251 Traitor (1/2)

Watching how Sentinel had gotten all emotional and worked-up, and then ended up blurting out all kinds of nasty hidden thoughts and insecurities, Qin Ruo did not know whether to laugh or cry. It was hard to take seriously. Throughout all his time in this game, this was the first he had ever seen somebody so twisted and shallow.

Swearing a grudge just because a friend would not lend him a valuable item of equipment, and even hiring other people to come help beat up his former friend, all just to get his hands on the item. What a joke!

What made this even better was how he brought up a female player, one he still seemed to have some feelings for, but who apparently did not much care for him in return—so his grudge toward his former friend also carried the bitter flavor of the loser in a love triangle.

Oh, it was too precious!

While Qin Ruo found this whole scenario profoundly amusing, the Beastblood Berserker and Electromancer were clearly losing patience with their employer.

”Are you finished? Can you shut your damn mouth now?” the Beastblood Berserker barked at Sentinel. ”I came here to help you kill somebody, not to let you talk my ear off all night. Quit your god-damned whining!”

And then, he turned and gave some sort of secret signal to the Electromancer, before presenting Wandering Soul with a final ultimatum.

”Hand over your stuff, and we'll let you go. Otherwise, we'll take it from you ourselves. If it comes to that, well… don't think you'll ever enjoy a moment's peace in Bailey Town again!”

”Cut the crap!” Wandering Soul was clearly not in the mood to cooperate. He clenched his longsword tightly in hand. Now that Sentinel had revealed the depth of his depravity for all to hear, there was no point in talking further.

”I gave you a chance. You asked for this!”

”Attack!” As the Beastblood Berserker roared this command, the Electromancer behind him released the Lightning Bolt he'd been holding at the ready!

Zap!

Electric magic struck as fast as flashing lightning—there was no hope for Wandering Soul to dodge it, and it struck directly upon his suit of magical earthern armor. The armor shuddered from the hit, sparks exploding in all directions, but underneath the armor Wandering Soul seemed unharmed.

Qin Ruo could see the problem. Wandering Soul's magical armor was probably thanks to a skill granted by his equipment, and seemed to function in a similar way to an Elemental Barrier. However, it didn't seem to provide much Magical Resistance, otherwise it wouldn't have been shaken so badly from just a Tier 3 spell.

As long as the Beastblood Berserker and Sentinel were able to keep Wandering Soul at bay, it shouldn't take long for the Electromancer to shatter that earthern armor, and then Wandering Soul could say goodbye to his equipment.

To make matters worse, Wandering Soul was trapped at the mouth of a cave. If he retreated down the tunnel behind him, it would only lead to a dead end. With the Beastblood Berserker and the others penning him in, escape was all but impossible.

As Qin Ruo had predicted, Wandering Soul was able to stand up to the combined attacks from both the Beastblood Berserker and Sentinel for a while, thanks to his earthern armor, but when the third stroke of lightning hit, fine cracks appeared all over the armor—it appeared to be on the verge of breaking.

Wandering Soul's battle cries grew even louder! And then, ignoring the attacks from the Beastblood Berserker, he charged straight towards the other Terra Swordmaster, Sentinel!

A dull yellow glow appeared over Wandering Soul's blade, and as he slashed with it, several after-images of the same blade followed in its wake.

This skill! Qin Ruo's eyes lit up. As far as he could recall, a Terra Swordmaster did not have such a skill.

”Ahh! Help me!” Sentinel seemed to recognize the skill, and was clearly afraid of it. With a panicked cry, he turned and fled.

But it was too late. No matter how quick he was, he couldn't outrun the incoming attack. The ghostly blades slashed across his body, and he cried out in pain as if he'd been hit by a runaway train. He staggered a few steps, and then fell over.

Qin Ruo was startled to see Sentinel's health plummet by over five hundred HP, just from that one attack.

However, now Wandering Soul was in truly desperate straits!

In that instant when he had turned all his might on Sentinel, the Beastblood Berserker slammed his axe into his back, producing two grievous fractures upon his armor. Following closely after, a bolt of blinding white lightning struck Wandering Soul with a deafening thunderclap, and the armor burst apart into a million motes of ruddy brown light, dissipating away into the air.

His armor had been shattered!

”There we go! Attack!”

”We've broken his armor! Quick, finish him!” Shouting frantically, the Beastblood Berserker pressed the attack.

Although heavily wounded, a wide grin spread across Sentinel's face upon hearing this. Swiftly downing a potion, he gave a shout and turned back around to join the Berserker in triumph.

His magical protection destroyed at the most critical point of the battle, Wandering Soul was clearly dismayed. With a final roar, he threw himself into a suicidal attack on Sentinel.

And then, against all odds, something strange happened!