Do All Dreams Come True If You Dream Them? (6)

[Infinity Arena Semi Final – Match 2]

[Battlefield: Silent Coniferous Forest]

[vs Team CP Crow(Necromancer)]

As the view cleared, cold air seeped into my clothes.

A dense coniferous forest under a gloomy sky.

It’s not like the entire battlefield is filled with trees like the Fairy Forest, but you can see snow-white fields here and there.

Blizzards sometimes rage from those snow fields… but it’s not a frequent gimmick.

No need to worry about it right now.

I’m not sure what strategy Crow, who lost the previous round, will bring.

I searched for magic power while quickly surveying the battlefield, but nothing was visible yet.

Especially the necromancer’s magic power wasn’t easily noticeable.

Just discovering undead hidden here and there? At this point, it’s fair to say he’s given up on magic detection.

If so, something else will serve as his eyes instead… Just then, an unnatural shadow fell on the ground.

Not as huge as a Bone Dragon, but not small either.

The identity revealed along with its appearance was a flock of griffins, rotted and decayed in places

Crow was probably sharing vision with those creatures.

Surveillance from the sky. In a forest, of all places?

While swallowing rising questions, my body continued to move in search of the opponent.

‘Finally found it, footprints.’

Following the opponent’s footprints is a basic skill in snow or soil-covered fields.

Of course, Crow knows this too, so there were many other footprints scattered around.

Most are probably disguises created by summoned undead.

Among these countless footprints, there should be only one trace of the mage.

A disguise he put some effort into. But he should have been more meticulous.

The depth of footprints is proportional to body weight.

Ghouls are light for their size due to rotting flesh, while Durahans and Death Knights wear heavy armor.

Thinking about the gait and weight I saw in the previous match, it’s possible to deduce the correct answer.

As I gradually followed Crow’s footsteps like this.

A sharp scream rang out from somewhere.

– Kyaaaaaah!

My body reacted faster than my reason.

Something was hit by the throwing dagger I reflexively threw.

A bizarrely shaped flesh lump fell to the ground with a thud.

[You have been detected by the familiar ‘Watching Eyeball’.]

[The dead are watching you.]

[All undead handled by the necromancer…]

“Ha.”

Watching Eyeball?

Its detection ability is excellent, but it’s a familiar that consumes a lot of points accordingly.

The enemy gave up the most convenient and efficient magic detection.

Instead, he chose aerial surveillance and familiars. The area where these two excel over magic detection is that they don’t reveal the caster’s position.

Putting so much effort into concealment implied several things.

Crow will have almost no means to protect himself in this match.

Therefore, the moment I find the necromancer’s main body, this match becomes my victory.

Instead, it’s highly likely he’s brought some very annoying strategy.

How long did I follow the footprints?

Soon after, Crow’s undead reached me.

The first to arrive was, of course, the griffin flying in the sky.

I thought I heard the sound of hooves in the distance.

The hoof sounds are more numerous and noisy than before. It’s a build that increased the proportion of high-rank undead.

The distant Death Knights are a later issue.

Let’s deal with the griffins first.

A giant forest beast descended, casting a shadow.

A raptor’s beak with a lion’s legs. Even if the body is rotten, its majesty would still be intact.

Just as I was preparing for an aerial attack, a curse involuntarily left my mouth.

“You crazy…!”

The descending griffin flies back up towards the sky.

Neither its solid beak nor sharp claws rushed at me.

Instead, what filled my vision was – about a dozen ghouls.

The bodies of ghouls in free fall from the sky swelled up.

Red flashes bloomed from their lifeless eyes and mouths, and the ominous premonition became reality.

Corpse fragments exploding from all directions flew at me mercilessly.

My body is pushed back by the dizzying pressure.

It only stopped when my flying body hit a tree.

My guard was long since shattered, and I couldn’t create any shadows to hide in for now.

I deflected a few visible fragments, but couldn’t avoid my health bar being shaved.

“Kheuk!”

[‘Corpse Poison’ effect received.]

[Every second, 1.75% of your current health…]

[‘High-viscosity Toxic Corpse Blood’ effect received.]

[All movement speed reduced by 16% and defense…]

To make matters worse, the sound of hooves has already risen nearby.

The homework I had postponed for a while has come to torment me.

Distinguishing directions was meaningless.

They were approaching from almost all directions – front, back, left, and right.

Should I jump up to the sky?

No. One griffin is still roaming around.s don’t have wings, so it’s difficult to defend in mid-air.

If I’m attacked from above and fall, it would be irreversible then.

Rather than getting badly beaten, I should respond on the ground.

The Death Knights that soon appeared looked incomparably stronger than in the previous round.

The black aura enveloping the surroundings was particularly thick.

To a degree I’ve never seen while playing this game. I couldn’t even guess how much investment was made.

Crow brought an extreme summon reinforcement build.

That’s why he had to maintain concealment, and why the crazy act of carrying ghouls on griffins was possible.

If I had known from the start, I could have responded sufficiently.

If I had brought a stealth-focused build, I would have achieved victory without any difficulty.

But when would I have ever encountered such an insane strategy?

In this Arena. No, it’s a one-time strategy that can never be used again in the future.

However, a decisive blow that would certainly work at least the first time came aiming for me.

‘He probably intended to use it in the finals. Is this also a form of acknowledgment? Not that I’m particularly happy about it or anything.’

There are five visible Death Knights.

No Durahans in sight, and no skeleton soldiers or liches to be found either.

There’s no invincible strategy in Infinity Black.

The rule is that to gain one thing, you must give up another.

Logically thinking, the ones here must be all the forces available.

Let’s give up on moving to find Crow’s main body for now.

Considering the slowing debuff and the pursuit of reinforced Death Knights, it’s an excessively dangerous decision.

Above all, I don’t know the exact location now. I can only guess it’s somewhere in this vicinity.

Then there’s one more victory condition.

If I survive until all these undead are consumed, I win.

No matter how injured I get, I won’t lose to a necromancer without summons or magic.

[‘Black Moon’s Whisper’ effect received.]

[All attack power and…]

I deflect the oncoming spear blade and invade under the shaft to target the enemy.

I tried to break the shin bone but – quickly gave up. If I go in further, there’s no way to avoid side checks.

Instead, I used a conifer as a shield to protect my rear.

The movement is too precise to be considered a normal Death Knight.

It can’t be the movement of basic AI, so it’s certain that Crow himself is giving orders.

He’s also betting everything on this.

Not a bad judgment.

The intention to defeat me with area bombardment and the violence of numbers rather than clumsily throwing bone spears.

It seems to have worked quite well so far, but that’s as far as it goes.

In the end, if you can’t kill me with those Death Knights, it’s all meaningless.

I set up a silver thread between the trees and avoided the oncoming spear blade.

After blocking one offensive, the Death Knights retreated far away.

What filled that space was ghouls falling from the sky.

The number seemed even greater than before.

“Ha, damn… Trash is falling from the sky.”

* * *

The blade of the halberd struck down heavily.

I deflected the spear blade from the side to alter its trajectory, but the numbness in my wrist didn’t easily subside.

It was evidence that I had become much weaker.

Partly due to being covered in too much ghoul poison, and the large injuries that tore my clothes in many places were also a problem.

The injuries that had accumulated step by step held my ankle stickily.

The fortunate thing is that the frequency of ghoul bombardments has sharply decreased.

A few griffins are still flying around holding ghouls, but now the numbers seemed insufficient.

It’s obvious. This is the last, so they’re probably looking for an opportunity.

“Phew…”

I understand wanting to be cautious.

But aren’t you underestimating me too much?

Those with overly clear weaknesses have limitations.

It’s not just because of the existence of weaknesses. After all, no one is strong in all areas.

The problem is that being too conscious of weaknesses leads to overreaction.

Conversely, the direction where unconscious overreaction occurs is where the weakness lies.

Nearly ten bombardments. The wheel formation of Death Knights.

If they thought I was just fighting quietly all this time – that will be their downfall.

I move to the shadow I’ve laid out simultaneously with the Death Knight’s assault.

While creating some distance, I step on the silver thread I’ve set up.

“Found you.”

The eyes of the undead flashed red.

Death Knights at terrifying speeds and ghouls rushing from the sky.

I used my only smoke bomb to hide for a moment.

Soon, the figure of the ‘Assassin’ flew towards the necromancer’s main body.