Chapter 22: Clearing the Viper Headquarters
"What the hell are these?" Al-Kuz said as he is faced with the conjured versions of the three adventurers. The three are still completely naked and weaponless. However, their ranks are enough to make them capable opponents.
"Hold him off." Zeke said, running away as he looked at the minimap.
"You're not getting away!" His enemy shouted, killing off the archers after a couple of strikes.
"Captain what's happening?" two bandits came out of the loot area, fighting off the remaining conjured monster.
"Hold that thing for me and call out the other captains. I've got an enemy to catch." He replied.
Soon after. He followed inside the passage that Zeke went to. There, he saw his enemy, standing perfectly still at the end of the route.
"You've got nowhere to run now." He said, pointing his sword at Zeke.
"That's some nasty poison you got there." Zeke replied.
His enemy only smiled and dashed forward again. The poison is still in effect and, Zeke can still see three copies of his enemy but, that didn't matter.
He used [Quick Step] surprising his enemy at the flash-like speed and, soon after, Al-Kuz felt cold steel pierce through his stomach.
"You bastard!" he said, gripping on to the Zeke's arm.
"You've got nowhere to run to now." He said, being able to move even after the blow.
As Al-Kuz swung his sword downward, Zeke made a fluid motion. Using the other scimitar in his left hand, he sliced off the hand that's holding on to his arm. He didn't leave a moment of rest after this. He jumped up and placed himself on top of Al-Kuz shoulders and, without a second of hesitation, he snapped his opponent's neck – making the towering figure drop to the ground.
"Ahhh…I feel so dizzy." Zeke said, looking at the blue flame that now came out of the bandit leader's body.
The reason why he went inside one of the routes is because, he noticed how every route's space gets tighter as one moves further inside. Thus, at the end of each route, the space is as dense as could be. With his enemy being a huge person, there won't be much room for movement so, the only option of attack is to dash forward.
With this in mind, Zeke only needed to lower his whole body and use [Quick Step] in order to land a blow. Thus, he ran toward a route, making Al-Kuz think that his opponent is actually running away where in fact, Zeke is actually luring him to his death.
Placing both his blades forward, Zeke dashed toward Al-Kuz; hoping that one of them hits. Sure enough, one of the scimitars landed. The next part was also something that Zeke expected. Once in range, the opponent can grab him and he wouldn't have anywhere else to go. But this also applies to his opponent. Thus, if he can deliver the first blow, he'd already win the battle.contemporary romance
"Everything is spinning." Zeke said as beads of cold sweat formed on his forehead. He used [Analyze] on the blade and, it took all his effort just to focus on it.
[Item Name: Al-Kuz's Scimitar]
[Usage Level Requirement: 30]
[Durability: 75-/100]
[Rank: D+]
[Information: An item forged on the Dwarven continent of Mithril. Any opponent that is struck with the blade will start seeing illusions of everything around him/her.]
"I'll deal with all of the details later. For now, I need to prepare for the next fight." He tough to himself, feeling the footsteps of the enemies closing in.
He then went to the blue flame of his dead opponent and, used [Conjure] on it. The first attempt failed once again; irritating Zeke. However, on the second attempt, he succeeded.
[Name: Al-Kuz Al-Haddar]
[Species: Conjured Human]
{Specification: Bandit Leader]
[Rank: C->
"Here, get your weapon." Zeke said, handing the scimitar to the conjured version of his Al-Kuz.
Without much time for rest, the new enemies have come. This completely destroyed the covert mission that Zeke was trying to perform.
*Sigh*
"Let's just get this over with." Zeke said, making Al-Kuz rush toward the bandits. The new monster defeated them all with ease and, though he isn't as heavily defended as Samael, Al-Kuz makes up for it through its overwhelming physical prowess.
Zeke then combined the three fallen adventurers, creating a new monster that now had both weapon and armor.
[Name: None]
[Species: Conjured Human]
{Specification: Bladebow Warrior]
[Rank: C->
The monster uses a bow as its primary weapon and, one can see sharpened edges on it, making Zeke remember about the female elf. On its quiver is a full set of mana - colored arrows. Its head is covered by a hood and, inside is a shield that only covers the upper part of the monster's head. Its armor is light-looking, probably built in that way so that the monster could move more freely. On the side of its waist is a small blade.
"Damn, you three look so much better now." He said to the monster which just stared at its master without any emotions.
"Okay! You only have one mission for now." Zeke said pointing to the Conjured Captain.
"Assist that guy and clear out the remaining bandits." At this, the nameless monster came rushing to aid Al-Kuz.
Zeke proceeded to opening the shop. He bought a cleansing potion which removed the status effect from him.
"Aghhhh everything feels so clear now." He said as he jumped for a bit before dashing to assist his summoned monsters. He left the looting for later, knowing that the enemies are probably going to come after him now.
The area where the captains are residing is infested with more bandits and, is a large dome shaped area. As his monsters entered, they are met with a barrage of arrows, making Al-Kuz dissolve in the process. Zeke immediately retreated and re-casted the monster.
"You think you can win against the Viper Bandits!" A voice shouted, probably one of the two remaining captains.
"If you came her for the elf, you're not going to get her!" Another voice said.
"Let go you brutes!" A female voice shouted, probably the mentioned elf.
They said a lot of other things, making Zeke feel their cringeyness. Thinking: 'these people speak like they're part of an action movie' as he viewed his minimap. On it, he saw that Samael is finally on a position that sits directly on top of the underground dome.
"Perfect." He said, opening the voice channel and ordering Samael to pierce a hole through the ground. Zeke has the whole place's data in his map and, he knows that the end wall and the dome shaped ceiling are the only ones which have not been planted with explosives.
"Surrender now and we will make your death swi –" One of the bandit captains was still saying another thing as Samael busted a whole through the ground with its blue flames.
At this moment, his two new monsters made their way and began the assault. Zeke ordered the Bladebow monster to shoot three explosive arrows into the air.
The monster followed and, as the smoke hindered the sight of the two remaining captains, Zeke made use of this opportunity. He found the right set of stepping stones on the area and, used quick step twice. It's not long after when he finally reached the area of the two captains who stood at the top spot of the dome. They saw him rise a bit too late and, Zeke was already able to hack the shoulder of one captain.
"AHHH!" The captain shouted as the female elf got freed from his grasp.
For a moment, Zeke and the female archer looked at each other. And then, with Zeke's nod, the female archer quickly ran – taking back her bow and arrows which are left at the side of the captain who held her. She then shifter quickly, planting an arrow on the captain's head. This is followed by more arrows, barraging the skull until, the arrows have pierced through.
Zeke on the other hand, occupied himself with the last remaining captain as his three conjured monsters are now fighting against the remaining bandits. As more of them died, Zeke continued Conjuring as he fought with the captain.
"Give up, we've got you completely outnumbered." The proud captain said.
"I'm guessing you aren't the type to look at your surroundings when you fight." Zeke replied, kicking the blade of his opponent out of his hand.
"What are you bastards doing? Attack!" He screamed but, there was no bandit responding to his orders.
This is the moment when he finally looked at the battlefield. All around him, there is nothing left but the corpses of his fallen men and, blue colored figures with eyes that gleamed of yellow.
"I give up!" He said, bowing his head as he knelt to the ground; thinking that his opponents will be merciful.
"Okay but under one condition. You need to answer my questions." Zeke said.
YYes. Yes. I'll do as you sa – " The bandit captain wasn't even able to finish what he was saying.
Three arrows have already found their way through the enemy, piercing his neck, his chest, and his mouth. The bandit squirmed until he dropped to the ground, bathing in his own pool of blood.
"Hey what gives?" Zeke said to the female archer but, all the elf did is fire a set of arrows towards him.
"What the hell?!" He continued, now wishing that he just made Samael burn through the captains including the female elf.
Zeke is now prepared to kill this new opponent but, just as he was about to go for her, the yellow – clad warrior and Allesiah both passed through the hole created by Samael. Stopping the two from creating any further exchange.
"We need to go master." Allesiah said.
"Woah, I'm not leaving without wiping the floor with that elf." Zeke replied as he looked at the male elf getting shouted at by the female one.
"Please just hear me out this once master. I'll explain everything once we head back." Allesiah continued.
Zeke saw the worry in the female sorcerer's eyes and, agreed to her proposal.
"Fine, but you need to help me sort the loot in this place, there's lot of things that we need to get. And frankly speaking, not enough time to get all of them." He continued, finally standing up and recalling all his conjured monsters. A blue shadow-looking mist started forming as all the monsters dissolved, surrounding Zeke until, all of it disappeared completely.
There are things that Zeke wants to ask Allesiah but he thought that, his questions could wait until they got back to town. And on top of this list is, why the female elf shouted Allesiah's name as they walked away.
done.co