Chapter 237. Bubblegum’s Rebellion (1)

The turret protecting the enemy's base was now just one of the twin turrets.

Team Solo Is Back had victory within their grasp and were in high spirits.

"Take my bullets, you octopus jerk!"

"Who said an octopus is allowed to have a pool party?! Take it to the ocean!"

Soju and Maekju laughed as they moved forward to hit Takoyaki indiscriminately.

Takoyaki became the target of all their bullets since he stood at the forefront.

"Hahaha!"

"Let's go!"

Solo Is Back was clearly winning, but getting too excited could easily lead to their downfall. Their team leader should’ve brought their excitement down, but...

"Chikicha!"

Bang!

Their leader, ForeverAlone, was the most excited one while throwing bombs from behind. He wasn't the most responsible due to his young age.

That was when it happened.

Snap!

One area of the map lost its blue color.

A surveillance totem, which worked like a surveillance camera, suddenly disappeared.

ForeverAlone and his teammates didn't even notice. Even the supporter, who should’ve been paying close attention to the map, didn't notice as they excitedly attacked Tako.

"Rolling in!"

Solo Is Back finally turned back to face the giant beach volleyball.

"Hey, hey! Behind!"

"Behind!"

***

"Bubblegum, that was a sharp back attack!"

"Team Solo Is Back didn't notice at all, right?"

The casters began to talk faster as the large-scale battle unfolded.

"Perfect positioning!"

"Solo Is Back! They scattered to both sides! They’re scattering af if they practiced this! Did they have such a reaction speed?"

Team Solo Is Back scattered quite well despite being startled by the sudden attack.

"Now Bubblegum doesn't have as many targets to hit!"

The beach volleyball (Iron Ball) confidently rolling started to panic and couldn't decide where to attack.

Creak! Creak!

His hesitant movements rang out each time, making him look more lost.

"This is bad! It’s a wasted opportunity!"

"No one is going to get hit by the ball!"

"Bubblegum, please just hit anyone! There's no hope left if you lose this opportunity!"

— Lol, Bubblegum must’ve regained his memory.

— Someone wake him up!

— It's actually really hard to attack as a ball. He can't see anything right now. There's no way he'll hit something!

"Ah! He hit the wall!"

"A total miss!"

The wobbling Bubblegum eventually hit the wall right in front of the scattered enemies.

Boom!

A shockwave erupted around the wall.

"Huh? It’s actually good that he hit the wall!"

"This is a big deal!"

Iron Ball's Rolling Bang skill had a splash effect. Not only the direct target, but also those around it received damage. It also slowed the opponent's speed.

"Rather than hitting one person, this is actually better for impacting the entire team!"

"Four people got slowed down!"

"Only ForeverAlone barely dodged it!"

Excluding ForeverAlone, the entire Solo Is Back team got slowed down.

“ForeverAlone used a bomb on himself to dodge! He just used a survival skill that put himself in danger!”

In the end, Bubblegum's Rolling Bang affected all five members of Solo Is Back. This was a super play.

"It effectively landed on all five of them!"

Surprisingly, Bubblegum's super play was just beginning.

"There! Gum! Ultimate skill?!"

[Ultimate Skill - Spin Spin Bang Bang!]

Iron Ball used his ultimate skill with a roar.

Spin Spin Bang Bang was a skill that transformed him into a ball that rolled down. The only difference was that it hooked him to a designated place while spinning, which was much faster than regularly rolling.

Zoooom...!

A deep rumbling sound echoed...

"He’s spinning!! He's spinning!"

This skill utilized centrifugal force as Iron Ball rapidly spun and struck all nearby enemies.

"Rolling in!"

This skill could collapse the surroundings and inflict significant damage.

Zing—

The high-pitched Iron Ball whizzed past and struck the four enemies again.

Boom!

"Bubblegum just dealt massive damage!"

"All four of them got knocked back! This is crazy! Balloon Stars is going all out!"

"The fight would have been over right now if there wasn’t a difference in levels!"

Iron Ball had died too many times in the early game, so his level was low. If he had been at the same level as them, the majority of Solo Is Back would have nearly died from that attack. The attack caused most of its damage by tossing the enemies aside.

Another player waited to capitalize on that attack right away.

"Takoyaki is approaching! He’s going directly toward the ADC Soju!"

Pop!

Takoyaki's shoulder drove into Soju's ribs. Soju flew back hard and crashed into a wall.

Thud!

He fainted as his eyes turned white.

"Soju! He fainted!?"

"I can't believe this!"

"Takoyaki caught him with a direct hit!"

When tank champions dominated damage-dealing champions like this, it was colloquially referred to as ‘being caught.’

It was difficult to win a battle once the ADC was caught.

"It must be unfair from Soju's point of view! His HP is down to half now after doing quite well!"

"There! Here comes StrawberryShooter!"

StrawberryShooter aimed a poison sting at the fainted Soju.

[Blinded Sting]

Ping!

The swimming pool party skin made a playful sound as the sting precisely struck Soju's neck.

"Soju is getting blinded!"

Once a player was stung, they would go blind even after recovering from fainting. This made it much harder to play as ADC.

"The ADC is now disabled!"

"Then who’s going to put in the damage!"

"It has to be ForeverAlone!"

In response, crimson mana rose from ForeverAlone in the distance.

[Ultimate Skill - Chain Bomb Support]

Dudududu...!

Suddenly, a helicopter could be heard. Then, a red laser appeared on the ground. Almost at the same time, bombs started falling from the sky.

Boom!

The bombs exploded one after another, turning everything into a firestorm.

"Chain bomb support!"

"It was executed perfectly! The enemy and ally camps have been divided in half! It also directly hit Takoyaki!"

Takoyaki, StrawberryShooter, and Miho became separated from each other.

"Is this a chance for Solo Is Back to counterattack!?"

Solo Is Back tried to counterattack after ForeverAlone's ultimate skill, but it didn’t go as planned.

"Miho is also using her ultimate skill! It stopped all the enemies!"

[Ultimate Skill - Furious Waves]

Swoosh!

Aqua’s waves came in like the tide.

Splash!

The wave momentarily hindered all the Solo Is Back members.

"It perfectly blocked them!"

"Huh? But it barely damaged anyone."

"Because Aqua is a supporter!"

The supporter Aqua successfully stopped the enemy, but hadn't done much damage.

“Just push forward!”

“Crush them!”

Solo Is Back continued forward as if the wave hadn't struck them.

Bang! Bang!

Soju continuously fired rockets at Takoyaki.

"Oh! Solo Is Back is pushing forward again! It's over if they break through!"

Then, it had happened.

Splash!

A water bomb from out of nowhere struck ForeverAlone twice in a row.

[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]

[LazySoldier → ForeverAlone]

ForeverAlone suddenly died.

"Ahhhh?!?! This is insane!!!"

"What's happening?!!!"

"It's the continuous shooting from Crystal of Purity! Also known as seize mode! Ran was positioned over there just for this!"

"Is he sniping from that distance!? That's insane! How do you even see!?"

Ran was almost out of sight from the opponent's point of view.

Almond had aimed from a slightly elevated hill where Bubblegum had removed the surveillance totem earlier.

***

A few seconds ago, Almond took a suitable position on a hill and activated his ultimate skill.

[I will annihilate the enemies.]

Ran's blue eyes glowed red as he looked toward the horizon, and a red text also appeared.

[Ultimate Skill - Magic Circle of Transcendence]

[Remaining Duration]

[10 seconds]

Uuuung...!

A red magic circle appeared under Almond's feet. On top of this, all the limitations on Ran were lifted.

[Red Mana Released]

[You have used the sealed red mana and have now obtained three Purity Crystals.]

[Mana Reactivity Has Increased]

[Charge speed has greatly increased. Three Purity Crystals can now be stored simultaneously.]

[Mana Compression Has Increased]

[Crystals of Purity have grown stronger and will stay intact even when far away from the caster. They will now disappear even at three times the original distance.]

[Discharge Acceleration Has Increased]

[The maximum 250% acceleration damage has increased to 350% based on the distance.]

[Red Iris Awakening]

[Eyesight has been enhanced to the extreme by borrowing the power of red mana. You will be able to see distant enemies.]

All the charging and discharging upgrades grew stronger while leveling up. Ran’s ultimate skill allowed access to all this for ten seconds, along with an additional bonus. However, the magic circle only lasted 10 seconds.

In theory, Almond could only shoot about 9-10 shots even if he kept shooting at maximum efficiency. Considering the time spent aiming, he would probably only be able to shoot six shots or fewer.

However, six shots would be more than enough if not a single one missed.

Almond steadied his breath and aimed at the enemies far away.

[ForeverAlone]

[HP: 85%]

Giriririk—

Almond tightly pulled the red bowstring. Then, he instantly fired the shot.

Bang!!

The Crystal of Purity squarely struck ForeverAlone.

[ForeverAlone]

[HP: 53%]

The bonus acceleration damage was enormous since Almond shot from such a great distance. It blew away nearly 30% of ForeverAlone’s HP.

Almond’s attack would have ended there if he was playing the normal Ran, but he was currently using the Magic Circle of Transcendence.

Another shot flew out.

Boom!

[LazySoldier is on a rampage!]

[LazySoldier → ForeverAlone]

ForeverAlone was killed in just two shots.

Tako and StrawberryShooter would also follow up and seize the advantage.

'Good...'

Almond's lips curled upward. Not because he killed the bothersome ForeverAlone, but because victory was almost in his hands.

The enemies’ firepower had almost been halved by killing their leader, ForeverAlone. Now, it was time to take out the other half.

'Next is...'

Almond aimed at Soju, the ADC.

[Soju]

[HP: 33%]

Soju was hard to spot because the tanks obscured him. Only his knees and feet were visible between the legs of a gigantic machine. However, he could still be killed with the help of Ran’s awakened red eyes.

Ziing.

Ran’s red irises zoomed in and Almond could see Soju's foot.

'Got him.'

Swoosh...

Almond fully charged a Crystal of Purity on his bowstring within seconds.

Pwaang!!

A red, blood-like water arrow flew out. It passed between the legs of the gigantic machine and hit the tip of Soju's foot.

Kwaang...!

[LazySoldier Double Kill!]

[LazySoldier → Soju]

Soju had already taken multiple hits from Tako and Bubblegum, so he died with just one shot.

The shot had been flawless. However, Almond tilted his head as if he wasn’t completely satisfied. Was something off?

Of course, his odd expression didn't last long. He immediately turned to the next target. He had to completely win this battle while using his ultimate skill.

'You’re next, supporter.'

He set his eyes on the supporter, whose health was already low. Almond released his right hand, and the shot instantly vanished into the smoke.

[LazySoldier Triple Kill!]

[LazySoldier → Maekju]

Almond already knew a single shot would kill the supporter and already started aiming at the next target.

Pweooong!

RiceWine, the gigantic machine, also collapsed.

[LazySoldier Quadra Kill!]

[LazySoldier → Rice Wine]

The sight of the massive body falling caused the last remaining opponent to feel sheer terror.

Now, Almond gazed at the last enemy.

He spoke into the voice chat as he released the bowstring, "Give me that penta kill."