A Veteran in a Dead Game - Chapter 204



Only Krnovel

204. Civil War (5)

Phagejik-

The first illusion that reached Mars’s nose was one that grabbed hold of electricity. It was a kind of giant blade made of lightning chains, a 4th-grade skill.

Mars’s eyebrows twitched. For some reason, his intuition was sounding the alarm.

It was clearly just an illusion, but as the lightning bolt it was holding drew closer, my skin tingled and my hair stood on end.

Is that really a fantasy?

Mars trusted in his 185 years of life and his 170 years of experience as a user. He knew all too well that the intuition that these years had given him was something that should never be ignored.

That’s why Mars pulled the abyssal flames that he wanted to use aggressively and used them as a shield wall.

Hwaaaaak!

By erecting a pillar of flame in front of Mars’ own body, he covered Kyle’s illusions.

As it turned out, it was the right decision.

Just as sticky purple flames engulfed Kyle’s visions.

Kkwarrurrung!

Because the flames exploded from within, yellow lightning flashed like a snake’s tongue between the abyssal flames that scattered in all directions.

A lightning chain held by an illusion resembling Kyle. It burst when it touched the abyssal flames.

If Mars had ignored his intuition earlier, if he had simply thought it was an illusion and let it slide, he would have been hit directly by that chain of lightning.

“…what.”

Mars’ expression hardened. As far as he knew, illusions or clones that use active skills could not exist.

This happened because the skill called Fractal was so rare and had such a unique effect.

However, Mars did not deny what he had experienced. He simply accepted what had actually happened before his eyes and continued fighting based on what he had experienced.

It is arrogant to think that you know all the skills and items. Mars knew this well from long experience.

Pot-

The three of them, Kyle’s body and the illusion created from the fractal earlier, moved in different directions.

Mars opened his eyes wide and concentrated.

He tried to determine which was an illusion and which was the real thing by observing the wind blowing and the dust on the ground scattering.

As I perceived it, the main body was approaching from the front.

One of the illusions activated its blue flames and circled around Mars, aiming for her side. The remaining illusion performed a flanking maneuver, kicking off the walls and ceiling.

“aha.”

Through such a sight, Mars immediately figured out some information about an unknown skill called Fractal.

One. That illusion cannot penetrate and pass through physical obstacles.

One. The illusion only performs the movement designated when activating the skill. If I could control the illusion’s actions, I wouldn’t have lost the illusion so vainly to the abyssal flames that I honestly shot.

2. Each illusion disappears after activating one skill.

Three. The illusion can only implement what the caster can do ‘now’. It cannot penetrate walls as if it had a real body, nor can it move faster than Kyle’s own body. Likewise, it cannot activate skills that have a cooldown.

Of course, Mars also considered the possibility that this was all a psychological warfare orchestrated by Kyle.

But this time, what he figured out was right.

Kyle didn’t necessarily pick a fight with the performance of fractals. If he wanted to use fractals while considering psychological warfare, he would have to sacrifice some of the skill’s performance.

‘Clumsy psychological warfare won’t work on Mars.’

There were enough numbers in Kyle’s hand that he didn’t necessarily have to use fractals that way.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

anyway.

Mars realized quite a few things about the skill and fractals that Kyle had shown, but in reality, the time spent on deducing them was only a moment.

and.

Even in that fleeting moment, Mars did not waste it. He raised his right hand, and the abyssal flames that were burning in all directions engulfed the clone who was wielding the blue flame from all sides without any gaps.

Hwaaaaak!

The cold flame formed by the blue flame meets the purple flame.

Two different colored flames seemed to intertwine like snakes, then burst out in all directions like gushing lava.

Mars swung his arm amidst a spectacular firework-like explosion. In his hand was a sword with a blade made of ice.

Almas.

It is a weapon with top-tier performance among various ice-type items, and is Mars’ favorite sword.

It is not a relic item. Therefore, its basic performance is inferior to that of a relic item.

Rather, there were things it could do because it was not a sacred item.

That’s right, the possibility to apply all kinds of strengthening effects.

At this moment, all the runes and strengthening effects attached to Almas were manifested in Mars’ hands.

Squeak.

Immediately after Almas was swung.

The blade made of ice grew to be several tens of meters long in an instant, slicing down anything in its path.

The flames between Mars and Kyle split apart, slicing apart two more buildings in the distance.

And what followed that tragedy was a bitter cold that bit the flesh. All the shards that had been burning due to the Abyssal Flame skill were instantly frozen.

But, Kyle was no longer at that scene.

Boooow!

Mars used the same strength he used to swing Almas and spun his body around halfway. Then Almas’s ice blade sliced ​​Kyle’s waist, who had moved behind Mars with a flash.

No, I couldn’t do that.

The blade simply passed through Kyle’s body.

‘-Is it a fantasy?’

Mars quickly realized that this couldn’t be true.

There were three fractal illusions that Kyle had created. Two of them had already disappeared when he activated his skill, and Mars was clearly aware of how the remaining illusion was moving.

So what does the vision of Kyle passing the blade before his eyes mean?

Mars’s clever brain immediately came up with the answer.

The fundamental reason that made him, who had been hiding and attacking the ark, jump out to this place. The power that made him suddenly see hallucinations like a dream.

Dream eating.

Mars realized that he had been hit by a skill whose name he didn’t even know. And, this time, his judgment was correct.

As Almas passed by, Kyle’s form transformed into thousands of butterflies and scattered in all directions.

Even in a dizzying dream, Mars did not lose his composure.

But there are things that cannot be solved with calmness alone.

The next moment, Mars discovered four Kyles rushing in from all sides.

Even Mars, who was a very experienced user, couldn’t help but be confused.

Which is Kyle’s true nature? Which is an illusion? Which is the more threatening target? Which target should be destroyed first?

A variety of responses quickly flashed through Mars’ mind. However, Mars soon realized that all of those choices would ultimately lead to being dragged along by Kyle’s intentions.

That’s why Mars chose to. Without using tricks or trickery, he would hold out from the front with his skills and items, and then directly attack Kyle’s body.

In that moment, their numbers crossed.

Gurrrrrr!

With hot wire.

Kaka kaka kang!

Astra shoots out. Also, gravity chains shoot out from under Mars’ feet, trying to ensnare Mars.

Mars responded appropriately to all of those attacks.

Astra’s bullets were obliterated by the abyssal flames, and the heat rays that had been extending straight ahead were blocked by Mars’ large platinum shield, dispersing the heat in all directions.

Additionally, Mars destroyed the floor itself by striking the Moon Spear down at his feet in an attempt to dislodge the gravity chains.

One of the fractal illusions took advantage of the gap and approached Mars, firing a barrage of magic bullets, but they were all bounced off in all directions by the vortex Mars created, and ended up punching a hole in the wrong wall.

“Hoo!”

But it didn’t end there.

There are still some fractal illusions left that haven’t activated their skills yet. Also, Kyle’s main body still has a lot of skills and items left.

Then the second wave came. Mars felt his eyes and brain becoming dull. It was because he was exerting such intense concentration that his nerves were on fire.

But, right after that, the results of all that hard work came out.

Moment. Kyle’s attack formed a net that Mars could not physically escape from, and it was pushed into him. It was the moment Mars had been waiting for.

The moment all those attacks were about to reach Mars, Mars’ body suddenly turned blue.

3rd level skill, stillness.

This is a skill that can completely stop a designated target for a short while. However, you cannot attack a target that has stopped due to the stasis field. This is because you are temporarily disconnected from reality.

Mars used this still skill on himself, gaining a sort of invincibility.

All of Kyle’s attacks failed to hit Mars’ body, which had been using the stasis field, and instead just slid past its surface.

Teeing-

As soon as he had repelled all the attacks, Mars immediately released the stasis. The timing calculation was so precise that Astra’s bullets and heat rays barely managed to pass through Mars’ body.

Kwaaaaang!

And that moment was captured by Kyle as well. The fireball that had been prepared in advance struck Mars’ side, causing a huge explosion.

Even as his skin burned and was torn off, Mars swung his arms, using the shock as a tailwind.

Boooow!

Mars’s Albas cut Kyle in two. The taste he felt was by no means an illusion. The highly concentrated concentration allowed Mars to overcome the interference of dream eating.

However, Mars’ satisfaction did not last long.

Not a single drop of blood came out of Kyle’s body, which was split in half. Only transparent ice particles from Almas were scattered.

3rd level skill, shadow clone.

What Almas just destroyed was nothing more than a clone created with this skill.

“……!”

Mars’s eyes widened.

I was completely fooled. It couldn’t have been otherwise. Of course, that shadow clone was the very same entity that had just fired Astra with the blender and swung Galatine to fire heat rays.

Kyle had created an undetectable design by handing over his main item to his shadow clone.

And thus the fleeting moment was created.

3rd level skill, brainwashing.

Kyle himself transformed into a bolt of lightning, passing through Mars’ heart and spine at the same time. He also aimed for the brain, but Mars somehow managed to twist his body and avoid death.

However, Mars was forced to lose control of his body immediately afterward. No matter how great a user he was, he could not move normally while his heart and spine were being shocked and burned.

Phagejit-

Kyle regained his human form right at Mars’ feet. He knelt on one knee and picked up the blender that had fallen to the floor. The shadow clone had thrown the weapon in his direction even as it was being torn apart.

Kaka kaka kang!

At close range, Kyle pulled the trigger with a lifting motion of the blender.

Astra’s letter bullets hit Mars’ ankles, knees, thighs, and abdomen in succession. Blood and flesh spurted out.

And then. The moment the bullet finally shattered Mars’ ribs.

Tzu-up!

A sharp gap was created between Kyle and Mars.

4th rank skill, space attack.

It is a skill that creates a kind of portal by cutting through space with a weapon or hand blade. Astra’s letter bullet that was destroying Mars’ body came out in an unexpected place through the portal created by the space slash.

It’s none other than Kyle’s head.

As a result, Kyle ended up exposing his forehead to the bullet he fired, but he wasn’t all that surprised.

‘Is it Sneed?’

Kyle had known from the beginning that Sneed, the traitor of the regeneration meeting who had appeared with Mars, possessed this skill. He knew that he could intervene at any time, and he had already guessed how he would use the space spell, so he calmly tilted the blender.

5th rank skill, counterattack.

Thus, Astra’s bullet, which was falling on Kyle’s head, changed direction as soon as it hit the blender and was fired directly at Mars’ head.

“Ugh!”

At that point, Mars was also able to move his body again, and quickly jumped backwards to gain some distance.

But because his leg was damaged, the speed was extremely slow. So, the moment Kyle tried to move his leg to chase after the guy.

A steel giant appeared from the basement of the leaning building and blocked everything with its body.

3rd level skill, giant.

The appearance of the giant resembled a human without eyes, nose, or mouth. On the other hand, it had ears, which was rather strange. It was about 20 meters tall. Its shoulders were so broad and its arms so long that it felt like it was facing a wall rather than a giant.

Because it is so large, you can feel the heavy wind just by approaching it.

Crack!

As soon as the thing appeared, Kyle used a blender to crush the hand of the giant that was aiming for him. However, in that split second, the giant grabbed Mars’ body and threw it straight into the sky.

Hoooow-

Mars was seen rising through the ceiling into the distance. Then, Sneed, who had been waiting above, spoke to Mars in a crooked manner while accepting him.

“You’ve been hit hard, Mars.”

“I have no face.”

It was a natural joining, as if it had been arranged in advance.

“Hey! You scum! Get down!”

Down below, Sarah was swinging her sword and shouting profanities. It seemed as if Sarah had now abandoned even the slightest courtesy toward the traitor.

“Wouldn’t it be better to stop here? Even if it were me, if I kill you, who I’ve known since I was little, my sleep would become fierce.”

“Don’t be annoying me now!”

It really was ‘now’. On the topic of already trying to annihilate the members of the Regeneration Society, he said he would spare them because the bed was too rough. It was closer to provocation.

“I’m going to kill you!”

However, while Sarah was indignant.

“……!”

Snead jerked in surprise.

Level 7 skill, leap.

Beyond the scattered debris, Sneed noticed Kyle using his leap skill to shoot up.

Snead unleashed his skills to intercept, but Kyle used the Talaria runes on his Hermes’ shoes to maneuver at a steep angle in the sky, evading and closing the distance.

“What?”

And then, Kyle, who had finally gotten close to Mars, fell back again.

Snead, who was preparing for close combat, stopped for a moment at the unexpected situation. Immediately afterwards, he felt heat.

A spark the size of a fingernail.

A powerful flame grenade created in the shape of a bird stored in the Book of the Dead. That’s what exploded.

Only then did Snead realize Kyle’s intentions.

Kyle didn’t use his Dream Eater skill to hide the flame grenade. He didn’t use his Fractal skill this time either.

If they felt even the slightest sense of discomfort, Snad or Mars would surely suspect that there was something else going on.

Instead, Kyle held the enemy’s gaze with his own body.

By leaping into the air and using splendid three-dimensional maneuvers, he manages to break through Snead’s interception.

It was a way to deceive the opponent by not using the unknown skills called dream eating and fractals at the most crucial moment, while keeping them at bay.

In the heat of the moment, Mars and Sneed realized that Kyle had already anticipated Sneed’s involvement and had been waiting for this moment to be able to deal with them both at once, without allowing either of them to escape.

KWAWWWWW-!!!

Kyle looked up at the sky and fell, watching the magnificent explosion go off.

It was a satisfying fireworks display.