Black Online-Chapter 51: Hard-Fought Victory

[Red Team: 56%...]

[Red Team: 57%...]

It was turning late in the evening, and the passenger ship that brought Miranda and Fang Raon to the island came to pick them up.

However, they weren’t done yet with the training exercise, surprisingly enough, as there was currently an unprecedented comeback happening!

"Keep pushing them back!"

Nathan shouted.

While screaming in frustration, Blue Team just couldn’t get through Red Team no matter how hard they tried.

They had already died a couple of times trying to make up the mountain only to fail over and over again.

"Where the hell is Machary?"

Abdul screamed.

"I don’t know, but I guess he is still fighting that Fang Raon guy. Wasn’t there a notification about both of them dying an hour ago?"

Kira said.

"Argh... Tauro, go find Machary, and kill Fang Raon if he is with him. We need Machary if we want to win!"

Adrian shouted.

"Alright!"

Tauro sheathed his sword and ran down the steps and rushed to the forest with his heart beating in anxiousness.

They were so close to victory, but now the cursed Red Team was making a shitty comeback, which just pissed him off!

’Can’t they just lose? God damn it!’

After searching for Machary for a while, he suddenly heard the sound of steel screeching and clanging.

In the forest, Machary and Fang Raon were locked in a fierce battle, their swords clashing in a symphony of violence.

It was a level of battle he should have no part in.

"Machary!"

At that moment, Tauro ran over to him, locked his gaze on Fang Raon, raised his shield, and banged his sword against it.

"Intimidation!"

The power of ’Intimidation’ hit Fang Raon like a ton of bricks, and he faltered for the first time in the fight.

"Kill him now, Machary!"

Tauro shouted.

"Get the fuck away, Tauro. You have no part in this fight. It is between me and him, so fuck off!"

Machary screamed angrily.

It shocked Tauro, as he had never seen him so angry before, and it honestly made him quake in his boots.

"B-But... We can’t take the mountain without you. They are catching up to us. We need you, Team Leader!"

Tauro shouted.

"I don’t give a fuck about that!"

Machary said, then he waited for the ’Intimidation’ to end and immediately continued his fierce fight against Fang Raon.

"...Damn!"

Tauro ran back to the mountain and gave the harsh news to the rest of Blue Team, and they were stunned.

They had never heard of Machary acting that way, and team success should’ve been more important than individual success.

It was obvious that Machary was acting extremely selfish, as he wanted to prove himself against Fang Raon.

He wanted to show to the entirety of Rose Records that he was stronger than Fang Raon.

If he got help defeating Fang Raon, his reputation would be tarnished, and that’s not what he wanted.

...

"Huff... Puff..."

The ship’s captain watched as the sun slowly set over the horizon, and he checked the time on his pocket watch.

It was getting late and past the appointed time.

"Tch, whatever. They are late, so why should I care? Let’s turn the ship around and head back to the city!"

The captain shouted.

"What about those players?"

A crewmate asked.

The ship’s crew and the captain were all "locals" of the world, so they only knew of the newcomers to the tower as "players" and called them as such.

"They can swim back or wait for tomorrow. It’s dangerous in these waters during the night, and I won’t want to get swallowed by some sea beast!"

The captain shouted.

His word was law on the ship, and thus, the steamboat started chugging back to the city, with the crew murmuring in agreement that it was better to be safe than sorry.

...

"...They are leaving..."

Miranda watched with the help of the binoculars at departing ship, and clicked her tongue.

She already expected that the training exercise would take till it was dark, but after Blue Team’s dominating start, she hoped that maybe not.

Thus, she expected for them to be most likely having to stay on the island for the night, but luckily, they could always log off till then.

[ZeNZ: Red Team is already at 70%!]

[RatMan: What the hell is Blue Team doing? They are choking!]

[CherryGirl: Fang Raon tricked Machary, didn’t he... He must’ve known that Machary has an ego as big as his forehead, and thus he played Machary like a fiddle]

"Chat, Fang Raon didn’t know Machary before today, so I don’t know if he knew about his ego problem or if he simply guessed.

"It was either luck or he has a natural ability at reading people."

Miranda said.

...

[Red Team: 90%]

[Blue Team: 98%]

"Argh! Argh! Argh!"

Machary screamed, swinging his sword wildly in the air, and Fang Raon kept parrying his attacks, seemingly unfazed.

It had been a while since Fang Raon stopped using his skills.

Instead, he used the "Non-Activation Word" versions of the attacks as he pretty much treated the fight as training session.

It was even more effective than when he did it all by himself.

"Your team is losing."

Fang Raon said with a smile.

"...So?" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Machary asked while breathing roughly.

He was drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

It had been a very long time since he had been this exhausted, and it felt like his arms were about to fall off.

"I have no reason to keep fighting you anymore. Red Team has won. Good match, Machary."

Fang Raon said with a smile and stored his shield and sword back into his inventory.

"...What the hell are you talking about? Take out your sword and shield. We are not done yet!"

Machary screamed angrily.

"I have no reason to keep fighting you anymore. We’ve won. I was only your distraction, and I never wanted to beat you."

Fang Raon said.

"...You..."

Machary’s face turned red in anger, and he raised his sword, and cut Fang Raon down with one angry slash.

[Fang Raon has died!]

In that same moment, the red flag reached the peak of the flagpole, and an announcement appeared in the skies above the Battle Island.

[Red Team: 100%]

[Red Team has won the King of the Hill event! Congratulations to all the players for the hard-fought victory!]

[MVP: Fang Raon]