Chapter 1303 - Lapis, Towering on the Ground (1/2)
The moment Rhode attacked, Stefania also made her move. The black, loose-fitting cloak on her body inflated abruptly. At the next moment, two thick, pitch-black, long whips shot out from the openings of the cloak, lashing at Catherine.
Facing Stefania’s attack, the Light Angel reacted swiftly by turning around and dodging the attack. However, Stefania apparently had no intention of letting her off. The moment Catherine evaded her attack, she lashed the whip in her hand again from above. The whistling whip narrowly brushed past Catherine and struck the ground in a heavy blow.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A string of explosions rumbled. The instant Stefania’s long whips landed on the hard cobblestone pavement, it was pounded like it was blasted by cannons. Smoke and dust sprayed out like a cloud of dragons soaring skyward. Looking at Stefania’s battle style, it was completely impossible to link her to the profession of a merchant, which was supposed to make peace and money. Logically speaking, using whips as weapons was usually a feminine choice. But watching her pressurizing and unyielding battle style, it was clear that she wasn’t giving the opponent a chance to live at all. The long whips in her hands were like two giant hammerheads. Perhaps this analogy might sound a little odd, but it was actually true. In the face of Stefania’s attack, Katharine was like a mole in whack-a-mole, except she was dealing with two huge and heavy hammers of steel. If she were hit by one, she wouldn’t just be making an adorable, wailing shriek, but would turn into minced meat instead. But even so, the plaza had been blasted by Stefania with dozens of deep holes. Her whips swung down hard, smashing the hard cobblestone pavement in an incomparably powerful force and impact. The solid ground seemed to cave in and spread out like a soft sponge to the sides. Whirling dust and stones exploded from the flat ground, scattering in all directions. Absolute strength and power; that was how Stefania fought. In a nutshell, no wimping out and only attacking!
“Miss Stefania is really powerful…”
Looking at this scene, the crowd in the distance whispered. This was also the first time they watched Stefania’s battle at such close quarters. As a plane merchant, Stefania was still a peace-loving businesswoman, after all. That was why she avoided confrontation as much as possible and it was rare to see her fighting personally. But at that moment, after witnessing her attacks, many people, including Marlene, were stunned. It seemed like they would have to reevaluate this plane merchant who was always smiling and ‘collecting junk’ everywhere she went.
But at that moment, Rhode didn’t have the time to be concerned about Stefania. He was facing two opponents at once and… They were trickier to deal with.
Whoosh…!
The ghostly, icy-cold scythe grazed Rhode’s hair. At that moment, he witnessed several strands of his hair flying in midair. After dodging this attack, he lunged forward, only to split into three with his shadow clones and attacked Dona and Eleanor who were in front of him.
In the early stages of the fight, both sides coincidentally chose to engage with skills rather than their own means. Rhode didn’t summon his card spirits, while Dona and Eleanor didn’t use any strange powers. Both sides were simply relying on swordplay in their sparring. It was just like what Rhode expected. Dona was a complete berserker with terrifying speed and strength. Rhode remembered a slogan from a cartoon he watched when he was a kid. The slogan was the perfect way to describe Dona.
Eyes of an eagle, ears of a wolf, speed of a panther, and strength of a bear.
Eyes and ears aside, Dona’s speed and strength were much faster and stronger than most half-beasts. The first time Rhode collided with her, he sensed a powerful force flowing in the blade of her longsword. In addition to her massive strength, if it weren’t for his experience on the battlefield to react and disengage in time, perhaps he would be struck away in one hit.
Not only that, but Dona’s speed was also terrifying. Logically speaking, most double-handed sword wielders were unrestrained in thoughts and actions. For instance, Shira was a prominent example, always damaging the opponents at the cost of her allies. However, Dona’s attacking style was completely different. The huge longsword in her hands was more flexible and versatile than one-handed swords. There were several times where Rhode couldn’t find an opening in her defenses.
Moreover, Eleanor was also glaring at him like a tiger from the side. The scythe in her hands was a huge trouble for him. The attacking trajectories of such an odd weapon was different from ordinary weapons. Furthermore, she was also an expert in that weapon, where she sneaked up from behind from time to time and caught Rhode off guard. Not only that, but her skills in wielding the scythe were also entirely different from the rest.
Swish!
Clang!
In a cold flash of light, Eleanor flipped her scythe around and negated the attack from Rhode’s shadow clone. At the same time, with the aid of his shadow clone that also forced away Dona’s attack, Rhode thrust his sword again, stabbing at Eleanor’s chest. With this swift assault, Eleanor seemingly had no chance of retaliating. But in fact, that wasn’t the case. Just as Rhode’s sword was about to tear through her black robe that was riddled with holes, she turned her arms around and swung up the scythe to strike his sword with an unerring blow. In a sharp rasp, Rhode’s blade deviated from its original path and brushed past her instead. Shortly after, Eleanor gripped the scythe and struck forward ruthlessly, startling Rhode into withdrawing his sword to defend himself. He flipped his right hand over and the sword that brushed past her returned with a curved, moon-shaped arc, slashing at the oncoming blade heavily. But the moment he blocked this attack, he heard a whistling wind and the ice-cold flash of the scythe reappeared in his face.
Is this the way of the Shaolin Lo Han staff[1]**?
Rhode never expected a scythe to be flourished as a staff. But now, he didn’t have any other choice. All he could do was to evade. But at that moment, Dona also arrived from the other side.
After losing most of his power of the Void Dragon, he was at his limit fighting to a draw against two opponents using his sword skills. But the problem was that… He wasn’t fighting alone. He still had Lapis!
… Come to think of it, where is she?
At this thought, Rhode swept a quick glance toward the back and what he saw almost made him faint. Lapis stood on the same spot and stared wide-eyed at him and Stefania. She didn’t seem to have the intention to attack in the slightest. Meanwhile, Dona, Eleanor, and Catherine didn’t attack her either. After all, this alchemical elf was too weak to begin with, and just standing there motionlessly was enough for them to witness ‘I’m weak. Don’t bully me’ written all over her face. Against such a weakling, the three strongest holy sword card spirits weren’t that shameless to find trouble with her.
But…
I didn’t ask you to come here and enjoy the match from a VIP seat!
Rhode almost vomited blood out of rage.
This is just like in the game. I play my role well in luring monsters as the main tanker, only to turn around and find the DPS chit chatting away instead of attacking… What is this bullsh*t?!
“Lapis! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and attack!”
While Rhode resisted the pincer attack from Catherine and Eleanor, he yelled at her. Fortunately for him, Stefania was much more reliable. In a few frontal clashes, she managed to contain Catherine entirely. If not, perhaps he wouldn’t be able to take on three opponents at once. However, if Lapis continued to be a drag, things would turn out differently for sure.
“But Sir Rhode, I’m… scared…”
Upon hearing his scream, Lapis seemed somewhat hesitant. She grabbed the edge of her clothes and gazed anxiously at him.
“What’s there to be afraid of?! Go all out. You have my permission to do whatever you want!”
“Really?!”
All of a sudden, Lapis widened her eyes in shock. Rhode and Stefania had their backs facing her, so they didn’t notice the glint that flashed in her eyes. Yes, a glint of unparalleled excitement.