Chapter 97: 6th Week Mentoring and Strategy Battle (4)

Chapter 97: 6th Week Mentoring and Strategy Battle (4)

The statue of the goddess of war was still there, bathed in the glow of the setting sun, and overlooking the ruins of the desecrated temple.

After gazing up at the statue for a moment, Song Cheon-hye sent me a glance asking if I was ready to which I responded with a light nod.

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[Statue of the Goddess: 100%]

[Remaining Time: 9:59]

The advancing forces of goblins marched steadily forward.

Song Cheon-hye walked toward the main gate with her gaze fixed on the enemy line.

Fzzzzzt,

The dark-colored gloves on her hands sparked and sent currents along the ground.

A large circle formed around Song Cheon-hye.

The magic circle began to emit light and the geometric symbols started glowing within.

Regardless of the goblins approach, Song Cheon-hye remained focused solely on drawing the magic circle.

Soon, the completed magic circle burst into bright radiance.

[Lightning Field]

The area, already dyed red by sunset, seemed to brighten even more, though it was hard to tell what else had changed.

The true value of the magic was realized when the goblins reached the very front of the temple and began their charge.

Fzzzzzzzt! Fzzzzzzzt!

Keek?

Kiik!

The moment the goblins stepped within the range of the magic circle, sparks flew wildly around them.

Though not immensely powerful, the magic inflicted constant damage and paralysis while slowing their movements.

A zone-control magic.

Song Cheon-hye acknowledged that the reason she let one or two slip through on her first attempt was due to her own lack of control.

To compensate for her lack of control, she cast the zone-control magic, Lightning Field.

There was no need for precision in enveloping a set area with lightning.

The only requirement was the huge amount of mana needed to maintain the magic circle.

And Song Cheon-hye was a mana powerhouse even I acknowledged and she had no issues with mana consumption.

Keeek!

Kerruk!

The goblins, for their part, were tenacious creatures.

Normally, one would expect them to yelp at the sparks and flee, but the [Commander] rule forced them to push forward, despite the pain.

Their advance had undoubtedly slowed, and soon they were overwhelmed by even more potent lightning magic.

Fzzzt-Fzzzt-Fzzzt!

At the center of the magic circle, Song Cheon-hye sequentially unleashed several area-of-effect spells while continuing to defend the main gate.

!

!

As I leisurely observed the scene, the raucous sounds from the side and the thudding of bodies crashing against something caught my attention.

The wall would soon be breached so I walked towards it.

Booom,

The moment the wall crumbled and a hole appeared, I focused my Wind Force right through it.

Panic-stricken cries emerged from the other side.

Wha?

Gurk?

The goblins stopped in their tracks just as they were about to surge forward.

Under Dang Gyu-youngs command, they struggled to push ahead but there are things that force alone cannot accomplish.

The F-rank monsters bodies were simply too frail to withstand the wind imbued with physical force.

I kept the wind blowing to seal off the wall and turned my attention back to Song Cheon-hye.

Fizzzzzz!

Shes holding them off quite well.

Song Cheon-hye was frying the goblins with lightning magic as they approached.

Not a single one had made it through the main gate so far.

It was only the second attempt yet major improvements had already been made to address our weaknesses.

[Statue of the Goddess: 100%]

[Remaining Time: 4:46]

The first attempt had failed before even reaching the five-minute mark, but this time, it was easily surpassed.

So far, so good.

It was about time for the next challenge to emerge.

As soon as this thought had crossed my mind, I felt a clear presence somewhere.

?

Song Cheon-hye who was anticipating the arrival of the next opponent tensed up. Her expression was a mixture of vigilance and confusion.

She was certain she had encountered this familiar presence before, but couldnt quite place where.

!

But then, it was as if an exclamation mark popped above her head.

She saw it, striding confidently through the throngs of goblins.

It was a head or two taller than the average goblin with a muscular build and wielding a large cleaver in one hand.

Grrrr.

The Beheader Goblin.

The Strong Enemy from the timed strategy battle had emerged here.

The timing of its appearance is a bit early, though.

The reason the [Strong Enemy] rule wasnt applied to this temple defense was because the Beheader Goblin only made brief appearances towards the very end, typically in the last minute.

Fizzzz.

The Lightning Field that had engulfed the gate began to fade and then vanished entirely.

Instead, Song Cheon-hyes entire body started crackling and igniting intense currents of lightning.

She had redirected the mana from the magic circle solely to herself.

In the next moment, Song Cheon-hyes form shot out like a bolt of lightning.

Crack!

The Beheader Goblin instinctively raised its cleaver but the lightning struck its face a fraction earlier.

Fizzzzzz! Bang!

I should probably start heading back to defend.

[Statue of the Goddess: 48%]

While I had been momentarily distracted, goblins clinging to the statue had slashed its health gauge by half.

If left unchecked, the remaining health would rapidly deplete.

And that would result in failure and the dungeon resetting.

At the very least, I needed to buy time until Song Cheon-hye could defeat the Beheader Goblin.

I walked a little faster but still without losing my composure toward the statue of the goddess.

[Amplification activated.]

[Windforce rank increased. (C+ -> A+)]

I continued to approach and cast Wind Force over a wide range.

A gust of wind filled with physical force swept through the area, toppling the goblins like leaves caught in a storm and sending them tumbling to the side.

When I summoned the winds broadly once more, this time they rolled in the opposite direction and tumbled over and over.

Agh!

One goblin desperately tried to keep its balance and hurled its wooden spear straight at me with surprising accuracy.

The spear aimed directly at me seemed likely to hit its mark.

I merely glanced at the creature and focused solely on wielding Wind Force to and fro.

Just as the wooden spear was about to embed itself in my chest, it inexplicably twisted and plunged into the ground instead.

[Distortion activated.]

[Cooldown: 23:59:54]

The goblin that had thrown the wooden spear stood there dumbfounded and unable to grasp what had just happened.

Soon after, it was swept up by the Wind Force and fell over,

Kek!

Like the others, it found itself rolling around helplessly.

With this situation resolved, I turned my focus back to Song Cheon-hye,

Fizz! Boom!

She was unleashing a barrage of powerful lightning magic and pressuring the Beheader Goblin.

Even when facing both the goblins and the Beheader Goblin, the fight was in Song Cheon-hyes favor, but now with only the Beheader Goblin to deal with, it could hardly be called a fight.

Grrrrrrr

The resistance of the Beheader Goblin was waning.

The mana on its cleaver dimmed and its movements became sluggish.

Its staggering demeanor signaled its dwindling stamina.

Just as Song Cheon-hye was about to deliver a decisive blow,

Arrgh!

The Beheader Goblin let out a final cry.

Gathering all its remaining mana, it concentrated it into the cleaver and hurled it with all its might.

The blue-colored cleaver spun around and flew across the temple,

Crack!

The cleaver continued on its path before cleaving the statue of the goddess at the waist into two.

The severed upper half crashed to the ground with a loud bang! It made a loud noise and shattered into pieces.

[Statue of the Goddess: 42%]

[Statue of the Goddess: 0%]

[Remaining Time: 1:21]

[The Statue of the Goddess has been destroyed.]

?

For a while, Song Cheon-hye stared in disbelief at the remains of the Statue of the Goddess that were now reduced to just the lower half.

Then little by little, as the reality of the situation dawned on her, her mouth began to fall open in shock.

?!?!?

She was so shocked that she was unable to speak and her mouth opened and closed repeatedly.

After the dungeon had reset completely and the Statue of the Goddess was restored,

Dang Gyu-yeong gently landed nearby and said,

This time you did better. If you improve a bit, youll succeed on your next try. Lets go out and see Hong Yeon-hwa and Kwak

However, when she saw Song Cheon-hyes face, she stopped what she was saying and pursed her lips.

.

She tried to keep a straight face but couldnt quite hide the twitching at the corners of her mouth.

Dang Gyu-yeong desperately tried to suppress her laughter.

She clenched her molars and took slow and deep breaths to calm her mind.

Soon, Dang Gyu-yeong seemed to have regained her composure completely.

But the moment she looked at Song Cheon-hyes face again,

Pfft!

She failed to hold back her laughter.

Dang Gyu-yeong quickly covered her mouth and turned away.

Occasional soft snickers escaped her mouth and her shoulders were shaking with each stifled laugh.

Huff, pff, guffaw!

.

Song Cheon-hye didnt know whether to cry, get angry, or laugh along with her.