Chapter 461 - 461. The Hour Of Struggle
On top of Pandora which was still in the air, Jack lifted his Storm Breaker high which was in its Overlimit form. He had also activated the two other buffs that boosted his damage, Life Burning Art and Adrenaline Rush, while the previous buffs of Sweet Dumpling and Poison Salve were still active. Jack had used the Reset Potion which he still had one bottle in his bag, reseting the cooldown of Lightning God Barrage.
Twenty large balls crackling with electricity came out all around him. From his high elevation, he shot the ball out in different directions. Performing another carpet bombing. Each of the balls exploded in a large explosion that dealt over 5000 damage.
The zombies that were already wounded by the defending force's range attacks were mostly obliterated by this lightning explosion. Those that still had full health, lost almost half their lives. Jack didn't place his carpet bombing as spread out as when he did against the players. Some still had intersecting areas, so some zombies received explosions from two lightning balls. The ones that did were either burnt to ash or had their HP at critical. Many of the ones that did not die were inflicted by Paralyze, halting their advance..
If Jack had concentrated the lightning balls onto one opponent, it would have suffered more than 100,000 damages! He could also kill the Skeletal Abomination with one hit in this manner. Several even, if the monsters were dumb enough to stick together.
But his current objective was to thin the herd, allowing his guildmates some breathing room. Their defensive formation was about to be swarmed over already just now.
Pandora landed at the front line, next to Domon and Jeanny. Jack was still sitting on top of the Nightmare.
"F*cking hell, boss! You are damn cool!" The Man shouted out.
"What kind of steed is that? Is that a monster or a horse?" Someone else said.
Pandora turned to the person who had just uttered the sentence, the person soon had a recollection of his worst nightmare played out in his mind. He wailed as he dropped to his knees.
"Mam, please don't do that. We need every single able body!" Jack uttered, to which Pandora replied with an indifference huff.
Jack initially thought to use Pandora's fear aura to hinder the undead's approach, but he saw that the undead who survived his Lightning God Barrage still came towards him without slowing down. He guessed it's because the undead lack the feeling that gave them fear.
He hurriedly climbed down from the Nightmare and unsummoned her before she incapacitated another person who said wrong things about her.
His Stormbreaker was still in its Overlimit state. His left hand held his magic staff. He cast Barrier on himself. He then addressed the others, "everyone! Try to hold for one hour at most. Help is coming!"
'Help? From who?' Everyone had the thought. But most of them who had traveled with Jack trusted him. Even if he was reckless sometimes, he still got things done. They uttered a motivating battle cry, which then inspired the others as well. Everyone's battle spirit had been reignited again.
"Just one hour, we can do this!" Bowler exclaimed.
"Oorah!" The Man and his subordinates cried.
Jack used his magic staff to cast all available spells in his arsenal, before he replaced it with his Whirlwind Falchion.
He had cast the Myriad Ensnaring Chains at the spot where there were three Skeletal Abominations close by, immobilizing all three. He then went and picked off the others while the three bound abominations were bombarded by arrows from Bandit Archers and Fierce Flame. After she became an elite class, the range of her arrow almost rivaled the Bandit Archer's range.
Jack's Lightning God Barrage had cleared out a large area that the Squire soldiers and melee players could re-organize their formation again. They had lost half of the Squire, there were less than fifty Squire units. While the Bandit Archers were still intact since they attacked from range. Some of the Knights with the highest defense like Giant Steve had to come forward to cover the gaps left by the fallen Squires.
Jack continued to dance around with his two swords, utilizing the Formless Flowing Sword style to cut down as much as the undead before they reached the defensive formation at the wall. His Overlimit was still active so his damage was massive. Domon did the same on the other side.
As everyone continued to persevere, another large figure emerged from the black fog. It stood more than two-meter tall with full armors all over its body. The armor had a dark blue hue with many hints of rust and decay on its metallic surface. The face inside the helmet was a skeletal one. Two red orbs filled the two black holes that were its eyes. This armored skeleton carried with him a very large broad sword.
Jack used inspect on it.
Skeleton Knight (Special Elite monster, undead), level 40
HP: 175,000
"Uh, already a level 40?" Jack mumbled. Peniel said that a level 55 rare elite will emerge by the end of the five hours. It was not yet two hours since the disaster item was activated, but the level of the emerged monsters was already almost halfway. He hoped the imperial troops did not take their sweet time coming here. Otherwise, he would have lost both the Guild Headquarters and the Merit points.
Jack left the small fries to his guildmates as he put himself before the Skeleton Knight's path. His Overlimit was already off when the Skeleton Knight emerge, as with his other buffs except for Life Burning Art. He could keep this skill until its full duration now due to his Superior Body Recovery. The Skeleton Knight stopped when he noticed someone was before him. Its skeletal face was rigid, but Jack could have sworn that he saw an evil grin there.
The Skeleton Knight's right arm which was holding the broadsword moved with surprising speed. Its shoulder rotated inhumanly as it brought its large broadsword swinging down. Jack had almost missed dodging the downward slash as he stepped sideways. Its attack speed was not reflecting its bulky frame and weapon.
While Jack was about to counterattack, its right arm swung forward, revealing another sword. Jack barely made it in time to put his two swords across his front to parry the blow. He was thrown back from the impact. Parrying with two swords had effectively negated the damage, unlike the last time when he was still using one. He did a backflip to neutralize the pushing force.
When he landed on his two feet, Jack was startled by the Skeleton Knight who had rushed forward after him. Its two arms were rotating unnaturally. Its arm hinges were like machines that could rotate three hundred and sixty degrees.
Jack evaded the ones he could while parrying the ones he couldn't. The attack angles were all weird that Jack had trouble adjusting to the attacks. He got annoyed because he kept being forced to retreat. He used Cross Slash to break through its defense. The undead's two massive swords were being smacked aside due to the skill. But just as Jack was about to land a hit, its two arms rotated again swiftly and smashed his sword down. The situation had reversed, he was the one being open now.
The Skeleton Knight's arms rotated again and were about to slash at Jack's head when a glaive covered by white aura struck the two swords and deflected their trajectories. Jack quickly jumped back after the save.
"You get too hung up by its strange movements," Domon said as he continued to deflect each of the Skeleton Knight's slashes. He didn't parry the slash, but he hit it at the right moment to make it swerve. "Calm your mind and sense the chi accompanying each strike. You should be able to sense its weak spots and weak moments that way."
Jack admitted his mind was in turmoil just now. He steadied himself and took the starting stance of the Formless Flowing Sword style. He then advanced and joined Domon. The two took turns attacking and defending, their coordination was as if choreographed. If anyone really paid attention, it was actually Domon who was adjusting to his grandson's move. He covered for Jack when there were flaws in his move, and he attacked aggressively when Jack was taking a breather. Since he was the one that thought Jack the sword style, it was easy for him to coordinate.
As Jack got more accustomed to the Formless Flowing Sword style, he started to incorporate in-game battle skills with the style. When he saw a clean opportunity where his slash would hit, he added the slash with Flame Strike or Swing. When his opponents managed to evade, he added Sword of Light or Shredding Fangs to cover the distance.
As Jack and Domon continued to wear down the Skeleton Knight, its HP continued to drop. When it was down to its last thread of life, Jack used Blitz Slash to finish it.
The Skeleton Knight fell down into loose armor parts before those too turned to dust. As Jack was catching his breath, another five Skeleton Knights emerged from the black fog.
"Motherf*cker…" Jack cursed.