Chapter 478 New Form
As I was watching the spray of blue blood fly in the air, I quickly took a few steps back. I wouldn't want to get smeared with blood, after all.
After seeing it drop onto the floor, I felt glad that I dodged.
*SIZZLE!*
The blue blood was raising suspicious green smoke as it burned the crystal flooring of the castle!
"D*mn! Is it acidic?!"
Although I wanted to gain more distance, the other priests started to notice me and began to attack. They didn't go for melee attacks, but rather fired beams and projectiles from a distance.
"Will!"
Fatima cried in worry before switching her armament from the rifle to the Machine Gun. Like the rifle, it had enough strength to overpower the god-level enemies, forcing them to keep their barriers up at all times.
"Fina, Yorm, Judy, Julia!"
I quickly called, but I didn't have enough time to even give them orders. Attacks kept pouring down like rain, making it impossible for me to even take a breather!
Fortunately, they understood their assignment well, and buffs started falling onto my body. My speed more than doubled, with strength reaching up to 5 times that of normal. With this boost, I doubt I'll get pushed back now.
The attacks that almost grazed me before were now easily dodged, but as they noticed that I got faster, the number of attacks doubled. They're not allowing me space to dodge!
*VRRRRRRRRRR!*
Fortunately, Fatima's covering fire could take down a few of the attacks, allowing me to weave across the remaining projectiles safely.
'However, at this rate, I'll just get stuck defending!'
As I was under constant fire, the nine remaining priests were spreading out, trying to position themselves around me. Whenever I tried to move towards one of them, that person would fall back while the rest increased their attack's intensity, leading to a stalemate.
"No, it's not a stalemate at all...!"
As I was moving around intensely, fatigue would catch up faster for me than for them. If I get tired, then their attacks will hit, and then it's game over!
"Fatima, sorry, but I have no choice!"
I raised my voice, notifying her that I was about to use our "backup" plan. Without waiting for her response, I quickly activated Status Augmentation and limited the target to only Fatima.
Her body suddenly surged with power, increasing her intensity from around the 8th stage to about equivalent to god-level!
As soon as this happened, she quickly changed her armament from the Machine Gun to a smaller, more wieldy weapon. It was one of the weapons that I hadn't seen before but had heard of.
*ZIIIIIN!*
A blue laser light extended from a small cylinder, covering a length of about 1.2 meters. The light was intense enough that I could feel the heat it was exuding just from watching the haze that covered its entire length.
The surroundings looked warped around the blade!
"I haven't shown you this yet, have I?"
Fatima muttered with a fierce grin.
"This is practically a backup for when I run out of bullets, but its power is the best when ignoring its short range!" f𝐫𝗲eweb𝗻o𝐯el.𝚌o𝗺
Fatima dashed forward. With her speed reaching God-level too, she managed to close in on the nearest priest to her in one leap!
"Have a taste of my [Variable Energy Blade]!"
Before Fatima could swing her blade, however, the priest managed to notice her and cover himself with a barrier. However, just like a hot knife cutting through butter, the barrier provided little to no obstacle in the path of the Energy Blade.
*ZIIIN!* *VUUOOOOM!*
Fatima let out two swipes before jumping back, regaining some distance. Right as she landed, the enemy's body started to fall apart, splitting into a total of four pieces. With the wounds singed by the extreme heat, not even a drop of blood fell from his corpse!
"Nice!"
I complimented her while I continued dodging attacks.
With another man down, the gaps in their net were increasing, giving me more chances to approach some of them. Furthermore, with Fatima's immense threat to them, they can no longer ignore her!
Fatima took another leap, trying to approach another priest.
"...!"
But before she could come close, projectiles flew in her direction, stopping her in her tracks.
*BOOOM!* *BOOOM!* *BOOOM!*
Explosions resounded as Fatima ran, taking notice not to go too far from the target.
Although half of them were focusing on Fatima, for some reason, the attacks heading for me weren't diminishing. Were they holding back earlier?
The number of fireballs increased tenfold, with the pesky invisible wind blades covering practically every inch of my surroundings.
"[SHIELD]!"
In the end, I could no longer dodge the attacks and was forced to waste more energy than planned. With a barrier made out of Psychic Energy, all attacks heading for me swerved away, as if getting flicked by an invisible hand!
It was a powerful defense, but as expected, it wasn't enough to cover the difference in numbers. I was still unable to move forward!
Fatima was having trouble, too.
The duration of Status Augmentation depends on how much energy I spend, so letting the battle drag on for too long isn't ideal. She also knows this, so she was trying her best to close the distance even more.
"Being on the defensive isn't my style...!"
Although forceful, I couldn't dilly-dally anymore either. I charged forward, letting the barrier do its job while locking onto a single target. The priest I was approaching noticed it and quickly backed off, trying to regain distance.
'He fell for it!'
I smiled as I watched him back away, not realizing who was waiting behind him.
"Priest Karran!"
One of the priests called for his attention, but since I was chasing him with quite the speed, he couldn't spare a moment to hear his words.
"Checkmate!"
I swung my sword vertically, but the priest dodged it by tilting his body to the side. Then...
*ZIIIIIN!*
A blue light swept across his body, cutting it in half. He probably didn't even have time to feel the pain or the heat as another slash came, running from the top of his head to his groin.
*VUOOOM!*
Another victim of Fatima's [Variable Energy Blade]!