PHASE 23 - THEY HATE THEIR NOSTALGIC BOYBAND REUNION

I’m lucky that Gate Guardians out here are preoccupied on each of their own battles. I went on full stealth mode and safely managed to regroup with Kristoff after five minutes of wandering carelessly on this labyrinth battlefield. The orange-haired gangster Drex and the suicidal emo Benedict are already with him, so I think everything is going smoothly on our team… except for one aspect.

“Ey, Tiara! Where’s that whacko brown-haired maid?” Drex asked.

“...Ummm… Uhhh….” I held my chest. I’m formulating for some nice words in my brain, but I think I’m getting blacked out. “I have eliminated her” reasoning won’t gonna cut it!

“You eliminated her…” Kristoff said.

“E-Eh!?” I shrieked. Then I shyly bumped the tip of my pointing finger to each other several times as I bowed. “U-Ummm yeah… I-I’m sorry…”

“I think that’s okay. She’s a liability to us anyway if she continues to act like that.” Kristoff said.

“Ain’t that the truth.” Drex said.

I made a forced smile. I’m quite relieved that Kristoff and Drex sided with me, but do they really think Emily as a burden in this fight?

“Anyway, we have to find Heushac next. It’s really mandatory for us right now since our firepower is now limited due to that maid’s elimination.” Kristoff said.

“I hope he’s holding up well.” I muttered.

<>

Three minutes, and there’s another explosion nearby. We three climbed up the wall and peeked, and noticed that there is a team of strong-looking Gate Guardians being surrounded by several brown-robed bald monks.

One of the Gate Guardians who is emitting a strange prana field is a tall, slender Korean man who has an umbrella as his Weapon Gem. He spun it gracefully like a lance, perfectly parrying all the monks’ kung-fu chops and punches, and instantly finishing two of them off by a quick stab to their Gate Plates.

“!!!” One of the monks made a palm assault, and crumbles of earth were launched and swirled like a tornado!

But the lancer defended himself by opening his umbrella, making a sturdy shield that blocked the attack!

“What the heck is that weapon!?” The monk exclaimed. He is about to cast another spell but then, there was a laser beam that triggered his Gate Plate. And that laser beam came from the tip of the umbrella-spear!

“That umbrella man? That’s Seha Park.” Kristoff muttered. “He’s one of the best attackers from Cyprine City. I’ve seen him fight a few times and he’s a force to be reckoned with.”

Another peculiar man got our attention. He is wearing a white cape and acolyte robe, and on his right hand, an old-fashioned wooden staff that has a navy blue orb. He’s wearing a pair of round eyeglasses.

He has this hologram screens right in front of his face. Those screens contain his groupmates’ vital statistics and even a sonar radar map. It seems like he’s the commander of his team.

There was this one man with hijab who sneaked on his back. He decided that it’s the best time to ‘assassinate’ the tactician mage, so he rushed to the mage while shouting “Surprise attaaaaaack!!!”

Clang! When he swung his sword, an invisible barrier repelled his attack completely. He was stunned, and it’s too late to realize that he’s wide open.

“”

The tactician mage unleashed a basketball-sized flame projectile chasing the assassin’s chest, triggering the Gate Plate.

“That four-eyed mage is Cyrus Pink. Don’t let his weird nickname fool you. He’s one of the best tacticians of the Black Cross. If Aeternos wasn’t that overpowered back in the Christmas Raid, then his plan would have played well smoothly.” Kristoff said.

The third guy is somewhat familiar to me. He is a Japanese man with brown hair and chocolate eyes. Wearing a black coat and wielding two black swords, he swept through the enemy Gate Guardians swiftly.

“!!!” The twin swordsman said.

In a speed faster than a split second, there was a blinding flash, and then a shadow streak arced. When the light faded, three Gate Guardian monks were eliminated.

“That’s…” I failed to finish my sentence.

“Yeah.” Kristoff smiled. “That’s Atlas Kozukata, the famous Dark Blader. I’m pretty sure that you know him well.”

“Y-Yeah.”

Atlas Kozukata is a priest in the Kozukata Shrine and the older brother of Asumi. I rarely see him in the shrine, and you’ll only notice him when he’s meditating on top of the bell tower. It’s also no use talking to him since all his replies are restricted to one word. He’s so weird in some ways.

“Ey, pretty boy.” Drex was pertaining to Kristoff. “Why do ya know a hell lot from those bois?”

“We four used to team up together to hunt Cursed Guardians back in Junior High. I think we were treated as celebrity heartthrob back then, like F4. But after a year, we broke up, like the Beatles.” Kristoff said.

“So they’re all in the same caliber as you.” Benedict stated in a gloomy manner.

“Yeah. And frankly speaking, those three teaming up is the worst-case scenario we could ever find in this battle royale.” Kristoff said.

“So what should we do now, Mister Kristoff?” I titled my head.

“We fight them.”

“Come again?” The three of us was awed due to his failed logic.

“Listen, it would be troublesome if we ever faced them on the next round. Since they’re being surrounded and busy at the moment, the best way to eliminate them is to team up with the goons and destroy the greatest threat in this tournament.”

<>

After rehearsing our game plan that Kristoff formulated weeks ago, we are now ready to engage in the fight with the ultimate plan of removing those powerful guys in the tournament.

“Go!” At Kristoff’s signal, our guerilla-pincer assault started.

Drex and Benedict ran at full speed, dragging their oversized mace and buster sword in the process. Their target is the tactician mage, Cyrus Pink! He was so preoccupied on checking his teammates so the two heavy attackers caught him by surprise!

“Hraaagh!” Drex slammed his mace to the left, and Benedict slashed to the right. The two-sided attack was not successful, for there is still an invisible barrier covering the four-eyed mage!

But that was according to Kristoff’s plan! Cyrus’s invisible shield can only cover two attacks at once, so a third attack would pass through!

“!!!” Kristoff unleashed his glowing red arrow, aiming at the tactician’s chest!

But…

Clang!

The arrow failed to reach the target. There was another barrier that saved the mage from being transported back to the Earth Realm. It’s an umbrella that completely blocked the attack.

“Oh, Kristoff! Long time no see!” The lancer named Seha smiled. “I can’t believe we have to be enemies here.”

“Haha. I’m sorry about that.” Kristoff made a safe smile. “Want to join forces with us?”

Cyrus shifted his eyes, and he was awed to see their friend. It’s a boyband reunion, and they should feel nostalgic by now.

Seha switched to a frown. “That’s a good joke, Kristoff…”

“Hahaha. You never change.” Cyrus said. “Always wearing that cheeky smile.”

“So I’ll take it that you guys would agree on our temporary alliance?” Kristoff continued to smirk.

But his old friends are not amused. They all shifted to a frown with curled eyebrows.

“Of course not.” Cyrus and Seha replied in sync. “There’s no way we’ll team up with the snake who stole our girlfriends, you fuckboy!!!”

…

And then the real battle begins.

Somehow, I kind of piece together why their boyband broke up.