After letting them know the next target, the experts and novices were quickly moved to the United States. The Americans had been worried that they might change their minds, so they sent a plane immediately.

However, the flight was still long.

Fighter jets were escorting their plane to the United States. The American had thought of everything, and Junhyuk had had no reason to refuse their protection.

After Junhyuk created the new face, he decided not to appear in his armor anymore. However, he asked the Americans to prevent the reporters from getting close to him, and the Americans followed his request. Sitting comfortably in business cla.s.s, Junhyuk closed his eyes.

While sparring with Sarang, Junhyuk had learned about his own problems. Sarang had intelligence runestones of the highest quality, so she could attack and cast magic nonstop. The Dimensional Battlefield would limit her movements, just like how it limited Junhyuk’s acceleration, but her magic remained unaffected on Earth. She could move and cast magic very quickly.

Without his acceleration, if Junhyuk wanted to get close to her, he had to parry her magic. Just dodging it wouldn’t do since his regular speed wasn’t fast enough for that. Therefore, he had learned to use his mana blade to parry her magic. It was difficult to pull it off.

Sarang’s magic travelled very fast, so parrying it was a lot more difficult than blocking it. If he used his acceleration, he would be able to read the path of her magic and dodge it, but without it, parrying it was even harder. Nevertheless, because of that, his parries were improving.

With his eyes closed, he reminisced to their sparring session. Magic didn’t act like he expected, and since he was improving, so was Sarang. She wasn’t an easy opponent, and that made him want to focus on training even further.

Junhyuk had wanted to teach her how to sense spatial fluctuations. When the enemy was hiding, his spatial sense could be called a counter to it. However, it hadn’t been possible. Even though she was extremely intelligent, she couldn’t grasp s.p.a.ce with her body like he could.

If she had been able to learn, she wouldn’t need to worry about a.s.sa.s.sins.

Junhyuk refocused.

They arrived in New York and went to the hotel. There, Junhyuk met Brigadier Martin, from the United States Department of Defense.

Martin gave him the research on the monsters. The Americans had a team researching the monster area, and the researchers met with Lucy. Meanwhile, Junhyuk was meeting with other people.

The destruction of the Chinese dimensional tear had been broadcast, along with the amount the teams had received, so more powered people started to show up. Among them, were two experts. Junhyuk had recruited more novices as well, especially those with restraining power.

Squads within the novice team had to be made up of five people, and he needed restraining powers in each of those squads. He needed those powers more than any other.

Those people had seen how Junhyuk had destroyed the Chinese dimensional tear, so now, they were appearing in droves. Junhyuk knew that they hadn’t just activated their powers. He knew that they had been in hiding before.

He was meeting some of the new experts, but he gave Lucy the right to choose the new members of the novice attack team.

The Indian’s expert’s name was Kushuma, and the Italian’s was Gabino. Kushuma exuded a good impression, and Gabino was very handsome.

“I’ve heard about your powers, but can you go over them in detail?”

Kushuma extended his hand, and a dirt golem rose from the ground. It looked just like a giant golem, but it was made from dirt. The golem was three meters tall and bowed to Junhyuk, astonishing him.

Jeffrey could summon monsters, and Kushuma could summon a golem. His power wasn’t as great as Jeffrey’s, but it was still useful.

Kushuma said, “My other power restrains my enemy with dirt.”

Junhyuk looked at Gabino then, and Gabino smiled cheerfully at him.

“I have a power that instills fear in my enemy and makes them run away, and this…”

A flame appeared in Gabino’s hand, and Junhyuk knew what kind of power it was. He had to be in demand with the heroes.

Junhyuk thought the two wouldn’t die easily, and he had them join the experts’ team.

“Let’s save the Earth together.”

They both smiled.

More experts were showing up, which meant that, eventually, more champions would show up. It wasn’t easy to become a champion, but his expectations made sense.

With more champions, more heroes would appear.

Junhyuk sent Kushuma and Gabino away and entered his room. He lay in bed and muttered, “Is it tomorrow?”

Sarang would go to the Champions’ Battlefield again, and Junhyuk had bet a small sum on her, one he could afford to lose. He thought of it as pay-per-view.

Sarang had been sparring with him and getting better, and he knew his own powers were outstanding, but in the battlefield, winning took more than powers. Junhyuk depended heavily on his Spatial Slash, so he was practicing his regular attacks with her.

Now, however, it was time for him to trust her.

“Should I go see her?”

Junhyuk entered the training facility and waited for Sarang. Once she appeared, he smiled at her.

“You are going to the battlefield tomorrow, so let’s practice for real.”

“OK!”

Sarang enjoyed sparring with him and distanced herself from him.

“Let’s begin!”

Junhyuk rushed toward her.

—

Friday.

The world turned white, and Junhyuk knew it was time. When he opened his eyes, he saw Ariel smiling at him.

[You are here to watch the battle.]

He had been there once before, so he took a seat. Ariel walked up to him and asked, [Do you need an explanation?]

“No, you’ve already done that.” He smiled at her and said, “Show me Sarang’s vision.”

[I’ll make things ready.]

Sarang walked through the light and saw a very handsome elf next to a tall man. The man with the huge physique was the tank. However, the tank did not possess a good record.

Junhyuk had already told her about him. In that battlefield, Sarang’s role was the most important. Her role was to lead.

Sarang spoke to the two, and they listened to her. After that, they started moving with the lizardmen. She was paired with the elf.

Junhyuk requested a fast forward.

Sarang took the right path, and when she arrived at the watchtower with the elf, she saw her enemies.

The tank and the vanguard were there, and the two stepped forward with their own lizardmen. They could kill the tank if Sarang and the elf attacked him at the same time, but they weren’t interested in that. The enemy vanguard stepped forward, and the elf ran toward him. On the way, the elf restrained the tank.

From Sarang’s point of view, the tank and the vanguard grew in size. She cast electric blasts on both of them and dropped a Thunderstorm on the vanguard. She had sparred with Junhyuk as if Junhyuk had been a tank.

Sarang had to keep maximum range with the tank for her plan to work, and she joined the elf. She had the superiority now.

Suddenly, the elf shouted, and Sarang turned around to see a dagger stab her chest. The a.s.sa.s.sin showed himself, but he had already stabbed her.

The world turned black, and Junhyuk frowned.

“The three of them were there?!”

That had been unexpected. It also meant that the enemy team had given up on the left watchtower. Their target was her.

Sarang left the room and saw the elf, which meant that he had also been killed.

Junhyuk knew that Sarang’s team was weak. They moved out with more lizardmen, but both of them being killed meant that they had lost their tower.

The enemies could have gone for the buff after the first tower, but if not, they had to move quickly to protect the second tower.

When they got there, they saw that the second watchtower was safe, so they started moving toward Hatma.

Junhyuk fast forwarded again.

The allies were near Hatma’s island, and there, they met their enemies. The allied tank was missing.

“Show me the entire battlefield.”

When Junhyuk spotted the allied tank he laughed very hard.

“What?!”

The tank was not moving toward the island. Instead, he had rushed toward the second watchtower. He clearly didn’t care about his enemy’s movements.

Junhyuk smiled bitterly. Things were not going as planned.

He started watching through Sarang’s eyes again.

The allies couldn’t cross the stepping stones, staring at the enemies on the other side. The enemies had gotten the quest, so they crossed the stepping stones away from the allies in the direction of the quest.

All three enemies were there, so Junhyuk muttered, “Keep your distance and follow them.”

In full view, the allied tank was destroying the second watchtower. Because of that, one of their enemies would have to return. Victory would be decided by the allied tank’s struggle.

Sarang and the elf started to chase after the enemies. They could ambush the enemy champions while their enemies were trying to complete the quest. However, the enemies turned around and tried to engage them, but the allies retreated quickly while keeping a certain distance. There was enough s.p.a.ce between the two groups.

Quest monsters were dangerous, which meant that the enemies couldn’t split up. At the same time, the allied tank broke through the watchtower and started moving toward the enemy castle.

The enemies were in a tough spot, and the allied tank had created that situation by ignoring Sarang’s instructions.