Chapter 1641 (2/2)
A shriek blasted outward from the opposition with enough force to briefly slow the assault from the Engraving Guild. Then an enormous Crimson Thunder Eagle manifested in the air in an eye-catching crackle. Immediately, the lines around Shal’s mouth tightened. Seeker Thunder Wing… an up and comer amongst the Pinnacle Seekers. He even fought a Commandant to a draw ten years ago. Why the hell is a man like that defending my pupil…?
Shal’s manager raised his massive club and pulled Nether into the weapon. The iron club began to vibrate. He wasn’t a part of the Nether Lattice per se, but was instead a close confidant of N’Gick; the two had known each other before either had any great achievements. Therefore, he was afforded certain… perks due to their association.
Two destroyed Nether Spires meant that there was an abundant oppression on images from pooling significance, but the horrifying weight that the iron club developed without restraint in that same environment. Shal’s manager roared and leapt forward, meeting a belched bolt of lightning directly with his weapon.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
The ground shook, but all the combatants here were at the tier that they wouldn’t balk before a concussive shockwave. The fighters from the Engraving Guild fearlessly charged forward and met the images of the Pinnacle Seekers. Images blasted back and forth. Soon the wave of bodies devolved into a series of small battlefields with overlapping edges. Although the initial clash was mostly even, Shal knew that the Engraving Guild would be able to slowly push back the Pinnacle Seekers.
They just weren’t able to work together as efficiently as a trained unit. Ultimately, their fractal nature would be their undoing.
But Shal had no intention of allowing anyone else to handle Randidly. So when a smaller Crimson Thunder Eagle cried and smashed into one of Shal’s subordinates, he planted his foot and accelerated past the Pinnacle Seeker’s defensive line.
But no sooner had he passed through a small gap in between two cooperating Pinnacle Seeker factions than he reflexively brought his spear up and deflected an attack away.
Clang!
Two spears crossed and Shal came away with a trembling weapon. For a half meter, he skidded backward from the force he received. He blinked at first, but then sneered at his opponent. “Randidly Ghosthound is my student. Do you think my student’s spear attendant has any chance of standing up against me?”
With her hair done up in a traditional combat braid of Tellus, Helen raised her spear and manifested her image. Thick, branching black veins of energy orbited one meter away from her body, twitching and jumping forward in spurts as they moved. Despite the oppression of the space, this woman’s image tore through the obstructions and manifested clearly. The aura of dread she released wasn’t anything to sneeze at.
Shal was proud his planet had produced such a talent. But of course, this relatively well-behaved image wasn’t nearly enough to stop him.
Her were heavy as she looked at Shal. “You know… when we left Tellus last time, I would have believed the same thing. Wholeheartedly. But now…”
Helen smiled rather sweetly and tilted her head to the side as she Shal. Meanwhile, her image accelerated and began releasing a palpable scent of death. “Now, doesn’t it seem like even I could do something like overcoming the Second Calamity?”
Shal snorted and shot forward, unwilling to indulge this farce any further. She was related to his precious student, but this was a world that devoured the weak; if she insisted on making such dangerous choices, he might as well put her out of her misery now.
Especially when he planned to do the same to Randidly himself.
Inhaling during that second of advancing, Shal readied himself to finish this quickly. For her, he only activated his Valiant Wraith Phantom image. His spear slithered through the air in confusing patterns as they stepped into each other’s range. A twitch of the wrist snapped the weapon’s perceived flexibility into straightness and then Shal thrust his spear forward in a brutal Viper Strike.
The movement was clean and flawless. It was a movement he had practiced millions of times. Even when his faith in his own image had been broken, he had never ceased the tireless accumulation through training. This was the most primitive and also most well-honed blade he currently could wield.
Clang!
Helen’s image deflected Shal’s attack without her even moving. For a split second, he froze in confusion to see her so effortlessly neutralize his strike; her image could overpower him directly, without her assistance. Even worse, Helen truly hadn’t been still while her image dealt with him, but was instead bringing her spear forward in a brutally quick counter-attack that had Shal scrambling to keep up.
Yet even as he brought his spear across in a sweep, those branching black lines of her image split out and attempted to hem in his defenses. Shal’s eyes flashed; everything in front of him seemed to move in slow motion. His spear held horizontally at his waist, Helen’s attack piercing toward his heart, her black wicker image swimming between the two weapons in lazy loops…
Unfortunately for her, this was exactly the sort of situation where the Wraith Phantom thrived.
Shal’s spear blurred and twisted, spinning up to deflect away Helen’s attack. Her wicker image strained itself downward to interfere, but he was too quick. The tip of his spear slapped the shaft of her weapon. And once the line of her attack vector was shifted away from his body, Shal whipped his spear around-
He let out a harsh breath of surprise, unsure of what happened. Everything simply stopped.
His heartbeat thudded painfully in his chest, feeling like it was about to pop. Shal looked down and saw that the wicker lines of Helen’s image had turned upward after Shal’s spear had avoided them and simply punched through his armor and into the soft flesh of his chest. Even in offense, her image overwhelmed him.
Shal’s attack rapidly lost its steam, but he then exploded into an entirely different motion. He twisted away, pulling out before Helen’s strange image could deal more damage to him. The black wicker lines pursued him, but Shal didn’t underestimate the image this time. He activated his Valiant Aura Skill and pushed as wrung as much heroism as he could out of the depths of his heart. His spear was suffused with golden light as it rushed forward.
Yet even as he struck, Shal felt a chill down his spine. The golden light of his strike flickered and Helen’s image smashed his to pieces.
With two flickering steps, Shal escaped the attack and created some distance. Then he regarded Helen with a grim expression. Shal hadn’t given his all in the fight; he had taken Helen quite likely at first. But in the face of his lightness, she had unilaterally crushed him. With shaking hands, Shal reached into his interspatial ring. “Fine then. You may be proud to have forced me to use this. But now-”
“Proud?” Helen’s expression twisted in disgust. “Look at yourself, once-proud-Shal. In what world could I experience pride when this is the best you can manage?”