Strongest Among the Heavens
Chapter 312: Two To Go

Chapter 312: Two To Go

’As expected, the archer’s vision is acute. I need to get rid of that. His arrow was able to slip past me too.’ Dasha flexed the muscles in his gauntlets. He could feel the wet pricks of blood. His Internal Healing wasn’t very effective.’The spear woman got close as well. A seven-headed spear with seven barbs that will always do damage...that woman must be wielding a replica of Gáe Bulg.’

Gáe Bulg—the spear of mortal death. Replicas of legendary weapons were rare and in high demand by players. The original notched spear of legend was said to be able to penetrate armour and flesh. Any injury was difficult to recover from due to the barbs on the tip which split into smaller barbs that stuck inside of the body.

’Like all replicas, its effect pales in comparison to the real thing. Fake as it may be, with its range, it is dangerous. I will need to take it.’

He exhaled. His Qi Sense had returned at last. The negative aftereffects of his trump card stayed longer than he anticipated. So far, he had been relying on his five senses. Now, he possessed six. Time to kick it up a gear.

"Careful," said Light-Shadow Archer. "I sense a change in him."

"You think?" Asa asked. "Alright, I’m ready. How are we going to do this?"

"Formation C," said Keeran.

Dasha stepped on the heads and feet of the corpses. The disrespect was intended to anger them into a false move. They did not fall for it. The trio of hunters went into a spaced formation: Keeran at the front, Asa beside him, and Light-Shadow Arrow far, far back.

Twang!

An arrow was released. Dasha caught it with his gauntlet. Shock crossed them. His left eye narrowed, Qi Sense pulsing. ’Ah, I see.’ His second hand darted and snatched the second arrow from behind. ’He released an invisible arrow that can bounce between the air. How interesting. Must be some combination of shadow and light magic.’

"He caught it," the archer pointed out.

"We noticed," Asa said.

"He’s on a timer," Light-Shadow Archer added. "He must be withholding a Class Six ultimate move, but using the ultimate move causes a cooldown and minor debuffs. I’m thinking his Qi Sense was blocked previously and not anymore. Keep an eye out for scrolls, incantations, and those gauntlets of his. The quality is absurd. Must be S-class."

Keeran was silently deducing other potentiam factors. Hrm.

"Figured it had to be something like that. At this level, he couldn’t possibly have killed everyone here. A Class Six trump card..." Asa smirked. "Let’s stop wasting time and kill him."

Dasha examined the Light-Shadow Archer. The way he posed, his calm manner of speaking, and his technical skill. All were suited to be able to discover the strengths and weaknesses of monsters. A scout through and through.

’I need to get rid of the archer fast. Experienced men like him will continue to be a pain.’

Keeran and Asa were already closing in on him. With Qi Sense, however, visual cues were unnecessary. Dark eyes studied the archer to his right while his hands readied themselves against the duo in front of him.

Their charge speed was impressive. His gauntlets were faster and he delivered a Thunder Clap, a long-range zip of black that that immediately broke the two apart. The moment they were in their own paths, Dasha pounced at Asa with Electro-step. The sudden increase in speed nearly caught her.

Nearly. It wasn’t truly enough to smash apart this feral spearwoman. She blocked, they clashed, she took a backstep and shoved her spear in the direction of his heart. Dasha deflected the strike over to his breast at the last instant. The spearwoman had turned the tides so fast that a spectator would have blinked and missed it.

Her swings were wide and encompassing. Strike to the left, right, left, left, and then a ferocious thrust to the middle. To call her elegant was wrong. To call her unskilled was also wrong. Each missed swing and blocked smack contributed to her growing speed and strength. It was becoming too much and Dasha raised his arms to block the final smack with his forearms. Like a pingpong, he was sent Keeran’s way, whose fist was rocky and brown and about to cave his brains out.

Between his fingers, five black cards appeared and Dasha slammed them against the hardened fist. Blood gushed out and Keeran staggered back. Dasha did not waste time. A pointed hand went for his heart.

Keeran’s other hand caught it.

Got him.

"Thunder Clap Palm." He pressed his remaining hand to Kareen’s chest, the black lightning amplified by his gauntlets—

[ Critical hit landed! ]

—and hurled him away.

Twang!

Altogether, seven arrows flew.

More pressingly was Asa.

Her form and her spear were equally as agile and she attempted to flank him from a distance. Her raw attack speed was faster than Dasha’s. However, she did not think as fast. The Professor had already been twisting the moment he touched Kareen and timed himself with the cadence of a dancer to dodge her thrust.

The seven arrows bounced between the air and came at him all at once. Dodging was impossible. The aim was impeccable. He was rooted to this spot.

’Counterflow Stance.’

The balance of light and shadow that hid the arrows did not matter in face of his Qi Sense. In a second that was slowed, he deflected everything.

Time returned to normal.

He ran alongside the length of her spear and when Asa tried to smack him aside, he was able to roll his back over it. She tried to stop the momentum of her spear but it was too late, he was there and her spear was not. Swiftly and brutally, he drove his knee into her stomach and Asa double-overed and nearly lost grip of her spear. The blood vomited did not help either. Dasha elbowed her wrist, scooped the spear for himself and with a quick thrust of the spear’s primary head into her throat he ended her struggle.

’One down. Two to go.’