The duel kicked off at that awkward range, close enough for a mage to sweat but still a jog away for the warrior.

The Blood King didn’t waste a second. He charged straight in, ditching the greatsword he normally swung around and hiding behind a tower shield big enough to cover his whole torso. It was a classic meathead play all about closing the gap.

Nonetheless, Do-Jin stayed cool and let his skill fly. Lightning sparked to life, cast in an instant to serve as both harassment and offense. The crackling bolt struck its mark, but all it managed to do was stiffen the Blood King’s body for a fraction of a second. There was no lingering paralysis, no disruption.

Of course. This bastard stacked his gear to counter me.

The Blood King was loaded from head to toe with Magic Defense and Resistance. Do-Jin’s firepower was heavy enough to chew through, but not nearly fast enough to stop him from bulldozing closer. The distance between them collapsed in seconds.

He ended up calling on Anemone, who exploded forth with fangs bared and claws swinging.

“Like hell that’ll work!” the Blood King roared.

He had been waiting for this, swinging his tower shield wide. The slab of steel completely smothered Anemone’s strike. Although the impact was hard enough to ring out, nothing got through. He then shifted his weight, putting his whole body behind the shield and slamming it into her skull. It looked like one motion, but it was two chained skills, Shield Bash flowing into Shield Strike.

Anemone crumpled, stumbling on her legs like she had just taken a sledgehammer to the head.

During this exchange, Do-Jin fired Flame Spear, but the Blood King tucked in tight behind his shield and plowed through the flaming lance with a shout. “Bring it on!”

He followed up with his ace, Blood Shackles. Crimson chains ripped out of the ground and bound Anemone tight. It was a class-exclusive skill meant to lock down enemies already weakened. While draining his HP every second it was active, it locked the wolf in place long enough to tilt the fight.

Perfect. The mutt’s out of the way. All I need to do is smash that mage before he breathes again, then it’s over.

Do-Jin was a scary bastard, no question about it, but he wasn’t untouchable.

Whether he’s a monster or not, a mage is still a fragile piece of shit. One clean combo, one solid hit, and the fight’s done. After that I can pound him into the dirt until he stops twitching.

His guildmates had all failed to pull it off, which was why they’d been stuck in respawn hell. The Blood King clenched his teeth at the thought of it. He wasn’t about to let this chance slip away. He was going to be the one who finally put Do-Jin in the ground.

The Blood King closed the gap and swung in with Shield Bash. This one’s gonna land!

He hurled all his pent-up rage into the swing, slamming his weight forward the moment the gap closed. He poured every ounce of focus into the feel of the shield in his grip, waiting for the sweet crunch of impact so he could chain his follow-up. However, what he felt wasn’t anything like that. Do-Jin had blasted the incoming shield with Psychokinesis, twisting his own body out of range by riding the recoil.

That shield combo’s old as hell... It might’ve wrecked noobs back in the day, but it won’t do jack to me.

Every shield class knew that chain, and it had certainly clapped plenty of greenhorns out of the game. It was brain-dead simple to throw out, guaranteed to land, and only an idiot wouldn’t use it. However, anyone with real experience had ten ways to shut it down before it even started.

Try this on a veteran and you’re just begging to get punished.

Fights like this were nothing but back-and-forth. The Blood King had just blown his move. Now it was Do-Jin’s turn to retaliate. Cold mana surged at his fingertips and flared into a jagged spear. He hurled it at an angle, and the Frozen Lance tore into the Blood King’s shoulder. The big bastard jerked back, more from surprise than pain.

“This weak shit won’t even scratch me!” he barked, but his steps were already a little heavier.

Aha, found your blind spot, Do-Jin thought.

Even with full S-rank gear, nobody could cover every stat. Something always got left open. He’d shored himself up against lightning, but frost damage slipped straight through the cracks. Do-Jin could feel it. Still, finding a weakness didn’t matter if he couldn’t stay alive.

“Die!” the Blood King roared as he pressed in with his sword raised, intent on keeping the pressure up.

When he gets in this tight, he usually goes for...

Do-Jin knew exactly what was coming next. First came the Pommel Strike, then the Bloodsword Technique. He snapped his head to the side. The pommel came down and smashed into his shoulder instead of his skull. The pain jolted through him, but the skill was meant to scramble heads. Without a clean shot to the skull, he only sustained a little more than a bruise.

“Fuck!” The Blood King knew he should’ve cut his losses and pulled back, but he just couldn’t let it go. Desperate to patch up the slip, he rammed his sword forward in a sloppy thrust.

Do-Jin answered with a Fireball, which tore through the Blood King’s chest the instant he left himself open. His stance crumbled and his attack cut nothing but air.

Pathetic. One mistake’s already enough to bury you, and here you are doubling down. Keep it up, and you’ll hand me the win on a silver platter.

“Anemone, bite!” Do-Jin barked.

The Blood King’s head whipped back instinctively.

No way... That little blast couldn’t have broken Blood Shackles!

It hadn’t. Anemone was still thrashing in the crimson aura, locked down and struggling like hell. Her resistance was fierce enough to burn chunks off her HP, but the shackles held firm.

“You son of a bitch—” The Blood King snarled, turning back toward Do-Jin only to find another skill had already been cast.

A sphere of ice hung in the air before him, pumping out freezing air in waves. The cold bit into his body, and his limbs slowed as if sinking in mud. At the same time, heat pounded into his skull until it felt like his brain was boiling.

“You fucking coward!” he roared.

Shivering from the cold and seething with heat at the same time, the Blood King clenched his teeth and forced his way forward. However, the Frozen Sphere floated after him wherever he went, spilling frost that gnawed at him harder with every passing second.

“Goddamn it!” he cursed, swinging his blade in a wild arc.

The Bloodsword Technique cleaved toward the sphere in an attempt to smash it apart. It was the right call, to take down the source first. However, Do-Jin had already read the move. His next skill, Wedge of Drain, was ready before the blade even landed. It slammed into the Blood King and burrowed deep.

“What the hell is this?!”

His eyes widened as blood gushed out of him faster than he could believe. Every drop was drained by the shackles that held Anemone, with even more torn away by the parasitic wedge. His health bled out by the second, and there was no stopping it.

What the fuck... How’s his Magic Attack that high? I cranked my Magic Defense, and I’m still bleeding out this fast. If I get dragged into this any longer, I’ll fucking lose!

Even with his Blood Condense active, the tankiest setup he had, his HP was already down to nearly half. Panic started to creep in as he reached for his last resort. Crowd control wasn’t going to save him, but one clean hit would. He just had to close the gap, switch to a damage stance, and crush Do-Jin in one burst.

Yeah. Push him this far, and he always whips out the finisher, Do-Jin thought.

A faint smile tugged at his lips as he loosed Gale Arrow. It whistled through the air and skimmed past the Blood King’s side.

“You can’t even land a hit on someone charging straight at you now?” the Blood King mocked while switching his stance.

But then, a chill crept down his spine. Why the hell is he smiling?

The reason for that ominous grin came crashing down in the worst possible way. A massive wolf’s jaws clamped around the back of the Blood King’s neck just as he thrust his blade toward Do-Jin.

What... how?! Blood Shackles wasn’t supposed to break so easily. It carried the penalty of constantly draining the caster’s life, but that also meant it rarely failed. It only loosened if the bound target was attacked directly.

Suddenly, it hit him like a hammer. Don’t tell me... This fucker aimed it on purpose?!

The Blood King realized too late that even that missed Gale Arrow had been part of Do-Jin’s trap. He rammed his blade backward in a panic, trying to drive Anemone off.

“Hah! You think I’d get caught by a slow-ass swing like that?” the wolf chuckled, slipping away with ease.

In the same instant, Do-Jin’s Fireball slammed into the opening. One after another, the fiery blasts hammered into the Blood King, battering him across the ground until he hit the floor and rolled.

The Blood King had pushed his Magic Defense as high as it would go, but Do-Jin’s firepower was too much. The accumulated damage had dragged him to the brink of death. Worse, he had shifted into a DPS stance, giving up tankiness for raw offense. A Blood Knight could take on both roles, but never at the same time. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

“You’re still breathing, huh?” Do-Jin’s voice echoed in his ears as he struggled to rise, only to collapse with a heavy thud.

“Ugh...”

Anemone planted a paw on his chest and slammed him back down. The Blood King tried to lift his head, desperate to toss out a glare, but Do-Jin didn’t allow it.

“You’re looking the wrong way. Eyes over here.”

He stomped down, forcing the man’s gaze toward the dirt, muddy and stained with his own blood and spit. That was the moment the promise from the Haberkan raid came true.

“Fuck...” His final curse hissed out through clenched teeth.

“The promise has been fulfilled.”

With that, the duel came to an end.