Chapter 251. Flashy Blade (3)
Flashy Blade’s special ability could only be activated when his health was below 30%, which wasn’t an attractive condition. However, it gave him an advantage the moment he learned it.
[Passive: One more blade can be used.]
An additional blade appeared. At that moment, a separate cooldown for Flash was also applied. At Level 6, the cooldown for the Flash skill was two seconds. Having two blades meant the player could Flash once per second. Moreover, one could place the swords in two different locations and Flash to either.
Flashy Blade at Level 6 was a completely different champion with another playstyle.
Jecheon and Acorn Jelly's faces turned pale.
‘Level 6?!’
Somehow, Flashy Blade at Level 6 had penetrated their base.
"Hey, his level—"
He tried to inform his teammates of the terrible situation, but it was already too late.
With a flash, Almond appeared behind him and perfectly slashed—
A line of blood appeared on Jecheon’s neck.
[Blade Energy]
A blue flame erupted and caused massive damage. Acorn Jelly bent forward and gasped for air, but it wasn’t over yet.
Almond rapidly spun and struck again. He was using Flashy Blade's passive skill called Spinning Strike.
[Spinning Strike]
[Passive: Damage will increase by 12% when slashing while spinning. May stack up to three times.]
A line of blood appeared again and caused even more damage this time.
[Damage increased by 12%]
Every time Almond spun and struck, the damage further increased.
[Damage increased by 24%]
On the third and final spin…
[Damage increased by 36%]
A huge chunk of Acorn Jelly's health disappeared after the critical hit.
[AcornJelly]
[HP: 51%]
Even at the last moment of landing, Almond stabbed him in the back and continued dealing damage.
[AcornJelly]
[HP: 33%]
This method of dealing damage occurred every 0.1 seconds. By the time Almond landed, most of Acorn Jelly's health had already been depleted.
Almond had perfectly used Spinning Strike. Acorn Jelly had no choice but to desperately swing his staff.
The staff accurately struck Almond, but it sounded strange. He hadn’t hit Almond, but the blade that Almond left behind.
"What?"
Almond had already disappeared.
[Flash]
Acorn Jelly felt a chilling aura from behind.
'He never threw a blade though?!'
Another slash swung across Acorn Jelly’s face of disbelief.
[AcornJelly]
[HP: 23%]
'Was it the one stabbed into my back?'
Almond had flashed to the blade he previously stuck in Acorn Jelly’s back to slash him again.
The flustered Acorn Jelly swung his staff behind and used his evasion skill. He thought he would die if he didn’t.
[Phantom Clone Technique]
[Will create multiple clones that cannot attack. These clones will disappear when attacked by the enemy. They can reflect a melee attack.]
Boom!
Instantly, several clones appeared to confuse the enemy. However, they were of no use.
[Blade Technique]
Almond activated his skill toward the blade that he left behind.
Slash!
The path of the blade caught all the clones and destroyed them. The clones couldn’t do anything against the ranged attack.
Thud.
Almond swept away the clones and grasped his blade again. He held two blades and threw both at Acorn Jelly.
Clang!
Acorn Jelly swung his staff and deflected one, but the other flew past his shoulder. It was deliberately thrown off target as a means of psychological warfare.
'Crazy fella.'
Now, Almond made him question which sword he would teleport to. The one Acorn Jelly deflected onto the ground or the one that flew past him?
Acorn Jelly was confused, but Almond quickly decided.
[Flash]
Zoom!
Almond teleported to the blade that had flown past Acorn Jelly's shoulder and caught him off guard. Before Acorn Jelly could react, a blade came hurling.
Thrust!
The blade pierced Acorn Jelly's back. Only then did he turn and swing his staff.
Whoosh!
However, he only struck air.
[Flash]
Zip!
Almond already teleported to the blade that Acorn Jelly deflected earlier.
Once again, Acorn Jelly exposed himself.
'It was hopeless from the start...!'
From the moment Almond threw the two blades, Acorn Jelly would be outflanked. It was the end now.
Blade Energy's damage would be included after Flashly Blade gained distance and returned.
[Blade Energy]
Flare!
A blue flame flickered from the blade. Almond spun and cleaved Acorn Jelly in half.
Slash!
He dealt the maximum damage possible with the bonus proportional to the enemy’s lost health and the spinning attack.
[Enemy Eliminated!]
[LazySoldier → AcornJelly]
Acorn Jelly collapsed.
All this happened just a few seconds after Almond entered the fray.
"....Aaargh!" OrangeKing was still screaming.
***
OrangeKing expressed his opinion, "This is insane!"
He began speaking even faster.
"An incredible spinning strike combo with psychological warfare just now! So much has happened in an instant!
"What, what is happening? All I saw were flashing lights and all this chaos!
"Was that really non-stop damage!? He engaged with a blade strike, Spinning Strike, Spinning Strike, Spinning Strike, Flash, and used a blade art to destroy all the clones before flashing again! Then another blade strike! It was an endless combo!"
OrangeKing passionately described the action as the viewers reacted.
— OrangeKing is out of breath lol
— A second coming of electromagnetic waves?!
— That was intense
— What did I just witness?
— I don't even know why he died.
— Why did all the clones explode at once?
However, the action didn’t stop to wait for their reactions, and SweetRadish didn’t just idly stand by.
"Wait a minute! Is Takoyaki dead!?"
[Enemy Eliminated!]
[SweetRadish → Takoyaki]
SweetRadish had caught Takoyaki with the Beast and now pointed his sword at Almond.
"Almond! It's a 2 vs. 1 situation! Will he fight!?"
The answer came in 0.1 seconds.
Swoosh!
Almond threw his blades without hesitation. One flew straight and cut through the air. The other flew in an arc high above.
"He threw both of them!? More mind games!"
SweetRadish responded with Whirlwind.
Swoosh!
He unleashed Whirlwind and swept up Almond's flying blades.
‘Now's my chance,’ SweetRadish thought.
“Attack!” SweetRadish instructed.
“Okay!”
The Beast charged, and SweetRadish cut his own palm using the wind.
[Activating blood contract]
Red droplets scattered, and a red text appeared:
[Ultimate Technique - Red Wind]
"It’s a summoning technique!"
"He's Level 6 after killing Takoyaki!"
"This means he's going for the kill!"
SweetRadish swung his enhanced sword, which was several times larger than himself.
[Range has increased]
[Attack power has increased]
[Every third attack will lift the enemy]
[You can freely shape the wind sword]
[All attacks will penetrate the enemy]
His ultimate gave him additional options.
[Time Remaining: 00:10]
SweetRadish seized the opportunity and lightly swung his sword.
Swoosh!
Red Wind swept even the areas that were previously out of reach. Almond could have been swept away too.
[Flash]
However, Almond vanished as expected.
'I knew you would do this.'
SweetRadish knew how to deal with the teleporting blades. He knew where Almond would reappear next.
‘He'll go to the one I knocked away earlier.’
SweetRadish swung his sword toward that location.
Swoosh!
Red Wind engulfed the area, but a powerful impact struck him from above.
Almond had suddenly appeared above him. The Spinning Strike took away nearly 20% of his health.
‘What…?'
SweetRadish tilted his head in confusion, but the commentators watching saw it all.
“Almond first threw one blade forward and the other up! The one he threw up finally fell back down!”
“He threw it extremely high to take advantage of the time delay for a feint!? As expected of a player who mainly uses the bow!”
“Is this really someone who's using Flashy Blade in a real match for the first time!?”
Indeed.
Almond had anticipated a counterattack and threw the other blade high up in advance.
SweetRadish was too focused on the blade flying toward him that he failed to notice the other one.
'It doesn't matter.'
It was a cute trick, but it wouldn’t make much impact from SweetRadish's point of view. He calmly turned around and deflected it with his red wind sword.
[Flash]
Fizzle!
Almond disappeared as expected.
‘I really hit him this time.'
SweetRadish smiled.
This time, Almond could only Flash to one place due to the cooldown.
Craaack!
Red Wind finally swept Almond up.
“Ah! Almond finally got hit!”
“This Flash was too predictable!”
[LazySoldier]
[HP: 80%]
In an instant, 20% of his health had disappeared.
'This is the third strike. It's over.'
"Ah, he’s in the air!?"
Wind Sword's ultimate skill lifted the opponent into the air.
[Status Effect: Lifted]
No skills could be used in this state.
The Beast and Wind Sword’s combo came into play here.
[Sky Slash]
Wind Sword slashed at Almond.
[Smash Down]
The Beast pinned Almond to the ground.
They called this a CC (crowd control) combo. It chained status affecting skills so the opponent could do nothing but die.
"Ah! He can't do anything, can he!?"
"What's the use of having Flash when you'll end up in CC! That's why Flashy Blade is so difficult!"
Bang! Bang!
Almond's health sharply declined due to the Beast and Wind Sword’s joint attack.
[LazySoldier]
[HP: 22%]
Due to their CC combo, Almond's health suddenly dropped to 20%.
"Ah, this combo is insane!"
[LazySoldier]
[HP: 12%]
Just as Wind Sword raised his sword for the final strike…
[Ultimate Skill - Tsunami]
Splash!
A wave came from out of nowhere and washed them away.
Gurgle...!
Wind Sword and the Beast suddenly found themselves in the water.
"Ah! Miho finally arrived!"
It was Miho. She was playing as the supporter and was quite poor, so she arrived quite late with no shoe-related items.
“Am I too late!?”
Almond picked himself up and responded, “No.”
The condition of having his health below 30% to use his ultimate skill had been met.
“Perfect timing.”
Swish!
He immediately drew his blade across his hand.
[The contract sealed with blood has been recalled.]
Along with Flashy Blade’s voice, two strands of red mana surged up. Almond’s hair also turned white, and his eyes flashed red.
[All enemies within 10 meters will be disarmed for 2 seconds.]
Flutter!
All surrounding weapons shivered, and Flashy Blade briefly controlled even the enemies' weapons.
Additionally, two more blades appeared.
[Two more blades have been temporarily added.]
As if bestowed from heaven, two more blades were summoned.
Now, Almond wielded four blades. This was Flashy Blade's ultimate.
[Ultimate Skill - One Blade Art]
It was One Blade Art.
Whoosh.
The four blades aligned in front of Almond as if they had their own wills.
[Remaining Time]
[00:09]
For ten seconds, he could freely move the blades.
His remaining health was at 12%. This was insufficient for some, but not Almond.
"Ah, what!? What's going on!"
"Insane!"
The blades meticulously tormented the Beast and Wind Sword.
They tried to counter, but it was as if they were swinging at nonexistent ghosts.
Soon afterward…
[LazySoldier! Double Kill!]
Both the Beast and Wind Sword almost simultaneously fell.
From that moment on, the game flipped in favor of Balloon Stars…
[Victory]
They ended up winning.
***
[Current Score]
[Balloon Stars 1: High Protein 0]
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