Everything turned bright around him, and when he opened his eyes, Junhyuk saw Ariel.

[Congratulations! You will now advance to the semi-finals.]

“Right, the semis.”

Junhyuk could see the light at the end of the tunnel.

[You’ve been awarded 1,000,000G for your victory.]

Junhyuk placed a 500,000G bet on Ling Ling’s team. The returns were now at 90 percent, but he still wanted to bet on her. Junhyuk wanted Ling Ling to win. Looking at Ariel, he asked, “Can I go now?”

[Of course! I hope you’ll win next time.]

Ariel waved at him, and while watching her, Junhyuk returned to Earth. The others were already awake.

He smiled at Elise and said, “It’s a good thing we got that synthesis material.”

Elise smiled and, looking at everyone, said, “Thanks for getting it for me. I should pay you for it, the synthesis material.”

Shaking his head, Junhyuk said, “No. The team supports you.”

“What you do is not cheap.”

“Think of what you’ve been doing for us.”

Elise smiled and replied, “Thank you for thinking that. Can you help me with my tests?”

“Of course!”

“I’m going to the lab now to prepare for the Moon Core upgrades.”

Elise left with Sarang, who also wanted to run a few tests. An hour pa.s.sed, and Helen and Eunseo woke up. Helen bowed to him and left.

Junhyuk turned to Eunseo then. Her eyes were deeper than before, so he asked, “Are you OK?”

“I’m fine.”

He grabbed her hand. Eunseo was a little surprised by the move, but he continued calmly, “I only know of one person who endured the harrowing void with ease.”

“Who was it?”

“Elise.”

“Elise?!”

“Yeah. When she died, she delved deeper into her research.”

Eunseo, stunned, chuckled and said, “That’s very much like her.”

“Right?! She isn’t normal. On top of that, her buff is a game changer.”

“Is that right?”

“Definitely! She can give you the dragon’s buff now.”

“What?!”

With a smile on his face, Junhyuk said, “She’ll help us become legends.”

“That’s too bad. I wanted to help as well.”

“You are helping us outside of the battlefield.

Getting up, Eunseo said, “I must get stronger.”

Junhyuk watched her leave, and when he finally left the training facility, he went to see Elise. She had dismantled Moon Core and was in the process of a.n.a.lyzing the pieces.

“Are you going to upgrade it?”

“It’s lacking in speed. I have to do it. I’ll need another core to get it done. The cores I have right now have been designed for attack, but they are not fast.”

“Can you transfer the energy of the core to speed?”

“If I can’t, I’m not going to be able to block enemy attacks.”

Junhyuk was stunned. Elise had chosen to become stronger, and that required a lot of gold and money. Even a core would be needed for it.

Junhyuk raised his hand. For the sake of the team, Elise couldn’t die. Giving up a core wasn’t a problem, but she had to increase her defense.

Right now, even regular attacks could be a problem.

“What do you need?” he asked her.

With a smile, she answered, “I’ll upgrade the Moon Core first. Then, you’ll spar with me so that I can fix any shortcomings.”

She stared at him and added, “If I can block your attacks, I’ll won’t die so easily in the Dimensional Battlefield.”

“Right.”

Right now, Junhyuk’s sword techniques were at the peak of their capabilities in the Dimensional Battlefield. He wasn’t inferior to Artlan in any way, so if Elise managed to block his attacks with the upgraded Moon Core, she would become incredibly difficult to kill in the battlefield.

“How long will it take?”

“The upgrade won’t take long.” Elise moved her hands like lightning, reprogramming Moon Core. She socketed two cores to Moon Core and turned to him. “Can we spar now?”

“Let’s go to the training facility.” Before they left, Junhyuk asked, “One more thing. How’s the investigation on Charles progressing?”

“It’s only been an hour since we returned from the battlefield, so nothing’s changed. We are still searching for him.”

Junhyuk nodded and entered the training facility with her. With the upgraded Moon Core hovering next to her, Elise said, “Don’t hold anything back.”

“Sure.”

“Moon Core possesses artificial intelligence, so it can learn from its experiences in battle.”

“OK,” Junhyuk replied and dashed forward, slashing with his sword.

Moon Core tried to block the attack, but Junhyuk changed the trajectory of his slash. He wanted to test Moon Core, so he accelerated and slashed at it again. Moon Core sped up.

Elise, with arms folded, blocked his sword. She was a.n.a.lyzing Moon Core.

Junhyuk sped up again, watching how the weapon would respond. Moon Core chased after him while he accelerated, but because of that, Junhyuk realized he could lure it. The weapon couldn’t distinguish a real attack from a feint.

Junhyuk wanted Moon Core to learn, so he taught it. Moon Core was learning, and seeing that, Elise smiled.

“I’m learning.”

“Check this out.”

Junhyuk pulled Moon Core, attacking it from long range with his swords. Moon Core moved quickly, shooting off beams to block the attacks.

Smiling, Junhyuk said, “It can block long range attacks.”

Junhyuk taught Moon Core until he was satisfied with the weapon’s progress. Moon Core was an apt pupil and a quick learner, but the weapon couldn’t push him around.

Moon Core had very high defensive capabilities, and Junhyuk ended up forgetting about the time while sparring with it. He finally took a step back to breathe, satisfied that Moon Core would be useful now.

Elise a.n.a.lyzed the data from Moon Core and grabbed her chin in astonishment.

“So, this is your power.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve a.n.a.lyzed your swordsmanship, and it’s astonishing. Heroes can definitely push through human limitations.”

Junhyuk smiled and said, “We trained for a while.”

“Yes. You attacked Moon Core twenty-two thousand times.” Staring at him, she added, “I can’t believe it.”

“Humans don’t have limits.”

“I’ll a.n.a.lyze the data further and make repairs.”

“Sure. When you find Charles, call me. I’ll go get him.”

“I will.”

Elise left, and Junhyuk contacted Artlan, who smiled at him.

“What happened?”

“We went up against Bater, and it was a hard fight, but we won!”

“You went up against Bater?”

“Yes.”

“Ha-ha-ha! And you defeated him!”

“Do you want to have a drink?”

“I want to, but I have some business to attend to. Next time.”

“Is it a serious problem?”

“No. I’m facing a rebellion.”

“Are you hurt?”

“How can I be hurt? The rebels are all dead. I’m redistributing their territory, but I have to do it myself.”

“Sure.”

“I’ve been too focused on the Dimensional Battlefield, so the rebels forgot about me. I have to be more mindful of that.”

Junhyuk smiled. The rebels had to have faced Artlan’s wrath. He disconnected with Artlan and contacted Vera. She had to know more about the situation since she was in the same world as him.

Vera smiled at him and asked, “Why did you call?”

“I heard Artlan was having rebel problems.”

“Ah! That. It wasn’t really a problem.”

“What happened?”

“Nothing. The royals and n.o.bles of five kingdoms staged a coup. Artlan killed them all, including their foot soldiers. About a million people died. He was too focused on the Dimensional Battlefield, so the rebels started thinking too highly of themselves.”

Junhyuk wasn’t sure about what he had heard. Artlan had killed a million people?

“A million?”

“Artlan is getting old. During the last rebellion, he decimated the entire kingdom. But now, he killed only those who partic.i.p.ated in it.”

Junhyuk had learned something new about Artlan. The hero had ma.s.sacred an entire kingdom. It was no surprise that he had a hard time facing Artlan.

Artlan had grown older and ma.s.sacred only a million dissidents.

Putting a smile on his face, Junhyuk said, “He’s busy. How about you?”

“Hm… I want to see you, but something big is happening in the continent because of the rebellion. As head of the magic tower, I can’t ignore it. I’m busy, and Nudra and Halo should be as well.”

Five kingdoms had been destroyed. If five countries were destroyed on Earth and a million people died, Earth would be in chaos.

“Sure. I’ll invite you next time.”

“Right. See you!”