Elsword – Time Trouble v3c1

1. Over the death
Sky was dyed in red again.
Screams and pillars of smoke were rising from far away. Add walked forwards silently ignoring the
scenes of chaos around him.
On the road that should have been normally filled with traffic, Add stopped at a four way road and
measured his distance.
Preparation to meet the enemy was complete. Why did such an enemy appear all of a sudden? Why
was survivor from the Red Knights that’s been annihilated half a year ago now siding with the
demons? Why was she getting in the way of the Velder Liberation Army that was fighting to save
Velder’s king and citizens?
There were so many things that needed to be known but Add put aside all of those for now. There
was something more important that had to be done right now.
“If you got beat once…..”
Voice of Add as he stood alone lingered in the air. As if responding to him….. Heavy tremor tore
apart the silence.
Crash!!
Glitter Vanguard rushed out from the building it was hiding inside. Add smiled showing his teeth
after confirming the red haired warrior standing proudly on top of the viscous metal.
“You have to pay it back!!”
Add immediately got on top of his Dynamos and started to move backwards. Add was fast as the
wind when he was on top of his Dynamos. He was still slower than Ara’s windwalking but he could
quickly outrun a Glitter Vanguard that moved on its wheels.
When Add she had targeted immediately distanced himself and escaped, Elesis seemed to pause then
did something strange.
She jumped up lightly then swung her sword downwards.
Slash!
It was a chilling sound even for Add who had heard it from afar. The object in her sword’s
trajectory was Glitter Vanguard she had been riding on top of just moment ago. Glitter Vanguard
got sliced in half and rolled on the ground in an instant. Elesis made a single somersault in mid air
and landed on the ground.
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“…..”
Add saw this happen with his eyes but he still found it hard to believe. Glitter Vanguard was
reinforced with multiple layers of steel. Elsword and Add had to deal with it in a roundabout way
because they couldn’t hope to destroy it directly.
But Elesis just sliced it in half with a single slash of her sword.
“It was too slow.”
After mercilessly destroying the Glitter Vanguard, Elesis leaned her sword against her shoulder then
glanced at Add sideways. Her gaze was as if she was saying did you really dare to come alone? Add
winced for a moment after seeing Glitter Vanguard get destroyed by a single slash but quickly
replied with a menacing smile.
“What? I thought I’d be facing the demon army. A human female is my opponent now?”
“Do we really need introductions?”
Elesis lowered her sword in an angle while making a beaming smile. It looked like her gesture was
saying let’s talk for now and not fight. But Add didn’t let his guard down. The enemy was powerful
enough to give Ara and Eve who had fought together a hard time. Someone like Add will lose his
head the moment he got within the range of her sword.
Although she was smiling right now, although it was a very beautiful smile….he’ll die if he’s careless.
Add laughed confidently in order to hide the cold sweat dripping from his back.
The distance between them was 100m. He still had some room to spare.
“Why were you hiding in such a place?”
“Why don’t you come here and ask me if you’re curious?”
Elesis leisurely, but slowly approached Add. Female panther laid her eyes upon her prey. It was as if
she could easily devour someone like Add whenever she wanted. You could feel her leisure and
mettle from her steps. Add felt like immediately turning around and running away and struggled to
suppress the urge.
He had to be patient in order to make this plan a success.
“Ha, could it be that you were hiding just so you could get me?”
“Where are the others?”
Elesis didn’t show much reaction from Add’s provocation.
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Her tone was as if she wasn’t interested in Add’s blabbering. Having his calculations miss their mark,
Add decided to just ask directly.
“Your younger brother Elsword is on our side. Are you doing this despite knowing that fact?”
“Hmm, I wonder if he became much stronger.”
“….”
For Add, this was important information that he had kept hidden. But Elesis was lightly running her
finger across her sword as if this reveal was something trivial. Add got annoyed for some reason at
her uncaring att.i.tude and instinctively stretched out his hand forwards.
“Void…..!”
“Too slow.”
When an alternate s.p.a.ce was about to form in front of her, Elesis swung her sword lightly. With
only that gesture, the distorting s.p.a.ce got shattered and returned to normal.
He didn’t think it would work, but for his attack to get ignored this easily…
No, actually even Ran could do this much. His ambush had gone to waste but Add collected himself.
After finishing the examination of her sword’s condition with her fingertip, Elesis stared at Add and
held up her sword to fix her stance. A gaze as if she wasn’t interested. She was filled with an
absolute confidence that there was no one that could stand in her way.
“So who should I slash apart first?”
“…..”
Her tone was as if she could see through everything. Well, the difference in Add and Elesis’ abilities
were obvious. Elesis was judging that there was no way Add could have come out alone like this
without a plan.
Add had carefully laid the trap. But his prey was judging so coldly and proudly. This wasn’t good.
“Elsword was way too weak.”
“Really? I thought I trained him strictly.”
“Yes, he wasn’t of any help and kept getting in my way so I killed him on my way here.”
Elesis frowned and walked towards Add without answering. Add purposely mocked as he shrugged
his shoulders.
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“Kukukukuk. The sight of how he was begging for his life knowing that he was about to die was so
despicab…..”
“Mr.Add!!”
Tearing scream. Did Ara misread the situation and dash out? Was she going to ruin their carefully
laid plan? Add’s face got contorted but it was him that had misread the situation.
Elesis kicked the ground and charged in. It was…..so fast that it couldn’t be described as a charge.
It looked like she had kicked the ground then the distance between them which was 100m apart
turned immediately to 60m. And just when Add had realized this, their distance had shrunk instantly
to 3m.
Clank!!
Ara who had given up hiding for an ambush ran in fast as she could to hastily hold up her spear to
block the attack. Dark-red sword that was about to shatter Add’s head was blocked by the shaft of
Ara’s spear.
“…..Did you come after reading my attack beforehand? Not bad.”
“M, Mr.Add, back out!”
Ara was groaning as she tried to push Elesis’ attack off. It looked her strength was giving out.
Add was frighteningly surprised by the fact that his neck would have been chopped off if Ara hadn’t
antic.i.p.ated Elesis’ attack and came running to help. But Add’s head was already making cool
judgements now.
“Start the plan!! Rena!!”
“Guide Arrow!!”
Five arrows poured down from the rooftop of a building behind them. Elesis who was pushing back
Ara with her strength clicked her tongue and backed off. But these special arrows made out of mana
never missed their targets.
When Elesis realized that these arrows kept following her no matter how much she distanced herself,
she made an unpleasant face as she lowered her stance and held her sword with both of her hands.
Clink! Clink!!
Elesis’ skill as she struck and destroyed each mana compressed arrows was surprising. But it was too
much for her to block all five arrows that flew in towards her simultaneously.
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She managed to destroy the three but she couldn’t help but to get hit by the two on her shoulder
and stomach.
“Darn.”
Elesis received damage and staggered while backing off. She was far away but you could tell from
her pale expression that she just received a noticeable damage.
“Yep, I hate arrows after all…..”
Alright. So our attacks do work on her. No matter how scary Elesis’ mobility was, no matter how
skilled she was at instantly closing the distance, there should be a limit to how a swordsman can
react if they got arrows fired at them from a long range.
“Think you can do it?”
“Yes, I can.”
The problem was that, in the end, Rena was an archer. Since their best strategy was to keep
pressuring Elesis from a long range, they needed someone to tie down Elesis in close quarters. Only
people capable of such a feat in the El Search Party were Elsword and Ara….. But no matter how
exquisite Ara’s spear skills were, it was honestly too much for her to face Elesis head on.
Should he be at least glad that Eun wasn’t popping out to take over Ara’s body to run away?
“I’ll also a.s.sist you much as possible. But what about Eve?”
“I’m not too sure either.”
Add didn’t reveal beforehand about how their enemy was Elesis. But Eve should have figured it out
by now. The reason for Eve not coming out despite this was obvious.
Although they had Rena’s long range support, it was a complete life threatening gambit to fend off
Elesis with just Add and Ara. But this situation rather comforted Add.
He couldn’t let Eve get destroyed. Elesis was way too dangerous.
If Eve stayed back in order to comfort Elsword who was shocked at Elesis appearing as their enemy,
then that was fine in its own way. No, it actually made Add angry but it was better than Eve getting
destroyed.
“Then, we’ll have to handle this by ourselves.”
“Yes.”
After having confronted Elesis once, Ara must have realized how great Elesis’ skills were and had a
very stiff expression. But Ara still nodded regardless. Even though her life would be the one that’s in
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the most danger, even though she knew the most about Elesis’ terrifying skills from a firsthand
experience, she was filled with determination.
“I’ll support you the best I can so don’t get nervous, and Rena will also…..”
Just when Add was going over the plan again to ease Ara’s nervousness, his face stiffened. Elesis
took a deep breath then seemed to jump up lightly. Dark and ominous aura surrounded her.
“Ejection!!”
She made a strange stance where she turned both her sword and body backwards. Add realized that
the demonic energy was gathering around her and screamed.
“Rena! Run!!”
“Buster!!”
As his scream and her shout rang across the silence and intersected with each other, Elesis ejected
an enormous amount of demonic energy she had gathered towards the rooftop of the building Rena
was at.
Boooooom!!
An energy wave, a giant laser of demonic energy swept across the building’s rooftop. It was such a
powerful attack that not just the building’s rooftop but entire upper half of the building disappeared.
After neatly disposing of the annoying arrows, Elesis proudly landed on the ground.
“Arrows get annoying if left alone.”
“M, Mr Add! Ms.Rena is!!”
Ara screamed but Add didn’t waver. No, he was actually wavering but didn’t let it show. Showing
yourself waver to the enemy and your worried allies would only make things disadvantageous for
them.
“Proceed according to the plan. Rena is fine.”
It was a lie. But it seemed Ara didn’t know what being suspicious meant and her face brightened
right away.
“I’m glad!”
“That’s right. It’s all within expectations.”
He hadn’t known that Elesis could launch a long ranged attack. His original plan was to put Ara in
front, Add for support then settle the fight with Rena’s arrows. But the building that Rena was
hiding in just got blown away completely.
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Did she die? He did however point out couple of other sniping spots to Rena just in case. It would
be nice if Rena had escaped before the attack hit the building. But if she didn’t….
“Kukukukuk.”
Add forcefully let out a laugh. He wasn’t in any situation to worry about others.
Rena was possibly dead, Elsword wasn’t coming out, and Eve must be beside Elsword. They had to
face such a powerful enemy with only Ara and Add.
This plan was a failure. It was a rational course of action right now to bring Eun out and time travel.
But Add didn’t.
“Then let’s start.”
He had to time travel again anyways if Rena was dead. If that’s the case, he had to use this chance to
test out Elesis’ abilities up to their limits in order to be successful next time.
He had to risk his life right now in order to win next time.
“Let’s go Ara. Or you can let Eun take over if you’re scared.”
“No, it’s an honor as a martial artist to be able to battle someone so powerful.”
Ara spoke energetically then pulled out her hairpin. Her black hair got dyed in celestial white color.
Nine tails shook along with her breath. Ara suppressed her fears and glared at Elesis who was
approaching them confidently.
“Then, Ara Haan, engaging!”
Dark blade and white spear clashed again.
At the moment Ara energetically shouted and tried to dash out, Elesis charged in with an
unbelievable speed again and closed the distance while holding up her sword. This was the second
time they’ve seen her charge in but it was way too fast! Of course, Ara could reach such speeds as
well if she ran using windwalking. But the difference between her and Elesis was the time required
for them to reach their maximum speeds.
When a normal human started running, they needed a warm up time in order to the reach their
maximum speed. This was obvious since it was a matter of muscle and breathing.
But for Elesis, the moment she kicked the ground was her maximum speed.
“Haah!”
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But Ara didn’t fear and carefully examined Elesis’ movements. Ara was startled at first by Elesis’
sudden attack but, if you only considered speed, Ara didn’t lag too far behind her. The deciding
factor was the difference between their reaction speeds!
“Unlimited….”
“Energy Absorption!”
It looked like an energy orb gathered on Ara’s hand then Elesis’ stance as she was about to swing
her sword got shaken and she couldn’t continue her attack. The energy orb that Ara had gathered on
her hand caused a miraculous suction effect to disturb Elesis’ stance at least for an instant.
Realizing that Ara had boldly created an opening, Add also quickly made his calculations.
“Void Field!!”
Right after the Energy Absorption, an alternate s.p.a.ce opened up across the floor and restrained
Elesis’ feet. Elesis’ movements stopped completely from the two’s continuous attacks. Ara didn’t
miss this chance and stabbed with her spear multiple times.
After getting stabbed multiple times by Ara’s spear, Elesis frowned as she swung her sword to make
Ara back off. The Void Field’s duration had ended way too early.
Void Field should have normally lasted longer but it seemed that Elesis had some kind of special
power. Duration of the restraint was way too short.
“The effect is….!”
But although it was for a moment, they were able to injure Elesis. Ara was rejoicing when Add
screamed after realizing the dark-red demonic energies gathering on Elesis’ hand.
“Don’t just stand there. Dodge!”
“Huh?”
Ara looked confused but still moved to dodge. But Elesis throwing her demonic energy was faster.
Ara’s body stiffened as she got hit directly by the demonic energy that flew sharply towards her as if
it was a throwing knife. In that instant, Elesis closed her distance between Ara almost like she was
getting dragged in by a magnetic force as she swung her sword.
“Aaaaah!”
Even as Ara screamed in pain after getting hit by this sudden attack, she quickly swung her spear.
Elesis for some reason backed off lightly and dodged the spear….. Surprisingly, the wounds that Ara
had inflicted on her earlier with the spear had been cleanly healed.
“Did she recover?”
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Add who was observing realized what just happened and was horrified. Just what was this monster?
She pressures by swinging her sword with an unreasonable speed. When they position themselves
and attack from afar, she gathers demonic energy and fires it at them. And even if they create an
opening at a close range and injure her, she recovers on her own?
…..How can there be such a thing? Add’s face turned ghastly pale even before he realized it himself.
But Ara didn’t mind her own injuries as she dove directly into Elesis.
“Haaaaah!”
“Hah?”
Elesis had now fully recovered her wounds and laughed amusedly. She swung her sword widely in
response to Ara’s attack. It was a terrifyingly powerful sword strike. Seeing this strike that contained
so much force that it could break through Ara’s spear and cut through her body, Add quickly
stretched out his hand as he shouted.
“Void Impact!”
Add’s alternate s.p.a.ce attack happened right in the moment when Ara charged in. Elesis paused for a
moment as she let out a painful groan due to the alternate s.p.a.ce that got created on her sides.
“Kugh.”
“Haaah!!”
Ara didn’t miss this opening and stabbed with her spear multiple times. Elesis quickly recovered her
posture and held up her sword to respond. But her sword swings didn’t contain such a force like last
time.
“Void….”
Elesis backed off without hesitation when Add held up his hand again in order to shatter the
alternate s.p.a.ce. She could have easily faced Ara in 1 on 1 and quickly destroyed her, but she was
being mindful of Add’s s.p.a.ce attacks that came in through the openings.
At first, they had been pressured by the display of her overwhelming attacks. But Elesis was also a
human in the end. She feels pain when she’s stabbed and she bleeds when she’s wounded.
She seemed to have an ability to recover but that looked like it had some limited conditions.
“Don’t let her escape!”
Ara was already dashing in faster than Add’s shout. This was a golden opportunity, if they mixed
Ara’s spear skills and Add’s s.p.a.ce manipulation abilities; it looked like they could match up to Elesis.
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But Elesis frowned then for some reason she didn’t attempt to respond to Ara’s spear this time. A
defenceless stance, as if she was saying go ahead and stab if you’d dare. Add was about to let fly a
Void Breaker but his pupils shook widely.
“Don’t stab!!”
“Pardon?”
Ara asked with a tone almost as if she was screaming but her hands had already moved forwards.
Elesis’ body shined gold the moment Ara’s spear was about to pierce her. Ara’s body flew off like
the kite that got its string snapped off.
“Kyaaaah!!”
It was an abrupt reflective force. It had such a power that it didn’t end with just Ara getting pushed
back. Skin on Ara’s arm got torn apart and she received a bone revealing wound. She was barely
holding onto her spear now. Judging by how Ara’s arms were trembling, it looked like she wouldn’t
be able to continue the battle.
“….”
She had an unreasonable swordsmanship at a close range. She quickly closes the distance and comes
for their necks at mid-range. She fires concentrated demonic energy if they shoot at her from a long
range. She recovers even if they injure her and launches a counter skill if they try to create an
opening with a combination attack?
What kind of monster was this? She was such a monster that you couldn’t believe she was a human.
Add froze as he let out a groan.
“So this is….”
The strongest leader of the Red Knights, Elesis.
Ara was panting as she kneeled on one leg. Elesis approached her with haughty steps.
Elesis was completely ignoring Add because his attacks weren’t effective by himself. She was trying
to finish things now.
Add had tried to figure out the extent of Elesis’ abilities from this plan but he had only confirmed
that she was a mighty existence with no blind spots.
I can’t beat this.
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Add made his decision and tried to call Eun to time travel for now. But Eun showed no signs of
coming out despite how much Ara was trembling and trying to stand up.
“Eun!!”
There was no answer to Add’s call. Elesis fixed the grip on her sword and slowly raised it up. Below
her feet was Ara.
“Eu….”
Ara was forcefully gripping her spear with her torn arm dripping with blood. She was desperately
trying to hold up her spear in defense. But this was an enemy she struggled against even when she
was in a normal condition. There was no way she could face her now with such a serious injury.
“Then shall we end this?”
“Stardust…..”
Elesis would easily nullify his Void Double Impact. Add’s most powerful attack, s.p.a.ce gate opened
above the sky but Elesis didn’t stop her sword.
The sword was dropping.
“No!!”
Ara will die this time!! Just when Add let out a scream, the moment when gravity orbs were about to
fall late, piercing through the moment when Elesis was about to mercilessly swing down her sword,
Arrows faster than anything else came flying.
Rain of arrows suddenly poured down. Elesis frowned as she tried to deflect them but then saw the
gravity orbs pouring down from a gap in the sky. She clicked her tongue as she backed off. She
wasn’t swift only when she was charging in; she also swiftly backed off dozens of meters in an
instant.
But even though she had dodged the gravity orbs, torrent of arrows pouring down from the
building’s rooftop didn’t cease.
“Haaaah!”
With a clean shout from the rooftop, arrows continued to pour down towards every location Elesis
tried to dodge. After quickly cancelling the Stardust Shower, Add unknowingly exclaimed.
“She was alive!”
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Rena hadn’t died from the attack that had blown away the building earlier. But time for rejoicing was
short lived because Rena’s urgent voice rang through the megaphone.
“Add, hurry!!”
“Got it!”
There was a limit to these arrows of fortune. Add quickly mounted the Dynamos and approached
Ara to examine her condition. Ara was staggering as she managed to stand up. The wound on her
left arm was so deep that he could see the tendons in her muscle and even her bones.
It was impossible for her to continue fighting like this. Rena was tying Elesis down with a torrent of
arrows but that will also reach its limit soon.
“Let’s retreat for now. Hurry up and call Eun!”
Eun needed to come out because he didn’t know what might happen if they tried to retreat as they
were now. But Ara stubbornly shook her head.
“No, I’ll fight.”
“What are you talking….”
Add was about to speak but shut his mouth. Ara had grabbed her spear with two hands again while
letting out a painful groan.
“This much wound can be recovered by fighting. And what will happen to the other people if we
retreat here?”
“…..”
Add had meant it as going back to the past using time travel. But Ara must have understood it as
abandoning everything and running away.
In any case, wasn’t Eun way more skilled than Ara?
When Add was about to speak some reason into her, Ara stared at Elesis who was lightly dodging
the torrent of arrows.
“If I turn my back and run away here, I’ll also have to run away when I fight Elder Brother. I’ll fight
her head on and win!”
“Hey…..”
She was being unreasonably stubborn. Add was so dumbfounded and tried to scold her but realized
that Eun wasn’t showing any signs of coming out.
Could it be that Eun was respecting Ara’s unreasonable persistence? Her fighting spirit?
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“Ejection Buster!!”
When the torrent of arrows that had been restlessly falling finally ended, Elesis jumped up again and
gathered demonic energy. Burst that followed after, the laser mixed with dark-red flames and
demonic energy blew away the building that Rena had been firing arrows from cleanly without a
trace.
“I’m sorry, my plan was flawed…..”
Add unknowingly apologized after seeing another building get blown away. He had thought it was a
flawless plan when he had formed it. But he honestly hadn’t known Elesis was this much of a
monster with no blind spots. Even if Rena had gotten out safely from this attack, it will take her
time to move to the next sniping point.
And during that time, only thing in front of Elesis’ sword was Ara and Add. It wouldn’t be wrong to
say that they were good as dead.
He had miscalculated the enemy’s competence, he had to start over.
“So let’s escape for…..”
“No. It was a magnificent plan. It was my abilities that were lacking, Mr.Add.”
Ara stared at Add and smiled while courageously suppressing the pain from her wound.
“I’ll protect you Mr.Add.”
“What….”
After smiling sweetly, Ara didn’t even wait for Add’s reply as she kicked the ground and dashed
forwards. Elesis had always charged in first until now but this time Ara had attacked first.
Actually, their speeds were the same. The problem was the time they took to reach their maximum
speeds. In order to bridge this gap, Ara attacking first was crucial.
Ara had realized this instinctively during her previous confrontations and was charging in alone right
now.
“Void Impact!!”
Add realized Ara’s intention and let out an enraged scream as he quickly finished the necessary
calculations. Elesis who was about to turn towards Ara and Add after landing on the ground saw the
s.p.a.ce near her being distorted and quickly backed off while swinging her sword.
Add’s Void Impact was nullified. But using that opening, Ara’s stab went in directly as she arrived a
slight moment later. Elesis was withdrawing the sword she had swung so she had no choice but to
take this attack in an unstable posture.
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“Hmm, it’s not too bad this time.”
Elesis smiled enjoyably as she responded to Ara’s attacks. On the other hand, Ara’s face was serious
as she restlessly stabbed from various angles.
They were equals when they had both reached their maximum speeds. Spear and sword mingled
chaotically.
Still, Ara was getting pushed back. Even though they were equals in speed…their power, the power
behind Elesis’ swords was irrationally strong.
“Shatter!!”
Taking advantage of the opening again, Add’s s.p.a.ce distortion went in. Ara and Elesis were so
chaotically confronting each other that it was difficult to make calculations to avoid Ara getting
caught up in his attacks. But he had no choice but to pull it off.
Elesis turned her head to dodge but she couldn’t help her cheek from getting torn and having blood
drip down from it.
In that moment, Ara’s spear aimed at Elesis’ chest. Add quickly shouted after seeing Elesis cover
herself with a golden barrier with a smile.
“Aim for her weapon!”
“Yes!”
Elesis’ chest was right in front of her but Ara withdrew her spear without hesitation and hit down
on Elesis’ sword instead. Elesis made a smile as if she was saying ‘would you look at that?’
If Ara had stabbed just now, she would have gotten hit by the counter skill again and got torn apart.
“Back off for now! Void Impact!!”
Add purposely distorted the s.p.a.ce where Ara was in. Ara didn’t get hurt because she backed off
without question and Elesis who was about to rush in had to pause because of the s.p.a.ce getting
distorted in front of her.
Ara came back from confronting Elesis and was wiping the sweat off her forehead. She noticed
Add’s gaze and smiled sweetly. Her arm that had been injured before to the point where her bone
were being revealed was now completely back to normal.
“That’s…..”
“Ah, it’s because of Lord Eun’s Clairvoyant powers. This is what happens when I fight borrowing
Lord Eun’s powers.”
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So you can recover while fighting enemies during the Celesital Fox State? You don’t heal when
you’re standing still and only heal when you are fighting the enemy. It was a rather cruel activation
condition but it would be ideal for the purpose of improving one’s skill.
Anyways, this wasn’t the time to leisurely discuss this mechanism. Ara’s body had recovered thanks
to her fighting bravely and it was almost time for Rena to have moved to her next sniping point.
“Then….”
At the surface, the situation didn’t look too different from start of the fight. But it was actually
completely different now. Add and the El Search Party now had a grasp of Elesis’ abilities. On the
other hand, Elesis was bleeding from her cheek.
It wasn’t a significant injury but she couldn’t recover naturally.
“As I thought. She can’t recover freely…..”
There was a chance for victory. If they looked for a chance and attacked in a one single sweep, they
could even take down the mighty Elesis.
Just when Add finished his calculations and was about to speak to Ara, he noticed that the
atmosphere had turned strange. Elesis would have normally charged in first but she was now leaning
her sword against her shoulder and silently looking behind Add’s back.
As if she had discovered something annoying, as if she saw something troublesome to face.
“…..Big Sister.”
A voice came from behind his back. Elsword had finally come out.
Add gave an eye gesture to Ara and slowly backed off to stand beside Elsword and Eve. Eve was
holding onto Elsword’s hand and gave Add an eye gesture telling him that she was sorry. It was an
apology for her staying back and not coming out to fight up till now.
But this was fine. Their firepower would go up even more with Eve. Also, Elesis should get a mental
burden if her little brother Elsword was here.
“Yes, Elsword.”
An unexpected reunion. Elesis was answering with a leisurely face as if this was something trivial.
But this was an enormous change compared to how she was trying to cut off their heads without
taking any questions before.
This wasn’t bad. They needed time to recover their stamina and it also took time for Rena get into
her next sniping position. It was even better if he could get some information out of this.
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Add made these calculations and left the siblings to talk. Although Ara was looking back and forth
between Elsword and Elesis with a very confused gaze.
“You were….alive?”
“As you can see.”
Elsword’s lips shook at her answer that lacked sincerity. His drooping shoulders, Elsword was barely
continuing the conversation as if he was suppressing his emotions.
“Why, if you were alive…..why didn’t you….not even a single word…that you were alive…”
“You’re talking too much in the battlefield. That’s not how I taught you.”
Elesis let out a thin sigh then lowered her stance. Add, Eve and Ara got startled by this posture and
immediately got ready to respond but Elsword just stared vacantly.
“How come Big Sister……”
“If you call yourself a knight, then speak with your sword.”
Elesis seemed to gather her breath as she replied coldly. She then kicked the ground and charged in
towards them. It was many times faster than before!!
“Eve!!”
Add screamed Eve’s name at this terrifying attack. But Eve must have interpreted Add’s shout
differently and she calmly responded by calling upon a weapon through the dimensional gate.
“Generate Black Hole!”
The weapon Eve called upon created a black orb. Elesis who was charging in towards the orb
stopped instantly. It didn’t end with just her stopping and Elesis started to bleed from her thighs and
arms as her skin started getting ripped apart from the powerful vacuum. But despite this, Elesis was
making an expression as if this was nothing and was biding for a chance.
She was already used to the injury, bleeding and pain. She’ll get well quickly if she just tore apart and
devoured the flesh of her enemies. Such intentions were seeped into the beautiful female panther’s
eyes.
It was dangerous if they gave her an opening!
“Energy Absorption!”
“Void Field!!”
32
Add and Ara also came to this realization and quickly a.s.sisted in restraining Elesis. Even while she
was bleeding after getting restrained triple fold by Gravity orb, energy orb and alternate s.p.a.ce, Elesis
didn’t even let out a single groan as she glared at the three of them.
It was a gaze as if she was saying I’ll quickly dispose all of you when this is over, it was such a
terrifying pressure that it made Add’s heart shrink.
“Back off if you aren’t going to fight!!”
Add grabbed the back of Elsword’s neck and threw him back. Elsword’s body shook weakly and
rolled on the ground but Add couldn’t spare any moment to care about him.
“Hah!”
Rena’s arrows poured down just when the three of their attacks were ending. They were miraculous
arrows that had fallen in an instant when a dark beast that had escaped the cage was about to jump
at the three of them.
She was probably biding for an opening to intervene.
“Darn….”
Even Elesis who had been withstanding the three’s attacks without even making a groan must have
felt doubtful about getting hit by Rena’s arrows directly. She gave up her attack and backed off.
But they couldn’t let her back off anymore. Any more would be dangerous.
“Storm in!! Go, Ara!!”
There was no chance for victory if not now. The El Search Party didn’t have any chance for victory
if they gave Elesis any room to recover and counter.
Right in this moment where everybody had gathered, before she blew away the building Rena was
hiding in again, they had to decide this fight right now!!
“Okay!!”
Ara headed forwards without any hesitation at Add’s orders. In the end, the one that had to directly
clash weapons with Elesis was her, she had the most dangerous position, but she believed in Add’s
words and charged in towards Elesis without any doubts.
“Don’t use junk break. You’ll die.”
Add quickly instructed Eve. With Elesis’ speed, you’ll get done in instantly soon as you give her any
opening. No matter how powerful the attack was, attacks that left an opening were dangerous.
Eve must have also seen how Elesis fought and nodded wordlessly.
33
“We’ll stack things up little by little. Don’t give her any openings.”
Add spoke and let fly two chained s.p.a.ce distortions. Elesis who was about to push back Ara’s attack
made an annoyed expression as she swung her sword to nullify the distortion and backed off.
Eve realized Add’s intention and also started to fire electron b.a.l.l.s periodically.
“Ara! Don’t use anything big!”
“Yes!”
He could read the counter skill with his eyes. Add focused so that he wouldn’t miss any of Elesis’
facial and bodily movements while firing s.p.a.ce distortions little by little.
“Annoying….”
Elesis had realized the El Search Party’s intention and looked annoyed as she swung her sword. But
the amount of small wounds on her body was increasing little by little. Blood poured out from her
wrists that just got grazed by an electron ball. Tendons in her thigh got cut off after getting hit
directly by a s.p.a.ce distortion.
Of course, Elesis didn’t seem to care about the damage as she swung her sword. But Ara who had
stuck close to her didn’t break down easily.
Elesis could have easily destroyed Ara under normal circ.u.mstances but Eve and Add were quickly
disturbing her attacks whenever she tried to aim for an opening. And whenever she tried to get rid
of Ara by just taking the hits with her body, Rena’s arrows poured in.
“Tch….”
It was little by little but Elesis was getting pushed back. Add made a satisfactory smile as he chained
three s.p.a.ce distortions in a row. Triple s.p.a.ce distortion. It was so painful that it felt like his fingers
were about to fall off but the pain was still bearable.
Elesis will fall if they kept up this pressure. Victory was right in front of their eyes!
Just when Add had confirmed his victory, the beautiful black panther opened her mouth.
Her beautiful red hair moved along with her fierce movements. A chill went through Add when his
gaze met with the eyes behind the red hair. What was seeped into Elesis’ eyes was deepest darkness.
Murderous intent.
“Brutal Cutter!!”
34
In that instant, Elesis’ sword got surrounded by an ink black demonic energy as it stretched out. A
demonic blade longer than the wielder’s height had appeared. Ara was startled due to her enemy’s
reach increasing drastically but she still managed to adjust her distance. But that opening was what
Elesis was aiming for.
Elesis’ feet immediately kicked the ground after lightly hitting away Ara’s spear. A dash faster than
an arrow. Add shouted quickly after realizing that she was coming after Eve and Add who were
a.s.sisting from the back.
“Eve, watch….”
Add’s tongue as he was about to speak stiffened. She hadn’t dashed in towards Eve who was firing
electron b.a.l.l.s from a distance. Elesis’ giant demonic blade was aiming for Add’s neck.
He realized it too late. It was too fast.
Elesis didn’t slow down her speed at all and was about to dash through Add’s neck by swinging her
blade. She held a blade so long that the tip of her sword almost touched the ground far behind her.
Add finally realized how the Glitter soldiers in Feita got killed and he instinctively tried to activate
the Dimension Distortion mode….. But it was too late.
Elesis was already swinging her sword.
I’m….dead.
The truth hit Add way too fast. For her to aim only at Add and rush in straightly towards him. Come
to think of it, didn’t she also aim for Add during the first time while riding on top of Glitter
Vanguard? He should have noticed this then.
Not only that, in the enemy’s point of view, it was blatantly obvious to aim for Add who was
commanding the El Search Party’s strategies by acting as the brain of the party. He should have
been in flight… but such thoughts only lasted for a moment. He could only think that even if he
was in flight, he wouldn’t have been able to stop Elesis if she made a determined charge towards
him.
Add thought of numerous ways as the ink black demonic sword flew in towards his neck. He
couldn’t think of any ways to survive.
Spla.s.ssssh!!
A sword cut through human’s flesh and splattered blood. Add couldn’t speak after seeing the
fountain of blood that gushed up in front of his eyes. It wasn’t his blood.
It was Elsword’s blood.
“Wha….”
35
Elesis also made a shocked face as her eyes opened widely. Elsword who had been watching from
the back had thrown his body to block the sword that Elesis had swung aiming for Add.
“….Elsword?”
When Add called vacantly, Elsword with his back turned towards Add staggered and collapsed. A
moment later, Add hastily opened the Dimension Distortion mode then examined Elsword’s
condition. Wide gap ran across his waist to shoulder. You could tell it was a serious wound from all
the blood that was pouring out.
No, he’ll die. Death by shock before he bled to death, he can’t survive no matter what.
“Hey! Elsword!!”
“Ah……..ugh.”
Elsword made a painful groan as he panted. Dynamo’s Dimension Distortion mode can a.s.sure
certain period of safety. Add ignored the fighting noise coming from outside and quickly pulled out
a potion as he pressed on Elsword’s wound.
“I, It’s fine. Big Brother…..”
“What do you mean by fine?!”
You could tell with a single glance that it was a mortal wound. But Elsword stubbornly shook his
head and looked across. He looked towards the scene where Ara who had caught up now and was
fighting with Elesis again.
“Use it on….someone else. It’s over for me.”
“…..”
Elsword’s words were saying that he knew his own condition. Add couldn’t speak a word.
Without even holding up his sword, he had taken Elesis’ attack with just his body. It wouldn’t be an
exaggeration to say that he had committed suicide.
“What were you thinking? …..Just what were you thinking?!”
Swears were about to come out of Add’s mouth. They had almost won this fight. It was a fight they
could have won. Why did he have to jump in and get in the way?
“I’m sorry…. But I can’t understand….. cough.”
Elsword words were s.p.a.ced apart as he panted. Such thin breaths as if they were going to flicker out
at any moment. With blurry eyes, Elsword looked at Add who was holding him and requested.
“I don’t know why Big Sister is like that….. ah.”
36
“Don’t speak! You’ll die if you keep speaking!!”
Add ignored Elsword’s words as he poured the potion on him. But the bleeding didn’t show any
signs of stopping. The wound was too deep.
It was amazing that he hadn’t died instantly. It was a miracle that he could even speak his last words.
“…..Please take care of the others. Big Brother Add is smart after all.”
“Hey, hey!!”
“Please take care of…. Eve.”
Elsword closed his eyes after leaving those words. Boy’s hand fell as his head dropped to the side.
Add was so dumfounded that he could only blink vacantly. This guy who was such an eyesore died?
Add couldn’t believe this and tried tapping Elsword’s cheek.
There was still warmth remaining.
“…..What is… this?”
Add vacantly murmured and instinctively stood up as he released the Dimension Distortion mode.
They were still in middle of a fight. He couldn’t lose his mind just yet.
“What happened to Elsword…..”
Eve came running right away and asked. But her eyes widened when she saw Elsword collapsed with
his eyes closed beyond Add’s shoulder. She held Elsword recklessly and shouted.
“Elsword, get a hold of yourself! Get up!”
“….”
Eve, he’s dead. Add wanted to speak those words but the words didn’t leave his mouth. He couldn’t
say anything to Eve who was letting out such a painful voice while holding Elsword.
“This can’t be! Elsword!”
“Eve.”
He barely managed to call her name but Eve didn’t look back. Add knew that she wouldn’t look
back. That’s how much mournful and miserable Eve’s voice was right now.
“Open your eyes! You can’t die!”
“….Eve.”
“Aaaaaaaaah….”
37
Eve shook Elsword’ body numerous times then she let out a scream filled with grief and despair as
she dived her face into Elsword’s chest. Like a child who didn’t know what she should do, like a
child who couldn’t do anything because she was swept up by the feeling of helplessness.
Her screams, painful cry and shaking shoulders could only be interpreted as mourning.
“…..Ah”
Nothing he said would work right now. No, it won’t work ever again. Add admitted this and
swallowed all the words that he was about to say in that moment.
He’s dead.
He can’t come back.
I’ll be by your side instead.
We’re still in middle of a fight. Get a hold of yourself.
They were all reasonable and correct words. They were proper words. It didn’t matter even if Add
had always desired this kind of situation.
Truth is the truth, dead people won’t come back.
No matter how precious they were to you.
“Haaa…..”
Ara was fiercely driving Elesis back. Unlike before, Elesis’ reactions were tremendously slower and
she had a large wound on her side. Sword that had lost its sharpness, a blunt and dead sword. She
was responding to Ara’s attacks but her heart wasn’t there.
“Ara, come back!!”
Ara paused at Add’s shout then came running towards him right away while still being on guard in
front of her. She was extremely fast even when she was running backwards.
“Mr.Add, how’s Mr.Elsword?”
She got called out when she was fighting well but Ara didn’t care about such things and asked about
Elsword. Add shook his head and requested with a tired voice.
“Eun, come out.”
38
39
“As you request, boy.”
Ara’s voice turned voluptuous instantly as if she was waiting to be called. Add felt anger, despair and
almost murderous intent when Eun made a smile with her eyes but he managed to suppress
everything.
“I’m going back again. Prepare for time travel.”
“Why, boy?”
“Just do as I say!!”
Eun smiled at Add’s shout but didn’t move her hands. It meant that she wouldn’t comply if Add
didn’t answer.
She was like the boatman asking for a fare from someone who was trying to cross the river of death.
“Elsword…..is dead.”
“What’s the problem with that? We’ve been fighting well. We’ll be able to win very soon if we
stormed her right now.”
Just like she said, Elesis wasn’t even bothering to move and was standing absent-mindedly. A sad
face, disoriented stance, you couldn’t find any speck of her previous sharpness from when she was
fighting at her prime.
They’ll be able to win easily if they stormed her right now.
But…..
“Aaaaaaaaah…..”
Voice of lamentation, pain and sadness coming from behind him didn’t cease.
Add closed his eyes to suppress his emotions. Appearance of Elsword as he was dying, the last
words he left. No matter how much he disliked that guy, he had to fulfill his last words.
“I don’t want….to make Eve sad.”
“Merely for that reason? Doesn’t boy know very well how dangerous it is to go back in time?”
“Shut up! Shut up!”
Add clenched his fists tightly after hearing the fox’s sneer. Rage, denial and madness burned up
within him when he got a sneer back from Eun while he was in a moment of despair.
40
“I can’t accept something like this!! I’ll win properly!! This is the now that I went through h.e.l.l to
achieve!! I refuse to win like this!! I’ll obtain victory flawlessly with a perfect plan!! I’ll win without
losing Elsword or Rena!!
“Well, it’s a somewhat okay mindset this time.”
Eun’s hand as she smiled started to shine brightly in white. Add immediately manipulated the
Dynamos to create a Time Stream wormhole.
They had almost won against the terrifyingly powerful enemy Elesis but Elsword got killed.
Restarting just for that reason? Wasn’t it good for him that such an eyesore disappeared? Shouldn’t I
cheer in joy and continue?
“Don’t make me laugh…..”
Add stomped down on every one of these thoughts that came up from his mind. That’s right, this
was denial. He couldn’t obtain victory this half-heartedly after getting his life saved by a mere
weakling Elsword. He couldn’t accept this.
Add owed his life to Elsword two times now. He was so embarra.s.sed to an extent where he couldn’t
bear to stay alive.
Most of all, nothing could replace Eve’s sadness. Sadness and pain of having your precious person
stolen from you, Add knew every single detail of how it felt and didn’t wish anyone else to go
though the same thing.
He didn’t want to give Eve the pain and sadness of having her precious person torn apart from her.
“What’s why I’ll go back. I’ll go back…. go back and…..this time for sure!!”
Add glared at Elesis standing far way and declared.
“I’ll defeat you!!”