Chapter 129: Chapter 129

Before entering the Arena, I had already faced most of the Korean pro players.

If they’d appeared on the field and I knew where to find them, I’d hunted them down.

The only exception was Luche.

Back then, I despised pros.

I was overflowing with jealousy over things I couldn’t have.

Phantom and Hero had been tempting prey at the time.

If I had started playing a bit earlier, I might have crossed paths with them in the field.

Like Haruka, while rank games allowed limited access to overseas servers, regular fields did not.

So, yes, when I said I wanted to meet her, I meant it.

I wanted to kill her at least once.

Hero’s greatsword swung horizontally.

The speed was unbelievable, given the massive blade it carried.

She intended to push me away, though the force was more than adequate.@@novelbin@@

“The one thing I regret recently is not joining the Arena. Who would’ve thought someone like you would come along?”

“Pfft.”

A compliment I hadn’t expected.

Recognition from a pro of her level was unique; it naturally brought a smile to my face.

But… unfortunately, what I had to return was a taunt.

“Or did you just run away, thinking you’d lose to Cerberus? I understand, senior; you lost to him again this time, didn’t you?”

“Again, huh? I’ve always wondered, do all Korean assassins learn to talk crap somewhere? Phantom does it too; why do you guys have to get under people’s skin?”

“Oh? Did it sound like I was only ‘scratching’ the surface?”

“You—your attitude toward a senior is…!”

This woman is oddly emotional, given her experience.

In the recorded matches with Phantom, he would constantly provoke Hero.

And Hero always took the bait, letting it get to her.

When people are angry, they tend to make broader, more aggressive moves.

An assassin, as a class, needs to exploit the opponent’s gaps.

An agitated opponent is easier to handle than a calm one.

Other players seemed reluctant to provoke her due to her seniority, but… I’m not at a stage where that matters to me.

I’ve come too far down a rocky path to start pretending to be polite now.

Trying to appear well-mannered at this point would just feel nauseating.

‘And her emotions show clearly in her sword.’

Hero’s greatsword now targeted me even more aggressively.

The blade, brimming with anger, was imbued with magic as it slammed toward me, smashing the ground with devastating force.

Where the sword struck, the floor rose into rough, uneven terrain, forming almost a wall.

This is one of the defining features of a greatsword.

While it’s challenging to control with finesse, it affects the surrounding terrain by distorting or breaking it.

Failing to anticipate the altered terrain could back you into a corner.

Imagine facing that hulking greatsword with nowhere to run?

I don’t even want to think about it.

If I’m not fighting outside the range of her greatsword, I might as well close the distance further.

Oddly, such large weapons are nearly useless in close quarters.

Either within my dagger’s range or outside her greatsword’s range—those are the two distances I need to keep.

Hero swung her greatsword at the floor.

Using the flat of the blade as a foothold, I closed in.

Even after kneeing her square in the face, she showed no sign of surprise.

Instead, Hero seemed to have anticipated it, releasing her greatsword and attempting to grab my waist.

‘If she catches me, I’m dead.’

With her strength, she could crush my waist with just her arms.

As soon as I kicked her solar plexus to escape, Hero slid her greatsword along the floor, thrusting it at me.

Clearly, she had no intention of letting me go easily.

As I dodged the thrust, she redirected her greatsword mid-motion.

In this world, only Hero could wield such a massive weapon with this level of freedom.

If I continued like this, I’d be cornered. I needed to abandon any unnecessary ambitions before it was too late.

Using shadow shift as a survival skill, I escaped her chain of attacks.

I left a knife buried in her shoulder as a parting gift, though it wasn’t a very profitable trade.

“Senior, you’re a bit clingy.”

“Because you’re so adorable!”

“Uh, right…?”

Ah. I need to stay focused.

I was getting the gist of it.

I shouldn’t approach her as I would a typical knight.

She was an opponent whose raw physical prowess didn’t make sense—it was like hunting a bear or tiger.

Chipping away at her with a dagger wasn’t a bad strategy, but it felt like a waste for this opportunity.

This was a chance to gather data, and I didn’t want to squander it.

“Even if you say that, I won’t go easy on you.”

I maneuvered to the position I wanted.

Now, let’s settle this here.

I cast a smoke screen in Hero’s face and closed in once more.

In the thick smoke, Hero’s eyes calmly tracked Ga-wol.

She might look like a wild beast in the game, but she didn’t play mindlessly.

Her aggressive playstyle and foolishness were entirely different matters.

A player with such flaws would never reach the top tier.

Though the taunts had almost unhinged her moments ago, a few blades to her body had forced her mind to cool down.

She had an inkling of why assassins used taunts.

‘He’s troublesome, but in a different way from Phantom.’

He was faster than Phantom, yet more stable.

Instead of recklessly going for the kill, he patiently built up advantages.

Now she understood why Cerberus had described him as follows:

“Remarkably cautious for someone with such power.”

“Like a lion acting like a fox, if you will.”

If it were her or Phantom, they’d have been greedier in this situation.

Ga-wol tread carefully, as if he’d encountered this scenario hundreds of times before.

As a result, several moments passed where he cut her flesh without breaking her bones—a phenomenon of careful precision.

But this smoke screen was annoying.

She wanted to change position, but every time she moved, Ga-wol’s dagger would strike.

If she stayed still, sharp projectiles would poke at her extremities.

‘Did he invest in specialized weaponry?’

His projectiles had significantly higher penetration than usual.

The poison damage from his passive was also considerable.

If she kept taking hits without a plan, the health loss would become unmanageable.

Thankfully, assassins, particularly their thrown weapons, couldn’t break a knight’s guard gauge easily.

This was why knights held a natural advantage over assassins.

In fact, Cerberus had fully exploited this and secured two victories against Ga-wol.

So there was no need to rush.

With the power of her greatsword, she could turn the game around in one move.

Even though Ga-wol was constantly attacking from within the smoke, she hadn’t sustained a critical injury.

‘But… why isn’t he using the moon buff?’

The defining buffs of the assassin class were still missing.

The Black Moon’s Whisper buff, with its substantial attack boost.

The Gray Moon’s Blessing buff, offering absolute invisibility.

These were skills that should have been used by now, leaving her with a nagging feeling.

But the smoke screen’s duration was nearing its end.

Whatever Ga-wol was planning, it wouldn’t be long now.

There was no time to hesitate; she had to act first.

[Active: Fighting Spirit]

[All stats increase by 8% for 12 seconds, with physical penetration boosted by 16%…]

Identifying the direction Ga-wol’s projectile had come from, she calculated his approximate position and slammed her fist into a raised piece of terrain.

In Infinity Black, objects hit by a player are considered “projectiles.”

This means that they benefit from any buffs to penetration or damage.

The rocks shattered into shrapnel and shot forward like buckshot.

Boom, boom—!

Every impact of Hero’s hand on the rocks echoed loudly.

A ripping sound tore through the air, and fragments embedded themselves in the hall’s walls.

As the smoke began to clear, considerable bloodstains became visible on the floor.

She’d landed a hit.

Though they were both blinded by the smoke, it was outside her greatsword’s range.

‘No matter how good you are, you wouldn’t have seen that coming. It’s an old trick, after all.’

Then, as the smoke fully dispersed…

A shadow appeared behind Hero.

This wasn’t her first fight with Phantom.

An ordinary knight would’ve been caught off guard, but Hero’s experience in battle allowed her to react.

[You are affected by ‘Assassin’s Mark.’]

[You may now be targeted by a lethal skill.]

It was too late to swing her greatsword.

Two daggers pierced her neck from both sides—just as her fist smashed into Ga-wol’s abdomen.

“Ugh…!”

Even through the video, it was apparent that he was highly sensitive to pain.

With a faint gasp, Ga-wol’s body was flung far back.

Though both sustained critical injuries, the knight’s body had a much higher tolerance for pain.

Perhaps worried about crashing into the terrain, Ga-wol used his remaining survival skill mid-flight.

Now, Hero only had to finish him off.

She took a step forward, but something caught her body.

“Silver threads?”

A chilling sensation crept over her entire body.

The area beyond the smoke, now fully visible, was littered with an overwhelming amount of silver threads.

Ga-wol must have expended his survival skill mid-flight to avoid dying from these threads.

The bloodied assassin, seated on the ground and coughing up blood, gave a sly grin.

“It… hurts, senior.”

With a flick of his blood-covered fingers, the silver threads tightened, slicing into Hero’s body from all directions.

[You are affected by ‘The Mockery of the Silver Moon.’]

[Damage inflicted using daggers and silver threads is greatly increased, with all attack power…]

[You may use one active skill between ‘Falling Petals’ or ‘Blood Thread’ once.]

[Active: Blood Thread]

[All silver threads contract toward the target marked by ‘Assassin’s Mark.’]

[Victory]

[Prepare yourself. Your next opponent will be introduced without a waiting time.]