Level Up Machine

Chapter 54 Traitors (6)

“Explosion?!”

A clear, youthful voice echoed. Contrary to the cuteness felt from the voice, the result was far from something one could call cute.

– KWA-AAAANG!

A massive explosion swept through the Judas Guild members.

The explosion occurred deliberately at the very back of the formation, where the healers and magic class summoners were gathered.

“Aaah!”

Healers and magicians caught in the sudden explosion screamed and twisted their bodies, trying to extinguish the flames clinging to them.

“Attack!”

A low, weighty voice resounded.

Jung Yong-chan grimaced at the familiar voice and shouted.

“Park Cheol-tae!”

It was an ambush by the Salvator Guild lying in wait nearby.

Members of the Salvator Guild, along with reinforcements from Cheonseong, The Face, and Laira Guilds, charged at the disoriented Judas Guild.

Nearly 80 members of the guild alliance began their assault on the Judas Guild members.

Caught in the confusion from gunfire and explosion magic, the Judas Guild members fell screaming, unable to respond to the attack.

“Pull yourselves together and block them!”

Kim Dae-gyu shouted urgently, drawing his bastard sword.

He slashed his sword towards the chest of an approaching summoner.

“Keheok!”

The summoner, seemingly a reinforcement from the Salvator Guild, collapsed, spewing blood from Kim Dae-gyu’s strike.

Kim Dae-gyu turned his head urgently towards his guild members.

“Damn it…”

A dejected voice escaped Kim Dae-gyu’s mouth as he witnessed the fight between the Judas Guild members and the Salvator Guild alliance. It was almost one-sided, as if the battle had ended as soon as it began.

– Pook!

“Aaah!”

“S-save me…!”

Due to prolonged tension and the intense fatigue from three consecutive ambushes, the Judas Guild members could no longer follow their leader’s orders.

“Haap!”

“Kya-hahaha! Great! Cry more, you bastards!”

Choi Yu-na, wielding twin swords engulfed in flames, and Jeong So-rim, holding a long spear with a maddened grin, attacked the officers of the Judas Guild.

“Choi Yu-na! Jeong So-rim!”

Kim Dae-gyu, seeing them, urgently called out their names. Choi Yu-na responded to his cry with a harsh voice.

“Don’t call my name with that filthy mouth!”

With a voice filled with intense anger, she swung her twin swords at them.

“Because of you, because of your idiotic choices, do you know what we went through! After everything, you have the nerve to attack us again?!”

She shouted in a strained voice.

Hearing her cry, Kim Dae-gyu spoke with a pale face.

“M-misunderstanding! We came to help you!”

“Don’t talk nonsense, Kim Dae-gyu!”

Yu-na, as if she didn’t want to hear anymore, swung her twin swords at Kim Dae-gyu. He raised his bastard sword to block her attack.

“Kuh!”

Even though he blocked the attack, the intense flames climbed up his bastard sword and burned his arm.

Kim Dae-gyu grimaced harshly and swung his sword.

“Gale Slash!”

A blue light enveloped his sword, targeting Yu-na’s neck with dazzling speed. She evaded his attack by leaning backward as if falling.

“Blaze Dance!”

As her body leaned back, it spun around. Intense flames spiraled out from her, centered on her body. Seeing this, Kim Dae-gyu swallowed hard and stepped back.

Kim Dae-gyu looked around wildly. The momentum had already overwhelmingly shifted to the Salvator Guild’s side.

As he surveyed his surroundings, Kim Dae-gyu let go of his weapon and spoke.

“I-I surrender! I’ll surrender!”

The strategies they had planned to counter the Salvator Guild had now become meaningless.

Choi Yu-na approached Kim Dae-gyu, raising her sword.

“Shut up, you piece of trash!”

She cursed roughly and was about to strike him when a familiar voice reached her ears.

“Wait a moment, Yu-na!”

“…Tiria unni?”

It was Tiria, overlooking the battlefield from above, who had called out to her. She seemed to have run with all her might, breathing heavily.

“…Why did you tell me to stop?”

Yu-na sighed deeply and asked.

Kim Dae-gyu, sensing the tension, bowed his head towards Tiria.

“G-guild master! I’m sorry! I was swayed by a moment’s greed and dared to betray you… Ugh!”

“If you call Tiria unni ‘guild master’ one more time with that mouth, I’ll kill you.”

Yu-na struck Kim Dae-gyu’s head harshly and spoke in a low voice.

Kim Dae-gyu, overwhelmed by her voice, thick with palpable anger, lowered his head deeply, unable to say anything.

Tiria looked at Kim Dae-gyu with pity. But it wasn’t just him she felt sorry for.

Those dying around her, and those killing them, had all once been precious to her.

“Damn it all!”

Jung Yong-chan, fighting Park Cheol-tae, Hwang-hyeon, and Han Tae-yeong simultaneously, spat out a curse.

‘Now that it’s come to this!’

His gaze turned towards Tiria.

In this dire situation, he thought the only option left was to take her hostage.

Though there was a considerable distance, he still had a trump card up his sleeve.

– Bang!

“Kurghhhh!”

The half-man, half-beast’s body crashed into the ground. His grey form streaked through the air towards Tiria with rapid speed.

“You’re vile until the end, Jung Yong-chan.”

A young man stepped in his way. His presence exuded a chilling atmosphere, freezing everything around him.

“Yoo Jin!”

Jung Yong-chan grimaced at Yoo Jin’s appearance.

Yoo Jin had been his rival since the days of the Salvator Guild. He was the one who had ruthlessly rejected his proposal to join forces against the guild master and immediately reported it to Tiria.

‘If it weren’t for that bastard!’

If Yoo Jin hadn’t swiftly informed Tiria of his betrayal, he could have gathered more opposition forces before making his move.

But because of Yoo Jin’s report, the civil war had started sooner than he expected, leading both factions down a path of ruin.

“Space Wall.”

As Yoo Jin’s voice echoed, a spatial distortion appeared in front of him. It was a skill of his hidden class, the Spatial Mage.

“Kuh!”

Knowing all too well what would happen if he touched that distortion, Jung Yong-chan gritted his teeth and twisted his body sideways.

‘I must capture Tiria first!’

Jung Yong-chan’s eyes glinted as he focused on Tiria behind Yoo Jin. She was looking at him with a pitiful expression.

“Blood Moon.”

He bent his body low and uttered the skill’s name.

His eyes glowed red, and his muscles bulged as if they were about to burst.

A red aura flowed out of Jung Yong-chan’s body as he transformed into a werewolf.

Blood Moon.

It was the trump card he had kept hidden.

It was a buff skill that granted the power obtained by the full-moon lycanthrope to the summoner for a certain period.

The skill had awakened after the civil war with the Salvator Guild, so they didn’t know about its existence.

“Grrrrrr.”

A beastly growl escaped Jung Yong-chan’s mouth. Drooling like he had lost his mind, he pushed off the ground.

– KWAANG!

The ground caved in with a loud crash as he launched himself. His body turned into a streak of red lightning shooting towards Tiria.

“Stop!”

Yoo Jin spread his arms to the side, using spatial magic. The distortions in space he created began to ripple outwards in all directions.

“Grrrrr!”

Jung Yong-chan, who now resembled more of a monster than a summoner, stepped into the spatial distortion. The sole of his foot, touching the distortion, tore open.

But Jung Yong-chan seemed unfazed by it, using the distortion to propel himself into a somersault.

“Kuh!”

Yoo Jin hadn’t expected Yong-chan to charge through the distortions so recklessly. He gritted his teeth and grimaced.

He grabbed Tiria’s hand and used his magic.

“Blink!”

Their bodies suddenly vanished from the air and reappeared 30 meters away.

But before they could even catch their breath, Jung Yong-chan, now a streak of red lightning, charged towards their new location.

With the Blood Moon active, the 30-meter distance was nothing to him.

“Raaaagh!”

Yoo Jin hesitated for a moment as he watched Yong-chan charging at him.

His hand moved towards his left chest.

‘I have no choice but to use it now.’

Thinking this, Yoo Jin was about to utter a skill.

At that moment.

“Gale Slash!”

Accompanied by a deep voice, an absurdly large greatsword swung towards Jung Yong-chan.

Even Jung Yong-chan couldn’t ignore such an attack and twisted his body to retreat.

“Grrrrr!”

“Jung Yong-chan!”

Park Cheol-tae, with a furious expression, swung his greatsword at the fully beastly Jung Yong-chan.

“Raaagh!”

“Kuh!”

Jung Yong-chan, with astonishing agility, dodged the greatsword and jumped onto the blade.

Even as a ranker, Jung Yong-chan’s strength with the Blood Moon skill was formidable.

In this urgent situation, there was no way Park Cheol-tae could stop him alone.

Park Cheol-tae’s strength shone the most when he was part of a party.

– Thud!

Jung Yong-chan pushed off from the greatsword, leaping into the air. He descended rapidly towards Tiria.

“Yoo Jin!”

“I know!”

While Park Cheol-tae bought time, Yoo Jin completed his magic casting and extended his hand forward.

A massive distortion appeared in midair, blocking Jung Yong-chan’s path.

Crack!

“Grrrrr!”

Jung Yong-chan slashed at the spatial distortion with his claws. His claws began to bleed, unable to withstand the distortion’s pressure.

“Kuh…”

A painful groan escaped Yoo Jin as he maintained the spatial distortion.

He could feel Jung Yong-chan’s claws digging into the magic sustaining the distortion.

Sweat began to pour down Yoo Jin’s forehead.

‘This is dangerous.’

With the Blood Moon active, Jung Yong-chan’s power was monstrous. Yoo Jin glanced at his left chest.

There was no more time for hesitation.

– Whooosh!

Just then, a sound that was rarely heard on the continent of Elnore reached Yoo Jin’s ears. It was a sound similar to the exhaust of a jet engine.

Yoo Jin turned his head towards the source of the sound.

There, a “spinning arm” was flying rapidly towards Jung Yong-chan.