Semifinals (4)
"Whooo."
Hikaru let out a long breath. His face was still filled with shock.
'To think she had been hiding such a ridiculous weapon.'
Even now, his insides still felt cold.
The shock still hadn't faded, and his body was trembling as well.
'Ascension Breath.'
That single skill had not only shredded every summon to pieces, it had even smashed the stage itself apart and created a massive hole.
Goooooooo...!
It had been dug so deep that it looked like a pitch-black, bottomless abyss with no end in sight right before his eyes.
Destructive power he had never seen before.
It truly was worthy of an S-grade summon.
"Khh, khhkhh."
Hikaru's shoulders shook.
Why was it so funny to him that he was still standing even after enduring such a ridiculous attack?
If he had fought a monster like this outside, he would have lost one hundred percent, but this was a player-vs-player match with limited summons.
And.
He was still alive.
'Bringing the Phoenix was the move of a god.'
In the place where everything had been torn apart, the Phoenix egg remained firmly behind.
Immortality.
It only took five minutes for the creature to be reborn at full health.
It was an absolutely broken summon!
"...Rachel."
Hikaru muttered.
"...."
But Rachel did not answer.
She was frozen with her eyes wide open, unable to even twitch a finger.
It was because the Tree Spirit's paralysis poison had taken full effect.
'And on top of that.'
Grrr.
Even the Yellow Dragon growling low seemed to have no strength left.
'It must be the penalty from Ascension Breath.'
Hikaru clenched his fist tightly.
Finally!
At last!
Was he really going to beat Rachel after four long years?
Even if it was not a complete stomp, even if Rachel had used only one summon.
'A win is a win.'
This would become a tremendous achievement for Japan.
Maybe when this league ended, his name would even be carved in as world rank number one.
"Rachel, you were way too careless."
As he waited for the Phoenix to be reborn in five minutes, Hikaru continued speaking.
"No matter what, bringing out only one summon against me is too much, isn't it? You looked down on me, but there should've been a limit to that. Don't you think? Hoo."
Hikaru sat down beside the Phoenix egg, waiting for the paralyzed Rachel!
Inside, he was already celebrating his victory.
* * *
"W-what is this?!"
"Seriously? Rachel is really going to lose like this?"
"No way!"
The guild members stared at the screen with stunned expressions.
ㄴThis is unbelievable!
ㄴPhoenix Immortality! Isn't that way too broken?
ㄴAnd what about that Tree Spirit that pierces shields and paralyzes the player?!
ㄴAh, aaah. This is a fatal mistake. Rachel underestimated Japan's Hikaru too much! No matter if it's S-grade, how can one summon possibly face five!
The commentators were in chaos too, and the live chat was on fire.
Rachel was frozen in place, and Hikaru was waiting for the Phoenix to finish her off.
Watching that historic moment, everyone raised their voices.
"But."
Baek Jinwoo frowned.
"Hikaru definitely did almost everything right, you know? But that last one percent is a little disappointing. If it were me, I wouldn't do that."
"Huh?"
"Why?"
The guild members showed interest.
Even after the Yellow Dragon breathed out its attack, Baek Jinwoo was the only one who had predicted Hikaru would win.
Had he seen something again?
"Line of sight."
"What?"
"He didn't block her vision. Ha, that idiot Sugoi. What is he doing? He practically had the win already."
Baek Jinwoo sounded frustrated.
There were two ways for a player to summon a summon.
Raise a hand, or move your line of sight to manipulate the status window!
That was why when players were imprisoned, their hands were tied and their eyes were covered.
"No matter how paralyzed she is, if her eyes are open, he shouldn't be letting his guard down like that. Especially when not all of her summons are even out yet."
If it were Baek Jinwoo, he would have run straight to Rachel in that situation.
And then he would have covered her eyes with both palms and held out for five minutes.
If he had done that, it would have been Hikaru's overwhelming victory.
"Wait, are you saying Rachel is going to bring out another summon in that condition?"
Hong Ari asked in horror.
If that was true, then that was genuinely terrifying.....
"You'll see if you watch."
Why was that?
Baek Jinwoo could see Rachel's thoughts as clearly as day.
'If the one she was truly wary of wasn't Hikaru, but me.'
Then she definitely would have hidden a summon.
Because Baek Jinwoo would have done the same thing.
* * *
At that same time.
'....'
Rachel let out a sigh inwardly.
'I thought it would end with the Breath, but I got completely caught off guard.'
Even so, at the same time, she was preparing to summon one more summon.
'I really didn't want to show this.'
But there was no helping it.
She had never imagined she might lose to Hikaru, so she had only registered two summons on the team.
'Hoo.'
Rachel's second hidden summon!
For reference, not even Olivia Abernathy or Bale from the England national team knew about this summon.
In the entire world, only she knew of it, and she had been secretly raising it.
'I was originally going to reveal it as a surprise attack when facing God Ji-nu.'
But at this point, there was no choice.
Losing to Hikaru was just absurd.
More than anything, she absolutely refused to hand him the glory of facing God Ji-nu in person.
Ssk, ssssk!
If her line of sight was open, she could move the status window with her will.
For some reason, Hikaru was sitting beside the Phoenix egg, his whole body trembling.
For her, that was a blessing in disguise!
She easily opened the summon window.
Press!
She pressed the Y button.
* * *
Had about a minute passed?
"Hm?"
Hikaru sprang to his feet.
Because he felt something rising around Rachel's body.
It was unmistakably the effect that appeared when another summon was being summoned.
'Damn it!'
Only then did he realize his mistake.
'I didn't cover her eyes!'
Rachel had only shown one summon.
Then he should have also considered that she still had four more!
It was the most basic of basics!
Because of the Breath...
Because of that overwhelming performance, his brain had frozen. And the desire to finally beat Rachel had made him forget the fundamentals.
'So I was the one who had let my guard down.'
He tried to rush forward, even if belatedly, but it was already too late.
Kwagagagagaga!
The being that appeared, covering the entire space, was an enormous white tiger!
White Tiger.
Awoooooong!
At its roar, Hikaru's body stiffened instantly.
His breath caught in his throat.
'W-what the hell... what kind of summon is that now?'
If it was a summon that did not exist in the head of someone like him, a ten-year veteran....
'Kusso.....!'
It had to be S-grade.
That crazy Rachel had two S-grade summons.
This was beyond absurd. It was ridiculous, and unfair too.
How lucky did someone have to be to have two S-grade summons?
"This makes no sense!"
Hikaru shouted, but White Tiger was already charging forward. With its enormous jaws thrust out.
"H-Hey! Wait a second! There's no need to be so hasty...!"
Kwa-ddeudeuk!
It bit down on even the section of ground where the Phoenix egg had been lying.
As if sneering, asking how he had ever dared think of defeating its master.
* * *
"Whoa, what is that?!"
"White Tiger?"
That was definitely White Tiger.
A summon Baek Jinwoo knew about.
Was it during the third year of 「Battle of Summoners」?
There had been one insanely lucky guy.
He was probably a Ukrainian player. He got an 'Ultimate Summoning Scroll' in one shot, and then on top of that, he beat the 1% odds in one go and pulled an S-grade summon...
The other veteran players probably wouldn't know.
He had kept in contact with Baek Jinwoo briefly, then quit pretty quickly, saying even pulling an S-grade wasn't fun anymore.
And the one he had pulled back then was none other than White Tiger.
East, the Azure Dragon.
South, Vermilion Bird.
West, White Tiger.
North, Black Tortoise.
From what Baek Jinwoo had learned, the Four Guardian Deities passed down in Eastern mythology had been set as S-grade summons.
"Wh-why... why..."
"Why? Guild Master?"
When the guild members asked in surprise,
"That's S-grade. White Tiger. One of the Four Guardian Deities."
Baek Jinwoo explained.
"Huh."
"Really? Something like that existed?"
"Then after the Yellow Dragon, she had another S-grade too? Ugh..."
A groan-like exclamation slipped from their mouths.
The current Rachel was already holding onto the world rank number one spot with just the Yellow Dragon alone.
And now another S-grade was added on top of that?
They had thought she was simply a monster, only to find out she was a monster that had been hiding her strength?
'Hidden strength...'
'This is seriously too much.'
With a single move, Rachel had shattered Hikaru's hopes, along with the hopes of all of Japan.
She had announced to the entire world that Britain was not merely still standing strong, but had gone even further ahead.
ㄴAh, aaah...!
ㄴWhat in the world is that summon?
ㄴI don't know. We'll probably have to wait until after the match and ask in the interview.
One thing's for sure: even the current experts don't really know what kind of summon that is.
Anyway.
Since Hikaru had lost to Rachel, the result was obvious.
The winner of Britain vs. Japan was Britain!
"Waaaaaaaah!"
"Uwaaaaaaaaah!"
For a moment the world had fallen silent, and then thunderous cheers erupted everywhere.
The Korean live chat was on fire too.
ㄴDamn, as expected, Rachel is on a whole different level.
ㄴI curse my stupid instincts for thinking for even a second that Hikaru might win.
ㄴWell, obviously. Rachel losing to Hikaru would've been the weird part. Rachel is the real deal even among the Five Emperors.
ㄴBut what's with that white tiger? It looks crazy strong.
ㄴA lot of people are saying it's an S-grade summon. Still not confirmed yet though?
ㄴAnother S-grade?
ㄴDoes that even make sense?
ㄴSeriously, that's ridiculous. Wasn't Rachel already the only player in the world with an S-grade summon?
ㄴAccording to the official records, yeah.
"Ha."
Baek Jinwoo laughed.
It was a hollow laugh born from disbelief.
'She's seriously insane.'
Two S-grades?
Even if someone's on a different level, there should be limits.
What kind of nonsense is it to give another S-grade to someone who already has one?
This damn world!
A cursed RNG hellhole!
What, does the rich-get-richer gap apply even to summons too?
Of course, this was coming from Baek Jinwoo, who had started with an EX-grade summon, so he was hardly in a position to talk, but still!
It was absurd all the same.
'Mine's more like a special privilege, but hers is just pure luck.'
At this point, he really couldn't be sure.
Baek Jinwoo had the skills of most summons up to around A-grade in his head, but he barely knew anything about S-grades.
How could he memorize things that hadn't even existed back in 「Battle of Summoners」?
There was a world of difference between fighting while knowing the opponent's skills and patterns, and fighting while relying only on instinct.
"Hoo."
Baek Jinwoo closed his eyes.
'Get a grip.'
He changed his perspective.
This was actually a good thing.
The harder the opponent, the greater the thrill when you finally crush them!
'That's always been my style.'
"Everyone."
Baek Jinwoo slowly swept his gaze around. All the guild members wore grim expressions.
"We've seen enough of today's match, so let's get ready for tomorrow's match against the U.S."
Right.
Forget Britain for now.
First, he needed to crush Xenos of the United States.
"Since we've made it to the semifinals, shouldn't we at least make it to the finals?"
Baek Jinwoo's eyes turned cold.
Then he started walking.
To once again check over the rune setup they had been preparing for the semifinal match.