I Became The Rankers’ Number One Pick [EN]: Chapter 172

172.

‘Loyalty of the Guardian Knights? Can I control them?’

As I wondered, the battle began immediately.

“Be careful!”

These guys moved in a completely different dimension compared to the fluffy snowmen from before.

Like real knights, the [Ice Castle Guardian Knights] moved nimbly and powerfully, wielding their weapons.

This time, Seo-ah stepped forward as well. She judged that it would be extremely dangerous for them to face several C⁻-grade monsters on their own. Besides, she was also curious about the items that the Guardian Knights would leave behind.

To deal with them quickly, Seo-ah cast [Fighting] and [Ironclad Pine] on herself, then swung [Laundry Bat] with all her might and stepped forward.

Her first target was the ice knight who swung a scythe at her.

The sharp, hard blade swung sideways, aiming for Seo-ah’s waist. But Seo-ah’s movements were much faster.

This time, Seo-ah didn’t dodge but blocked the waist area with her weapon and pushed hard.

Clang!

At the same time as the ice and wooden stick collided, the giant knight’s body was pushed back. Seo-ah lightly twisted the wrist holding the [Laundry Bat] and immediately rushed at the knight.

Bang, bang, bang!

Without giving him a chance, she continuously hammered the scythe with the wooden stick. Then, the sharply honed blade gradually cracked, and eventually shattered into pieces and fell off.

Then the knight threw the scythe to the floor and clenched both fists tightly.

Seeing that made me feel a little complicated.

A monster with only the will to protect someone left. I almost felt a little pity, but this wasn’t the time to be softhearted.

Kang Su-jeong, No Yun-ji, and No Hak-young were struggling against these knights.

Seo-ah lightly bent her waist to avoid the slow ice fist flying towards her face. At the same time, she hit the ice knight’s calf hard.

This time, she didn’t hold back and put as much force as possible. With the application of tremendous pressure, the area below the calf shattered.

As one leg disappeared, the giant body tilted to the side. The inflexible ice body fell as it was, turning into fragments.

“Councilor No Hak-young!”

When Seo-ah shouted loudly, No Hak-young, who was at a loss and only spewing flames from the corner, ran towards her.

“I know!”

But for a moment, he misaimed, and the direction of the [Flamethrower] turned towards Seo-ah.

Whoosh-

“Unnie [Korean for older sister]!”

“Ah!”

Kang Su-jeong and No Yun-ji, who saw the scene while fighting, turned pale. No Hak-young was also surprised and quickly extinguished the [Flamethrower]’s fire.

“Hoo.”

Seo-ah, who reappeared, dusted off her shoulders and arms. Seo-ah’s body itself seemed fine even in the [Flamethrower]’s flames.

“H-How?”

No Hak-young was relieved but blinked in disbelief. This [Flamethrower] was a weapon that No Hak-young had purchased at a great cost.

Even if it was B-grade, it was impossible not to get a scratch.

The fact that she was unharmed was also thanks to Seo-ah’s [Fire Resistance] trait, but also because she was S-grade.

‘I didn’t expect to get help in this situation, but.’

Anyway, it proved that the effect was certain.

Kang Su-jeong dodged the flying ice arrows with a somersault and quickly approached Seo-ah.

“Are you okay?”

“Ah, yeah. I’m okay.”

“Phew, that’s a relief. Mister, please be careful! That could have been a disaster.”

“I… I’m sorry. I moved too hastily.”

“First, please take care of this quickly.”

If the scattered ice fragments were left alone, they could reassemble like the [Snowman] monsters. No Hak-young obediently followed Seo-ah’s instructions.

“Al, I understand.”

Although they had defeated one, there were still 7 more [Ice Castle Guardian Knights] left.

Seo-ah examined their arrangement.

Each knight was holding an axe, sword, shield, arrow, spear, and a book and key.

The knight holding the key was standing diagonally as if guarding the front of the door, and the remaining knights were lined up on both sides with their weapons forward. The knight with the scythe from earlier seemed to be guarding the passage.

Seo-ah paid close attention to the ice statue holding the key.

‘The key… could that be the item to open that door over there?’

Fortunately, the 7 of them weren’t rushing in at the same time.

Two or three would attack and retreat, then the rest would rush in. Of course, even that seemed too much for No Yun-ji and Kang Su-jeong.

In particular, Kang Su-jeong was too busy dodging attacks to even counterattack. The scratches she hadn’t managed to avoid were also noticeable. This was an unavoidable problem due to the difference in level.

Seo-ah cast [Breakthrough] and [Recovery] on Su-jeong, then grabbed the [Laundry Bat] again.

“I’ll take them on. You guys keep the others in check.”

“Yes, I understand.”

As soon as Seo-ah took a step, an axe narrowly brushed over the top of Seo-ah’s head. At the same time, an ice arrow flew from the side.

This time as well, Seo-ah dodged by slightly twisting her body, deliberately not counterattacking.

Instead, she moved little by little closer to the ice statue holding the key.

Then the knights with shields and swords also began to approach, thumping.

No Yun-ji and Kang Su-jeong each took charge of distracting the two.

Thump- Crack!

Every time the giant axe was swung at Seo-ah, the ground she was standing on boomed and caved in.

“Unnie!”

The axe blade was bigger and heavier than the scythe she had faced earlier. So each strike was powerful.

Even Seo-ah, who was S-grade, wasn’t sure if she could be safe if she was hit head-on. However, fortunately, it was slow as it was heavy.

Of course, only to Seo-ah.

“I’m okay! Su-jeong, you be careful!”

Seo-ah lured the axe-wielding knight as if running away, and stood right in front of the key-holding knight, making eye contact.

The key-holding knight’s eyes stared down at Seo-ah.

The experience of having transparent eyes made of inorganic matter directed at her was eerie and fascinating.

As she made eye contact, her [Emotional Transference] ability flickered.

Perhaps sensing something, Seo-ah hardened her expression and headed for the door behind the knight.

As Seo-ah continued to miss by a hair’s breadth, the axe-wielding knight tried to catch Seo-ah, stamping and slamming as if he couldn’t see anything.

Seo-ah stood blankly in front of the door and immediately bent her body at the timing when the axe was flying.

At that moment, the key-holding knight, who had been silently standing, blocked and broke the axe with one hand. At the same time, the key-holding knight knocked away the flying ice arrow with his arm.

It seemed that the knight holding the key was much stronger than the other knights. Seo-ah stepped back a little from the scene and watched the ice statues fight.

After a few exchanges, the key knight easily defeated the axe knight. As soon as that happened, the knights with shields and swords who were attacking Kang Su-jeong and No Yun-ji joined forces and rushed in. That is, to the key knight.

“What?”

Kang Su-jeong, who was facing the sword-wielding knight, turned her head in confusion, and Seo-ah nodded as she saw the scene.

“As expected, they weren’t a team.”

But either way, they all had to be defeated. Because the key-holding knight wouldn’t allow Seo-ah’s party to pass through that door either.

Bang, bang, bang.

While the knight with the shield and the knight with the key collided, Seo-ah had to deal with the knights behind them.

Whoosh-

Seeing the ice knight swinging his sword horizontally, Seo-ah lightly jumped up. She was going to be bait for a while so that her party could attack.

“Legs, attack the legs.”

As soon as Seo-ah’s words fell, No Yun-ji and Kang Su-jeong each took charge of the knight’s legs.

Kang Su-jeong repeated approaching and moving away, appropriately mixing [Punch] and [Flying Punch]. Seeing how skilled she was, it seemed she had practiced a lot.

Seo-ah, who was watching with satisfaction, thought.

‘Should I try it too?’

Seo-ah shifted her gaze to the statue that was shooting ice arrows from afar. It had been annoying since earlier anyway.

Seo-ah clenched her fist while not losing sight of the sword-wielding knight. And towards the arrow knight’s solar plexus, she used [Flying Punch], which she obtained with Kang Su-jeong’s wish fulfillment skill.

Thump!

Perhaps because she mixed in an appropriate amount of power, it didn’t break in one shot. However, the center of the chest caved in, and the knight’s upper body slumped.

Anyway, he wasn’t dead, but he wouldn’t be able to shoot arrows anymore.

‘Wow, this is good.’

I was frustrated because I didn’t have any decent attack skills and had to stick to them one by one, but this was quite useful. Of course, it’s still the same that I have to hit them one by one from afar.

‘I need an area-of-effect skill, an area-of-effect skill. If possible, something cool and flashy….’

Like Yoo Ji-an’s lightning magic. Can’t I get that somehow? The person who already has it won’t make a wish.

In the meantime, the battle between the key and the shield was over. Of course, it was the victory of the key knight guarding the door.

As there were no more people aiming for the door, the key-holding knight stood as he was in his original form and turned back into hard ice.