Chapter 15: Fun for Some, Survival for Others

#1

[Stage 2]
[Avatar No. 19930211 VS Greennarae and 4 others]

Stage 2.

Once again, a full crew greeted Hwanung.

Lucas held his sword upright and steadied his mana, while Eyas readied herself to spring forward at any moment.

Three more opponents stood between Eyas and her growth.

Once she severed three of their heads, that final condition marked [??] would be revealed.

Hwanung knew it instinctively.

If she could overcome that last trial, Eyas would rise to greater heights.

It was a certainty he felt as her master.

“It’s Lord 93.”

“He lives up to the hype.”

“Let’s have a good match!”

They seemed to enjoy the towers purely for fun.

Sure. Nothing wrong with that.

But the look in Eyas’s eyes was different.

Those who had tasted failure knew yearning and desperation.

Hwanung could read those feelings in her as he watched her from behind.

The match began before he had time to dwell on it.

“Come forth.”

Hwanung could now draw and manifest summons through will alone.

A new N-rank summon appeared.

His opponents’ faces stiffened as the enemy force suddenly grew.

[Stage 2 begins.]
[Time limit: 15 minutes]

“Let’s go!”

The other side charged first.

WHIZZ!

An arrow fired by an archer in the enemy’s rear skimmed past Hwanung’s cheek.

They clearly knew what to target, but against him, it was utterly pointless.

All they had done was waste a perfectly good arrow—and with it, a precious opportunity.

“How dare you—”

Ghostly fire flickered in Eyas’s dark brown eyes.

The power within her, what they called [Inner Energy], erupted, turning her into a streak of wind.

All who sought to harm her lord would perish.

That was the conviction she must uphold, and her oath to Hwanung, who had given her a second chance.

Holding her breath, she shot forward and circled around behind the enemy.

At the same time, Lucas, wreathed in blue aura, and the Steel Shield Bearer slammed into their front line, with a swarm of N-rank summons pouring in behind them.

“Wh-why are there so many!?”

“Target the summoner first!”

“I-I can’t get an opening!”

Few things were harder than reaching the back line in a melee.

SLASH!

With a chilling sound, the rearmost crew member screamed.

“Aagh!”

“Your head is mine.”

[Storm Blade]

The Inner Energy concentrated throughout her body made fragile human flesh harder than steel and swifter than the wind.

With her Agility exceeding forty, Eyas’s blade was a storm in its own right.

“Aaah!?”

“Aaargh!?”

The crew was a mix of men and women.

Eyas’s sword cut them down equally, and without mercy.

In an instant, she had eliminated three of them.

Then Lucas and the others drove in like steel chariots and finished the stage.

A massacre, over in the blink of an eye.

Had this not been the metaverse, it would have been a brutal hell.

“Good work. That was quick.”

“You are too kind, my lord.”

“Lady Eyas’s skill seems to improve by the day. I must redouble my own efforts.”

Eyas and Lucas spoke in turn, and the others nodded.

The two summons had honed their teamwork through quite a few towers.

How to fight well, how to secure victory.

They could put those plans into action without a hitch.

‘It’d be a shame to lose Lucas.’

Unfortunately, Lucas wasn’t a summon capable of growth.

Perhaps he should take the best possible care of him.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, he finally checked the message he had been waiting for.

[You have fulfilled the growth conditions for Eyas, Warrior of the East.]
[The final trial for evolution is now unlocked.]
[??] → [Win the Knight’s Tower with only Eyas, Warrior of the East summoned.]

“…Huh?”

He hadn’t seen that coming.

In an instant, his advantage as a summoner had vanished.

#2

Eyas saw the uncertainty in her lord’s eyes.

It stirred the trauma that still lingered dimly within her.

And no wonder.

Her former master. The one she had served. The one who had… driven her to her death.

The person at the heart of those terrible memories had always looked at her that way.

Unable to trust Eyas, her former master had been taken in by a villain’s glib claims that she would betray them.

That very day, a loyal bodyguard had been branded a traitor and sacrificed at the negotiating table.

Though it was at the end of it all that she had awakened this Wind Blade.

“My lord.”

“Hmm?”

“Whatever may come, I beg you to trust me. No matter what trials or hardships await, I will protect you.”

“That’s reassuring.”

The look in Hwanung’s eyes bore a strong resemblance to someone else’s.

The one she had followed with all her heart, the true master from the days when the family had been called great.

The benefactor who had taken Eyas in, and her honored teacher.

She knew it would be disrespectful to think of Hwanung as a replacement.

But humans were creatures who sought familiarity and comfort.

The gentle warmth in Hwanung’s eyes only strengthened her resolve.

“When I look at you, my lord, I am reminded of the eyes of the one I once served with all my heart. I know these are the childish complaints of a warrior who has already failed… but please forgive my disloyalty.”

“No. Memories can be a powerful source of motivation.”

“As your warrior, I will bring glory to your future. So—”

Please, have faith in me.

Her words were firm, her gaze more intense than ever.

Hwanung looked at Eyas and nodded silently.

The truth was, all he could do was cheer her on from behind.

From a Sherpa with nothing to a summoner commanding overwhelming strength.

Everything he had become was thanks to the summons standing before him, fighting in his place.

Hwanung intended to use them as tools, but care for them like a cherished flock of sheep.

A shepherd must always watch over his flock and tend to their suffering, too.

“All right.”

“My lord.”

“Stage 5. Let’s make it that far.”

A radiant smile spread across Eyas’s face.

“Leave it to me, my lord.”

Her resolve blazed more fiercely than ever.

[Stage 3]
[Avatar No. 19930211 VS DeathDeath and 4 others]

“What a shame. I wanted a chance to shine, too.”

“Next time. There’s bound to be a chance.”

“All right. Well, good luck?”

Jina, the Archmage’s Apprentice, waved and stepped into the pocket dimension.

The remaining summons also returned to the inventory, gesturing their encouragement to Eyas.

Five avatars appeared on the far side. Seeing Eyas standing alone, they looked puzzled.

“What’s that?”

“She’s alone.”

“Wow… Free win?”

“Looks like it.”

They snickered among themselves.

Then one of them spotted Hwanung and pointed.

“Huh? Isn’t that Lord 93?”

“Yeah. He’s the one who messed with our guys, right?”

“Wait, doesn’t he have other summons?”

[Stage 3 begins.]

Both sides were now free to move.

DeathDeath and the other four appeared to be a Death Valley crew, judging by the identical emblems on their clothes.

A Climbing Club specializing in PvP, notorious among beginners in particular.

He’d figured he would run into them here.

“Eyas, you can do this, right?”

“Yes. Leave it to me.”

Eyas shot forward like the wind.

First, she needed to gauge the enemy’s abilities.

They reacted immediately to a light sweep of her sword.

They hadn’t made it to Stage 3 for nothing.

But there was a fundamental difference between them and Eyas.

People enjoying a game in a peaceful world, and someone who had lived a life of struggle and survival.

The sheer amount of time they had spent wielding swords, fighting with their lives at stake, was worlds apart.

“Urgh!?”

Hers was no ordinary sword swung in blind reliance on stats. It was a blade honed through countless real battles.

Her sword had always carved a path to survival through the direst circumstances.

She did more than swing it. She rolled, struck, dodged, and even used the terrain around her.

Every technique needed in real combat flowed naturally from her body.

“This is fucking crazy—!”

“The summoner! Go for the summoner!”

One quick-thinking opponent broke away and rushed toward Hwanung.

Eyas glanced his way but made no move to stop him.

Instead, she brought her merciless blade down on the now smaller group before her.

‘I’m not tired yet, but…’

She needed to conserve as much strength as possible.

Still, dragging this out would only drain her stamina faster.

Put force into a single stroke and finish them.

Eyas thought quickly. Blades of wind struck precisely at openings, tearing through the Death Valley crew.

[Wind Blade]

CRRRACK!

Aimed only at gaps in armor and vulnerable parts of the human body, the blades of wind swept through the enemy ranks.

“Aaagh!?”

“I-I can’t move!?”

In the metaverse, a tingling sensation replaced pain.

Their avatars tingled all over, then lost all feeling.

Down upon them came the merciless blade of a warrior.

Meanwhile, the crew’s nimblest member had reached Hwanung.

His flashing eyes betrayed his certainty that he had seized his chance.

“Hahaha! Got you!”

THUNK!

A blow aimed squarely at the throat.

He must have imagined Hwanung taking a fatal wound.

“Now your summon’s dead t—huh?”

“Sorry. My skill’s a little broken.”

“What!?”

As though something had blocked it, the blade had stopped just short of Hwanung’s body.

The crew member was flustered, unable to push it any farther no matter how much force he applied.

[Summon Invulnerability]
[The summoner becomes invulnerable while a summon is present.]

You’ll have to beat my summon fair and square first.

With a wry smile, Hwanung pointed behind the Death Valley crew member.

There stood Eyas, swinging her sword with terrifying force.

“Oh, f*ck.”

His dying words were rather crude.

#3

Eyas had won every fight on her own.

She could not afford to lose.

Not when her lord, Hwanung, believed in her.

But facing five opponents alone was no easy task, and she had been pushed to her physical limits.

It was inevitable, and certainly worthy of being called a trial.

“Whew…”

“Are you all right?”

“Yes. I can still fight.”

Sweat poured off her like rain, and her loose clothing felt cumbersome.

The sword in her hand had become an impossibly heavy lump of iron.

Hwanung was kneading her right forearm.

He didn’t know how much good it would do under the tower’s rules, where stats determined everything.

He felt a little guilty that this was all he could do.

“I wish I could fight, too.”

“You are far too kind to me.”

“I hope this helps a little, at least. There’s only one more stage to get through.”

“Yes.”

Eyas gazed quietly at Hwanung’s face.

She could feel it.

The longing, the sorrow, the colors she remembered were gradually fading.

And in the space they left behind, someone new—Hwanung—was slowly taking their place.

A master who cared for his tools could use them for a long time.

Today, she must become a warrior sharper than any blade.

To her surprise, the pain seemed to fade wherever his warm hands had passed.

[Finals]
[Avatar No. 19930211 VS C.C.A and 4 others]

The final match.

Their opponents had come from North America.

Eyas rose and took up her sword.

Watching her from behind, he could not have felt more reassured.

“You’ve got this.”

At Hwanung’s words, a smile bloomed across Eyas’s face, beautiful as flowers in full bloom.