we originally created the Avenger class for when Paprika conquers Cheese Village and massacres its people endlessly, so... it’s meant to reflect that lore.”

It was a roundabout way of saying that this was an unforeseen error.

“Basically, this was supposed to be a Cheese Village class?”

“Yes.”

“...”

In other words, they didn’t expect Paprika to lose this badly.

— LMFAOOOOO

— Actual humiliation arc

— Made them colonial officers, now they’re resistance fighters

— All this because of that one...

— Even this... must be the Lord’s grace...

Her chat exploded with mockery. Posts roasting her flooded the forums too. Paprika’s downfall had become a running joke.

Clang! Clang!

Black Pepper punched furiously as she glared at Almond.

‘I can’t lose here.’

At least the Avenger class still worked against the one who killed her. Even if Almond was a Cheese Village resident, he was still her target of vengeance.

[Vow of Vengeance]

[The target of vengeance cannot receive any immunity effects against the Avenger’s attacks.]

Against her marked target, the Avenger was an overpowered class. If Almond gained fire resistance, her flames would still burn him. If he gained frost immunity, her ice would still freeze him. Even as a Cheese Villager, he couldn’t escape her damage. That wasn’t all.

[Mark of Retribution]

[Dealing skill damage to the target applies a mark. Striking the mark detonates it, dealing 2.5× damage.]

A marked explosion could tear through armor in a few hits. She just needed to land one hit.

‘I can’t hit him!’

Clang!

Her gauntlet collided with the bow. Even when she flailed with both hands, Almond blocked every blow perfectly, turning his bow left and right with calm precision.

Clang! Clang!

As if he’d done this countless times before... because he had.

‘Block... shoot. Block... shoot...’

He breathed steadily, syncing his breath with his rhythm. This was nothing compared to the

Civil Empire

tournament, where he’d faced much faster and sharper fighters than her. He felt quite comfortable.

To Black Pepper, it felt like mockery.

‘He’s blocking me with his bow and ignoring me completely?!’

Thwack!

An arrow whistled past her, embedding itself in the back of an unlucky Team Rocket soldier.

“Hey! Black Pepper! What are you doing!? You’re the Avenger!!” Orange screamed with an arrow sticking out of his neck.

— HAHAHAHAHA

— He’s losing his mind

— She’s getting trolled so hard

— Wait for me, Orange!

Black Pepper’s face burned red. “Mr. Almond! Please! Just die once! I’m begging you!”

— He’s not dying for you, girl!

— “Please die!” What kind of request is that

— Begging your enemy to die is wild

— Desperation has entered the chat

“

Raaaaagh!

” Black Pepper threw another wild punch.

Whoosh!

Almond simply tilted his head back.

“Oh.” He sounded almost impressed. “This head moves really fast.”

Due to his large model size, his head animation speed had increased to maintain a natural appearance. The result was an absurdly fast dodge speed.

Swish. Swish.

Her punches all missed.

“A new discovery.”

— Bro’s weaving with his head LMAOOO

— Top-heavy weaving tech unlocked

— “When I was in the national training camp...”

— Even his head physics are OP

— Walnut moves

“Y-You arrogant bastard!!” Black Pepper’s eyes flared.

Blocking with a bow was fine since that was his specialty, but dodging with just a head tilt? That hurt her pride.

“

RAAAAAAAAHHH!

” She unleashed a flurry of blows.

Whirr-whirr-whirr!

The angrier she got, the easier Almond found it to read her patterns.

“Left, right, left, right...”

“I can hear you, Almond! Stop calling it out!”

“Ah, sorry. I’d switch the mic channel, but I’m out of hotkeys.”

Whirr!

Even while dodging and blocking, he continued to speak calmly.

— HAHAHAHAHAHA

— Even Almond has limits

— “Can’t switch the mic channel” LMAO

— Master-level BM

— She’s tilted to orbit now

Fighters at Black Pepper’s level specialized in psychological warfare, but her composure had shattered after so many taunts. Her greatest strength, her mental edge, had disappeared.

“L-Lord! I’ll take care of the Avenger!”

Fwoosh!

Through the chaos, Radish Servant finally broke past the crowd and sprinted toward Almond.

“D-Dammit!?” Black Pepper faltered.

Her Avenger skills didn’t work on Cheese Village residents. Radish Servant joining the fight spelled trouble, but it was too late.

CLANG!

Radish Servant’s sword knocked her gauntlets aside. “Hey! Hands off the Lord, you brute! Bad girl!”

— LMAO Radish Servant is back

— Post-Lord Radish Servant arc

— Bro’s gone full dark knight

— Cheese Village villain era

“S-Sweet Radish!”

“It’s Radish Servant.”

“That kind, innocent kid... What happened to you!? What did Cheese Village

do

to you!?”

“Pretty sure

you’re

the one who’s gone bad, ma’am. You’re literally surrounded by a black aura.”

“T-This is just... part of the skill effect!!” Black Pepper tried to push past him.

“Not so fast!”

CLANG!

Radish Servant blocked her again, his sword flashing by.

— Yessir, Sir Radish Servant

— That’s our guy

— Now it’s over lol

Finally, Almond became free.

“Now, my lord! Do it!!”

Creaaak...

[Runway of the Vermilion Bird]

He aimed his bow at the densest cluster of Team Rocket fighters. Flames blazed along the string as a blazing crimson bird formed. The instant he released the arrow, the Vermillion Bird screamed and streaked across the battlefield, igniting everything in its path.

“

KWAHHHHHHHH!!

”

No one fell.

“Huh?”

“L-Lord! They’re immune to fire!!”

“Oh.”

— HAHAHAHAHAHA

— WE DIDN’T KNOW LMAO

— Bro forgot the magma field era

— Of course, they’re fireproof. They were bathing in lava earlier

Almond had never actually seen Adamantium’s effect firsthand since he’d been dragged off by Black Pepper.

[Will of the Avenger]

Fwoosh!

Black Pepper suddenly blinked behind him. “You fool! You gave me an opening!?”

She swung her gauntlets while cackling. Almond, in one swift motion, switched weapons.

‘Now.’

[Stance of the White Tiger]

He vanished like the wind. Then, he reappeared and charged in a straight line through the Vermillion Bird’s trail of fire.

CRASH!

A violent gust burst forth at the end of his charge, slashing out in all directions.

“

Guh!

”

“

Urghhh!

”

The Team Rocket fighters toppled in heaps.

“W-What!? Did he plan this!? Was this a setup!?”

Almond had. He had waited for Black Pepper to use Will of the Avenger and dodged it by activating his own mobility skill. With her teleport skill now on cooldown, he could freely counterattack.

“No way, that was luck!”

“Never underestimate the Lord’s wisdom, ma’am. He’s a true strategist!”

“W-What kind of brainwashing is this, Sweet Radish!?”

— LMFAO

— Facts: Almond just pressed his skills in order

— But sure, call it strategy!

Whether it was luck or genius, Almond now stood at the very center of the enemy camp. The Team Rocket fighters surrounded him. Most of the Knights had fallen due to the immense power gap.

“You’ve walked right into your death!”

“Die, shadow ruler!!”

Even the Stance of the White Tiger couldn’t wipe them all out, not against full Adamantium armor. However, Almond still had one divine skill left.

[Wisdom of the Black Tortoise]

From beneath him, a massive stone-shelled guardian erupted and stomped the ground.

[

Stomps the earth, massively increasing Defense and stunning all nearby enemies for 3 seconds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.]

BOOM!

The earth split open.

“

Gah!?

”

“

Huh?

”

“

Ugh!

”

Every Team Rocket fighter charging forward froze in mid-motion and collapsed.

[Stunned]

“Now!!”

The remaining Knights charged in.

Whoosh!

Almond switched to his spear. This was it. He took a deep breath.

“Chikicha!”

[Roar of the Azure Dragon]

Blue lightning surged up his spear shaft.

[

The spear releases continuous lightning for 2 seconds. Cooldown: 20 seconds. Electric damage scales higher against top-grade armor.]

SWOOSH!

He swung, and bolts of blue fury rained down, tearing through their Adamantium armor.

KWA-KRA-KRA-KRA-KRAAASH!!

[Orange has been slain.]

[Parsley has been slain.]

[Olive has been slain.]

[Melon has been slain.]

...

One after another, the Team Rocket fighters convulsed and fell after being charred black. Nearly all of them had been annihilated.

— He turned into Pikachu!

— Team Rocket’s getting fried for real

— Bro’s farming adamantium with Thunderbolt

— Lord Almond used Thunder Bolt!

— Perfection.

***

Meanwhile, in the production booth, PD Jang and producer Park Oh-Hoon stared at the screens in stunned silence.

“We’re screwed...”

“What do we even do now?”

They hadn’t expected Paprika to get wiped out so one-sidedly. Paprika even lost all its Adamantium in the process. Now the scales had tipped far too much.