Chapter 212: Delicious Grilled Eel

Another flash went straight towards Minhyuk’s body. However, the cast time for the Fluttering Sword had finally ended. Five falling leaves flew towards the rapidly approaching ray of light.

Flash─

The two powerful forces met in the air and cancelled each other out.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

Then, lights flashed and burst out at a high speed from the eight greatswords. However, Minhyuk’s falling leaves flew rapidly and extinguished the flashing lights in the air.

‘He still used his most powerful skill.’

With this, Minhyuk was left without any other powerful skills. The only thing that he had left would be the Dark Fire Storm that he had used back then. Carr, or Da-Woul, believed that it was ridiculous for someone like Minhyuk to confront him with just that one skill.

At that moment, the falling leaves started to attack the eight greatswords directly after extinguishing the flashes of light.

Clang, clang, clang, clang!

Crack!

The eight greatswords started to crack and break one by one.

Clatter!

Then, one sword broke and faded away in a burst of light. It was at that moment when Minhyuk heard a notification in his head.

[You can now get out of the skill.]

“Like the Wind.”

Then, he stabbed the ground with his sword as if he was already planning on doing this from the very beginning.

“Blooming Sword.”

Shake!

Carr felt the ground beneath him shake and tremble. He suddenly felt great danger. Without any hesitation, he swung his sword which was glowing with a golden light.

[Sword of Extinction.]

[You can nullify the enemy’s skill. However, you will be left defenseless for 0.3 seconds.]

The effect of the Blooming Sword suddenly disappeared.

‘I can only use Sword of Extinction thrice.’

Carr found it surprising that Minhyuk had skills other than Fluttering Sword. However, he believed that Minhyuk would not have any other skills. No, he firmly believed that there would be no more skills left in his arsenal. At that moment…

“Splitting Sword.”

Swoooooosh─

Vwoooooooooong─

…Minhyuk swung his sword twice in the air, as two crescent sword lights flashing a dangerous red were fired straight towards Carr.

[Sword of Extinction.]

[You can nullify the enemy’s skill. However, you will be left defenseless for 0.6 seconds.]

Using the Sword of Extinction would result in instant penalties, such as 0.3 and 0.6 seconds of defenselessness. It was only a short period of time, but in a fight between rankers that had monstrous speed, even a short amount of vulnerability could lead to serious consequences.

“Crazy bastard! Are you a damn swordsman, a Food God or a mage?!”

“…”

Minhyuk did not answer Carr and just continued to use his skills against him.

“Like the Wind. Scattering Sword.”

Vwooooooong!

The distance between him and Carr was narrowed in an instant. Scattering Sword was one of the skills that had evolved into the ‘Demigod’ rank. The skill previously dealt consecutive strikes but after evolving, it had now turned into a skill with eight times the force condensed into a single strike. If one assumed that Minhyuk usually had an attack of 500, then this single strike from the Scattering Sword would have an attack of 4,000.

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaa─

The sword emitted a powerful force that tore the air as it swung down towards Carr. Carr instinctively moved and used his skills.

[Crown Prince’s Quick Sword.]

[A quick sword that can cut down your enemies.]

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

Carr’s sword moved quickly as it slashed at Minhyuk’s body. He thought,?‘What kind of monstrous HP is this…!’

Carr was in shock. It seemed like Minhyuk’s HP was already comparable to his own. He knew this since Minhyuk was able to take on his strikes without even staggering or collapsing.

At that moment, he suddenly felt a tearing pain in his back.

Slash!

[Physical Damage Reflection! Returns double the damage received.]

[You have received a critical strike.]

[Your HP is dropping at a rapid rate.]

Carr finally felt danger. He was reluctant to use his final Sword of Extinction, but for some reason, he believed that Minhyuk would not have any more skills left after this. So, he gritted his teeth and used the skill.

[Sword of Extinction.]

[You can nullify the enemy’s skill. However, you will be left defenseless for 1 second.]

He had no defense for one second. Minhyuk quickly took advantage of the gap as he slashed down on Carr.

Puhaa!

[You have received an additional critical wound.]

[Your body will temporarily be paralyzed.]

Carr was flustered. However, he had a skill prepared for situations just like this.

[Emperor’s Grace.]

[The Emperor’s knights will appear to protect you and only defend you in the event of an enemy attack.]

Dozens of translucent knights appeared in front of him. However, all they could do was defend. Minhyuk hummed as he observed Carr. Then, he approached him quickly.

“Sword of Fury.”

Shweeeeeeeek!

A red air strongly formed around his sword. When Minhyuk tried to force his way in, the translucent knights threw themselves forward and defended against him.

Baaaaaaang!

In Sword of Fury’s case, all of his enemies within a two-meter radius would be struck. As soon as his sword struck forward, more than half of the dozen of knights disappeared. However, there were still half of them left.

‘Crazy shit… When will this stun be lifted? This time, I’m sure that he will have no more skills left.’?Carr thought. Alas…

Shwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

…wind began to blow around Minhyuk’s body once more.

Carr was familiar with this skill. It was the powerful skill that broke through his Eight Legendary Greatswords. It was the very first time that his greatswords were broken as well. However, he strongly believed that the cooldown of such a great skill was quite unimaginable. Therefore, he could not believe his eyes when he saw the skill being used so quickly again.

“W, what the hell! This is impossible…!” Carr shouted in horror, panic starting to settle in. Unfortunately, no matter how much he shouted that it was impossible, the scene in front of him remained real. This was the reality.

“Fluttering Sword,” Minhyuk said deeply. This was the Fluttering Sword that he had kept in advance using his ‘save’ skill. Then, hundreds of falling leaves began to fall around him. Minhyuk swung his sword as strongly as he could.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

The hundreds of fluttering leaves flew rapidly towards Carr and his translucent knights. For the first time since playing?‘Athenae’, Carr felt a sense of crisis and dread.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping!

The knights that were protecting him disappeared as soon as the leaves made contact with them. They scattered with the wind after being hit directly by such an attack. Then, a leaf suddenly penetrated Carr’s chest.

Fwoosh!

“Urgh!” Carr groaned as he staggered back. The fact that his armor got pierced through made him realize that Minhyuk’s attack power was comparable to his own.

Clang!

Carr could finally move! He quickly tried to avoid the incoming attacks, but it was too much for him to defend against hundreds of falling leaves. What was worse was that Minhyuk also narrowed the distance between them to join the falling leaves that he had unleashed.

“Like the Wind,” Minhyuk said, appearing in front of the desperately struggling Carr. Without any hesitation, he stabbed Carr’s chest.

Stab!

“…!”

Carr did not want to admit the situation in front of him. He was not able to beat Minhyuk in a sword match before, and now, he was also unable to beat him even after using his power in the game?‘Athenae’. Now and even in the past, he was still not able to win against Minhyuk.

Puhaaa!

Minhyuk coldly drew the sword out of Carr’s chest and took a few steps back. Carr’s body slowly fell down. He was forced to log out. Then, Minhyuk shot the remaining leaves towards the players who were attacking Khan and Locke.

Ping, ping, ping, ping, ping, ping─

The bodies of their enemies collapsed at a rapid pace.

***

The stands were all covered in silence. After all, the reality that something unbelievable had happened in front of them was something that was hard to swallow. The silence was only broken when one player stood up in the stands.

“W, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!?Really cool!”

“Waaaaah.?Oh my goodness!”

[Ah… Ah… Pl…Player Minhyuk forced Player Carr to log out!]

[The strongest contender for the MVP, Player Carr, has been forced to log out and disappear!]

[That’s not all! The players who were pressuring Players Khan and Locke are disappearing one by one!]

[Huh? But Paladin Neville is not logged out?]

[They’re talking.]

[Paladin Neville is healing Locke’s legs.]

[Looking at the situation, I think they made a compromise. I believe that they told him ‘You’re going to~ die~’ ?if he did not heal Locke’s legs.]

[After the treatment, Neville escaped and disappeared like the wind.]

[One thing is clear now.]

[Yes. You’re right.]

[Khan, Locke and Minhyuk. One among these three people will be crowned as the MVP!]

[There are 20 minutes left in the War of the World Tree!]

***

[The MVP for the War of the World Tree will go to Player Locke.]

[Player Minhyuk quickly climbed to second place but I think it’s still a bit too much for him to climb to the top within a short 20 minutes.]

[However, it’s still surprising that he was able to beat the other players and climb to second place in just 20 minutes.]

“Uwooooooo!” Locke screamed after he won the MVP. Applause rang loudly in the stands with plenty of swears aimed at him still mixed in. However, this was the first time that he won something, in his life. He had always been in last place. Whether it was in appearance, grades or everything else. For the first time in his life, Locke was named MVP and won the honor of participating in?Athenae: World War.

Then, Locke strode towards the players’ waiting room. A man who had been waiting for him opened the door.

“Let’s go inside.”

It was none other than Minhyuk.

“Let’s go.”

Locke went inside arrogantly as Minhyuk rubbed his shoulders.

“Feeling refreshed?”

“Yeah. Refreshed.”

“Would you like a glass of water?”

“Yeah! Grab me a glass of water!”

Minhyuk rushed to get him a glass of water. After taking a gulp, Locke could not help but let out a gasp of admiration.

“Kiyaaa. The flavor of the water that our Minhyuk brought is shooo gwoood!”

“Haha. I’m glad that it’s to our Locke’s liking.”

There was only one reason why Minhyuk was flattering him! It was because of one thing. Locke looked at him as he grinned. He decided to stop teasing Minhyuk any further, as he absorbed the MVP trophy. Then, he gave Minhyuk the World Tree that he had received.

“Take it. I already know that you want to make charcoal out of the World Tree.”

“Ahyuu…?What are you saying… Haha. How can I be so shameless!”

Locke stared at him. In the first place, he would not have been able to win and get first place, had Minhyuk not come to save him. It was enough that he was crowned the MVP. After all, this title had already given him the honor of participating in the?Athenae: World War.

“So, you don’t like it?”

“No. I like it.”

Then, Minhyuk snatched it quickly. He was, after all, someone that would not refuse a gift.

“Hiyaaa. It would be great to make charcoal out of this, right?”

Minhyuk smiled happily. The World Tree, shaped like the organ, was kept in a transparent round glass. As he looked at the World Tree happily, Minhyuk spoke up.

“But, don’t we still have some work to do?”

“What do you mea… Ah!”

Locke and Khan nodded with wide grins on their faces. It was time for them to give Carr a big slap in the face.

***

The five reporters, including Go Eun-Ah, were left in confusion.

“Why is the interview going to be conducted in the waiting room?”

“I know. Our numbers are even too little.”

This was because the trio that was the hottest topic in the War of the World Tree had requested to have a quiet interview in the Players’ Waiting Room. In addition, only the five reporters who were affiliated companies to Joy Co. Ltd. were allowed inside.

Not long after, the reporters came inside. However, just when they were about to turn the camera on, Locke suddenly said, “Ah. I’m a bit nervous.?Hoo! Hoo!?Please wait.”

“I’m so nervous. I think my chest is thumping wildly?”

“He’s got camera phobia, so whenever a camera is in front of him, he will drool and make weird noises.”

Then, the three people began to talk nonsense.

“I’m sorry, but can you go over there to help him relax for a moment before having the interview?”

They pointed towards the changing room inside the players’ waiting room. In fact, this was the game’s waiting room so the changing room was a bit meaningless. It was said that the coliseum, as well as the waiting room, were all tailored after the athlete’s waiting room and coliseum of the Olympics.

“Please take away all the cameras! Whenever I look at the camera…?Ugh!”

They all went into the changing room.

“At this rate, will we even be able to do an interview…?”

“Those people are weird.”

The reporters whispered in the small changing room.

Then, at that moment…

Bang!

𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

…they heard the door slamming open. The reporters suddenly started to pay attention to what was going on outside despite their confusion. Just then, they heard a familiar voice.

“Hey! You f*cking bastards!”

“Huh?” Go Eun-Ah asked dumbly, eyes wide in shock. It was because that was Carr’s voice.