Chapter 450: Hidden Technique
"Celestina! What do you think you're doing?" Rhode recognized the thorny whip as he dodged to the side, at the same time, angrily reprimanding the demonic young lady. Rhode had decided to defeat this Undead Keeper by himself while Celia and Celestina would join Anne in cleaning up the critters. However, Celestina chose to disobey his command and attack the Undead Keeper instead?
"I'm trying to help you, of course. Master, just this pig alone is enough to make you so miserable. How weak..." Celestina said in a self-righteous tone.
"Idiot, release your whip!" Rhode blew his top at Celestina's suicidal approach because he knew how strong the Undead Keeper was. Although he wasn't sure how powerful Celestina would be once she regained her true powers, at this moment, she didn't stand a chance against this formidable Undead Keeper!
Celestina furrowed her brows and barely spared a glance for Rhode. "Master, it's just a weak little undead creature, you must be exaggera-... Ahh!"
The Undead Keeper perked up its bound arm and flung Celestina into the air instantly. However, as a mighty demon was not to be trifled with, Celestina released her whip hurriedly in midair and chanted a strange, muffled curse as she placed her hands on her chest. Then, she pointed a finger and projected a red light beam which struck the Undead Keeper's arm immediately.
The Undead Keeper's thick, swollen arm exploded from the inside-out due to Celestina's unknown spell. In an instant, its flesh spattered and the repulsive liquid splashed towards everyone.
"Dodge!" Rhode was feeling awfully hopeless at this point in time.
Fortunately, Anne with her rich battle experience, raised her shield to protect herself as soon as she smelled the stench. On the other hand, Celia and Delno weren't any worse either. In a blink of an eye, two defense barriers flickering with radiance emerged before them. Gillian, on the other hand, was in a safe position as she stood the furthest away after Rhode instructed her to not get involved with this battle.
Everyone reacted quickly except for Celestina, who was in midair. She flapped her wings innately to dodge the venomous fluid splashing towards her. The Undead Keeper was surprisingly unconcerned about its injuries and it extended its bombarded arm towards Celestina!
"...!" Celestina was stricken into silence as this revolting arm reached for her. As she turned around to flee, another arm swatted over as though it were swatting a mosquito. The demonic young lady flipped over sideways to evade the Undead Keeper's striking palm. She wasn't expecting the Undead Keeper to be this strong and although she wasn't captured by it, the stream of air that its moving arms brought along had flung her away instantly. Celestina shrieked in horror as she was thrown in the air.
However, in a blink of an eye, Rhode shifted his position to behind her and neutered the strong airflow while clutching her.
"Phew..." Rhode heaved a sigh of relief before glaring at Celestina instantly. "Why are you disobeying my orders?"
"I meant well! Human, how would I know this fat pig would be this troublesome?!" Celestina turned around and berated stubbornly. "I never thought that a piece of crap like that would make me so miserable. If it weren't for Master's incapabilities, would I even end up in this foolish state? You..."
Before Celestina could complete her sentence, she snapped and puckered her forehead. "Master! What do you think you're doing?!"
"Eh?" Rhode twitched his brows slightly as he realized that his right palm had cupped over Celestina's warm, round front. As Celestina barked, Rhode shifted his index finger and thumb along the smooth, rounded surface to find the soft, protruding tip. After locating the delicate, soft tip, he gave it a hard pinch.
"Ah!" Celestina shrieked at the sharp, painful sensation.
"That's your punishment. Get down and deal with the critters now. If you dare disobey my orders again, you'll have it rougher." Rhode darted to the Undead Keeper without glancing back while Celestina hovered solitarily in midair, folding her arms around her ample chest to protect them. The demonic young lady glared at Rhode's back with an ashen expression before letting out a groan and joining the others back on the surface.
Although Celestina's attack had crippled one of the Undead Keeper's arm successfully, it gave Rhode more trouble as he had to proceed with more cautious to evade the venomous liquid squirting to the air. This made him all the more furious over Celestina's disobedience, as it increased the difficulty level of dealing with this dangerous creature. The Undead Keeper brandished its sharp blades at Rhode while he evaded at the most opportune time and tore apart the flesh on its body with his twin daggers.
Rhode knew how terrifying the Undead Keeper's blood was and he wasn't that foolish to attack its arm directly as Celestina did. Now, he had to avoid triggering the Undead Keeper from releasing its venomous mist.
Although the Undead Keeper was also an undead creature, it had a large body mass and required more strength to support its movement. Even though Celestina's disobedience gave Rhode tons of trouble, the damage she inflicted on the Undead Keeper was impactful as it slowed down gradually. However, Rhode didn't let his guard down. Instead, he rose his spirits.
"—!" As expected, the humongous creature groaned furiously after Rhode slashed two more gashes on its body. Then, it grabbed the steel chain by its waist with two arms and tossed it towards Rhode!
Now's the chance!
Rhode lifted his twin daggers above his head in a criss-cross stance. Dazzling white radiance gleamed on his blades as he charged forward.
The blades erupted with light, flooding and overpowering the flinging steel chain. Not only that, it forcefully struck out and pierced the Undead Keeper's stomach without any resistance. Bloody, rotten internal organs disgorged from the meter long wound.
However, this wasn't enough to stop the Undead Keeper. It bellowed, raised its arms, and smashed the ground!
Boom! Anne and the others dodged as the powerful impact shook the surface. The fissures before the Undead Keeper started spreading apart at lightning speed and in a blink of an eye, the ground ruptured and fell completely into the bottomless abyss.
"Kacha... Kacha..."
A burst of subtle, bone-chilling noises sounded everywhere as though a frightening phenomenon was about to happen. Anne, Celia, and Celestina leaned their backs against each other while Delno, Metzel, and Shirley scanned the surroundings and anxiously ran towards the three young ladies.
Dozens of undead creatures climbed out of the enormous hole with their white, dried-up arms. Their lifeless eyes observed left and right before finally locking onto the vivid lives before them.
"What a nuisance!" Rhode gnashed his teeth.
If it weren't for Celestina's attack, the Undead Keeper wouldn't have smashed the ground that quickly!
But now...
Rhode gazed at his daggers hesitantly. Suddenly, laughter rang in his ears again.
"Huhuhu..."
"Hehehe..."
Rhode discovered that the attributes of these two daggers had a sudden transformation. Previously, the magical radiance shimmering on the blades was dim and bleak. And now, the daggers laid in complete stillness with their dusky blades.
At the same time, a system prompt emerged before him .
[Hidden Technique Activated — Dawn Destroyer]
"—!" The dagger in Rhode's hand abruptly extended and transformed into a dusky, pitch-black blade.