Chapter 264: Could You Hit Me Twice?
"Wahhh!"
Upon hearing Ayrin and Stingham's words as yet another one of them was injured, Lotner, Presley, and Courtland couldn't help but spit another mouthful of blood in anger.
"Stop spitting blood. Your injuries aren't that bad. Hurry and come help us take care of this Evil Dragon Follower!" Stingham gloatingly said as he chuckled in glee from the sight before him.
"Man, this Evil Dragon Follower was hiding in this giant mushroom right before you guys, yet you guys didn't know? Are you guys blind or something?" Ayrin added.
"Wahahaha! I can't. I can't do it anymore." Stingham abruptly burst out in laughter upon hearing Ayrin's words as he shouted, "This group of idiots, I can't keep this farce going."
Lotner, Presley, and Courtland stared blankly at Ayrin and Stingham. Several moments later, they shouted in unison, "You guys did this on purpose, didn't you?!"
"So what if it was on purpose? You are the ones pretending to be Evil Dragon Followers." Stingham couldn't even stand up straight as he continued laughing and nodded towards the Abel Academy member who had been blasted out from the giant mushroom and said, "It must be stuffy wearing that masks. Why are you still not taking it off?"
"You…"
Lotner rose into a fury as his eyes darkened and he shouted, "Don't blame us for this, you guys brought this upon yourselves!"
"What? Can you not act anymore either? Are you finally tearing off your masks and attacking? Come! Come one and hit me!" Stingham combed through his hair as arcane energy surged over his body and the metal zombie once appeared once more. Only this time, it wasn't as material as before.
"What is that?!"
The sudden appearance of a semi-transparent zombie over Stingham's body in this shadowy environment was an extremely shocking sight to behold. Lotner and the others simultaneously felt a cold sweat emerge atop their backs.
At the same time, another Evil Dragon Follower dressed Abel Academy team member began to release arcane energy fluctuations from his hidden position amongst several hanging vines.
In the beginning, the six had thought that it would be extremely easy for them to deal with Ayrin and Stingham. But somewhere and somehow, their plans had been seen through and gone awry, resulting in their current situation where four of them were heavily injured, it seemed like Lotner, Presley, and Courtland were already pretty much unable to fight.
In this current situation, the only for them to win was if they managed to severely injure one of the two with a sneak attack.
"What!"
But right at this moment, this Abel Academy team member suddenly felt a strange chill run down his spine.
"How could I fail to sense someone sneaking up on me?!"
As the Abel Academy team member fiercely turned their head, a figure with a face half covered by a green crystal mask appeared. The figure's arms hung limply at their sides as they silently stood behind the Abel Academy team member, an icy cold aura radiating from them.
"How did he know I am hidden here?"
"Just who is he?!"
Two thoughts surged through this Abel Academy team member's mind as two invisible revolving blades radiating with coldness tore through the air and viciously slammed into his back.
"Ahhh!" A miserable cry escaped the lips of this disguised Abel Academy team member.
"It's Pirlo!"
"What happened to him?!"
The four Abel Academy members before Ayrin and Stingham abruptly turned their heads in the direction of the cry. They watched as a member of their team flew through the skies towards them while leaving a bloody mist in their wake.
"Rinloran's sneak attack worked!"
"Another scoundrel has been vanquished!"
Ayrin couldn't hold back as he laughed gleefully.
"It's not just them! There are others!"
"How did they know our plans? How did they know where everyone hid?!"
As they watched blood spurt from Pirlo's back as he miserably screamed and rolled on the ground, Lotner and the others felt a chill course through their bodies.
"Now there is only one person still left uninjured." Stingham gloatingly looked at the pale and wretched looking Lotner as he said, "So what do you think? Do you still want to fight or no? Want to come and hit me?!"
Swoosh!
A ring of air behind Stingham rippled and suddenly expanded.
A clear longsword silently shot forward towards the back of Stingham's heart.
"So strong!"
Ayrin's eyes widened as he let out an audible sigh.
This skill was probably the attack of the remaining, uninjured Abel Academy member. Seeing as it had come without warning, it had to be a silent-invocation skill.
Only when the longsword finally approached Stingham did it finally release arcane energy fluctuations. For such a skill to be used so casually, it was no wonder Abel Academy was a frequent name in the national tournament's top three.
A loud bang rang out.
A light flashed atop Stingham's back as he was sent careening forward into the ground from the sword crashing into his back.
"Ah, it feels so good!"
"What arcane skill is that? It's not bad. Only, it's not strong enough. Why don't you hit me again, but using a more powerful skill? Don't take mercy on me because I am handsome!" Stingham excitedly shouted before he had even climbed up from the ground.
Stingham's cheerful voice sounded like a terrifying roar to Lotner and the others.
"What defensive skill is that?!"
"How is that possible?! He has clearly only opened three arcane gates! How could his defensive skill be strong enough to completely block Gucci's Nether Sword?!"
Matteo, the member who had been injured when Ayrin and Stingham destroyed the giant mushroom he had been hiding in, had been preparing to use a skill. Nicknamed "Battlegod of the Forest", he was an arcane master who, like Sarina, had already completed many missions as part of a corps. But upon seeing Stingham's defense, his expression changed as he lost confidence in his skill and didn't use it.
Rippp!
A nearby giant mushroom split in half.
The last of the group of six from Abel Academy, "Traceless Sword" Gucci revealed himself.
The Evil Dragon Follower mask on his face had long since been taken off, exposing the livid expression on his face as he wielded a strangely narrow and long saber radiating a faint white light in his right hand.
"So you are the so called third strongest of Abel Academy, Traceless Sword Gucci?"
Stingham clambered up to his feet and showed a perverse, hair raising expression towards Gucci as he said, "Hurry up and hit me?"
"You think I won't?!"
Gucci, who was an absolute star in the national tournament and had many female fans, felt Stingham was deliberately ridiculing him. Veins erupted over his forehead as he shouted, "
"Unparalleled Traceless Strike!"
Although they were tens of meters apart, Gucci still swung his sword at a shocking speed.
"Is this a materialization or?"
Ayrin was abruptly surprised once more.
Every time Gucci swung his strange saber, a clear longsword would shoot towards Stingham in a strange arc. These clear longswords seemed extremely real, as if each of them was a materialization of arcane energy.
Ding ding ding ding…
The longswords were like raindrops as they successively collided with Stingham, only to be deflected and fall to the ground beside Stingham. These clear longswords quickly piled up around him.
"Sword: Blossom!"
Another invocation exited Gucci's mouth.
Countless small arcane particles abruptly began to fly out from the saber in his hand.
"What?!"
Ayrin felt shocked once more.
All the longswords which had fallen around Stingham abruptly began to revolve, forming a giant flower of swords.
"So strong!"
Ayrin knew that this wasn't a one time attack, but a slow, grinding one which would continuously wear away at the target.
"I didn't see wrong! So effective!"
"Hurry, put some more energy into it! Don't let it stop!"
The Abel Academy members nearly spit blood once more as Stingham acted like nothing was happening and excitedly called out for more.
They watched as even this skill failed to penetrate through the faint yellow barrier of light around Stingham.
The appearance of the metal zombie wrapped around Stingham became increasingly strange and horrifying.
"Careful!" Matteo suddenly shouted.
Swoosh!
Gucci swiftly reacted as he suddenly tilted his body to the left and he quickly retreated backwards in that direction.
Two icy revolving blades passed by his face, leaving two shallow streaks of bright red blood atop his face.
"That's?"
The Abel Academy team members all trembled with fear.
They watched as a figure wearing a green crystal half mask and with arms hanging limply by their side appeared close behind Gucci.
"Rinloran, you don't need to deal with this Gucci. Just let him hit me. If you must fight someone, then fight that guy who we sent flying out of the mushroom," Stingham shouted.
"This is Rinloran? The one with the high rank Elf Bloodline? That mask on his face, is that an amplification artifact?" A biting chill surged out from Matteo's chest and spread to his limbs. He felt his hands go numb.
Stingham against Gucci and Rinloran against Matteo. It seemed like Ayrin didn't even need to do anything.
"I don't seem to have very many arcane particles left…" Ayrin thought to himself. After the prior battle and having to rush through the forest, his store of arcane particles was down to a fourth of his maximum.
But as he watched Stingham earnestly begging for blows, an idea emerged in his mind.
"Why don't you all hit me a couple times too?" Ayrin asked with some shyness and embarrassment as he looked towards Lotner and the others.
"You…"
Lotner, Presley, and Courtland, along with "Gusting Wind" Pirlo, were all powerful competitors in the national tournament who raised fear in their opponents. But their feelings upon hearing Ayrin's words at this current moment couldn't be described using words.
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Swoosh!
Several streaks of light descended upon Ayrin.
"Dragon Scale Absorption!"
"Ack, it hurts!"
Ayrin cried out in pain as he only used Dragon Scale Absorption to forcefully endure the blows.
"These fellows from Holy Dawn Academy… just what are they?"
"Are you all masochistic perverts?" Lotner and the others nearly cried out.
In their current injured states, they couldn't use any extremely violent techniques as the number of arcane particles they could use was extremely limited.
But due to fear of Ayrin attacking them, they didn't dare not attack.
And Ayrin had let their attacks simply hit him.
This situation, it really felt like they were cooperating in some kind of masochistic play.