Episode 79: Exchange Battle (4)
The students who weren’t selected or didn’t participate gathered in small groups, chatting.
Some held popcorn, others had drinks in hand, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
After all, watching battles between outstanding students was always a spectacle.
However, not everyone was enjoying the show.
“……”
“……”
Two women stared intently at the screen—Cheon Yeoul and Kang Arin.
Just now, the battle between Jung Haein and Ha Sion had officially begun.
—When did Sion get all the way over there?
—Yeah, she’s insanely fast.
Murmurs of admiration from the surrounding students mixed into the air.
“As expected.”
Cheon Yeoul muttered coolly under her breath.
Normally, she would refuse to participate no matter what, but there had to be a reason why she accepted the team leader role this time.
—Wow!
—Both of them are just…
Within minutes of the battle starting, the students were mesmerized by the high-level fight.
But Cheon Yeoul and Kang Arin weren’t concerned with that.
Jung Haein had finally broken through the barrage of arrows and closed the distance to Sion.
“…!”
In the next moment, he pinned Sion against a tree, completely overpowering her.
It was a textbook takedown—perfect and precise.
To everyone else, it seemed like a flawless demonstration of technique, but the two women focused solely on Ha Sion’s reaction.
And as expected—
“Oh wow, might as well book a room.”
Kang Arin scoffed, chewing her popcorn with an unimpressed expression.
—Thud.
Cheon Yeoul suddenly stood up from her seat.
“Where are you going?”
Kang Arin asked indifferently, watching her.
“Anywhere.”
Cheon Yeoul responded coldly, turning away. Despite her icy glare, the scene on the screen remained heated and tense.
At that moment—
—Whirr.
The hovering camera, which had been filming from above, gradually shifted its angle, moving behind the trees.
The two figures on screen slowly faded from view.
“What the—what’s going on?”
Kang Arin stomped her foot in frustration as the two disappeared from the screen.
Then—
—Beep.
[Enemy Team Leader Ha Sion Eliminated]
The message appeared in the corner of the screen.
“Nice.”
Kang Arin let out a short exclamation.
Cheon Yeoul, who had stopped in her tracks, cautiously turned around and sat back down.
Her expression softened slightly as she murmured under her breath.
“As expected of Haein.”
***
Meanwhile.
At the main unit’s location—
Yu Hana’s team had quickly defeated the golem and reached the civilians.
At that moment, they received a radio transmission from Han Iri, who was positioned on the right flank.
—The moment we turn right, we’ll encounter the enemy team.
On the path leading to the point where they had to secure the civilians, they were bound to encounter the enemy team.
Unless they broke through at high speed, rescuing the civilians without a battle was impossible.
This was the battle scenario that Gaon had designed from the beginning.
“What should we do?”
Kim Dae-hyun turned around and asked for the leader’s decision. He was breathing heavily from the fierce battle at the front.
Currently, they had lost contact with Jung Haein.
If their side had been defeated, recklessly advancing could lead to being surrounded by the enemy team’s flank.
“Advance.”
However, Yu Hana’s answer was firm, without hesitation.
“Uh… but isn’t this a bit risky?”
At that moment, Go Minjun cautiously voiced his concern.
Not knowing Jung Haein’s true strength, his doubt was reasonable.
Without even looking back, Yu Hana responded.
“It’s fine. He won.”
“Uh… if the leader says so….”
Seeing her unwavering stance, Go Minjun nodded and refrained from arguing further.
He instinctively felt that changing Yu Hana’s mind was impossible.
And then—
—Static crackles.
“Ah, ah, can you hear me?”
A familiar voice.
Jung Haein’s voice echoed through Yu Hana’s radio.
She quickly grabbed it and opened her mouth to respond.
“Yes, I hea—”
—Snatch!
Before she could finish, Yoon Chae-ha suddenly reached out and snatched the radio from her.
“I hear you! Are you okay?”
Yu Hana’s gaze turned cold.
She silently stepped closer to Yoon Chae-ha and held out her hand.
“Give it back.”
Her face was emotionless, her tone icy.
But Yoon Chae-ha ignored her completely, keeping her focus on the radio.
“What? Chae-ha? I’m fine! I just took out their flank, so I’m pushing forward on the left side now.”
It was the best possible news.
Yoon Chae-ha smirked slightly in satisfaction. As expected of Jung Haein—there was no way he would lose.
“We’ll run into the enemy team as soon as we turn the corner. I’m hanging up.”
“Oh, really? Got i—”
—Click.
Yoon Chae-ha abruptly ended the call and carelessly handed the radio back to Yu Hana.
Meeting Yu Hana’s chilling stare, she tilted her head indifferently, her face devoid of expression.
“Shall we go, leader?”
Yu Hana took the radio from her.
“…Ha.”
Then, as if in disbelief, she let out a small, amused laugh.
***
BOOM!!!
BOOM!!!
A series of explosions rang out, pounding against their eardrums.
The main unit was already engaged in an intense battle.
A classic 6-on-6 formation.
Typically, if a mage was included in an assault team, the strategy revolved around protecting them while concentrating firepower.
After all, the destructive power and efficiency of a mage’s attacks were on a completely different level.
Gaon had deliberately mixed its members with those from Kalos to foster cooperation and strategic decision-making.
Some members served as shields to protect the mages, while the rest engaged in direct combat, maintaining the front line.
Despite the asymmetrical power balance brought by Yoon Chae-ha and Yu Hana, the battlefield remained surprisingly even.
The reason lay in the nature of magic.
Magic was highly dependent on elemental affinity.
Unless there was an overwhelming difference in skill, the side with the elemental advantage would always hold the upper hand.
“This is going to be tough.”
In the distance, Yoon Chae-ha was panting heavily, visibly exhausted.
Her most proficient element was fire.
The problem was that both enemy mages specialized in water magic.
Jo Yuri, who used ice magic, wasn’t much help either.
Of course, with Yoon Chae-ha’s skill, she could have switched to a different element to overcome her opponents with relative ease…
But right now, she showed no intention of considering such an option.
—Ssssshhhhh!
A crimson magic circle flared up, and a fierce wave of fire erupted from it, colliding head-on with the enemy’s torrent of water.
A thick cloud of hot steam billowed into the air from the violent clash of mana.
Beads of sweat ran down Yoon Chae-ha’s forehead, mixing with the droplets of water that splashed onto her.
This was already the fourth time.
Her characteristic stubbornness had kicked in again.
She was determined to pierce through that relentless wall of water using fire, no matter what.
“Yoon Chae-ha, this isn’t going to work.”
I murmured quietly.
If she had been facing just one opponent, she could have relied on pure skill to break through.
But there were two.
And they were using the same element in tandem, making it all the more difficult.
A fireball wouldn’t be enough.
—Grrrroooaaaar…
I was positioned at the rear of our main force, taking care of the monsters attacking from the side.
I wanted to keep an eye on the battlefield while ensuring these creatures didn’t disrupt our formation.
Just like that.
A golem had just broken through and reached the enemy’s backline.
For a brief moment, the vanguard’s attention shifted toward the golem.
“–––!”
Taking advantage of that instant, Yoon Chae-ha unleashed a powerful fireball with a short incantation.
As if she had been waiting for this precise moment, the flames struck the enemy warrior directly.
“Urgh!”
With a pained groan, the enemy’s figure flickered.
Then, their form gradually faded away. Eliminated.
“Damn it…”
But almost immediately after, Kim Dae-hyun, who had been holding the front line, was struck by an enemy spear.
His opponent was one of Gaon’s top-ranked students.
That brought the fight back to an even 5-on-5 situation.
But then, another crisis emerged.
A figure who had been lurking on the right flank suddenly sprinted toward our main force.
‘Joo Han-gang.’
The enemy had won the battle on the opposite flank.
Instead of staying back to defend, he had chosen to launch an attack on our formation.
Without hesitation, I twisted my body to its limit.
My muscles tensed, and mana sharpened into a fine point at the tip of my spear.
Then, in a single motion, I hurled the spear.
—Swiiiiiish!
The projectile shot straight through the air, piercing Joo Han-gang’s body with pinpoint accuracy.
“Guh…!”
With a faint groan, his form blurred and gradually vanished.
Yun Chae-ha swiftly turned her head toward the direction from which the thrown spear had come.
For a moment, her pupils trembled slightly before slowly glowing a deep crimson.
I brought the radio close to my lips and whispered in a low voice.
“Learn it and see where you can use it.”
I hoped she would understand what I meant.
As soon as she heard my voice, Yun Chae-ha’s lips stopped moving. She momentarily halted her chant and slowly turned her head in my direction.
For a few seconds, she stayed like that.
Then, she turned her body back and raised her hand high toward the sky.
Her crimson eyes blazed fiercely.
With a chant that was noticeably longer than before, massive red magic circles formed in the air above her, layered upon one another.
“――――――!!”
‘The same thing won’t work.’
I murmured to myself.
At that moment, the magic circles began to rotate simultaneously, growing larger and larger.
And finally, the spell was unleashed.
— Fwoooosh.
What emerged from the magic circle was not just a mere fireball.
At its core, countless spears materialized.
Dozens of spears made entirely of flames.
“What the hell is that?!”
The enemy mages panicked and hastily summoned a water barrier.
The sky was densely filled with flaming spears.
I had seen this scene and formation before.
‘Cadenaccio.’
Yun Chae-ha had taken the technique I demonstrated before her and completely reinterpreted it in her own way.
“It was worth showing her, after all.”
I smiled.
— Swish!
— Swish!
— Swish!
The blazing spears rained down from the sky all at once.
The downpour of flames violently battered the wall of water, tearing through the barrier with thunderous explosions.
— BOOOOM!
The flaming spears tore through like ripping paper. The moment they struck, a massive explosion erupted.
The enemy formation was completely engulfed in flames.
When the thick cloud of smoke and dust cleared, there wasn’t even a trace of them left.
Even the golem that had been attacking from the rear was reduced to ashes.
A true game-changer who overturned the entire battlefield in an instant.
As expected, my judgment wasn’t wrong.
— Haa… haa…
Yun Chae-ha stood there with her head bowed, panting heavily. I could hear her ragged breaths over the radio.
I brought the radio close to my lips again and spoke.
“Well done.”
A commendable sight.
Had she heard me?
Even as she gasped for air, Yun Chae-ha paused for a moment.
Then, a radiant smile slowly bloomed on her lips.
Her mouth curled up, and joy spread visibly across her face.