Every time the summoned golem moved, the ground would shake. Damian melted his silver spear and made it like a whip as he settled on the golem's shoulder. His gaze was focused into the distance.

'Are they aiming at the golem?'

Damian was very nervous. It was due to the whisper from James. 

'The old man truly isn't easy. Digging a trap like this with the Star Fruit...'

Thump!

He endured another earthquake and realized that Dark Wolf's reputation wasn't for nothing. He narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the Korean side's castle that the golem was approaching.

'I'm anxious.'

Strangely, his anxiety wasn't erased. The opponents were obviously targeting the golem. Something must be done, but he was even more anxious because it was unknown. He looked down and saw the other American players quickly following while avoiding the golem's legs.

“s.h.i.+t. What the h.e.l.l are they planning? What are they going to do?”

Painter Star's Beloved was what appeared in the earlier message. It was clear that the constellation Choi Mido chose had the power of a painter. However, Damian was even more anxious because he had no way of knowing how the ability would be used.

Thump!

There was another earthquake and he could see his team members busy shouting from below. It was Michael, who was riding his sand and approaching this place. At the same time...

“Senior.”

“...Good job, James.” 

James had quickly emerged from the small shadow on the golem's neck. Damian had always felt it, but this person's abilities were truly optimized for a.s.sa.s.sination. His enemies would be forced to suffer if James attacked behind them without a sound like this. Damian once again felt that forgiving James was a good thing.

“Sigh. Fortunately, I'm not too late.”

Then Michael arrived and asked, “Attack?”

Damian shook his head as he looked between the two. “Not yet. There are no signs so this makes it even more disturbing. I don't know the ident.i.ty of the power that the woman called Choi Mido has gained. What an unpredictable old man. Sigh.”

James and Michael also sighed at the same time. Their hearts were pounding after realizing they had fallen into a trap. They were vigilant because it was the grandfather. This was also Damian's feeling currently. It happened when the golem crossed half of the distance and came close to the Korean castle...

“......!”

“......!”

“......!”

Damian, James, and Michael, who were near the golem's shoulders, were fl.u.s.tered at the same time. They saw a huge arrow flying through the wind. It was one of Choi Chuntaek's devastating attack skills, Black Night Arrow. These three people knew it well.

James fired a shadow bullet. “s.h.i.+t. It won't work. Michael!”

“Leave it to me,” Michael spoke like a trustworthy older brother and started moving the sand to wrap around the Black Night Arrow. However, the sand couldn't bear the momentum of the arrow.

'Oh, then I should reduce the damage as much as possible...'

Michael created a giant sand s.h.i.+eld around the golem's torso. The arrow soon pierced it and there was an explosion. There was a loud noise. A black tornado with black eyes started to spin. Michael struggled to stop the black icicles that were pouring from all directions.

'Kuek. This destructive power...!'

The arrow's power was stronger than he thought. Michael shared his sand to protect his teammates as much as possible. After 10 seconds, the black storm that surrounded them started to disperse.

“Gasp. Gasp. Ugh...”

“Michael!”

“Brother!”

Damian and James, who were the nearest to Michael, shouted, while the other American players jumped toward Michael with amazement. Damian called out to the priest in charge of healing in the team, “Jonathan! Heals!”

Divine energy formed around Jonathan's hands and Michael's health started to gradually heal. It was just slow because he suffered near-fatal damage. Michael made a great sacrifice to protect his teammates.

“s.h.i.+t. Where? Where did the attack come from?”

“Quickly find him! He is probably in this area!”

“I'll protect Michael.”

Damian nodded at James' words and the other American players quickly started searching around. It was at this moment...

“You don't have to look that far.”

A voice could be heard behind them.

“......!”

“......!”

A chill immediately went down their spines. Choi Chuntaek's appearance slowly appeared as he dropped his invisibility.

“A trick...!” Damian exclaimed as he saw the left hand that was frozen in the shape of a claw.

“Permafrost.”

At this moment, everyone's world was frozen white.

* * *

At the Korean team's castle...

“Phew. I'm finally finished.”

Mido smiled proudly as she looked at the finished picture in front of her. It was a picture of a group of cats holding various weapons. However, the color wasn't the pinks she usually used. The kitties were all in place and the place she drew on wasn't drawing paper. It was the large ground of the castle.

“Sigh.” 

Mido took a deep breath as she looked at the sky. It was to see her constellation.

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' is laughing at your drawing skills.]

“Don't laugh.”

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' doesn't like your remarks.]

“Bah. Perhaps I'll give you a gift later!”

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' says he never wants to receive it.]

Mido sighed for a moment as she looked at the star floating about her head. It was a constellation without a very bright light, but he would be her companion in the future. The third-grade star 'Imitator of Light' was a constellation she roughly remembered. It was because she hadn't yet submitted the A4 papers containing the power of the constellations that her grandfather had written for her.

“Shadow Brush, turn off.”

The shadow brush in her hand scattered and disappeared. She was glad that she had a fairly high knowledge stat. Otherwise, it would've been very difficult to maintain this.

“Summon Ink Soldiers.”

The moment she spoke, the drawings on the ground started to fade and got up. It was a magical sight. Mido was proud of what she had drawn. She had drawn all of this.

'...I like One Stroke Command.'

One Stroke Command was one of the pa.s.sive skills of Ink Heart, the cla.s.s she had obtained after eating the Star Fruit. It raised her drawing speed by five times and allowed 50 figures made of shadow ink to stand up in front of her.

'Can this stop James?'

According to her grandfather, he had the shadow attribute and his shadow abilities wouldn't work on the soldiers. She planned to push the enemy with numbers, stopping and fighting against the enemy golem. However, she was unsure if she really could beat the United States. Thus, she thought about it for a long time and 10 minutes pa.s.sed. In the end, Mido decided to believe in her grandfather.

“Monet!”

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' is looking at you.]

“Teach me your killing move!”

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' is scoffing.]

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' says it is impossible with your strength.]

“Teach me!”

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' firmly refuses.]

She kept trying to persuade him, but da Vinci didn't seem to have any intention of teaching her the special move. Inevitably, Mido sent a whisper to her grandfather.

-Mido: Grandfather, I'm sorry. I don't think Monet is going to teach me his killing move.

-Jackson: I understand. Then send the soldiers. That alone will be helpful.

-Mido: Yes, they'll be there soon!

After sending the whisper, Mido looked up at the sky, frowned and took out the b.l.o.o.d.y Butcher from her inventory. The moment she raised her sword to command them to rush forward.

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' is telling you to stop for a moment.]

“Huh?”

Monet was silent for around five seconds. Then he pulled out unexpected words.

[The painter star, 'Monet da Vinci,' is offering you Blood Craving.]

* * *

Meanwhile, I finished whispering with Mido and looked around.

A world full of white ice. This was the world of absolute zero that I created using the Ice Tag Fairy's Star Piece. I wasn't frozen because I had the Star Piece, but it wasn't the same for those in front of me.

“Hum, right. It froze well.”

It was a timely surprise attack using Transparency. Thus, all of the US team were frozen with surprised expressions, their eyes and mouths opened wide. I approached a frozen person and knocked on him. Fortunately, there was no fear of melting or breaking yet.

...That guy called Torres was truly great. Originally, the Ice Tag Fairy's Permafrost skill was to seal all enemies within range. Once frozen with this skill, most external attacks wouldn't work. It was the same whether it was physical attacks or magic attacks. It was a secret technique that froze people for five minutes, but Torress succeeded in breaking Permafrost. He also did it from the inside.

'Well, he has the power of water in the first place. It would be simple for him to control the temperature of the water around his body.”

[The first apostle, 'Prometheus,' has an ominous feeling.]

“...What?”

I was startled for a moment and looked around. However, I saw nothing out of the ordinary, so it was probably just his imagination. The ink soldiers drawn by Mido were walking in line.

“They are Kitty. Huhu.”

After all, I knew my granddaughter's love for Kitty. Well, this wasn't important.

[The first apostle, 'Prometheus,' has an ominous feeling.]

“Aish. Shut up. This guy! Are you broken...”

I grumbled and summoned Solar. I was looking at the huge golem that was frozen and couldn't move.

“Solar, dwell in my legs.”

“I understand, Master.”

My legs were already surrounded by Rising Sun. Now Solar permeated my legs and a tremendous amount of sun energy rose from both legs.

“Flying Weather Dance. Hidden Technique.”

I jumped toward the frozen golem while doing the sun dance. I found out by accident, but techniques became easier to use since Prometheus became stronger during the day. The golem's face was visible in front of me. I didn't hesitate and poured out the hot sun energy radiating from my legs.

“Sun Dragon.”

The five-headed sun dragon flew toward the ice golem and started to melt the ice. It ascended into the sky like a twisting rope. There was a truly enormous heat. Originally, this ice couldn't melt easily, but how could it overcome the sun? It was a natural relations.h.i.+p in nature.

“...However, I can't use it more than once a day.”

The pain from my legs was worse than I thought. I hoped it would get better.

“So... I hadn't even thought of this.”

It was a bit slow, but the ice on the US team was also melting. It seemed I would have to kill the golem quickly and then kill them. If all the people who competed in the siege died then it would meet the victory conditions.

[The first apostle, 'Prometheus,' has an ominous feeling.]

“This guy. Stop playing around...”

Just then, I heard a loud noise from the South Korean castle.

(Submission End Date: 15th November)