As Junhyuk approached, they all turned to him. He looked at each of their faces: the four heroes and Elise, the expert. Those were the allies.

Junhyuk greeted them, “Long time, no see.”

They greeted him back and nodded. The heroes talked casually among themselves, and Junhyuk asked calmly, “What should we do this time?”

He did not care in which direction he went. He had already fought their enemies and he especially enjoyed destroying Epilen, who had a stealth power.

Epilen was heading middle as they talked. To Sarang, he was dangerous, but she could still fight him with her ultimate.

Sarang spoke up, “I’ll head middle with you. Layla is a better fit for a side path.”

Alondo was a difficult opponent for him. He had his new swordsmanship, but Alondo was incredibly fast. Junhyuk wanted to buy items that buffed movement speed before he fought Alondo again.

Gongon smacked his lips and asked, “So, am I at it alone again?”

“Elise will accompany you.”

“Sure.”

Gongon turned to Elise and said, “Give me a piggyback ride.”

He hopped on Elise’s shoulder, and she said, “Teach me many things.”

“Sure. It’ll keep us occupied.”

Gongon had gifted her a socketing item, and she was learning from him. It was good that they would spend that time together.

Junhyuk said to him, “Do look after her.”

“Don’t worry.”

Junhyuk turned to Layla and said, “You head to the right.”

“No problem,” Layla replied. When he looked at Rodrey, the hero waved at him dismissively.

“I am used to this, so don’t worry.”

“I’m expecting great things from you,” Junhyuk replied. “We displayed our superiority last time, and the battle should go the same way this time. Let’s take two hundred minions for each path.”

Two hundred minions were enough to destroy the enemy castle, which meant that each group could finish the battle if they got there.

Junhyuk headed out with Sarang and two hundred minions. On the way, Sarang asked, “After we take the buff tower, do we keep pushing?”

“No, we’ll support those who need us and push from the side we join.”

Sarang smiled and asked, “Will it be that easy?”

“Our enemies should be weaker this time around.”

The enemies had died two or three times in the previous round, so they were supposed to have gotten weaker with the loss of their items, and the allies stronger. The allies still had to be aware of the enemy combos, however.

Junhyuk and Sarang climbed up the middle trail and saw the enemies ahead. They spotted the undead minions first. Their numbers were rather high.

The undead minions were climbing their side of the mountain in an endless procession. There were four hundred of them.

When Junhyuk realized his own minions were outnumbered two to one, he frowned.

“Why so many?”

Then, he spotted the enemy heroes.

“They are all here?!”

The five enemy heroes had pushed for the buff tower. Junhyuk thought that he and Sarang would be able to deal with three, but five was too much.

He looked at Sarang and asked, “What do you want to do?”

“Maybe we should give up the buff tower?”

Even with the allied watchtower as support, there were too many enemies there. They couldn’t even count on the minions to hold their own.

Junhyuk sighed and said, “Use the watchtower to buy time. We’ll call the others for help.”

He took a few steps back and connected to Layla and Gongon. In the battlefield, he could talk to multiple people at the same time.

“What’s going on?”

“Have you found the enemy?”

He nodded slowly and replied, “All five of them are here. Push down your paths as quickly as possible. I’ll buy us more time here.”

“Ha! Crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! They are all there?! Do they think we are pushovers?!”

Considering they could lose valuable items, Sarang and Junhyuk should really be running away. Only Alondo would be able to chase them down.

However, Junhyuk thought they could still win. There were a lot of enemies, and they were strong, but he trusted Sarang. The enemies weren’t stupid, however, so they kept a reasonable distance from their watchtower.

Junhyu leaned against it and smacked his lips.

“It’s the first time in a long time that I get the feeling of a real battle.”

“Right.”

Junhyuk had been a superior existence during team selections and had been made curious by how weak his enemies had been, but now, his enemies were powerful. His enemies were making new strategies and rules of engagement as things progressed, betting on their victory.

They had all headed middle, which meant that they were giving up the left and right paths. The middle path was the shortest path, so controlling it also meant controlling the battlefield, especially if they were able to take and keep the buff.

Junhyuk did not care about how far the enemies were. He needed the allied watchtower to fight, which meant not being able to protect the buff tower.

He watched as the enemies started heading for the buff tower and turned to Sarang.

“We have to snipe them.”

“Snipe?”

He turned to the enemy heroes and said, “If we are lucky, we might kill one.”

Junhyuk wanted to take one down before they could even fight and battle against the remaining four. He was also thinking about fighting two versus five. As he thought, the enemies sent the undead minions toward the buff tower. Among them, were the enemy heroes, surrounded by a protective barrier of undead minions. They were confident in their plan. Even bunched up, they felt no fear.

“Minions, attack!” Junhyuk shouted.

The allied minions moved forward with their shields up. The undead minions moved toward them. Both sets of minions fought similarly. The undead felt no pain, but they were slower than the allied minions.

The battle was even.

The minions clashed with their shields and weapons, and Junhyuk ran toward the clash. The enemy heroes frowned when they saw him move out.

The enemy heroes were gathered by the buff tower, so Junhyuk would seize his chance. As he ran, however, Alondo and Durandal ran toward him.

Durandal was a tank, and both enemy heroes had throws. They could launch Junhyuk back behind the enemy formation. If that happened, he might have to use his force field, but he would wait until the last minute.

Junhyuk teleported, distancing himself from the two enemies. Then, he used his Spatial Slash with Aksha’s Longsword.

With it, the range of his Spatial Slash was twenty meters longer, so he was able to attack the heroes. Penslin was readying an arrow when the Spatial Slash sliced through him.

Slash!

That single strike killed Penslin, and the shockwave from it swept through the enemy heroes.

Junhyuk used the enemy minions’ shoulders as footholds, but they attacked him. The minions dealt continuous damage to him as Alondo and Durandal approached him.

Alondo was riding his skeleton horse, moving almost like a specter. Junhyuk was worried about him. Alondo had a flipping power that he might use on him, and he had to keep himself from being hit by it.

Junhyuk jumped and escaped the swarm. Alondo watched him get away and muttered, “Really fast.”

Junhyuk was now standing on the allied watchtower. From there, he shouted, “Form a defensive line! Retreat to the watchtower!”

The minions held their shields up and stepped backward. Alondo and Durandal attacked them. Naturally, because the minions were walking backward, they were rather slow. The enemy heroes pierced through their defenses.

Junhyuk couldn’t allow his minions to get whipped out.

“Retreat at full speed!” he shouted, and the allied minions broke formation and ran back. The defensive line was gone, and the undead minions fell upon them with ease.

He watched as the allied minions died, but he did not step in. Junhyuk needed to wait for his Spatial Slash. Biting his lips, he saw the allied minions being killed in bunches.

Sarang said, “We’ll lose more than fifty minions this way.”

“There’s nothing I can do.”

“If the enemies get closer, I can attack.”

Her Thunderstorm had great range, so she could attack them before they got to her.

Junhyuk didn’t have his Spatial Slash yet, so he had made up his mind. Some enemy heroes were already inside the buff tower.

Those with low health were taking the buff. He would seize that moment to divide the enemies in two groups. Looking at Sarang, he said, “Let’s teleport, and you’ll use your Thunderstorm.”

“Sure!”

He grabbed her hand and teleported. He closed in, and Alondo and Durandal rushed toward him. Junhyuk triggered his ultimate, the Spatial Collapse, right between the two. Lightning flashed, and bolts slammed against Alondo. The web of lightning from the impact stretched over Durandal.

Junhyuk watched as the enemy heroes from the buff tower ran toward him.

“Let’s kill all five rats!”