Junhyuk ran toward his enemies, and they retreated, running into the castle’s force field.

“Attack the force field!” he shouted.

As he did, the allies ran out and started pounding against the castle’s force field. The enemies were waiting for his force field to disappear, and when it did, Nid and Kildaren walked out at last.

Nid stepped forward spinning and slashing. His attack swept through all of the allies, and just as Nid was about to use another power, Junhyuk, in an attempt to prevent it, used his Spatial Slash on the hero.

The single-point explosion accompanied the Spatial Slash, which struck Nid’s neck. The spherical shockwave extended from the point of impact. Junhyuk had also used the Spatial Slash to try to scare Kilraden from coming out.

Bleeding profusely, Nid lost 45 percent of his health. However, the extra attack also triggered this time, so he took another 28 percent of damage, losing a big chunk all at once.

Nid only had 27 percent of his health left, so Kilraden hesitated as he watched Nid, avoiding the sweeping shockwave entirely.

It was as if Kilraden had used Nid as a bait. However, Junhyuk still wanted to kill the bait, so he ran toward the Nid.

Nid howled.

“Hooowl!”

All of the allies were stunned, and Nid took the opportunity to attack. The three-second stun felt longer than one expected, and Nid slashed Sarang’s Neck and Gongon’s ribs. Finally, Nid also slashed Junhyuk’s side.

While Junhyuk was stunned, Nid tried to push him out of the way to retreat into the force field, but Gongon regained his movement at just the right time and bit the hero’s leg.

Sarang shot electric arrows at him, and while grappled, Nid couldn’t go back to the castle’s force field. Junhyuk stabbed the back of Nid’s neck. The hero had been under attack from Sarang and Gongon, and finally, with Junhyuk’s attack, he lost all of his health.

At the same time, Kilraden appeared behind Sarang and stabbed her neck with his dagger. She had lost a lot of health already, so she died with that single blow.

[You’ve killed Nid and earned 3,000G.]

{Kilraden killed Sarang.]

Junhyuk clicked his tongue and turned to face Kilraden, swinging his sword in the process. Kilraden used his counter on him, but because Junhyuk had expected that, he continued attacking even while getting hit.

Kilraden’s counter dealt 10 percent of damage to Junhyuk, and as Junhyuk’s sword was about to touch Kilraden’s neck, the hero teleported back to the castle’s force field.

Junhyuk felt like he had missed an opportunity, but he turned around and went back to pounding the castle’s force field.

The allies had killed two and, while they revived, the allies would have enough time to destroy the castle’s force field. Junhyuk and Gongon focused entirely on their task.

Kilraden was losing his mind. Failing to remain patient, he exited the force field again. Instead of aiming for Junhyuk, the hero teleported and grabbed Gongon, stabbing the hatchling in the neck.

The attack was a critical, and as that happened, Junhyuk turned around and tried to slash the hero. Kilraden blocked the attack with his dagger and tried retreating.

He was trying to buy himself time. Kilraden didn’t want to fight Junhyuk, but at the same time, Junhyuk wanted to finish him off and stop him from meddling with the destruction of the castle’s force field.

Junhyuk went all out against Kilraden, and triggering acceleration, but Kilraden went into hiding. At that moment, just as Kilraden hid, Gongon breathed fire at the area in the hero’s direction.

Although Kilraden was hiding, he couldn’t remain hidden due to being within range of Gongon’s firebreath, which covered a wide area. Seeing that, Junhyuk attempted to slash at the hero.

Kilraden, on the other hand, turned translucent.

Junhyuk sword merely pa.s.sed through the hero, and he grimaced.

“Gon! Move!”

Kilraden had triggered his ultimate, and Junhyuk started running toward the hatchling. However, Kilraden’s illusions were already attacking Gongon, who had already used all of his powers.

Gongon started losing health in chunks, getting hit again and again, until he finally disappeared.

[Kilraden killed Gongon.]

Junhyuk’s acceleration was still active, so he could see Kilraden’s illusions moving around. The illusions could teleport across twenty meters to attack. Teleportations meant crossing s.p.a.ce, and due to acceleration, Junhyuk could see it happening in detail. He was seeing something he had never seen before.

Was it because Junhyuk was now filled with mana and ready to make the evolution into a hero? He could sense and see s.p.a.ce folding within itself with each teleport and, because of that, he felt that the world around him was different now.

Junhyuk had completely forgotten about Gongon, simply staring at the empty air. Kilraden, by contrast, had already returned to the castle’s force field.

Junhyuk simply stood there dumbfounded, thinking about what he had just witnessed. Then, inspecting the world around him, he asked, “Is it just this place?”

Junhyuk raised his sword and moved it around. The sword went back and forth through the s.p.a.ce, and as it did, Junhyuk felt the s.p.a.ce the sword had touched. He could sense it like the flow of water, shocking himself.

Junhyuk had spatial powers, but this was the first time that he could sense spatial movement. However, that did not mean that he had just activated a power.

He knew he had made a giant stride toward becoming a hero, but he put away his spatial understanding for now and stared at the castle’s force field.

Kilraden was watching Junhyuk and caressing his dagger. The hero had killed the others, but he had not killed Junhyuk. It was almost impossible for him to do it alone, so he was waiting for Kraken to revive.

Junhyuk pounded against the castle’s force field without rest. He had just realized that he could sense s.p.a.ce, but now wasn’t the time to investigate that further.

He had to seize that opportunity to win, so he slashed the castle’s force field heavily. Kilraden, who was watching him destroy the force field, decided to exit the force field while brandishing his dagger.

The hero walked forward slowly and alone, and Junhyuk slashed at him. His own force field was gone now, so Junhyuk couldn’t simply ignore Kilraden.

Kilraden blocked the slash with his dagger, and Junhyuk focused on Kilraden’s parries. After attacking continuously, Junhyuk learned something. Even without acceleration active, he could sense s.p.a.ce and movement within and through s.p.a.ce.

As Kilraden moved, Junhyuk sensed the hero’s movement through s.p.a.ce, which enabled him to tell what Kilraden’s next move would be. He could track his enemy’s movements even without acceleration, improving his swordsmanship even further.

Junhyuk could injure Kilraden, but Kilraden could also retreat at any time. Once the hero was injured, he went back into the castle’s force field.

However, Junhyuk didn’t feel bad about it. He simply went back to pounding against the castle’s force field, wanting to finish the battle as soon as possible.

As he did, Kilraden recharged his health and walked out again.

Junhyuk attacked the hero again, but Kilraden decided to actually fight him that time. Now, however, Junhyuk could clearly sense the hero’s movements through s.p.a.ce, and he thought that Kilraden was the best sparring partner he’d had.

Kilraden was helping him learn and grown all at once. Meanwhile, the hero grimaced as he watched Junhyuk’s swordsmanship evolve with every second, with the understanding that Junhyuk’s regular attacks were dealing more damage now.

Kilraden was a hero, and the hero was getting humiliated.

The hero had a sense for the situation. He could retreat into the force field at any time to recover his health. Then, he would step forward again. Kilraden was getting hurt, but he was also hurting.

It was time for him to go back into the force field, but then, Junhyuk teleported, blocking the hero’s path. Kilraden had already used all of his teleportations, but the hero thought Junhyuk shouldn’t have been able to teleport yet, either.

However, as Junhyuk fought Kilraden, he had felt something. As he gained an understanding for s.p.a.ce, the cooldown for his powers concerning s.p.a.ce decreased.

It was only by a few seconds, but that enabled him to stop his enemy.

Junhyuk stabbed at Kilraden, and the hero tried to block with his dagger. However, the sword disappeared and punctured Kilraden’s neck.

“Ugh!”

It was a critical hit, and Kilraden lost 60 percent of his health. The hero felt like he was getting hit by raw lightning. Junhyuk was using his powers, and Kilraden lost most of his health.

While they exchanged blows, his powers returned to him faster than ever, and Kilraden was. .h.i.t by the Spatial Slash.

The hero went on defense, trying to go back into the force field, and Junhyuk, realizing what he was trying to do, got even closer.

Junhyuk didn’t attempt to swing his sword, and Kilraden stabbed him. As he did, however, Junhyuk took the stab and teleported with the hero.

They appeared twenty meters from the castle. The dagger was extremely dangerous at close range, so Junhyuk distanced himself and slashed at the hero.

Kilraden parried with the dagger, but Junhyuk pushed his second sword forward, stabbing Kilraden’s stomach. It was a critical hit, and Kilraden lost the remainder of his health.

[You’ve killed Kilraden and earned 3,000G.]

Junhyuk didn’t have time to check on whether Kilraden had actually died. Instead, he ran back to the castle and pounded against the force field. Kilraden had delayed him, but because of that, his cooldowns had shortened, enabling him to finally kill the hero.

As Junhyuk pounded against the force field, the layer of energy got thinner. Kraken appeared, but before the hero could come out of the force field, Junhyuk delivered the last blow.

Clang!

With it, the castle came crumbling down. Kraken stared hard at him from within, and Junhyuk looked back at it.

Junhyuk wouldn’t have to see Kraken again, as Kraken couldn’t come back to the Champions’ Battlefield. So, he coughed out all the air in his lungs. It wasn’t easy for champions to kill heroes, but he had done it.

Then, he realized something else, his energy. The mana belonged to him now, and with it, he could sense s.p.a.ce. All of his cooldowns had decreased, just like they would have if he had activated a power.

The world turned blindingly white, and Junhyuk closed his eyes. Then, he felt it. He felt the s.p.a.ce around him crumbling. He could sense it. However, another bright light pounded against his eyes, and he was forced to open them.

In front of him, he saw a giant cube. It was the Champions’ Battlefield reward, and he sighed. Junhyuk wanted to delve deeper into his sensing and understanding of s.p.a.ce, but he didn’t have the time for it.

“Now’s not the time!”