Why the hell is he chasing me?!
Orlov felt extremely frustrated as he glanced at Balbars relentlessly pursuing him from behind. Even though he had heavily injured Phantom, it wasn't him who had killed the man. So why was Balbas chasing him?
Why not go after the person who actually killed Phantom?
Looking at the thick armor covering Balbars' body, Orlov didn't think he could use his grabbing skill to lift him.
"ROAR!"
Balbars let out a furious roar and swung his massive hammer, sending a knight who was blocking his path flying into the sky.
The knight flew off like a shooting star, disappearing into the distance. No one knew where he landed.
Faced with Balbars chasing him relentlessly, Orlov spotted Asuka and immediately changed direction, running toward her.
This bastard!
Asuka's expression darkened with anger as she watched Orlov running toward her while dragging Balbars along. She knew exactly what he was planning.
"Do you have no shame?!"
"I'm from the same place as you! Help me out here!"
Orlov heard Asuka's angry shout but only ran faster.
Damn it!
Nishi secretly threw a lump of black, sticky mud in front of Orlov. Asuka was their temporary teammate, after all. In a situation like this, there was no question about whose side she should take.
Besides, Orlov was someone who held malice toward Cyan. She would be doing herself a disservice if she didn't screw him over at least once.
What the—?!
Orlov stepped right into the sticky mud. His expression changed as his foot slipped. He performed an involuntary breakdance spin before barely managing to stay on his feet. Cold sweat covered his face as he looked at the mud that had appeared out of nowhere. When he tried to run again, he found his speed had dropped significantly!
A Slow debuff had been applied to him!
"ROAR!"
Balbars roared. Even though he didn't understand why Orlov had done that strange dance and slowed down, it didn't stop him from wanting to send him flying!
He swung his massive hammer!
Orlov crossed his arms to block Balbars' attack. A series of cracking sounds came from his arms and chest as bones shattered!
Blood sprayed from his mouth as he was sent flying with a miserable scream. That single hammer strike had taken half of his HP.
Hmm?
Cyan saw Orlov rolling across the ground like a gourd after being sent flying by Balbars. For a brief moment, she considered stopping her fight with Muramasa to go kill Orlov instead.
However, that thought was immediately dismissed when Muramasa's blade came slashing toward her.
"Come on. Try to cut me down."
Purple flames, burning hot and carrying a strange, eerie aura, ignited around Muramasa's body. His glowing, sinister eyes made it seem as if a demon had possessed this Onimusha armor!
"Ssshh!"
Bloody Tear struck Muramasa's head. Cyan immediately felt the burning pain of flames. She quickly retreated. Even with Kubaji's Mercury Earrings reducing fire damage by 30%, touching the flames for less than a second had still cost her over 20 HP!
Muramasa didn't dodge or block Cyan's attacks at all. With his entire body burning with demonic flames, he himself had become a walking weapon!
Hmm?
Does Muramasa have this skill in the game? I don't remember seeing it.
The blue-clothed ninja, who had played Round Table Knights before, stared in shock at the eerie flames burning around Muramasa's body.
Was this stupid boss always this strong?
He's way too overpowered!
Cyan knew she couldn't fight Muramasa head-on with just her flesh and blood. Even so, she had no intention of retreating.
Infinite Style · Heaven Collapse Slash!
A blood-red light flashed in Cyan's silver-white eyes. Instead of retreating, she charged straight at Muramasa. She drove her elbow hard into the arm holding the blade, then followed up with an upward slash that severed the arm holding the sword.
Ripple Dash!
Golden, mist-like light shone brightly around Cyan's body. She swung the demon blade at extreme speed toward Muramasa's main body. Dense blade light enveloped the floating sword in the air. The arm holding the blade was instantly sliced into pieces by the blade light.
"Clang!"
Muramasa ignited deep purple flames and interrupted Cyan's attack. As his blade clashed with the demon blade, the flames traveled along the blade and rapidly spread onto the demon blade itself.
Cyan took two steps back and swung the demon blade, but she couldn't shake off the deep purple flames that clung to it like maggots on bone.
To deal with fire, use fire!
Holy Flame!
Cyan activated Holy Flame. Pale golden flames surged from her hands and clashed with the deep purple flames on the demon blade, extinguishing the persistent purple fire.
The severed arm reassembled under Muramasa's power and once again gripped the sword.
As his main body returned, the previously motionless Onimusha shell moved once more. It leapt up and swung its blade toward Cyan's head.
Infinite Style · Gale Slash!
Green sword energy and pale golden Holy Flame intertwined as Cyan raised the demon blade to block Muramasa's attack.
Muramasa tried to repeat his previous tactic by burning the demon blade with flames to attack Cyan. However, Holy Flame was no pushover either. Provoked by the deep purple flames, it fiercely counterattacked.
Orlov ate recovery items. His broken bones rapidly healed as his HP recovered. He struggled to get back on his feet. Seeing Balbars charging toward Asuka, he had no intention of getting revenge for the hammer strike. He turned and ran. Any enemy that tried to take advantage of his injury to kill him was met with a punch and dealt with.
Shield Bash!
Asuka raised her greatshield to block Balbars' descending hammer and activated her shield's built-in skill.
Light glowed on the greatshield. Balbars' HP bar dropped by a chunk as his body stiffened, freezing in place.
[Knight's Greatshield]
[Type: Greatshield]
[Attributes: Defense +50, Constitution +2, Movement Speed -20%.]
[Skill: Shield Bash — When blocking an attack with the greatshield, consumes 5 Mental Power to return 60% of the enemy's attack damage and stun the enemy for 0.5 seconds. Cooldown: 2 minutes.]
[Equipment Requirement: Strength 15, Constitution 15.]
[Remark: Don't think holding a shield makes you invincible! Counterattack! You have to counterattack! Mindlessly holding up a shield won't get you anywhere!]
Finger Lightning!
Asuka took the opportunity to point her finger at the cut Cyan had made on Balbars' chest and activated her only energy damage skill — one that dealt extremely high damage to enemies wearing metal armor!
"Crackle!"
Blinding lightning shot from Asuka's fingertip and surged into Balbars' armor.
The lightning traveled across the armor. Balbars' body convulsed violently. That single attack had reduced his HP bar by a third!
The damage was terrifyingly high.
He's way too tanky…
Asuka drank a cup of milk and ate some recovery items to restore her Mental Power. She put away her greatshield. Shield Bash was temporarily unusable — continuing to hold it would only slow her down.
Finger Lightning had a 5-minute cooldown. Asuka didn't think she could safely stall for 5 minutes while waiting for it to come off cooldown. Using EVA's power would drain not only her HP but also her Mental Power and Stamina. She didn't want to use it unless absolutely necessary.
Continuing to drag this out will be extremely disadvantageous for me.
Asuka had the same thought as Cyan, who was currently fighting Muramasa.
The knights' battle had already ended. They had killed all the resisting enemies. Those who surrendered were not killed. They simply pinned them down and withdrew from the battlefield.
The fights between Asuka and Balbars, and between Cyan and Muramasa, were not battles the knights could interfere with!
You guys! Can't you come help?!
Nishi watched the knights withdraw from the battlefield while pinning down the surrendering enemies. She was so angry she ground her teeth.
If it weren't for Master and Asuka fighting those two bastards, did you really think you could leave safely?
Dream on!
Shatter its body, then shatter its core!
Cyan looked at Muramasa's shell regenerating within the flames. She took a deep breath. Golden, mist-like light shone around her body as she leapt over Muramasa. An empty head flew into the air. Cyan spun around and slashed, cutting Muramasa's body in half. She rapidly swung her blade, chopping it into pieces, then kicked Muramasa's main body high into the air.
Holy Flame!
Infinite Style · Gale Slash!
Cyan leapt up. The demon blade, burning with both Holy Flame and sword energy, continuously slashed at Muramasa. Dense blade light completely enveloped him.
Metallic clashing sounds rang out continuously. Every one of Cyan's attacks targeted the same spot on Muramasa, striking it repeatedly!
Muramasa's HP bar began to decrease. As it dropped, a crack appeared on his blade. The crack gradually widened until it covered the entire blade!
"My blade… has lost."
Cyan landed on the ground and locked her gaze on the falling Muramasa. She raised the demon blade high. Green sword energy and pale golden Holy Flame burned on its surface.
"Slash!"
Cyan's eyes sharpened as she brought the demon blade down onto Muramasa's blade.
His HP bar hit zero. The sound of metal shattering rang out as Muramasa's blade broke into countless tiny fragments that scattered across the ground.
"Well done…"
Muramasa's low voice came from the hilt. The hilt, the broken blade fragments, and the body Cyan had chopped apart gradually turned to dust and were scattered by the wind.
A glowing Golden Card floated where Muramasa's hilt had been.
Cyan picked up the Golden Card and put it into her inventory.
Asuka gripped her lance with both hands and thrust it toward Balbars' head.
"Bang!"
Balbars knocked Asuka's lance aside with his hammer and leapt into the air, using his heavy body to crash down toward her.
Asuka used her lance to push herself away, launching her body backward several meters.
Balbars landed and turned to charge at Asuka. Arthur and the other two had already withdrawn from the battlefield. This operation had failed. Even so, he was determined to kill at least one of these outsiders as a trophy from this battle!
Nishi slid forward and kicked Balbars' thick leg — which was several times thicker than her waist.
Battle Aura Impact!
Pain shot up from her foot. Nishi gritted her teeth and activated the skill from the Battle Aura Cloak. An explosive shockwave spread outward in all directions. Balbars' HP bar dropped by a chunk. She then rolled and scrambled away as fast as she could to get out of his attack range.
If her Mud Throw skill wasn't still on cooldown, she would have thrown mud right in his face the moment he turned his head!